Apple Could Sell 600,000 iPad 2’s This Weekend, Double The Original’s Launch Sales

Speaking with several industry analysts, Bloomberg has reported that Apple could sell 600,000 units as it debuts this weekend. One such analyst, Brian Marshall from Gleacher & Co predicts more than 500,000 sales which would be close to double the original iPad’s 300,000 sales in 24 hours. Apple released its iPad 2 for purchase on its online store in the early hours of today and already orders are backlogged for 2-3 weeks, whilst Apple’s 236 US retail stores and select others will also offer the iPad 2 from 5PM today. Meanwhile many other countries will get the iPad 2 later this month on March 25th.

The original iPad had massive success in sales, becoming the fastest selling product by revenue, reaping in $2 billion within three months, a feat that took the iPhone more than a year to achieve. Tim Bajarin said that “Apple has such a huge lead, competitors are going to be chasing Apple for many years” referring also to the fact that Apple’s competitors are only now releasing their first generation tablets in the coming months.

[Via Bloomberg]

iPad 2 Shipping Times Now Over 2-3 Weeks

The iPad 2 went on sale through the Apple online store almost 5 hours ago and the shipping times have rapidly changed as people clicked the buy button to purchase the new device. Up to 5-7 business days from the initial 3-5 business days in less than 3 hours, the Apple Store now reports shipping times of 2-3 weeks.

Same applies for the WiFi + 3G models:

Are you getting an iPad 2 at your local Apple retail store today? Standing in line already? Send us pics: tips[at]macstories.net

Infinity Blade, Dead Space, Real Racing 2 HD: Now With iPad 2 Support

Just in time for the iPad 2 fever that has begun a few hours ago, three of the most popular iOS games have been updated to include optimizations and new features meant specifically for the iPad 2.

First off, Real Racing 2 HD: not an update, but a brand new version of Real Racing HD from Firemint that follows the steps of Real Racing 2 for iPhone to offer 30 licensed cars, career mode, local or online multiplayer. Most of all, Real Racing 2 HD comes with full iPad 2 support out of the box with enhanced graphics and gyroscope integration. You can find it here at $9.99. Read more

Alleged iPhone 5 Design Documents Show Bigger Screen

Update 2: To keep the display of the iPhone one that qualifies as a “Retina Display” whilst increasing the physical size and not the number of pixels, Apple could increase the display up to a size of 3.845-inches (diagonal) before it drops below 300 pixels per inch which as Steve Jobs explained in the iPhone 4 keynote, was the required PPI specification so that the human eye cannot differentiate between individual pixels when looking at a display around 10 or 12 inches away. (Thanks @ianharrier)

Update: MacRumors forum member, ‘Bartboy919’ did some clever comparison on those images to the current iPhone 4 and it seems as though the form factor is exactly the same which would suggest something around a 3.7-inch display rather than the current 3.5-inch display.

In a new purported leak of the iPhone 5’s design, iDealsChina claims to have gotten a hold of engineering diagrams of the iPhone 5, which show a nearly identical design to the iPhone 4 with the exception of a larger screen, potentially one that is 4 inches. The screen seems to take up a larger portion of the front face of the phone and the bezel on the sides of the display is much thinner.

Whilst there are a number of purported leaks of design documents for upcoming Apple device releases, iDealsChina has previously leaked accurate design renderings of the fourth generation iPod Nano and they have also previously claimed to have posted a photo of the iPhone 5’s bezel which correspond with these drawings. Whilst this doesn’t confirm these designs are accurate it does decrease the likelihood that these are fake. Jump the break for another picture of the drawings.

Read more

The Time Is Now! iPad 2 Is Online

The iPad 2 has officially launched in the Apple Store for United States shoppers, and if you don’t know why or what you’re getting into, quickly get the rundown from our iPad 2 roundup. It’s available in eighteen different models between white & black, storage capacities, and carrier compatibility, and they’re all up for grabs. Don’t forget about the iPad 2’s must have accessories, including those delicious Smart Covers (which I think are genius), the Apple iPad 2 Dock, the Apple Wireless Keyboard and the AV Digital Connector for HDMI out. Lastly, don’t forget about AppleCare!

