A great idea on how to grab an iPad before they go on official sale in the UK. Currently neither the UK price nor the UK preordering has been announced, though the iPad can be ordered for American addresses, through the American store. But instead of sitting around twiddling your thumbs and waiting for the UK release there's clever of getting your hands on a Pad early by using shipping service BundleBox.

Bundle Box is an online transatlantic shopping service and they have announced that you'll be able to pre-order an iPad from the US by registering for a free US postal address owned by the service.

When the iPad goes out on the 3rd April, Apple delivers the order to them, they deliver the order to you: simple. Bundle Box says that you'll receive your iPad "within three days of the highly anticipated 3rd April US launch."

It might actually be cheaper as well - even adding in the extra delivery costs - the savings you make from paying the dollar price not the pound price could save you £35.

Visit BundleBox here

[via Expert Reviews]

Today at Shiny Towers we have been discussing how we might be able to nab one of the iPads that lucky Americans will be taking delivery of very soon. We thought about a quick trip to New York (too pricey), enlisting one of our Stateside buddies (bit worried about customs) and a few other wheezes, but none seemed to work.

Well we needn't have worried, because any British would be iPad owner can get one from good old eBay.

Here's the page you need to go. A quick glimpse will show that prices aren't that bad. At the current time there's a 16 Gig Wi-Fi iPad that's shifting for not much more than £400. Its equivalent price in US dollars is $499 which, given the state of the pound, actually sounds quite reasonable. The iPad auctions that have ended have tended to finish up at around £600 for a 16 Gig model, so don't get too excited yet.

So should you do it and buy an iPad off eBay

No - You will only get about three weeks of gloating. How reputable are the dealers anyhow? The iPad isn't that hot is it? The 3G version is much more useful. You will be paying well over the odds.

Yes - Three glorious weeks of gadget gloating

There is one other very strong argument for buying an iPad from eBay now. Apple hasn't always hit its targets for UK launches. There have been times when its products sold out in the US and there were none left for the UK. I think that has happened at least twice most memorably with the launch of the iPod mini. Who's to say it won't happen again.Just think you could be the proud owner of an iPad while others are waiting many months for theirs.

Just a thought

We all love games yes? But we really don't like paying for things. So what, on God's green and fragrant earth, could be better than free games?

Nothing! That's what. With this fact in mind I thought it was our duty, and our honour, to put together for you, dear Shiny readers, a compendium of the best 25 free iPhone games. We're not just talking the top 20 off the App Store -- no chance. We've personally tested each one a given it a Twitter style 140(ish) character review.

Don't ever say Shiny Shiny isn't good to you. We know you wouldn't.

Click image to start the gallery

Then click here for part two.

We knew it was coming out in April, or quarter 2, but we've finally got an on-the-shelves date from Apple for their iPad or Jesus gadget in the States. Hitting US shops on April 3, It's slightly earlier than expected.

The UK will be "a few weeks later" according to Steve Jobs, so that could be as early the 15th. Still nothing definite on the UK price, but as stated at the launch back in January: the Wi-Fi models will retail for $US499 for 16GB, $US599 for 32GB and $US699 for 64GB, with the 3G models to sell for $US629 for 16GB, $US729 for 32GB and $US829 for 64GB.

Americans will be able to pre-order both the Wi-Fi and 3G models from Apple's online store starting from next week, March 12, but there is no pre-ordering as yet for the rest of the world.

Watch this space.

People are fond of splitting the US up into those maps that show that the East and West coats think one thing but the mid-west and centre think the opposite. Democrat voters on the coasts, Republicans in the middle, latte drinkers on the coast, ole Joe's home-brewed moonshine in the middle. Frequency of UFO visits, belief in gay marriage are other issues on which a marked difference in opinion can be seen. You get the gist, America can be divided up pretty easily.

Anyway there is now a new way to split up the States and make a nice map at the same time and that is by the penetration of differently branded smartphone Operating Systems: Android vs iPhone. Android had been edging into the iPhone's supremacy, and though Apple's handset is more popular overall, Android phones have overtaken iPhones in several key states. I don't really know why but it does seem to be a middle-America vs the coasts split once again.

Is this because the iPhone has a poncey coastal liberal look to it? It's for hipsters and smooth-talking city creatives not the more traditional central states? A stereotype definitely encouraged by ads like this Motorola Droid one. Okay the Android/iPhone divide is not completely identical to the traditional centre/coast split, iPhones are more popular than Androids in Texas for example and there ain't nothing poncey about Texas.

