One version, the 16GB model retailing for $499 will be available (in black or white) for the early purchasers at Walmart.

Ready? Set, go!!!

[Via MSNBC]

Atlantic Records has taken an uncommon approach to using Apple’s iBooks Author — touted as a creation platform that will “reinvent the textbook” — by building an interactive ebook for the band Shinedown‘s next album.

The 75-page iPad ebook will be available March 27, coinciding with the Amaryllis album release. The ebook visually tells the story of the multi-platinum rock band’s new songs, creative process and cover art.

Frontman Brent Smith says the ebook, titled “FOR YOUR SAKE: Inside the Making of Shinedown’s Amaryllis,” revives the complete album experience, which changed when CD booklets and liner notes became less prevalent.

The Shinedown ebook will cost $5.99 and be sold on iBooks 2.

[Via Mashable]

iPad HD (official name new iPad) Feature list in a nutshell

• same battery life, 10 hours, as iPad 2
• same priceline as previous line: $499, $599, and $599
• 2048×1536 pixel display
• 264 pixels per inch
• quad core CPU A5X
• 5 MP iSight camera (same as iPhone 4)
• LTE (4G) on some model (available in selected countries of course)
• can be used as a Wi-Fi hotspot
• 44% greater color saturation too

iOS 5.1 announced too!
iMovie and Garageband revisited too!
iPhoto can “beam” photos between iOS devices with a new feature called Photo Beaming.
There’s also a new feature called Photo Journals that lets you share groups of photos with people.
iPhoto lets you do more than the built-in editing tools.
You get “Smart Browsing,” Multi-Touch editing, new effects and brushes.

Epic Games president Mike Capps: says [iPad HD] it has more memory and processing than an XBOX 360.

More info coming soon!

Check here for the new iPad official Apple video.

What about the rumors about the new features?
Let’s put them together and see what’s feasible and what’s not!

Display
One of the iPhone’s most beloved features is its ultrasharp retina display. And while the iPad 2′s screen is no lightweight, a bump up in pixel density is one of the most hotly anticipated iPad 3 improvements. MacRumors claims to have obtained an iPad 3 display that confirms the bump in resolution. The display is the same size as iPad 1 and 2 screens, but has double the resolution at 2048×1536, with pixels about a quarter the size of the iPad 2′s.

Android tablet displays passed the iPad last summer, and since then have moved into 1080p territory, so it seems far fetched that Apple would put off upgrading the iPad’s screen another year.

Guts
It’s extremely unlikely that anything other than a superfast new A6 chip will power the iPad 3, as Bloomberg and others have reported. The main question at this point seems to be whether that A6 will pack quad core power. On one hand, competitors like the Transformer Prime have moved on to quad core chips, and the incredible gaming and HD movie processing heft that upgrade entails. And both BGR and Bloomberg have recently reported that the A6 will indeed be quad core. But for what it’s worth, Apple has shown in the past that it’s willing to stand pat if it feels a spec is more than good enough for the next generation, like it did with the iPad 2′s 512MB of RAM.

Speaking of RAM, if we’re going to take the retina display rumors seriously, it would make sense that the RAM would finally see an upgrade in the iPad 3. The iPad 2′s 512MB, like the iPhone 4S’s, was buffered by the symbiotic relationship between software and hardware. But it stands to reason that the brute force required to push the massive number of pixels a 10-inch retina display would require a memory upgrade. File that under pure speculation.

Camera
iLounge cited several sources saying the iPad 3 will have an HD front-facing camera for HD Facetime. This would make a lot of sense, considering that quality front-facing cameras have found their way into phones like the Lumia 900, and people use their tablets for video chat much more than their phones.

It’s worth mentioning here that while many of these hardware upgrade rumors seem inevitable, we thought the same about the whoops-that’s-not-happening-iPhone 5. So keep that enthusiasm curbed until the official announcement.

