MacRumors

A MacRumors forum poster points to a report (Google translation) from Taiwanese newspaper Apple Daily that appears to claim that new MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air models are due for launch sometime this month.

While the Google translation leaves much to be desired in the way of clarity, the report seems to indicate that new models were planned for introduction in March but shortages of Intel's new chips pushed the launch back to this month. The report also claims that Apple will be pushing all three sizes of the MacBook to a maximum of 640 GB hard drives with 8-hour battery performance across the board. The remainder of the report primarily focuses on suppliers, with Quanta and Hon Hai (Foxconn) targeted for assembly of the devices and Innolux and AU Optronics being tapped for LCD panels.

Updates to Apple's MacBook Pro line have been widely expected for several months, although reports of possible release plans have become less frequent in recent weeks as attention has shifted to the iPad. Apple's MacBook Air is similarly due for an update, as it was last refreshed in June alongside the new MacBook Pros. The MacBook was last updated in October and thus has not necessarily been viewed as ready for an update, but we are beginning to approach its typical refresh window as well.

Boy Genius Report noted over the weekend that Apple's new iPhone OS 3.2 released with the iPad contains references to four new iPhone OS devices. While the new listings, which appear to correspond to two new iPhones, an iPod touch, and an iPad, are not terribly surprising given Apple's product development timelines, they still provide reassurance of the company's future plans.

On the iPhone front, the iPhone OS 3.2 configuration file contains references to "iPhone3,2" and "iPhone3,3", two previously-undocumented iPhone devices. The iPhone 3GS currently carries the designation "iPhone2,1", and a successor "iPhone3,1" was discovered in a similar configuration file in March 2009. That device appears to have begun field testing last November and is expected to be released later this year. It is unknown how the newly-revelaled iPhone models relate to the "iPhone3,1" model currently in testing.

The current iPod touch carries a designation of "iPod3,1", and the new entry presumably refers to the next-generation model set for launch in the September timeframe if previous releases are any indication.

The first "iProd" entry showed up in March 2009 as "iProd0,1", which appeared to designate a prototype device. A new "iProd1,1" entry showed up last August that, as many had assumed, did turn out to be the iPad. While the listing has since been updated to be called "iPad1,1", the new "iProd2,1" listing is of course being considered as a possible next-generation iPad.

Apple announced this morning that they had sold over 300,000 iPads on the first day. The sales included deliveries of pre-ordered iPads as well as direct sales at Apple Retail Stores and shipments to channel partners. Apple also announced that over one million apps from Apple's App Store and 250,000 ebooks from the iBookstore were downloaded.

"It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world -- it's going to be a game changer," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad."

The announcement of official numbers reveal that analyst predictions reported on Saturday were off by a factor of two.

Alongside the iPad launch on Saturday was the launch of a several thousand new iPad apps with many more coming. Developer interest in the iPad has been strong, and it will be interesting to see the direction of the apps over time. We can't cover them all, but here are a collection of useful and/or interesting ones that we've run across (with videos):

With the iPad now in the hands on developers and consumers. we finally get a peek into the internal hardware and performance of the device.

Early benchmarks from the device show that the iPad is about twice as fast as the iPhone 3GS when running native applications. The speed up appears to be entirely focused within Apple's A4 processor, as it appears the iPad shares the same PowerVR SGX 535 GPU and same 256MB RAM found in the iPhone 3GS. Early hardware teardown reports had claimed 512MB of RAM but these have later been corrected. 256MB of RAM also corresponds to the available RAM the system reports to apps.

According to IO Registry Tree dumps, it's also apparent that the Apple's A4 processor is based on a single core Cortex A8 design rather than the new Cortex A9. In fact, running at 1GHz, the A4 sounds similar to the Samsung Hummingbird ARM processor. Readers may remember that Intrinsity is the company behind that processor. Intrinsity is believed to have been recently acquired by Apple.

The Loop reports that Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has released a report estimating first-day iPad sales in the range of 600,000-700,000, well above his pre-launch estimates of 200,000-300,000.

Piper Jaffray Senior Research Analyst, Gene Munster, on Saturday said he believes Apple sold between 600-700 thousand iPads on the first day. This includes the pre-orders that would have been coming in since March 12.

