IPAD / IWANT

'I'm just going to use my iPhone REALLY close to my face and pretend it's bigger. Goodnight.'

@arthurascii 

Has Steve Jobs has gotten really small, or is he holding a giant version of the Apple's game changing handset? Neither! This is the all new, all singing, all dancing iPad. Once again, Steve and the gang have taken on an emerging market (last time smartphones, this time eReaders and netbooks) and given it the Apple spit and polish. 

We'll leave the specs and jargon to the tech blogs, but if you haven't already definitely head to the iPad homepage and check out the videos and blurb, and the hands-on from the always excellent Engadget, here. The best spec of course is the price - starting at a very affordable $499 it left the recent netbook purchasers among us wondering if they should have hung onto their hard earned cash a little longer. Sob.

So what opportunities does the iPad open up for advertisers? The iPhone has been pretty good for the media and advertising industries. To start with, it created a new spin on mobile advertising with the App store, which has been filled with all sorts of branded goodies, widgets and utility. As well as creating their own apps from scratch, brands have the opportunity to advertise in popular existing apps, or even form a partnership. It's been a pretty good ride so far. Just ask Barclaycard, whose waterslide app has been downloaded 9.8 million times and achieved a claimed 650,000 hours of brand engagement. Or carmaker Volkswagen, who partnered with popular game title Real Racing to launch they new Golf GTi model, creating a watered down version of the game titled Real Racing GTi - cost $500,000. The company invested a reported $60m ad spend on the previous model. Yikes.

So apps have been a boon. Netbooks and laptops can't run these shiny little widgets - but iPads can. All 140,000 of them apparently. So as well as having app functionality available on another device, Apple fans are also going to have them in 10" as opposed to 3.5", which is going to be just cracking for gaming and content viewing (ideal for Sky Sports/CNN apps for example, or another waterslide style advergame). Plus, there's that ten hour battery life for movies and other video content. Commuters of the world, rejoice!

Ditching the mouse/keyboard interaction could also have implications for marketers. As the humble banner ad evolves from a virtual billboard to a content capsule, imagine what you could do with a 10" touch screen, rich interactive banners that integrate accelerometers, orientation and location. And remember Nike Hotspot ads by AKQA London?  Imagine how these will work on a shiny touch screen, in branded content, banner ads, films and podcasts. Now - if only the iPad did flash. Come on Steve....