The new OS will ship in June (Fall for iPad, and a developer preview is available today) and has the following new or updated features:
• Multitasking
• Fast app switching
• Local notifications
• App folders
• A new Mail app
• iBooks
• Custom backgrounds
• Game Center
• iAd advertising
• 5x digital zoom
• Bluetooth keyboards

When the software ships in the summer, iPhone 3GSes and iPod Touch 3rd-gens devices will get all of the new features. The iPhone 3G and Touch 2G will get “many things,” which doesn’t include multitasking. I repeat: the iPhone 3G won’t get multitasking, ever. iPhone 2Gs will be left on a hillside somewhere to die of exposure, or something.

The mouse-less computer allows users to access the Web and other applications by swiping their fingers across the 10-inch screen.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that Jobs talked with customers and browsed the shelves of the Valley Fair Mall Apple store, and Wozniak compared waiting in line on the first day of the product’s launch with waiting in line for concert tickets.

The iPad starts at $499 for a 16-gigabyte basic models and is priced as high as $829 for models equipped with Wi-Fi and 3G networks.

Industry watchers are waiting to see whether the iPad goes beyond being a niche product, or if it revolutionizes the tablet computer industry.

Early sales estimates indicate that Apple sold more than 700,000 iPads on opening day.

By allheadlinenews.com

Apple’s iPad hits stores today amid fevered speculation over whether the gadget can meet expectations.

The iPad, which Apple chief executive Steve Jobs hopes will bridge a gap between smartphone and laptop, goes on sale across America from 9am.

Industry analysts and Wall Street are now waiting to see whether the touchscreen tablet will prove as successful and revolutionary as the company’s iPhone mobile and iPod music player.

The company has already received several hundred thousands in pre-orders and first-year sales are estimated to be between 4 million to 7 million.

Last night those wanting to be the first to buy the device started queuing outside a few of Apple’s 200-plus US outlets. Queues were shorter than for the launch of the iPhone three years ago, as the iPad has been available to pre-order since last month.

The lightweight device, which features a 9.7 inch touchscreen, is an attempt to fuse the best qualities of laptops and smartphones. It allows owners to access the internet, play video games and view a range of media from films to magazines.

Pricing ranges from $499 for a short-range Wi-Fi model to more than $800 for a 3G-enabled version.

Apple’s stock has risen steadily since the iPad was launched to much fanfare in January.

However some commentators have critisced the device as an ‘oversized iPhone’ lacking the processing power of a laptop and questioned whether it will be able to compete in either market.

Rival software giants Hewlett and Packard and Dell are also planning to launch tablet devices later this year.

On Thursday, two video-heavy apps — from Netflix and TV broadcaster ABC — showed up in the App Store for iPad, offering consumers software to watch hours of movies and TV shows.
That could take heat off Apple, which has been criticized for developing its iPad tablet computer without the ability to work with Adobe Flash, which powers most Web videos and animation.

After weeks of buildup, iPads hit stores at 9 a.m. Saturday. They will be sold out by “early afternoon,” predicts tech analyst Richard Doherty of Envisioneering Group. Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates Apple will sell 200,000 to 300,000 iPads this weekend and 1 million in the quarter.

Lines could be long at Apple Stores as buyers get help setting up e-mail, adding software apps and moving data from computers to the iPad. Some university campus bookstores and Apple resellers, in addition to Apple Store and Best Buy, will be selling iPads.

When Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, lines moved slowly, in part because customers had to activate their phones with AT&T. Not this time.

The iPad comes in three models — 16 gigabyte, 32 GB and 64 GB, for $499, $599 and $699. It accesses the Internet via public or home Wi-Fi networks. Three more models due out later this month will access the Internet via AT&T’s 3G wireless network. Prices: $629, $729 and $829. Monthly AT&T service plans are $14.99 for 250 megabytes of data or $29.99 for unlimited.

Charles Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co., says the target audience for the iPad is young teens and adults, who would previously buy the iPod Touch. If Apple takes a hit on iPod Touch sales, that’s not a problem, he says. “The iPad has a higher price point and bigger profit margin.”

Apple says 1,000 new apps will be available Saturday for the iPad.

by USA Today

We’re yet to know what features the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK fourth beta has to offer. According to the MacRumors forum, the Camera tab the Photos App found in the third beta of SDK has been removed. Apple had released the third beta of iPhone OS 3.2 SDK for iPad on February 24, pulled it back and then later made it available after making some changes.

by techtree.com

The new browser, which will be available this year, was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

RIM has long been criticized for its browser, which reviewers (including this one) have said is out-of-date compared to competing handsets that use Apple, Google and Palm operating systems.

