"How about a nice thick wooden case for that upcoming iPad? While it does double the width of the iPad and make it significantly more unwieldy, it does look nice. This is certainly a "case" of form over function. Har."

I can see using this, if I wanted to use my iPad for a picture frame, cycling through my iPhoto library. Other than that, not so much. They are going to sell for $79.95 USD and are from a company called Vers, which also sells iPhone cases made from wood.

"CBS Interactive today released the 2010 March Madness application ($9.99 app store). Big difference over last year? 3G streaming of games! It is just a shame that the iPad won't be out until April."

You can get the paid app here, for $9.99 USD, but the free "lite" version has highlights and pretty much everything the paid version does except for the live streaming video of the games. I agree it's too bad the iPad won't be available for it, but at least you will be able to use the iPad with MLB At Bat 2010!

"The fee to become an Apple Mac developer dropped significantly Thursday to $99. According to Apple the new low cost of membership is in response to the success of the iPhone Developer Program (also $99 per year) and the potential that apps from that platform might crossover to the Mac."

The previous prices were $499.00 USD for the Apple Developer Connection (ADC) Select and $3,499.00 USD for the ADC Premier program. You can still get the free version of the Mac Developer if you want to tinker and see if you want to upgrade to one of the other programs, but $99.00 USD is a heckuva drop in price and quite the bargain.

"Not content with answering tech questions from Americans, Steve Jobs this week answered a question from all the way over in Sweden."

So Jezper asks via email if he will be able to tether his iPhone and his iPad, to which Steve replies via email from his iphone... No. 

"FileMaker Pro 11, the latest version of the Mac database software, was officially released Tuesday, packing in improved chart visuals, "on the fly" reporting, a new Quick Find capability, and a number of productivity tools that aim to make database creation simpler and quicker."

The last update was in 2009 when they released FileMaker 10. They also released updates to the entire line of FileMaker products. The retail price for FileMaker Pro 11 is $299.00 USD, or $179.00 USD to upgrade. The prices for advanced and server go up from there. I haven't used FileMaker in years, do any of you use it on a regular basis?

If you aren't in any hurry, you can also enter the Schlage giveaway over at iLounge. Details about the rebate though, are here, and you can pick the starter kits up at a number of stores, brick and mortar as well as at Amazon.com, where they offer the Schlage LiNK Wireless Keypad Deadbolt Starter Kit System, Satin Nickel as one of the applicable products.

"After Valve's series of teaser images, it's now been revealed that their upcoming sequel Portal 2 will also be coming to the Mac. The above image comes from a series of scans from the latest issue of Gameinformer magazine which carries a cover story about the much anticipated sequel."

A friend of mine has the Orange Box compilation and Portal was one of the games. Very interesting game and it really made you think. Can't wait to see what they come up with for Portal 2, due out this fall.

"Media Memo reports that popular ringtone site Thumbplay has launched a new subscription music service, offering consumers unlimited streaming for $10/month with the option to purchase songs from a catalog of 8 million tracks at the same $0.69-$1.29 price points found on Apple's iTunes Store."

Not only that, but they have also snagged a MobileMe Executive from Apple, Pablo Calamera, and hired him as their Chief Technology Officer. Thumbplay is also planning on offering iPhone and Android apps later this year, so we'll see how that goes. 

"Anyone familiar with Mission: Impossible has heard the famous lines, "this message will self destruct in 5 seconds." Now there's an app equivalent with TigerText."

While the app itself is free, there are costs involved, at least for sending since receiving messages is always free. After your first free 100 messages that you have 15 days to use, it costs $1.49 USD per month for 250 messages or $2.49 USD per month for unlimited. Someone like Tiger Woods (coincidence in the naming of this app per the developers..yea right) definitely could have used this and probably would have opted for the unlimited plan.

"With all of the furor around the gigantic patent lawsuit that Apple dropped on HTC this week, you might be forgiven for forgetting about the first big patent smackdown of the year, the lawsuit that Nokia laid at Apple's door."

Image Credit: www.erictric.com

But it is far from forgotten. The judge suspended the case and the countersuit since the International Trade Commission is working on sorting out the complaints between the two companies. Once this probe is done, 45 days or so from the 22nd of February (the date the investigation was started), then it is expected the lawsuits will press on.

"FreshDirect, a leading online grocer in New York City, has released a new application to allow FreshDirect users to place grocery orders directly from their iPhone or iPod touch. Developed by digital firm Schematic, the application is designed to deliver the same functionality as the FreshDirect web site, allowing users to create, submit, and update orders and schedule and update delivery times right from their device."

I wish more stores would do this, as it is no one really does it like this around my area. You can also search the store for items, select from previous orders or your favorite list, and even see product recommendations based on your past orders. If you have an in-progress order, you can save it and resume later. This app, free in iTunes, is also integrated with the FreshDirect web service so if you start an order on your iPhone, you can finish it up on the web. Or the other way around if you prefer. Anyone out there using this store? If so, how does it work?

"Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was in attendance at the Oscars Sunday night, and during the telecast the first iPad ad revealed, upon closer look, prices for some titles in the new iBookstore."

