The date has been set for the release of Apple's iPad in the US: the first Wi-Fi only version will be shipped on 3 April, slightly later than the time period that was initially specified, possibly due to manufacturing difficulties. The 3G-enabled product will launch at the end of April, and both will become available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that Sony is planning to take on Apple with a new line of handheld products. One of these is a portable device that "shares characteristics of netbooks, electronic-book readers and handheld-game machines." It sounds just like the iPad, and the WSJ reported that unnamed sources said that it is intended as a competitor.

Sony is also planning to launch a new online media platform to rival Apple's iTunes, according to the WSJ. The company is already a major player in the mobile phone (via Sony Ericsson) and gaming industries, and offers a range of e-readers.

News media should not underestimating the importance of these new portable devices, according to 1000words.net, which described the iPad's interactive environment as "tailor-made for traditional news media." Smartphones have proved that audiences are willing to pay for mobile content, the article says, and the iPad provides a similar but better viewing experience for longer and more detailed stories.

The article notes that the paperless platform provided by the iPad could offer start-ups and independent newsrooms a chance to move away from short-form blogging and focus on long form stories and video content, paid-for by the audience. Advertising can also be more interactive and hence possibly more effective than traditional print or online ads.

Paid digital delivery of newspapers on tablet devices does indeed offer huge potential to newspapers for a revolutionized business model: a far smaller cut of the subscription revenue is needed for production and distribution of content, and newspapers would be far less reliant on advertising. But at the moment this is just potential: will such devices become must-have products? Will people be prepared to pay? Will publishers be able to obtain suitable revenue splits?

Source: Apple press release, Wall Street Journal, 1000words.net