Apple announced its new tablet device, the iPad, on Wednesday after months and months of rumors and speculation. Amidst all of those predictions were theories about what the new device could mean for the publishing industry. Now that the actual device has been unveiled, publishing industry types can now focus those theories on reality rather than letting their imaginations run wild.

According to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the iPad will fall somewhere between a laptop and a smartphone in regards to its capabilities. It will be capable of combining text, photos, audio, and video on a 10-inch color display. It will allow publishers to keep the same sense of graphic design in their digital designs that drew people to the print versions.

The iPad will come with an iBooks app, which will support the non-proprietary ePub format for ebooks. An iBookstore will be integrated with the app. Books from four major publishers — Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, McGraw-Hill and Hachette — will be available when the device hits stores in a couple of months. Between now and then, of course, more publishers may be on board.

The biggest hindrance to the iPad may be the lack of content that fully utilizes its technical capabilities. Embedded media is one advantage the iPad has over Amazon’s Kindle, but how long will it take publishers to develop appropriate digital versions of their books? And will they be able to do it in such a way that it feels natural rather than just thrown together for the sake of using all the bells and whistles?

The Los Angeles Times touches on this:

Although Apple has proved its deftness at creating trendy devices and a digital store in which publishers could sell their wares, Gartner Inc. analyst Allen Weiner said there will be plenty of trial and error before newspaper, magazine and book publishers figure out the “fine art” of creating digital editions that take advantage of the device’s graphics and video. “Where’s the opportunity? It’s creating book experiences. It’s taking a cookbook and adding video and author updates. That’s an opportunity, because you can charge extra for that.”

Still, the possibilities are exciting for book publishing in the very near future. Jason Kincaid at TechCrunch provided an optimistic view for the iPad’s applications in the book world. He thinks it has the potential to change the way we read and learn:

Imagine a biography of Abraham Lincoln that allowed you to pull up photos of every person and place mentioned with a single finger swipe. [...] The hybrid book could include comprehensive references for each person mentioned in the book. Not just a Wikipedia article, mind you, but information that is contextually relevant to the moment you’re currently reading about. The experience wouldn’t simply be one of jumping from hyperlink to hyperlink. All of this supplementary material would naturally flow into the reading experience, while you never left your place in the primary text.

[...] Picture a chemistry textbook where you could freely rotate any molecule, tapping on a chemical bond to learn more about why it behaves the way it does. Or a Shakespeare play (in text form) where you could tap a piece of dialog to hear it spoken aloud, or perhaps even played in a video. Tapping a sidebar at any time would bring up a roster of characters and their allegiances, lest a love triangle leave you confused.

Kincaid also reports on a company called Inkling that plans to help textbook publishers convert their text content to interactive digital versions. They are currently talking to all four of the major textbook publishers. Another company, PixelMags, plans to do the same for magazines. The company has already been helping magazines get into Apple’s App Store for iPhone reading, but the jump to iPad compatibility will mean inclusion of streaming media in the digital versions.

Although the iPad will include native software for reading ebooks, it isn’t yet known if the device will include similar universal readers designed for magazines and textbooks.

You can view a brief video from Steve Jobs’ iPad unveiling below.

Image: Apple Online Press Resources / Rights: Apple