Hasta La Gadget!

Apple has updated iTunes to version 9.1 to offer support for the iPad release on Saturday. The headline features are iPad syncing and support for books, and there is also some tweaking to the Genius playlist options.

The iPad syncing obviously won’t do anything until you plug in an iPad this weekend, but you can test out the books support right now. Take any EPUB-format book you may have on your computer and drop it into iTunes. It is automatically added to the new Books section, which replaces (and includes) the Audiobooks section. If the book already has metadata and cover art, these are preserved. You can also sort by category, title and author.

Only EPUB will work, and I converted mine using the cross-platform freeware application Calibre, itself a kind of iTunes for e-books. Dragging a MOBI file does nothing. PDF files can still be added, but they end up in the main library as before, not the Books library.

Once the books are in iTunes, what can you do? Right now, nothing. They don’t show up in the list of syncable content for an iPod Touch, nor can you view them in iTunes itself, despite the option to “play” in the pop-up, right-click menu. We hope that the iPhone gets its own version of the iBooks app, if only so you can read from multiple devices, Kindle-style. We doubt the Mac will get iBooks, though. That’s what the iPad is for.

There’s one other takeaway from this early release of iTunes. Normally Apple updates iTunes on the day a new product ships, and this usually makes downloads painfully slow, and often means you can’t use your new device right away. Either Apple has learned its lesson, or it is expecting to sell rather a lot of iPads on Saturday.

iTunes [Apple]

See Also:

• IBooks
• Apple's Tablet E-Book App Rips off Indie Dev's Creation
• iBooks Store Loaded with Project Gutenberg Titles at Launch …
• Apple iPad Raises the Stakes for E-Readers

If you’re planning on buying an iPad when it goes on sale this Saturday, you have some deciding to do. Unlike the iPhone, there are six different versions of the iPad, ranging in price from $500 to $830.

The three models shipping this weekend are Wi-Fi only, while another three — shipping late April — include both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity.

Your first decision is between those two fundamental differences: Wi-Fi only, or 3G plus Wi-Fi? After you decide which route to take, from there you need to pick a storage capacity: 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB.

For a lot of us, the decision is complicated by the fact that we already own an iPhone or iPod Touch — or another smartphone, for that matter.

So let’s break it down for you.

Wi-Fi or 3G?

Let’s face it: in its current state, the iPad is primarily a device you’ll use to veg out on your couch for watching movies, listening to music and playing games.

A lot of these media-consumption activities are going to work just fine offline, so even in places where you’re without Wi-Fi, you shouldn’t feel completely deprived.

For the majority of users, Wi-Fi will probably be sufficient, assuming you have a wireless network set up in your home. (Even AT&T seems to believe that the iPad is mostly going to be a Wi-Fi-driven device.)

But nonetheless there’s a strong argument for choosing one of the 3G-equipped models. If you travel often, you’ll inevitably find yourself in a hotel lobby or restaurant that doesn’t have Wi-Fi, and at that point the lack of 3G could be irritating.

Also, if you commute for work, you’ll probably enjoy a 3G connection for those times when you’re on the train or bus — assuming you can get a signal from AT&T in those spots. On top of that, the 3G model of the iPad includes GPS, while the Wi-Fi-only version does not, making it a more capable traveling device.

3G will cost you more, of course. Each 3G model costs $130 more than the corresponding Wi-Fi counterpart with the same storage.

What makes the 3G option especially intriguing for the iPad is there’s no contract. It’s all month-to-month, and you only buy a plan when you need one: $15 a month for 250 MB or $30 a month for unlimited data. During the months when you’re not traveling, you can simply turn the 3G service off.

In short, if you’re a very mobile person, the 3G model probably suits you best. If you’re a homebody, you’ll be happy with the Wi-Fi version.

Storage

If you take the Wi-Fi route, you’re probably going to be using the iPad mostly in your living room for consuming media such as movies, music and graphic-intensive games — all of which will be stored on the iPad’s flash drive. For that reason, larger storage should be more important for Wi-Fi only customers. We’d recommend either going with the 32-GB or 64-GB model for Wi-Fi-only models, as you’ll fill up 16 gigs pretty fast.

If you go with 3G, you’ll have the flexibility of accessing your digital life through the cloud in addition to the iPad drive itself anywhere you go. So for the 3G route, storage is a bit less important. If you don’t have a lot of music or movies, a 16-GB model with cloud-based apps, such as Dropbox or Pandora, could very well suffice.

(One could argue that you can access your data through the cloud with a Wi-Fi-only device as well, but we’d say it’s inconvenient to live in the cloud without a constant internet connection.)

With all that said, we strongly favor the 32-GB model for 3G, because its feature set strikes a chord for those with a healthy balance of work and play.

