Apple says it sold over 300,000 iPads in the US as of midnight Saturday, April 3. These sales included deliveries of pre-ordered iPads to customers, deliveries to channel partners and sales at Apple Retail Stores.
Apple also announced that iPad users downloaded over one million apps from Apple’s App Store and over 250,000 ebooks from its iBookstore during the first day.
Read MoreTomorrow I’ll start a multi-part review of the iPad. For now, here are some of my first impressions on the new device. My main thought: the iPad is a game changer, but it won’t replace the Mac.
Why not? While the iPad is great for consumption, the Mac is better at creation. Music, movies, homemade video, ebooks, digital magazines, TV shows, surfing the web, checking email — all look and work great on the iPad. However, it’s not built for using iLife apps or doing heavy duty work despite the availability of iWork and Bento apps (which I’ll also get around to critiquing).
Read MoreSeveral complaints about Wi-Fi issues on the iPad are popping up in Apple support forums. A typical complaint is that the iPad shows no wifi signal, or a very weak signal, where other devices pick it up just fine, reports “TechCrunch” (http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/05/trouble-in-paradise-ipad-users-complain-of-wifi-issues/).
I’ve experienced no Wi-Fi problems with my iPad. Have you?
— Dennis Sellers
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Two more analyst firms have upped their outlook on price targets for Apple.
Analysts at J.P. Morgan have lifted their price target for Apple to US$305 a share from $240, citing better-than-expected anticipated sales of the company’s Mac, iPhone and iPad products, reports “MarketWatch” (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jp-morgan-lifts-apple-price-target-to-305-2010-04-05).
Read MoreAfter flying to Richmond, Virginia and waiting in line all night to buy an iPad, the iFixit gang rushed to an impromptu studio — and took it apart. Here’s what they found:
° The iPad’s design is a melding of the iPhone’s circuitry and the MacBook Pro Unibody’s svelte machined aluminum casing.
° The iPad’s battery has 5.5x the capacity of the battery in the iPhone. The iPad actually has two batteries wired in parallel, for a total of 24.8 Watt-hours.
On average, the iPad sips just 2.5 Watts. That’s one-fifth the power of a compact fluorescent bulb.
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