Apple iPad pre-orders are live (US-only)
Whist today’s iPad pre-order doesn’t specifically apply to Australians, it is important. It turns out the launch of the iPad coincides with my arrival to the US (no I didn’t fly there just to get one, honest). There’s two options for pre-order, one being free delivery to your home, the other being store pickup.
I’ve pre-ordered the 16GB Wi-Fi version using the pickup method from The Grove Apple Store in Los Angeles on April 3rd. If I don’t make it there by 3pm, the pre-order will be cancelled and the device will go on sale to the public. Given there was really no liability if I decide not to get one, I pre-ordered in the event that I fall in love with the device when i get hands on.
If all goes well, I’ll be one of the first Australians to use the device. Depending on network connectivity, I’ll be posting photos and video of a first hands-on, then a more detailed review later on.
More @ Apple
iPad delayed till late April, price so unbelievable it doesn’t exist
By now most of you would have heard that Apple have delayed the release of the iPad. Whilst there’s specifics for dates and prices in the US, the same can’t be said for Australia. The iPad pre-orders will begin on March 12th, and be available on April 3 for the US. Many other countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain Switzerland and the UK will have to wait till late April.
Late April was the original timeframe for the Wifi+3G version, so it’s probably safe to say that date will slip into May.
What’s annoying is we still don’t have official pricing here in Australia. On the Apple website it says ‘A magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price.’ however it fails to list what that price is. Naturally this will be revealed in the coming weeks, but given it’s been a couple months since the iPad announcement in January, that should have been enough time to nail down production costs, shipping, taxes, and partnership deals with Australian carriers.
Make no mistake, price is critical here. The delay is annoying, but consumers will bear a slippage of a couple of weeks, but if the iPad is too expensive, consumer adoption will be severely limited.
More information when Apple deems us worthy.
iPhone OS 3.1.3 released, fixes bugs
As well as the iTunes update, we also got an update to the iPhone OS overnight. Not the 3.2 firmware running on the iPad, but rather a small point release to version 3.1.3. As expected.. bug fixes are essentially all that’s here.
Fixes include:
• Improves accuracy of reported battery level on
iPhone 3GS
• Resolves issue where third-party apps would not
launch in some instances
• Fixes bug that may cause an app to crash when
using the Japanese Kana keyboard
Products compatible with this software update:
• iPhone (all models)
• iPod touch (all models)
Apple fans, you could live in an iPad
Australian Apple fans rejoice, you could live in an iPad. Checking a number of domain names related to the iPad, I came across http://ipad.com.au
ipad Apartments are no doubt seeing an increase in website traffic after Apple’s announcement of the iPad name for their new tablet yesterday.
The ipad Appartments are located in Adelaide, South Australia.
Pointed out by @Feris it also comes with an iGym.
iPhone OS 3.2 beta available
Now available to developers is the beta version of the iPhone OS 3.2.
Apple Tablet officially called iPad, specs revealed
iPad Specs
- 1GHz Apple A4
- 9.7” LED backlit, capacitive multi-touch screen (1024-by-768 res)
- 0.5” thick
- 16GB, 32GB, 64GB flash memory sizes
- 10 hours of battery life
- 802.11n Wifi
- Bluetooth 2.1
- Accelerometer & Compass
3G Version
- UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
- GSM/EDGE (850, 900,1800, 1900 MHz)
Price – starts at US$499 (16GB)
Worldwide availability in 60 days for Wifi-only version, 3G version coming later.
More @ http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/
iPad Features
- Dock
- iTunes integration (Movies, TV shows, Podcasts, Music etc)
- Google Maps integration
- YouTube (including HD)
- Thick biezel to hold the device
- iPhone App upscaling using pixel doubling
- New version of iWork specifically created for the iPad
- Optional keyboard / charging dock
Big ups to GDGT, they’re crushing it !
Apple Tablet Event at 5am AEDST
So “the” event is finally upon us. Apple’s set to announce their own, unique incarnation of a tablet. If they have their way, the Apple Tablet will set the world on fire with a level of success that’ll rival the iPhone.
Finally after weeks of speculation, the real details will be unveiled / confirmed. There’s sure to be some disappointments, regardless of how amazing the device actually is. Expectations have been elevated to an unobtainable level, even by Apple’s standards.
I’ll be up at 5am to watch all the coverage live, best bets are GDGT and TWiT Live.
Update
So the action is about to start, I’m watching coverage from a bunch of sites live.
TWiT Live (seems to be struggling)
And of course lots of columns running in TweetDeck to watch the reaction on twitter.