iPad crazy: news from across the pond

If you didn't know that the iPad is out in the US tomorrow then we aren't living on the same planet! It's been invading gliding it's way across all available media platforms with plenty UK coverage too (yes, The Times' story on a spherical iPad redesign to meet EU safety regs was an April fool). Here's a selection of what we've picked up on, including the CBS teaser for tonight's star on Letterman...


And if anyone needed any more proof that Apple sees the iPad as a mass market device, product placement entered a whole new sphere last night in the form of an entire episode of the sitcom Modern Family - it's April 3rd and it's somebody's birthday, guess what they're getting!


The hype certainly seems to be paying off. Ten days ago we reported 120,000 pre-orders. Estimates are rocketing all the time. Yesterday some analysts were putting the figure at 250,000 and the consensus now seems to be settling around 500,000 with shipping dates being pushed back and Apple no longer telling customers they'll be able to pick their iPad up in stores. There's still no firm release date in the UK of course. It's believed that something like 6 million iPad's will be sold worldwide this year!

In the meantime the early reviews are in and the verdict is very positive indeed. Walt Mossberg, the Wall Street Journal's technology correspondent raves about battery life (12 hours of usage), speed and ease of use as well as the beautiful touchscreen. It will create a whole new category and "challenge the primacy of the laptop", he tells us. These sentiments are echoed but nuanced by David Pogue at the New York Times. Like Mossberg, he's very much taken with his new piece of hardware but says that it doesn't perform well in full sunlight and wonders about its practicality as an electronic reader: the Kindle has the advantage of being lighter (290g as opposed to the iPad's 680g). Pogue's conclusion is that the iPad is better for consuming than creating.

And of course our analysis wouldn't be complete without a word from the Britain's very own gadget guru, Stephen Fry. Here's what he had to say in his interview with Steve Jobs for Time: "When I switch it on, a little sigh escapes me as the screen lights up. Ten minutes later I am rolling on the floor, snarling and biting, trying to wrestle it from the hands of an Apple press representative."

But what does a Brit have to do to get their hands on one before Apple manages to get enough product out the factory to confirm a release date for us? The answer is, you order though a company like Bundle Box who specialise in setting up a US postal address for you so that you can get your iPad posted there. The cheapest model (wi-fi connection only) will cost you $499 (£330) with the 3G enabled version coming in at $829.


Though officially Apple is combating the 'grey' market in iPad imports, apps for iPad are now available on the UK app store, no doubt in anticipation of those UK members of the sect who do manage to get their sweaty little mitts on the latest offering in advance. Developers have been getting excited about the hardware for some time - inside (if you can get in there) you'll find Apple's own A4 processor, made by Samsung, a discrete GPU, solid state storage (SSD) and of course that capacitive screen.

Flurry, the analytics service for mobile applications developers, yesterday published research that shows developer support for the iPad has been exploding over the last 60 days. On US iTunes Apple has added a toggle to allow consumers to view iPad specific apps - around 2000 are currently listed. There will probably only be around 1500 actually available at launch but a lot of these will be simple redesigns of existing iPhone apps, with any that really make the most of the new machine requiring a longer adaptation period. Up until now developers have been building their apps on an iPad emulator that shows them what their app will look and feel like on their own computer.


According to Flurry's figures, 22% of new project starts within Flurry over the last 60 days were specific to the iPad. While the numbers from Flurry show that there's plenty of interest from developers, the riches available to those creating successful apps - Apple, of course still takes its 30%! - won't be as immediate as they were for iPhone. When the App store originally opened in June 2008 there were already millions of iPhone users, so the build for iPad will be slower.

That said iPad versions look as if they're going to be priced with a premium on iPhone apps - they'll cost you double in many cases - and the question is whether the larger interface and the multitouch options will allow developers to provide enough added value to justify the higher pricing.

The popular Brushes app	Epicurious - for cookery fans	Reuters on your iPad?

One of the things that's making the iPad such a hit with the press of course, is its possibilities as a reader and apps to deliver news content (such as the Thomson Reuters one above) will be coming thick and fast. The good news for Amazon is that iPad users will not be restricted to buying titles from Apple. iBooks will not be preloaded onto the iPad and this offers a window to Amazon and other electronic book sellers. Amazon is readying an app to make its books available on the through the Apple platform (you'll be able to read your Kindle e-books on the iPad). This should rapidly increase Amazon's potential ebook market as, while the Kindle has sold over 2 million units, if the predictions are right, the iPad will more than quadruple Amazon's customer base this year alone.

Of course, the Kindle is a more specialized device than the iPad, which introduces new reader options such as colour, video, music and so on. Earlier this week on Digital Versus, we told you about the Vook, a new type of hybrid content that's a mix of text, video, music and hypertext links - ideal for the iPad!

So then, with the countdown registering just a few hours, the race is on to try some of these features out. The blogosphere will no doubt be going bananas very shortly and we certainly won't be leaving you high and dry either with our in-depth review of 2010 tablets also coming out tomorrow. All we can say for now then is, watch this space!

> Buyer's Guides: Our Pick of The Best Products