Apple Begins Accepting iPad Apps in Preparation for Launch

Developers have about a week to submit their apps for review by Apple, if they want to make the iPad launch.

A new Apple is about to fall from the tree, and if developers want to get the first bites, they’ll need to hustle. On Friday, Apple opened up the iPad App Store to developers by beginning to accept the first non-Apple iPad apps.

Developers will need to submit their applications by March 27, giving them a little over a week to finish putting the spit shine on their iPad apps. Because Apple released the software developer’s kit at the beginning of March, programmers will have had less than a month total – and no physical product for testing – to develop their apps on.

Or most of them, at least. According to BusinessWeek, a select few developers have been granted access to iPads for testing, provided they sign a 10-page contract agree to keep them “isolated in a room with blacked-out windows,” and tethered to a fixed object.

After an initial review from Apple, developers will receive an e-mail back from Apple with regard to their application’s “readiness for the grand opening.”