iPad 2

The iPad 2 will officially be the first tablet computer in space, as two units have already been stowed in the Progress 45 cargo craft along with three tons of food, water, oxygen, gear and fuel. Progress 45 sits atop a Soyuz booster at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, awaiting launch early Sunday morning. Astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) will have the option of using the iPad 2 devices for entertainment when off duty.

Additional tablets will likely join the iPads in space next year, as NASA is still evaluating different models. The ISS already has two iPhone 4 units and several iPods on board, the latter was first introduced in 2005 for music listening in space. The Progress 45 mission is unmanned, however in November a three-man crew is set to travel to ISS on a Soyuz TMA-22.

Looking for an improvement over the touch screen keyboard on your iPad 2 screen, but without the added bulk of carrying around a real keyboard? Hatch & Co. have introduced the SKINNY, an incredibly thin and light solution that protects the iPad 2 while adding an external wireless keyboard. Although the keys are somewhere in between a real keyboard and the virtual iPad display, the keypad clocks in at only 0.07 inches thick.

Not only this, but thanks to its design the SKINNY keyboard is entirely dust and waterproof. Weighing in at 10.4 ounces, this case is on the lighter side even though it provides textured keys to increase productivity when needed. SKINNY comes in stylish white with brown keys or black and gray designs.

9to5Mac discovered a Smart Cover flaw that allows strangers to access your password protected iPad 2. Thankfully the bug doesn't grant the person complete control over your device, but they could steal your personal information if the conditions are right. The Smart Cover enables someone to bypass your password and unlock the last app you used before turning off the device.

For example, if you were using Contacts before you put your iPad to sleep, a person could unlock your device and access all the information. 9to5Mac recreated the flaw in the video below.

Here's how to recreate it yourself. Make sure your iPad is password protected. Lock the device and hold down the power button until it reaches the turn off slider screen. Close and reopen the Smart Cover. Hit the cancel button at the bottom of the screen. You should have access to the last app you used without entering your password.

The iPhone Dev Team released the latest version of redsn0w for the iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, or iPod touch on Thursday. Version 0.9.9b5 is tethered for now, but it can be used with iOS 5. iPad 2 users are still stuck with JailbreakMe 3.0 which only works with iOS 4.3.3. iPhone 4S owners are totally out of luck.

Tethered means you will have to connect your iPad to your Mac or PC whenever you power up the device. You'll need to download iTunes 10.5 and should always backup everything before jailbreaking any device. Visit the iPhone Dev-Team Blog for download links and instructions.

Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" event did cover more than just iPhones, but Tim Cook and team spent very little time talking about the iPad. And what they did talk about wasn't very exciting. The new "Cards" app seemed like filler when compared to the new voice command assistant shipping with the iPhone 4S. Too bad it's exclusive to that device only.

Just because the iPad 2 has the A5 chip doesn't mean it will be getting Siri. Some believe it doesn't even have enough memory to support it. The consensus is Siri will be available with the iPad 3, but I guess there is always hope since there has been no official word from Apple.

No one said the Kindle Fire would dethrone the iPad (okay maybe some did), but it's living up to expectations as the first Android tablet to actually compete with Apple. Amazon announced that it moved 95,000 units on its first day, a far cry from the iPad's 300,000 units, but an impressive number. Head-to-head the iPad 2 may be laughing, but the Kindle Fire created a roadmap for future tablets to follow. If others catch on, Apple could see a chunk taken out of its tablet market share lead.

The HP TouchPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and HTC Flyer tried to compete with the iPad on its own terms, and we all know how well that worked out. Unlike smartphones, a lot of people view a tablet as a privilege not a necessity. The Kindle Fire offers a better entertainment experience at an affordable price. Yes it's cool that you can watch a movie, play games and read a book on your phone, but it's so much better on a tablet. The Kindle Fire offers 16,000 apps, a ton of movies, books and music for $200. Even if you shell out the $79 for Amazon Prime, their movie and TV streaming service, it's still cheaper than RIM's BlackBerry Playbook. Yes everyone wants an iPad, but not everyone is going to spend $500 so they can watch a movie at the airport.

October 4th is the day new Apple CEO Tim Cook will announce the next generation iPhone(s) and the Facebook iPad app! While I'm sure some people are looking forward to the new app, it's hardly as exciting as the iPhone 5. Especially since it was already leaked in July.

Engineer Jeff Verkoeyen said he left Facebook for Google because they have been sitting on the app since May. Apple and Facebook have had a strained relationship in the past, but things seem to be getting better between to two, since they both have a common goal to defeat Google. This is probably why Mark Zuckerberg has finally decided to release the app, and announce the revamped version of the Facebook iPhone app at the upcoming Apple media event.

The possibility of an iPad 3 launch later this fall is not a new concept. Reports as early as February claimed Apple would try to get a jump on the competition by launching an iPad 3 before Christmas. More evidence has appeared that seems to corroborate this claim.

If the screenshots of Target inventory computers found by TiPb are real, then the massive retail chain has already discontinued the iPad 2. Retail associates speaking to the blog claim that none of the current iPad models are slated to be ordered by the company going forward.

There have been all kind of signs pointing to Sprint joining the iPhone family in October. Including a leaked internal memo informing Sprint employees of a vacation blackout in anticipation of a "major phone launch" starting September 30th.

On Wednesday, 9to5Mac reported that a Sprint-compatible iPad will be "joining the family of GSM (AT&T) and Verizon capable Apple tablets before the holidays." 9to5 believes that the Sprint iPad will launch soon after the Sprint iPhone is released in October, but they can't confirm if it will run on Sprint’s 4G WiMAX network.

Samsung has agreed to halt sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 due to its intellectual property battle with Apple. The Korean manufacturer announced on Monday, that it would refrain from advertising or selling the tablet in Australia until September 30.

Apple lawyers told the court that Samsung's modified tab still infringed its patents. Apple said the new version, which was supposed to launch in Australia on September 12, did feature some reduced functionality, but it still copied the iPad's design. Samsung called shenanigans, saying Apple has presented no new evidence on how the modified Galaxy Tab still infringes.