Apple today updated their site to announce that the iPad will be available on April 3rd. Pre-orders will start on March 12th. This is a slight delay from their original “end  of March” launch date, but we’ve been hearing reports of delays from manufacturers. This launch date is on a Saturday, which has been a Friday in case of the iPhone. Since most people don’t work on a Saturday, this should bring in more crowds. Question remains if you pre-order online, if you will get it delivered on launch day.

Apple held a town hall meeting with employees after the iPad launch. Steve Jobs was reportedly discussing the following topics:

-Google (Jobs confirmed the rivalry between Apple and Google)

“We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.”

-Flash

“Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy, he says. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash, he says. The world is moving to HTML5.”

Additional points discussed:

- Apple will deliver aggressive updates to iPhone.
- iPad is one of the most important projects Steve has worked on.
- Lala was purchased to bring developers into iTunes.
- Next iPhone coming is an A+ update.
- New Macs for 2010 are going to take Apple to the next level.

Apple finally announced it’s iPad yesterday at its overly hyped Media Event. We had a feeling the rumors were getting a little out of control, but here’s what they did announce: (Source: Apple)

Display

* 9.7-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen Multi-Touch display with IPS technology
* 1024-by-768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)
* Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
* Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Wireless and cellular
Wi-Fi model

* Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
* Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Wi-Fi + 3G model

* UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)
* GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
* Data only2
* Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n)
* Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology

Location

* Wi-Fi
* Digital compass
* Assisted GPS (Wi-Fi + 3G model)
* Cellular (Wi-Fi + 3G model)

Capacity3

* 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB flash drive

Processor

* 1GHz Apple A4 custom-designed, high-performance, low-power system-on-a-chip

Sensors

* Accelerometer
* Ambient light sensor

Audio playback

* Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
* Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
* User-configurable maximum volume limit

TV and video

* Support for 1024 by 768 pixels with Dock Connector to VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite Cable
* H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Mail attachment support

* Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

Battery and power4

* Built-in 25 Whr rechargeable lithium-polymer battery
* Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music
* Charging via power adapter or USB to computer system

Input and output

* Dock connector
* 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack
* Built-in speaker
* Microphone
* SIM card tray (Wi-Fi + 3G model only)

The reason we thing it is the most likely to be real (over all the other photoshop jobs we’ve seen):
-It’s enclosed in a security device. Note the special screws that take a proprietary tool to loosed,etc.
-There was a persons reflection on the device until they blocked it out with white squares. The person would now be without a job if they didn’t block their reflection.
-Top left it reads “No Service”. Most likely due to being deep inside Apples Compound.
-Google Maps app is of course very likely to come on the device.
-It appears to be an iphone app which we know is what OS Apple picked for the device by the Leak in the following video:

Apple has begun prepping the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco for it’s Media Event on Wednesday January 27th. We are expecting them to release their long awaited Tablet device.

Flurry the mobile analytics company tracks the usage of mobile apps. They noticed 50 devices running iPhone OS 3.2 within the Apple Campus. Turns out they have been tracking these 50 devices since October of 2009 yet their usage has been ramped up in the last few weeks. Internal testing is of course increased with any product before it’s launch.

In the chart above you can see that the majority of the apps used on this new device were, games, entertainment and news & books.

This of course doesn’t necessarily mean that these 50 devices are Tablets. They could be iPhones. Rumor is that the next iPhone OS upgrade got pushed because of this Tablet.

We’re guessing these are the type of games that will come to the new Tablet, released next week.

iLounge reports that they are hearing rumors about 2 dock connectors. One on the Horizontal bottom and another on the Vertical bottom. This would allow for a more clean look while having the device docked. Of course it wouldn’t be like Apple to have a device that is horizontal at times with a cord dangling on either side.

They have reports that the rear of the device will feature a long stripe down the center which would allow antennas for the various radios to get the best possible reception.

Wi-Fi is almost a 100% certainty at this point. There has been alot of speculation of 3G possibilities. Some say the device will feature an Amazon Kindle style always on connection, and will be paid for by Apple, which in turn will build the cost into the electronic media it will sell on the device. Many people have a negative feeling towards another $60 a month bandwidth bill. With bills for home and cellphones, not too many people would feel the need to buy yet a 3rd data plan. It will be interesting to see how Apple solves that situation.

It will be interesting to see if Apple will allow any type of wireless syncing of music, videos and other content.