So some eagle eyes out there watching the first commercial noticed prices on some of the books, ranging from $7.99 USD to $14.99 USD. Jobs was also on hand, in his words, "To see Up win," which it did, so perhaps he was good luck.

"Ed Christman at Billboard contends that Apple is pressuring the record labels not to deal with Amazon and their Daily Deal, which allows users to purchase the album at a reduced price one day before it is generally released (on iTunes)."

According to the executive, "iTunes representatives have been urging labels to rethink their participation in the Amazon promotion and that they have backed up those warnings by withdrawing marketing support for certain releases featured as Daily Deals." I can't really blame them, and it appears some are listening to Apple as Capitol, Capitol Nashville and Jive all opted out of the Amazon Daily Deal promotion. Wonder how many more will opt out? I'm guessing most if not all, what are your thoughts?

"Last April, I wrote about the Dell Mini 9 netbook I'd purchased (see In Praise of Netbooks), and how - despite Steve Job's put-downs of the entire netbook product category as "a piece of junk" - I found it a usable little computer, trading off screen, keyboard, and trackpad size against portability and low cost."

The author ran into problems when he tried to turn his Dell Mini-9 into a Hackintosh, but he finally worked through it and his pain is your gain if you are trying the same thing. Interesting article on how you go about hacking your Dell.

"Bernstein Research's Toni Sacconaghi issued a 13-page report last week in which he estimated that the iPhone's gross profit margins were an astounding 57.8%. Those margins tower above Apple's competitors with RIM estimated to have 43% profit margins, Nokia 33%, Motorola 32%, and HTC 31.7%."

And while it may decline in the future per The Street, Saconaghi thinks it will increase since prices have increased since Q3 2009 to Q1 2010, from $588.00 USD to $638.00 USD, and demand doesn't seem to be subsiding. He also sets a target stock price of $250.00 USD. Well, let's see what June brings.

"The wait for the iPad is, er, well, it's just beginning I suppose. On Friday, Apple announced that the new device would go on sale on Saturday, April 3 in the U.S. Customers who want to pre-order can put in their claim on March 12-just a week away, so get your clicking fingers ready."

Again, this is only the Wi-Fi version so I expect you will have to wait until late April for the 3G versions to roll out. Countries outside the U.S., specifically Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K. per Apple, will have to wait until the end of April for either one. On March 12th you can pre-order either version from the Apple online store. Here is the press release if you are interested. Better start saving now!

The Gomadic chargers are very slick, and we recently did a Quick Look on the 2-in-1 Charger pictured above. If you aren't familiar, the system uses what they call "Tip Exchange" so all you need is one cable and a tip for each device, instead of having to carry around separate charging cables. They pretty much cover every device know to man, or at least it seems that way (the brand list is here).

Now the folks at Gomadic are being generous enough to give away four (4) of their 2-in-1 Charging cables as well as two tips to be chosen by each winner. Since Gomadic has such wide coverage on devices, this is a network-wide contest. To win, all you have to do is go to the Tip Exchange page and pick two of the charging tips you want to go with your 2-in-1 Charger. Post the two numbers along with a reply to this post and you are entered. You MUST post the two tip numbers in your reply or your entry won't be counted.

One post per person, and the contest closes on Friday the 19th of March at 12pm Pacific time, GMT -7. This contest is world-wide with Gomadic providing the shipping. Remember that all first posts in our system are held in moderation, so if this contest entry is your first post, please wait up to 48 hours before getting concerned if your post hasn't shown up yet - it will. Winners will be contacted via private forum message, so have email notifications turned on. Winners will have 72 hours to claim their prize.

"The Washington Post, which has stated it doesn't plan to build a New York Times-like paywall, is opening up another source of revenue: A paid iPhone app."

The app sells for $1.99 USD and is in the iTunes Store now. For the price you get a year of "customized access and offline reading." With the slump in newspaper sales, I would imagine more are going to come up with something like this to generate revenue.

"When Apple does eventually get around to shipping the iPad, which may not be as soon as many of us had hoped, we'll at least have some good quality, familiar content to enjoy on the platform according to an internal announcement by Condé Nast as reported by the New York Times."

They plan to have Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Glamour ready to go after the release of the iPad, by staggering the launch of each title over the course of the next six months, ending sometime this summer. These will all be sold through iTunes, and I don't think they will be the only company doing this. I'm hoping Zinio has something available since they already have an iPhone app, as well as many titles to choose from. But I'm really hoping some kind of Kindle app will happen so I can use it for all those books I own.

"Comcast's app acts as a hub for the company's video, voice, and data services. Now the just released version 2.0 of the app adds new DVR control functions for select markets. Previously Comcast customers could use the iPhone OS app to manage their Comcast voice mail, sync address book, access email, view TV listings, and watch trailers for on-demand programming."

Unfortunately for my friends that have Comcast, it doesn't work yet in Oregon. The only states they are using it in are PA, DE, VA, MD, MA, AR, TN, AZ, and UT but they say additional markets will be brought out soon. The app is free for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and require compatible Comcast services.