Tuaw, reported this morning, that several “soon-to-be” iPad 3G owners have received emails from Apple stating their iPad 3Gs have been shipped. According to the report, the emails show an estimated delivery time of 4:30PM on April 29, which is much earlier than the official April 30th release date!

Some of our readers have also emailed us. It looks like not everyone has received yet the “shipment” email. Those of us who pre-ordered the iPad 3G have been eagerly awaiting for any hints that our toy will arrive by the promised April 30th deadline. At least for now, my order status on the Apple Store still shows “Prepared for Shipment.” I’m still waiting on a Fed-Ex tracking number, however it is a step in the right direction.

Can Apple deliver on the April 30th deadline? This morning, I contacted the Apple Store, and I was told by the representative that an April 30th delivery date is guaranteed.

Has anyone received any updates from Apple? Any interesting emails?  Please share it with us!

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at&t finally unveiled the details around its 3G data plans for the iPad. Beyond the basic options that were presented during the iPad announcement ($14.99/mo for 250MB of data transfers or 29.99/mo for unlimited data transfers, both with unlimited access to at&t’s WiFi hotspots), at&t gives more details on how the cheaper plan will actually work.

For the 250MB plan, the iPad will monitor the amount of data carried over at&t’s network, and will remind you at regular intervals about how close you are from reaching the 250MB limit. The reminders are currently set at 20% of your limit, 10% of your limit, as well as 0% (limit reached). Note that the iPad will give you the option to buy an additional 250MB for data transfers, if you happen to reach your limit too quickly. You will also be offered to switch to the unlimited data plan.

Note that in any case, the plans will be without any contract, which is good news. Based on the amount of data our iPads moved over the last weeks, and if you happen to be on the go more often than not, we strongly believe that reaching the 250MB cap can be done in a matter of days, so think wisely before you pick your plan: if you pick the 250MB plan and happen to reach your limit too quickly, buying an additional 250MB will take your monthly cost to the same level as the unlimited plan.

Category: News

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Numerous reports have been released today about a noticeable change on Facebook’s website when viewed from the built-in Safari web browser on the iPad. Many folks are saying that some videos now play when visiting the site from Mobile Safari on the iPad, whereas previously the users were prompted to install Adobe Flash.

In case you did not know, Apple is not a big fan of Flash and is pushing for HTML5 instead, while Adobe recently dropped its efforts at porting its platform to Apple’s mobile devices, including the iPad. Although still in development, HTML5 offers a feature that allows videos to play in a web browser without the need for a plug-in.

ReadWriteWeb has reported that Facebook has been transcoding uploaded videos to MP4 and has yet to implement a full HTML5 inline solution for playing videos. According to reports, it seems that changes are in the initial stages of being rolled out and have not been applied to all videos quite yet.

Some media outlets are depending heavily on their iPad apps instead of converting entire websites to HTML5. MLB.com, for example, will direct iPad users to an app for video watching.

But, has Facebook actually implemented HTML5 on its site? Many websites have started to make some changes. At least for now, it appears that Facebook could be starting to make changes to get on that list, too.

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