Just couple of hours left from the Apple Showdown!…Have your dinner and come back right here…By the time, you can also look at rumor round-up and also look at other details like specs and stuff like iPad 2 price in India.

Be Ready !

……Live blog: Apple Event, March 2, 2011……

• Well, the crowd has turned in big numbers and everyone is just waiting for someone to take the stage.
• Gosh! the magical man is here himself….huge applaud for Steve Jobs! Nobody expected him to attend the event but that’s the Apple factor.
• Steve is briefing up the past successful products….iPod, iPhone and the latest being iPad.
• Steve is also boasting the success of iBooks which got over 100m downloads in such short span.
• 100Mn iPhones sold…Another big milestone !
• Apple sold 15Mn iPads last year. More than total tablets devices ever sold. Awesome!
• iPad commands more than 90% of tablet market share right now.
• 65000 iPad apps in App Store.
• Steve showing up slides featuring iPad getting used in daily work by various people in different industries.

• Now some rants on iPad competitors. Steve calling them Copycats!
• And here comes the iPad 2..Huge applaud!
• Steve is going through all the salient features of iPad 2.
• In short, the new iPad 2 is lighter, slimmer and multi-folds faster than previous iPad.
• It’s got cameras, VGA on the front and 720p at the rear side.
• Gyroscope, HDMI Output comes as well
• iPad 2 will come in black as well as White.
• And did we forget to say that the battery performance will not at all be affected with all the iPad 2 enhancements
• The pricing remains the same. Bingo!
• …For more details, read full specs and iPad 2 Price info here…
• Now Steve is talking about the smartest accessory of all, the iPad 2 Smart Cover. No more cases required.
• Now you can get a light-weight Smart-cover that self-cleans the glass surface, sticks to the surface with magnetic hinges, folds in seconds and becomes a stand for vertical viewing/Photo frame. Made up of Poly-urethane and leather. 10 color options.
• Hurray! Facetime(Wi-Fi video calling) comes to iPad 2
• iPad 2 will land on both AT&T and Verizon.
• Launching March 11 in U.S. Will be launched in 26 more countries by March 25, 2011
• Now some video about iPad 2 and how amazing it is…
• Now, the talk is shifting to iOS 4.3
• iOS 4.3 brings lot of things on board such as ‘Personal Hotspot’ !
• Lots of other iOS 4.3 improvements….
• Well, the major things are done. Some video playing up right now and that’s it!
• Event wrapped up. Hands-on time!
• Thanks for joining us in this live-blogging event with us over here…

Enjoy the hands-on video from Engadget!

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Since the first day of iPad launch, Apple did see annoyed users who were complaining about weak Wi-Fi signal while surfing internet through their newly bought iPad. Some thought, it was just a perception issue from user’s end but the crescendo of complaints didn’t stop and humongous uproar from iPad buyers has now gone so loud that Apple had to speak out and admit the Wi-Fi issues with the iPad.

Most of the problems are related to the weak signal reception from WiFi network and the users are reporting that the signal drops drastically once they take iPad away from the WiFi router. The users are so sure about the issues because they have cross-checked the Wi-Fi signal strength with their smartphones(most of them are iPhone guys) and the signal remains absolutely good on their iPhone, Droid or whatever smartphones they have got.

While Apple has only commented on the issue regarding failure of iPad in Automatic rejoining of known Wi-Fi networks, there is still no word from Apple regarding the weak Wi-Fi signal reception issues which are piling up fast on Apple’s shoulders.

The support forum solutions basically suggest getting closer to the Wi-Fi hotspot, which is not an intelligent solution at all.

Now, what do we make out of this ? Is this a hardware fault ? Can it ever be rectified ? Can a firmware update fix all these problems ?

We can’t really say if Apple can fix things with a software update as the problem seems to be a hardware design problem and that can’t be fixed with a software update. We’re keeping a watch over the issue. Stay tuned !

One such country where gadget freaks are roaring to get this spectacular piece of hardware is India. And all those folks who don’t want to wait for the iPad to launch officially in India (it will take months for sure) and get their gadget right away have got an not-so-affordable option for doing so.

Apple iPad 16GB/WiFi version is available in India for around Rs.38k. 32GB version would come at Rs.44k and 64GB version would come at Rs.50k. The Apple iPad will, of course, be imported to India so the buyer will have to bear custom duty and shipping charges as well(both the charges are included in the price mentioned). The shipping will start April 15 onwards.

Honestly, it’s a costly affair to import the iPad right away from U.S. and it sounds more sensible to wait for the official launch of the device in India. By that time, the WiFi+3G version will also be available to the users, which will be much better option than a WiFi only iPad. And don’t forget the WePad, HP Slate and loads of other slate devices to come in the near future, which will provide plenty of options to pick the best one from. You are going to buy just one slate device so choose wisely.

