It features an Apple A4 SoC, a 9.7 in (250 mm) touchscreen display,[7] and, on certain variants, the capability of accessing cellular networks.

Using the iOS operating system, the iPad can play music, send and receive emails and browse the web.

Other functions, which include the ability to play games and access references, GPS navigation software and social network services, can be enabled by downloading apps.

On May 28, 2010, it was released in Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Some aspects were criticized, including the closed nature of the operating system and the lack of support for the Adobe Flash multimedia format.

Apple also developed a prototype PowerBook Duo-based tablet, the PenLite, but decided not to sell it in order to avoid hurting MessagePad sales.

[14] The actual name is reportedly an homage to the Star Trek PADD, a fictional device very similar in appearance to the iPad.

[15] The iPad was announced on January 27, 2010, by Jobs at an Apple press conference at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

[16][17] Jobs later said that Apple began developing the iPad before the iPhone,[18][19] but temporarily shelved the effort upon realizing that its ideas would work just as well in a mobile phone.

The iPad was launched in countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom on May 28.

[25] Apple released the iPad in Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore on July 23, 2010.

[45][46] The first-generation iPad features an Apple A4 SoC,[3] which comprises a 1 GHz processor, 256 MB of RAM and a PowerVR SGX535 GPU.

The media noted that thousands of people queued on the first day of sale in a number of countries with many of those who waited claiming that "it was worth it.

[56] Others, including PC Advisor and the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote that the iPad would also compete with proliferating netbooks, most of which use Microsoft Windows.

[65] The Independent criticized the iPad for not being as readable in bright light as paper but praised it for being able to store large quantities of books.

[62] After its UK release, The Daily Telegraph said the iPad's lack of Adobe Flash support was "annoying".

[66] The iPad was selected by Time magazine as one of the 50 Best Inventions of the Year 2010,[67] while Popular Science chose it as the top gadget[68] behind the overall "Best of What's New 2010" winner Groasis Waterboxx.

[73] During the financial conference call on October 18, 2010, Steve Jobs announced that Apple had sold more iPads than Macs for the fiscal quarter.

[77] CNET criticized the iPad for its apparent lack of wireless sync, which other portable devices such as Microsoft's Zune have had for a number of years.

[80] PC Magazine's Tim Gideon wrote, "you have yourself a winner" that "will undoubtedly be a driving force in shaping the emerging tablet landscape.