If the 82nd Academy Awards weren’t exciting enough, Apple revealed its iPad commercial debut during the show.

The commercial shows someone picking up the tablet, sitting it in his or her lap and playing with the features (to upbeat music of  The Blue Van – “There Goes My Love“).  A book is brought up and with the flick of a finger the page is turned.  Star Trek (the most recent movie) is brought up and the tablet is turned into a personal viewer.  Pictures format themselves to the way you turn the screen.  A keyboard is brought up for typing.  This little machine is sleeker than a laptop and just as versatile with over 150,000 applications being available from time of shipment.

The end of the ad pops up with “April 3,” the launch date for the iPad.  You can pre-order the Apple iPad from the Apple website starting March 12.  Pricing starts at $499 for a basic model (just has 16GB and Wi-Fi) and raises to the most expensive at $829 for the deluxe model (64GB and Wi-Fi + 3G capability).  The 3G data plan is sold separately.

The commercial was aired right after Up won Best Animated Film.  Steve Jobs was Pixar’s chairman before Disney bought the company in 2006 and Jobs is on Disney’s Board of Directors.