SAN FRANCISCO - JANUARY 27: Event guests play with the new Apple iPad during an Apple Special Event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts January 27, 2010 in San Francisco, California. CEO Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. introduced its latest creation, the iPad, a mobile tablet browsing device that is a cross between the iPhone and a MacBook laptop. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Apple has a habit of crashing the internet. At 1:00 p.m. today, January 27, many servers were overloaded and crashed from the volume of traffic looking for news on Apple’s big tablet unveiling. Apple’s product announcements have become big-time events. Their last major announcement, the iPhone, basically blew away the entire world with concepts that nobody could have even dreamed about, so the hype surrounding their tablet announcement had reached fever pitch. Ultimately, the unveiling was good but didn’t blow anyone away outside of its ridiculously low price. I suppose it was too much to ask to live up to the hype, though the iPhone did just that and then some.

Prior to the announcement, most people had predicted that the iPad would be like a bigger iPhone. I was hopeful that Apple would be able to dream up something better than a bigger iPhone. Unfortunately, I was kind of wrong. Now, I’m not giving Apple enough credit, because there is much more to the iPad, but the perception and word on the street will be that it’s just a bigger iPhone, and Apple will have no one to blame but itself. They even included the exact same home button.

Enough of that though; let’s move on to the positives. The biggest feature to jump out at me is the price point: $499 US dollars. This is the SAME PRICE as the top model of the iPhone. That is absolutely ridiculously low and places the iPad into impulse-purchase territory. Let me repeat that again: the iPad is the same price as an iPhone. Keeping that in mind, the other faults seem to almost disappear.

Instead of comparing the iPad to laptops, this pricepoint lets us compare the iPad to digital photo frames and the Kindle. The cost of the 10-inch LED premium Sony S-Frame is also $499, and that’s just for a digital photo frame. The iPad is also backlit by LED, which makes it at the very east a good digital photo frame. The Kindle has the same dimensions roughly, and the iPad makes the Kindle basically obsolete as a book reader.

SAN FRANCISCO - JANUARY 27: Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs demonstrates the new iPad as he speaks during an Apple Special Event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts January 27, 2010 in San Francisco, California. Apple introduced its latest creation, the iPad, a mobile tablet browsing device that is a cross between the iPhone and a MacBook laptop. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Now down to the bad points. Instead of using a modified Mac OS X Snow Leopard, the iPad instead runs on iPhone OS. I can see why Apple went this route, as this allows easy incorporation of iTunes and the App Store and 100 per cent compatibility with all 140,000 iPhone apps. I still disagree with this decision, however. The iPhone OS was not meant for such a large screen, and Apple should have taken some time to develop a hybrid Mac OS X and iPhone OS, which shouldn’t have been too out of the question as iPhone OS is already a modified Mac OS X. The Mac OS X dock would have made much more sense on a 10-inch screen than the spread out App icons of the iPhone OS.

Also, while it is indeed nice to have the ability to run 140,000 apps off the bat (with the option to zoom in 2X full-screen, blurry but still workable), Apple should have modified Mac OS X and added an App store. Heck, I’m surprised Apple hasn’t added an App store to Mac OS X already (they must be saving this for version 10.6).

Will I buy an iPad? The question isn’t if but when. I’ll probably wait until Apple updates the iPad to at least second generation. I would have bought first generation had the iPad been closer to what I wanted, but the price is just too undeniable.

SAN FRANCISCO - JANUARY 27: An event guest plays with the new Apple iPad during an Apple Special Event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts January 27, 2010 in San Francisco, California. CEO Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. introduced its latest creation, the iPad, a mobile tablet browsing device that is a cross between the iPhone and a MacBook laptop. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the second BIG feature that Apple announced: 10 hours of battery life. That’s amazing for a 10-inch screen device (1024×768 resolution) and blows away the battery life of any laptop I’ve heard of.

Over the past few years, I have gained around 20 pounds following a period of little to no physical activity due to a major vehicle accident. I’ve been trying several different ways to get back into shape including playing sports nearly five times a week and hiring a personal trainer this summer. Nothing has really seemed to work, though I have stopped the downward spiral that landed me near 160 pounds. I am now closer to 150 pounds at the start of my Wii Fit experience.

