MacRumors

With today's launch of iPad pre-orders in the U.S., Apple has also released additional information about the device and associated services. While 3G-capable models of the iPad will not be available until late April, Apple has provided an overview of how customers will sign up for and manage their 3G data service on the device.

As previously revealed, customers can choose from either of two contract-free data plans in the U.S. through AT&T: $14.99 per month for 250 MB or $29.99 for unlimited data. Customers can sign up for service directly on the iPad and can cancel or re-enroll at any time.

So if you have a business trip or vacation approaching, just sign up for the month you'll be traveling and cancel when you get back. You don't need to visit a store to get 3G service. You can sign up, check your data usage, manage your account, or cancel your service -- all from your iPad.

Data service is activated on the iPad through its Settings application, offering a simple screen allowing the user to select a plan and a credit card payment method.

Once access is activated, the application offers a clear overview of the customer's service details, including active dates of service and amount of data used and amount/time remaining for customers on the 250 MB plan. Apple also notes that customers on the 250 MB plan will received three alerts (20%, 10%, and 0% remaining) to keep them apprised of their remaining data limits.

Users can also easily manage their service through the Settings application, allowing them to change plans or cancel service automatically at the end of any billing period. Users on the 250 MB service plan can also select to automatically boost their plan to unlimited service once they reach their limit.

AT&T's 3G service plans for the iPad also provide users with access to over 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots. And all iPad models support 802.11n Wi-Fi for optimum performance.

As reported, Apple has begun accepting pre-orders for the Apple iPad in the U.S. Apple Store. While U.S. customers can pre-order any of Apple's six iPad models (three Wi-Fi and three Wi-Fi + 3G) beginning today, only the Wi-Fi models will be available on the launch date of Saturday, April 3rd. Customers purchasing Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models will need to wait until late April to receive their orders. iPad pre-orders are also limited to only two per customer.

Wi-Fi devices are being promised for April 3rd delivery. If you prefer to reserve an iPad at your local Apple store, visit http://www.apple.com/retail/reserve/ and follow the instructions.

TUAW reports that U.S. pre-orders for both Wi-Fi and 3G-capable iPads will go live on Apple's site at 5:30 AM Pacific Time / 8:30 AM Eastern Time tomorrow morning. Apple last week announced that pre-orders would begin on March 12th, but did not specify a time in that release.

We asked Apple PR to help you plan your day tomorrow, and they responded:

"Customers can pre-order online at apple.com at 5:30am Pacific time on Friday, March 12."

In addition to pre-orders, U.S. customers will also be able to reserve iPads for pickup at their local Apple retail stores once they become available, guaranteeing product availability and speeding the purchasing process.

While U.S. customers can pre-order any of Apple's six iPad models (three Wi-Fi and three Wi-Fi + 3G) beginning tomorrow, only the Wi-Fi models will be available on the launch date of Saturday, April 3rd. Customers purchasing Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models will need to wait until late April to receive their orders.

International orders for both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G iPad lines in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK will begin shipping in late April as well, although Apple has yet to announce a date that it will begin accepting pre-orders in those countries.

Apple today released Safari 4.0.5 for Mac and Windows, bringing a number of enhancements to Apple's Internet browser application.

This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes improvements to performance, stability, and security including:

- Performance improvements for Top Sites
- Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins
- Stability improvements for websites with online forms and Scalable Vector Graphics
- Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from changing settings on some Linksys routers

Safari 4.0.5 is available via Software Update and Apple's Safari download page. The download weighs in at 30.52 MB (Snow Leopard), 38.59 MB (Leopard), 26.78 MB (Tiger), or 30.18 MB (Windows 7, Vista, and XP).

Consumer Reports yesterday announced the release of new ratings of computer tech support ratings for both laptops and desktop, and while the full details are restricted to subscribers, CNET reveals that Apple dominated the rankings. Not only did Apple top both the overall laptop and desktop categories, but also took top honors in every single sub-category, including problem resolution, phone wait times, phone staff performance, and online support.

For laptop computers, Apple scored 86 out of a possible 100. That's 23 points above its nearest competitor, Lenovo, which scored a 63. In fact, Apple scored the highest in each of the Consumer Reports categories.

Apple saw even better performance in its desktop computers, grabbing a score of 87 and easily out-distancing second-place Dell, which earned a score of only 55. Also of note is Acer, which had by far the lowest tech support scores in the ratings even as it has surged past Apple in U.S. market share by riding the wave of netbook popularity in recent years.

Apple has traditionally performed very well in Consumer Reports' surveys, and last year the company's notebooks even sweeped the magazine's recommendations.

Barnes & Noble today officially acknowledged that it is developing an iPad-specific application that will provide access to content available in the company's eBookstore.