Of course, the final call is yours !

With loads of media speculation over this new category of device and the possibility of success or failure of iPad, it was tough to guess the real fate of iPad before April 3. Now, with early sales estimates pouring in, its quite apparent that Apple has certainly created a new category of device, which is revolutionary and disruptive in several regards.

According to an estimate by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, Apple sold as many as 7,00,000 iPads on the first day of its public launch. It takes no genius to estimate that Apple must have sold more than 1 million iPads by the end of Day Two, that’s April 4. Now, compare that to the 74 day time period that iPhone took, to get to the figure of 1 million and you will easily realize what’s the probable future of iPad.

One much note here that Apple is not yet selling iPad with WiFi+3G model, the preferred option for anyone who wants to take along iPad just about anywhere.When 3G enabled model comes into the market, iPad sales are bound to explode. And further, when more tablets will jump in, Apple will drop the iPad prices for staying competitive and lift the sales.

But what the key factor in this early success of iPad ? It’s the Apple Fanboys !

It has become more of a ritual for people, aka Fanboys to queue up in front of Apple Stores all across the U.S. before any such product launch and get the iPod/iPhone/iPad on Day 1 itself. And probably, it just Apple that enjoys such a committed following, not even Google.

No doubt, iPad is just awesome in many regards but it’s actually the millions of Apple fanboys that don’t even need to touch yet-to-launch Apple gadgets before pre-ordering the device weeks before getting it in their palms.

There are plenty of slate device alternatives available like WePad or many others will soon be available so why hurry for a WiFi only iPad Slate device right now ? That’s what a sensible guy would think, not an Apple Fanboy.

The war between the Slate devices is bound to get hotter and more interesting as the time passes by. We’re keeping an eye over that.

The latest speculation surrounding iPad is Apple’s future policy regarding the pricing alteration of iPad, a couple of months after its date of release. As the history of Apple products suggest, Apple tags its glittering gizmos with a high price at the time of launch and sells on the basis on positive buzz and extravagant product quality. Soon after, it attracts the masses by cutting down the price to an affordable value. This happened with iPod, then with iPhone and now, it seems that history is about to repeat itself with iPad as well.

The rumor mill is buzzing about the iPad Price cut that Apple might be considering these days. It is not confirmed whether Apple will take the plunge(price cut) before iPad’s release or after it but tech pundits are bidding over the latter option at the moment.

Apple has had a track record of squeezing high margins at the early stage of product launch and tone down the price thereafter, to sell off its gizmos like hot cakes. The speculation is that Apple will prefer the earlier strategy only. This suggests that early iPad adopters are going to get a bad deal anyway.

So, who are going to be those poor guys who will play significant role in plausible success of iPad and will later be screwed up by Apple itself ?

“The cult of Apple Fanboi”.

Apple relishes a crazy following of guys(they’re in millions by the way) who buy whatever Apple produces, no matter what the price tag asks for. These guys love flaunting their sleek and sexy Apple gizmo within their community and don’t mind paying extra bucks for being the first to flaunt.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for more updates on tablets, iPad and more…

Yes, the Apple Tablet has finally got an official name. It’s called iPad, Apple iPad.

So, without much ado, let’s get to the real business right away..What’s the deal with the tech specs !

• Thickness : 0.5 inches
• Weight : 1.5 Pounds
• Display : 9.7 inches IPS
• Touchscreen : Capacitive, Multi-touch
• 16GB-64GB Flash Storage
• Processor : 1GHz Apple A4 chip (Apple’s own silicon chip)
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Battery life : Upto 10 hours, 30 days standby
• Speaker, microphone and 30-pin connector
• Accelerometer and Compass

Accessories :

• Dock
• Dock keyboard
• Case

Pricing (U.S.) :

WiFi Only

• $499 for 16GB
• $599 for 32GB
• $799 for 64GB

WiFi + 3G

3G models cost an extra $130.

• $629 for 16 GB
• $729 for 32 GB
• $829 for 64 GB

Availability:

WiFi iPads By March 2010 (Worldwide)

WiFi+3G iPads by April 2010 (U.S. and selected countries)

So, what does that mean to Apple fanbois in India ? When will Apple iPad hit the indian gadget stores and at what price ?

As Apple iPad is going to sell unlocked, Apple’s approach is to dominate globally this time. And indians would find iPad cheaper than expected.

In India, the price range might start from Rs. 25k(base model without 3G) and will go upto Rs. 35k .

Stay tuned for more update on iPad.