Network
BGR recently leaked debug screenshots of what it claimed was proof of both that fancy new A6 processor and global 4G LTE, and Japanese blog Macotakara reported similar network details around the same time. Bringing LTE to the iPad before the iPhone would make sense, because the iPad’s larger battery can handle the 4G drain. Then again, a 4G iPad would almost certainly portend a 4G iPhone this summer, and it’s not at all clear that Apple considers the network mature enough to hop on just yet.
A last-minute update from iMore, who’s emerging as a reliable Apple rumor source, is reporting that the iPad 3 will indeed come with LTE.

Siri
iOS 6 is still a long way off, but the iPad 3′s software warrants a quick mention because it might be the first non-iPhone 4S Apple product to get Siri, as some details in the iOS 5.1 beta reference the iPad in Siri Dictation.

As of today, nearly 25 billion apps have been downloaded worldwide.
Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves.
So we want to say thanks.

Download the 25 billionth app, and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card.* Just visit the App Store and download your best app yet.

Check here for more info about the 25BN downloader prize!

Shlashgear reports that the Home button may disappear from iPad 3 in favor of some new gestures.
The Home button, one of the very few iPad annoyances, is a long-time doomed feature that may has come to an end.

Apple has long been rumored to be deleting the physical home key, and replacing it with either a combination of gestures or a touch sensitive bezel. The image Apple used for its invite – with the tagline “We have something you really had to see. And touch” – could be a hint that the iPad 3 doesn’t just have a high-resolution “Retina Display” screen but a new use of touch technology as well.

TheNextWeb reports about another problem Apple is facing: the dreaded 20 MB-download-limit for 3G connections that may become insufficient for HD- and Retina-content.

Apple’s iPad 3 is set to launch next week and all signs point to it having a Retina display running at 2048×1536 pixels. This should provide a clearer, sharper image to most users and will display many applications in a fantastic new light, as long as developers have prepared them properly.

But the necessity to include these images may present a problem with the mandatory 20MB file size limit that Apple has imposed on 3G downloads.

In order to do so, they will have to include ‘@2x’ graphics. These are image files that have been quadrupled in pixel count in order to display properly on the newer double-resolution iPad 3 screen. If these images were not included, then many of the apps that use custom graphics, like Tweetbot, or Bjango’s Consume 2, would look ‘blurrier’ than they do on the iPad 2.

[Via Slashgear and TheNextWeb]

The ability to embed HTML5 & Javascript Widget within iBooks 2 is the best way to create really cool interactive iBooks.

This is the first of four articles on creating interactive widgets for iBooks Author and the iPad’s iBooks2.

Using DashCode to create an interactive widget (This article)

Creating an interactive widget without Dashcode

Creating a RemObjects SDK client widget

Creating a Data Abstract client widget (Coming soon!)

[Via RemObjects]

This isn’t Apple’s first ad for iCloud. A commercial released last November made the same point, but included narration to spell it out. That spot came a few weeks after Apple’s official iCloud release in October.

Future says GarageBand for Beginners has been carefully designed m to make the most of the interactive features available on iBooks 2 and iBooks Author.

The book offers tutorials on using Apple’s GarageBand music-making app allows users to create their own music in a quick and easy way.

Ian Robson, Future’s Technology Publisher says: “Our consumers demand the richest possible media experience from our products and with GarageBand for Beginners we’ve once again delivered.
“The Apple iBooks 2 platform offers us the ability to deliver a slick consumer experience with integrated video content, animated annotated screenshots and much more. We’re proud to be the first publisher to fully embrace the new platform and its interactive features.”

Future has a catalogue of other guides and bookazines on specialist subjects that it could enhance with the addition of videos, galleries and other interactive elements.

If the launch of GarageBand is successful, Robson said the publisher plans to create iBooks versions of all its Apple software guides over time, including products for iLife, iWork, a guide to Mac OS and the different variations of iPad, before starting to build other content.

GarageBand for Beginners is available to download from iBooks priced €0,99.

[Via Future]

Time reports about a recent study: iPad 2 helped score better tests results.

Any comment needed?

