It’s finally here. The moment that will change the computer industry forever. Apple’s iPad. This bad boy has been in speculations, talks, rumors, you name it, for almost half a decade. The first ever  “iPad” was announced in May 1992 and it was called the Newton. Now back then that was godly, for today’s standards, not even close to what Apple just created. The “new” iPad, consists of:

• Half-Inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds
• 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen IPS LCD display
• Custom 1GHz Apple “A4″ processor chip developed by the P.A. Semi Team
• 10-hour battery life and a month of standby!
• Comes in 16, 32 and 64GB Flash Memory sizes
• 30-pin dock connector for charging and connecting with a keyboard
• Microphone (Skype anybody?)
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 802.11n Wi-Fi (free at AT&T Hotspots) and optional 3G on-board (AT&T)
• Accelerometer
• Compass
• World “Pad”

That’s a lot of stuff right? There’s more. Here is where the fun comes in. Every application that is in the App Store that works on your iPhone/iTouch, works on your iPad! Amazing! Now for the AT&T part. I know, I know. You were hoping that this would become availabe on Verizon Wireless or another carrier, shame on you Apple. Apple and AT&T have teamed up once again to deliver a monstrous package deal for the wireless and 3G data pricing. Packages start at $14.99 for 250MB of data and $29.99 for Unlimited data per month. You’re asking yourself what’s the catch? Is there a two year commitment? The answer to those two questions are simply NO. There is no catch and there is no two year agreement. Hmmm, World”Pad”, what does that mean? It means exactly what you see. You can take the iPad abroad and insert any sim card from all over the world because the iPad is unlocked! The gates of heaven have finally opened. Now God Steve Jobs said that prices for international data will come “this summer” with further informaton. Prices for the iPad are as follows, $499 for the 16GB, $599 for the 32GB and $699 for the 64GB. Adding 3G to either model is a whopping $130 extra for it to run on broadband speeds when not in a Wi-Fi environment. Sales for the iPad start for the Wi-Fi version in 30 days and the Wi-Fi/3G version in 90 days. So who’s ready to get online for this one? I will. Now if only AT&T could fix there network even more now….

Update: The iPad is running iPhone OS 3.2 and has no camera. Also has no multi-tasking so I guess we’ll have to wait for iPhone OS 4.0 to come out. There is also no Flash support as well, should’ve known that already.

We’ve all heard this phrase before, “I want it but I don’t want ATT”. The speculations and rumors are heating up about the latest iPhone news and Apple breaking their ties from ATT. Now while it is not a 100% guarantee that will happen is unknown. One of Hot Hardware’s inside sources feels very confident that AT&T will lose its iPhone exclusivity during Apple’s big announcement this week. The announcement should be made following the introduction of the iSlate/iTablet/iPad and iPhone 4.0. Now if this comes to be true, sales for Apple will sky rocket. Look what not having exclusivity in Europe has done to the profits they’ve made, A LOT. The question(s) that will be asked if that does happen is where will the iPhone go next? Will Apple sell the iPhone unlocked in their stores? Who will puchase one if it is unlocked? What about Big Red, can they handle the exsessive amounts of data the iPhone clogs uses if they get it? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure though, if ATT does lose exclusivity, who will walk into their stores now?

Source Business Insider

Are you sick of your iPhone battery dying half way through the day? We sure are! However, thanks to mophie that may never happen again. The mophie juice pack air is a iPhone case that also acts as a external battery for your phone. Once the iPhone is inserted into the case, the phone will begin charging as if it was plugged into the wall. When the phone is fully charged, it will stay that way until the external battery dies, in which case the iPhone battery will take over. Read the full story

With the holiday season approaching fast, we at Smartphone Nation thought it would only be right to make a holiday gift guide to help you choose the perfect the gift. There have been many great phone launches this year; however, a few stuck out as superior. We have though of all major carriers when writing this review, so make sure to take carriers into consideration when making your choice.

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It’s official. With TELUS and Bell’s upgrade to HSPA, why not Virgin Mobile? Yesterday, Virgin Mobile Canada announced that they will officially be carrying both iPhone 3G and 3GS. No exact date but rumors are that it’s scheduled to be released around February which means Virgin Mobile Canada will be upgrading to HSPA (since the carrier is a branch of Bell). No pricing as of yet but do you actually think Apple will let that damn gadget slide for less then other carriers? Look out for other HSPA phones to be released on Virgin as well.

