I’ve covered some iSkin products here in the past and been very pleased with them, so I’m happy to pass along the news about this upcoming Back-to School contest from iSkin. By entering your name and the school you’re headed for in the fall, you could be eligible to win up to $1000 worth of iSkin products to furnish that new dorm room.

Here’s what you win:
- Apple iPad 64GB 3G
- iSkin Vu for iPad
- iSkin silo Messenger Bag
- iSkin Eartones
- iSkin Cerulean RX

That’s a hell of a prize package if you ask me. The contest is only available to US and Canadian residents.

I haven’t really tried to hide the fact that I love Booq’s line of products. The bags are stylish, classy, and functional in a way that makes your laptop bag never want to show its face at laptop bag school ever again. Booq’s gone and made a slick little iPad bag for all the tablet lovers in the world, too.

Here’s the official feature list:

booq: Boa push features include:
• Elegant and compact way to carry your iPad, iPhone, credit cards, and other necessary items
• iPad compartment lined with non-scratch fabrics, exterior pocket sized perfectly for the iPhone
• Equipped with easy to use snap button flap closure and super-comfy seatbelt nylon shoulder strap
• Made from genuine Nappa leather and durable booq Twylon
• Equipped with Terralinq service, helps reunite you with your lost and found bag
• Available in sand or gray

The Boa push iPad bag is available for $89.95 at www.booqbags.com.

I have never been so happy to not be an early adopter. I wanted an iPad and I wanted one badly, but I figured I’d wait. No sense in buying the first generation of a device that Apple will just improve in a big way for version two. After the iPhone 4 announcement, it’s clear just what we’re likely to see on the new iPad.

First, a new screen. That “retina display” will be the envy of every iPad owner. Granted, it won’t likely be scaled to iPad sizes – there’s no way the chip could drive that dense a display – but the original iPad screen will likely get a refresh for version two.

Next up, you can bet on at least one camera. Steve Jobs said during the keynote that there would be “tens of millions of FaceTime devices this year so there’s going to be a lot of people to talk to.” No way Apple is selling tens of millions of iPhone 4 units, so there’s got to be something else. That’s where the iPad comes in. FaceTime doesn’t thrill me on the iPhone. It looks small, shaky, and mostly unnecessary when a computer is typically close at hand where there’s a Wi-Fi network. With an iPad screen, though, FaceTime could be more appealing.

As a longshot I’ll also suggest a body redesign. I love what Apple did with the iPhone 4 body. That’s the kind of engineering that makes Apple unique. If that design improves reception, I’ll be even happier. I could see the same happening for the iPad, even though the current design seems fine.

You had to see the death of the netbook. The little laptops are unbearably cramped, with crappy keyboards, tiny touchpads, and screen resolutions that could make even your grandparents beg for more. Netbooks were the lame intermediary while tablets waited for their messiah, and now that they have one, the tablets are taking over.

According to a study by Retrevo, some 70 percent of netbook buyers were courted by the iPad and 30 percent made the final commitment. Though those other 40 percent still stuck with their netbooks, I’d imagine the decision was largely financial. It’s hard to beat $200 for a semi-functional computer to kick around. It’s hard to put a price on not looking pretentious, too.

That 30 percent isn’t exactly the blowout you might expect, but it is a signpost pointed at the heart of the netbook industry. Manufacturers like Dell would do well to pay attention. The great thing about netbooks was portability and nothing else. If you can get the portability with more interesting device, that netbook is going to start to look pretty crappy.

I’ve been undeniably impressed with the iPad since its launch, but I wasn’t convinced I needed one, until now. I’ve spent the last week at my parents’ house in Ohio. I’m lucky enough to work from anywhere, but it’s my recreational web use that’s convinced me I need an iPad.

There have been so many times throughout the week where I’ve wanted to look something up or show something to my brother, or just browse the web while we trade off on games of League of Legends, but my laptop felt too cumbersome and my iPhone just isn’t big enough. Kicking back with my feet on a desk and my laptop across my thighs leaves my knees aching. Carrying my laptop to the cement deck out back feels cumbersome, mostly because of the weight.

