The iPad lands in Dubai!! Here's everything you need to know about it...

FINALLY after 4 days of waiting, I got my iPad today. Holding it in my hand evoked the same feelings I had the first time I ever held the Apple iPhone, or the first Sony PSP before that- a sense that I was holding something from the future. Something, that in time, would change everything.

FIRST IMPRESSION:
The iPad is an absolutely gorgeous device, and looks exactly like a large iPhone or iPod touch. You need to connect it to iTunes to be able to initially view anything on the device, but once you do, you gasp at how gorgeous the home screen looks. In my case, I mistook a shooting star on the wallpaper as a scratch, so for a split second I gasped in horror, but I was completely awash with appreciation (and relief) from then on. Apple has been kind enough to completely charge the device before boxing it, so you don't have to wait around while the device is plugged into a wall socket before you can play with it. Once you're connected to itunes, you're pretty much good to go. I immediately downloaded a few free apps to play around with and was quite impressed with the way they looked and functioned. Also, I was very impressed with how usable the on-screen keyboard really is. I expected it to be a pain in the ass to use, but I found that if you laid it flat on a table or on your lap and tried typing on it with both hands, it was quite fluid in its application.

THE APPS:
Other Apps I've downloaded so far (I've only had a few hours to play with it) are the "Adobe Ideas" app as well as the "Draw" app, which are both free. I actually am in love with the Adobe Ideas app, and find it a lot more useful than the "Sketchbook Pro" app that I paid for and downloaded, simply because I wanted to see what the hype was about. Unless you're a professional artist who works on a Wacom tablet, the Adobe ideas app will pretty much suffice for you. I downloaded "ABC Player", but like its online version, found that if I'm not in the US, it won't let me play videos on my device.  I tried a few videos on YouTube (the app comes installed in the iPad) and found that a few videos played well, but a few said that the video format was not supported. I don't know if that has anything to do with Flash missing, but I haven't figured that out yet. Also I was VERY impressed with the Kindle App (book app by Amazon) for the iPad and thought it was quite ironic that it was better on this device than it was on the Kindle itself (i own the larger Kindle DX). On the Kindle I also get annoyed that while I'm lying down and reading, the device sometimes automatically rotates the screen into landscape mode. The iPad has a screen rotation lock to stop that from happening which is great. The Kindle App let me also view the books I currently own through Amazon, so I was able to download a few that I hadn't read yet. The iBooks app by Apple is also very cool, and I liked that it let me adjust the brightness of the screen directly from the App so I wouldn't hurt my eyes reading as much. I was also able to download a few books for free through the App, so I downloaded a few classics to read. Will know more about how comfortable it is to read on an iPad, later. Haven't tried any games as yet.
UPDATE: Users in Dubai please be aware that both, the Kindle app as well as the iBooks app will require US credit cards for downloading books! Forgot to mention that earlier.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU BUY!!!:
Ok there's nothing I've said in the review so far that you wouldn't have been able to read elsewhere, so let me give you a few pointers about the device that nobody else will. For the people that are tech savvy, these might seem obvious, but i'll reiterate them anyway. There are a few certain things you need to watch out for:
1) The device, as has been delivered on the 3rd of April (the launch date in the US) is the Wi-Fi only model. When I showed the device to my sister this evening she said, "so there is a difference between wireless and Wi-Fi??" Well, it depends really what you mean. The 3G version, which will be launched at the end of the month in the US, allows you to put a SIM in your iPad and use it to browse the internet and do things on it, wherever you go. It will NOT work as a phone though. The WiFi version, which is what I have now, will only work near WiFi routers. In America, this means it'll work in a lot of places. In Dubai, not so much.
2) Please be aware that the SIM card size that goes into the device when it's launched with the 3G version is smaller than the Etisalat SIM. My friend Jimmy (my "Geek God" friend) insists that there will be a way to cut an Etisalat SIM to make it fit in that space, but as of now, it's just speculation.
3) You need to be able to access the US iTunes store to download apps on the device. If you want a tutorial on how to do that, you can either google it, or ask me to post the instructions and I will
4) If you do wait and get a device with 3G on it (which I highly recommend you do), please be aware that there is an extra monthly cost attached to that. If you DON'T already have a 3G data package on your phone, you will need to subscribe to it, and the Etisalat Unlimited Mobile Broadband package costs 395 per month. Don't bother getting a lesser capacity, as data does get used up pretty quickly and you will be stuck with exorbitant Mobile bills based on every MB used over the limit.
5) Be aware that the iPad was launched in the US on Saturday the 3rd of April, where the people who pre-ordered received their shipments, or picked them up from the stores. I had pre-ordered my device and had it mailed to my best friends house who, within a few hours, went to the FedEx office and had it overnighted to me. The earliest they could have it delivered to me in Dubai was today, Wednesday the 7th of April. The reason I'm stressing on this is that there are apparently a few stores in Dubai claiming they have stock of the iPads already- considering there was a limit of two devices per customer for pre-order and in-store pick up, I don't see how that is possible. Beware of companies saying they've had them before today, especially if they claim they had them before the 3rd! Unless their last name is Jobs, that didn't happen.
6) The iPad will take a month at least to Officially be launched in Dubai, so beware of places that are selling "gray" material that does not have a warranty on the machines. You might be paying around three times the price of the device, with no place to go if its a faulty piece. Jumbo only sells products with a warranty, which is why we might not be getting them in for a while. But once we do, it will be the official product with warranty and insurance and all our other perks.
7) A few customers have been complaining of faulty devices where the iPad won't charge or the Wi-Fi connection won't connect or will drop signal. Again, I would suggest you either wait and buy a product with a warranty, or you get one from the US in a way you can send/take it back to the Apple Store if you do have any problems with it.

Whew. That's all I think! If you have any questions or comments, put them in the comments field below or send them to me at kiran@kiranscorner.com