Apple. Mobile Computer. iPad

Apple unveiled a portable device Wednesday called the iPad that will attempt to usher in a new era of touch-screen computing, filling the gaps between smart phones, laptops and e-readers.

The device - 1/2-inch thick and weighing 1 1/2 pounds - will be available by late March. Prices start at $499 for a 16-gigabyte Wi-Fi model and go up to $829 for a model with 64 GB of storage with a 3G wireless data connection through AT&T. The device offers access to Apple's iTunes catalog of music, movies and TV shows. The iPhone's browser is redesigned for the iPad, as are a number of other basic programs such as the calendar, photo gallery, e-mail, contacts and maps. Apple also created iPad versions of popular iWork software applications Keynote, Pages and Numbers, which will sell for $9.99 each.

AT&T Inc. won the right to carry Apple Inc.'s high-profile iPad in the U.S., a coup for the company but on terms that further erode the wireless industry's carrier-centered model.

Just a half-decade ago, the big U.S. wireless companies fully controlled the way subscribers used their service, setting specifications for the phones they offered and locking subscribers into contracts. Apple wrested away control over handsets with the iPhone. Now, another of its hot devices could diminish carriers' control even further. AT&T will offer two cellular-service plans for Apple's new device, but neither will require the contracts that typically accompany its data plans for cell phones and laptops. The move, if followed by others, could push carriers further into the realm of being a conduit for devices and content produced elsewhere.

"Apple has systematically tilted the wireless playing field more and more in their advantage," said Craig Moffett, a senior analyst at Bernstein Research. "Apple extracts more and more of the value, while carriers get more and more of the cost." The deal is the latest compromise in the long-running tussle of control between the carriers and Silicon Valley. Companies such as Apple and Google Inc. have their sights set on the mobile market and want the freedom to control the design of their devices and the way they're used. Carriers, meanwhile, are increasingly relying on data services for growth.