Shipping Updates:

  • iPad 2s are shipping within 3-5 business days (limit two per order).
  • Smart Covers are shipping within 1-2 business days.
  • The iPad 2 Dock is shipping within 1-3 weeks.
  • Digital AV Adapters are shipping within 1-2 business days.

Apple will recommend a lot of these goodies at checkout. Once you add your iPad to the cart, the most common accessories (recommended for you) should help you checkout with a full basket faster.

If you’re considering some optional upgrades, the Apogee JAM is available as a companion for GarageBand, and will ship within 3-4 weeks.

Update: iPad 2 shipping times in the US are already up to 5-7 business days from 3-5 business days last night.

iPad & Tablets Bring 200,000 New Subscribers to WSJ

There’s been quite a debate around the implementation of Apple’s new subscription policy for publishers (we’ll see the real consequences in June) and the problems faced by newspapers and magazine apps for the iPad, which most of the time don’t offer anything users couldn’t find already for free online, or in previously released printed formats. The funny thing is, sometimes the digital version costs even more than print, has a clunky purchase and download system and less content than the magazine. Newspapers, on the other hand, offer less news at a slower rate than a website. For this reason publishers have struggled, and Apple hopes to invert the situation with an easy to use subscription system that’s the first step towards a wider adoption of magazines and newspapers for the tablet. But in the meantime, the Wall Street Journal reports some interesting numbers.

The publication announced they added 200,000 new subscribers from tablets like the iPad, Nook, Kindle and Android devices in the past year. Now I’m no WSJ insider, but I guess most of these subscribers come from the popular WSJ iPad app, which is available for free in the App Store and requires a login for paid subscribers.

The 200k figure is a combination of News Corp’s paid subscriber base on all tablet-size devices, including the iPad, Android tablets, the Kindle, and the Nook. In contrast, the print edition currently represents a circulation of approximately 1.6 million.

The company hasn’t provided numbers for smartphones. With the iPad and Kindle being the ideal reading devices for many, lower performances on iPhones and Android devices wouldn’t be a surprise at all. [via Electronista]

Blue Planet Casts Shadows On Your Mac Desktop

A couple things are very telling of an individual when you first analyze how they use their Mac. Desktop wallpaper in particular is very personal, and Blue Planet for the Mac transforms the desktop into a world theater cast in shadow. Perhaps someone who paints their desktop with glow of sleeping cities finds it almost calming that the world continues to turn as time intended it. Blue Planet covers your desktop in a map of the Earth, overlaying one of four different topographic maps, and enables you to pinpoint your location if location services are enabled. In real time, you can witness the passing of the sun as day turns to night for the small price of $4.99 in the App Store.

What’s New In iOS 4.3 for Apple TV→

What’s New In iOS 4.3 for Apple TV

iLounge has posted its usual rundown of what’s new in the latest Apple TV software update, and this time it looks rather huge. One problem, though: why does Apple keep naming ATV software releases inconsistently with the rest of iOS devices? Internally the Apple TV displays “4.3”, but Apple calls it “4.2 software update”. This is beyond my understanding.

Anyway, the new sports applications baked into the ATV look great, especially the MLB.TV one with all those fancy graphics, interactive menus and HD video. I’m not baseball or basketball expert (but I like an NBA game every once in a while), but these apps seem really well done.

MLB.tv is available in all countries where iTunes Movie Rentals are offered, specifically the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, the U.K. and Japan.

NBA League Pass on the Apple TV is available only in the United States. Although the NBA offers an International League Pass on its web site, this is different from the U.S. League Pass and cannot be used on the Apple TV—a U.S. League Pass account is required to login.

Together with the NBA and MLB.TV apps, a new redesigned keyboard with a “recent” option for quick input, new slideshows themes, time zone and HDMI output settings and the much-talked AirPlay support also made it into this update.

iOS 4.3 for Apple TV is a solid update. Check out the full roundup at iLounge.

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