iPad

The Wi-Fi version of Apple's new iPad is just around the corner, and I can practically hear the fanboys champing at the bit from my climate-controlled cubicle. The massive media player-cum-e-book reader is set for retail availability this Saturday, April 3. Not that you could avoid Apple's massive media campaigning efforts if you tried, but just in case you forgot what this thing looks like and what it can do, we're here to remind you. The gallery below contains up-close and personal shots of the device as well as a plethora of information on its functionality.

The iPad won't be available until Saturday, April 3, but you can check out the apps starting now.

The iTunes App Store now has quite a long list of iPad-ready apps, with prices that are higher than iPhone apps, as expected. At the moment, the only people able to test the new iPad apps are reviewers who've gotten ahold of loaner iPads in advance of the launch. The iPad apps we're now spotting look like the leaked apps seen last week.

Apps that Apple demonstrated at the launch event for the tablet device are all there: the … Read more

Although Amazon's Kindle is enjoying strong sales, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster told Barrons in a recent interview that the company needs to cut the price of its e-reader if it wants to compete with the iPad.

According to Barrons, Munster told the publication that Amazon should cut the price of the Kindle from its current $259 price tag to $149. Munster believes that the iPad could cut into Amazon's Kindle sales without a price reduction.

As troubling as that might be for Amazon, Munster contends that the e-retailer is in a good position, regardless of the way … Read more

April Fools' Day isn't particularly special for The 404 since we prank each other all year, but that doesn't stop the rest of the Internet (or Natali Del Conte) from participating. Google continues its tradition of April Fools' Day hoaxes with a new Android app that finally bridges the language gap between humans and our furry friends. It's called Translate for Animals and uses the microphone to analyze and transcribe common phrases of your household pets. In related news, Google has also appointed this guy as its newest chief engineering officer.

Google isn't the only one pranking the Web; Razer also introduced its new Venom gaming enhancement solution that might actually appeal to the most hard-core gamers. The Razer Venom comes with its own IV drip bag and a variety of gold-plated needles to suit your vein sizes; just inject the serum additives Oxymialterxin or Doctixillin into your veins and you'll never let stupid things like sleep or hunger interrupt another precious gaming minute again.

April Fool's aside, the big news of this week is the upcoming release of the Apple iPad, and Natali Del Conte is on hand to tell us about her first date with the device on this morning's Early Show. She only spent a brief amount of time with it, but her first impression is that the giant screen is perfect for her favorite recipe app Epicurious. She also gushes about a Marvel comic book app and addresses our concerns about the durability of the screen and aluminum casing.

Keep the e-mails and voice mails coming everyone! Call us up at 1-866-404-CNET or send a message to the404(at)cnetcom and let us know what's on your mind. We're starting to read listener e-mails on the air now, so make them good! As always, sticker pictures are appreciated as well, and don't forget about Steve Guttenberg's ongoing "Audiophillie" awards--we've already received submissions but you still have plenty of time to send yours in before the April 12 deadline, so get to work!

We're rash to say something as small as a single app could be a game changer, but the recent rumors of Apple having a Netflix app ready to launch on day one for the iPad are certainly getting our attention.

Links from what appear to be Apple's own servers show two images that certainly look like Netflix on the iPad. The app will let you manage your movie queue as well as stream Netflix on Demand movies. It also could be the first of many apps that could unleash the iPad from the shackles of iTunes Store content. … Read more

We might indeed be in the midst of a sea change in portable computing--at least, according to early hands-on reviews of the iPad, Apple's cannon shot at the Netbook universe at large. "They're not better at laptops than anything, they're just cheaper," Steve Jobs himself commented at the unveiling of the iPad in January.

The iPad might bring something new or refined to the equation. And the affordable, tiny, and yes, often bare-bones Atom processor-running device we've come to know and love, or hate, as the Netbook is often clunky and frequently disappointing, true … Read more

Now that the iPad is upon us and the reviews have started coming in, it's becoming clear that the iPad is an excellent e-reader, perhaps the best one out there. This isn't exactly a great surprise. The fact is that ever since we had an inkling that Apple would come out with a slate-style device that resembled a giant iPod Touch, we knew that it would have a profound impact on the e-book reader world. We always figured there would be a before and after shot of the market--and it wouldn't be pretty for certain companies that … Read more

Apple's iPad is apparently a big seller even before hitting its retail release date. So if you didn't preorder, reserve a unit, or plan to line up at 5 a.m. outside your local Best Buy (which will carry iPads in 600-plus stores), it's time to start considering your touch-screen options.

As we've previously pointed out, there are many tablet/slate devices available that do things the Apple iPad simply can't. Though Apple's tablet runs a version of the company's iPhone operating system, most of these tablets run different versions of Windows, and (… Read more

The iPad may not have a built-in camera, multitasking capabilities, or support for Flash, but it does have a 9.7-inch high-resolution touch screen and a faster processor than an iPhone 3GS. Though most games for the iPhone and iPod Touch should run on the iPad, many developers are rapidly creating updated "HD" versions of their existing games to take advantage of the device's improved resolution and slightly altered layout.

From the first moment the iPad was announced, we started imagining which games could benefit most from going XL Apple-style. Of course, it remains to be seen … Read more