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iPad 2 Shipping Times Blow Out To 4-5 Weeks

Its not even a week since the iPad 2 launch and the shipping times for online orders have slipped from the original 3-5 days as it was when it was released to 2-3 weeks 5 hours later, 3-4 weeks over the weekend and now to a whopping 4-5 weeks. This shipping time applies to all the various models available whether it be WiFi or 3G, Verizon or AT&T or whether it is 16GB or 64GB which effectively means if you order one today it would be late April before you get your hands on the iPad 2.

With the international launch of the iPad 2 on March 25th one must wonder whether Apple will, as they have done so frequently in the past, delay the international launch citing insufficient stock. At this stage it certainly isnt out of the realm of possibility.

[Via 9to5 Mac]

On Stage: iPod Companion App with Wikipedia Integration

On Stage, a new app by German developer Fabian Kreiser, is a lightweight companion to the iPhone’s iPod application that, together with a custom UI design, comes with neat Wikipedia integration that also supports Sophiestication’s Articles out of the box.

If you’re looking for a more powerful iPod replacement that does a bunch of things like Wikipedia lookup and recommended artists, make sure to check out My Artists, which we reviewed a couple of times on MacStories. On Stage is a smaller alternative with a feature set focused on letting you pick music from the iPod library and display Wikipedia information for the playing album, song, or artist. The app also displays lyrics like in iPod.app but has a function to retrieve lyrics online if missing. Read more

Apple’s Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake→

Apple’s Role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake

You know how in disaster movies, people on the street gather around electronic shops that have TVs in the display windows so they can stay informed with what is going on?  In this digital age, that’s what the Tokyo Apple stores became.  Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones.  Even after we finally had to close 10pm, crowds of people huddled in front of our stores to use the wifi into the night, as it was still the only way to get access to the outside world.

The Apple staff have done a terrific job in aiding the people of Japan in connecting with friends and relatives by utilizing the power of kindness and modern technology. FaceTime, iPhones, and WiFi available at the retail stores brought relief and comfort to families as the impact and aftermath of the earthquake was felt throughout Tokyo.

I’d also like to remind readers that you can contribute to earthquake and tsunami relief through the iTunes Store. Even a small amount like $5 goes a long way.

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Inside Apple’s Temporary Store in Austin

As you may have heard, Apple has been busy setting up a temporary store in Austin, TX for SXSW attendees willing to buy an iPad 2 during the days of the event. Following high demand for the new device and to make it easy for SXSW folks (which are many, and usually geeks) to buy a new iPad, Apple decided to take a temporary location to turn into a “popup shop” for two weeks.

In the video below posted by Cult of Mac, you can see the huge line formed this morning from people wanting to get their hands on the iPad or check out the new store. Some people were in line since 8 AM, others likely even before, but they weren’t exactly sure the Apple Store was going to be there as the company didn’t confirm anything until this morning, when Apple employees walked out cheering, telling customers to get in. Basically, that was a line made of hype and blog’s coverage of a rumor. It needs to be mentioned, though, that Apple’s black clothes are usually a good indication of a store being set up to accomodate a new launch.

Also in the video: Apple employee casually dancing inside the Store. Read more

“TV Anywhere” Looks Promising: Time Warner Launching iPad App To Stream TV

While Sling Media’s iPad app already exists to stream TV from anywhere thanks to your Slingbox, the powerplay into “TV anywhere” will ultimately be made by cable companies and Internet service providers. With companies like Hulu and Netflix competing against Time Warner, Dish Network, and Comcast, the only move left is to level the playing field by making content available everywhere. If I can get a new episode of House every week on my iPad from Time Warner (even more crucial when traveling), what’s the use in paying an additional fee for Hulu? While I’ve ditched cable all together because of the outrageous subscription fees, I may be enticed back with the promise of being able to stream content to my iPad. Read more

Eighth Beta of 10.6.7 Seeded to Developers

As noted by MacRumors, Apple has seeded a new build of OS X 10.6.7 to developers earlier today. Build 10J869 doesn’t list known issues and, according to developers, Apple keeps asking to focus on Safari, Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers testing.

The seventh beta of 10.6.7 was seeded last week. This leads us to think the final release of the OS update is nearing completion, also considering the small increment in build version number from last week’s beta.

Apple To Sell Around 3.6 Million Macs This Quarter

At the Q1 2011 earnings call in January, Apple posted record revenue of $26.74 billion with 4.13 million Macs sold. That was a new record for the company, which sold 3.36 million Macs in the Q1 2010 quarter. Piper Jaffray’s analyst Gene Munster believes, basing on data from research market firm NPD, that in the fiscal quarter ending this month Apple will sell between 3.5 and 3.7 million Macs – somewhere below the expectations following last quarter’s results.

For January and February, Apple is trending up 16 percent over the year-ago quarter. That would put Apple at about 3.6 million Macs for the quarter. The street consensus is for Macs to be up in the 22 percent range year over year. The 16 percent gain would put Apple within, but at the low end, of Munster’s expectations of 15 percent to 25 percent.

The fact that Apple was readying its new line of MacBook Pros in February might reflect in slowdowns in sales as consumers were anticipating the new products. But, then again, that could lead to an increase in sales in March – although the figure won’t be included in this fiscal quarter’s results.

One thing is for sure: in the past quarters, Apple usually surpassed analysts’ general consensus on unit sales and revenue, especially thanks to the explosion of iOS devices outside and in the US. Whether the new MacBook Pros and Airs could lead to similar surprises is still to be seen.

Bon Jovi Hates Steve Jobs For Killing Music with iTunes

Everybody loves iTunes, right? The user-friendly experience of clicking the buy button, the huge catalogue of artists and albums available on it (with The Beatles, too), the integrated environment with iOS devices and Macs. Everybody loves iTunes.

Actually, no. Bon Jovi hates it and he thinks Steve Jobs is “personally responsible” for killing the music business. Seriously, according to Bon Jovi the man just took away the magic of buying physical records and firing up your walkman. In an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, Bon Jovi went ahead with the following statements:

Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album; and the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it. God, it was a magical, magical time. I hate to sound like an old man now, but I am, and you mark my words, in a generation from now people are going to say: ‘What happened?’. Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business.

On a related note, Gutenberg is personally responsible for killing handwritten books. Oh, the magic of manually writing thousands of copies of the same book. And that Simjian guy? Man, he totally took the beauty of manually withdrawing cash away from me. Not to mention the insane operation by Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner: with the invention of lighters, he killed the pleasure of manually lighting my cigars.

Let me tell you something, Bon Jovi. This little thing you hate is called “progress”. Yes, the same progress that allows your guitars to be amplified on stage. So perhaps next time, instead of blaming Steve Jobs for a digital market revolution that came after years of research at Apple, you’d like to think about it and consider that if some artists still manage to produce their records, it’s because of the ease of use of digital downloads. [via Cult of Mac]

iPad 2 Camera Examples & iMovie

The iPad 2 is outfitted with a pair of cameras that allow for intimate FaceTime and HD recording sessions, but how do these cameras rank on the still photo front? Several blogs have posted some pics already, but I wanted to do a few examples of my own (including a homemade movie) that really shows off what you can expect to do with your new tablet.

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