I have the Epillow! I got it as a Christmas gift to go along with my new iPad. I love it! Mainly because I always use my iPad before bed. Also used it on a few road trips this past month and it was super comfy!
No the iPad is not strap in, you just positioned the iPad inside the pillow and you are good to go you do not have to remove your ipad case unless you want to itbworks with with your case or without it.
I e-mailed the ePillow folks to ask about the black ePillow availability. They said it would be next week, so I am going to hold off on ordering mine until I can get a black one.