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Apple has announced that Jerome York, a member of the Apple Board of Directors, has passed away today after being in critical condition since a collapse in his home two nights ago.

York joined the Appl board in 1997 after being the chairman, president, and CEO of Harwinton Capital. He was also a former CFO of IBM and Chrysler, as well as being the former vice president of Tracinda. 

“Jerry joined Apple’s Board in 1997 when most doubted the company’s future. He has been a pillar of financial and business expertise and insight on our Board for over a dozen years,” said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. “It’s been a privilege to know and work with Jerry, and I’m going to miss him a lot.”

York was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1938. He is a graduate from the United States Military Academy, and also received his MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as well as an MBA from the University of Michigan. 

Eilene York, his wife, states that he collapsed in his Rocheser, Michigan home on Tuesday night and was thus transferred over to Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital by emergency services, where he was listed as being in 'critical condition'. 

York died of a massive cerebral hemorrage, according to the doctors that treated him.

Apple has a tribute page to York on their website, http://www.apple.com.

"With deep sadness we announce the loss of a member of our corporate family and dear friend, Jerry York," Apple says in a tribute posted to its home page. "Jerry courageously joined Apple's Board of Directors in 1997, when many doubted the company's future, and contributed his extraordinary character, business expertise, and leadership to help guide Apple for over a decade. Jerry was one of kind --and we're going to miss him dearly."

So unless one has been living under a rock, everyone has heard of the new product Apple announced today - the iPad.

Apple has the keynote up online now, which can be found here. There is also now the page apple.com/ipad, which features the demo video of the iPad, as well as information about the device. You can even sign up to get notified of when the device will start shipping (60 days from today).

The base facts of the iPad (which is, by far, the worst name they could have given it-were there no focus groups for this?!?)

• 9.7 inch LED-backlit IPS display
• Capacitative multi-touch
• 1024x768 resolution at 132 PPI
• 1.5 lbs, .5 inches thin
• 10 hours battery life
• 802.11n WiFi
• Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
• Separate WiFi and 3G models
• 3G model will be supplied with AT&T 3G data ($14.99 for 250MB, $29.99 unlimited)
• Apple A4 1 GHz chip powered processor
• 16, 32, 64GB flavors
• Starting at $499, $599, $699 for WiFi models, 3G will be an additional $130 on top of starting WiFi price
• WiFi only model will start shipping in March, 3G model in April
• Accelerometer
• Syncs via USB to iTunes
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Built-in speaker
• Microphone
• SIM card tray

This is the basics, there's more that can be found at http://apple.com/ipad/specs. It will be able to run iPhone apps in regular resolution or full screen, straight out-of-the-box. You can even customize the background of it. So it's pretty much a hybrid of iPhone OS with Mac OS X. The UI for Mail and Calendar are much improved over the iPhone versions, though it looks similar. Maybe this can find its way into iPhone OS 4.0. It is also going to have the iBook app, which will allow the purchase of ebooks from Apple's own digital bookstore (Kindle killer, anyone?).

The disappointing thing is there is no multitasking (as of yet), no cameras, and the name...but that's not the point.

Like with the 1st gen iPhone, there are some things that are missing, so it would probably be better to wait til the 2nd gen. Not to mention that the iPhone 1st gen got a price drop only months after being introduced - maybe the same fate will await the iPad - we'll see.

It's been confirmed by several big tech blogs that have received their invites to the Apple Media Event which will take place on Jan. 27, 10 a.m PST at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

Then we can finally be rid of all the speculation and rumors once and for all.