iPad international data plans roundup: Japan gets SIM-locked devices, Spain gets a great deal more (updated)

With international pre-orders now being taken, more data plan details have started emerging for Apple’s iPad. We now know that Rogers will be charging Canadians pretty similarly to how AT&T treats American 3G users, albeit with the inclusion of a 5GB monthly data cap on the pricier tariff. O2 has also outed its plans, though it’s not much better news in the UK where it’s matching Orange’s pricing with a 3GB monthly allowance for £15 per month ($22), while Vodafone has completely lost its marbles with a 250MB offers a 1GB option costing £10 a month and 5GB costing £25 per month. Apple engages in a bit of false advertising in Germany, claiming unlimited data plans with O2 (€25) and Vodafone (€29.95), but there are clear limits set out on the carriers’ sites of 5GB and 3GB per month, respectively.

Finally, Japan gets the stiffest deal of all with iPads there officially confirmed to be SIM-locked to Softbank Mobile‘s network, something that has already earned plenty of ire from the local populace. The carrier does offer a variety of monthly payment plans for obtaining your tablet, though its data tariffs are nothing special: ¥2,910 ($32) for a month’s unlimited use if you sign up to what seems like a longer-term plan, or ¥4,410 ($48) for a 1GB allowance if you go pre-paid. There’s a third option for spendthrifts, costing ¥1,510 ($16) for 100MB pre-paid, but that’s not even enough for you to watch a full Engadget Show, so we’d probably advise against it. You can find price breakdowns for each country after the break.

[Thanks, Bram]

Update: Rogers has killed that lovely third option shown in the image above. Hope you weren’t excited about it.

Update 2: Turns out Apple had the wrong details about Vodafone UK too — you get 1GB of data if you spend £10 a month. [Thanks, Rob]

Update 3: Movistar, Telefonica’s consumer arm in Spain, has announced a pretty stonking deal: if you already have a smartphone data plan costing €25 a month, you can get a Micro SIM and 3G data on your iPad for free. Espana totally just won the “best place to own an iPad” contest.

Continue reading iPad international data plans roundup: Japan gets SIM-locked devices, Spain gets a great deal more (updated)

iPad international data plans roundup: Japan gets SIM-locked devices, Spain gets a great deal more (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 07:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Mobile in Japan  |  sourceApple CA, Apple UK, Apple DE, Softbank  | Email this | Comments

Apple starts rolling out international iPad pre-orders

What’s that, you say? The iPad pre-order button is now propagating itself over on Apple’s global assortment of online stores? The Australian retail is already taking your hard-earned change, while we just saw first-hand the UK variant go down, go up with an iPad pre-order icon on the front page, then subsequently hidden again behind a yellow sticky note within minutes of this writing. We imagine the rest of the stores will be following suit (if they haven’t already). Ladies and gentlemen of the pro-Apple persuasion, better double check your bank accounts — in case you forgot, the full launch is May 28th.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Apple starts rolling out international iPad pre-orders originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 May 2010 19:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceApple Store (AU), (UK)  | Email this | Comments

Magic Mouse syncs with jailbroken iPad, enabling cursory cursor control (video)

The pun is so obvious it practically insults your intelligence, but we just can’t help ourselves — the iPad has just gotten a little more magical. Using the BTstack application that brought Bluetooth mouse support to iPhone, enterprising individuals discovered the same technique works on a jailbroken iPad as well, and hooked up Apple’s own Magic Mouse to show it off to the world. Mind you, while this implementation does look quite useful, we do detect the barest hint of lag — so it may not be your weapon of choice for pixel-doubled Doom sessions. Video after the break.

Continue reading Magic Mouse syncs with jailbroken iPad, enabling cursory cursor control (video)

Magic Mouse syncs with jailbroken iPad, enabling cursory cursor control (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 09 May 2010 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceRedmond Pie  | Email this | Comments

How would you change Apple’s iPad?

To say that Apple’s iPad has driven the tablet market straight into an era of revival would be understating things greatly, and one million units later, we’re here to ask the earliest of adopters how they’d tweak things if they were ever lucky enough to take over where Jonathan Ive left off. We already know that select changes are coming in iPhone OS 4.0, and the recent Spirit jailbreak has also opened up a whole new world of possibilities, but there’s always work to be done, right? Would you have included a USB port and SD card slot along the edges? Designed it for use on other carriers? Made the screen a bit bigger / smaller? Thrown in a front-facing camera? Go on, spill your deepest, darkest wishes for Apple’s first tablet in comments below. Someone will listen, we promise.

