A look at gadget, game and geek happenings in the week ahead.
Oh dear, oh dear. It seems as if this iPad mania is showing no signs of dying down. The first batch of iPads intended for Europe for 28 May are already sold out and reserved for in-store, while the shipping date for those ordering online has been moved to 7 June.
Meanwhile, it seems as though potential iPad customers in Japan will be getting a bum deal: unlike the footloose and fancy-free tablets in Europe, the US and other countries worldwide, the iPad 3G will be locked into one network so purchasers will not be able to place any SIM into the iPad but will instead be forced to go with carrier Softbank.
In more exciting iPad news, ClamCase.com is introducing the iPad keyboard case that encloses both the wireless keyboard and the iPad into what effectively turns it into a notebook in a shiny black chassis – the ultimate iPad accessory of the year.
And as if we haven’t had enough stories on Facebook’s privacy policies, data retention and user information: It turns out there is a new website called FacebookSearch.com that trawls the social-networking site for the most embarrassing status updates available.
The user is prompted to enter search strings like “cheated test” or “stupid boss” and find all matching status updates. A warning to those who have their profile publicly viewable: this may be a wake-up call for the TMI brigade.
From a dose of reality to fantasy: Fable III is one of the most anticipated fantasy games of the year for the Xbox 360 but it seems as though it may also be coming to the PC. Press shots for the upcoming game have been labelled “only for Xbox 360 and Windows” but soon pulled when the online chatter began.
And finally, one of the most visited websites globally continues to thrive: the five-year-old YouTube now gets more than 2 billion hits on a daily basis. This represents 100pc growth on October 2009 and is almost double the number of people who tune into the three main prime-time TV stations in the US.
By Marie Boran
Photo: The ClamCase all-in-one stand for the iPad and accompanying wireless keyboard
