According to an Apple Authorised Reseller who will be getting the iPad [In New Zealand], have said the iPad WiFi Will Cost:

16GB: $799

32GB: $999

64GB: $1300

[Prices in NZD]

Please Note: This is NOT an official price but one of a Apple Reseller. So we cannot Guarantee the prices. Please take it as a guide only

The 3G Version is Expected to cost a Extra $150 on the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB Models with a later release date. And no word yet on the Carrier for the iPad [In New Zealand].

While reaction is mixed about the iPad - mainly on why do we actually need it and the name of the product - t has a lot of features. However, one of them is not Flash - and that has made Adobe a bit pissed off since they continuously advocating for Flash on iPhone, and it looks like it would be the same for the iPad. The lack of Adobe Flash would not allow users to access sites like Hulu or the BBC iPlayer as they depend on Flash as their video player and not QuickTime.

"Without Flash support, iPad users will not be able to access the full range of web content, including over 70% of games and 75% of video on the web," the Flash Platform Team wrote in a blog post.

The team, however, has praised that they are going to be using PDF and ePub formats for its iBooks feature, but criticised them for adding their own DRM on the ePub file format, making any other devices outside of the Apple Ecosystem unable to open the book.

Adobe has been one of the most vocal companies that have criticising Apple's closed app ecosystem where everything is tightly controlled by the Cupertino-based company as all applications must be approved by them before being sold on their App Store.

BREAKING STORY: Apple has announced the iPad, its much-rumoured Apple tablet device. It will feature a 1GHz processor dubbed the "A4", and it is an in-house processor. The screen is not a 10-inch, but it is close to it - a LED-backlit 9.7-inch IPS display; and is only 0.5-inch in thickness and weighs only 1.5 pounds.

The device will also feature Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 and an accelerometer so you can turn it around in landscape mode like on the iPhone. Apple claims that it has a battery life of 10 hours.

Like predicted, it will use the iPhone OS; but it will have some modifications, including the dock being similar to Snow Leopard and a background image. Applications can use the big screen as the iPad SDK has been released alongside the iPhone SDK, and iPhone apps can be used on the iPad, either in full screen or in the same screen size as the iPhone, but you would see black borders around it.

The iPad has come out with redesigned applications as well because of the big screen, with the iTunes stores and music app looking like their desktop counterpart. Photos will include Faces and Events that is on iPhoto, while YouTube HD will now be added on their dedicated application.

Also announced was that the iPad would become an eBook reader, rivalling the Amazon Kindle. Called "iBooks", the bookstore will feature five partners at launch - including Penguin and HarperCollins. Apple has also made iPad versions of their iWorks suite, with full document creation and editing tools. They will cost $9.99 for each part of the iWork suite - meaning that you would have to pay about $20 for both Keynote and Numbers.

The iPad will include 3G, after Apple came to a new deal with AT&T. Models with 3G will have a higher pricing, plus will have to pay either $14.99 for 250MB and $29.99 for an unlimited plan. All are unlocked. International 3G plans will be announced shortly in June/July.

The new device will cost $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB and $699 for the 64GB. The 3G models will start at $629 for 16GB, while 32GB will be priced at $729 and 64GB to be priced at $829. The device will come out in 60 days - or two months approx - for the non-3G iPads, while the 3G models will ship out in 90 days.

Apple has beaten Wall Street expectations after posting its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2009. The Cupertino-based company posted a overall profit of $3.38 billion, or $3.74 per share - an increase of 50 percent from the same time last year. As well, its overall revenue was up - $15.68 billion from $11.88 billion from last year.

In its product lineup, Mac and iPhone sales increased, while sales of the iPod fell. Apple sold 3.36 million Macs, a 33 percent increase from last year's quarter; while the iPhone saw a 100 percent increase from the same time last year, selling 8.7 million units. It sold 21 million iPods, a decline of eight percent.

"If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it's surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company," CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. But Jobs has hinted on a "major new product that we're really excited about" that is to be launched this week on January 27/28 (Melbourne). He has also hinted that there could be more product releases in the year.

Looking ahead of the first quarter of this year, Apple's Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said that they expect Apple could have $11-$11.4 billion in revenue and an earnings per share in the range of $2.06 and $2.18.

RUMOUR MILL: iPhone users in America might not need to subscribe to the AT&T network as Apple is planning to release the iPhone to all US mobile carriers within the next 18 months ahead of its announcement where the much-rumoured Apple Tablet is expected to be revealed. This would end the exclusive deal with AT&T and could double or triple the number of devices sold, according to an analyst at firm Oppenheimer & Co talking to Bloomberg.

The analyst has also noted that this would put pressure on mobile carriers profit margins as the subsidy costs are higher, and increase the spending on their networks - as much as US$3 billion - to support the increase data usage through their networks.

A proposed timeline could see T-Mobile, owned by Germany-based Deutsche Telekom, having the phone first by the summer; while Verizon and Sprint Nextel could get it in the fall. Clearwire could get the phone in 2011.

EXCLUSIVE/RUMOUR MILL: According to a Telecom NZ sales representative, the iPhone is coming to Telecom. It is unclear if it is the 3G iPhone or a next-generation iPhone. While the XT Network has been out since the launch of the 3GS, it is unclear why it has taken almost a year to come.

However it may have something to do with Telecom NZ offering a "iPhone Plan" consisting of a $600 account credit while not being an offical carrier. The source was not willing to say anything else other than the iPhone is coming to Telecom NZ.

RUMOUR MILL: The hotly rumoured Apple Tablet device is said to make its way to Verizon when the device is set to be release by Apple in the Spring or Summer, according to The Street. This comes after news of the tablet will feature a Qualcomm-produced wireless chip that would work on the CDMA network.

The device will also not be running Qualcomm's SnapDragon processor, despite it being used in a crop of new mobile devices, including the Nexus One. Previously rumoured, the device will run on a processor made by Apple's P.A. Semi.

This will see Apple moving away from AT&T, as both companies have had an exclusive deal to sell the iPhone device since its inception. This could be because of Verizon's 3G network being in more locations than AT&T or any other telco in America.

Apple is currently in talks with rival Microsoft to replace Google with Bing as its default search engine on the iPhone, according to two sources talking to BusinessWeek. The deal could also see a small dent to Google's profits from mobile search, as it currently makes money from showing advertising. However, in order for Microsoft to take over from Google, as BusinessWeek notes, it would have to give Apple more money than what Google pays.

"Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy," one of the people sourced said. "Microsoft is now a pawn in the battle."

The increasing rivalry between Google and Apple could be the main factor why Apple is looking at ditching Google, especially when both parties now compete in mobile advertising and mobile phones. As well, Apple had rejected two Google applications - Voice and Latitude - from the App Store.