Another day, and another flurry of stories, rumors and speculation leading up to Saturday’s unveiling of Apple’s iPad tablet computer.
Let’s start with what we know for sure.
Apple’s Guided Tour series of videos gives us the freshest account to date of how applications like Safari, mail and iTunes will run on the new device. Pretty cool, but there really isn’t much information about the soon-to-be hundreds of thousands of apps that will ultimately dictate how successful the iPad will become.
So onto the rumors and leaks!
Apple to debut iAd advertising platform
Online Media Daily is reporting that only days after the iPad hits the streets on April 3 that Apple will debut a new advertising platform called iAd. Word around the campfire is that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is telling everyone that iAd will be “revolutionary” and the company’s “next big thing.” With last year’s $300 million acquisition of mobile advertising company Quattro, Apple certainly has the infrastructure to do this. Call it the next front in the now hot war between Apple and Google.
iPad apps will cost twice as much
We are seeing this anecdotally through our own research and searching, and now Fortune Magazine is publishing data that shows apps accepted for the iPad on average to cost twice as much as they do for the iPhone and iPod touch. An app like Brushes, for instance, will cost $9.99 on the iPad compared to its current $4.99 price tag in the iTunes App Store. Of course, this survey doesn’t account for price discounts after an app has been available for a while, but it does showcase that app developers are not afraid to experiment with higher pricing models for the larger device.
Wall Street loves Apple
Shocker!
Apple’s stock price closed to a 52-week high today ($233.87) as analysts, journalists and enthusiasts continue to talk up the iPad. A report from Mashable says that suppliers expect to ship as many as 10 million iPads this year alone. Securing a retail deal with Best Buy doesn’t hurt. Neither does convincing tech pundits from Wired and Gizmodo that the world would be a better place without flash.
Keep coming back to Appolicious for more iPad news, commentary and rumors in the days and weeks to come.