In the end, it’s about convenience for me. I want a device that feels big enough to browse on and watch videos and share things with the people near me. The iPhone is great as a one-man device, but it doesn’t hold up in a social setting. An iPad, though, would do just the trick.

The Apple Store went down today, which almost always means something new is coming. In this case it was international iPad pre-orders.

If you haven’t been keeping up, the iPad launched in the US back in April, and though some countries haven’t had access to it, many of their citizens have been paying top dollar to get an iPad just a month early. Crazy early adopters. Seriously, I’m a geek/nerd/freak all the way and I struggle to understand that logic. But hey, more power to the people making bank off that iPad.

If you reside outside the US you can finally head over and order your new tablet today. Launch is May 28th.

If you pre-ordered a 3G-capable iPad you’re in for a pleasant April 30th. That’s when the device should be arriving, both for orders from the online store and at individual Apple retail locations. The device won’t be there until 5PM for you pick-ups, but I suppose that’s for the best. You can actually go to work and get things done. Or, you know, pre-download all your apps and iBooks so they’re ready to go when you get home.

Here’s the full text from Apple’s press release:

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced that the Wi-Fi + 3G models of its magical iPad™ will be delivered to US customers who’ve pre-ordered on Friday, April 30, and will be available in Apple retail stores the same day starting at 5:00 p.m.
iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface. iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models are just 0.5 inches thick and weigh just 1.6 pounds-thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook-and deliver up to 10 hours of battery life for surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching videos or listening to music, and up to nine hours of surfing the web using a 3G data network.*
Apple retail stores will offer a free Personal Setup service to every customer who buys an iPad at the store, helping them customize their new iPad by setting up their email, loading their favorite apps from the App Store, and more. US Apple retail stores are also hosting special iPad workshops to help customers learn more about this magical new product.
Pricing & Availability
iPad is available in Wi-Fi models in the US for a suggested retail price of $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB and $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available on April 30 in the US for a suggested retail price of $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB. iPad is sold in the US through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores, most Best Buy stores, select Apple Authorized Resellers and campus bookstores. AT&T is offering breakthrough 3G pre-paid data plans for iPad with easy, on-device activation and management.
iPad will be available at the end of May in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Apple will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders for iPad on May 10.
*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.
© 2010 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iPad, Multi-Touch and Apple Store are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

The iPad didn’t sell the whopping 700,000 units some estimated on Day One, but that didn’t stop it from moving 500,000 in the first week. That’s a nice figure for a device that is essentially pioneering an entire market sector. It’s so nice that Apple has had to delay the device’s launch overseas by an entire month. Apple is anticipating that demand will outpace supply for at least the next several weeks (bleeding into the 3G launch period for those keeping track at home).

Here’s the official word:
Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad™. We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April.

Faced with this surprisingly strong US demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May. We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason—the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far.

Source: Apple

You waited for hours in that line. It was hot, cold, rainy, snowing, windy, sunny, exhausting, tiring, irritating, lonely, funny, strange, whatever. It was unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, I love standing in line for nerdy stuff as much as the next guy or gal. There’s a certain camaraderie you just don’t get anywhere else. It’s pretty damn frustrating, though, when you find out it wasn’t necessary.

It seems that despite rumors of a day one sellout, most Apple stores across the country still have the iPad in stock. Some have even received second shipments. It’s a good position for Apple to be in, as you can bet there will be those who just had to play with one before they bought it (I’ll admit, I didn’t give two hoots about the iPhone until I spent about an hour with one).

Most of the major retailers seem to have sold out (meaning all of the Best Buy locations) but you don’t have to overpay just to get your new tablet. Head to your local Apple store and your troubles are over.

When the iPad was first announced there was a lot of crying about the screen size. If the thing was meant for watching video why wouldn’t it have a 16:9 aspect ratio? I mean, who wants black bars on the size of an already smaller screen than you might be used to.

I do, actually. Why? The iPad is about more than just visual media consumption. Yes, movies are going to look great on that pretty little screen, but it needs to do more than that. From everything we’ve seen about the iPad (and everything you probably know if you’ve held one) it’s meant to be wielded a lot like a book. Imagine that book on a 16:9 aspect ratio. It would be ridiculously awkward to hold.

