Jared Newman, PC World

Mar 5, 2010 12:50 pm

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.

Real Chance Of Love 2 Aloha Eliminated

Aloha

The fifteen remaining girls have their booty shaking skills put to the test when they audition for the Stallionaire’s viral music video.

• Special Guest: Gloria Velez
• Challenge: Stallionaire’s Viral Music Video Challenge

Pool Video Performers: Apple, Junk, Pocahontas, Sassy

Bar Video Performers: Blonde Baller, Hot Wings, Lady

Outside Entrance Performers: Aloha, Baker, Flirty, Mamacita, PS

• Challenge Winners: Aloha, Baker, Flirty, Mamacita, PS

Note: Real and Chance decided to give out R Chains and C Chains due to the fact that which girl is here for one of them.

• Chance’s Girls: Baker, Hot Wings, Spanish Fly, Flirty, Mamacita, Junk, Blonde Baller
• Real’s Girls: Doll, Lady, Pocahontas, PS, Classy, Sassy, Apple
• Bottom 3: Aloha, Apple, Blonde Baller
• Eliminated: Aloha

Reasons for Elimination

• Aloha: Real felt she was too unstable and too crazy.

Real Chance Of Love 2 Vegas Riboon Show me and Freckles Eliminated

Freckles

Riboon

Show Me

Vegas

Aloha

Apple

Baker

Blonde Baller

Classy

Doll

Flirty

Freckles

Hot Wings

Junk

Lady

Mamacita

Pocahontas

PS

Riboon

Sassy

Show Me

Spanish Fly

Vegas

Wiggly

Mobile executives at a Silicon Valley roundtable discussion threw down the gauntlet to Symbian, Android and other software platforms to match the impact of the iPhone.

Talking only about two weeks after the introduction of Apple’s iPhone 3G and the App Store, where third-party software for it is offered, heads of some software companies reported huge numbers of downloads and proclaimed a new day on the mobile Internet. The jury is still out on whether the open-source phone platforms coming from Google and the Symbian Foundation will be able to match Apple’s success, according to the panelists at the TechCrunch Mobile Web Wars event in Menlo Park, California, on Friday afternoon.

For example, Pandora Media began offering its Internet radio application for most other mobile platforms, through carriers, about 18 months ago, Pandora CTO Tom Conrad said. That resulted in about 12,000 paid monthly subscriptions to the service, he said.

“In six days, we had 350,000 installs on the iPhone,” Conrad said. A key factor was that the App Store let the company give away its client and support its service through ads. On other devices, Pandora has had to use carriers’ monthly subscription model, he said.

Nearly 1 million Facebook users have downloaded the social-networking company’s application to their iPhones, according to Jed Stremel, director of mobile at Facebook. And Loopt, a location-based social-networking startup, reached 100,000 iPhone downloads only about a week after the App Store opened. The average iPhone user also is 47 times as active on Loopt as those on other types of phones, said Loopt cofounder and CEO Sam Altman.

“You can make such a beautiful app, and it’s so nice to use, so quickly, on the iPhone,” Altman said.