TUAW played hero today, riding to the rescue of would-be iPad pre-orderers everywhere with firm news from Apple PR of just when exactly those iPad pre-orders would start:

“Customers can pre-order online at apple.com at 5:30am Pacific time on Friday, March 12.”

So that’s 5:30am PT, 8:30am ET, 1:30pm GT. Of course, the Apple Online Store might go down first, and who knows what delays might spring up between now and then, but for what it’s worth that’s currently go time.

So now the question remains: who’s placing an order?!

Apple iPad Orders Start Tomorrow 5:30am PT, 8:30am ET, 1:30pm GT is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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You knew with a name like the iPad, the jokes they would follow but Etsy takes it to a new level.

They have developed a real, usable case which is in the form of a feminine napkin — and yes it has wings. Etsy is selling these “cases” for $30.00 US for the month of March as a promotion.

Here is how Etsy describes the case on their website:

>With its durable vinyl outer layer and plush, quilted-cotton sleeve, the iMaxi helps keep your iPad clean and dry. Plus, the iMaxi’s Velcro-latched, advanced wing design wraps snugly around your device, so your iPad always stays where it should. Best of all, it shields it from all those unsightly and embarrassing data leaks that would make any motherboard worry!

>Each handmade iMaxi can be easily customized to fit your active lifestyle. Please view other listings for different color options including our “lived in” red thread interior. If you don't see a color you like, just ask!

So if I bought one for Rene, which should I get, white or lived in ?

A couple more pics after the break!

iMaxi Maxi Pad iPad Case from Etsy is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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The HyperMac Nano by HyperShop is an external battery for iPhone and iPod with a built in charging cable. It’s highly portable, looks and feels great, and is made of 1800mAh lithium ion which provides up 1.5 times full recharge of the iPhone.

To learn more and get details about the give-away, follow us after the break!

The design of the HyperMac Nano is very slick and reminds me a cigarette lighter. With dimensions of only 3.4″ x 1.5″ x 0.55″, the battery will fit easily into your jeans or jacket pocket for easy portability. The rounded edges of the aluminum casing also feels nicely in your hands. The HyperMac comes in 9 stylish colors; yes, the same 9 colors available for the iPod nano.

What makes the HyperMac Nano unique to other external batteries is the built in charging cable. Underneath the cap you will find both male and female 30-pin sockets plugged into each other. The cap also conveniently snaps magnetically to the bottom of the battery so you don’t lose it when the battery is in use.

To charge the HyperMac Nano, just plug your iPhone cable into the female socket; and to charge your iPhone, plug the male socket into your iPhone. When the HyperMac Nano is plugged into a power source, a blue light will indicate that it is charging and a green light will mean the charge is complete.

When on the go, I found the HyperMac Nano more convenient than an extended battery because it did not increase the length of my iPhone. I could easily fit them together in my jacket pocket without fear of them falling out because the short cable is long enough to rest the battery behind my iPhone and so nothing sticks out of my pocket.

In conclusion, I found the HyperMac Nano to be a great and stylish way to give my iPhone some extra juice.

Now for the give-away! Just leave a comment below and let us know why HyperMac Nano will be a great addition to you life. We’ll pick one of you randomly and send you a silver HyperMac Nano. (The exact one you’ll receive is this reviewed unit). You need a valid email address and a US shipping address to enter. The contest starts now and ends Sunday, March 14, 2010.

TiPb Give-Away: HyperMac Nano Battery for iPhone/iPod is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple announced the iPad as a magical and revolutionary new product, their most advanced technology ever, and their attempt to grow the widely popular iPhone OS into the troubled tablet marketplace. It becomes available for pre-order this Friday, March 12 and goes on sale on Saturday, April 3 (in the US, international launch in late April).

But should you buy one, and if you should, when? Let’s take a look after the break!

Should You Pre-Order iPad Wi-Fi on March 12?