That says nothing of actually viewing content either. Reading websites, ebooks, and browsing content like photos makes much more sense with a 4:3 screen. The iPad is not a purpose-built device; it’s designed for all sorts of content.

If you’re really that concerned about a 16:9 screen, get yourself a JooJoo. I hear that company is doing very well.

Well that was certainly quick. I’d heard that George Hotz had potentially jailbroken Apple’s new tablet but he wasn’t talking. Another Dev-Team member, MuscleNerd, said it took him just 24 hours to get the crack right. May the unauthorized app installation/piracy/warranty-voiding fun begin!

The break is apparently a variation on the “Spirit,” jailbreak used for iPhones running iPhone OS 3.1.3. The crack uses a browser to achieve root access and allows you to run whatever apps you’d like on the iPad, authorized or no. For now, the crack remains in that “only if you know what you’re doing” range of hacks. Come on, though, it only took 24 hours. I’m sure you can find a way to automate this little process, MuscleNerd.

Source: MacNN

The initial estimates for iPad day one sales were somewhere around 700,000. I was hugely impressed by the number, especially in the context of iPhone day one sales and the Kindle installed base. As it turns out, the official sales figures are “over 300,000,” a far cry from that whopping estimate. While 300K is good it’s hard not to feel a little underwhelmed.

Technically the iPad is a new frontier. There hasn’t been a tablet device like it, and it’s certainly the sleekest of the slew of tablets that have released of late. But the iPhone OS and the App Store that make up the iPad are old hat. Millions and millions of people know and love the system, so why such middling sales?

Part of it could be that this is the first of two iPad launch days. A lot of people probably want the assurance of a 3G connection, especially since it doesn’t require a contract. The more likely reason is that no one knows just how good the iPad can be. The device has a ton of potential for media consumption but the content providers need to be on board. iPad versions of newspapers and other media are ridiculously expensive, especially considering that news and other media are freely accessible by other means. As great as browsing on the iPad must be, browsing on my laptop doesn’t cost anything, doesn’t require any app other than my browser, and is only marginally less convenient than toting around an iPad.

It seems the world is convinced that the iPad justifies the existence of expensive, tailored content when in reality it’s the reverse. The content needs to justify the existence of the iPad. If I can stream video, read books, read my news sources, browse the web and listen to music for reasonable rates then of course I want a comfortable, portable device for doing it. If that device is going to send the price of all those content streams through the roof then screw it, I’m fine with regular TV, books, DVDs that I can rip to digital formats for free, and relatively cheap music downloads on a conventional device.

Apple product launches are always a little bittersweet. The products are usually great, and if not they’re called Apple TV. But along with the products you have to put up with Apple fanatics talking about how this thing you don’t have will revolutionize the world. To some extent I believe the hype but there is that intense feeling that it’s a bunch of bullshit. Ray Bradbury gets along just fine without technology, doesn’t he?

While I’m not ready to write off technology, I do like to keep things in perspective with little pranks like this. Gizmodo has 8 great false backgrounds for your crazy friends’ iPads. Drop one of these bad boys on that pristine new tablet and watch the horror cross the owner’s face when it lights up.

Source: Gizmodo

It was a big day for Apple. It was a big day for fanboys (and fangirls). It was a big day for publishers. Alright, it was a big day for just about everyone. Yes, even you haters, because like it or not the iPad is here and it’s a pretty big deal. It’s the first ultra-portable device that’s capable of handling all of your day to day tasks, be it business or entertainment.

The iPad is such a big release that Steve Jobs himself showed up at the Palo Alto location to survey the damage for just under an hour. Analysts are setting estimates for day one sales around 700,000 units, a huge chunk of the supposed couple million Kindles in the wild. By comparison, the iPhone sold just 270,000 units when it launched.

The iPad does have a leg up in that it has access to the iPhone OS App Store. Along with iPhone apps, the iPad will have its own set of apps designed to take advantage of a larger screen size.

