It’s March and all that cool stuff you saw at CES and Macworld Expo is finally beginning to hit the shelves. Specifically, a new product from Case-Mate, which was previewed back in January, is now shipping. For those who don’t remember, Hug is a wireless induction charger that allows you to attach a case to your iPhone 3G or 3GS, then place the handset on a charging platter. You can grab it now from Case-Mate’s website for $99.99. Watch the video below.

As they did with the first iPhone ad, Apple yesterday aired the first iPad ad during the Academy Awards. No new information was revealed about the device, although the ad shows off many of the included applications and serves as a public announcement of the April 3rd launch date. The ad can be viewed on Apple’s site or below via YouTube.

It’s official: Apple finally announced that the Wi-Fi models of its long-awaited iPad will go on sale in the U.S. on Saturday, April 3rd. 3G-capable models of the device will be available in the U.S. and other countries in late April and Apple will begin taking preorders for the both models on March 12th.
In addition to the U.S. launch, all models of iPad will be available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April. Users can preorder an iPad via Apple’s online store or reserve a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.
Apple also noted that its free iBooks application offering access to the iBookstore will be available in the U.S. App Store on April 3rd, with other countries to follow “later this year.”
The company had initially announced global availability of the iPad Wi-Fi models for late March with 3G-capable units becoming available 30 days later, or in April. A series of recent reports cited manufacturing problems with supplier Foxconn that may have contributed to a delay.

On Thursday, New Potato Technologies introduced the FLPR, a dongle that allows the iPhone and iPod touch to function as a universal remote control capable of controlling devices such as televisions, cable and satellite boxes, stereo systems, lights, ceiling fans and almost anything that requires an infrared remote control.
The device, which connects to the dock connector, functions with the free FLPR app from the App Store. Once the app is launched, users can choose the device “type,” select “brand,” “name it” and “use it.” It’s that easy. FLPR comes pre?programmed with over 14,000 remote control codes, including all major electronics brands.
The FLPR app itself contains an extensive database of over 14,000 pre?programmed remote control codes which are compatible with hundreds of brands of devices out of box with no programming necessary. The device also works as a learning remote and if the remote control code for that old television in the guest bedroom is not in the extensive FLPR database, you can easily teach FLPR the code for that old relic, creating a brand new remote.
FLPR has a range of about 30 feet, is available starting today from the New Potato Technologies web site and will appear in-store nationwide at Best Buy starting March 28th, 2010 for $79.99.
The FLPR app requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later to install and run.

From official Oscars preparation to six-degress of separation, production information to ratings aggregation, the iTunes App Store has something for pretty much everyone. Here’s a sampling of iPhone and iPod touch apps to keep you company during the 2010 Academy Awards.

The Oscars [Free] is the official app from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Feature-packed including the ability to share pics over Twitter & Facebook and view trailers for all nominated films.

IMDB [Free] is the world’s largest collection of movie, TV and celebrity information. A must have.

Awards: The Oscar [$1.99] is an amazing resource for any fan of the Oscars, has every Academy Award nomination since 1927, tons of helpful information and the ability to guess the 2010 winners.

Vanity Fair Hollywood [Free] is the app that should power all your voting pools. Facebook chat function, gift bags, news and unique Vanity Fair content leading up to the Oscars.

Actor Genie [$9.99] is an essential app for those who haven’t quite made it to the level where they have their own assistant. Casting info, a who’s who of Hollywood players, helpful tips and top 10 lists.

Six Degrees of Separation [$1.99] is the pop culture phenomenon brought to life on iPhone and iPod touch. Relies on the notion that any actor can be related to any other actor via his or her film roles.

Rotten Tomatoes [Free] is a great resource for all the info on films and the unique Rotten Tomatoes editorial for your favorite Oscar nominated movies.

The Red Carpet [$2.99] is offering a $1 million prize for winner(s) who pick correctly in all categories! Includes latest Oscar buzz, movie previews Facebook, Netflix and Twitter integration.

E! Online [free ] helps you get your fashion fix with “Live From the Red Carpet” and keep up with all the gossip around Hollywood’s big night.

9to5mac.com has just posted a interesting little iPad tidbit — it seems as if Apple’s latest creation has the ability to make emergency calls.
The image above is a screen shot taken from within the iPad SDK emulator. To get to the emergency call screen the developer simply enabled the passcode lock and entered in the wrong password five times.
So why would Apple include this within the iPad? Is it a FCC thing because the iPad is a wireless device on a cellular network? Perhaps it’s something left over from the iPhone and will be removed before launch? Our take is that if the iPad can make emergency calls, it can make regular calls and maybe not out of the box but with a little hackery.
Do you think it’s possible we will see some sort of call feature when the iPad drops at the end of this month?
via-9to5mac.com

Although Apple officially announced that the iPad would go on sale at the end of March, the actual release date may be a few days sooner. According to a blog post from The Examiner, an Apple Store employee commented that Apple is planning on launching the iPad on Friday, March 26th at 6 P.M. in a similar fashion as the original iPhone launch. The author also claimed that Apple employees will be receiving the iPad for training on March 10th, commercials will begin airing on March 15th and those who camp out for the iPad will receive a “special gift.”
The much-anticipated 3G enabled version of the iPad will follow the Wi-Fi iPad launch by about 30 days, according to Apple.
In response to reports that initial volumes of Apple’s iPad in late March will be lower than originally planned and the launch will be only in the U.S. market as a result of this delay. Per DigiTimes, Foxconn’s component suppliers have said their supplies are on schedule and Foxconn should be able to ship 600,000-700,000 iPads in March and one million units in April.

