The much anticipated iPad pre-orders start today. If you want to get your iPad on the day of launch: April 3rd for the  Wi-Fi model and late April for the Wi-Fi + 3G model, you have to act now.

Apple Store iPad Pre-Order Link

Panasonic has recently partnered with Best Buy to promote their 3-D televisions, discounting their models up to 50% in an effort to encourage consumers’ adoption of the technology. A 50-inch TV will be sold for about $2,499.95; in Japan, the same model will be sold for about $4,800.They also hope to call back consumer demand for plasma display with these models. These displays will start on Wednesday. Panasonic hopes to sell at least one million of these in the fiscal year ending March 31, half of them being sold in the United States’ market. This announcement first appeared in Japan’s Nikkei newspaper on Sunday.

Here is a quote from Panasonic’s press release:

Beginning today, Panasonic’s Full HD 3D Home Theater System will be exclusively available at select Best Buy Stores via Magnolia Home Theater. The total combined SRP of the Panasonic Full HD 3D Plasma Home Theater System components is $2899.99.  The system consists of a 50-inch class (49.9” measured diagonally) Panasonic VIERA VT20 Plasma 3D HDTV (TC-P50VT20 – SRP $2,499.95) which includes one pair of Panasonic 3D Active Shutter Lens Eyewear (TY-EW3D10U), and the Panasonic BDT300 3D Blu-ray Disc Player (DMP-BDT300 – SRP 399.95).   Additional pairs of 3D eyewear will be available with an SRP of $149.95. The individual components of the system will also be sold separately.

Global shipments of TVs that are able to view 3-D video are predicted to grow from 200,000 units last year to 1.2 million. This year, the world’s largest television brands: Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc., and Sony Corp. will be targeting the 3-D television market with products of their own.

[via Wall Street Journal] ,Panasonic]

Apple has just announced the iPad’s release date: April 3rd. You can pre-order it on the Apple Online Store starting March 12 or reserve it for pickup at your local Apple Retail Store. The starting price is set at $499 (16GB Wi-Fi) or $629 (16GB Wi-Fi + 3G). The Wi-Fi + 3G model is not available until late April. From the tech spec posted on Apple’s website, no camera is included in this generation of iPad, despite the fact that the iPad SDK supports a front facing camera.

[via Apple]

In late January, Apple introduced the iPad while making no mention of a camera on either the front or back of the device. Because of this, photos and video chat cannot be used on the iPad, even though there are several indications showing that a camera had been thought of for use. For instance, the outside has an empty space for the camera.

Apple may have built in API support to test if your iPad had a Front Facing Camera and Zoom and Camera Flash features. Since the iPhone’s camera is located on the back of the device, video chat is impossible on it; Zoom and Camera Flash are options that have been requested for the iPhone’s camera. Let’s hope that Apple will add these features to future generations of the iPhone.
[via MacRumors]

Back in December of last year, I reported a web site that offers one free iPhone/iPod Touch game daily for a month. I got some good games during the promotion. A new site goes live this month, which also offers one free app(mostly games) every day. The promotion ends on April 1st, so you get almost 3 months of free games!

http://freeappaday.com

During the previous promotion, I forgot to check the site sometimes and missed out some great games. They introduce an email notification service this time. You can even decide what categories of games you want notifications. For me, I’ll just subscribe to ALL categories.

In addition to the daily free games, you can find some more free games on the front page of site. They are in a box on the right side of the page titled Featured Free Apps.

Situation: You have backed up your DVDs to some storage device and you want to play back these materials on your TV with the original DVD navigation menu. There are a lot of set-top media players that let you play back the VIDEO_TS folder on an external hard drive. However, only a handful of them retain the DVD menu. If you searched online, the information is limited. You often do not know if a certain player supports this function from the literature. Here are some of the players I found that support it. The links provided are the product pages on NewEgg.  If you know other players, please let us know in the comments section.

