Well, if you’re a tech-a-holic, you were probably getting a little anxious. Because the iPad’s first birthday is coming up, and that means one thing: the iPad 2 is on the way! But it’s late February and no Apple event on the horizon.

Well rumors indicate that we won’t have to wait long. Apple is expected to hold a March 2 event, and reports (as well as rudimentary Apple awareness) are indicating that the event is all about the iPad 2.

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Well, if you like to use your iPad for magazines or newspapers, you’ll soon be able to purchase subscriptions directly from the App Store, rather than buying by the issue. Apple announced its App Store subscription service today, which will be available to all “publishers of content-based apps on the App Store℠, including magazines, newspapers, video, music, etc.” The subscription service allows publishers to set their own price and subscription frequencies (weekly, monthly, etc.). Customers can select the subscription they want and will be automatically charged. Apple walks away with 30 percent of the deal.

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Well, who’d thunk it? After months–years even–of Verizon iPhone banter, a Verizon iPad swoops in out of nowhere and beats the Verizon iPhone to the market. Well a Verizon iPad package, anyway.

Verizon announced today that it will begin offering iPad packages at its retail stores later this month. Set to launch on October 28 at 2,000 Verizon stores nationwide, the iPads will be offered in bundles with Verizon’s MiFi 2200 hotspot. So we’re looking at Wi-Fi-only models, not 3G models. Verizon will also sell Wi-Fi models without Mi-Fi hotspots.

The three packages Verizon offers will be a $629.99 iPad 16GB + MiFi package, a $729.99 iPad 32GB + MiFi package and an $829.99 iPad Wi-Fi 64GB + MiFi package. That’s a $130 premium over the standard iPad Wi-Fi models, putting them at the same price as the iPad 3G models that offer AT&T service.

As far as coverage, Verizon will charge $20/month for 1 GB of data, which falls right in between AT&T’s 250 GB/$15 and 2 GB/$25 packages.  So you basically get an iPad that works comparably to the AT&T 3G version, only with an extra piece of hardware to lug around. It’s basically a cheat version so that Verizon can get into the iPad market. Big news for Apple and Verizon, not that big of news for consumers.

I suppose this will appeal to those that are sick of AT&T or who routinely use more than 250 MB of data but no more than 1 GB, but it’s still not really a Verizon iPad. But now that this partnership is complete, we expect to see a CDMA iPad (and probably iPhone) next year. [via Apple]

HP really needs to get it together when it comes to tablets. It’s not going to make a dent in iPad sales by acting completely schizo and scatter-brained. In the latest chapter of HP’s strange-but-true tablet tale, the Windows 7-based Slate has made an appearance on HP’s website. What’s so odd about that? Well, several months ago, it was reported that the Slate was dead and HP was moving on to work on other tablets with other operating systems.

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Verizon has been a busy little pack of beavers hasn’t it? Do beavers travel in a pack? Gaggle of beavers? Flock of beavers? Nevermind, you get the idea.

Not only is Verizon reportedly getting prepared for its own version of the iPhone, it’s also hard at work partnering on a much more intriguing product: a Google tablet. After having some serious success with the Motorola Droid, the Big G and Big Red are back in the lab, according to the Wall Street Journal. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam is quoted as stating: “”We’re working on tablets together, for example. We’re looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience.”

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HP Slate from Promo Video

Well that was fast, wasn’t it? After buying up Palm just two weeks ago, rumor has it that regardless of the fate of the Windows 7 Slate, a WebOS tablet is indeed on the way and it will be here well before the glittery ball drops in NYC. The information originally hails from an “insider at HP” consulted by Examiner.com, so take it with a shaker full of Morton’s. The timeframe given for launch of the WebOS tablet, codenamed Hurricane, is the third quarter, which would be a quick little turnaround.

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Last week, a little shock ‘n chagrin hit the tech world when the media reported that HP was no longer planning to introduce a Windows 7 tablet to market. Outside of the iPad and the defunct Microsoft Courier, the HP Slate was one of the most hyped tablets of the year. It first appeared in Steve Ballmer’s hands at CES and was the subject of a number of video spots thereafter. It seemed like HP would be announcing availability and price anytime soon, and then–POOF! The Slate was history.

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Google acquired a Silicon Valley hardware manufacturer named Agnilux today, a move that is being speculated as one more step toward tablets, set-top boxes and/or other new hardware endeavors. Little is known about Agnilux or its hardware, but the company was formed by some former PA Semiconductor employees after Apple took hold of that company in 2008.

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Okay, so it’s not exactly the iPad. But if you’ve been itching to give a tablet a try without investing 500 beans, here’s a chance to get into the emerging market for just $40. The Hantech Tablo provides add-on tablet functionality for laptops, allowing users to draw, write and doodle on screen. Simply throw the receiver up on the top or side of the laptop and the pen will use infrared and ultrasonic to transmit your motion onto the screen.

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