Journalists streaming into the iPad event yesterday were greeted by a handful of volunteers from the Free Software Foundation protesting DRM restrictions in the about-to-be released device.

They dubbed the iPad the iBad for two reasons:

* All media in the iTunes store (with the one exception of music) is wrapped in Apple’s DRM. That means films, TV shows, movies and audiobooks (NB: books are in an open format ePub) are locked to Apple’s platform, taking away your right to share.

* All applications must be signed by Apple if they are to run, an unprecedented level of control for a general purpose computer. On top of this, Apple can push updates to the device over its wireless connection, letting them add or remove capabilities at any time.

There were only about six or seven naysayers outside Yerba Buena center yesterday, but they still hope to bring about some long-term change, namely by getting people to sign an online petition.

On Sunday night, I made a set of predictions for what to expect from Wednesday’s keynote. It was intended to be direct, straightforward and make a clear forecast of what we would actually see. How’d I do? Let’s go to the tape.

The Tablet Will Have a Custom UI, but Closer to iPhone Experience Than Mac

Probably the biggest question on everyone’s mind is what operating system will power Apple’s tablet of the future, with the leading candidates being Mac OS X and iPhone OS. The more I’ve thought about it, neither is perfectly suited to running such a device, which will be more focused on content creation than the iPhone but less so than the Mac. I’m therefore willing to say that the Tablet is a lock to get its own user interface built on top of core OS X technologies. It will be heavily gesturally driven (yes, even more so than the iPhone), and have far more precise sensing than the current iPhone screen. That said, this UI will more closely resemble the iPhone in look and functionality than it will Snow Leopard. Multitasking is still of less overall utility on a purely touch device than it is on one with a keyboard and mouse combo, so expect full-screen applications, no overlapping windows and possibly iPhone apps that run as widgets on a Dashboard.

NAILED IT! I was wrong about the apps as widgets on a Dashboard, but that’s a tiny miss — and I think it would have been better than the actual solution, which is to run iPhone apps as either iPhone resolution or blow them up to double size.
Score 9.5/10

The iPad is revolutionizing the way we use email, the web, play music, browse through images, and watch movies/tv. Here’s a preview on how they look on the iPad:

Well, it’s finally here: Tablet Week. Or, as I like to think of it, it’s time for there to be Just One More Thing. We all know how significant we expect this announcement to be. A major new advancement in computing, a killer device for a market that has failed time after time, and, just maybe, the last great breakthrough product of Steve Jobs’s amazing career.

All will be revealed on Wednesday, but since we’ve got to something in the interceding 60 hours, I’ve decided to go all in and actually make some bets on killer features for the Apple Tablet With No Name. They’re my best guess based on what we know about the existing tablet and eReader markets, soon-to-launch technologies, and past actions of Apple itself. I haven’t touched one, I haven’t talked to anyone who has, and the Apple employees I’ve seen in the last few weeks are people who know even less about the big secret project than I do.

We start off with a new batch of App Store freebies from Apple, including the game Brain Balance Pro. You can never have too much spare juice when your iPhone’s battery is on its last legs. For such an occasion is Cable Unlimited’s Battery Boost. Finally, Apple’s iLife ’09 productivity suite on sale.

For details on these and many other items, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

The slavering, cannibalistic undead have shambled onto the App Store in the new Dawn of the Dead game, available now for iPhones and iPod Touches.

As a fan of Romero’s spaghetti zombies, I’m slightly disappointed to learn that Dawn of the Dead is based not on the original 1978 classic, but Zack Snyder’s execrable 2004 remake. That means fast zombies and Ving Rhames. Ugh.

Still, it’s hard to go wrong with a zombie game, and Dawn of the Dead seems like a perfectly serviceable zombie masher. Its gameplay model seems plucked from the likes of games like Dracula X, Crimsonland and SmashTV: it’s a top-down shoot-em-up, with a number of weapons and power ups.

At $1.99, you might as well pick it up: with the forthcoming zombie apocalypse as certain as the release of the Apple Tablet, you’ll need all the zombie-beheading practice you can get.

We start off the week with new deals on MacBook Pro computers, more juice for your iPhone or iPod touch, and your own collection of classic reading material for free. The Apple Store has nearly two dozen MacBook Pro laptops, starting at $999 for a 2.26GHz 13″ unibody MacBook Pro. Are you looking for a convenient way to boost your iPhone’s talk or music time? The Morphie JuicePack lets you have 250 hours of standby or 24 hours of music for just $66. Finally, have you wanted to build your library of classic literature but don’t have the bucks, or the space? We have a deal you can’t beat: 112 titles, including Wizard of Oz, Little Women and Frankenstein, for free from the iTunes Store.

Along the way, we look at ways to conserve your computing energy, connect faster, hear better and become a comfier couch potato. As always, details on these and many more bargains can be found after the jump.

We start off with several MacBook Air laptops from the Apple Store, including a 1.6GHz 13-inch model for $1,099. Also on the price-chopping block: a $30 saving on a 64GB solid-state drive from Super Talent, plus BlueAction’s BAE Bluetooth headsets.

Along the way, we also look at DVDRemaster Pro 6 for the Mac, the Genius EasyPen tablet and assorted other gadgets. As always, for details on these and many other bargains, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Apple is back with two hardware deals, including its 27-inch iMac and the iPod shuffle. For iMac fans, the desktop computer is rated 3.06GHz, using a Core 2 Duo processor. If you’re tired of hearing about the iPod touch, you may welcome a change of pace with the tiny shuffle – either the 1GB or 2GB version. Lastly, we highlight Kensington’s LiquidAUX Deluxe car kit for the iPhone or iPod.

We also take a look at more iPhone cases, software and assorted gadgets. As always, for details on these or many other bargains, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

LAS VEGAS — Lasers make a big difference for pico projectors, says Microvision, which, coincidentally, is showing off the first laser pico projector made for iPod at CES.

Although pico projectrors are a crowded field, Microvision’s SHOWWX Laser Pico Projector is the first powered by laser, which gives it better color and infinite focus, the company says. Most other pico projectors are powered by LED.