RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters Life!) – Apple’s iPad tablet computer hasn’t been out a week yet but there are already over 830 video games that have been developed to suit the large format, high definition, multi-touch screen.

That number doesn’t even include the nearly 25,000 iPod Touch and iPhone games that will also play on Apple’s latest gadget which is a mix between a smartphone and a laptop but also clearly aims to cater for the growing numbers of gamers.

“The iPad is the fourth step in the gaming evolution,” said Gonzague de Vallois, senior vice president of publishing at Gameloft.

“The first being the microcomputer, the second being the game console and the third being smartphones. Each of these platforms revolutionized gaming in its own way.”

Apple has already sold over 500,000 iPads and Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty forecasts the tech giant will ship 8 to 10 million iPads this year worldwide.

“Can the iPad sell 5 million devices in the first year without games and apps? Probably,” said Kevin A. Wood, vice president and senior analyst of Technology Market Insights at research firm Infogroup/ORC.

“However, Apple’s ability to re-define this space of the computing world will be dependent on its ability to sustain excitement. Apps and games redefined what a smartphone was and what it could be used for, and we suspect that will be the same situation for the iPad.”

Peter Farago, vice president of marketing for research firm Flurry, said just over a third of the 2,300 plus apps currently available for iPad on iTunes.com are games, with entertainment apps ranking a distant second with 14 percent.

GAMING ON THE GO

He believes that games percentage will rise as Apple sells more hardware and attracts more game makers.

“I think people are going to be blown away by iPad when they actually have the opportunity to interact with it,” said Neil Young, founder and CEO of the largest iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad game developer, ngmoco.

“When you play games on the large format, multi-touch fields using two hands it’s much more ‘Minority Report’ than even the iPhone is.”

With seven iPad games available at launch, ngmoco is taking advantage of the multi-touch screen by allowing players of games like “Godfinger” and “We Rule” to multitask by literally sliding small game windows aside so they can focus on the bigger playing field and then read the story progression or check out friends’ castles in between.

Johnny Coghlan, head of publishing for Chillingo, which has 14 iPad games available, said the Wi-Fi and 3G capabilities allows for all of its games, including “Super Shock Football HD” and puzzle game “Quantz HD,” to incorporate Crystal integration. This is the company’s social gaming network that enables players to compete against one another and tout high scores.

With its large screen, game makers can offer multiplayer options on a single iPad.

Firemint’s “Flight Control HD” offers split-screen competitive and cooperative gameplay for two players to successfully land a never-ending stream of planes.

Gameloft’s virtual card game “Uno” allows up to four friends to gather around an iPad and play.

There are hundreds of free iPad games, while other games range in price from $5 to $13. Games range from EA Mobile’s ubiquitous “Tetris” to SGN’s third-person shooter “EXO-Planet.”

Some publishers offer lower-priced iPod Touch/iPhone ports as well as slightly more expensive iPad versions that take advantage of the new functionality.

“By taking an existing iPhone game and modifying it for iPad we believe that it will not only bring a new experience to an existing title, but basically create a new game,” said de Vallois.

For example, Gameloft’s iPad shooter “N.O.V.A Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance” allows players to use two fingers to curve a grenade toss and offers multi-targeting capabilities with a hand-drawn grid that eliminates all enemies on the screen with a rocket. The game originated on iPhone and iPod Touch.

“I think Apple learned their lesson about the importance of gaming from the iPhone and the iPod Touch,” said Young. “It was really that first holiday season for the iPod Touch where Apple recognized and realized gaming was such a huge part of the business and the iPod Touch had found its home as a game machine.”

According to Apple’s iPad tech specs, the iPad does indeed support a type of AVI video:

Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

AVI, the audio-video interleave is a container introduced by Microsoft. Motion JPEG is a type of AVI compression. While AVI in general is ubiquitous for standard definition video content on the internet, there’s no indication Apple is supporting the specific XviD/Divx codec (encoding/decoding) used by those AVI files.

iPad compatible and not compatible AVI files

Some Mac users might not that knowledgeable about video file formats. In other words, iPad supports some types of video cameras watch their AVI footage via the camera card reader accessory, it won’t let you watch downloaded AVI movies on the iPad.

Easy solution for AVI files playback on iPad

If you want to play AVI movies downloaded from the internet on you iPad, you can convert your AVI files to iPad friendly format. AVI files with JPEG compression is high quality, but it’s HUGE. So you can also convert them to MP4 format for your iPad.

It’s a hassle to get all the way to the end only to discover that your video file won’t play on your iPad. I recommend iSkysoft iPad Video Converter for Mac, which provide optimized presets for your iPad so you don’t need to worry about the settings for your iPad.

Download it for free here:
Download Intel Version

1. Add AVI files to iPad Video Converter for Mac

2. Select iPad preset from format list

3. Hit convert to start video to iPad conversion on OS X

Now that the iPad has dropped, Amadeus Consulting would like to follow up on a previous blog in which we made our predictions about the newest Apple® Tablet. In retrospect, the predictions we made were not very “risky,” even though many of them seemed unlikely at the time. Nevertheless, some of our hopes were still crushed, and others were pleasantly exceeded.

