Microsoft built an empire off of Windows and with every version released, came the mind boggling question: “Do I want Windows Xp Starter Edition, Xp Tablet PC Edition, Xp Media Center Edition, Xp Home Edition or Xp Professional Edition?” For Windows Vista, the choice was between 6 possible versions for X86 machines and the same was true for Windows 7 – not to mention different price points and requirements.
Apple’s newest tablet, the “New iPad” or as the rest of us are calling it: The iPad 3 – goes on sale at retail stores today and long lines are starting to form. In-store sales are the only way people can get their hands on the new iPad (same day), as online orders have slipped to 3 weeks (for shipping) – so I guess it’s not exactly surprising that so many people are showing up.
Apple has said that online orders are “Exceeding Expectations” and we’ve heard that there is a strong possibility that within the first 24hours, Apple sold more than 1 million new iPads – seems like there’s still people that like that in-strore/same day experience. Also, like always, Steve Wozniak was standing in line (1st in line) at a Los Angeles Apple store – video below. The co-founder of Apple and long time fan, has always waited in line for Apple products – going the “regular guy” route, rather than just calling up Apple and getting his hands on the newest gadget. Coverage to continue…
Source: AppleInsider
Ladies and Gents – mark your calendars because Microsoft has released a date for the “Consumer Preview” – February 29th! Microsoft will unveil the slimmed down version of Windows 8 at Mobile World Congress (MWC) and while it won’t be a complete release version, we will get a chance to see how the metro UI has been integrated within PC windows. This is a big play for Microsoft and while Windows 7 has been a great success for Redmond, Windows 8 is a completely different animal, as it combines windows phone and the traditional desktop OS. If Microsoft can pull off this hybrid marriage, we might be looking at the comeback of Redmond.
Source: TheVerge
Apple’s iPhone 4S global launch has been going very very well…..until yesterday and as of now, all 5 of Apple’s Chinese stores have been closed. Essentially, mad chaos broke out at Apple’s Beijing location, while the store was opening for the release of the iPhone 4S – reports have pegged the problems with scalpers outside the store but Apple has released this statement:
…The demand for iPhone 4S has been incredible and our stores in China have already sold out. Unfortunately, we were unable to open our store at Sanlitun due to the large crowd. And to ensure the safety of our customers and our employees, iPhones will not be available in our retails stores in Beijing and Shanghai for the time being..
Eventually, a S.W.A.T. police unit had to be called in to get the crowd under control – this was after people started throwing eggs due to the closure of the store. While the iPhone 4S can still be ordered online, it looks like in-store purchases will be a no go for some time to come.
Source: Reuters
On the very day Rimm announced availability (April 19th) and pricing (16GB -$500) for its BlackBerry tablet, Apple counters with its own press release stating that the iPad 2 will go ahead and push into 25 more countries without delay on Friday, the 25th of March. This is what is called a ball-breaker! Apple will essentially have global distribution of the iPad 2 before the Playbook is even released in the States – Check & Mate!
Are you living in a lucky country? Have a look:
“…iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK on March 25 for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) the 64GB model. iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April, and in many more countries around the world in the coming months. Further international availability and pricing will be announced at a later date….”
One thing is for sure, don’t expect such low prices, especially for my brothers living here in Europe. Higher tax rates and import duties have sealed our faith and our price points but for the die hard iPad fans, I’m sure you’ve already sold your first born.
Source: Apple.com
Looks like Mozilla is set to release the next big update to its open source browser (FireFox 4) to the world on March 22, 2011. Damon Sicore, Mozilla’s senior engineering director said:
Firefox 4 RC1 has received a very warm welcome; it’s time to make a decision to ship. As of now, there are no known issues that would stop us from shipping RC1 as final. At the conclusion of our regular 11:30AM triage session on Wednesday, March 16th, release drivers will decide whether to ship RC1 as Firefox 4.
What can we expect from FireFox 4? Well, I’ve been begging for speed, as both Safari and especially Chrome, are ridiculously faster in rendering web content. UI changes have been added: smart tab placement, app specific tabs and an expose-esque tab organizer – sounds good. Also, the addition of WebGL “built in” promises graphics acceleration and makes Mozilla’s FireFox a truly modern browser – so speed will be built in – now let’s have a look.
Source: Electronista.com
“If you build it, they will come.” Apple released the iPad 2 to the world on Friday and by limiting pre-orders, has generated lines at many of its retail locations – was this premeditated by Jobs & Company for the line-less Verizon iPhone 4 launch? Regardless, the faithful and non-believing lined up early Friday for their slice of the slate. Many organizations are already predicting 600,000+ ipad 2 sales just for this weekend, Apple’s stock price…..up 4.82 as of this article.
And in a ridiculously genius move by Apple, their mysterious SXSW (South By South-West) temporary store, has lines already forming. (Picture above) When combined with the other 2 Apple locations in Austin, Texas - Apple might just rocket past that 600,000 unit mark. HP, releasing that TouchPad this summer might just be the best idea yet.
UPDATE: Apple iPad 2 orders have slipped to 2-3 weeks for shipping.
Verizon is getting all set for the iPhone 4 release this coming week with a website countdown(really), email alerts and TV commercials. Interestingly enough, actual sign-ups for the iPhone 4 on Verizon’s site start at 3a.m. Eastern time – that’s right 3a.m.! Weird right? Well, not really if you take into account what happened to AT&T’s website during last summer’s iPhone 4 sigh-up – the site suffered from slow or no network activity.
Verizon is hoping that potential die-hard iphone 4 customers will stay up and get their orders in before the following morning, when less thirsty upgrader’s sign-updispersing the traffic to Verizon’s site. If speculation about potential iPhone 4 sign-ups is true – Verizon’s site doesn’t stand a chance. NEXT!!
Source: Appleinsider.com