Join Chad, Georgia, and Rene for iPad week 2 and iPhone OS 4 redux! If you have any questions, leave a comment below, hit us up on Twitter @tipb, or better still — join us live in the chat room via http://www.tipb.com/live

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TiPb Live! Tonight at 8pm ET/5pm PT (1am GMT) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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So we’ve had a couple of days to play with Opera Mini for iPhone and it’s clear why the new proxy browser is so divisive — it’s got a great feature set, and is fast for people on slow EDGE connections and cheap for people on roaming data, but its UI is kludgy, it doesn’t render HTML as well as Safari, and it has trouble with dynamic websites.

Whether you love it or hate it will likely depend on a couple of things:

• If you roam a lot
• If you’re on 2.5G/EDGE a lot
• If you love Opera’s features like in-page search and speed dial
• If you don’t mind weird interface behavior like popping zoom and crazy scroll
• If you’re not a typography nut whose eyes bleed at poorly rendered Helvetica
• If you’re not an HTML aficionado who notices things like missing rounded corners and imprecise box-models
• If you’re not interested in the upcoming HTML5 video support and don’t mind getting redirected to Flash videos which won’t play either

The more of the above that applies to you, the more you’ll want to keep Opera Mini handy. And hey, even if none of it applies to you, it’s free so you can stick it on a back page (or in an iPhone OS 4 folder) for emergencies.

It’s also a 1.0 release, so Opera will no doubt improve it going forward. Either that or complain to the EU and try and force a browser-ballot onto the iPhone… (We kid! They invented tabbed-browsing, we heart them!)

How’s Opera Mini working for you?

Opera Mini for iPhone: good for extremes, not extremely good is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Hot on the heals of Apple’s international iPad delay, Rogers in Canada also announces that they’ll be providing iPad 3G pricing plans at the end of May. And that’s pretty much verbatim:

Rogers today announced that it will offer iPad price plans for all models from the end of May in Canada.

It’s almost as if this has been coordinated to blunt the impact of the delay by giving international users some small glimmer of additional info, doesn’t it? Could it also hint that iPad 3G will be arriving alongside iPad Wi-Fi outside the US? We certainly hope so. We hope even more, however, that Rogers matches AT&T’s unlocked, no-contract, cheap data-only plans for iPad.

What’s the over/under on that?

[via @rgboulay]

Rogers Canada: iPad 3G plans coming end of May is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Well as long as Apple has delayed their international iPad rollout until the end of May, Vodafone might as well announce on Twitter that they’ll be providing 3G data plans to go with them, right?

Dedicated iPad price plans for all models available at the end of May. Get the best browsing experience on UK's best network.

UPDATE: O2 has released an almost identical statement to Vodafone now. iPad 3G prices coming late May.

Anyone waiting to get their iPad on Vodafone? Any guesses as to whether they’ll offer the same unlocked, no-contract, reasonable rates as AT&T in the US?

[Thanks Dave for the tip!]

Vodafone UK and O2: iPad 3G price plans coming end of May is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple has just announced they are delaying the international release of the iPad by a month, from the end of April until the end of May, with pre-orders beginning May 10.

Although we have delivered more than 500,000 iPads during its first week, demand is far higher than we predicted and will likely continue to exceed our supply over the next several weeks as more people see and touch an iPad™. We have also taken a large number of pre-orders for iPad 3G models for delivery by the end of April.

Faced with this surprisingly strong US demand, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the international launch of iPad by one month, until the end of May. We will announce international pricing and begin taking online pre-orders on Monday, May 10. We know that many international customers waiting to buy an iPad will be disappointed by this news, but we hope they will be pleased to learn the reason—the iPad is a runaway success in the US thus far.

We’re happy for Apple and for US customers, but we’d be lying if we didn’t say we’re bummed for those waiting impatiently in the rest of the world. For international customers who bought US models, we’re also less than thrilled that we’ll now have to wait another month for the on-device iPad App Store to be turned on. (Currently non-US iTunes account holders can’t buy apps on the iPad itself, they have to be bought in iTunes and synced over).

Sound off in comments!

Apple delays international iPad rollout until end of May, pre-orders to start May 10 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Firemint’s Flight Control HD for iPad [$4.99 - iTunes Link] let’s you try your luck at setting the flight path of dozens of aircraft and getting them to their designated landing areas. Seems simple but as the number and variety of airplanes and helicopters increase so does the difficulty — and the fun.

They say air traffic control is one of the most stressful jobs in the world, and as we found out in our interview with Firemint at GDC, that’s exactly where the idea for the game came from.

On the iPad, just like the iPhone, you use your finger to trace the path of the plane to its landing strip and ensure that it does not crash. You have 8 single player maps, 10 aircrafts and the choice of single play or multiplayer. Want to play a friend on the same iPad? You can choose between co-op or vs. modes. Have two iPads? Play over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The game also offers fast forward for those impatient types (me!) and even a 3D map (bring your own glasses!).

Flight Control for the iPad is the perfect game when you need a bit of distractions from life’s stresses… by taking on the stress of air traffic.

Check out the video after the break and tell me if I should have made another career choice…

YouTube link

Quick review: Flight Control HD for iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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

Apple debuted their iPad Case [$39.00 - Apple Store link] alongside the iPad itself, and had it available for sale the very same day. An elegant black folder with subtle Apple logo meant to cover your iPad like a book, let it stand like a picture frame, or prop it like a keyboard. An attempt at both form and function. Attempt being the key word.

The material is “soft touch” — designed to make it tackier and easier to grip — and it really does make the iPad less-likely to slip from your hands or off you lap. However, as much as it sticks to you, dirt seems to stick to it. Smudges, streaks, and light colored stains cling to the thing.

There are the usual cutouts for buttons and rockers, speakers and mics, but a curious ridge that runs along the side almost as though no trimming was done at the factory. It’s obviously meant to be there but it’s annoying and oughtn’t be.

A small flap on the back lets you tuck the cover in to create the triangular structure needed to stand it up in picture/movie mode or raise it up in typing mode. It fits well and securely.

Steve Jobs has reportedly responded to criticism of the case with a quick “we like it”, and I guess we like it too — we just don’t love it.

YouTube link

Quick review: Apple iPad Case is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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