A number of Apple iPad users have noted that the Wi-Fi connectivity has been quite bad with connections often dropping. Reasons for this have been determined by some to be the DHCP lease expiring where the iPad needs to grab a new IP address and in so doing, has problems for some reason.

Temporary fixes have included disabling and re-enabling wifi on the iPad and in some cases, power-cycling the iPad (ie, switching it right off and back on). Of course, these work-arounds are not the ideal thing to have to do for something that should just work.

We are hearing good news though in that Apple [AAPL] are intending to fix the issue with a software fix sometime soon. It isn’t clear when a firmware fix will be release and how it will all work, but we assume it will be a 3.2.1 release or similar and hopefully they don’t make us wait till the iPad iPhone OS 4.0 release later on this year. [Read more…]

For those of you in the UK who are ordering an Apple iPad 3G model, Vodafone now have their microSIM cards available on the site to grab. The microSIM is free and is available on two tariffs.

When ordering the microSIM your card will be delivered right away although to use it you’ll need to wait till May 28 when the iPad is delivered, or have a US model imported.

The contract for Vodafone microSIM cards is just 1 month and this can be cancelled/activated at any time by calling them. [Read more…]

Update: The limit of 5GB has been returned to 5GB from unlimited… ie, no change except for the deceiving wording has been removed from the Apple site.

Earlier today the Apple iPad was made available for pre-order in the UK amongst other countries. For those pre-ordering an Apple iPad WiFi+3G model, information was presented for 3 of the UK mobile phone providers. Vodafone was listed where they offered two tariffs of 1GB/month for £10/month or 5GB for £25/month.

This information was later confirmed by way of a press release received about 4pm which read as follows…

Data Fee
1GB £10
5GB £25

On the Apple order pages we now see that Vodafone is now offering an “Unlimited” bundle for £25 and it appears they have scrapped the 5GB limit… until you read the the small print which indicates the word unlimited actually means there is still a limit of 5GB, or a fair use policy as they word it. [Read more…]

Although the iPad has proved successful for Apple [AAPL], there are still a number of complaints which range from there being no camera to no flash support and on to no printing support. The latter of these has now been addressed by Steve Jobs himself.

One guy decided to email Steve Jobs and ask him direct why the Apple iPad had no printing support to which Steve Jobs answered in his classic one liners, “It will come”.

Although this tells us nothing about release dates and how it will happen, at least it appears that something is in the pipeline for printing support on the Apple iPad. [Read more…]

Apple [AAPL] has opened up pre-orders in the UK for the Apple iPad as announced recently. Prices for the iPad start at £429 including VAT for the lowest spec model that has wi-fi only and 16GB of storage. The top price is £699 that will get you the 64GB iPad with Wireless and 3G connectivity.

If pre-ordered in time (ie, before May 28 and before pre-orders are out of stock) then you will get the iPad on Friday May 28.

As well as launching pre-orders for the iPad, Apple has also given prices for all mobile networks who will be offering iPad plans. This includes Vodafone, O2 and Orange. Prices can be found below… [Read more…]

Earlier today we received official details from Apple [AAPL] regarding the launch date and the price of the Apple iPad in the UK. We already knew a few of the networks over in the UK would be offering price plans and Orange are the first to step forwards with their offerings.

Orange are calling the plans pay-as-you-consume and they will offer several plans starting with a pay monthly for what you use plan where costs are 5p per MB with a limit of £40/month being applied to the account.

