Apple To Court Small Businesses With New iPad 2

The new service option will cover five iPad units for $500 a year and provide priority technical support, including help setting up and onsite service calls.

"With a mobile media event slated for Wednesday, Apple has done what Apple does best: captured the imagination of the tech community. It turns out, however, that we may need a little more imagination to predict what's in store. According to an inside report from AppleInsider, the consumer electronics giant intends to launch a new small business support plan, titled Joint Venture, alongside its iPad announcements.

In a series of storewide meetings yesterday, Apple prepared retail employees for a March 2nd launch of the new Joint Venture priority service plan. At $499/annually, the plan might appear to be more expensive than Apple's existing ProCare service plan ($99); however, Joint Venture will cover up to 5 clients, with the option to add additional machines for a familiar $99 a year."