A little over 24 hours ago we reported on the frustrating news that Apple (AAPL) seemed to be stashing iPad for in-store sales at its UK launch on the 28th of May. The knock on effect of that being that UK customers who had ordered online in the last week or so would have to wait until the 7th of June to get their iPad. Over a week after they would be in Apple Stores on general sale!

It seems though, that Apple is having problems all over the place keeping up with the demand for iPads. So maybe they are a bit panicky about having stock for their stores. Especially high profile launches like the UK one.

Gene Munster has been Apple Store hopping, and making calls again, and has come to the conclusion that 74% of Apple stores are sold out of iPads in the US. The remaining 26% only have Wi-Fi models available. Reserving an iPad in an Apple store that has no stock will get you one in 4-7 days. Whilst ordering online will get you one about 7-10 days later.

From those figures, and accounts of when Apple says it will have more iPads available for those who order now, Munster has surmised that Apple may not hit its own target of 2.5 – 3 millions iPads sold in this quarter.

I am not so sure. It is entirely possible that Apple is keeping supplies back for the several countries that the iPad launches in next week. In which case it may well hit, or surpass those targets anyway.

Do you think Apple is hoarding iPads? Or do you think they have had massive manufacture problems? Let us know in the comments.

According to Flurry’s numbers, iPad development has accounted for 22% of new development starts over the past 60 days. That’s more than the 10% that accounted for new Android starts and is only eclipsed by the 67% of new iPhone starts. Combined, Apple platforms accounted for an astounding 89% of new application starts. Flurry is already tracking over 2000 iPad applications listed in the App Store and that was before it opened to public iPad app purchases yesterday. The number is certain to skyrocket with the official iPad launch tomorrow.

I’ve contended in the past the iPad’s success or failure can’t be counted strictly in the number of units sold. Units shipped is a nice, easy number for the shareholders to understand but the real indicators are elsewhere. Apps sold and developer support are where real success is found these days. Take RIM as an example of the opposite. RIM’s BlackBerry platform used to dominate the mobile market. If you wanted e-mail on the go, the BlackBerry was your only option. Once the app revolution took over the mobile market, RIM lagged and suffered for it. When most people talk about RIM now, it’s in relation to whether Microsoft or Google will be the first one to buy it. Palm, with its otherwise excellent Palm Pre handset, is on a deathwatch because it failed to gain developer support and buy-in for the device. Well those commercials with the creepy, Cylon-esque girl didn’t help either.

So if the iPad can go from 0 to 22% of the new application development in the 60 days of its public existence, while competing platforms go in the opposite direction, I’d say this is another indicator of the long term success of the platform. The iPad, after all, isn’t just about another platform amongst an ocean of them. This is a shift, a whole new sideways movement into a new era of computing. It’s a baby step to be sure, the iPad isn’t the be all and end all of mobile computing, but it’s the beginning of something totally new and different. The people that understand that understand it and those that don’t will. Sure, there will be people who don’t understand in the same way John C. Dvorak very famously didn’t get the mouse, but they will understand as they see more and more people adopt the device. And when the late adopters come on to the scene, they’ll find a rich and diverse App Store full of applications supported by a strong developer base.

Do these numbers indicate the long term success of the iPad? Will these numbers continue to rise as the platform goes public? Are these developers just opportunistic bandwagon jumpers looking for some easy money? Let us know your thoughts.

Apple WiFi iPad available for pre-order on March 12th. In store pickup on April 3rd. US Only initially.

Since the day Steve Jobs appeared on stage for the Apple Special Event 2010 to announce the iPad there has been a lot of buzz about it’s availability. Many rumor blogs suggested that there might be minor delays in production and that could possibly lead to shortage in the number of devices available at launch.

Today Apple has officially announced the pre-order, ship and Apple Store availability date, of the first iPad model to be released. This is the WiFi only version, and is initially only for the US market. The pre-order date is roughly two days after we reported that Apple Store staff are rumoured to be getting their hands on the devices for training. So that makes sense. The date you can pick up your ‘Jesus’ tablet in store, or have it delivered to your door has slipped slightly to the 3rd of April.

3G versions are supposed to be available in late April.

Apple originally stated that WiFi iPads would be available at the end of March, so they are not too far off their original ship date.

These dates are US only dates at the moment. So it should be noted that if you are outside the US the WiFi model will not be available to you until late April. But both WiFi and 3G versions should be available at the same time elsewhere though.

So which one are you getting? Anyone planning a pilgrimage to the US to get a ‘Jesus’ Tablet early? I did for a Newton, back in the day. So don’t be shy, let us know in the comments.

By: Stephen Northcott

A story first reported yesterday by TechCrunch says online content provider Hulu is working on an iPad version of their site. As we’ve reported previously, this likely means a move to HTML 5 as the user interface of the site. Hulu already streams video in the H.264 format, the other side of the equation for creating a non-Flash, iPad-viewable web site. The question remains then if Hulu is making a complete move to HTML5 and H.264 or just a narrowed-down mobile site. Either way, it’s a good first move away from Flash from one of its most well-known users.

Those that remember back to the original iPhone launch in 2007 will recognize this as a bit of past-as-prologue. One of much bemoaned missing elements from that launch was the inability to access YouTube. YouTube was as big a Flash consumer in 2007 as Hulu is today. Of course Apple got around that by producing a dedicated YouTube client. I’m not suggesting that Hulu is creating a dedicated iPad app, it’s just too easy to make a full featured web app in HTML 5 these days. I’m just saying that much of the wailing and moaning going on in tech circles has happened before, will happen again, and then will be resolved. Hulu doesn’t want to miss out on what is potentially the biggest game changer since the commercially available personal computer.

Is Hulu’s rumored abandonment of Flash a further indictment of the development platform? Will the ironic outcome of the iPad launch be that in pushing one closed platform in the iPad, Steve destroys another? Is Hulu only the first domino to fall? Drop us a comment and let us know.

By: Erin Peterson