Seagate:

• Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player Only
• Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD Media Player Only

Viewsonic:

• ViewSonic VMP70 1080p Digital Media Player

Argosy:

• Argosy HV676 TV HD MediaPlayer
• Argosy HV358T Digital Set-Top Box
• Argosy 500GB 2.5″ Pocket TV Media Player
• Argosy 1.5TB 3.5″ HDD Media Player

I have been trying to buy an iTunes gift certificate for a few days. Every time I tried it, I got this message saying:

Your credit card was declined.

Please click Billing Info and update your payment information. If you cancel you may not be able to buy until this billing issue has been resolved

After I clicked on Billing Info and entered my credit card info again. Same message. I even tried on different computers, but the same message came up. When I researched this problem, I found that a lot of people have the same problem. There is a speculation that Apple has disabled the iTunes Gift certificate function without notifying the general public. This speculation is simply not true.

I came across this thread and one user claimed that he or she was able to purchase the gift certificate after contacting Apple’s iTunes support through email. With this information in mind, I contacted Apple’s support yesterday and I just got an email reply from them.

Happy Holidays,

Hello, my name is *** and I would be more than happy to help you today. I am sorry that you have experienced difficulties while attempting to purchase a gift certificate. You should be able to complete your purchase with in 24 hrs.

If you are still unable to purchase a gift certificate let me know.

Have a wonderful day!

I got on iTunes and tried to buy again. Finally, I was able to buy my iTunes gift certificate successfully.  it’s a hassle to contact Apple support, but it can be done. If you do not know how to contact Apple iTunes support. Here is how:

1. Visit  iTunes support.

   http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/

2. Click on iTunes Cards and Codes -> iTunes Gift Options.
3. Click on the Email Us button to submit your request.
   

It takes about one business day for you to get the reply back from Apple. Let us know if this works for you.

BlackSmith Games is offering one free iPhone/iPod game every day before Christmas 2009. To get the games, visit the following site:

http://appventcalendar.com/

Each game is free only for one day. You can install the game using the provided AppStore link through iTunes, or simply use your iPhone’s AppStore application to search for the game.

License: Freeware

Link: Original site

One user has requested this application. It a tactical glide computer for the Pocket PC operating system. The original program is available as a cab file which can be installed on a regular PDA running PocketPC operating system. The installation on PNA like Navigon 2100 GPS is not straight forward. I just made this program to run on my Navigon 2100. The version I use is XCSoarPPC2003.ARMV4.5.2.4.cab . When I ran it on my Navigon 2100, it recognized the GPS port automatically and retrieved the coordinates. I am not sure how to use and configure the program. I only know its configuration directory is on /My Documents/XCSoarData/ . This directory is erased every time you hard reboot the GPS, so it has to be changed. If you know how to change it. Please tell us in the comments section.

To use it, just download the file and unzip it to your SD card. I have included all the necessary files for it. You should be able to run it using FileManagerCE on the desktop or use MyApps to add a shortcut, if you use my unlock package. The recommended location for the directory is Script/programs/XCSoar on the SD card.

I am making this download free to everyone, but please do not re-distribute the files. Just tell your friends to visit this post for download location. Here is the link to the download.

Ever wanted a barcode scanner of your own to scan products? Now you can with the app RedLaser. Originally available only for jailbroken iPhones, and it’s free. You can get it through the App store now, but you have to pay $1.99 for it.

This is a demo video from the official RedLaser web site. I tested on my iPhone 3G and I am quite happy with the results.

When you first run the application, you see this screen.

Tap on the bolt icon on the bottom to enter the scan mode.

Now you have to align the barcode edge with arrows. When RedLaser detects a valid barcode, the arrows turn green. You have to hold your iPhone still for a few seconds.

When the scanning is done, it searches the product through Amazon and Google. One nice feature is that you can email the scanned products list which makes it more useful.

There are a lot of negative reviews about the application. Most negative reviews are about not getting the scanning right. I only had a few bad scanning in my tests. If you have troubles doing this, I suggest you do it in a well-lit environment and make sure the barcode is on a flat surface and there is no glare when you see it through the view finder.