At a much hyped and frenzied big Apple event today in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The press gathered to check in and finally discover what Steve Jobs had up his sleeve.

Apple iPad first glimpse from Steve Jobs, CEO Apple.

You must admit his black neck tied top is a bit priestly. Reportedly Moses was used as a comical slide to hint to ‘the announcement’ during the run-up of the show. The CNET Live blog by Erica Ogg reported:

10:06 a.m.: That’s the end of the updates. Now to the main event.

He shows a photo of Moses holding a tablet. “I chuckled when I saw this.”

Erica Ogg continues:

10:09 a.m.: Some people have thought that’s a Netbook, he says. “The problem is Netbooks aren’t better at anything,” he says to loud laughter and applause.

“They’re just cheap laptops. We think we have something better.”

10:10 a.m.: iPad is the name.

iPad is the name

A giant iPod Touch-looking device ½ inch thin and weighing 1.5 pounds steals the show.

Some of the other little features:

• A 9.7-inch IPS display, the same display used in the latest-generation iMac.
• 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, accelerometer, compass, and a 10-hour battery life.
• One month of standby battery life. You can leave it asleep and not use it for 30 days.
• Full screen multi-rotational internet browser.
• A calendar and address book for contacts. Maps using Google Maps too.
• Doubles as an iPod with 16gb capacity and access to the iTunes Store.
• You can also watch YouTube, TV shows (iPlayer), and movies on it.
• Photos able to be viewed in stacks, viewed in portrait or landscape.
• You sort through by flicking with your finger. A bottom bar looks like a film strip you can scroll through to see all photos in an album.
• Can organize by faces, places, or events, just like iPhoto.
• All App Store apps including Games run on the iPad also.
• Price: It’s $499 for the 16GB Model

With reports coming in of vast sums of money being donated through online and text appeals, it is interesting to see who is doing what and how it is being reported.

Google

Google has dedicated disaster relief site now for Haiti. It aggregates the latest news, video and aid information currently available.

Twitter

Tweak the Tweet, provides a dictionary of hashtags for reporting on issues on the ground in Haiti and calling for aid. Here are templates for using their syntax

Learning to speak #machine

Twitter has provided many people with a communication lifeline. For those affected on the ground as well as those affected around the world. The role played by twitter in facilitating disaster relief is now being reviewed through the discussion of ‘hashtags for emergency response’ an interesting examination into the semantic ‘hashtag’ protocol potential of twitter data definition for emergency response.

Facebook

Facebook provides a variety of ways to communicate. Through messaging, wall-posts and IM. All of which have been used as a way of directly communicating. Alongside direct messaging, a great many groups have sprung up also. With groups being open the public it’s unfortunate, albeit inevitable, to witness a growing abuse in peoples trust through these public groups.

Related News Reports

The BBC has filed a couple of reports on the phenomenal and innovative ways that social media has been used to help victims, relatives and facilitate aid efforts. I’m sure we’ll see a few more of these in the coming weeks.

• Social networks and the web offer a lifeline in Haiti
• Twitter and Facebook users respond to Haiti crisis

Other related news stories

• Facebook Haiti Earthquake Scam Artists Surface – Associated Content
• Twitter and Facebook praised by Haiti charity – The Telegraph
• Social networking sites boost Haiti disaster appeal – Charities Aid Foundation
• Aid agencies ‘must use new tools’ – BBC