The home of Mac info for New Zealanders, mac-nz serves daily Mac, iPhone and related news from the world of Apple Inc.
iPad on sale in the US 3.04, no NZ date
Tuesday, 09 March 2010
iPad on sale in NZ ... some time: The iPad's slightly delayed US April 3rd release (my birthday, but I don't think I'll getting an iPad for it) may be the result of refining the software . Historically accurate with other leaks, John Gruber claims that Canaccord Adams' beliefs in a hardware issue are mistaken and that the actual problem was simply polishing iPhone 3.2 and companion apps in time for a release.
The roughly week-long gap after the initial (if vague) 'late March' release date may simply come from the time it takes to turn a beta into a polished product, Gruber's source said.
Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK will gets theirs in late April, but all regions will have access to 3G models at that point, supposedly.
Since Apple NZ is run from Australia, I was hoping we were included with the Australian release date, but an Australian Apple spokesperson would only say "We have no details relating to New Zealand and the iPad at this time" when I asked her yesterday,
Sorry. (That's from me, not from Apple.)
Apple iPad shown at Oscars: Apple has aired its first television commercial for the iPad, during the broadcast of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. (Pic – a frame from the Oscar spot.)
The 30-second spot shows the iPad in use, and highlights many of the device’s built-in applications, including Photos, Maps, iTunes, iPod, Safari, Calendar, and Mail, along with iBooks, the iBookstore, and Pages. The ad finishes by showing the device’s launch date followed by the iPad name; the spot also features the song There Goes My Love by The Blue Van throughout. Apple used the same event – the Academy Awards – to air its first iPhone television commercial.
Cult of Mac shows the video in slow m o t i o n . . . apparently, there are some real oddities you notice when it's slowed down.
Apple execs head to UK for iPad talks: A team of Apple executives is expected to arrive in the United Kingdom this week for discussions with mobile operators about the iPad. The Sunday Times reports that Apple is expected to sign deals with more than one mobile operator, instead of going with a single provider approach. All three current UK iPhone carriers – O2, Orange, and Vodafone – are said to be anxious to make deals, due to the positive buzz around the product and the potential data revenues it could produce.
Citing anonymous sources, the report states that preliminary discussions about the iPad have already taken place between Apple and the carriers, but pricing details have yet to be worked out. Notably, the report also claims that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is not expected to take part in the discussions, which are scheduled to run into next week. Apple has announced that it will launch both the Wi-Fi and 3G models of the iPad in the UK in late April.
Paid app upgrades coming? An unexpected dialogue box in iTunes may be a sign that Apple will soon allow developers to offer upgrade pricing for iPhone apps. Developer Fraser Speirs was warned that the "discounted price is only available to customers who own a previous version" of an item when he tried updating all his apps via iTunes.
Familiar super-high-res Earth pic: Last month, Gizmodo posted two incredible images – the most accurate, highest-resolution photo of Earth taken to date. It's stunning, in 2048 x 2048 pixel glory. There are two images: One showing the Americas and one showing Europe. Both make great desktop images.
Snapr on sale: Snapr, the iPhone app developed in Auckland that adds pictures to a map and lets you share, should be on sale today. I talked about Snapr on the Herald last week.
Unity iPhone engine updated: Unity Technologies has announced the release of Unity iPhone 1.6, an important update to the iPhone development tool set. This is a free update for existing license holders and has a reduced binary application size, updated .NET 2.1 support and multiplayer networking support.
To get the free feature-packed Unity to create games and interactive visualisations for the Web, PC and Mac, or to get the free 30 day evaluation of Unity Pro or Unity iPhone, go to the Unity website.