The new browser is key to preserving the company’s large consumer adoption base, which has been growing thanks to two-for-one carrier deals and despite an overall lack of innovation in software from the company.

Four months ago, RIM debuted the Storm2, an update to its fully touchscreen BlackBerry, which made all the right moves on the hardware front but still felt behind in terms of software.

The Canadian company last year bought browser specialist Torch Mobile in a bid to revamp its browser.

Total revenues at Gameloft grew 11% to 122 million euros despite the fact that the company’s fourth quarter saw a 6% sales dip “due to Gameloft’s withdrawal from boxed games in January 2009 and to the drop in the dollar.” Mobile games accounted for 94% of the company’s sales in 2009, while console games took up the remaining 6% of sales.

The French developer saw 39% of its full-year sales in 2009 come from Europe, while North America accounted for 32% and the rest of the world made up 29% of revenues. Profitability is up as well, as Gameloft said its operating margin before stock options is expected to reach between 8% and 9% in 2009 compared to 3% in 2008.

Gameloft is forecasting even more growth for 2010. “In the long term, Gameloft is in an ideal position to benefit from the rapid emergence of digitally distributed video games on mobile phones, tablets, consoles and from major technological innovations brought to the market by companies such as Apple, Palm, Nokia and Google,” the publisher stated.

Apple Inc. confirmed last night that it is now allowing iPhone, iPad and iPod touch developers to build apps that can make Internet calls over a 3G cellular network.
“We revised our Program License Agreement in conjunction with our updated Software Development Kit for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad Apps,” wrote an Apple spokesperson. “Included in this update is the ability for developers to create VoIP apps that utilize cellular networks.”

VoIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol — essentially, Web-based telephony.

As we reported last night, several VoiP apps have been approved for use on the iPhone, including iCall and Fring.

Skype, one of the most popular VoIP applications, said it had a 3G iPhone app ready to go, but wanted to get a couple of service details squared away.

Skype is waiting for Apple to clarify when the new SDK terms of service for iPhone OS 3.2 SDK beta, which were published yesterday, will go into effect for current iPhone users who are still bound under the terms of iPhone OS 3.12 SDK, according to Skype spokesman Chaim Haas.

“As soon as we have that clarification, Skype will submit its application for approval,” Haas wrote.

Apple announced Wednesday that iPad owners will be able to purchase monthly 3G plans for the device, which is quite a bit larger than a normal cellular phone, but could easily be used to make and receive calls.

Now that Apple and AT&T have green-lighted 3G data calls, iPad owners will not necessarily need an additional voice plan (not that the option for one was announced, but plenty of people were wondering).

In fact, the arrival of VoIP to iPhone may well be the beginning of a long decline for the concept of “voice minutes” — at this point, there’s really no point in differentiating one kind of call from another — it’s all data.

Apple’s stock soared after the iPad, a hybrid iPhone and netbook computer, was unveiled Wednesday and then plunged with the rest of the market Thursday morning. That shows the best and worst aspects of investing in Apple, all in less than 24 hours.

Apple is a phenomenal company, but it has to do business in the same fragile economy and stock market as everyone else. No matter how brilliant Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, is, the stock is vulnerable to a second dip into recession; $499 for the basic iPad will attract a lot of buyers, but fewer if the economy tanks anew.

The share price could also fall victim to perhaps the biggest threat that any asset faces: excessive expectations.

For the last decade Jobs has managed to do everything right, from the various iterations of the Mac to Pixar to iTunes and the iPod and the iEverything else. He has a knack, maybe better than anyone else does, for identifying a need in the marketplace, often one that consumers never realized they had, and designing a product or service to fill it.

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But nobody’s perfect. Jobs has made mistakes, although not lately. It doesn’t look as though the iPad is one, but it’s way too early to tell for sure. And then there is his health to consider.

As the MoneyWatch house contrarian, I’m supposed to express disdain for anything as successful as Apple. But while the stock is close to all-time highs, it doesn’t look expensive.

By one popular valuation measure, the PEG ratio (the price-earnings multiple divided by the annual earnings growth that analysts expect over the next five years), Apple appears cheap. Its PEG (lower numbers are better) is 1.06, while those of Hewlett Packard, Dell and Microsoft range between 1.16 and 1.46.

But the ratio is susceptible to changes in circumstances. The five-year earnings growth estimate may prove to be way too optimistic if a new rival comes along and shakes up one of Apple’s markets or if an old rival proves more adept at fending off its competitive threat.

Apple is the kind of company that investors either love or hate, marveling at its success or awaiting its comeuppance. The true contrarian play might be just to leave the stock alone.