It is unclear from the report exactly what data Munster based his estimate upon beyond an observation of 730 customers in line at the company's flagship Fifth Avenue location in New York City, up from 350 for the iPhone 3GS launch and 540 for the iPhone 3G.

Some observers have claimed that the iPad is poised to outsell the original iPhone over the initial few months of sales, and given that the iPhone took 74 days to reach one million units sold, Munster's estimate places the iPad well on its way to that goal.

Today's launch was also limited to Wi-Fi models and to the United States. 3G-capable models in the U.S. and all models in a number of other countries are set for launch later this month, undoubtedly setting the stage for another burst of sales.

As today's launch progresses, iPads are starting to get into the hands of many across the U.S. As we get settled with our own iPads, here are a few first impressions:

- The iPad feels very substantial in the hand. At 1.5 lbs, it takes a bit of getting used to compared to an iPhone or Kindle.
- The screen is bright and crisp with wide viewing angles. Despite the oleophobic coating, it collects and shows fingerprints more than expected.
- The Apple logo on the back is black with a smooth finish, not with a chromed finish like on the iPhone 3GS.
- The iPad must be connected to iTunes in order to set it up. Out of the box, it shows a connect to iTunes screen (you must have iTunes 9.1).
- Set-up via iTunes is similar to that of the iPhone, allowing you to select the apps and media content to be synced to the iPad.
- The capacitive touchscreen is fast and responsive. Screen orientation changes take place almost instantly.
- The on-screen keyboard in portrait orientation is usable with two thumbs but the middle keys will be a bit of a stretch for those with smaller hands. The keys are nice and large so it's hard to miss the intended key and the predictive entry also found on the iPhone helps as well.
- Typing with two thumbs in landscape orientation is much harder and a case or some other way to prop it up to see the screen while typing with two hands is the best approach.
- Apps not yet optimized for the iPad are usable in 2x mode but leave much to be desired. iPad-optimized apps are really where it's going to be.
- Sound out of the iPad's speaker is richer and louder than expected and is sufficient for watching a movie in a quiet environment.
- The standard apps have been adapted very well to the iPad's larger screen. The iTunes Store and the App Store are a pleasure to browse on the iPad.

Just us in our iPad forum for questions/discussion. Meanwhile, other reader first impressions are still being collected in this thread.

TouchArcade is covering iPad gaming in detail, while AppShopper has a running list of iPad apps and discounts.

Apple stores opened at 9am this morning to start selling the iPad to customers. Some forum readers are starting to post impressions and photos in this forum thread. Meanwhile, iFixit already has one that they are disassembling.

Here are some instructions and tidbits we'll be gathering and updating over time:

- First impressions/delivery forum thread
- MacRumors' iPad forum for further discussion
- Video of iPad unveiling at Apple Store.
- Apple posted instructions on how to set up MobileMe on iPad
- "Get Started" guide and User Guide (PDF)
- Apple's iPad Case and the iPad Dock are incompatible with each other.

Apple has updated their website with a large banner declaring "iPad is Here". Apple has posted hands on videos with several of the launch applications including The Elements, Marvel Comics, The Wall Street Journal, Epicurious, At Bat 2010 and several more.

Today is iPad launch day. MacRumors forum readers awaiting their UPS shipments for the iPads are following this thread as they await delivery, while those actually going to a local retail store are meeting up with others.

We'll have coverage of the iPad launch, impressions and more as the day progresses.

While you Wait - Here are some Free apps to download to test out your new iPad

- Adobe Ideas for iPad - Adobe Ideas is your digital sketchbook, letting you capture and explore ideas anywhere you go.
- iBooks - iBooks is an amazing way to download and read books, designed exclusively for iPad.
- USA Today for iPad - The latest news stories, scores, weather and photos you've come to expect from USA TODAY are now available in a beautiful new way, on your iPad.
- ABC Player - Watch your most loved ABC shows for free on the ABC.com Full Episode Player for the iPad!
- AIM for iPad - AIM is redefining social networking add a location to your status, post to your favorite social networks or chat directly with your Facebook friends.
- NYT Editors' Choice - Enjoy the award-winning journalism of The New York Times with the unique functionality and navigation of the iPad.
- Twitterific for iPad - Twitterrific is the friendly, award-winning Twitter client that's beautiful to look at, easy to use and full of elegant features.
- Harbor Master HD - Enjoy the best selling game Harbor Master on the beautiful big screen of the iPad.
- Smiles HD - SMILES HD is all new and redesigned for the iPad. It's based on SMILES, the award winning strategic puzzle and arcade matching-game.
- Labyrinth 2 HD Lite - The sequel to the original labyrinth game is available for your iPad, now with new levels fitted perfectly for the bigger screen.

