MacRumors

As noted by AppAdvice, one of the launch apps for the iPad App Store will be a Free Netflix application that will allow current Netflix customers to stream video directly to their device. The authenticity of the app is confirmed on AppShopper. From the app description:

Get Netflix on your iPad. Just download this free app and you can instantly watch TV shows & movies streaming from Netflix.

- Watch as often as you want
- Its part of your unlimited Netflix membership
- Resume watching where you left off on your TV or computer
- Browse movies and manage your Queue right from your iPad

Not a Netflix member? Join today and get a 2-week free trial.

The Free Netflix application will be available in the iPad App Store on launch.

Today is April 1, 2010 and represents April Fools' Day -- so readers should be wary of hoaxes and claims at both news and rumor sites today. For example, Australian Macworld reports that Apple is dropping its computer line in favor of iPhones, iPods, and iPads, while ThinkGeek announced an iPad Arcade Cabinet:

Today also represents Apple's 34th anniversary -- Apple was founded on April 1st, 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak -- and this week is the peak of publicity and excitement over the upcoming release of Apple's iPad.

While we avoid tainting our news stories with April Fools jokes, we've provided our own Aprils Fools' Day surprises in the past, including our Big Bunny Bundle and Page 3 rumors.

Stephen Fry has been posting video and images from his brand new iPad this evening, but one set of images has been particularly revealing. Fry posted a screenshot from the app revealing that Autodesk SketchBook Pro is already available for the iPad:

Autodesk does currently have a mobile version of their Sketchbook App for iPhone and iPod Touch, but a Pro version taking advantage of the iPad's larger screen is intriguing.

Meanwhile, MGS Development has posted images revealing their upcoming sheet music app for the iPad called forScore:

ForScore will come with over 1300 pages of score, from 18 world-renowned composers, and almost 300 different pieces. The app will include the ability to make notes to yourself as well as a visual metronome. No word on pricing.

For those desperate to see an unboxing video of the iPad, here's the first, from Stephen Fry. Fry, a well known friend of Apple, must have gotten one of the early shipments including all accessories:

Meanwhile, those looking for something a little more depth should really take a look at this video from PCMag. PCMag posted this excellent walk-through and review of the iPad. The hands on demo of the unit shows many of the iPad's features.

Apple's built-in apps and several 3rd party apps are demoed and shown in real time. The narrator reports that over 1000 apps will be available for the iPad at launch.

The early iPad reviews are in from those seeded with pre-release units from Apple. The general conclusion seems to be very positive but with the well known limitations (no Flash, no USB, no multitasking, etc...). Apps are to be a big differentiator for the iPad and an early list of iPad apps are available on AppShopper.

David Pogue / New York Times

Pogue attacks the iPad from two different perspectives: techie and "everyone else". If you're a techie, Pogue says that a laptop will do more for less money. But, if you like the concept of the iPad, "you'll love the machine". Pogue did test the iPad's battery life and found it could play movies continuously for over 12 hours.

Walt Mossberg / All Things D

- "a whole new type of computer"
- Mossberg found the iPad a "pleasure to use" and had less and less interest in using his laptop the longer he used it, reserving their use for writing/editing longer documents or watching Flash-requiring web videos.
- Impressed by the battery life which was longer than Apple's 10 hour claim.
- No trouble with the on screen keyboard.
- Pages is a "serious" content creation app but only exports to Word and not always accurately.

Edward Baig / USA Today

- "The first iPad is a winner."
- Onscreen keyboard fine for emails or quick notes, but not for lengthy articles.
- Most will use the iPad for consuming content rather than creating it.
- "Apple has pretty much nailed it with this first iPad, though there's certainly room for improvement."

Andy Inhatko / Chicago Sun Times

- "The iPad user experience is instantly compelling and elegant."
- "It feels more as if the iPad is filling a gap thats existed for quite some time."

ABC Video

Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) today announced that it is doubling the size of its "iFund" supporting iPhone OS-related companies to $200 million. The original iFund was launched in March 2008, and KPCB notes that the initial $100 million has been fully committed to 14 companies that have also attracted an additional $330 million in funding.

KPCB also announced iFund-supported companies have more than 20 applications in development for the soon-to-be-released iPad, with 11 available at first ship on April 3. KPCB noted the iPhone has created an inflection in mobile content consumption and the iPad will lead the next wave of innovation in mobile computing. The iFund is increasing its investment dollars to back entrepreneurs and build companies that focus on these areas. Particular areas of interest on iPad include entertainment, communication, social networking, commerce, health care, and education.

Going forward, KPCB expects all ventures it supports through the fund to offer an iPad component to their plans.

"Kleiner Perkins has done a terrific job at finding, funding and supporting great iPhone app developers," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We are thrilled that they are doubling the size of their fund, along with expanding it to now include iPad developers too."

According to today's announcement, the initial batch of iFund awardees, which includes such companies as ngmoco and Shazam, has generated over 100 million downloads of their mobile applications with over $100 million in revenue in 2010 alone.

CNET continues its coverage of Apple's plans to move iTunes into the cloud with a new report claiming that Apple is unlikely to have its planned music streaming service ready for launch until at least the third quarter of this year.

Music industry sources told CNET this week Apple has informed label managers that a streaming music service is unlikely to be ready before the third quarter.