A new study shows that students who use iPads in the classroom score better in literacy tests than those who don’t. As previously reported, educators in Auburn, Maine began instructing 266 kindergarteners using the iPad 2 this fall, and those who used the tablet scored higher on literacy tests and were more enthused about learning, according to Apple blog TUAW.

We strongly advice you to read this too: Apple’s Textbooks: Undeniably Cool, But Will They Help Students?.

Education is such a hot topic that we needn’t be fooled by cool gadgets (like the iPad), but we must foresee and exploit its full potential as an incredibile educational and knowledge tool, just like those textbooks created using iBooks Author.

It’ll be interesting to see if Apple’s effort to jump into the educational market ultimately proves successful (and creates yet another generation of Apple users). In 10 years, tablets in the classroom may be the norm, not the exception.

Our pick is that iPad may have still a novelty halo that makes it so appealing, but newer educational tools are under development and will change the game, and perception, of how people can learn.

[Via Time]

Following the introduction of iBooks 2 and Apple’s interest into textbooks and iBooks Author, many observers are now arguing how much these tools will help/impact school education.

Matt’s pick?

Is this really the digital revolution that Apple would lead us to believe? Or is simply an update of CD-ROM textbooks on an expensive mobile device? Is this something students will buy into or am I looking at it from the perspective of someone who grew up without mobile proliferation and Google?

We think it is, Life on Earth is just the beginning!

[Via The Guardian]

This console, introduced in 1980 was the arch-rival and main competitor to the (as venerable) Atari 2600 console and scored 3 million unit sold and some 125 games developed during its 12 years (!) lifespan!

Besides retrogaming passion, some games are still playable these days so, you may think that three bucks are worth this game app that includes six Intellivision classics: Astrosmash, Chip Shop Golf, Night Stalker, Thin Ice, Thunder Castle and Skiing.

Give yourself a chance to get back in time and feel some original 80′s-fun – you’re just missing the original gamepads!

Intellivision for iPad is available on iTunes for $2.99.

Sponsored by the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and Professor Wilson himself, this iBook is so well done you’ll want to learn everything about Biology!

Anyway, besides the topic and content, this 51-pages iBook is one of the very best examples of what can be done with iBooks as an educational tool.
It’s so full of widgets, not just high-quality video, but plenty of javascript widgets as well which will finally defy any complaints that iBooks 2 is limited!
We think it’s so inspiring for iBooks Authors fan like us!

Life on Earth is available for free on iTunes (iBooks 2 app needed, of course).

The app saves you a lot of time and money by solving the problem of dealing with hassles and frustrations of printing, scanning or faxing while signing documents.

Users download the App from the AppStore for free and import a document from an e-mail attachment, Dropbox or other cloud based file storage services.
Once the document is imported, you can sign and fill it right on your smartphone or tablet and then send the final document directly (to whoever you wish to).

Key Features of the EasySign App

• Supports PDF document format
• Sign the document yourself or have it signed by clients in person
• Draw your signature freehand using your finger or stylus
• Fill in name, initials, date or any text
• Choose from various ink colors, text styles and date formats
• Import PDF by emailing as an attachment to docs@easysignmobile.com

EsaySign is available on iTunes for free (and is available to Android users too)!

[Via easysignmobile.com]

It’s a well-done introduction to all basic features as well as a hint to all iBooks Author potential.

Avid Studio for the iPad enables you to quickly arrange your clips in the Storyboard, make precision edits using the Timeline, and add high-quality transitions, effects, and soundtracks to your movie footage.

The Avid Studio app combines a storyboard and timeline interface, where users can arrange clips in the storyboard, then use the timeline for precise cuts. It also offers touch controls not found in the desktop, like the ability to resize and rotate titles with a gesture.

Avid Studio is available now on iTunes app store for (a mere) US$ 3.99

With your iPad as your karaoke stage and studio, you can sound like a pro, record your stellar performances, and share your favorites with one touch!