We’d argue that the 64-GB iPad 3G is a bit too expensive ($830) and impractical. The 64-GB iPad 3G model is best designed for media-obsessed workaholics — a pretty small group of users.

The iPhone/iPod Touch factor

If you already have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, a good question to ask is whether an iPad will fit in to your life at all. The truth is the iPad is so new that it hasn’t proven to become a necessity for anyone, and if you’re using an iPhone, you might find it fulfills most of a tablet’s potential functions already.

Also unknown is the degree to which the iPad will play nicely with your iPhone — in particular, whether it’ll be possible to tether the iPhone to the iPad, which would eliminate the need to spend more money on a 3G model and its associated monthly fees.

Steve Jobs said in an e-mail to a customer that tethering an iPhone to an iPad would not be doable, but we doubt that’s completely true, if you’re willing to take a few risks. There’s a good chance the iPad will be jailbroken (i.e., hacked) as soon as it’s released, so a tethering workaround seems probable — though be aware that jailbreaking can void your warranty.

If you own an iPhone, our advice would be to wait a few weeks to see if a tethering solution emerges before deciding between the 3G or Wi-Fi model.

And if you own an iPod Touch, which was cleverly touted by Jobs as an “iPhone with training wheels,” then the iPad 3G is a good opportunity to graduate to the cloud. The best part is that you won’t need to commit to a hefty monthly contract like you would with an iPhone, so an iPad 3G is all the more appealing.

The Bottom Line

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Apple on Monday said its new iPad, due for release Saturday, will be landing in Best Buy stores in addition to Apple’s retail locations.

The news about Best Buy could give hope to eager customers who missed the opportunity to pre-order an iPad to receive it by the April 3 launch. Apple’s website states that iPads pre-ordered today will ship by April 12, indicating that supply of the device will be extremely tight this weekend.

However, camping outside Best Buy might not be worth the effort, as the chances of obtaining one look slim. The Unofficial Apple Weblog’s Michael Rose received screenshots of an internal memo from Best Buy, which states each store will only carry five units of each iPad model (16GB, 32GB, 64GB), or a total of 15 iPads.

What’s more, four iPads must be marked “Not for Resale” and set aside as demo units, the memo states. That means only 11 iPads will be sold at each participating store, if Best Buy sticks to the game plan in the memo. So if you missed the cutoff date for pre-orders, the least frustrating solution would probably be to wait an extra week, or play with a demo unit at Best Buy if you’re aching to touch one.

Press Release [Apple]

See Also:

• iPad Pre-Orders Now Shipping
• Five Essential iPad Accessories
• What the iPad Means for the Future of Computing
• iPad Could See 50 Tablet Rivals This Year

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Twitter is aflame with reports that the iPad has started to ship. Emails to customers from Apple include tracking numbers for the shipments, which are coming via UPS. We don’t imagine that anyone is likely to get their iPad early, but you never know: with the hundreds of thousands of pre-orders, mistakes could happen. Those who have pre-ordered should be pleased that all is going according to plan, and that they can wake up this weekend to a shiny new toy.

This isn’t the first time Apple has teamed up with UPS to get a new device to waiting fans. When the iPhone 3GS shipped last year, Apple commanded UPS to hold on to the packages until launch day, even if they were sitting there, ready and waiting in your local branch like gifts under a Christmas tree.

And remember, anyone nerdy enough to have pre-ordered a $500 device they have never even seen, let alone touched, is nerdy enough to post pictures and stories online as soon as they can. Fingers crossed, then, for early news. If not, Saturday is only five days away.

Have we at Gadget Lab received our pre-order email advisory? Hell no! We’re sending intrepid reporters to the Apple Stores in New York and San Francisco to pick up the machines in person and check out the launch day vibe. We have reserved a couple though – we’re not that stupid.

iPad Shipping [Twitter]

Photo: Jonathan Snyder / Wired.com

Nintendo Wii users don’t have to feel left out anymore. Netflix has started shipping instant streaming discs to Wii owners who have signed up for it.

The move makes Wii the last console among its peers to get the service.

About a year-and-a-half ago, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 became the first console to offer direct access to Netflix for gamers. Sony’s PlayStation 3 users gained access to Netflix’s instant streaming service late last year.

Finally, in January this year, Netflix said it will offer streaming for Wii users starting Spring. Wii users with a broadband connection and a subscription to Netflix can access Netflix’s library.

The movie rental service sent out e-mail alerts to customers Thursday and has said discs for the Wii could be in the hands of consumers before the weekend.

The Wii can’t play high-definition streaming shows or movies but we are hoping an innovative interface for using Netflix through the Wii’s controller makes up a little for that.

Photo: (ginnerobot/Flickr)