Even if you haven't bought one, it's probably pretty clear that the iPad has officially launched. During the week leading up to iPad Day, however, much of our top Apple news involved the iPhone, how it's doing against Android, and whether a Verizon iPhone is coming this year. A Snow Leopard update gave some love to our sometimes-neglected Macs, too. Read on if you need a break from iPad mania:

The vetted sources for the Wall Street Journal claim that the Verizon iPhone is a reality, and it's coming this summer. If true, will you head over to "America's most reliable network"? Vote in our reader poll.

: Several details have leaked about the upcoming "A+ update" to the iPhone hardware and OS this summer. Whether Apple follows up with a CDMA iPhone model for Verizon or other carriers is a matter of debate, but might be the best chance for growth in the US market in the near term.

Apple's gigantic bankroll may be burning a hole in its pocket. Almost two years after, Apple appears to have snapped up ARM design house Intrinsity. According to a report that first appeared on (via ), a number of engineers at the company have indicated that they are now or soon will be employed by Apple. Some of them have even gone as far as to change their LinkedIn profiles, with one reverting it—possibly out of fear of drawing the wrath of his new, secretive employer.

Intrinsity is known for its expertise with ARM processors such as the one used in the iPad. The design house has always been fairly quiet about its client list, so it's quite possible that Intrinsity contributed as much, if not more to the that powers the iPad than did P.A. Semi. Intrinsity has done work on customized Cortex A8 processors for the likes of Samsung, so the company's expertise in the area would be extremely attractive to Apple.

If the sudden disappearance of is truly an indication that Apple has made another purchase, it's a clear sign that Cupertino has really big plans for ARM and doesn't see a future for x86 outside of its desktops and laptops. In addition to powering iPads and iPhones, it's possible that we could see Apple-created ARM chips in other consumer devices—even HDTVs—if Apple wants to try and stake out more consumer electronics turf.

The Federal Communications Commission has beat iFixit to the punch in , although the Commission did have an unfair advantage since it got pre-launch access to the device for its usual RF testing. The photos do give a first look at the iPad's laser sculpted aluminum casing as well as a little detail about how the hardware is put together.

What's not surprising is that most of the internal volume us taken up by two large Li-Ion batteries. The logic board is tiny and appears to be not much bigger than an iPhone. All of the internal components are jammed in there good and tight, as one might imagine. But what's most surprising is that there is actually a good amount of empty space inside.

So Apple has this "magical" mobile computing device called the iPad that is launching this Saturday. Some are heralding it as a , the , the computer your mom would finally be . Others are or Apple's hype.

Sure, the device is more portable than a standard notebook. Apps can give the device any number of capabilities for work and play. And its standards-loving browser and multimedia capabilities make it a great device for consuming almost every sort of media: books, magazines, music, movies, TV, websites, etc. Many of us are excited by . But we are wondering what is the most compelling reason that iPad buyers are taking the plunge.

On this iPad eve, the most constant flow (or is that a waterfall?) of news is not about the iPad itself, but third-party iPad apps. It feels like the entire world is making announcements about their apps ahead of the first iPad launch, and many of us feel buried under the sheer volume of announcements.

We here at the Ars Orbiting HQ are no exception—how do you even begin to sift through the mountain of iPad apps already available? We tried, and came up with a list of the top six iPad apps that those of us on staff are looking forward to checking out come iPad day. Without further ado...

Apple has extended its popular "Find My iPhone" service to the iPad with its just-announced . Not only will you be able to find your lost iPad, but iPads will also inherit the iPhone's remote wipe capabilities as well as a number of other features carried over from MobileMe.

The new "Find My iPad" will work on both WiFi and 3G-enabled iPads, though it goes without saying that the WiFi-only version will only be findable while connected to a WiFi network. Like Find My iPhone, users can log into MobileMe to see the approximate location of their iPads and even send a message down to it along with a sound to help you (or a friendly passerby) locate the device. As many iPhone owners have discovered, this feature has been a life-saver for travelers and the absent-minded alike, so it's certainly cool that it's now part of the iPad experience as well.

Apple's MobileMe tweaks also include Remote Wipe for iPad. Just like on the iPhone, you can now wipe your sensitive data (notes, e-mails, etc.) from a lost iPad by going through MobileMe, which can be restored later from a backup on your computer. And, of course, MobileMe's other cloud-friendly features also apply here, including bookmark sync, contact sync, and e-mail sync.

With so many people managing one or more computers, one or more phones, and a tablet device in their lives, services like this can be really helpful. And, if you're an iPhone user, the Find My iPhone/iPad and Remote Wipe services will work for both your iPhone and your iPad. Is MobileMe worth the $99/year subscription yet?