If, for you, the iPad is the “next big thing”, the ultimate couch and coffee computing appliance, the best way to read everything from email to ebooks, browse the web and your photos, enjoy music and movies, use apps and play games — both current iPhone apps and a glorious new class of iPad apps to come, then yes. Yes, you should order on March 12 and make sure your shiny new iPad is bought and bound and arrives at your door on April 3, or is waiting for you to pick-up at your local Apple Store day and date.

What else can we tell you, you decided to buy the moment Steve Jobs put sneaker to stage at the iPad event in February. And you don’t even care to wait a month for the 3G version, do you? Sigh. Yes, you should pre-order on March 12.

If this isn’t you, however. If you won’t buy without touching it first. If you won’t take the iPad on faith alone and want a chance to handle it first, to try it out, then don’t pre-order. Wait. If you’re really super-eager, Apple has another option for you…

Should You Line Up for an iPad Wi-Fi on April 3rd?

That was a trick question. If you’re camping out or otherwise lining up outside your local Apple Store, you’re hard core fan and just like the pre-orderer above, you already know you want it. And you’ll probably line up and get a 3G version too, won’t you?

Should You Buy an iPad Wi-Fi it on or After April 3rd? And iPad 3G in Late April?

If you’re pretty much sold on the iPad as is but you want to make sure, you want to go into the Apple Store and turn it on, swipe it around, launch the apps and play with it a bit, then this is a good option. It’ll still be Wi-Fi only on April 3rd and until late April, but after that you can try out an iPad 3G as well. It won’t be much different in the Apple Store, of course, but you can think about whether an extra $130 is worth it for on-demand unlocked, no-contract 3G service when and if you need it.

Think about wether you use an iPhone or iPod touch, and whether you’re fine with Wi-Fi at home, at work, at the coffee shop, etc. or if you’re annoyed not having the internet absolutely everywhere. You likely won’t carry your iPad as much as your iPhone or iPod touch (it’s not as pocketable) but the option is worth some consideration.

Should You Wait a Couple Months for a Quick iPad Price Drop?

Probably not. Apple did drop the iPhone price fairly soon after launch, but the outrage was such that they ended up giving every early adopter a $100 Apple Store credit by way of apology. They learned that lesson the hard way. When the iPhone 3G came out, heck when the iPod touch came out, they priced it aggressively and have only dropped the price when newer generation models were introduced (iPhone 3GS came in at $199, pushing iPhone 3G down to $99).

If you really, truly want to wait for a price drop on the first generation iPad, then…

Should You Wait a Year for the Second Generation iPad?

If Apple follows the iPhone and iPod touch model, the 2010 first generation iPad will be eclipsed next year by the 2011 second generation iPad. It will likely have more storage (up to 128GB?), more RAM, a faster chipset (Apple A5?), and maybe even a front-facing camera for video iChat (we dare to dream!). Heck it (or the 2012 third generation iPad) could have a higher screen resolution (1080p?), AMOLED, of course, and longer battery life. And when it does, the currently mid and high end iPad will likely become cheaper (i.e. 32GB will replace 16GB at the low end price point).

So, if you have no problem waiting a year, you’ll likely be able to get more for less. If anything about the current iPad is a camera-lacking deal breaker for you, if it’s lacking the ports, physical keyboard, and camera to make use of the blurry pixel-doubled apps that’ll be available at launch, if you just don’t trust first generation hardware at all, ever, then by all means you should wait until next year (or later) before buying.

Should You Never — Not EVER — Buy an iPad of Any Kind

If, for you, the iPad “just a big iPod”, something you don’t need and have no interest in, is too large to pocket, too limited to run production apps, and has no place between your smartphone and your laptop then you likely shouldn’t buy it.

May we offer you something in a JooJoo?

Conclusion

If you’re still undecided. Interested but not compelled, eager to try Apple’s newest mobile device but wary of being an early adopter, if you’re still undecided, here’s my thoughts.

