UK firm takes wagers on iPad 3 features, backs out quickly

Think you know what's coming up on March 7th, when Apple finally (maybe, likely, definitely) reveals the iPad 3? Then put your money where your far-flung prediction is. That was the idea behind SkyBet's iPad 3 prediction betting pool, which briefly allowed gamblers to place bets on the specifications of the upcoming ubergadget. Unfortunately the gambilng site took down its prospective predisctions a few hours later. Some of the odds had climbed as high as twelve to one.

Predictions for a retina display seemed downright certain, with 1/8 odds for and 9 to 2 against. More fanciful features, like a Thunderbolt port (5 to 1 for, 1/50 against) and an SD card slot (12 to 1 for, 8/13 against) got better returns if they actually panned out. Interestingly, most of the participating gamplers believed that the iPad 3 wouldn't get the name we've all assumed that it will have, instead copying the iPhone's nomenclature and going by "iPad 2s". This option had the same odds as the retina display prediction.

SkyBet didn't say why they removed the portal, or if the bets already made would be honored. We won't have to wait long to find out the truth, in any case – Apple's San Francisco event is exactly one week from today. In a fit of corporate rivalry, Apple sent out invitations to the event during Google CEO Eric Schmidt's keynote speech at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Next Wednesday you can head over to live.slashgear.com to catch our on-location liveblog. At 10:00 AM Pacific time, all bets are off.

[via Crave]