Update: As some of you have already guessed, this article was our annual April Fools joke!
Apple, known for closely guarding secrets about its upcoming products, may be saving the biggest shocker for after it launches the iPad this Saturday.
The company is preparing a Blu-ray-equipped iPad, to be released sometime later this year, according to sources close to the company. Apple has already confirmed that a 3G-equipped iPad will follow the basic model a month from now, so we could ultimately be looking at four iPads as customers decide whether they want 3G, Blu-ray, both or neither.
The sources, who asked to remain anonymous, provided a rendering of what the Blu-ray iPad will probably look like:
As you can see, it looks exactly the same in the front, but a bit thicker than the 0.5 inches Apple is promising for the current models. You might argue that's a small price to pay for all the high-definition content you'll be able to watch without going through iTunes.
Typical of Apple rumors, what I'm hearing brings more questions than answers. For example, how will the Blu-ray player affect the iPad's battery life? And why even offer Blu-ray on a device with 1024-by-768 resolution? Then there's the biggest question of all: Why is Apple stuffing its newest, riskiest device with a technology that chief executive Steve Jobs once referred to as a "bag of hurt?" Unfortunately, my sources declined to provide more information, fearing retaliation from Apple.
I just wish Apple would've announced this when it introduced the iPad in January. Frankly, I think the whole idea is pretty silly, but people go nuts over Blu-ray and I'm sure there's a subset who would love to have it on their iPads. If they've already pre-ordered, the joke's on them.
