iPad

Netflix has been both quick and smart to provide access to its streaming services via multitude of devices (e.g., Roku Player). This holds true in a case of iPad too – the Los Gatos based company was quick to announce that it’s releasing an iPad version of the Netflix player (it’s free on iTunes).

On Thursday, Netflix unveiled an application that lets subscribers watch movies and TV shows on the iPad, confirming reports that it would be an iPad app pioneer.
Within a day of launching, the free app was the second-most popular free program in Apple’s iTunes store, even though the device itself didn’t go on sale until today.
The app is part of Netflix’s strategy to stream movies and TV to a range of Web-enabled devices, allowing consumers to get their media fix whenever and wherever they want.

Read more at the NY Post’s site

BusinessWeek has an article on possible alternatives to the pricey AT&T data plan offered with the iPad devices. One is not required to purchase a plan from AT&T – so competing options are popping up all over the place. Here is a quick summary of options presented in the article:

Boingo Wireless will let you surf for two bucks per hour (or $10/month):

Boingo Wireless, which sells Wi-Fi access in airports, convention centers, and other public places, on Mar. 29 announced it would begin selling $2-an-hour access to more than 125,000 Wi-Fi hotspots for iPad users. Consumers can purchase the access directly through Apple’s iTunes online store. Boingo Chief Executive Dave Hagan says he expects especially strong demand in New York and San Francisco, where AT&T’s cellular network has suffered from congestion. “If it’s not working very well, Wi-Fi is there,” he says. The iPad “is going to be a very big opportunity for companies like ours.”

Sprint will let you hook up and surf with 4 devices for $60:

Other wireless service providers see a market, too. Sprint Nextel (S), the third-largest U.S. cellular carrier, plans to market to iPad owners its Overdrive mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, which for a $60-a-month subscription lets users connect as many as five mobile computing devices to its next-generation 4G cellular network. “In our view the iPad will make a very compelling 4G device,” says Sprint spokesman Scott Sloat. Sprint says its 4G network offers download speeds that are as much as 10 times as fast as AT&T’s 3G network.

Yet, if you are on Verizon FiOS you are lucky – Boingo is free:

Customers of Verizon’s FiOS Internet access service already receive free, Verizon-branded access to Boingo’s hotspots and could use the service with their iPads as well, according to Boingo’s Hagan. Verizon Wireless declined to comment.

More screenshots from App Annie. Top Free Apps listed are on the screenshot below. Check out the Home (New and Noteworthy | What’s Hot) and Top Free Apps Sections as well.

Top Revenue iPad Software:

• OmniGiraffe, Productivity
• Flight Control HD, Games
• Labyrinth 2 HD, Games
• OmniGraphSketcher, Productivity
• Cro-Mag rally for iPad, Games
• Pianist Pro, Music
• WeatherBug Elite, Weather
• Enigmo Deluxe, Games
• Otto Matic for iPad, Games
• Sparkle HD, Games
• Boggie (iPad Test), Games
• Sudoku Real Edition, Games
• iMahjong 2, Entertainment
• Bugdom 2 for iPad, Games
• Sherlock Homes Mysteries, Games
• Real Checkers, Games
• O-GAWA, Music
• PuzzleManiak for iPad, Games
• Italian Video Recipes, Lifestyle
• Piano Lession PianoMan, Games
• Tweader, Social Networking
• Nanosaur 2 for iPad, Games
• TML XL (The Motivated Life XL), Books
• Ammoin HD, Games

App Annie posted screenshots of the iTunes iPad App store today – there are three screenshots including Home Page (below, including sections New and Neoteworthy | What’s Hot).

New and Noteworthy:

1. Awesome Note (+Todo), Productivity
2. Coach K, Games
3. Nick Kid’s Choice Awards, Entertainment
4. The Masters Golf Tournament, Sports
5. Pregnancy Tracker From What to Expect, Healthcare and Fitness
6. HippoRemote Pro, Productivity

What’s Hot

1. Everyday Looper, Music
2. Happy Hours, Travel
3. StarMaker, Music
4. American Idol: The Game, Games
5. Tilt to Live, Games
6. Secrets of Success, Business

Check out Top Free and Top Grossing lists and screenshots as well..

Apple is calling developers to start submitting applications for the Grand Opening of the iPad segment of the app store. To be considered, login in with your developer account id and follow the instructions outlined below and provided in an email distributed to registered Apple developers.

Based on this we can conclude that Apple will continue to maintain a tight on the app approval process and will control the application market in the same way as they do for iPhone/iTouch apps. Read below for details or register for a developer account at the link above.

iPad will begin shipping soon and your opportunity to be part of the grand opening of the iPad App Store starts today. Submit your iPad app now for an initial review by the App Review Team and receive feedback on its readiness for the grand opening. Submit Your App by March 27.

1. Build and test your iPad app using iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 available on the iPhone Dev Center. Only iPad apps built with iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 will be accepted for this initial review.
2. Upload your distribution signed app through iTunes Connect by Saturday, March 27, 5pm PDT.
3. The App Review Team will review your app on iPad and email you details about the readiness of your app.
4. You will also receive additional information about submitting your app for final review before iPad ships.
5. Only apps submitted for the initial review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store.

———————-
Update 3/21
The post was originally titled “Submit iPad App to Google for Grand Opening”… I am not gonna comment on this one, I am sure the folks in Cupertino would not be happy seeing it…

My quick take on the looming war between iPad and Kindle: given the specs and demoed GUI iPad will destroy kindle in every sense. The fact that five biggest book publishers (Hachette, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, Penguin Group) are on board with iPad Amazon simply cannot compete provided their current hardware offering remains as it is (or incrementally improved).

Amazon senses the danger and they already increased the royalty cut for the publishers to 70% (70 percent of list price net of delivery cost) [as of 1/20/10].

Amazon states that authors get 7-15% of the list price for paper books and 25% of net for digital books. Needless to say, the 70% royalty looks like a good deal (it’s not as simple as this as Amazon requires that the price is below 10 bucks and that the digital offering includes bells and whistles like txt-to-spch)

70% cut sounds familiar? Yep, Apple pays 70% royalty to iPhone/iPad developers for apps sold via iTunes. Competition and market-forces at work? I don’t see anything else that would be a feasible explanation for Amazon’s gracious increase in publishers’ royalty from 50% to 70%.

Let the thousand flowers bloom…

PS

Check out the Delicious Library (DL) – former DL employees (Mike Matas, Lucas Newman, Tim Omernick) are some of the folks that helped with the iBooks’ overall design/look