Designed specifically for the iPad, our new B&N eReader will give our customers access to more than one million eBooks, magazines and newspapers in the Barnes & Noble eBookstore, as well as the existing content in their Barnes & Noble digital library. (That includes eBooks and content customers have downloaded to their nook eBook reader.)

The news should not come as a tremendous surprise, as the company already offers a B&N eReader application for the iPhone and iPod touch. Unlike the existing iPhone application, however, Barnes & Noble's eBookstore will offer direct competition with Apple's iBookstore planned for the iPad.

Barnes & Noble's eBookstore allows users to purchase electronic book material and store it online in their "eBook Library". Users who wish to view content on-the-go can download it to their portable devices and view it using the company's eReader applications for a number of different platforms.

Forbes reports on information obtained by App Store research firm Busted Loop as part of its AppSlice project, revealing Apple's plans for eBook categories to be rolled out for its iBookstore.

AppSlice's findings point to a highly organized approach to bookselling. Apple has designated about 20 "top-level" categories for books, including "Fiction & Literature", "Reference," "Romance," "Cookbooks" and "Comics & Graphic Novels." Below those categories lie more than 150 sub-categories, including some very specific genres, such as "Manga" under "Comics & Graphic Novels," "Special Ingredients" under "Cookbooks," and "Etiquette" under "Reference." Some sub-categories, such as "Fantasy" and "Science Fiction & Literature," even have sub-sub-categories ("Historical" and "Paranormal," for example.) There are also two sections for "Erotica" books; one under "Fiction & Literature" and one under "Romance."

The report notes that the apparent categorization system for eBooks, which has reportedly changed several times since the iPad and iBookstore were announced January, appears to offer a great deal more specificity than Apple's App Store, which currently offers 20 different top-level categories with only its "Games" category offering sub-categories for further sorting.

Busted Loop's data also reveals that a little over 10% of the App Store's current applications have already been certified as being iPad-compatible. As with the existing App Store system, the "iPad Wi-Fi" and "iPad 3G" appear as separate entries for developers to list compatibility, as some applications such as those requiring GPS functionality will only be compatible with the 3G models. Likewise, some existing App Store applications such as those utilizing the iPhone's camera will not be compatible with the iPad at all.

BBC News reports that Pink Floyd has won a legal battle with its record label EMI over whether the label should be allowed to distribute digital versions of the band's material on a track-by-track basis as it does through Apple's iTunes Store. Pink Floyd is one of a number of high-profile bands that have objected to the splitting up of what it considers to be single pieces of work.

The rock legends, signed to EMI since 1967, said their contract meant their albums could not be split up without their permission.

A judge agreed, saying the contract contained a clause to "preserve the artistic integrity of the albums".

EMI has been ordered to pay 40,000 ($60,000) in costs, with a further fine to be decided.

Pink Floyd's current contract with EMI was signed prior to the advent of digital download music stores, and the band's lawyers argued that it made little sense that the contract's restrictions against the splitting up of "seamless" material would apply to physical distribution while digital distribution would be treated as a "free-for-all". For its part, EMI argued that use of the word "record" in the contract suggested that the agreement covered only physical media.

Pink Floyd's content remains available on an individual track basis in the iTunes Store, and it is unclear if there will be changes to that arrangement in the near future.

AppleInsider reports that it has received information from sources claiming that iPhone OS 4.0, likely scheduled for release later this year alongside new handset models, will support multitasking by allowing multiple applications to run simultaneously. The report, however, offers no details on how this will be implemented beyond noting that it will take advantage of interfact technology used in Mac OS X.

People with a proven track record in predicting Apple's technological advances tell AppleInsider that the Cupertino-based company has developed a "full-on solution" to multitasking on the iPhone OS but offered no specifics on how the technology would optimize resource conservation and battery life -- two of the most critical issues surrounding the matter, alongside security.

From a user-facing perspective, Apple plans to deliver a multi-tasking manager that leverages interface technology already bundled with its Mac OS X operating system, according to those same people. It was requested that specifics be withheld at this time, as the iPhone Software 4.0 remains under development and reportedly has a quite 'way to go' before it's ready for prime time.

A separate report several months ago indicated that iPhone OS 4.0 will include multitasking, although the OS was at the time expected by some to be introduced at Apple's late January media event where it introduced the iPad.

Apple last year implemented Push Notifications as a means to allow applications to offer information to users without requiring that they be running.

In its annual list of the world's billionaires, Forbes this year ranked Apple CEO Steve Jobs in a tie with six others for 136th place with a net worth of $5.5 billion. Jobs' net worth is up from $5.1 billion in an October 2009 Forbes ranking of richest Americans and up from $3.4 billion and 178th place in last year's world ranking.

Following months of rumor and speculation, cultish king of the iGeeks presented the highly anticipated iPad in January; ten-inch, multi-touch computer intended to fill gap between smartphone and laptop. Delighted: nerds everywhere. Scared to death: newspaper and magazine publishers. Also unveiled new iBookstore and iBooks application in direct challenge to Amazon's Kindle; several book publishers have committed to content agreements.

