One of the perks of getting the iPad 3G is that, in addition to the 3G, says AT and T and Apple, “you’ll have access to over 20,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, including Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, and more.” In other words, you can connect your 3G iPad, via wifi, to more than 20,000 AT and T wifi hotspots (usually named “attwifi”), at no additional charge. But how do you connect at these 20,000+ AT&T hotspots at no additional charge? How do you connect to a Starbucks AT&T wifi hotspot, for example, with your iPad 3G?

Users eager to test whether Skype would work over the AT and T 3G network on their 3G iPads came up disappointed, and empty-handed. “You need wifi to call over Skype” reads the message displayed to those who try to use Skype with the 3G network on their iPads. “Skype calls over 3G networks are currently not allowed due to contractual restrictions.”

Yes, we now have a 3G iPad, and yes, we will post our reviews of it, and about transferring data from one iPad to another, and about the differences between the iPad original and iPad wifi + 3G. But for now, we wanted to quickly answer the question burning on everyone’s mind: just what is it like to sign up for AT&T’s no contract 3G data plan, and is it really as easy as they claim, and does it work! We’ve included lots of screen shots.

The issue of Flash – or rather lack thereof – on the iPhone and iPods (and now the iPad), has long been a source of frustration and consternation for Apple devotees. More and more discontent has spilled into public discussion, with Apple openly taking what some perceive as potshots at Adobe, the makers of Flash, and Adobe, in turn, responding. Now it has erupted into open discussion (ok, attacks), with none less than Steve Jobs openly publishing on the Apple web site his “Thoughts on Flash”, and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen responding in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

With the iPad 3G + Wifi release date being tomorrow to get the 3G iPad in stores (if you’re having your iPad 3G ship from Apple, and you got in on the early iPad 3G ship date, your 3G iPad should arrive tomorrow too), questions are heating up about two things: the battery life for the iPad 3G (being called by some the AT&T iPad), and how does the AT&T service for the iPad 3G really work. Here, straight from the horse’s mouth, is how the AT&T service will work with the 3G iPad.

iPhones will join any old hotspot so long as it claims to be an attwifi hotspot, says a researcher who discovered the security hole this week. This security hole can lead unsuspecting iPhone users to give up all sorts of personal information to anyone who knows how to change the name of their wireless access point.

From our “We told you so” department, San Mateo County sheriffs have executed a warrant, seizing computers and other items from Gizmodo editor Jason Chen’s residence, following the appearance of a lost secret iPhone 4G prototype both in Gizmodo’s possession, and on their blog, where they fully disclosed Apple’s proprietary prototype. Jason Chen was not arrested, although he was patted down.

By now everyone knows the story: Last week a person who was supposedly Apple engineer Gray Powell supposedly lost what was supposedly an iPhone 4G prototype, in a bar in Redwood City, California (a mere stone’s throw from Apple’s Cupertino headquarters). Then a third-party supposedly found the alleged iPhone 4G test model, and then somehow it got to Gizmodo, where they tested it, disassembled it, pronounced it the real deal, and blogged about it, complete with pictures. Now Apple has sent a demand letter, demanding the unit back. This proves that the story, and the phone, are real. Or does it?

As more and more people are adopting the Apple iPad tablet, it’s inevitable that people will be making comparisons: Kindle vs iPad – iPad vs Kindle – which one is better? We feel that there is a clear winner in the iPad versus Kindle contest, and here’s why (and you can see for yourself with these Kindle versus iPad screen shots.)

The one thing that people have really been missing on the iPad (well, besides a camera) has been handwriting recognition for the iPad. Well, the good people at PhatWare, who really know handwriting recognition (they are the authors of, among others, the awesome Calligrapher software) have just released their handwriting recognition app for the iPad.

Bloggers considering the Apple iPad tablet will be thrilled by the Wordpress for iPad app. The Wordpress app for the iPad makes posting to your Wordpress site (or your Wordpress blog on the Wordpress.com site) a snap

Many Apple iPad reviews gloss over or entirely neglect the iPad microphone, but this is a mistake for what is iPad if not a first real entry into the fully-convergent device arena? In fact, as this iPad review will show you the iPad is one screaming dictation machine

Many people have told us that they are eagerly awaiting our Apple iPad reviews. This is the first Apple iPad review… We wanted to show you that it is not only possible to work on the iPad, but it is even possible to write an article, and post to a website in Wordpress, all using the native iPad applications. This will be the first of several hands-on iPad reviews we will write to answer the question what is iPad.

If you are just setting up a brand new iPad, you may find that when you first try to sync it with iTunes, you get this stranger error message: “You backtracked too far. The application backtracking limit of 5 has been exceeded.” It may also have what looks like a link to “MZFinance”.

The newest phishing scam is a fake order confirmation from Apple, exhorting you “To view the most up-to-date status and make changes to your Apple Online Store order, visit online your Order Status.” The “visit online your order status” link actually goes to https://www.theinternetpatrol.com/brick-wall/. And while it says that it’s from up-to-date @store.apple.com, it’s not really (our version came from dj @accountingsevices.co.nz)