Netflix's blog reveals that they are indeed working on an iPhone version of their app that allows subscribers to stream video to their mobile device:

Steve Swasey, VP of Corporate Communications, here. Terrific response to our news today about Netflix on the iPad. For those of you asking whether Netflix will be on the iPhone and iPod Touch: We wouldn't invite you to dinner without planning to serve dessert. In other words, we're working on it so stay tuned.

Netflix generated a lot of headlines when news of their iPad app was revealed on April 1st. No word on when the iPhone version will become available.

Just in time for the iPad's release tomorrow, Apple has approved an update to Amazon's Kindle application to include support for the iPad (iTunes link).

The Kindle app is optimized for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, providing users the ability to read Kindle books using a beautiful, easy-to-use interface. You can discover and read over 450,000 books in the Kindle Store, including the latest best sellers and new releases. You can also read your Kindle books on your Mac, PC, BlackBerry, Kindle, and Kindle DX. Amazon Whispersync automatically syncs your last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across all of your devices, so you can pick up right where you left off no matter what device you are reading on.

Notably, the app is a "universal" application, meaning the same application can be used across all iPhone OS devices including the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch.

Amazon had previously announced that it was preparing an iPad-optimized version of it's Kindle software, which will now compete with Apple's iBook application.

The iPad goes on sale tomorrow at 9:00 am at Apple's U.S. retail stores.

A closer look at the FCC images reveal that the obscured chip parts were actually blacked out with a layer embedded in the PDF. A quick manipulation reveals the actual underlying chips that had been covered for "confidentiality".

Unsurprisingly, the main processor is an Apple A4, but the new images reveal that Apple is using Toshiba Flash memory and a Broadcom BCM5973 chip. iFixit is doing a full analysis of the newly revealed images. Perhaps the main point of interest is that the battery is not soldered in place.

Engadget reports that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission has published a number of photos of Apple's iPad as part of the company's application for approval based on radiation emission requirements. The photos had been submitted in mid-March with Apple's application but were kept from public view due to a confidentiality request from Apple.

With the iPad they didn't just bother to test out the radiation and maybe take a little peek for themselves under the covers, but instead disassembled the whole machine on camera. Unfortunately they took it upon themselves to cover over the specific chips, so we'll have to wait for one of those pro bono teardowns to get the full lay of the land, but it's still a unique look at the makeup of this thing.

As the report notes, information that remains confidential has been covered in the images but it is still interesting to see the internal components such as the large, thin battery that is nearly as wide as the device itself.

In February, we profiled Intrinsity, a company made up of former Exponential Technology employees that was gaining attention for its efforts to speed up ARM CPU designs. Intrinsity had cooperated with Samsung to announce the 1GHz Hummingbird processor back in July, and due to Apple's increasing reliance on ARM processors for its mobile devices, we speculated that Apple and Intrinsity may cross paths in the future.

EDN first reported that Intrinsity has been acquired and speculated that Apple could have been the buyer. We have since discovered evidence that this is likely the case. A couple of Intrinsity employees and one of the founders of Exponential (Jim Blomgren, Paul Miller, and Mark Nodine) have begun listing Apple, Inc as their current employer on their LinkedIn profiles:

The job changes are dated April 2010, and a further search shows a total of 13 former Intrinsity employees on LinkedIn listing Apple as their current employer. Consequently, Apple has either recently acquired Intrinsity or recruited some key talent from the company.

Update: LinkedIn's listings have been updated to remove mention of the employees in question now working for Apple. Mark Nodine's profile still mentions, however, that he is working for Apple as of April 1st.

