Despite much speculation, we actually have to wait and see when the iPad is released what we can expect. However, late last week Apple announced some details. Here is what you can expect (via CBDigitalProductReviews.com)

3G  data plans. AT&T will come in two flavors: 250mb data for $15 or unlimited for $30. If you go with the $15 plan, there will be an indicator to let you know when you are getting close to your limit. You have the option to upgrade or not. Signing up for the plans can all be done via the iPad and you can sign up and cancel at anytime without penalty.

Screen Rotation Lock.  This is a nice feature, especially lying down.  If you use an iPhone or iPod Touch, you probably had problems with the screen rotating back and forth. This will stop the problem, especially when reading a web page.

AVI motionJPEG support. This is the first non-computer device that Apple has created that supports any type of AVI file. This will certainly expand your viewing options without having to do file conversions.

iBook App.  The ebook reader called iBook will be a free downloadable app. Any book that uses the ePub format, regardless where it was purchased from, can be synced to the iPad via iTunes. Other features includes a bookmark feature that remembers where you last left off and the ability to look up word definitions by simpling touching and holding down on the word with your finger.

Things are starting to heat up a bit as the Apple iPad is set to be released. PC makers like HP are all prepping their vision of the tablet PC by leaking photos and offering bloggers to test drive their new gadgets. Articles are popping up either predicting success or failure of the iPad while pointing out why a particular device will win over the iPad.

One such article came out a few weeks ago.  Well known technology analyst, Robert Enderle wrote how Apple got it all wrong when compared to Dell’s soon-to-be released Mini 5.

What should Apple have done, according to Robert Enderle? Apple should have made a slightly larger iPhone than a mega sized iPod.  The Dell does exactly that, making the Mini 5  an ultraportable device with a good size screen that would make a nice compliment for someone with a smartphone, a laptop and Amazon’s Kindle:

The Dell Mini 5 loads Google apps which should also scale relatively easily from a 3.5” screen to a 5” screen. You can put the Dell Mini in a belt pouch (big one), battery life seems to be similar to a screen phone and likely not yet optimized, and it is vastly better than an iPhone (thanks to its larger screen) for browsing, watching video, gaming (assuming you can find good games) and typing. 

It is also substantially better for us old farts who don’t like to wear glasses. At 5” the screen is 90% larger which is really what makes a lot of things better. It multi-tasks, has two cameras (one a 5 mega pixel with twin LED lights and digital zoom – the other for video conferencing), and both a removable battery and expandable memory.  

But it is the fact that you can toss your phone and replace it with this device that makes it work otherwise you have to carry another largely redundant device with yet another dataplan.

It should be interesting how it turns out. There is a place for both of these devices. The iPad has brought a lot of attention to tablet PC’s this year. It may finally be the time that tablet PC’s will become more mainstream as Bill Gates had predicted almost ten years ago, but instead of devices just running a desktop version of Windows, we’ve also going to have devices running at least Google’s Android, Apple’s iPhone OS or Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS. It’s going to be a good year!

In case you haven’t heard, the Wi-Fi version of the iPad will go on sale April 3!  U.S. customers can pre-order either the Wi-Fi version or the Wi-Fi/3G version on March 12.  The Wi-Fi/3G version is expected to go on sale in “late April,” whatever that is.

As for  Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, you can expect both versions available in “late April.”

We are very tempted to get one. . .but we will wait.

It’s been almost a week since Apple announced the iPad. Since that time, thousands of bloggers and forum posters put their two cents and exclaimed why the iPad will suck or why it will be the start of a new revolution for portable computing.

One of the big questions is should you get an iPad instead of a netbook?

The answer is, it depends on what you plan to do with it.

If you were planning to get a netbook and plan to use it like a regular windows laptop, the iPad will probably not suit your needs.:

• The iPad will not have USB ports, or a physical keyboard out of the box; you will have to purchase them separately.
• You can’t run any of the apps that you currently run on your home pc or laptop, instead, you will have to get a whole new set of apps to run on it.
• Adobe Flash is not supported for the iPad so all those free flash games and flash based websites will not work.

Apple’s approach to the iPad is different than HP’s approach to their upcoming Slate. The iPad appears to be iPod Touch/eBook reader on steroids, with the ability to not only surf the net, read books and play games but create presentations, crunch numbers, and other things that the iPod Touch or eBook readers are not able to well or cannot do at all.

The HP slate, on the other hand, appears to be a touch screen version of Windows 7. This would appeal to those who are quite comfortable with Windows and would want it as an extension of their PC or laptop, or maybe make it their primary pc device.   As for the netbook?  It is what it is: an inexpensive and compact version of a full fledged laptop, nothing more. For under $300, you can a pretty decent netbook running Windows XP or Windows 7 starter. You can easily carry it to your favorite hang out spot and do some quick email check, perhaps get some work done using your favorite office application, maybe play a game that runs on flash or do all three at the same time. If  you drop it and it breaks, just get a new one. It’s cheap and you don’t have to wait two months for the iPad or six months for the HP Slate.