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Apple Snubs iPad, Launches iPhone App For Apple Store

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It looks like the boys and girls at Cupertino have launched an official app for their app store, allowing Apple fans too lazy to fight the iFaithful in the physical world to order their gear from the palm of their hands.

Buy Apple products and accessories, read customer reviews, find an Apple Retail Store, stay up to date with in-store events, and make Personal Shopping, Genius Bar, or One to One appointments.

The Apple Store app is also the easiest way to buy or reserve your new iPhone — right from your current iPhone. You can do it in just a few taps, without entering your AT&T account information. Order your new iPhone from the Apple Online Store and it’s shipped to you free and ready to use. Or reserve your new iPhone, pick it up at an Apple Retail Store, and we’ll set it up for you in minutes. (Apple Store App)

This should make pre ordering iPhone 4 (or even the glorious iPad) much easier for iFans, as the app connects directly with your iTunes account (so make sure you have plenty of funds available before ordering).

While an official Apple App was long over due, what is puzzling is the fact that Apple didn’t make their app “iPad friendly.” [Read more…]

Originally posted on June 15, 2010 @ 11:52 am

Apple Delays International Release of the iPad Until End of May

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Bad news for people who are not in the U.S. who’ve been waiting for Apple to release the iPad internationally. Apple just announced via a very short note that the international release date of the iPad has been moved towards the end of May. Previously, Apple was hoping to release the iPad to selected countries on the last week of April.

And what was Apple’s reason? Apparently, the iPad has been pretty successful in the U.S. that Apple could no longer meet the increasing demand for the iPad resulting to inadequate supply. So to meet the U.S. demand for the iPad, Apple will most likely be using its allotment for the international market.

According to Apple:

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.

This is only for the current available iPad model which is the Wi-Fi version. Apple is also reported that pre-orders for the iPad 3G version is also increasing. The iPad WiFi + 3G will be deliver by the end of April.

Now here’s the good news, Apple also announced that it will start accepting pre-orders from selected international customers starting May 10.  International pricing is yet to be announced though.

So there you go folks. Sorry to disappoint those who’ve been clinging on Apple’s promised availability date of the iPad in your countries. But if you really want to get the iPad now, I’m pretty sure you’d find some work-around to get the iPad even if it is not released in your country yet.

Originally posted on April 14, 2010 @ 11:54 am

It’s Officially the iPad Week, What Did You Miss So Far?

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If you’re like me who have been monitoring Techmeme and other tech news aggregator, you’d probably noticed that iPad news and rumors starting propagating on the Internet starting last Saturday. Well, what do you expect? It’s one week before the iPads reach the doors of those those so called “idiots”, that includes me who pre-ordered Apple’s magical device since two weeks ago.

Let’s see, Apple has sold out the first wave of its iPad stocks, prompting the iPad Store to indicate that new orders of iPads won’t ship until April 12. Then there are various leaked screenshots of the iPad stores and the cool applications that will be released on launch day. Some of these apps are games, while some are useful productivity tools. These are just some of the iPad-related headlines that went out last weekend.

And today, exactly five days before the iPad arrives to those who pre-ordered it, the hype is even building up some more.

First, according to an official PR, the iPad will be available in Best Buy on April 3. Now, there’s a catch however. Reports say that only 15 units of iPad will arrive on each of the hundreds of Best Buy brick and mortar stores.

What’s interesting is the fact that Apple is no longer accepting on-store pick-up for new orders of the iPad and prefers to ship them out instead.

Oh, in case you’ve pre-ordered your iPad, you should have received a notification on your email stating that Apple has started shipping your  iPad. Just in time for the promised April 3 delivery date. Isn’t that exciting?

So, how are you psyching up yourself for the arrival of your iPad? What apps are you planning to purchase from the iPad Apps Store?

Originally posted on March 29, 2010 @ 9:51 am

iPad e-Books Pricing to Compete Competitively Against Kindle

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When the issue on the e-books pricing of those who will be in the iPad’s iBookstore started spreading, many are saying that it will be to Amazon’s advantage.  The Kindle Store’s average price for an e-book is pegged at $9.99 and Amazon is even sacrificing some sales just to maintain this pricing even at a loss for them.

Analysts are saying that the iBookstore will not be able to compete against this pricing and that e-books to be sold will be priced higher than the e-books sold in the Kindle Store.

That may not be necessarily true at all.  The blog AppAdvice got hold of a preview that shows otherwise. It seems that most e-books that will be sold in the iBookstore  are also priced at $9.99. In fact, out of the 32 e-books that were on the New York Time’s Bestsellers, 27 titles have $9.99 price tag.

In fact 4 of  the top 5 bestsellers will be sold in the iBookstore for $9.99.

If the iBookstore will be able maintain this price ceilings for most of the books that will be made available once the iPad is launched, Amazon is definitely facing a stiff challenge to their well established and widely accepted e-book business.  Indeed Amazon has all the reason to be worried and should start working on various enhancements to the Kindle store as well possibly on the Kindle device as well.  But except for the lack of color display and other computing functionalities, I think Amazon may have already exhausted all possible features that it could probably include in the Kindle.

So, will you be buying the iPad and use it as an e-book reader and purchase your e-books from the iBookstore? Or will you use the Kindle App for Tablets which will also run in the iPad and purchase your e-books from the Amazon Kindle Store still?

Originally posted on March 24, 2010 @ 8:22 pm

Apple iPad Will Magically Read E-Books Aloud

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As soon as Apple started accepting pre-orders for the iPad, the product page for one of its most important component, iBooks was also updated. It’s not really surprising that Apple will highlight the iPad’s e-book reading features especially since this is a hot market right now. And besides how good is a new Apple product if it doesn’t have a competitor to taunt? Sorry Kindle fans, but whether you like it or not, Apple is taking on the Kindle’s dominance in the e-book market.

Anyway, so what’s up with iPad and iBooks. Nothing much really, except for the fact that apparently the iPad can actually read e-books to you aloud.  Yes, I know Amazon Kindle has this. But we all know that this feature has been an issue before with the Kindle. So, it’s kind of surprising that Apple decided to have this feature in the iPad.

So, once the iPad starts rolling into the hands of those who pre-ordered it, expect some legal issues to arise once more. But I’m pretty sure Steve and his boys are more than ready for this.

In a related note, another indication that Apple is really prepping up the iPad as a fierce Kindle competitor is the fact that the device will be supporting e-books in EPUB format which will not be sold from the iBooks E-Bookstore. This simply means that you won’t be spending additional money to use your iPad as an e-book reader. You can practically load it up with free e-books that are freely available from various online sources.

This is a welcome feature and is good for both Apple and iPad users who are planning to use their iPad for e-book reading purposes. For Apple, it will be able to capture an already established market – the e-reader market. And for iPad owners, it’s one less cost.

Originally posted on March 12, 2010 @ 6:58 pm