Next up are the bundle plans where you can sign up for a day, 7 days or monthly plans as follows…

iPad Daily (valid for 1 day until midnight) – £2 – 200MB
iPad Weekly (valid for 7 days until midnight) – £7.50 – 1GB
iPad Monthly 15 (recurring) – £15 – 3GB + unlimited browsing at Wi-Fi hotspots
iPad Monthly 25 (recurring) – £25 – 10GB + unlimited browsing at Wi-Fi hotspots [Read more…]

Apple [AAPL] has finally given a date for the first international launch of the Apple iPad. In the UK we can expect to get the iPad on May 28 although prices have still not been provided. Press release below…

iPad Available in Nine More Countries on May 28

Pre-Orders Begin May 10

CUPERTINO, California-May 7, 2010-Apple® today announced that iPad¢ will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK on Friday, May 28. Customers can pre-order all iPad models from Apple’s online store in all nine countries beginning on Monday, May 10. In the US, Apple has already sold over one million iPads and customers have downloaded over 12 million apps from the App Store, as well as over 1.5 million ebooks from the new iBookstore.

iPad allows users to connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before. Users can browse the web, read and send email, enjoy and share photos, watch HD videos, listen to music, play games, read ebooks and much more, all using iPad’s revolutionary Multi-Touch¢ user interface. iPad is 0.5 inches thin and weighs just 1.5 pounds-thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook-and delivers up to 10 hours of battery life.*

The App Store on iPad lets you wirelessly browse, buy and download new apps from the world’s largest app store. iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for iPad and will run almost all of the more than 200,000 apps on the App Store, including apps already purchased for your iPhone® or iPod touch®. Developers have created more than 5,000 exciting new apps designed for iPad that take advantage of its Multi-Touch interface, large screen and high-quality graphics.

Pricing & Availability
Apple plans to release iPad in Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore in July. Apple will announce availability, local pricing and pre-order plans for these nine additional countries at a later date.

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

When iPhone OS is jailbroke, a number of interesting things can be accomplished that were previously locked up by Apple [AAPL]. The latest new feature to be added is for the Apple iPad running OS 3.2 that has been jailbroke by Spirit. The user in the video below has successfully managed to use the iPad Camera Connection kit to connect up an external hard drive, mount it and access it from the iPad.

To achieve the external hard drive compatibility you’ll need any iPad along with an external hard drive, iPad Camera Connection kit, split USB cable for providing extra juice to the hard drive and some terminal software that allows you to mount the drive when needed. [Read more…]

John Benson ordered an Apple iPad 3G in the UK that arrived from the US this week. When opening it up, it obviously had an AT&T microSIM that won’t work over here. The problem is that in the UK at the moment, microSIM’s are not available just yet so rather than waiting a month to use it, John took a knife to his Vodafone SIM and chopped off the plastic edges to make it in to a microSIM.

The U.K. resident was faced with a disparity in SIM cards once he received his iPad from over the pond, writing on his website, “This morning, my shiny new iPad 3G 64Gb arrived from the USA! The only problem was, it had an AT&T MicroSIM and as yet there is no such thing in the UK.”

[Read more…]

ClamCase is a device that converts your Apple iPad in to a laptop style device. The unit has a keyboard that the iPad attaches to.

To connect the keyboard to the Apple iPad, Bluetooth is used. The idea appears to be just concept at the moment although the company behind it hope to have it available to purchase in the fall of this year. Prices are not known just yet either.

As well as converting your iPad to a laptop, it also serves as a protective case when folder up. Also, the keyboard can be opened up to allow the iPad to stand on it’s side, or prop up the iPad for easier use. [Read more…]

Brando has launched a slim Bluetooth keyboard that is compatible with the Apple iPad. The keyboard measures just 112x61x13mm and weighs 70g.

The keyboard is powered by a rechargeable battery and is recharged over a USB connection. The keyboard isn’t just for the Apple iPad and is actually compatible with a number of other devices which includes Symbian S60 devices, Mac OS, Windows Mobile devices and most versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system going back to Windows 2000. [Read more…]

After just 28 days of being on sale, Apple [AAPL] has sold 1,000,000 Apple iPads. Over 12 million apps have been downloaded and 1.5 million eBooks from iBookstore.

“One million iPads in 28 days-that’s less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Demand continues to exceed supply and we’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers.”

That’s quite an impressive set of numbers for a product that has only been on sale a month today. The numbers will continue to grow at a healthy rate too as an international launch is set for this month with several more countries having both the iPad wifi and iPad 3G models towards the end of the month.

Via: Engadget