A group of plaintiffs from Oakland have discovered that the iPad is prone to overheating when left in direct sunlight or used in an area with high ambient temperatures. They have filed a lawsuit against Apple accusing the company of deceptive advertising, fraud, selling defective tablet computers, and violating California's consumer protection and unfair business practices laws.

All this because they believe that the iPad is marketed with the claim that "reading on iPad is just like reading a book." The disaffected iPad owners were apparently tricked into spending over $500 on an iPad in the belief that it would be perfectly usable in the same weather conditions outdoors as a paper book.

Erictric cites a source inside Apple who claims the company will offer free engraving on the backs of iPads before the holiday season later this year. Apple launched engraving for the first time in 2002 with the 10 GB iPod. The service cost an additional $49 until Apple later decided to drop the charge entirely.

Apple now offers free engraving on all of its iPods. Your chosen words can be previewed on Apple's website, and engraved iPods cannot be returned. The service fits approximately 30 characters on each of two lines on the back of the iPod. If Apple does offer engraving on the iPad, there should be room for more text.

Jailbreaking the iPad might void your Apple warranty and even your terms of service from AT&T, however the US government has just ruled the practice legal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The exemption applies for three years until the next rulemaking review, and brings the practices of independent software developers into the mainstream.

Apple had been arguing that jailbreaking is illegal under the DMCA, since copyright protections can be circumvented when an iPad is running unofficial modifications to its operating system or unsanctioned software applications. The US Copyright Office did not agree that the only reason to jailbreak is to pirate software and violate copyright law.

Shipping time for a new iPad is already set at 7-10 business days, but a shortage could be looming as parts manufacturers struggle to keep up with demand for orders from Apple. The latest company to signal it was having trouble is Korean company LG Display, who manufactures the 9.7 inch IPS LCD display found in the iPad.

LG reported it was currently running at full capacity, but would have to reduce production in August due to low demand for television screens. iPad screen production could be increased, however LG Display CEO Kwon Young-soo predicts that supplies will be tight until early 2011. Apple could be forced to find another supplier to augment production at LG is demand keeps up over the next several months.

AT&T Wireless released two months worth of iPad 3G data, stating that 400-500 thousand units were activated with data plans on its network during the period. 75-80 percent of these users chose the top-tier monthly data plan over the smaller plan with a low bandwidth limit. Initially, AT&T offered iPad owners the choice of an unlimited data plan or 200 MB.

AT&T has since moved to a tiered data plan on the iPad and iPhone 4. Users can now choose between 2 GB per month or 250 MB. Apple sold over three million iPads in several countries since the April launch. AT&T has an exclusive US contract to provide data plans for the iPad 3G, and offers customers monthly data plans that can be cancelled at any time.

South Gate restaurant in New York now offers its wine list in a custom interactive iPad application. It may not replace the sommelier, but the iPad certainly makes selecting a bottle of wine more interesting than a paper wine list. The "wine tablet" automatically updates the wine list to reflect inventory, currently over 650 bottles.

The custom SmartCellar app provides information about varietals, growing regions and details on each bottle that assist guests trying to select the perfect wine to pair with their meals. Of course servers will have to make sure the iPad is put safely away before the wine glasses are filled.

Erroneous reports have surfaced that Apple plans to charge existing iPad owners for the next major operating system upgrade. iPad users have been anxiously waiting for iOS 4 on their devices, which Apple plans to release this fall. The company shipped iPads running iPhone OS 3.2 this spring and specifically stated that iOS 4 would be free.

When asked about the current rumors of a firmware charge Apple of course has no comment, since the question is based on speculation. The fact remains that the iPad firmware licensing agreement contains text guaranteeing iPad users a free update to iOS 4. Not all functions of the new operating system will necessarily work on older generation iPads, but the update will not cost anything.

We know that iPads might get a little bit warm while they're charging, after all the battery under that aluminum is pretty large. What one user didn't expect is to wake up early in the morning to the smell of burning plastic. He noticed the iPad was piping hot when he tried to disconnect the USB cable from the dock connector.

The iPad was so hot that his reaction was to drop it on the ground, hence the dent in the corner. The USB cable is clearly melted and discolored due to a malfunction in the cable or inside the iPad dock connector port. The iPad charger is 10 watts, with potential to pack quite a punch should there be a problem or short while connected.

Looking for some more screen real estate, but not looking to spend money on a graphics card and second monitor? Take that iPad off your desk and install Maxivista for a simple wireless solution that's fully compatible with your Windows PC. The software is free for your desktop computer, and the companion iPad app runs $9.99.

The app works over your local Wi-Fi network using efficient data compression, which makes for a display frame rate close to that of a normal monitor. You can drag windows from your notebook or desktop computer screen right over to the iPad seamlessly, and even maximize windows on the iPad to fill the 9.7 inch LED screen.

Apple plans to bring FaceTime video chat to more iOS devices in the near future, as BGR has discovered in the iOS 4.1 beta firmware. Assuming the next-generation iPad includes a front-facing camera, video chat over Wi-Fi would be possible using the built-in software. This would greatly expand communications options between Apple mobile devices.

In addition, FaceTime has been opened up to developers for use on any platform. Potentially those with the iPhone 4 could use FaceTime to communicate to anyone with an enabled device. The iPad and iPod touch could join the fray as soon as cameras are added. BGR found that Apple is working on a system to allow calls using email addresses instead of phone numbers.