All set & eager to get the Apple iPad ? Well, you’ll finally be able to get your hands on this latest cool device in the U.S. beginning 3rd Apr next month.   

Apple announced yesterday that the Wi-Fi version of the iPad will launch in the U.S on that date, followed by the Wi-Fi + 3G version later in the month. Both versions will subsequently hit Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K. in late April.

However, consumers who simply can’t wait till then can start preordering both the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models starting from 12th Mar from any Apple online store. They can aso reserve a Wi-Fi version to pick up from any Apple retail store on 3rd Apr itself.

“iPad is something completely new,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Friday in a statement. “We’re excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before.”

The iPad’s Wi-Fi only version will sell in the U.S. for $499 for 16GB of memory, $599 for 32GB, and $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G edition will sell for $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, and $829 for 64GB.

Prices for the other countries will be announced in April itself.  The iPad will be made available through Apple’s online store, Apple’s retail outlets, and also specific Apple authorized resellers.

So will the Apple iPad be a phenomenal hit just like its previous “cousin” the  iPhone ? What do you think ?

Given Japan’s rapidly aging population, the fact that the release of the Nintendo DSi LL (to be know as the XL in other parts of the world) was graced with a commercial that depicted an elderly woman playing the DSi with her family makes perfect sense. With the handheld about to make its way into Europe, Nintendo is backtracking is to be sure that people understand that the DSi XL is not only for the well-aged.

Sporting a larger 4.2 inch screen, a jumbo touch stylus and a refined color scheme, the DSi XL is, for all purposes, aimed at grandma and grandpa, but Nintendo wants to make sure that everyone feels free to get in on the action. Complaints such as a lack of privacy in public places due to the large screen and the heaviness of the handheld – at 314 grams it is the heaviest handheld of its generation – are hounding the DSi XL ahead of its release in Europe this March but Nintendo has been quick to point out that Japanese gamers of all ages have been quickly buying up the DSi LL.

It’s absolutely not (just for old people). DSi XL appeals to as many people, if not more, than its predecessors. With bigger screens and a larger pen-like stylus it’s likely that older users may find the DSi XL easier and more comfortable to use but there are many more people it can and will appeal to.

Nintendo senior product manager for DS James Honeywell

Amazon has announced the immediate availability of the popular Kindle eBook reader in Canada, allowing the many Canadians angry with Amazon’s early America-only policy where the Kindle was concerned to start working the cost into their Christmas budget.

Costs have yet to be officially converted into Canadian currency but the Kindle will sell for $259 USD plus about $30 USD per unit in import fees. The real news is the ability for Canadian-based customers to wirelessly download books, newspapers and magazines through Amazon’s service over any 3G wireless network.

We know that Canadians are passionate about books and reading, and we’re excited to make Kindle available to our customers there. Kindle enables customers around the world, including Canada, to think of a book and start reading it in under 60 seconds.

Ian Freed, vice-president of Kindle

The average cost of the Kindle Store’s 300,000+ titles is about $12 and there will be Canadian content available immediately with Canwest jumping on-board with its Globe and Mail, National Post and several local daily newspapers.

Portable gaming is still on the rage as PSP owners run homebrew to support as many of their old favorites as possible and some gamers have taken the trend to a whole other level. Just as PSP fanboys have benefited from the excellent developers who are so generous with their time and work, some hardware junkies out there can do some very cool things with the right parts. With that in mind, feast your eyes on the NCube, one man’s version of a portable GameCube.

Taking over 90 hours to build, the NCube sports a modded Datamax Kid’s Delight case with a Zenith PSOne display. The memory card slot has been mounted to the top of the device and the GameCube disc drive is mounted to the back for easy (and dangerous-looking) game loading. There is a switch offering either AC or battery power, allowing the only person in the world who owns one of these things all the game-time he needs.

In a technological world that offers you hundreds of ways to connect in a single smartphone, the days of one-trick-pony devices has come and gone. That fact hasn’t stopped Peek, makers of the popular Pronto messaging handheld, from releasing the TwitterPeek, a handheld device that provides Twitter service on the go with no connectivity fees – at a price.

Nationwide (for Americans) coverage for a one-time fee is nothing to sneeze at in any regard and the idea is novel at a time when Twitter-mania is sweeping the world. The QWERTY keyboard allows for easy typing and allows for the use of shortcuts and hotkeys using the intuitive interface. Chronic Tweeters will probably love the idea but the last time I checked I was still able to access and use Twitter easily on my smartphone so why spend the extra cash on a device that does nothing but? Not everyone has a smartphone but even feature phones offer decent web access these days.

This oversized device sells for $199.99 for lifetime usage along with the option to purchase for $99.99, receiving six months of free service before paying $7.95 per month after that; contracts are not offered so there is never an obligation to continue service.

I’m going to label this one an epic fail but we’ll see if sales numbers prove me wrong!