If you’re been waiting for an excuse to use that extra $499.00 you’ve got burning a hole in your wallet, Apple may have just given you one. Today, the company announced, via their website, that it will begin shipping its brand new tablet device, the iPad, on April 3rd and will begin taking pre-orders on March 12th.

This is great news for those of you who want to take your eBook reading to the next level and also for people who never jumped on the Kindle bandwagon. It’s also great news for those of you looking for a super-sized iPhone that will run all those cool apps without having to agree to a lengthy contract with AT&T. Although, if you do want to have such a contract (and 3G wireless), the iPad with 3G will be available later in April, complete with said AT&T contract.

Even though I’ve pointed out a few things I feel the iPad is missing (although some, like the camera, may actually be there after all) I still feel there’s some merit to the device. I would be even more excited if I didn’t already have a Kindle, which I feel, as a “single use” device, is actually better for reading books than the iPad will be.

Still, the iPad definitely has a lot of possibilities and I look forward to exploring those come April 3rd. Expect a full review of the iPad once I get my hands on one. Until then, if this device is truly for you, better start saving those pennies because April 3rd isn’t that far away.

There’s no denying Twitter’s popularity. It’s everywhere and many people use it all day, every day. So, if you need to Tweet while on the go, you need an smartphone with a Twitter app on it. The iPhone has several, with Tweetie and Twitterific probably being the most popular.

That’s great, but what if you’re using a cool Android powered smartphone like Verizon’s DROID? Fortunately, there’s a app for you too in the form of Seesmic. And now, the folks who make Seesmic have updated their app with some cool new features.

Among the new features are multiple account support with cross-posting, extra large font size, auto-correction of typing, automatic profile updates, on device twitter password management and optional timeline position memory so you jump back to the last tweets that you were reading.

The latest version of Seesmic is available now for free from the Android Market. If you check it out, be sure to come back and let us know how it compares to other Android Twitter apps like Twidroid and Tweetcaster.

If you’re a fan of Eric Powell’s awesome comic book series The Goon but often find yourself having trouble getting to the comic store to pick up the recent issues, then you’re in luck because this post is for you. According to Dark Horse Comics, publishers of The Goon, several issues of the comic including the graphic novel Chinatown, the Mystery of Mr. Wicker and The Goon #7 are going digital and will be available on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Intrigued? Thought so. Check out all the sccop from the official Dark Horse press release.

THE GOON ARRIVES ON THE iPHONE THIS WEEK AND IS BACK IN PRINT WITH THE ALL-NEW BUZZARD MINISERIES THIS SUMMER

Fans and critics alike rejoiced in 2008, when creator Eric Powell took his redneck zombie noir, The Goon, monthly for an entire calendar year. Following the release of the landmark graphic novel Chinatown and the Mystery of Mr. Wicker, Powell laid out his most complex story line to date, spanning twelve issues. In 2009, the creator celebrated the tenth anniversary of the title, releasing a special anniversary issue to coincide with a burlesque anniversary party in his honor in Nashville, followed by a special all-silent issue in November. While both were strong standalone issues, the significantly lighter release schedule left fans wondering what’s next for the madcap mercenary.

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This is great news for any of you jealous of your friends who’ve had the opportunity to play Call of Duty: World at War with the additional zombie map packs. Now, if you’re one of the people who has an iPhone or iPod Touch but doesn’t have an XBox 360 or PS3, you too can enjoy some cool zombie killing action along with the rest of us because COD: World at War: Zombies is now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

According to the official word from our pals at Activision, this mobile version of the game “offers both single player and (Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies) highly-addictive co-op gameplay experience in full 3-D, allowing up to four players to join a game via Wi-Fi, locally or across the Internet, and up to two players via Bluetooth.” In addition:

“This is a great opportunity for fans of Call of Duty: World at War to take the fight against the Zombie masses wherever they are,” said Mark Lamia, Studio Head of Treyarch. “Zombies is a single player and co-op gameplay mode that people from all over the world have enjoyed playing and have spent countless hours conquering limitless waves of Zombies.”

The Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies app, developed by Ideaworks Game Studio for the iPhone and iPod touch, is available for $9.99 from the App Store right here.

Even though the Apple TV was basically ignored at last week’s music event where we did get new iPod Nanos and other cool goodies, it seems that the device’s time has now come. Today over at the Apple Store, the company has made a few changes to its Apple TV lineup to get in step with some as-yet-unknown strategy.

The original 40GB model has been dropped and the 160GB model is now available for $229, down from $329. Now that these changes have been rolled out, what does this mean for a device that some consider a bit expensive and redundant in the age of Netflix streaming, Hulu or torrents? Over at AppleInsider, they’ve speculated that the iTunes LP format and iTunes Extras released last Wednesday are specifically designed to deliver content to Apple TV.

They’ve also noted that the content is scaled for 1280 x 720 resolution, which is the native resolution of the Apple TV. They’re are also html meta tags in the new content — “hdtv-fullscreen” and “hdtv-cursoroff” — which may indicate that these new formats were designed for the device. Whatever happens, its pretty clear that the Apple TV needs a refresh, and not just in capacity.

So, what can we expect from the device in the near future? In my perfect world we would see and Apple TV with Netflix streaming, access to the web for Hulu, a larger HD and a Blu-ray player built in. Will we actually get such a device? I wouldn’t hold your breath.

At a special “Its only Rock & Roll” press event this morning given at its Cupertino campus by CEO Steve Jobs, Apple announced brand new versions of its iPod Classic, iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano and iPod Touch lines, an update to its iTunes software to version 9.0 and an update to the iPhone/iPod Touch software to version 3.1.

Here’s a summary of the updates to the iPod line:

• iPod Classic – Capacity upgraded to 160 GB, price stays the same at $249.00.

• iPod Shuffle – Now starting at $59 for a 2GB model and $79 for a 4GB. Now available in pink, green, silver or black and all stainless steel 4GB Special Edition for $99, which is an Apple Store exclusive.

• iPod Nano – Now with a camera supposedly with 640 x 480 resolution H.264 for stills and video. Available today, the 8GB model is $149 and the 16GB is 179. In addition, now has a built-in FM tuner with Live Pause and iTunes Tagging, a pedometer, VoiceOver, support for voice memos and a larger 2.2-inch display (up from 2.0-inches) with 376 x 240 resolution.

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Yesterday we posted a new video showing off the Auto-Tune The News guys and the master of the auto-tune himself, T-Pain. In the video, there is cool button on an iPhone that kicks off the song, allowing everybody to have the melodic and rhythmic styling of Mr. Pain. We thought it was fiction, but it turns out that the app is not only real, but is as amazing as it sounds.

From Smule, the developers of the highly popular Ocarina app, comes “I Am T-Pain”, a fully functional auto tuner for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The app allows you to have perfect pitch and melody just like every other song you hear on top 20 radio today, by simply pushing a button!

You can choose to go A Capella and make your own music, or use some premixed instrumentals of popular auto-tuned songs like “Bartender”, “Kiss Kiss”, “I’m Sprung”, and “Dreamgirl”, all of which are free. For $0.99, you can buy a few other premium songs such as T-Pain’s hit “Buy U a Drank”, “Freeze” and more.

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