Apple hosted a huge press conference today to announce their newest gadget, the iPad, a super-sized version of the iPhone.

Rumors and speculation have been flying around for months now about whether or not Apple would release a tablet computer and today it finally became official. The iPad has a 10 inch widescreen multi-touch display and will be compatible with all current and future apps in the App store. The screen will support a resolution of 1024 X 768 pixels. The base model will be a 16GB Wi-Fi only tablet for $499 and there will be 32GB and 64GB models going for $599 and $699 respectively. You can add 3G to any model for $130 plus a monthly fee from AT&T to use it. Apple released a SDK today that will allow developers to create specific apps for the new iPad as well as adapt their current ones to take advantage of the new real estate.

So what does the new tablet mean to gaming? Apple brought out EA during their presentation to show off Need for Speed: Shift running on the new tablet. You control the car by turning the tablet like a steering wheel and you can tap the screen to change the camera to an in-car view. From this view you can shift the car by sliding over the gear shift and look behind you by tapping the mirror. We have no doubt that the iPad will affect gaming in some way much like the iPhone but to what degree we're not sure yet. I'm excited whenever someone creates another avenue for people to enjoy games on and I can't wait to see what developers come up with.

The Apple iPad 16GB Wi-Fi only model will be available in March with the other models following along in April.