Before we begin, we’d like to mention one of our assumptions that was unfortunately wrong: the tablet’s name. While writing the previous blog, we had heard the name iPad™ being suggested among the rumors, but we didn’t think that Apple would ever choose iPad over iSlate. Unfortunately, we were wrong on that one, but we’ve faired a little bit better with our other predictions.

#1 – Our Guess: Multitouch

Correct!

Not a huge surprise here, but we said it was basically a freebee. But we can still be excited about it because it increases usability and is the next step of user-interface design.

We have a strong history developing for multitouch devices, including the iPhone® and Microsoft Surface™, and we are looking forward to this as an emerging technology that many other software development companies are not yet equipped to handle.

The large screen also means that applications can have increased functionality and provide a better user experience for interactive applications.

#2— Our Guess: OS 3.2

Correct!

Ok, this is awesome! This means that iPhone/iPod™ apps will run on the new iPad. And even better is the optional pixel scaling that allows apps to run in full screen without a major decay in graphical quality.  It will be interesting to see if current apps undergo an overhaul to provide improved resolution, or if designers will rely on the pixel scaling.

For our clients, this is very exciting as well. It means that they get even more exposure through their apps since they can be used on the iPhone, iPod, and now on the iPad.

For iPad developers, Apple has already released iPhone SDK 3.2 beta, an iPad Simulator, and other helpful tools to get apps built and optimized for OS 3.2. Amadeus Consulting is very excited to amp up our development to include iPad applications, and are already offering this service to our clients.

Apple also introduced a new version of iWork® for the iPad. Pages®, Keynote® and Numbers® are also available in special multitouch versions for the iPad.

#3— Our Guess: 3G network

Correct! (well, it’s an option at least)

Automatic Wi-Fi connectivity is pretty nice, but it is limited by the range of Wi-Fi networks, whereas 3G provides Internet access without having to find your nearest coffee shop. AT&T’s data plans are also reasonably priced, giving users a $15/month option with a 250MB limit, or a $30/month unlimited option. Even better is that neither has a contract, so you can cancel or sign-up at any time without worrying about cancellation fees.

Another benefit is the new Apple store iBookstore™ which has partnered with publishers to provide digital books and newspapers on the iPad. Books can be purchased individually and some newspapers can be purchased on a subscription basis.

Additionally, TV shows, movies and music can be downloaded through iTunes, or synced to other Apple computers.

#4— Our Guess: More Power

Partially Correct!

With the 1Ghz Apple A4 processor, the iPad definitely has more power than the iPhone, and boasts a jaw dropping 10 hours of battery life. We originally estimated it would have up to a 2.2Ghz processor, however all the reports say that the iPad is extremely fast with just the Apple A4.

#5—Web Cam!

Wrong

Okay, so we were wrong here, although it does have purchasable dongles that are designed to specifically interface with cameras and picture memory cards. So, you could still do your light photo and video editing before uploading, but it would require an extra step.

However, it does come with a built in microphone, so it could theoretically accept voice commands or be used to make calls on Skype.

Additional Bonuses

There are also some other features that we’re pretty excited about:

Built in 802.11n, can take advantage of the fastest Wi-Fi networks.

Bluetooth 2.1 – headphones, wireless keyboard

10 Hours of battery life

Thin, and light (1.5 lbs, .5 inches)

Although this is designed primarily for casual use, we could definitely see many commercial applications for this. Actually, anyone who uses a clipboard at work (for inspections, maintenance, inventory, sales, etc) could easily benefit with a custom application and this device.

Our mantra of “Everything is Possible,” keeps us moving forward and finding solutions to difficult problems. We are excited about the development possibilities that the iPad provides, and looking forward to working with our current and future clients on developing innovative apps for the iPad.

Learn more about iPad and iPhone application Development.

The new ipad touch is definitely catching on and people are talking about them everywhere. How good is this product actually? The apple ipad is definitely something expected to live up to the quality and style of the apple product lines, including the iphone, macbook air, ipod touch and more. Lets have a look at the features and get to know it better.

Some of the negatives of the ipad is that many people claim that the ipad touch is just a bigger version of the iphone, in terms of the hardware and the performance. It is bigger in size, and hence is quite inconvenient to carry it around. Some argue that apple simple came up with the ipad just for the sake of having a new product.

However, a closer look at the ipad touch will review that it has many good features as well. Firstly, the pad touch is extremely more user friendlier. You will be able to use the pad as an onscreen keyboard as well. The device can also run great programs like safari, itunes, file managers, editors and much more. Another advantage is that you will be able to play youtube videos on it, on a larger screen.

The ipad touch is ideal for various purposes such as listing to music, a video/movie device, a work computer, and a laptop. The ipad definitely offers an optimal internet service compared to its previous product line.