[Source Via HowardForums & BGR]

iPhone customer have long wondered why AT&T would not allow VoIP calls to be made over the 3G network. In the past, these calls needed to be made over a Wi-Fi connection. This was a reason why many people jailbroke their iPhones to allow them to use VoIP apps over 3G. However, today AT&T began allowing these calls to be made over 3G. Gone are the days of looking for a Wi-Fi connection to make a Skype call! It only makes sense for them to do this because many other devices can use VoIP applications on the 3G network. Check out the full press release below.

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Remember the Apple Tablet? Ya well if you don’t here’s a little reminder of what we all expected:

The Apple tablet I want will run the same basic hardware as the iPhone, with extended video and system RAM to accommodate larger computing needs, perhaps with some limited multitasking for some applications. System RAM is a big system bottleneck right now, and it won’t cost much to add enough to make things flow smoother. The video RAM will be necessary for the higher res of the 10 inch screen. The current iPhone CPU and graphic processor can handle all this well as they are. No need for changes. It will also be very thin. As thin as the iPod touch. Since its guts will be the same, but it will be a device with a larger surface, you also have more space for a larger battery.

This is what Gizmodo and I wanted. Yes, we wanted this. Well want isn’t exactly what we always get. Could it be better? Check this out. 10 new features for the upcoming Apple Tablet reported by iLounge. I would say this is complete BS but the person that stated these features also stated the iPod Nano 4G and 5G information correctly. Lets hope this is all true :

Apple has created at least three separate prototypes of its tablet computer. Let’s call it “iPad.”

Version 1 was designed with a 7” screen, which was judged to be too small. The latest version has a 10.7” screen.

It runs iPhone OS.

There have been reports that it looks like an iPhone. They’re sort of true. It looks like an iPhone 3G, complete with a curved back.

It will come in two different variations: one with 3G networking capabilities, and one without 3G networking capabilities. Think of the 3G version as a bigscreen iPhone 3GS, and the non-3G version as a bigscreen iPod touch.

Screen resolutions will obviously jump considerably from the iPhone and iPod touch 480×320-pixel displays, enabling easy reading of full-sized book and magazine pages, plus cropped newspaper pages. Expect something like 5-6 times the resolution of an iPod touch or iPhone screen (720p or thereabouts) and 7 times the touchable surface area.

It is designed to expand the iPhone and iPod touch media concept to its next potential level: as a slate-like replacement for books and magazines, plus all of the media, gaming, app, and web functionality of the iPhone and iPod touch.

It is not meant to compete with netbooks. It’s an iPhone OS media player and light communication device.

Apple is currently planning to announce it on or before January 19, 2010, and to use an iPhone-like hype buildup period to start selling it in May or June.

It is apparently awaiting a final green light from Steve Jobs; chances of it appearing in the market are believed to be 80% at this point.

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With the new HSPA launch happening in November. More cellphone companies take a look at different carriers. We heard earlier about the BlackBerry 9700 and 8530 showing up on Bell’s system but an iPhone? Complete shock to me. The Globe And Mail reports that the iPhone will be available for Bell and TELUS carriers for their upcoming HSPA network set to release in November before the holidays.

Bell Canada and Telus Corp. will begin selling the iPhone next month, breaking the stranglehold on the device that their rival Rogers Communications Inc. has held for more than a year.

Both carriers hope the addition of Apple Inc.’s groundbreaking smart phone to their lineups will help them sign up higher-value customers and shift the balance of power in Canada’s mobile market.

Neither Bell nor Telus would confirm that they would add the iPhone to their lineups. Apple also declined to comment. But people familiar with the matter said the two carriers will announce a working partnership with Apple as early as Tuesday or Wednesday and begin selling the device in time for the launch of their new network next month

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It took over two years for AT&T and Apple to launch MMS on their most prized phone. It seems that MMS for the iPhone on the AT&T network has just gone live and is ready to start using. We have heard AT&T is worried about how their network will react to the mass MMS sending, but so far it seems to be working fine. Be sure to plug your iPhone into iTunes to get the updated carrier files now!

It has been months since Apple and AT&T announced that MMS is coming to the iPhone. Originally slated for “late summer,” it seems that they have broken that promised and will be released it on September 25th. MMS will be available to iPhone 3G and 3GS customers through the 3.1 software update. Thankfully there will be no additional cost for MMS messaging assuming you have a Messaging package already.

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