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Apple iPad finally unveiled by Steve Jobs

Apple's claiming it bridges the gap between laptops and smartphones, and we now know it's neither an iSlate nor an iTablet but an iPad.

The iPhone manufacturer's chief executive, Steve Jobs, finally revealed his latest creation to the world yesterday and confirmed it can be used for surfing the web, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, sharing photos and running office software, as well as for downloading e-books and digital newspapers.

Resembling a bigger version of the iconic smartphone itself, the iPad features a 9.7-inch touchscreen display, with a Qwerty keyboard appearing on the screen for typing emails.

It promises ten hours of battery life and can run any iPhone mobile apps downloaded from the iTunes store, so users can synchronise their existing apps.

During his much-hyped appearance in California, Jobs browsed YouTube on the tablet, as well as Google Maps and the device's built-in iTunes store. He also played the Disney Pixar animated film Up.

Though the iPad can be used as an electronic reader (eReader), tech blogs have already jumped on the fact that it lacks a camera, though this could be the reason it's mooted to cost around £350 for the cheapest model.