If you are interested, there currently is a post launch test conducted recruiting ipad testers to give opinion. We have taken part in this experiment; you will get sent an ipad to your home address, and after the reviewing period, get to keep it. Give it a check to see if there are any spots available in your area, if you are lucky, you may be able to get one at no cost. Have a look to see if you qualify

Is the Apple iPad the best thing since sliced bread? Or is it just another Gee Whiz Wow gadget that’ll blast off at first then flame out just as quickly?

Click Here To Grab yourself one free Ipad Voucher Courtsey of Ticket Machine (Multiple claims not allowed)

Given the Apple mastery of generating excitement for new products…. and their acumen in actually delivering what they promise….. IMHO I doubt the Apple iPad will be disappear into the “could have been” category. I think with iPad we’ve seen a definite shift in the realm of what is now possible.

The Apple iPad garnered a lot of attention initially in the pre-launch marketing…. and then even more after Steve Job left the stage. However, it seems a lot of tech folk are disappointed with what has been left out. Yet others are excited that the iPad is going to make technology easy for Grandma to use.

What do you think?

Will the iPad do for Apple what the iPod did….. or is it destined to be a Newton failure?

I believe the iPad will be a success….. with Apple’s having created yet another device further defining what will become a broad niche market for a special type of casual user / use. The iPad will likely find popularity in multiple rooms of a home or abroad. Most important of all they will not cannibalize sales from the iPhone. Rather iPad will compliment iPhone and help further strengthen the brand of Apple

Not to throw a downer into the mix…. but in the inital release the iPad does have a few missing items. These are Camera, USB Port, and Multitasking. The ability to store and edit documents also needs to be included. Once these are in place…. likely in a future upgrade…. the device will be very useful. One nitpick I have is that I don’t like the idea of installing applications via Itunes….. as this restricts choice. So…. yes, there’s still work to do on the iPad. But this is a 1st release….. so expect improvements over time.

Now if VOIP becomes a possibility with iPad then this is excellent news too….. and a real opportunity for the present AND future of Unified Communications.

Kepp in mind that what is left out is usually what makes Apple devices simple and elegant to use. I think it is way to early to tell for this just released version of iPad. I don’t think we will know the true impact until this time next year.

Personally I think iPad will be a hit because this type of product is ready to be exploited. The MessagePad failed because it tried to do too many things before its time…. and did not have the connectivity options that we have now. Also, other PDAs were coming out that were a fraction of the size, which was important. The pricing at the time was a bit steep for what some folks got.

Even so, from a useability point of view…. the intial release of The iPad knocks everthing else aside. Microsoft had every opportunity to develop a similar product but has struggled to deliver. Perhaps its not too late (now that they know what everyone wants).

What we need is competition, not complaints and snide comments from other manufacturers. We have a real opportunity here to really use Unified Communications. I say go for it.

We are all hearing about the new iPad Tablet that was recently released by the Apple Corporation. But most of us don’t have enough extra money in our budget to try out the latest gadgets Apple has to offer. The good news is while others are trying to win one in the many contests out there; you’ll have your very own brand new Apple iPad free to keep simply by being one of the first to test out this new product.

Even if you could afford to buy your own Apple iPad, it will be difficult to get your hands on one once they are released at the Apple store. Remember the long lines you had to wait on when the iPhone came out? Fortunately, if you’re interested in trying one out and actually keeping it after you’ve tried it; keep reading this article.

How Can Companies Afford to Give Away Products for Free?

Don’t be like most people and disregard these kinds of offers. Believe it or not, some of these offers are not scams and are completely legit. How can companies give out gadgets such as the Apple iPads for free, you ask? Well with the help of third party sponsors, companies can afford to give out free gifts. The costs of these gifts are covered by their advertisers.

Giving away free gadgets like the iPad computers is an easy and inexpensive way for companies such as Apple to have their product tested by the very people who will be using them. They are so confident that the new iPad Tablet will pass your inspection that they are willing to let you keep it once you have completed your test trial. They also realize by receiving a free iPad tablet style computer, you’ll become a life long customer as well.

Some Words of Caution

These types of promotions usually only occurs when a new product is released or a company wants to make improvements to an existing product which is not doing well. In this case the Apple iPad is going to revolutionize the way we interact with computers in the future and Apple wants you to test out their new baby now. So act now, as most of these offers will expire very quickly. I’ll warn you upfront though, if you come across similar offers asking for money upfront or details of your bank accounts and passwords stay clear of those offers.

How to Test and Keep the iPad or Kindle For Free
1. Click here and enter your zip code.
2. Complete the surveys given.
3. Complete at least 2 offers.

You must be a US Resident and 18 years or older. This offer is limited, so don’t miss your chance. If the link above doesn’t work, go here to get your iPad (or Kindle) for free:

http://click2go.org/SHGw

Good luck and enjoy your new iPad (or Kindle)!