Apple iPad Tablet Officially Announced

Now, after all that speculation, it’s here: The Apple iPad. Jobs said that there would be no point in creating a device that sits between a smartphone and a laptop unless it handled certain tasks better than both. He says it does.What is it? Essentially a mix between a giant iPhone and a shrunken MacBook, the iPad - announced by Steve Jobs himself at the Apple event in San Francisco this evening - is a 9.7-inch, 0.5-inch thin tablet rocking a full HD (incredibly hi-res) touchscreen interface with multi-touch, a Wi-Fi and 3G connected, a bespoke OS comparable to the iPhone and a penchant for gaming and apps. Inside, there's a super slick 1Ghz Apple A4 processor, but there doesn't appear to be support for multi-tasking with different apps.

The iPad's screen

The iPad, a lean mean gaming machine.

Apps from the iPhone can be run in miniature on the screen, or employ "pixel doubling" to make them full screen. Bespoke iPad games look amazing, and make full use of multitouch. E-book reading is handled by a new program called iBook, which comes with its own iBook Store (very similar to iTunes).

Font size, page turning and zooming are all controlled by pinching and swiping.It’s got an intuitive pop-up touch keyboard and supports the same kind of gestures as the iPhone, plus boasts an accelerometer that lets you hold the device anyway you see fit. The iTunes app is akin to what you’d see on a computer than iPhone, and the iPad has 16 - 64GB storage.

Battery life? It'll stay alive for a month in standby mode. If that onscreen keyboard isn't for you, there's a keyboard docking accessory that'll charge the unit and also prop it up for watching movies.Impressively, there's a version of iWork on the iPad that makes use of both the hi-res screen and the multi-touch gesturing.

The accelerometer also gets a look in, as charts on Numbers and Keynote can be viewed in any direction.Jobs himself says of the iPad that it is "so much more capable than a laptop.”And the price? A 250mb of data per-month 3G data plan comes in at $14.99 a month. An unlimited plan is $29.99. These can be turned on and bought on a month-by-month basis on the iPad itself. The unit is $499 in the States for the non-3G 16GB model.

The 64GB, 3G model will go for $829, with a further 4 models in between. UK pricing is yet to be confirmed, as it won't be out over here until June. Unlocked iPads can be bought from the US in 60 days time.So there we have it; months of fevered speculation ended in one foul swoop by the Cupertino boys and the iPad announcement. "So iPad," Jobs says.

"It's phenomenal. Email is fantastic, best device for photos, great for music, great for video. It runs almost all of the 140k apps on the app store, as well as a whole new generation of apps."Credit: T3.com

Obama States of the Unions' Address

U.S. President Barack Obama is pushing the themes of his State of the Union address - seeking public support for his policies at a politically charged moment in Washington. American presidents typically take to the road on the day after the State of the Union. In appearances in big cities and small towns, they seek to build momentum for the policies and programs outlined in the annual address to Congress and the nation.Thank you everybody! Hello Tampa!," said President Obama.

For President Obama, that meant a trip to Tampa, Florida where he made informal remarks and took questions at a local university.He repeated the twin themes of the State of the Union, underscoring his determination to rebuild the economy, while at the same time overcoming "a deficit of trust in Washington.""We are not going to rest until we have rebuilt an economy in which hard work and responsibility are rewarded and businesses are hiring again and wages are growing again and the middle class can get its legs underneath it again!," said Mr. Obama.

The president stressed creating jobs is his number one priority for 2010. And he focused on one effort in particular - a government program to invest $8 billion in start-up funds for high-speed rail projects around the country. One of the first lines will link Tampa with other Florida cities - creating new construction jobs while providing modern, more efficient infrastructure."We want to start looking deep into the 21st century," said President Obama. "And we want to say to ourselves there is no reason why other countries can build high-speed rail lines and we can't! And that is what is about to happen right here in Tampa!"

Most of the questions Mr. Obama faced during his appearance at the University of Tampa dealt with the economy and related issues. But there was also an impassioned plea from a young woman for progress in the Middle East peace process and help for the Palestinian people.The president did not refer to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute during his State of the Union address. But in Tampa he spoke at some length about the long, complicated search for peace.

He talked about America's links to Israel, but added the United States must pay attention to the plight of ththe Palestinians."We have got to recognize that both the Palestinian people and Israelis have legitimate aspirations and they can be best served if the United States is helping them understand each other, as opposed to demonizing each other," said Mr. Obama.

On Friday, the president will continue his post-State of the Union push with a series of appearances in Baltimore, Maryland. He will promote his policies to help small businesses, and will also address a gathering of Republican members of the House of Representatives.

Samantha Harris says Goodbye to the "Dancing with the Stars"

Samantha Harris says goodbye to the cast of 'Dancing with the Stars' in its 10th season in its premieres dated March 22. Harris, who has hosted alongside Tom Bergeron on “DWTS” for the last eight seasons, said she was leaving the show to focus on her other gigs, including her recently expanded correspondent duties on the infotainment show “The Insider.”

DWTS executive producer Conrad Green said he has already begun the search to find Harris’ replacement, spurring an Internet frenzy as to who has the right stuff to take over the co-host's duties.

Some made a case for Season 2 winner Drew Lachey, who filled in for Harris while she was on maternity leave. Others suggested Paula Abdul. And there's always the lovable Miss Piggy, who famously elbowed Harris out of the spotlight at the end of last season.

Who do you think should take Harris' place?

J.D Salinger Dies at 91

J.D Salinger Dies at 91-author of The Catcher in the Rye, has died. Salinger died Wednesday of natural causes at his Cornish, N.H., home, his son said, according to The Associated Press. Born Jan. 1, 1919 in Manhattan, the son of a Jewish cheese salesman and an Irish-Scottish mother, Salinger grew up in the city before attending Valley Forge Military Academy at age 15, where he wrote stories at night under the covers. In 1940, he published his first story, "The Young Folks," about selfish young adults, in Whit Burnett's Story magazine after impressing Burnett in his Columbia University writing class. After publishing several more stories, he served in the Army from 1942-1946, during which he continued to write and submit stories.

Published in 1951, Catcher became one of the most influential novels in modern American literature for its disaffected tale of teenage angst, seen through the eyes of protagonist Holden Caulfield, the anti-hero who despised "phonies" in an adult world and subsequently became an icon of teen rebellion.

One of the stories, "Slight Rebellion Off Madison," published by The New Yorker in 1946, introduced the restless and skeptic Holden Caulfield, and became the basis for Catcher. The novel quickly became a bestseller, spending 30 weeks on The New York Times' bestseller list.
Salinger followed it up with Nine Stories, a collection of short stories, in 1953. Franny and Zooey, which was originally published in The New Yorker as a short story and a novella, hit shelves in 1961. His final book, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, which combined two New Yorker stories, was published in 1963.