What’s waiting worth to you? A baseline iPad Wi-Fi in the US will cost you $499. That will work out to $41.66 a month for the next 12 months at which point you could always sell or gift it and buy a second generation unit. Is the usage you get out of a 1st generation iPad between now an 2011 worth $41.66 a month, $1.39 a day to you?

If it is, then get one sooner or later, ordered sight-unseen or after a thorough hands-on. If it isn’t then wait until next February or April for Apple to show off and release a 2nd generation iPad and see if that’s more to your liking.

That’s our advice, but if we missed anything — or just plain got something wrong — let us know yours!

Apple iPad — Should You Buy One? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

9to5Mac continues to search the latest iPhone 3.2 SDK beta and have found that Apple has removed all of the video iChat references that were found in the first beta a few weeks back showing icons for accepting and declining video chat, as well as strings referencing the same functions.

Could this be a intentional move made by Apple to hide this feature until the big announcement or has it been scrapped by none other than Steve Jobs himself? The video iChat feature has teased us all in the past, hopefully we find out once and for all this summer if we will be so lucky.

Video iChat References Removed from iPhone 3.2 SDK Beta 4 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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According to emails sent from AT&T employees to MacDailyNews readers, the network is working hard to enable iPhone tethering as soon as possible. Many of our readers are still waiting patiently to see when AT&T will flip the switch on iPhone tethering and if you contact AT&T the following are the contents of the cookie cutter reply you will receive in your inbox.

“Thank you for your recent email to AT&T. Tethering the iPhone is a priority for us and we are working hard to make it available as soon as possible. As you might imagine, we want to make sure that we deliver a quality customer experience from the start. We don’t have details yet but will be sure to make a news announcement when tethering becomes available. Thanks again for your feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to write.”

We know what you may be thinking but lets give AT&T the benefit of the doubt here and lets pretend we see tethering enabled in the near future, would you prefer to have it implemented right the first time or are you simply sick of waiting and want it enabled now? Or could you care less?

Sound off in the comments below!

[Via MacDailyNews]

AT&T Working Hard to Deliver iPhone Tethering Soon? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

AppleInsider is reporting that they are hearing from reliable sources to expect multitasking in Apple’s iPhone 4.0 software. This is not the first time we’ve heard about multitasking being included in 4.0 but if it does hold up to be true it should silence many of the iPhone haters out there while making all iPhone owners jump for joy.

The iPhone currently does do some very minimal multitasking with apps such as email and iPod, but those of you with jailbroken devices are well aware that the iPhone can handle full blown multitasking with ease. Apple has just been shy to enable it since day one claiming it would bring poor battery performance along with various security threats.

The sources also claim the 4.0 software is still a long way off from being finished (this summer) so show some patience as good things come to those who wait.

Anyone else excited for some iPhone 4.0?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Multitasking Support to be Included in Apple’s iPhone 4.0 Software is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

No doubt a genius, but perhaps also Woz-centric (think eccentric but with technology founding stripes), cell phone inventor Martin Cooper always likes to have the latest and greatest mobile device on the planet. Ish, according C-SPAN:

> Right now I’m using the Droid, because I want to get some experience with the Android operating system, and I, so far have some favorable results.

He also likes to Tweet from it — he’s @MartyMobile if you want to follow along. In his defense, however, he did have an iPhone. He gave it to his grandson. Lucky kid!

[via @ikagirl via Android Central]

Inventor of Cell Phone Gave iPhone to Grandson, Tweets on Droid?! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

While I’m busy editing all the GDC 2010 gaming video we just shot, we’re putting up our second to last look at Macworld 2010. Here Rene and Leanna talk with Alexander Ostroysky, Customer Care at Shape Services about Business Card Reader for iPhone, IM+, and their other apps.

Watch along after the break, and let us know what you think!

YouTube Link

TiPb Apps 4.4 — Business Card Reader for iPhone is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog