Apple Now Taking Devs’ iPad App Store Submissions

Apple has notified developers that it is ready to take submissions for iPad applications to be sold on its own App Store. Developers were informed that if they want to have their app run through the approval process and ready for the April 3 launch day, they must get their app in by 5 pm PDT, March 27.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) made it clear that only apps submitted for the initial review will be considered for the grand opening of the iPad App Store. They must be built and tested using iPhone SDK 3.2 beta 5 and only that version. Developers will receive additional information about submitting their app for final review before the iPad ships.

Apple released the fifth beta of the iPhone SDK 3.2 on Wednesday, just days after Beta 4 came out. Normally Apple ships a new beta every two weeks, so the shortened release time would seem to indicate Apple is near completion of its development work.

The SDK (Software Development Kit) has a simulator for testing the applications, since very few devs have the actual hardware. This has produced a little bit of angst, as The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) points out, software simulators are not particularly good at getting an accurate measure of performance. “Applications that appear to be completely operational and fully debugged on the simulator may flake out or crash on the device itself,” noted TUAW writer Erica Sadun.

Then again, life isn’t easy for those with the actual hardware, either. According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, those that have or want to have iPads for testing have to engage in secrecy practices that are equal parts comical and paranoid. For starters, developers have to sign a 10-page contract that, of course, bars them from disclosing information about the iPad.

Developers must also promise to keep the iPad isolated in a room with blacked-out windows and be tethered to a fixed object, like a table, according to developers who spoke to BusinessWeek. Apple won’t send out an iPad until potential partners send in photographic proof of compliance.

Apple began taking pre-orders for the iPad on March 12, briefly overloading its servers. There have been estimates and guestimates of how many have been sold, although there is no official number of how many orders have been taken.

The iPad ships on April 3, which is a Saturday. Those who placed a pre-order can get their device at a local Apple Store if Saturday delivery is not available to them and they don’t want to wait until the following Monday.

Andy Patrizio is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.

RELATED NEWS AND ANALYSIS

• Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Driving Greater Equality

  FEATURE |  By James Maguire,
  December 16, 2020

• AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning

  FEATURE |  By Cynthia Harvey,
  December 11, 2020

• Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  December 04, 2020

• Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Guest Author,
  November 18, 2020

• Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA

  FEATURE |  By Guest Author,
  November 10, 2020

• Top 10 AIOps Companies

  FEATURE |  By Samuel Greengard,
  November 05, 2020

• What is Text Analysis?

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Guest Author,
  November 02, 2020

• How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  October 29, 2020

• Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  October 23, 2020

• The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  October 16, 2020

• Top 10 Chatbot Platforms

  FEATURE |  By Cynthia Harvey,
  October 07, 2020

• Finding a Career Path in AI

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Guest Author,
  October 05, 2020

• CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science

  FEATURE |  By Guest Author,
  September 25, 2020

• Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 25, 2020

• Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2021

  FEATURE |  By Cynthia Harvey,
  September 22, 2020

• NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 18, 2020

• Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By James Maguire,
  September 14, 2020

• Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By James Maguire,
  September 13, 2020

• IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 11, 2020

• Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality

  FEATURE |  By James Maguire,
  September 09, 2020