Minor at this stage perhaps but there seems to be some disquiet in developer circles concerning Apple's decision to use its own custom Apple A4 chip to power the iPad.

Notably the reason is that despite four times the screen area, the 3D hardware is thought to be an ARM Mali 55, which would be less powerful than the PowerVR SGX part used in the iPhone 3GS.

Peter Bielatowicz, of Polish developer Bloober Team, which has just announced its Gender Wars strategy game for iPad, isn't too worried however.

"Honestly, we are not really concerned with the removing the PowerVR chip and replacing it with an ARM Mali of whatever version. We don't foresee any performance problems - of course, only practical tests will confirm this. Compatibility may be affected, but I have no doubts Apple will prepare bypasses to implement it easily. The old hardware was more than enough powerful anyway," he explains.

Given lemons? Making lemonade

Indeed, he says it's more important that developers focus on the iPad's other specifics such as the screensize and other interface possibilities.

"We prefer to base ourselves on solid gameplay concepts and hand drawn graphics rather than 3D anyway," he states.

"Most of great games on handheld devices had 2D gameplay or were 3D simplified console ports. Creating complicated 3D games for iPad and iPhone can be profitable, but it isn't the most cost effective way to go.

"The good developer will take any device and will be able to make playable and great looking games on it. iPad offers more than any developer needs to achieve this, so I would put the hardware discussion aside and concentrate on its merits and fresh ideas which make the most of them.