I'd like to see a map of Blackberry ownership as well. Probably superimposed on a map of UFO sightings.

Related: CES 2010: Dell dangle an Android slate in front of us and Android ad tells us: iPhones are stupid and girly

Picture the average iPhone user and I bet you are conjuring up some blokey geek in their 20s? Well according to new research from mobile advertising company Admob you are away off.

The survey, which also quizzed Palm Web OS and Google Android users, found that iPhone owners are split fairly evenly between the sexes and only 56% are male.

It seems twentysomethings might have to wait a few more years to buy one too as the average iPhone owner is in their mid 30s.

The survey also found that iPhone owners are addicted to apps with the average user downloading over 100 of them each year. Half of all iPhone users will also buy an app each month too.

Interestingly the figure for downloading apps was pretty symmetrical between owners of iPhone and Google Android phones. Android owners are apparently less likely to buy apps with only 21% purchasing an app on a monthly basis.

There's a load more very interesting graphs and statistics here.

One for the fan-ladies and fan-gents out there: an Apple desk lamp. Not made by Apple, no, they don't do that, but this piece of desk furniture is paying homage to Apple with every gram of its sturdy frame.

Incredibly made out of a recycled iMac, the iMac G4 lamp possibly references steampunk in its sturdy Victorian look and bears the pround mark of the Apple logo on its lampshade.

Full marks for green craftmanship to the Etsy artist Randall180 who created this gem. He has also made an iMac G4 clock.

the iMac G4 lamp on Etsy, "randall180"

[via gadgetsteria]

Soon bed-time stories will be able to read themselves to your kids. Penguin's new digital Qbooks for kids bring touch and voice technology to popular children's picture books.
So you may not need to be there for their bedtime - but you'd better make sure the iPad is.

These digital picture books or Qbooks from Penguin and Kiwa Media are designed to be interactive. Using the Swipe-to-Read function on the story, children will be able to run their fingers across the words and letters and hear the story read aloud as the graphics pop and change color.

Other function Touch-to-Hear allows children to hear the individual word spoken and Touch-to-Spell enables the child to actually hear the word being spelt.
Children and parents can customize each QBook by recording their own voice and coloring in every picture in the book

Penguin first Qbooks are compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch, but I can imagine that it will be on a book-sized device like ooo say the the iPad that this will really be interesting.

This sounds pretty entrancing and though the current examples are quite simple (see video below) the possibility are really interesting. It's almost a new thing - it's not really a film, not really an audio tape, not really book.. I guess this is one of the new sorts of media product that we'll start to see on tablet computers.

QBook available on Windows 7, Symbian & Android in May 2010
QBook launches on iTunes with Sebastian's Tail (Penguin) and Milly, Molly and the Tree Hut. Coming soon - Flick, The Red Fire Engine, Wheelbarrow Wilbur, That's Not Junk (Penguin), Oh Hogwash Sweet Pea, Barnaby Bennett (Huia Publishing) and the Milly, Molly series.

Click image to begin second part.

So, we finally got the measurements, and case makers have already got busy and there are at least two ranges out already that I've heard of.

The iPad poses an interesting dilemma for the casemakers - smartphones get tight-fitting skins, laptops get bags - what will the half pound, 10" iPad get? Looks like skins are winning so far. Protect that capacitive touchscreen with some tight fitting rubberised plastic or a sleeve or jacket that you can then slip in a rucksack or handbag.

Griffin Technology have already launched a "for iPad" range and as well as "sleeves" and "jumpers" they've also opted for an interesting "passport" style case which opens up like a book to reveal the screen (see full range here; pricing to be confirmed).

Wrappers are offering some funky textile cases:

I particularly like the black and white check one, though it's by Ralph Lauren so comes with a hefty £38 price tag. Full Wrappers range here.

I'm sure we'll get many more of these..

iPhone and iPod touch apps will work on the iPad without needing to be rebuilt for the new format, Steve Jobs told us yesterday. You will be able to sync your iPad directly with your iPhone or Pod and get all the apps in the same place. But though the software won't need to change, surely some things are going to look a bit weird scaled-up to the iPad's 10 inch and 960-by-640 pixel resolution screen. The iPhone is half that size: 3.5 inches across with 480-by-320 pixel resolution.

So what iPhone apps are going to look good on this scaled-up screen and will benefit from the extra screen space as well as the more powerful chip? We suggest ten.