With the iPad launching tomorrow there are a lot of apps to get excited about, not the least of which is Pandora. Pandora has been a huge success on every mobile platform. It’s also saved me from many a dull road trip with a virtually limitless pool of musical styles. The app got an update this week to include the iPad version and it looks great.

The update includes a large screen version for the iPad, making the artist description and album art that much more accessible. The update also adds album artwork for every station and improves streaming for quicker song selection and less service dropouts. I gotta say, I’ve never had serious problems with streaming, though it does occasionally seem slow, so the improvements will be great.

The really nice thing for the iPad is that everything is on one screen. There’s no flipping back and forth for stations and artist info and all that. The new app seems focused on users getting to know the artist’s their browsing which will be great for Apple with iTunes integration.

I’ve never been one for playing practical jokes on April Fool’s day. Part of my problem is that I’m chronically unaware of the universal line, you know, the line that you just shouldn’t be crossed for public things like pranks. I’m great in small group settings. I can usually figure out when I need to shut up or what’s just far enough outside everyone’s comfort zone to be funny without being offensive. Give me an open forum, though, and I’m stuffing feet in my mouth like so many bacon infused pancakes.

The internet tends to not wow me with it’s April tomfoolery either. The jokes are expected and most of them are pretty bad. This thing, though, was pretty cool. It’s an iPhone to iPad converter for blowing up your iPhone to iPad size. It runs about $125 and is totally fake so don’t try to buy one. I just thought you might like a look at one of the better jokes of the day.

Source: Iwantoneofthose

It can be hard to wait for your new gadget to ship. I’ve spent countless hours fretting over Newegg shipments, whether they were for me or a friend. I’ve also spent countless upcharges on rush shipping to make sure I get my toys the very second they’re available.

Apple offered a rush shipping method with the iPad pre-orders for an extra $12. That’s not so bad for tech gear, that is, until you find out that standard shippers would receive their tablets on the same day. Did I mention standard shipping is free?

Thankfully, Apple decided to come clean and refund the rushed shipping upcharge. Here’s the letter you’ll be receiving if this affects you:

To Our Valued Apple Customer:

Thank you for your recent Apple iPad purchase.

Our records indicate that when you placed your iPad pre-order, you chose to pay for expedited shipping.

Expedited shipping is not necessary to ensure delivery. Apple has processed a refund for the shipping charge on your order. Please contact your card-issuing bank for information on when the credit will be posted to your account.

Your iPad will deliver on April 3rd in the areas where UPS offers
Saturday delivery.

You can view the most up-to-date status of your order at
.
Sincerely,
The Apple Store Team

A few weeks back someone dug up some placeholder SKUs in Best Buy’s database that seemed to indicate the store would be getting the iPad. There was some speculation, though, since it seemed the first run of the device was going to sell out very quickly. As it turns out, the rumors are likely true. Several sites have managed to dig up Best Buy’s “Apple iPad Launch Playbook,” detailing protocol for day one sales of Apple’s tablet.

This is great news for anyone feeling impulsive about the iPad decision. If you haven’t already heard, the first round of iPads is completely sold out. You won’t be getting one from Apple on day one. It’ll have to wait until April 12th. That is, unless you want to hit up your local Best Buy. According to the document some 675 locations will have the iPad in limited quantities.

Source: TUAW

This weekend brought an interesting surprise for anyone attempting to purchase themselves a nifty, new, Wi-Fi iPad. It’s sold out. You can still buy it, of course, but the ship date isn’t April 3rd anymore. It’s April 12th. In-store pickup has been removed as a shipping method as well.

This is a big deal for Apple’s new device. I’m still standing behind the statement that no one really knows what it does. Yes, the promise of apps and the advent of a color ereader are nice, but $500 is a lot for that promise. Will it be that much better than a laptop? We’ll have to see.

Most estimates put the sold-out round of iPads around 500,000. That’s a crapload of units, especially considering that none of them have 3G. I know some people aren’t expecting big 3G sales, but I’d bet the nerds of the world will pick up a 3G unit for the just-in-case insurance. There’s really not a compelling reason to not get one and plenty of reasons for it. Remember, there are no contracts, so you can grab a month of service whenever you need it.

Source: 9to5 Mac