My initial impression of the Wii Balance Board that came with the game is that it is very sturdy (this is Nintendo after all) and does an amazing job of detecting balance. There are four core training areas included: Yoga, Strength, Aerobic and Balance Games. I have taken Yoga in the past and have also had minor strength and aerobic training. The Balance Games are a nice touch as well and the four games unlocked so far have gotten me off the couch and into physical activity.

For me, the most powerful piece of Wii Fit may just be its tracking ability. Today I am listed at 151.7 lbs. with a BMI of 24.38, which is in the normal range, though it’s closely bordering on overweight. My Wii Fit age, which is a measure of my current age with my weight and fitness abilities taken into account, is currently at 42 years old, which is rather terrible.

Wii Fit comes with 40 exercises and activities total, though only a few are available at the start. While some reviewers have faulted Wii Fit for this omission, I think it’s actually one of the better design choices. Harder exercises aren’t unlocked until gamers show they have advanced to that level. Even the easier exercises restrict the number of reps until you show you can handle more. I look forward to advancing and unlocking more and more activities.

Thus far, I LOVE the Yoga included. Even at a real Yoga class, the instructor is not able to so accurately pinpoint my balance deficiencies. Strength training exercises are rather difficult, and this is me performing the exercises without weights. Once I am more proficient and add weights, I am sure to get even more benefit.

I’m not really sure how I will document my time with Wii Fit as yet. I’ll see how my time holds up. For now, I will submit this review and at the very least write a follow-up review on how I am doing in regards to my goals (I have to lose 14.28 pounds in two months).

Thus far, I think Wii Fit is absolutely brilliant and the below score reflects my current feelings, though this score may change as I use the program more and more.

Review Score: ★★★★★ 

A few of my friends went the route of buying an American iPhone and unlocking it for use in Canada. I decided to wait. I almost waited too long, as the introductory 6GB data plan offer was over, and I had to argue my way to getting the introductory offer. All in all, I’m happy with the cost of the data plan and the options I received (6GB data, iPhone Wireless Essentials).

I’ve now had the phone for a full two weeks, and I must say in all honesty that the iPhone 3G has changed my life. The precipitating factor for my buying an iPhone 3G was actually this website. The iPhone 3G launched with Apple’s App Store 2.0 software, allowing the downloading and purchase of third-party applications. The biggest application for me was WordPress for iPhone. Now I’m able to blog on the go, like when I’m on the bus on my way to work. The App Store opens up a world of possibilities, and having the power of the internet in my hands at all times is extremely convenient.

My favourite features of the iPhone include the complete integration with my iMac desktop computer. All my e-mails and contacts are automatically synchronized. The Visual Voicemail makes receiving voice messages much less painful (I’ve never been much for receiving voicemail).

I’m one of the few fans of the touch keypad. I have never been a fan of the BlackBerry and still find them rather cumbersome to use, so I never got used to typing with my thumbs. There have been many complaints about Apple’s touch keypad, but I think they mainly stem from users trying to type with their thumbs. The keypad is simply not made for this, as thumbs are too large and block the screen. I use my three centre fingers, and I’m confident that within a year’s time, I’ll be able to out-type any BlackBerry typist in the world. Yes, I may be a bit over-confident, but I am the Winnipeg Typing Champion after all.

The phone itself has had some technical issues. In fact, I am already on my second iPhone 3G in as many weeks. My first iPhone 3G decided to no longer recognize my SIM card. My second iPhone 3G nearly stopped recognizing the existence of a battery. Now, I generally would deduct marks off for these technical issues except for one huge factor: Apple’s customer service.

The ease of reporting my phone’s failure and the quick replacement of my phone was rather impressive. The new 2.1 software update is also supposed to have corrected many of the software bugs.

Technical issues aside, the overwhelming way in which Apple has changed the world of mobile technology far outshines anything that could possibly be semi-annoying.

Review Score: ★★★★★