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Maybe they would convert to pentalobular, since they are so great.

Pentalobe screws are Patented; precisely for that reason.

If they actually wanted to go with something better than Phillips they would have gone with Torx.

They did that, too, long, long ago; but I think that they wanted something that was easier for precision hand-assembly than the Torx. At that size, a Torx head looks like a damned DOT to the naked eye; but the Pentalobe has much larger "features" (lobes), that the assembler can visually locate without necessarily resorting to magnification,plus the "lobes" are much "meatier" (as opposed to the tiny "teeth" of Torx at that size), which means far more torque can be applied before camming-out (which Phillips screws are actually DESIGNED to do). And the final assembly of iPhones is still a mostly-manual operation.

Pentalobe is not torx.

... this is clearly not my field of knowledge :) but how could making it non-removable double the battery life? were the pre-removable-batteries really THAT bad? And in phones or iPods or wherever else, too?

The amount of, for lack of a better word, infrastructure required to make a battery removable takes up a huge amount of room. Look at the iPhone battery, the iPad battery (the hole is where the 3G modem goes, there's no wasted space), and the new retina MacBook Pro.

Making the battery removable would've made the case thicker and the battery smaller. Furthermore, specifically in the MBP, they can make the battery non-rectangular (which is essentially impossible if it's removable) and take better advantage of the nooks and crannies of free space available. That's where I got my doubling figure from; I get 3.5-4hr on my replaceable-battery MBP if I'm not feeling frisky. But under the same sorts of workloads a newer model non-removable battery MBP gets a no-exaggeration 7 hours. It's clearly a drawback for people who need 12 hours of battery and were previously able to stock 3 batteries, but very few people actually need that kind of battery life (though a lot of people around here felt like they might).

... this is clearly not my field of knowledge :) but how could making it non-removable double the battery life? were the pre-removable-batteries really THAT bad? And in phones or iPods or wherever else, too?

The amount of, for lack of a better word, infrastructure required to make a battery removable takes up a huge amount of room. Look at the iPhone battery, the iPad battery (the hole is where the 3G modem goes, there's no wasted space), and the new retina MacBook Pro.

Making the battery removable would've made the case thicker and the battery smaller. Furthermore, specifically in the MBP, they can make the battery non-rectangular (which is essentially impossible if it's removable) and take better advantage of the nooks and crannies of free space available. That's where I got my doubling figure from; I get 3.5-4hr on my replaceable-battery MBP if I'm not feeling frisky. But under the same sorts of workloads a newer model non-removable battery MBP gets a no-exaggeration 7 hours. It's clearly a drawback for people who need 12 hours of battery and were previously able to stock 3 batteries, but very few people actually need that kind of battery life (though a lot of people around here felt like they might).

Except for the fact that it's advertised right on the package that in Australia, only 3G speeds will be available. The information is listed on the outside of the box above the model number according to iFixit:

http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/Kdi1XOouIp1VDAoN.medium
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad-3-4G-Teardown/8277/1

You mean these generous blobs of thermal paste?

If you look at the photo on iFixIt, the screw threads aren't stripped, so the fastener can still do its job. The real issue is far less severe; the phillips head drive feature of the screw is rounded out, so removal of the screw will be slightly difficult.
http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/4ZIBKLqN3opVFVXg.huge

While less than ideal, I don't see this as a major issue. The unlocked ZIF connector is a much more serious problem, IMHO.

But just like with the iPad, we've got real innovation here that came out of a closed environment.

I don't see any innovation here. Kinect and iPad are both just evolutionary steps. None of the concepts of these devices are in any form new. To have companies with infinite resources make products out of ideas and concepts that have been researched and prototyped for decades by public institutions as well as the private sector is not innovation.

String enough evolutions together and you get a revolution. Like the Wiimote, which put Bluetooth-enabled accelerometers and infrared cameras into a small handheld device at a price that anyone can afford, this Kinect camera device has the potential to seriously change how the do-it-yourself community interacts with their computers. Think of all the new applications the open source community came up with for the Wiimote, many of which were featured here on /.; now imagine what they'll be able to come up with for this device.

I can't wait to see what comes around when someone builds usable open drivers for this baby. I don't own a 360, but the prospect of plugging this into my computer or HTPC and getting voice controls, facial recognition, and arbitrary movement recognition for use as input are giving me chills. I mean, just look at what you get for $150: two cameras, an IR projector, four microphones, all mounted on a motorized base with hardware/software that can generate a 3D image in approximately realtime. I can't wait to be able to sign my name in midair to use as my password.

"Computer, open Firefox; website: slashdot.org."

it actually reads tripod.