Apple revealed its much anticipated iPad before an audience of journalists and industry analysts today. The device looks to be about what most people expected; but is that really enough?

Essentially, the device is an iPhone with a 9.7 inch screen, with a couple new apps to go along with it. The base model, which will sap about $500 dollars from your wallet, won’t even have 3G connectivity. The fully loaded version will run at about $829.

Other than its slick multi-touch interface, there doesn’t seem to be much that separates this device from the competition.

On the other hand, there isn’t much that technically separates the iPhone from it’s competition. The Blackberry, Palm Pre, and now the new Android phones that are storming the market are actually held by some to be superior devices to the iPhone.

What sets the iPhone apart, and what will make or break the iPad, is the development community. Apple has developed a dedicated fanbase, and has created its mobile devices with app creation in mind. Those two factors have resulted in the tens of thousands of apps you can now find in the Store.

Apple, to its credit, seems to be aware of this. During the iPad’s development process they worked with the New York Times and several book publishers to develop apps that will put the device in competition with e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle. They have also courted Electronic Arts to create games especially for the iPad.

Apps you already have for your iPhone will be compatible with the iPad, at least in theory.

The idea of playing iPhone games on a bigger screen is intriguing. Many of the games available on the iPhone and iPod Touch are already quite good, and are getting better fast. With more screen real estate to work with, game developers might go crazy and make the iPad the next must-have gaming platform.

If the development community gets behind the iPad and creates some truly unique and must-have applications for the new gadget, I have no doubt that it will become insanely popular and in a few years we’ll all wonder what we did without one.

If, however, the big iPhone doesn’t capture the imaginations of the code monkeys, we may witness Apple’s first major flop in recent memory.

UPDATE: Apparently the iPad doesn’t have Flash support. Seems an odd decision for a device that’s aimed at web browsing and media intake… No built in video-out, either, so to use this for presentations or anything will require an adapter.

Jerod Jarvis is an independent gaming journalist and founder of Duality Games. He maintains gaming columns for The Washington Times Communities and for The Outpost. When not blogging madly about games, he freelances for the Spokesman-Review in his hometown of Spokane, Washington and attends school at Whitworth University. Check out his presence on Facebook and Twitter to stay up on Duality Games updates and the inside scoop on the gaming news you care about.