How would you change Apple’s iPad? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 May 2010 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

CBS suits up, promises iPad-friendly HTML5 video for all content by this Fall

Visit CBS.com from your iPad right now and all you’ll get is a full episode of Survivor and clips from various other shows. By the start of the Fall season, however, CBS Interactive SVP Anthony Soohoo is promising content parity between its Flash-based website and HTML5-compliant iPad portal. While on the subject, he also notes that the video strategy will be entirely web-based, with no plans for an app à la ABC Player. Flash isn’t being subjected to a veritable slapsgiving, however, as it’ll remain the desktop technology of choice. Soohoo notes HTML5’s toolset for measurement and encryption isn’t quite at the same level yet. Full video interview after the break, and iPad users? This fall, expect something quite legen — oh, you know where we’re going with this, but still we’ll pause for dramatic effect — dary.

Continue reading CBS suits up, promises iPad-friendly HTML5 video for all content by this Fall

CBS suits up, promises iPad-friendly HTML5 video for all content by this Fall originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 May 2010 19:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MacRumors  |  sourcenewteevee  | Email this | Comments

iPad Spirit jailbreak + Camera Connection Kit = external HDD support

Looks like that iPad Camera Connection Kit isn’t as overpriced as we thought; not only does it have USB headset and keyboard support, but one enterprising user has hooked up an external hard drive using the dongle as well. Max Shay has an exhaustive walkthrough at his personal website, but the gist of the matter is that you’ll need a jailbroken iPad, a split-USB cable to give that drive some extra juice, and a terminal of some sort (Max used his MacBook) to trick the iPad into mounting your external storage, after you use SSH to tunnel through. The result is an unwieldy wired assembly we wouldn’t be caught dead with in public, but perhaps useful in a pinch — or as the latest proof of what the iPad could do if only Apple would let it. Video after the break.

Continue reading iPad Spirit jailbreak + Camera Connection Kit = external HDD support

iPad Spirit jailbreak + Camera Connection Kit = external HDD support originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 May 2010 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceMaxwell C. Shay  | Email this | Comments

ClamCase iPad case magically turns your tablet into a laptop

The second we heard the iPad had Bluetooth keyboard support we knew we’d see a laptop-style case emerge, and here we are, watching a rendered product video for the ClamCase, which triples as case, a stand, and a keyboard. Sure, we have our doubts that the Iron Man 2 footage and AC/DC track being used were properly licensed and the product isn’t actually real, but we’ve got a feeling iPad keyboard cases are going to be the playground for accessory manufacturers — and the trend is just going to intensify when OS 4.0 brings keyboard support to the iPhone. We’ll be honest, we can’t wait to see what happens when some of these companies let their freak-flags fly — check the ClamCase video and PR after the break.

Continue reading ClamCase iPad case magically turns your tablet into a laptop

ClamCase iPad case magically turns your tablet into a laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 May 2010 20:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceClamCase  | Email this | Comments

Jailbreaking Your iPad: How You Can and Why You Should [Jailbreak]

If you’re convinced that the walls surrounding the iPhone OS garden are a little too high, jailbreaking is your ticket to freedom. Here’s how to bust your iPad out, and why you might want to do so. More »

iPad merges with kitchen cabinet, sacrificing portability for utility

From the moment we saw the so-called “magical device,” we knew the lucrative digital cookbook market would never be quite the same, but it’s one thing to imagine an iPad as the centerpiece of one’s kitchen, and something else entirely to see to see it in the flesh. TUAW reader Alan Daly built his directly into the side of a kitchen cabinet, and set it to work doling out Epicurious recipes, streaming Jamie Oliver, and surfing some of the world’s best websites (in our oh-so-humble opinion) well out of the way of troublesome meat splatter. In lieu of flying toasters, his screen displays a virtual aquarium when it’s not in use, and the whole assembly seems to be a simple matter of cutting a hole and affixing a pair of wooden strips for support. It’s not clear, however, how he keeps it charged. Maybe that’s the magic Steve keeps talking about. Video after the break.

Continue reading iPad merges with kitchen cabinet, sacrificing portability for utility

iPad merges with kitchen cabinet, sacrificing portability for utility originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 May 2010 13:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TUAW  |  sourcemykitchenipad (Flickr)  | Email this | Comments

ABC Player for iPad updated, 3G streaming is a go

Well that was fast. That ABC Player for iPad update we heard about this morning has already made its way through Apple’s approval process and is now available for download. Orientation lock is now, erm, on lock controls are more responsive, but most importantly, (lower bitrate) 3G streaming is now a go. With that settled, now no bus ride will ever get between you and an island chockfull of confusion and smoke monsters.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

ABC Player for iPad updated, 3G streaming is a go originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 May 2010 23:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments