UK iPad Pre-Orders Start Today

In case you didn't know, UK (and other countries) can pre-order the iPad today, for delivery on the 28th May 2010. A very exciting day for all those who have waited instead of importing a device from the US.

So for the UK, WiFi only versions weigh in at £429, £499 and £599 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models respectively. If you want to add 3G into the mix, then the pricing is £100 higher on all models. This makes them £529, £599 and £699 for either the 16GB, 32GB or 64GB capacity.

Some people have been complaining that here in the UK we are being ripped off. Well, just to clarify, UK prices include sales tax, whereas in the US they do not. Sales tax in the US varies from area to area, typically around 8%. If you take this into account, we are paying about an extra £40 here. However, if you import one yourself and find customs asking you to pay import duty, then expect an average bill of £60 to £70. The only way you could save some money is if you have a friend who lives in Delaware, where the current sales tax is 0%. However, even with the saving, you will still have to pay for a courier to bring you your new toy.

Orange UK Announces Data Plans For Ipad Wi-Fi + 3G

Orange today announced that it is extending its partnership with Apple to offer new iPad plans for customers in the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Switzerland. The partnership between Orange and Apple, which has already seen iPhone launch with Orange in 30 countries across Europe, Middle East and Africa, will extend later in 2010 with the launch of iPad in additional Orange markets.

Orange UK will offer tailored 3G data plans for iPad Wi-Fi + 3G, from 10th May, and will launch a pre-registration site for SIM’s at Orange.co.uk/iPad. Pay-as-you-consume, daily, weekly and monthly data plans will be available, providing the freedom to choose a type of plan depending on usage. 

Daily = £2 per day for 200MB allowance
Weekly = £7.50 for 1GB allowance
Monthly 15 = £15 per month for 3GB allowance (+ unlimited WiFi at hotspots)
Monthly 25 = £25 per month for 10GB allowance  (+ unlimited WiFi at hotspots)

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.*

Orange, recently recognised as the best mobile broadband provider in the UK by Independent research firm YouGov, will offer micro-SIMs for iPad free of charge to consumers. From the 10th May, the micro-SIMs can be ordered from Orange shops, www.orange.co.uk/shop and Orange telesales, as well as directly from Apple. Customers will be able to register their micro-SIMs by calling Orange customer service on 07973 100 150.

iPad users will also benefit from access to Orange iPad apps, including Orange Wednesday’s, the popular 2-for-1 cinema ticket offer; Your Account, which allows users to track usage and purchase data bundles; and Orange Wi-Fi hotspot locator. 

iPad Available in Nine More Countries on May 28th

Apple today announced that iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK on Friday, May 28th. Customers can pre-order all iPad models from Apple’s online store in all nine countries beginning on Monday, May 10th. In the US, Apple has already sold over one million iPads and customers have downloaded over 12 million apps from the App Store, as well as over 1.5 million ebooks from the new iBookstore.

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 is 0.5 inches thin and weighs just 1.5 pounds—thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook—and delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.*

The App Store on iPad lets you wirelessly browse, buy and download new apps from the world’s largest app store. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for iPad and will run almost all of the more than 200,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone or iPod touch. Developers have created more than 5,000 exciting new apps designed for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch interface, large screen and high-quality graphics.

Pricing & Availability 
iPad is available in the UK for a suggested retail price of £429 (inc. VAT) for 16GB, £499 (inc. VAT) for 32GB, £599 (inc. VAT) for 64GB for Wi-Fi models and £529 (inc. VAT) for 16GB, £599 (inc. VAT) for 32GB and £699 (inc. VAT) for 64GB for Wi-Fi + 3G models. iPad will be sold through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorised Resellers. The iBooks app for iPad including Apple’s iBookstore will be available as a free download from the App Store on May 28th.

Apple plans to release iPad in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore in July. Apple will announce availability, local pricing and pre-order plans for these nine additional countries at a later date.

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple iPhone 4 Revealed - 4th Generation Video & Photos

Apple iPhone 4th Generation Leaked - Gizmodo Exclusive. So it seems as though Gizmodo got hold of a 4G Apple iPhone that was left in a bar and they published a whole set of photos and videos and a real in-depth look at the new device. Check out my video about it here.


Then head on over to the Gizmodo website for the full article here.

Apple's letter asking them to return the device is here.

Hardware manufacturer website: Apple

Apple iPad Delayed until late May for the UK

Too much success? Well, that can't be a bad thing surely. Unless you live in the UK and are wanting an iPad that is! Seems like Apple have sold over half a million of their new iPad to US customers, leaving very little stock for anywhere else in the world. The UK were meant to be getting hold of the iPad toward the end of April. I personally thought that something was amiss when today arrived and we still had no pricing or pre-order date.

Well, today we learn that pre-orders will start on the 10th May for the UK, with late May shipping. This is very annoying to learn, as it leaves UK Apple fans either waiting or searching on eBay. With prices on eBay rising, be careful that you buy from a trusted seller who actually has stock and don't get too carried away with the price. Some have been selling for nearly £1,500 which is pretty high, even though the device is amazing!

New MacBook Pros launched today

Apple just re-opened its online store to reveal a new revised lineup of its MacBook Pro range. You get 4GB RAM as standard across all of the range and varying sizes of screen. The main difference comes with the processor and graphics chipset.

13-inch models stay with the Core2Duo running at either 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz, graphics come in the shape of the NVidia GeForce 320M. There are three 15-inch models, ranging in speeds with Intel Core i5 2.4GHz, i5 2.53GHz and in the top of the range an i7 2.66GHz. This range also get slightly better graphics with and NVidia GeForce 330M with either 256MB or 512MB of dedicated VRAM.

The 17-inch MacBook Pro gets an Intel Core i5 2.53GHz processor as standard with the NVidia GeForce 330M 512MB VRAM GPU. You can upgrade the processor to an i7 2.66GHz for an additional £160.

Apple are also claiming 8-9 hours of battery life on the 15 & 17-inch models, with up to 10 hours on the 13-inch. Some specifications are showing as shipping within 24 hours, with the rest showing at 5 business days.

Apple Store is down - Worldwide

The Apple Store is down for updates. We all new that updates were coming and today marks what should be the revised MacBook Pro lineup. I just hope that Apple include the Mac Mini in the refresh, as I have a need for one and wanted to wait for an i3 or i5 processor to be included and possibly 4GB of RAM too. That is unlikely, but we should at least see some new, faster 13, 15 and 17-inch laptops from Apple today.

Apple Aperture 3.0.2 adds iPad Support

Apple have released an update to Aperture 3. This new update (available here) brings in a host of improvements and fixes. However, if you scroll down to the very end of the changes it states that the new version adds "iPad Compatibility" and I quote "Enables support for importing photos from iPad to the Aperture Library, as well as syncing of photos to iPad."

So, you can sync photos to the iPad, great news! More exciting though is being able to import into Aperture from the iPad, so that could mean that a camera may well feature. Surely not! At this late stage it is very unlikely a camera will appear, but this is interesting wording on their update page for sure.

Amazon Kindle App coming to the iPad

Well, I didn't see that one coming. Amazon have posted a page dedicated to the Kindle App coming to various tablet based computers and in the first graphic it specifically mentions the Apple iPad. Read further down the page and it reads "Read Kindle Books on Your Tablet Computer Including the iPad".

This is great news as it will open up a whole world of great eBooks from Amazon. I personally think this news comes in combination with those rumours that Apple have been struggling to seal some deals with various publishers. Maybe this is their saving grace, that the iPad Kindle App means they have a tonne of content for the April 3rd launch. Whether this is the case or not, the Kindle App will certainly find its way onto my iPad for certain.

Apple Update Aperture to 3.0.1

Aperture 3.0.1 is an update for Aperture 3 which is a paid upgrade to Aperture with over 200 new features. Launch 'Software Update' to apply these fixes, you can also check out the Apple article here.

This update improves overall stability and addresses a number of issues in Aperture 3, including:

  • Upgrading libraries from earlier versions of Aperture
  • Importing libraries from iPhoto
  • Importing photos directly from a camera
  • Memory usage when processing heavily-retouched photos
  • Face recognition processing
  • Adding undetected faces using the Add Missing Face button
  • Printing pages containing multiple images
  • Printing photos and contact sheets with borders and metadata
  • Editing photos using an external editor
  • Display of images with Definition and Straighten adjustments applied
  • Zooming photos in the Viewer and in the Loupe using keyboard shortcuts
  • Accessing Aperture libraries on a network volume
  • Selecting and moving pins on the Places map
  • Adding and editing custom locations using the Manage My Places window
  • Switching between masters when working with RAW+JPEG pairs