Click on the image below to start the gallery:

I don't know whether the name endears it to women or just makes them think that they didn't get asked to the marketing team's focus groups, but it has certainly made it get some female attention, outside the crowd of Apple fangirls.

Why do I think this is going to be a good women's gadget? Let me give five reasons:

1. This is a sexy gadget. We were a bit non-plussed by the photos, I mean, we've seen that design somewhere before (ie on the iPhone, the iPod..) but it is a nice one and feedback from the hands-on confirm that this is a pleasure to hold and use. "Leo Laporte just said that it's an incredible device when you actually get your hands on it... beautiful, light, incredibly responsive screen." reports someone on FriendFeed. It's not just women who like a bit of intuitive tactility, but women do like it.

2. Focus on Books not Gaming: I hold my hands up here, I'm sure many women game more than they read novels, but *in general* lets say more women read books than men, and fewer women play games than men. You can game on the iPad sure, but with a 1ghz chip it's not going to be a rollercoaster ride. You'd stick to a more powerful computer or console for the big games. The iBook store is a big part of the iPad and magazines and newspapers are doing deals to have iPad-friendly editions loaded onto the device.

3. The iPad won't fit in your pocket - but it will fit in your handbag. Until men fully adopt the concept of manbags, they're going to find carrying the iPad around to be a bit of a hassle. For the average woman, it can just replace the 2 books and 1 magazine that they usually carry around, all the time. Interviewed on CrunchTV last night, MG Siegler said the first accessory he wanted for his iPad was iPants (pants in the American sense ie trousers). Until someone invents trousers with an iPad pocket (yes they'll look dodgy) men are going to find this less easy to carry around.

4.This has a lot of lifestyle gadgets on board: the calendar looks great. That's the sort of thing that's going to be pretty helpful and intuitive to use. This means I won't have to lug a diary across town every morning.

5. Apps, this is going to be an app-centric device. Speaking generally I think women really apps, they like to be able to customise devices - the software as much as the case. I think that's what has made the iPhone a big hit among women and the iPad will have the same impact.

Launched to hype, applause, and a breathless audience Apple's iPad has been eagerly awaited. Some don't like the name, others were expecting more of a wow factor but we still got a pretty interesting product. Steve Jobs described the iPad as "magical and revolutionary" and placed it between MacBooks and iPhones in functionality, adding that it marked a cross roads between technology and the liberal arts. Here 10 things you should know about the iPad:

1. It's like a big iPod Touch: same apps, same frame, same sort of touchscreen (capacitive & multitouch, not OLED) it's all just a bit bigger, 960mm by 640 as we understand. Oh you can customise the backdrop though.

2. The iPad will have 3G internet, provided in America by AT&T the same providers Apple used for iPhone. You can't phone anyone, it's not a phone.

3. Apps will sync: All iPhone and iPod apps will work straight-off on the iPad - they don't need to be rebuilt. You will be able to sync your iPod or iPhone with the device so you don't need to download everything twice or reinput your calendar details.

4. Cheaper than we expected... starting at $499 (£309) but if you want more than 16G memory and to get 3G internet on it (and you probably will) that's a bit more, $829 (£513) for a 3G enabled 64G model.

5. It's got iWork onboard - giving you functionality like document editing: making the iPad more of a computer than a smartphone.

6. Battery life not bad: Battery life is 10hrs of video use, or a month on standby

7. Good eReader: The iPad will work well as an e-reader with an off-white background, nice page turning gestures and an online book store, iBooks part of iTunes. The book they demo-ed cost $14.99 (about £9.30). Little pricey? Maybe. They've also got a deal with the New York Times: the NYT made a news app specially for iPad. See our article on the iPad's media partners.

8. It's got no camera and can't support flash, though does show videos in High Quality

9. Keyboard available as accessory: You can buy accessories like a keyboard + dock which lets you input text, though also bumping the price up. The iPad does have a touchscreen keypad, like the iPhone's.

10. Apple made their own custom chip to run this off: it's1ghz.

Available to buy now on Apple.com, wifi models will be shipping in March and 3G models in April http://www.apple.com/ipad/

Okay, so now that #iTampon is currently trending higher than #iPad on Twitter, we gotta ask why Apple made their Jesus gadget sound like a virtual sanitary product? The iPad name has raised a few thousand snarky comments on Twitter. Didn't take our readers long to pick up on the resonances...

