Apple is promoting new features of the iPad enabled by the free iOS 4.2 update in a new commercial named "iPad is Amazing."

The 30 second spot (shown below) highlights AirPrint, multitasking features, and shows of the use of AirPlay to wirelessly present video on an HDTV, in a quickly paced presentation follows the same style as previous iPad ads.

Apple is drawing attention to its Game Center mobile gaming initiative by tagging titles in the App Store as being compliant with the new program.

Apps that support Game Center features now sport the logo and a prominent Game Center tag in App Store searches and product detail pages, both in iTunes (shown below) and in the iOS App Store app.

Game Center enables app developers to add multiplayer features, friend invites, matchmaking, achievement tracking, and high score leaderboards to their games in such a way that users can track their performance from the Game Center app using a single account.

Supporting Game Center does not necessarily mean that apps implement every feature. Some Game Center apps do not support multiplayer features, for example.

However, the additional marketing push provided by Apple in iTunes to make the Game Center brand more recognizable is likely to encourage developers to support the new program by creating awareness of the new system among App Store buyers.

Apple added Game Center to iOS 4.2 in September for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 as well as the second, third and fourth generation iPod Touch. It is not supported on the original iPod touch, iPhone, or iPhone 3G. Apple said it will add support to iPad in the upcoming iOS 4.2 release.

Japan's governing body for sumo wrestling is looking to improve communication among clubs by giving out Apple's iPad.

The Financial Times reported Tuesday that the Japan Sumo Association will distribute iPads to Japan's 51 sumo training "stables." The association hopes that sumo wrestlers, who have generally been slow to adopt modern communications technology, will take to the iPad's intuitive interface and larger touch-screen.

“With faxes you can’t be sure if the message was actually received but with e-mail we can prevent that,” the JSA said. “Plus, you can carry them around.”

Many stablemasters do not use computers, relying instead on fax or telephone to communicate. Wrestlers themselves often have trouble typing messages on keypads with their larger hands.

“When they try to send e-mail on mobile phones or PCs they often end up pressing two or three keys at once," according to the daily Nikkan Sports.

The association plans to spend about 3 million yen (over $35,000) on the iPads, which will also be given to several top JSA officials.

In May, the iPad's launch in Japan saw a "frenzy" of buyers, some of whom camped out for days to buy the device. At the Apple Store in central Tokyo, about 1200 people lined up for the release. The iPad's success in Japan comes on the heels of the success of the iPod and the iPhone among the Japanese public, a market that's notoriously difficult for overseas technology companies to penetrate.

Purported e-mails from Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs continue to mount, with the latest alleged note saying that Apple will "someday" allow iPhone syncing to Mac over Wi-Fi. In an e-mail provided to Mashable, the CEO gave a characteristically brief response, suggesting Apple will allow users to pair their iPhone and computer at some point.



Separately, French Mac site Hardmac reported a rumor Friday that Apple is considering rebranding Mac OS X.

"One of our sources told us that Apple might be deciding about a totally new branding for its OS, (similar) to what it has... done with the iPhone," the report said. "They are currently thinking of using iOS as the default naming/branding of Apple OS. We would then have iOS desktop, iOS server and iOS mobile."

Apple rebranded its mobile operating system earlier this month as iOS, with the latest release being iOS 4. The name change dropped the confusing "iPhone OS" moniker, which was given when the mobile operating system was created for the iPhone. Since then, it has become part of the iPod touch and iPad, neither of which are phones.

Reports of a touchscreen desktop Mac arriving this year have lingered for some time.

Apple retail stores overseas will open early on Friday, with the international launch of the iPad set to start when doors open at 8 a.m. local time across the globe.

Apple's regional websites for stores in the U.K, France, Canada, Germany, Australia, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland all indicate that they will open at 8 a.m. this Friday, May 28, for the international launch of the iPad. The device is also set to on sale in Spain, where Apple does not have any retail stores.

A retail purchase is likely the best option for customers who did not buy an iPad when preorders were first made available earlier this month. Since May 12, all new iPad preorders are not scheduled to ship until June.

The iPad will launch in a total of nine countries on May 28, with nine additional locations -- Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore -- receiving their iPads in July. Apple has said it will announce dates for nine additional countries at a later date.

The international launch of the iPad was originally scheduled for late April, but Apple delayed it by a month due to stronger than expected demand of the device in the U.S. The iPad 3G has been largely sold out since it first went on sale in America and the end of April.



The first day of iPad 3G sales, on April 30, was enough to push the device past the 1 million milestone in the U.S. alone, with Apple reaching that many sales just 28 days after the hardware was introduced. Apple officials have admitted that they were caught off guard by the strong sales start of the new device.

Apple on Thursday released updates for its three multitouch iWork applications available for the iPad. The software is available through the App Store for $9.99 each. Updates can be downloaded on the iPad or through iTunes.

According to Apple, the updates include:

Pages

• Support for French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish
  
  
• Toolbar and ruler are now available in wide-screen landscape view
  
  
• Documents automatically fit to page width in landscape view
  
  
• Enhanced Back/Front slider in the Arrange panel
  
  
• Improves reliability when exporting Microsoft Word documents
  
  
• Addresses issues with exporting documents previously imported from Microsoft Word
  
  
• Fixes an issue with text wrapping in Microsoft Word after exporting a document with a frame around an image
  
  
• Addresses a chart font size issue when exporting documents previously imported from Microsoft Word
  
  
• Resolves an issue with scrolling after inserting and playing a movie

Numbers

• Support for French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish
  
  
• Enhanced Back/Front slider in the Arrange panel
  
  
• Improves reliability when importing Numbers '09 spreadsheets
  
  
• Addresses a chart font size issue when exporting spreadsheets previously imported from Microsoft Excel
  
  
• Fixes an issue when formatting a table pasted from Keynote or Pages
  
  
• Addresses an issue where formulas did not properly update when dragging and dropping cells
  
  
• Fixes an issue with applying a new style to a table in a template after an Undo

Keynote

• Support for French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish
  
  
• Enhanced Back/Front slider in the Arrange panel
  
  
• Added the option to show additional alignment guides at smaller intervals
  
  
• Improves reliability when importing Keynote '09 presentations
  
  
• Improves reliability when importing Microsoft PowerPoint presentations
  
  
• Addresses a chart font size issue when exporting presentations previously imported from Microsoft PowerPoint
  
  
• Fixes an issue preventing access to some table cell color fills in landscape mode with an external keyboard

In promotion of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' upcoming appearance at the D: All Things Digital conference on June 1, BoomTown's Kara Swisher has posted video of his past appearances in 2003 and 2004. Jobs has appeared at every D conference, except in 2008 and 2009.

D1:



D2:



At this year's conference, if past interviews are any indication, Jobs is likely to spill details about the inner workings of Apple and where the company is headed. In 2004, Jobs revealed that Apple developed, but did not ship, a PDA.

But perhaps the most memorable appearance was in 2007, when Jobs shared the stage with Microsoft's Bill Gates at the D5 conference. The two praised each others' work and gave insight into their history with one another. Jobs said that Gates and Microsoft were better at forming partnerships, while Gates praised Jobs and Apple for their ability to figure out the next big thing in consumer technology.