ReadWriteWeb

After a surprisingly short wait in line at our local Apple Store, where about 100 people lined up for their reserved iPads - and another 100 who didn't have a reservations - we finally took possession of our very own Apple tablet. We will take a closer look at all the apps, hardware and iPad-optimized web sites over the course of the next few days, but here are our first impressions after spending some quality time with the iPad.

Our top story this week was about Gmail becoming an app platform. Oh right, and some other thing called the iPad. Read on for our coverage and analysis. We also continued our exploration of the significant Internet trends of 2010, including Real-Time Web, Mobile Web and Internet of Things.

Note: We've refreshed the format for our longest running feature, the Weekly Wrapup. It now focuses more explicitly on the key trends that ReadWriteWeb is tracking in 2010, as well as giving you the highlights from the leading story of the week. Let us know your thoughts on the new format.

Slightly ahead of schedule and to the surprise of many developers, Apple opened up the iPad store earlier today. As of now, there are already over 2,000 iPad apps available for instant download in the store. Some are iPad-only apps, but there is also a large number of universal iPad and iPhone apps that include versions for both devices.

Here at ReadWriteWeb, we are obviously very excited about the launch of the iPad store and have been scouring the App Store for the most interesting apps. Here are some of our favorites apps so far.

Are location-based social networks privacy disasters waiting to happen? Or are the supposed "dangers" simply being overhyped by those without a thorough understanding of what these new networks can and cannot do? Today, these questions are the subject of a serious debate among early adopters - the group of people who are first to sign up for and try out the latest technology innovations, testing everything from iPads to mobile apps.

There are currently a number of location-based social networks clamoring for your attention, including earlier contenders like Loopt and Brightkite as well as the later-to-arrive, game-based networks like Foursquare and Gowalla. Even user review site Yelp is getting in on the action. So is Google. And so is Facebook, apparently.

But is sharing your location with your online "friends" asking for trouble?

After Google Buzz launched to a lot of hype and controversy in early February, it looked like it could become a big hit for Google - especially after the company fixed some of the early privacy flaws that plagued Buzz in its early days. These days, however, a lot of us on the RWW team have noticed that the number of interactions on Buzz seems to have declined rapidly. While a lot of people are still sharing their blog posts, Flickr and Twitter items on Buzz, the number of comments and likes on most posts is pretty low.

We're pleased to announce ReadWriteWeb's latest premium report, Augmented Reality for Marketers and Developers: Analysis of the Leaders, the Challenges and the Future.

This report will help you develop a sophisticated understanding of Augmented Reality (AR), the mobile and web technology that places data on top of a user's view of the physical world. The research included will help you decrease your AR development time to market by learning from the first wave of early adopters. AR offers a new marketing and product paradigm for a high impact, high value customer experience. More than 1,000 AR campaigns were kicked-off last year and we expect to see many more in 2010. In this report, we profile key AR development companies, their campaigns as well as development lessons learned.

Last week, a video of online magazine VIVmag's iPad app made the rounds on the web. Featured in The New York Times as a taste of digital reading's future, this extraordinary, interactive video-infused 'zine was beautiful to watch, but left many others questioning if the expense of creating tablet-ready content like this was actually feasible. For some, that answer - surprisingly - may be yes. According to Jeanniey Mullen, CMO of the magazine's distributor, Zinio, the cost was not as expensive as you may think - it was "not even $100,000," she said. But $100 grand to create one copy of an online magazine? That's far beyond the reach of many micro-publishers. And yet, for them too, the iPad introduces the possibility of reaching a wider audience than ever before.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, and prominent researcher Nigel Shadbolt will lead a new British Institute for Web Science with $45 million in government backing. The announcement was not without its critics, but the Institute could have a world-wide impact.

The two men collaborated in helping build the excellent data.gov.uk and will now expand upon that work. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said of the move: "We are determined to go further in breaking down the walled garden of Government...This Institute will help place the UK at the cutting edge of research on the Semantic Web and other emerging web and internet technologies."

A ReadWriteWeb Guide

As a tech conference strongly linked to an epic music festival, SXSW Interactive is the perfect place for music and tech geeks to converge.

Musicians, get ready to nerd out and learn how to sell your wares and increase your fanbase online. And geeks, get ready to let your love for music show. Perhaps with a little cooperation and cross-discipline interaction, this whole "music on the Internet" thing will work out, after all.

Today ReadWriteWeb is announcing our second event, the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010. It will take place May 7, 2010, in Mountain View, California.

The ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit will be an exploration of the latest Mobile development trends, both the technology and the emerging business applications. Registration is now open,