Jobs is Disney's largest individual shareholder by virtue of the company's 2006 acquisition of Pixar, and continued increases in Disney's stock price since a deep low almost exactly a year ago have pushed his stake in the company to $4.2 billion. Apple's stock, meanwhile, has continued to soar and is up more than 150% over the past year.

Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim Hel took the top spot in this year's rankings at $53.5 billion, just ahead of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who had held the top spot 14 out of the previous 15 years.

ZDNet reports that it has received information from tipsters claiming that Apple will release new Mac Pro models next Tuesday, adding a hexacore Core i7-based model to its lineup.

I'm getting tips in from sources who claim that Apple is set to revamp its high-end Mac Pro line, adding a 'hexacore' Core i7-980x model to the line up.

All information points to this happening next Tuesday, March 16th.

Some confusion has arisen over what chips Apple will use in its next-generation Mac Pro. Hardmac has been keeping a close eye on Mac Pro developments, and has been talking up Intel's hexacore Core i7-980X as the next chip for the Mac Pro as cited in today's ZDNet report. That processor is reportedly scheduled to be launched next Tuesday, coinciding with rumors of Apple's Mac Pro refresh.

Apple, however, has typically used server-branded Xeon chips in its Mac Pro line, and Intel is also expected to debut a number of new Xeon 5600-series chips on that day. In particular, the Xeon X5680 rumored for release on Tuesday is very similar in many respects to the Core i7-980X and could also be a candidate for inclusion in the Mac Pro.

Apple yesterday released the fourth beta version of the SDK for iPad developers, and observers have started to find a few differences popping up in the latest update.

9 to 5 Mac reports that Apple has added support for "3Tap" and "LongPress" gestures to the SDK, suggesting that the company is opening the door for developers to take advantage of these gestures in their applications. The gestures themselves are not new, as Apple has utilized them for such options as turning the iPhone's display on and off when using VoiceOver (triple tap) and activating copy/cut/paste (long press), but the added files should make it easier for developers to use them.

9 to 5 Mac also notes that Apple has removed several icons that previously hinted at the ability to accept or decline video chats on the iPad. Despite the apparent absence of a camera in the iPad, hooks for videoconferencing were discovered in the iPad SDK, leading to speculation that either a camera would be an added feature announced before launch or had been planned and was scrapped for unknown reasons. Hints of front-facing camera capabilities have continued to surface in iPad SDK betas, but it appears that Apple has begun removing some of these references.

GigaOM provides an interesting reexamination of Apple's "iTunes LP" format for enhanced album content six months after the format's debut. While iTunes LPs were touted at its launch as a means to reignite sales of albums as opposed to individual tracks, Apple has done very little promotion of the format in recent months and currently offers only 31 iTunes LP albums (plus three comic book/single packages using the format) in its U.S. iTunes Store.

Reports leading up to launch of iTunes LP, previously codenamed "Cocktail", had suggested that the idea had been put forward by the record labels but was rejected by Apple until the labels banded together to begin developing their own similar format. GigaOM's report yesterday offers a similar perspective on those developments, which offers an explanation for Apple's lack of promotion of the format.

But I'm told by an industry source who preferred to remain anonymous that iTunes LP wasn't Apple's idea in the first place. Rather, it's the result of the same renegotiations between Apple and the major record labels that yielded DRM-free songs and flexible pricing early last year, a concession by Cupertino to make a gesture in favor of album sales as consumers increasingly show a preference for digital singles.

According to the report, Apple even subsidized the initial iTunes LP productions at a cost of up to $60,000 each, presumably as a gesture to placate the record labels. Record labels are understandably reluctant to foot the bill for new releases at that price, despite the fact that Apple's initial promotion of the format did allow the releases to become profitable.

Apple claimed last October that it would be opening up the format to additional labels and did publish tools to assist developers in creating iTunes LP projects relatively soon after. But while developers are likely to be able to put together such releases at a cost significantly below that invested by Apple in the initial launches, few have yet to express interest in the format.

As the report notes, many artists have chosen to take advantage of Apple's App Store to offer enhanced content, but Apple's iPad may provide another opportunity for the iTunes LP format to gain some traction. For its part though, Apple has yet to tout the potential of the iPad for iTunes LP content, and artists and labels have yet to become excited by the possibilities available in that combination.

Engadget reports on a leaked internal memo from Verizon to its staff members promoting Apple's iPad as an "opportunity" to sell its data plans, seeking to encourage customers to purchase a Wi-Fi iPad model and pair it with Verizon services such as MiFi to provide cellular data connectivity.