@fasshonaburu omg, the iPad does sound like something women use once a month!
@denisesapenguin loveeeee that #iTampon is trending higher than #iPad, hahahaha.
@DaniGray: You can do things with #iTampon that you just can't do with #iPad - like biking, horseback riding and swimming. /lol
@misscay Screw the imooncup or whatever the frig it's called, COME ON MAN CITY! #mcrderby

OH DEAR
Tell us what you think in our poll...

Even though fangirls and boys were disappointed by the name (is that sanitary towel?) and pleased but not thrilled by the giant iPod touch that Apple demo-ed, the price is good, lower than the $800 or $1000 suggested.

iPad prices (without a 3G internet deal) will range from: £309 ($499) to... £513 ($829) for a 3G enabled model with 64G storage putting the gadget into the range of lots of people and taking it out of direct price competition with MacBooks which start £799. But if you consider the 3G a must then the prices start at £389 ($629) - though of course deals for the UK haven't been announced yet.

Apparently Apple shares which had been slipping during the presentation suddenly jumped when the price was announced.

Apple sticks with American network provider AT&T offering two deals a slightly stingy 250mb of data for $14.99 and unlimited internet costs $29.99.

Apps on the iPhone app store will upgrade seamlessly to the iPad. They simply size up and don't need to be rebuilt to work on this new platform.

Steve Jobs demoed Youtube in HD and a location sensitive Maps application. Games and media apps will be particularly important. Apple will highlight apps that are created explicitly for the iPad in the iPad store as well.

iPad comes with the iTunes app store preloaded on it.

The New York Times stood up on stage with Apple, announced a new version of "digital journalism" and demonstrated their new app, it looked like a page of a real paper. You can watch videos, favourite or send on individual stories.

Five of the world's largest publishers are putting their books on the iBook store - you'll be able to download them directly to the iPad. It was $14.99 for the example book shown. Hachette, Simon Schuster, Penguin, Harper Collins and Macmillan. The colour is off-white, and you can change the size.

Steve Jobs unveiled Apple's slender 10 inch touch screen device in Cupertino this evening.

"It's a revolutionary magical product" Steve Jobs told a breathless audience, running through Apple's successes.

"Is there room for a third category of device in the middle? Something that's between a laptop and smartphone."

This device needs to be BETTER than a laptop or a smartphone at these types of devices. "Or it has no reason for being."

Gizmodo liveblog reported Steve Jobs as saying.

What do we know?
- customisable background
- iPhone OS
- with HD youtube app

Looks exactly like the rumours from the last few months... it's a big iphone..

UPDATE:
- Full capacitive multi-touch screen. Not OLED
- One 1ghz Apple custom chip. 64 ghz of flash storage, wifi.
- Can you use it to take a phone call? no, doesn't look like you can.
- Battery life 10hrs - 10hrs on video, a month on standby
- Google Maps application, location sensitive

UPDATE 2:
- no flash support
- no camera

UPDATE 3:
- apparently 960x640 in size
- features iWorks: word-editing programmes
- 16-64 gb flash storage

UPDATE 4:
- mechanical keyboard fits in dock
- also touchscreen keypad for typing on screen

Apple have got us all thinking that the Tablet is going to be the biggest product launch since some hairy guy in a ferret skin whipped out the first wheel back in BC something-or-other.

Apple are hype maestros, working the media and the internet into a frenzy of expectation with the slightest of touches. Of course it's the lightness of touch - the lack of hard information that gets everyone so stir-crazy with expectation in the first place.

Incredible though the wheel is, and the fact that it will probably go down in history as more significant than the Apple Tablet in the long-run, I bet that the Tablet beats the wheel for hype around its launch, hands-down.

I wonder what the unveiling of the wheel was like...? I'm imagining a low-key press release:

"After we finish skinning this boar we're going to unveil a very special product, we hope it will change how people interact with the world. We're not revealing any hard specs until the actual time of the launch which as we mentioned will be after we scraped the fat and meaty bits off the hindquarters of this boar, but we can safely say it's made from that log over there and it's going to be round."

"I've made some great things out of logs before but this is the best thing yet. It may also be available in rock." The inventor added. "Come see our latest creation."

The PR would have had to just stand next to the fire and say that out loud, because they didn't have Twitter in that by-gone era. How hype existed before Twitter, I hardly know. I guess you just bumped into people in the forest and told them what was going on. The inventor of the wheel would have pulled it out, rolled it backwards and forwards a bit then everyone would have gone back to scraping things and chewing boar fat. I imagine.

At the conclusion of the hype battle: Apple Tablet -1; Wheel - 0
We can't do a scoring on usefulness to humanity yet, might take a few millennia for us to evaluate that properly.