It’s remarkably simple to use a Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad. First, you just need to ensure that your keyboard supports HID mode, that’s Human Interface Device Profile and is pretty much the closest thing to a universal Bluetooth keyboard interface out there these days.

You simply need to put your keyboard into pairing mode, go to Settings -> General -> Bluetooth on the iPad, and then tap the keyboard’s entry. Then the iPad will pop up a message with a pairing code you need to enter into the keyboard. Once that’s done, you’re all set. Now when you come to a text entry field, instead of the on-screen keyboard popping up on the iPad, you simply enter text on your Bluetooth keyboard.

Dieter mentioned this in the hardware section of our iPad review, but we’ve seen enough reports (and gotten enough email about it!) that we wanted to break it out and see how widespread a problem this may be for our readers:iPhone deals

Speaking of that aluminum casing, it blocks WiFi signals pretty effectively. To get around that, Apple placed the WiFi antenna behind the plastic Apple logo. While all reports indicate it’s a good antenna, I do find that I’m getting slightly worse reception on the iPad than I do on other devices.

I haven’t had a problem either at home on an dual-band Airport Extreme in 802.11n mode or at work on an ancient Linksys in 802.11g, however I’m going try it out in more places on more routers and compare it to both laptops and iPhone/iPod touch to try and get a better idea.best mobile phone

More importantly, however, we want to see what your experience with iPad on Wi-Fi has been. Is the signal strong and steady or sparse and subject to frequent drops? How does the connectivity compare to your iPhone and/or iPod touch?mobiles

Update: Reader Fassy points out that CNN has picked up the story.

MacRumors got a look at the licensing agreement and noticed the following little gem with regards to free (like iPhone) vs. paid (like iPod touch) updates:

Apple will provide you any iPad OS software updates that it may release from time to time, up to and including the next major iPad OS software release following the version of iPad OS software that originally shipped from Apple on your iPad, for free. For example, if your iPad originally shipped with iPad 3.x software, Apple would provide you with any iPad OS software updates it might release up to and including the iPad 4.x software release. Such updates and releases may not necessarily include all of the new software features that Apple releases for newer iPad models.

In other words, if you get the 1st gen iPad with iPhone 3.2 on it this weekend, you’ll get iPhone 4.0 for free sometime later this year (we hope!) but will have to pay for 5.0 sometime in 2011. (The last iPod touch upgrade was $10 — not as nice as free but well worth it given the functionality added).

What do you think, fair or foul?

According to Mission Repair, Apple’s iPad has a space for an iSight webcam/camera inside the device. Based on parts seemingly obtained through unofficial channels, the frame appears to have a very similar area to the MacBook’s existing iSight webcam enclosure.

If true, this is almost the exact same situation that occurred with the iPod touch G3, which was widely rumored to be getting a camera, ended up being introduced without one, and was torn-down after release to show the area where a camera was ready to go.

In that case, it was said Apple wasn’t pleased with the quality of the cameras they’d received, and so pulled them at the last minute. Could they have received a second bum batch for the iPad? Could they have tested out the awkward camera angle enforced by holding an iPad flat on the lap and decided no one needed to see the undersides of their chine? Seriously, people, we’re running out of ideas as to why there aren’t any cameras on these devices. Let us know what you think!

Apple’s new iPad tablet is essentially a larger form-factor iPhone 3GS or iPod touch G3 which leverages both the bigger, 1024×768 screen and an updated iPhone 3.2 OS with enhanced versions of existing apps like Mail and Calendar, new offerings like the iBooks e-book reader and store, low-cost 3G data plans, and a 1GHz Apple A4 processor.

Critics have called the iPad “just a big iPhone” and fail to see how it changes anything. Supporters have called the iPad “a big iPhone” and feel it changes everything. Which is it? Until it ships in March (for the Wi-Fi version) or April (for the 3G version) and TiPb gets to do a full-on review, we can’t say for sure. But we can go through and preview what we’ve seen so far and try to figure out just which direction Apple’s leaning. And we’re going to, after the break!

(more…)