Apple has officially announced that the iPad will go on sale on April 3rd, and they're available for preorder on March 12.

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Completely coincidentally (I'm sure) new details about Microsoft's Courier device surfaced on both the major tech blogs. It's looking like a direct competitor to the iPad.

I have to say, the Courier is the first Microsoft product I've been excited about in maybe ever: I like the way it flips open like a book, and I like the "infinite journal" concept. I'm less excited about the stylus (I'm pretty sure that even the smartest computer in the world couldn't figure out my handwriting) and the launch date, which is either the end of this year or not at all in 2010. If they manage to get Pixel Qi screens on these things that would display both a readable, non-backlit ebook mode and a normal computer screen, this would be the device to beat for ereading.