If you are the owner of a hackivated iPhone today seems to be your lucky day as Push Doctor for push notifications has arrived via Cydia. Push Doctor supplies you with true activation certificates so unlike other workarounds, certificates are always unique.
Push Doctor is completely free and can be found on the NERV repository (http://www.cmdshft.ipwn.me/apt/) which you must add in Cydia. Keep in mind you will not see any application on your Springboard as all it will do is add certificates to your device. If you do give this a try remember to be patient as the server has been getting hammered all morning and push notifications may not work right away. So if you get any sort of error on install, simply try again at a later time.
via-cmdshift

AT&T is going to extra lengths to make sure their network runs smoothly for iPhone-toting attendees to this year’s South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas. The company has been working with SXSW organizers to make sure they’re ready for the legions of iPhone-clad show-goers.
One of the things they’re doing differently is deploying a Distributed Antenna System, which packs the punch of 50 antenna nodes. They also beefed up cell sites, and rolled in three mobile temporary ones. Last but not least, they have upped their backhaul significantly. “Compared with last year, we have added fiber-optic connections to more than quadruple the backhaul capacity of each of the eight cell sites that serve the event area, and temporary sites will also be served by extensive backhaul.”

We’ve got Wired.com’s Geek Dad blog to thank for drawing our attention to this useful gadget called the RedEye ($188), which turns your iPhone/iPod touch into a universal remote that you can use to control your TV, stereo, cable and DVD player, among other things (basically anything that can receive an infrared control signal). Each person in a household can use their own iPhone/iPod touch as a controller, and more than one can be used at once. One touch will launch any activity, and the RedEye can also control different rooms from any location in your home.
To use the device, you first have to download a free app from the Apple iTunes Store, and then use the app to register your chosen devices with the RedEye. Your iPhone/iPod touch can then start to communicate with the RedEye bridge, which in turn converts the input from your iPhone to an infrared signal, which will then interact with your audio/video device, according to Geek Dad. It all seems fairly easy to use, although Geek Dad refers to some mildly frustrating elements of the set up process in his blog, but there’s a video to follow on the ThinkFlood website if you’re not too sure what to do. And as the blog concludes, what you end up with is a high-end universal remote for a fraction of the normal price you’d expect to pay for such a thing, so it’s probably worth enduring a little frustration during the initial set-up.

Digital Daily is reporting that, according to Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, Apple might be facing manufacturing problems that will lead to constrained supplies of the iPad, or even a delay in its launch:
“We have … heard that the upcoming iPad launch may be somewhat limited as a manufacturing bottleneck has impacted production of Apple’s newest device. An unspecified production problem at the iPad’s manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, will likely limit the launch region to the US and the number of units available to roughly 300K in the month of March, far lower than the company’s initial estimate of 1,000K units. The delay in production ramp will likely impact Apple’s April unit estimate of 800K as well. It is also possible that, given the limited number of units available in March, the launch will be delayed for a month.”
Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook runs Apple’s supply chain with more precision than an aluminum unibody chassis, however, so would a problem this large really be allowed to happen? DIgital Daily claims it’s a “big if” as to whether or not Misek is correct. Best case he isn’t. Worst case, despite Apple’s still current claim of the iPad shipping in late March, we may only see it in April.

1Up.com is reporting today that Blizzard has announced an Auction House app for World of Warcraft. A Blizzard employee called Bornakk made the announcement on the official WoW forums, stating:

“While there are still plenty of details to be worked out, we’re designing the service to offer auction functionality similar to what’s available in-game. Players have been requesting – and we’ve been hoping to implement – a feature like this for a long time, and we’re excited that the Armory and the game have evolved to a point that makes it possible.”

Bornakk then goes on to say that some parts of the app will be premium-based.
Until now, WoW players who are addicted to buying and selling items in the auction house could only do so when they were playing the game. Now with this sort of on-the-go access on the horizon, their families may never see them again!

AT&T has just announced that they’re now expanding the areas in which you can get one of those cool, little 3G MicroCell boxes. You know, the ones that create your own little AT&T cell tower using your home Internet connection?
In addition to North Carolina (AT&T’s initial test area), the MicroCells are now available in parts of Georgia, South Carolina, San Diego, and Las Vegas. If you’d like to check for MicroCell availability in your area, head to att.com/3GMicroCell and enter your ZIP code.
via-Engadget

Accortding to an unnamed source from within O2, AT&T’s problems aren’t all their fault. Apparently the iPhone’s hardware really is to blame, at least in part. The source says that the iPhone was the first device to use a radio (the hardware bit that talks to the cell tower) that drops the connection as soon as it’s finished doing what it’s doing, which saves battery life but is much harder on cell tower sites.
It’s not horrible, according to the source, but a network that isn’t configured to handle that kind of thing will take a serious beating. That explains much of AT&T’s problems early-on. It also confirms something we heard a while back defending AT&T’s lackluster network performance and blaming the iPhone. Apparently they may have been right.
What’s worse is that now other smart phones are starting to adopt that chip to save their battery life too, compounding the problem.
via-Ars Technica

According to the Folks at Engadget, it looks as if Apple is going to ditch the cheap plastic back cover that is on the iPhone 3G/3Gs and replace it with an awesome looking titanium cover. From the picture, this looks awesome, and talk about a lot more durable if the iphone would happen to take a plunge to the ground. From the looks of this case, im not sure I would want to put a case on it. I would want to expose the beauty of this redesigned phone.