Apple iPad Launch:Top 10 Questions about iPad apps, iPad accessories, iPad availability, shipping

March 8, 2010 - PRLog -- Apple gave us the answers to two very important questions today -- when can you pre-order an iPad and when can you buy one -- but left a lot to the imagination. iPad pre-orders start on March 12 for both the Wi-Fi-only and 3G-enabled models, and the tablet will be sold in Apple Stores on April 3. Here are the questions Apple didn't answer:

How will Apple handle reservations?
Note that Apple is taking reservations for store pick-up. If reports of a supply shortage are accurate, Apple may not be able to fulfill everyone's order on launch day. I'm curious how this will be handled, but I'm guessing customers will be told that the iPad is first-come, first-served on April 3.

When does the iPad ship for online orders?
Of course, it'd be great to skip the launch day madness and just have an iPad delivered to your door. The only thing is, Apple hasn't said how long it'll take for online orders to arrive. Having that information would make it easier to weigh your options.

Where else will the iPad be available? And when?
At an investor conference sponsored by Goldman Sachs last month, Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, said the iPad will be sold through a store-within-a-store concept at Best Buy, adding that other retail locations could be added over time.

So what other locations are on the table, and what's the time frame for all this? Will we see iPads at Best Buy in April, October or 2011?

Why Wi-Fi first?
One thing that's never been clear about the iPad launch is why people who want a 3G-enabled device will have to wait an extra month to get it. My best guess is that AT&T needs the extra time to prep the new Micro SIM cards that the iPad will use for 3G.

Does "late April" mean "early May" for 3G?
At Apple's January 27 event, chief executive Steve Jobs said the Wi-Fi-only iPad would be available in 60 days. He was off by six days. The 3G iPad is supposed to arrive 90 days after the launch event - that's Tuesday, April 27. Will the iPad 3G's launch be pushed into May, and if so, how far?

Will iPad accessories be available at launch?
Apple's pre-order press release didn't mention accessories. The company will sell five: A keyboard dock ($69), a charge dock ($29), a case ($39), a camera connection kit ($29) and a dock connector to VGA adapter ($29, according to iLounge). Will these accessories be in plentiful supply at Apple Stores, and can they be pre-ordered online along with the iPad itself?

How many tablet apps will launch with the iPad?
App Store development reportedly exploded in January, presumably in response to Apple's iPad announcement. But how many of those new apps will be designed specifically for the tablet? Developers may want to stick with the iPhone's huge customer base rather than take a risk on apps that only work with the new device. Then again, tablet-specific apps would enjoy the spotlight for iPad owners. I want to know more about the apps.

Will magazines launch with the iPad?
We know Apple is positioning the iPad to be a major player in e-books, but what about magazines?

Apple hasn't made a big deal of digital magazines, though the New York Times recently reported that publisher Condé Nast is prepping several of its magazines for the device. The clock's ticking to have these multimedia concoctions ready for launch.

Where's iLife?
One of the apps to debut with the iPad will be iWork, Apple's software suite for documents, spreadsheets and presentations. But creative types were given the cold shoulder, with no apps announced for editing photos, videos or music.

If not Final Cut, will there at least be an iPad version of iLife for basic multimedia editing?

10 Hours Doing What?
Okay, so this question is perhaps the least related to the iPad's launch itself, but I couldn't help noticing the disclaimer in Apple's press release: "Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary."

Come on Apple, at least tell us how much time you get watching video, compared to music, compared to e-books.



Apple's iPad goes on sale April 3, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to get one then. If the past is any guide, Apple stores could sell out early on. Will they? That's one of several intriguing questions still remaining about the iPad.

Will there be shortages?

Maybe, says my colleague Gregg Keizer: "Apple's iPad: Will It Sell?" Prior to Apple announcing an April 3 availability date for the iPad on Friday, Peter Misek, an analyst with Canaccord Adams said production problems would limit the number of units available at launch to 300,000.

Wall Street analyst Brian Marshall of BroadPoint AmTech said the iPad will "definitely" sell out in hours.

The company had trouble keeping up with demand for both the iPhone 3G in 2008, and the 3GS last year. It took Apple about six weeks to fully stock its stores with the iPhone 3G.


I'm ordering mine online when it becomes available for pre-order on Friday.

When will online orders ship?

PCWorld has a nice roundup of 10 questions about the iPad, including one that's topmost on my mind: "When does the iPad ship for online orders?" If I order the iPad Friday, which I plan to do, will it arrive April 3? PCWorld doesn't have an answer. I sent in a query about this to Apple's PR department, they have not yet replied. I'll let you know if and when they do.

Will it sell?

Like crazy, says Gregg, quoting analyst Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research.

Why did Apple miss its deadline?

When Steve Jobs announced the iPad in January, he said it would ship in 60 days, which would have been March 28. Instead, it'll be available six days later. Why?

John Paczkowski, writing at All Things Digital, quotes Misek and theorizes that it might have been a problem with the hardware supply chain.

But John Gruber, writing at Daring Fireball, disagrees. He says the problem was software, not hardware. "Why the iPad Won’t Quite Ship Within ‘60 Days’ of the Announcement Event:"

My sources suggest that Misek is wrong. It was the software, not the hardware, that took a week or two longer to finish than they’d hoped. Nothing extraordinary or unusual, just the usual hard-to-predict timing of turning software that’s almost ready to ship into software that’s ready to ship. In the grand history of major OS release date slips, one week is pretty tame.


Will the iPhone tether to the iPad?

They both run the same operating system, and come from the same vendor. The iPhone has 3G support. So it should be simple to tether the iPad to use the iPhone's 3G data connection. iPhone users would get 3G access without having to pay for an additional data plan.

But it's not going to happen, according to 9to5Mac ("Steve Jobs tells Swedish DJ that the iPad won't tether to the iPhone"). Swedish DJ Jezper Söderlund reportedly e-mailed Steve Jobs himself a query about whether the iPhone and iPad would tether. Jobs replied with one word: "no."

I don't know if the exchange with Jobs actually happened, but the response makes sense. Apple has said nothing about tethering, and it would hurt revenue for Apple partner AT&T, so I don't think we can expect to see it officially supported on the iPad, although we might see it for jailbroken iPads.

I'll have some more iPad questions, along with the best answers I can find, later this week.

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