Soulo’s innovative features get you inside the song like never before.
SING with built-in pitch enhancement so you’re always in key.
Turn the lead vocals up if you want to hear them or down if you’re ready to take the lead.
Add pro voice effects like Reverb, Tone, and Echo.
RECORD your performances, or make music videos with iPad2’s camera, then SHARE your favorites on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter with one touch!

Features:
- Give star-worthy performances with Soulo’s pro voice effects:
- Real-time, pro-style pitch enhancement so you’re always in tune!
- Reverb adds richness to your voice.
- Echo adds depth.
- Tone adds fullness and clarity.
- Add the Soulo Mic for a full-on karaoke experience! Digital Wireless and Wired versions available.

- Key info means pitch enhancement happens in real time, and lyrics stream with the music so you won’t miss a beat.

Soulo Karaoke is Available on iTunes store.

The Indicommons application provides a new way to access the wealth of historical imagery and information from around the world that is found in the Commons. No matter where you are, you can browse through the various institutions’ collections, or search the Commons for items of interest. If you have a Flickr account, you can also help enrich the Commons by adding tags and comments to the various Commons items directly from the application.

Where exactly does Commons come from?
Here’s a quick Commons primer even though you’re a Flickr fan:

Indicommons represents outreach from the Flickr community beyond Flickr, to broaden knowledge of The Commons among the public and civic institutions around the world and to increase participation by the public in the Commons. The name, Indicommons (pronounced “in de commons”) derives from the Latin indico, to make publicly known, and commons, the old English word chosen by Flickr for its Commons project, meaning the land held in common by the people of a town.

A Short feature list for the Indicommons app (supporting both iPad and iPhone/iPod touch):

• Support for Flickr galleries – add photos to your galleries on Flickr to share your curations with the rest of the world.
• Support for video – now you can watch the videos that have been uploaded to the Commons
• Image caching – recently viewed photos are now cached locally to improve load times.
• Support for iOS4 multitasking

Check more on Flickr and Indicommons on iTunes.

More figures show that on December 26, online sales rose by 27.8 percent compared with 2010.
Eyeing online sales across 500 retailers on December 25 and 26, IBM’s latest holiday benchmark report found a surge in cybershopping from mobile devices.
A full 16 percent of all online traffic recorded by IBM came from mobile devices, a surge of 109 percent from last year.
The great – and strange news come from the fact that purchases from mobile devices reached 11.3 percent, an increase of 165 percent from December 26, 2010.

What about iOS?

Among all online purchases made on Christmas Day, 7 percent were done through an iPad and 6.4 percent through an iPhone, giving iOS devices 13.4 percent of all online purchases that day.

Other stats from IBM’s Dec. 26th Benchmark Update:

• Online sales grew by 16.4 percent over Christmas Day 2010
• 18.3 percent of all online sessions on a retailer’s site were initiated from a mobile device, up from 8.4 percent on Christmas Day 2010—an increase of 117.8 percent
• Sales from mobile devices reached 14.4 percent versus 5.3 percent on Christmas Day 2010—an increase of 172.9 percent.

Android devices accounted for 5 percent of all online purchases on Christmas Day. And moving to the next day, the iPad again led with 6 percent of all online purchases, followed by the iPhone with 5.8 percent and Android with 4.6 percent.

Overall, online sales on Christmas Day grew by 16.4 compared with last year. Among all the online traffic analyzed by IBM, 18.3 came from a mobile device, a jump of 118 percent from Christmas of 2010. And actual online purchases from mobile devices hit 14.4 percent, a leap of 173 percent from last Christmas.

One would expect many of those online purchases to be music, apps, and other digital content for mobile devices. But John Squire, chief strategy officer at IBM Smarter Commerce, told Forbes that IBM looked only at purchases from retail stores through the mobile browser.

(By the way, it’s funny to go back to our October 2010 post and read the “2011 iPad selling forecast” by so-called experts!)

[Via Forbes]

By the way, Mac Plus case went for some 9 bucks on eBay….

[Via TechMoan and Hirac]