Details continue to emerge over supposed multitasking support in an upcoming major release of the iPhone OS. , sources “familiar with the situation” have allegedly confirmed that the change is coming in iPhone OS 4.0, allowing users to run multiple applications simultaneously and easily switch between them. The addition of multitasking support would put the iPhone even closer to feature parity with phones using Palm's webOS and Google's Android.

It has long been that the iPhone OS has the capability of running multiple processes simultaneously, but Apple hasn’t yet allowed third-party developers to access the functionality. In the past, Apple has cited potentially poor battery life, memory errors, and the possibility of malware as reasons not to allow third parties to run software in the background. However, if the latest rumors are true, Apple seems to have changed its tune. 

The mechanism for switching between apps will be somewhat of a lovechild between Mac OS X's Exposé and application switching features. According to the description, the switcher wouldn't deal with application windows like Exposé, but instead application icons. Icons will apparently respond similarly to the Exposé experience, fanning out in a grid that would allow a user to easily switch between running apps.

With Apple's current philosophy on the openness (or lack thereof) of the iPhone OS platform, it’s hard to imagine what safeguards Apple might employ that would allow the company to appease users while still controlling the security of its devices.

The iPad is set to launch this Saturday. In preparation for the launch, Apple has already to its download servers: the final iPad firmware and its EULA. Based on some language in the EULA it has been widely reported that the iPad will require users to pay for OS upgrades like on the iPod touch. However, looking closely at the language reveals that paid upgrades aren't necessarily a foregone conclusion.

The relevant section from the iPad Software License Agreement is worth quoting in full:

Apple will provide you any iPad OS software updates that it may release from time to time, up to and including the next major iPad OS software release following the version of iPad OS software that originally shipped from Apple on your iPad, for free. For example, if your iPad originally shipped with iPad 3.x software, Apple would provide you with any iPad OS software updates it might release up to and including the iPad 4.x software release. Such updates and releases may not necessarily include all of the new software features that Apple releases for newer iPad models.

Here, Apple is making some specific promises. The company is promising free updates for all point releases of iPhone OS 3.x (the iPad will ship with iPhone OS 3.2). It's also promising a free update to iPhone OS 4.0—expected to ship this summer with the launch of the next iPhone iteration—as well as any subsequent point updates.

The license agreement also specifically does not promise a couple things. It doesn't promise that updates beyond 4.x will be free. It also doesn't promise that software updates will necessarily give the current iPad all the features that future iPad models might gain from that software, just as iPhone OS 3.0 didn't give the iPhone 3G all the features of the iPhone 3GS.

It's worth noting that this language in no way precludes iPhone OS 5.x or higher from being a free upgrade, only that Apple isn't promising that it will at this specific point in time. Apple puts a lot of work into the iPhone OS just as it does with Mac OS X (historically a $129 upgrade), and the language of the license agreement gives Apple the option to charge for future updates if that work needs to be funded by paid upgrades.

The truth is that we won't know anything for sure until at least a year from now—the absolute soonest we are likely to hear anything about iPhone OS 5.0. For now, we see no cause for alarm.

Apple initially named five of the top six major publishers as for its iBookstore for the iPad. More recently, we heard that two independent publishers had  to provide e-books and that Apple plans to from Project Gutenberg. Now, self-published authors will also get a crack at the iBookstore via deals Apple has struck with e-book publishing services Smashwords and Lulu.

Smashwords and Lulu are for e-books what . TuneCore will take your CD (or ) and upload it to the iTunes Store for a flat fee, eliminating the need to jump through all the hoops necessary to set up an account directly with Apple. All the royalties earned on sales of the album and individual tracks are then forwarded to the artist.

The BBC has decided to hold off on its iPhone app plans thanks to concerns from the newspaper industry. The organization Tuesday that the BBC Trust had asked it to postpone the apps that were originally slated for release in April so that it could consider "representations from industry."

As noted by the BBC, the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) has voiced serious concerns over the BBC's plans, saying the apps could "damage the nascent market" for news applications. Part of the reason the NPA is concerned is because the BBC is taxpayer-funded—this would allow the BBC to distribute its applications for free while other news organizations might have to incur further costs to do so, giving the BBC an unfair advantage. The apps were only meant to repackage existing BBC content into a more iPhone-friendly format, though, so it's hard to see how it would change the landscape in any appreciable way when users could get that same content by firing up Mobile Safari.

The postponement won't just affect the iPhone, either. The BBC had originally planned to release apps for BlackBerry and Android as well, showcased during this year's Mobile World Conference. Both of those will also be put off while the organization reconsiders whether the apps would be considered an entirely new offering or just another part of the BBC.