Despite AT&T's recent marketing, which states that 97% of all Americans are covered by AT&T's 3G network, a somewhat surprising number of reports continue to surface from new iPad 3G owners that are being denied the ability to initiate a data plan for their new iPad. During the activation/signup process for an iPad 3G data plan, AT&T is performing checks on the addresses of new customers and refusing to initiate service for those that fall outside of the current coverage provided by AT&T's 3G network. Yes, you heard right: AT&T, who has taken considerable heat for their lack of 3G coverage, is highlighting that fact by turning away customers on that basis.

The issue is that many of these customers are well aware of the fact that their home address is not within AT&T's 3G coverage area, but want to purchase an iPad data plan nonetheless. After all, the vast majority of iPad owners will likely choose to use their WiFi networks at home, while reserving the use of their iPad 3G data plans for when they are on the road or otherwise away from home. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the iPad 3G will fail over to AT&T's EDGE network when 3G coverage is not available and one can assume that customers who escape the reach of AT&T's 3G network likely fall within the EDGE network and could successfully (albeit slowly) use their iPad on that network.

With the iPad reportedly cannibalizing netbook sales, some accessories on the horizon are set to accelerate this trend. Enter the ClamCase, a sleek, folding case with a fully integrated bluetooth keyboard for the iPad.

The product is expected to launch in fall 2010. ClamCase features full protection of the iPad and three different display positions. The iPad is held by the top half of the shell and takes on the appearance of a laptop screen.

Apple sold its millionth iPad during Friday's launch of the iPad 3G. Sales from the Apple Store online and retail outlets reached the one million total in only 28 days. For comparison, the original iPhone took 74 days to reach this number of units sold.

Apple also announced that iPad users have already downloaded 12 million applications from the App Store and over 1.5 million ebooks from the iBookstore. Developers have launched 5,000 iPad-specific apps to date.

Just four short weeks after the iPad launch, developer @comex has released the much-hyped Spirit untethered jailbreak. With a single click, Spirit will jailbreak any iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch running firmware 3.1.x or 3.2.

As previously reported, Spirit is a userland jailbreak, the first of its kind since iPhone OS 1.x. This type of jailbreak is effective and easy to use, however Apple can easily patch whatever security vulnerability is used by Spirit. The software does not include an unlock to allow the iPad to be used on a different wireless carrier than AT&T.

As many of you know, last month we featured our April Accessory-A-Day Giveaway, during which a wide variety of iPad accessories were awarded to contestants from all over the country. With prizes including iPad screen protectors, iPad cases, iPad warranty and insurance policies, iPad skins and more, there was something for everyone. Well, rather than rest on our laurels, we've decided to do it again. Only this time, we've gone bigger.

Practically all of April's participating accessory manufacturers and service providers are back for May's contest, and we've added a few newcomers as well. We'll be featuring great iPad accessories from

Your iPad Wi-Fi + 3G came yesterday and you're thinking 250MB sounds pretty good for $14.99. Problem is we're talking about 30 days. The other problem is, whether you like the title or not, you are an early adopter. A technophile. Gadget-prone and Internet savvy. You pre-ordered an iPad, after all.

Breaking down 250MB is pretty simple. It's not a lot of data. Not anymore, at least. 174 floppy disks sounds like plenty of space, until you compute that it only fills up 38% of a 74 minute CD-R. In the interest of science, I've averaged my iPhone data usage over the recent months in anticipation of the iPad 3G.

As we reported way back on April 4, less than 24 hours after the release of the iPad WiFi-only model, @comex's "Spirit" jailbreak was demonstrated successfully jailbreaking the iPad WiFi by The iPhone Dev Team's musclenerd. Unsurprisingly, due to the fact that the iPad 3G runs the same OS as the iPad WiFi, the Spirit jailbreak has now been demonstrated jailbreaking the iPad 3G. Watch the video below to see the demo.

The iPad and iPhone community is expecting the Spirit jailbreak to be released by its creator, @comex, relatively soon. The iPhone Dev Team recently confirmed on their blog that the release of Spirit would happen after the iPad 3G was "in customers' hands", though exactly how soon after remains unknown.

AT&T Wireless, the official US carrier for Apple's 3G-compatible iPad, has released further details on how the data plan will work. The iPad Wi-Fi + 3G arrives in stores Friday, April 30 at 5 pm. No contract is required for 3G data usage and the plan can be activated directly from the iPad.

AT&T will automatically renew the plan every 30 days by charging the user's credit card unless the plan is dropped. Two plans are available, a limited 250MB plan and an unlimited version. The data plan expires 30 days from the time of purchase or when the bandwidth limit is exceeded.

Looking for accidental damage and spill protection for your brand new iPad? SquareTrade is offering a 25% discount until April 30th on the purchase of an iPad warranty. The plan offers full coverage for drops, accidental breakage, water damage and more with no deductible.

To redeem your 25% discount at purchase, enter the coupon code IPAD25IPAD at checkout. This great deal is part of our April iPad Accessory-A-Day Giveaway contest. There's still time to enter and win a free Hard Candy or Griffin case for your iPad.

Happy Owl Studio announced their highly-anticipated line of iPad cases would be available for pre-order starting today. Three different models will come in two different colors each at special introductory prices for a limited time. Pictured below is the Wallet in brown.

Happy Owl Studio is based in California and has designed their cases to hold anything and everything one might need throughout the day in addition to the iPad. The iPad itself is securely held in the protective case with cutouts for dock connector and speaker access.