Verizon's proposal comes with a tradeoff for customers. The company cites the $130 premium carried by 3G-capable iPad models, an upfront cost unnecessary for those customers sticking with Wi-Fi models for use with Verizon's data plans. Alternatively, those customers could purchase a MiFi device for as little as $49.99 from Verizon, but that pricing requires a two-year data contract in comparison to the 3G-capable iPad's contract-free data plan pricing.

On the plus side for Verizon, its MiFi device, which taps into the carrier's cellular network to generate a local Wi-Fi network, can be used to provide access to any Wi-Fi enabled devices and up to five at the same time. Compared to AT&T's iPad service, which obviously is limited only to the iPad itself, Verizon's arrangement offers more flexibility for users who might also want to connect their notebook or other device such as an iPod touch to a network while on the go.

Verizon's MiFi proposal does require, however, that users carry a separate device in addition to their iPad. And on the pricing front, the two-year MiFi contract is priced at $39.99 per month for 250 MB of data or $59.99 per month for 5 GB of data, significantly higher that AT&T's contract-free iPad-only data plans priced at $14.99/250 MB or $29.99/unlimited per month. Consequently, Verizon's strategy seems to likely hold appeal primarily for those customers with multiple Wi-Fi devices requiring cellular data access.

Fortune reports on a new research note from Oppenhiemer & Co.'s Yair Reiner claiming that Apple in January began high-level talks with major phone manufacturers expressing its displeasure with what it considers to be infringement of its iPhone-related intellectual property. According to the report, Apple's recent lawsuit against HTC has served to back up the company's position in these talks and has sent competitors scrambling to deal with the threat. Reiner writes:

Starting in January, Apple launched a series of C-Level discussions with tier-1 handset makers to underscore its growing displeasure at seeing its iPhone-related IP [intellectual property] infringed. The lawsuit filed against HTC thus appears to be Apple's way of putting a public, lawyered-up exclamation point on a series of blunt conversations that have been occurring behind closed doors.

Our checks also suggest that these warning shots are meaningfully disrupting the development roadmaps for would-be iPhone killers. Rival software and hardware teams are going back to the drawing board to look for work-arounds. Lawyers are redoubling efforts to gauge potential defensive and offensive responses. And strategy teams are working to chart OS strategies that are better hedged.

Fortune's report offers more detail on Reiner's description of how events have unfolded, building from Apple's January 2009 promise to aggressively defend its iPhone intellectual property to the company's decision to press its position as other multi-touch handsets have begun to come to market.

Reiner also notes that much of the conflict has occurred with companies utilizing Google's Android operating system, which is seen as Apple's true target. In response, Microsoft has reportedly begun seizing the opportunity by pushing forward with promotion of its Windows Phone operating system and patent portfolio, indicating that it is willing to stand closely with its partner handset manufacturers in any intellectual property dispute.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) yesterday announced that it had obtained a copy of Apple's iPhone Developer Program License Agreement and published it for public consumption. While the contents of the license agreement, which governs the relationship between Apple and App Store developers, should obviously not be a surprise to the many developers already participating in the program, details of the contract have until now been kept relatively shielded from the general public due to nondisclosure agreements associated with the contracts.

The EFF was able to work around this constraint by petitioning NASA, a U.S. government agency and developer of an official NASA iPhone application, under a Freedom of Information Act request. NASA responded with a copy of the 28-page March 2009 version of the agreement.

Overall, the Agreement is a very one-sided contract, favoring Apple at every turn. That's not unusual where end-user license agreements are concerned (and not all the terms may ultimately be enforceable), but it's a bit of a surprise as applied to the more than 100,000 developers for the iPhone, including many large public companies. How can Apple get away with it? Because it is the sole gateway to the more than 40 million iPhones that have been sold. In other words, it's only because Apple still "owns" the customer, long after each iPhone (and soon, iPad) is sold, that it is able to push these contractual terms on the entire universe of software developers for the platform.

The terms of the agreement are not particularly different from those discussed in many places since the iPhone developer program was initiated, but it is interesting to view the actual text of the agreement, and the EFF points to a couple of interesting terms included in it.

- Developers are prohibited from making any "public statements" about the terms of the developer agreement, which is obviously the driving factor that has kept the complete details out of publication for so long.

- Developers using the iPhone SDK may only distribute their applications via Apple's App Store. Use of any other competing App Store for the iPhone platform for distribution is forbidden, even if an application has been rejected from the App Store.

- Reverse engineering of the iPhone OS or SDK is not permitted, and developers are not permitted to "disable, hack, or otherwise interfere" with security provisions on any Apple technology, such as jailbreaking their iPhones.

- Apple's monetary liability to developers is limited to only $50.

The EFF is a donor-funded non-profit organization focused on digital rights, and has been critical of Apple in the past over some of the company's actions. The foundation has even gone so far as to offer legal defense to several sites sued by Apple over leaked product details.

Update: The EFF has now posted a January 2010 version of the agreement.