It will be a disappointment for iTunes fans who have been speculating as to when Apple might use music site Lala--which Apple acquired in December--for its streaming expertise to launch a cloud-based music service.

Apple's acquisition of Lala was seen as a possible move into cloud-based or streaming music services. But rather than a traditional subscription-based streaming service, reports have suggested that Apple may be looking to allow users to move their own libraries to the cloud, where they could stream them to a wide range of devices.

A separate report from CNET earlier this month suggested that Apple was even in negotiations with movie studios to deploy cloud-based video streaming. Today's report claims, however, that Apple "hasn't done much" with regards to film content for the iPad, so users should not expect to see any significant announcements regarding that portion of Apple's iTunes business alongside the iPad launch.

AppleInsider offers some details on multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0, which would allow users greater ability to run multiple apps at a time and easily switch between them. According to the report, multitasking on iPhone OS 4.0 will utilize an interface similar to the Expos function found in Mac OS X.

Those familiar with the design of iPhone 4.0 said that the user interface will resemble Apple's desktop Expose feature, in that a key combination -- reportedly hitting the Home button twice -- will trigger an expose-like interface that brings up a series of icons representing the currently running apps, allowing users to quickly select the one they want to switch to directly. When a selection is made, the iPhone OS zooms out of the Expose task manager and transitions to that app.

While Apple currently offers limited multitasking for apps that ship with the iPhone operating system, it has yet to implement true multitasking for all applications despite it being one of the highest profile requests from users. Apple developed a workaround with Push Notifications, launched last June, which allow applications that are not currently running to serve alerts to users via a remote server.

Talk of true multitasking in iPhone OS 4.0 surfaced in the weeks leading up to the iPad media event in late January as some observers expected the updated operating system to be demoed there. Additional claims arrived earlier this month, and Daring Fireball's John Gruber also hinted earlier this week at the capability for iPhone OS 4.0.

Today's report also notes two other features that have reportedly been observed in iPhone OS 4.0: a "global mailbox view" and the ability to place individual contacts to the device's home screen. Neither of these advancements are a particular surprise, however, as Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself recently claimed that a universal inbox is under development, and a patent application published in January revealed Apple's interest in adding contacts to the home screen.

iPad in Canada reports that it has received information from a source claiming that Apple retail store employees in Canada have been told that the weekend of April 24th is a "black out period", meaning that employees are not permitted to schedule time off during this window. If true, it seems very likely that this might coincide with the launch of the iPad there, as Apple has announced a "late April" launch in Canada and other countries.

We were contacted by a source with close ties to the Apple Store that the weekend of April 24th has been marked as a "black out period" for staff. This means no employees are allowed to book this day off. If that's the case, then it would make sense that this indeed would be the launch date for the iPad in Canada. Anytime there's a "black out period" you know it's for something big.

Pre-orders for the iPad began in the United States on March 12th, with Wi-Fi models launching this Saturday and 3G-capable models following later in the month.

The same "late April" timeframe was announced for availability of all models (Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G) in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Consequently, it appears likely that, should Canada see an iPad launch on April 24th, other announced countries could expect launches on the same day.

Pre-orders in the United States began approximately three weeks before the launch of the Wi-Fi iPad models, and so some have speculated that pre-orders for an April 24th international launch could begin as early as this weekend. Apple may choose, however, to wait for the initial rush of iPad sales in the United States before taking pre-orders internationally, gauging sales numbers and stock levels as it seeks to maintain a steady flow of iPads to its sales channels.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) on AT&T's recent efforts to beef up its cellular network in the face of criticism from customers over performance. As part of the report, the Journal notes that Apple and AT&T have worked closely on addressing the issues, with Apple even going so far as to tweak how the iPhone connects to the network in order to reduce load.

Apple rejiggered how its phones communicate with AT&T's towers. As a result, the phones now put less of a load on the network for such simple tasks as finding the closest tower or checking for available text messages.

"They're well past networking 101, 201 or 301," said Mr. Donovan. Apple, he said, is now "in a Master's class."

AT&T also reportedly sent high-ranking company executives to Cupertino to personally meet with Apple CEO Steve Jobs to assure him that network issues were being addressed. According to the report, AT&T rolled out a "100-day plan" in mid-December to rapidly improve service in high-density markets such as Manhattan and San Francisco that have been the focus of customer complaints. The carrier's efforts may be paying off, as its network showed marked improvement in a recent study of 3G wireless performance, although there is certainly still work to be done.

AT&T's race to improve its network comes as rumors of a Verizon iPhone continue to circulate and the iPad nears its launch, providing additional incentives for the carrier to invest in its infrastructure.

Apple today released iTunes 9.1 via Software Update and the company's iTunes download page. As disclosed by MacRumors yesterday, the update brings several enhancements such as support for iPad syncing including eBook content and greater customizability of Genius Mixes.

iTunes 9.1 comes with several new features and improvements, including:

- Sync with iPad to enjoy your favorite music, movies, TV shows, books and more on the go

- Organize and sync books you've downloaded from iBooks on iPad or added to your iTunes library

- Rename, rearrange, or remove Genius Mixes

Apple's iPad is scheduled to launch in the U.S. this Saturday, with the iBooks application and iBookstore expected to go live there at approximately the same time.