Ipad

Will it be the next iPod or the new Newton? If there were an app for foreseeing truly revolutionary technology, Apple could have made a bundle in the weeks preceding yesterday's unveiling of its new, tablet-size portable computer dubbed - drumroll, please - the iPad. Though no one knew exactly what it would be called or do, techno-pundits gushed that it could "change everything," starting with newspapers, books, and television. One writer called it, only partly tongue-in-cheek, "the most eagerly awaited tablet since Moses.

The success of Apple Inc.'s iPad isn't just drawing more competition to the tablet market. It is attracting thousands of counterfeit and knockoff products. On a single day in July, almost 18,000 fakes and clones resembling the iPad and Android devices were available for sale on 23 e-commerce sites, according to MarkMonitor Inc., a San Francisco-based firm that helps companies protect their brands. The tablets can be illegal - for instance, if they have a bogus Apple logo - and often they do not work well and have no warranty protection, said Fred Felman, chief marketing officer of MarkMonitor.

Maybe it was the inflated claim of $1,500 for a stolen iPad that first caught the attention of insurance investigators. Or the report that there had been more than $116,000 in jewelry in a Louis Vuitton purse left on the backseat of the Lexus parked in Chester that was later reported stolen. But what finally sealed the case against Latrell Taylor of Morton, officials say, was her claim that the jewelry came from a store that had yet to open as a gift from her then-boyfriend who was in jail when the purchase was allegedly made.

It's early on Saturday evening, and South Philly's own Rocco Palmo emerges from what he calls "the bunker" after a week of hunkering down and heads toward Center City. It's time for a breather. Time for a change of scenery. Grab it while you can because on Monday, "the craziness" will simply grow in intensity. Palmo, 30, hair already thinning, body all angles, conversation careering from baseball to Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua to iPads and back again, is smack-dab in the middle of something no one alive has seen: what happens when a pope resigns.

Apple's blockbuster iPad tablet computer has inspired a boom in adornments. Our vote for bling king goes to the Gradation Crystallized Swarovski iPad case created by DSStyles.com. Chock full of sparkling crystal elements of varying shapes and sizes, the case comes with a cleaning cloth and iPad screen protector. Matching crystallized cases are available for the iPhone and other fashionable smart phones. Gradation Crystallized Swarovski iPad case in purple, black or graphite is about $445 at www.dsstyles.

WOULDN'T it be great to have Wi-Fi wireless Internet connectivity everywhere for our gadgets? Someday maybe we will - if big guns like Google and Comcast and forward-thinking municipalities ever decide to build hot spots to totally blanket the town. But at the moment, we can make do with freedom-breeding, Wi-Fi signal-spreading devices such as the D-Link DAP-1320 Wireless Range Extender and Novatel's aptly named MiFi Liberate mobile hot spot.   Plug 'n' Play Designed for home use, the tiny D-Link plug-in booster does a pretty decent job of extending the signal range of your current wireless router, which improves the speed and stability of signal reception at "fringe" zones far removed from the wireless router.

The German-style beer garden Brü Craft & Wurst is expected to open March 23 at 1318 Chestnut St. (215-800-1079), enlivening the quiet block between Juniper and 13th Streets. The location previously was the Mitchell & Ness retail shop. Brü is actually two joints in one: a wood-clad bar with 32 taps carved into a tree, with table service, as well as a beer garden with bench seating, walk-up counter, an oversize garage door facing McGillin's on Drury Street, and a six-tap computerized beer system on the wall.

Attention, couch-surfers: The new Typillow from Accessory Workshop acts as either a dedicated lap pillow for an iPad 2 (the original iPad won't fit in the integrated iPad slot) or, reversed, a real pillow for you. The 17-inch-square micro-suede pillow is filled with featherweight beanbag- style beads that shift and adapt to the contour of your lap (or head, or back). Perhaps a bit galumphy to schlep onto an airplane as carry-on, the Typillow may be worth stashing in checked luggage and is certainly a boon for car travel (passengers only, please)

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Amazon.com Inc. unveiled four new Kindle Fire models on Thursday, including ones with larger screens, as the online retailer steps up competition with Apple Inc. ahead of the holiday shopping season. Amazon unveiled the larger Kindle Fire amid expectations of a smaller iPad from Apple. The larger Fires will have screens that measure 8.6 inches diagonally, compared with 9.7 inches for the iPad. The original Fire had 7-inch screens. The speculation on the mini iPad is that it'll have a 7.85-inch screen.

Comcast Corp. says 750,000 people have downloaded its Xfinity TV app from the iTunes Store since it was launched in mid-November. The app, free to Comcast digital customers, enables cable subscribers to use their iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch to change the channel on their TV or browse Comcast channel listings. Later this year, Comcast will add a function so that subscribers can watch live TV on the iPad. Customers can use the iPad in their home or outside the home on a wireless service, such as those offered by Verizon or AT&T.