Google today announced that it has rolled out a new iPad-formatted mobile interface for Gmail, building on the HTML5-based mobile format used for the iPhone to create a two-column interface like that used for Apple's Mail application on the iPad.

We're releasing an experimental user interface for the iPad built on the Gmail for mobile HTML5 web app that we launched last year for the iPhone and Android devices. Those devices have large screens compared to other phones, and tablets like the iPad give us even more room to innovate. To take advantage of the iPad's large display, we've created a two-pane view with your list of conversations on the left and messages to the right.

iPad users will be automatically presented with the new format when they navigate to gmail.com on the device.

Google has also taken the opportunity to promote its other contributions to the iPad, including the YouTube application originally found on the iPhone that has been redesigned for the iPad. The iPad's Maps application also takes advantage of such features as terrain view that are not available on the iPhone version of the application.

Finally, Google notes that it is providing a mix of desktop and mobile interfaces for its web-based services on the iPad, based on its determination of which interface "works best" with the device. Everything is currently experimental, however, and decisions and features are subject to change over time as Google continues to play with the iPad and users offer feedback on how to improve its offerings.

Bloomberg yesterday reported that Microsoft executive Stephen Elop claims that the company has "no current plans" to develop a version of its Office productivity suite for the iPad. Microsoft's Mike Tedesco had claimed in mid-February that the company was "looking at" the possibility of bringing Office to the iPad, but this new report suggests that any such move would be relatively far down the road, if it happens at all.

"We never say never, but we have no current plans" to develop a version of Office for the Apple iPad, Elop said. Last year Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft said it would create a version to work on Nokia Oyj's smartphones, since millions of Office users already own those devices.

An iPad edition of Office would likely be built by a unit within Microsoft's consumer business that creates versions of Office that work with Apple's Macintosh personal computers. Kristen Woody, a spokesman for that unit, says it "doesn't have anything to share at this time."

Apple has developed iPad versions of its iWork productivity applications, bringing Keynote, Pages, and Numbers priced at $9.99 each to the App Store just in time for the iPad's launch.

iPhone developer Nate True has announced his latest project called Wormhole Remote. Nate True is most well known as the creator Tap Tap Revolution during the days before the App Store. Tap Tap Revolution was later acquired by Tapulous and has evolved into the successful Tap Tap Revenge franchise. True has also authored many other jailbreak apps, but this project represents his first official App Store release.

Wormhole offers seamless wireless remote access to your desktop Mac using a Wi-Fi connection. The promise is the ability to move from your desktop computer to your iPad and back seamlessly and quickly while working.

While several VNC remote desktop solutions have been available for the iPhone, Wormhole seems to apply it in a more iPad/iPhone friendly way with individual window views of each of your apps. Instead of navigating an entire Mac OS X desktop interface on your iPad, however, you are able to switch to specific application windows. The application supports all the expected desktop keyboard (control, alt/option) and mouse (single, double, drag) functions. Click for full screenshots:

The first version of the app will be iPad-only and will launch for $5. The iPad version will later be updated for free to a Universal iPhone/iPad version ($7) while an iPhone-only version ($3) is also in the works.

The following developer video shows it in action. The video parodies Apple's own iPad videos. While it was posted on April 1st, we've been assured this is a real product:

Wormhole requires the installation of server software on the Mac to properly serve the windows to your iPad/iPhone. The first version will support Mac OS X Snow Leopard but there are plans to release server software for Windows and Leopard. The first versions will support local Wi-Fi networks only but True is working on optimizing it for 3G/over-the-air access. Wormhole for iPad has been submitted to the App Store. More details can be found at WormholeRemote.com.

Mobile analytics firm Flurry today released data showing the impact of the iPad on mobile application development in recent months, revealing that 22% of new applications starts registered with the company over the past 60 days have targeted the iPad. The data follows up on an earlier report just two weeks after the iPad's introduction that started to show the device's effect on developer interest.

Flurry's data shows that the new arrival of the iPad and continued growth for iPhone/iPod touch applications have sent total new application starts skyrocketing to over 3,000 in March, with those devices accounting for nearly 90% of the total. Despite continued growth in developer interest for the Android platform, it has been unable to keep pace in terms of share, falling from 18% for 2009 to 10% over the past 60 days.