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Opening Night at the SXSW iPad 2 Pop-up Store
Scheduling the iPad 2′s launch on the second day of SXSW Interactive seemed like a massive inconvenience and a pretty stupid move, especially when you observe how much Mac gear gets trundled around the conference center. But then it turned into a flash of marketing genius when Apple launched a pop-up store in downtown Austin (the only existing Austin Apple stores are in suburban malls a $30 cab ride away). The store was set up in only three days, but there was still time to install the trademark pinewood floors and track lighting and to elegantly display the merchandise (new iPads and their cases). And, of course, like all real Apple stores, it glowed.

The line started Friday morning around 10 AM. Tim Street of mDialog was number six in line, figuring that he’d stick around until there was something better to do. He ended up taking meetings for mDialog during the wait, and was also interviewed by CNN.

He got out of the store a little after 5 PM, which by pure coincidence was when my friend Megan joined the line. Megan Westerby is the hero of this story — she had already agreed to pick up a second iPad for me if I wasn’t able to join her, so when my plans for the evening fell through I made sure to come and keep her company (not to mention put the charge on my own card). When I first found her, the line was all the way down Congress Avenue and wrapped around the block; the sun was still up and burning bright. The Apple Store employees, wearing their signature blue t-shirts for launch day, passed out bottles of water. Everyone seemed to be a bit buzzed with raw adrenaline.

YouTube celebrity Phil DeFranco and director Tony Valenzuela were about ten feet ahead of us; jokingly, I asked why they were there. “I need a new phone charger,” DeFranco deadpanned.

They had DSLR cameras out to document the experience, and captured the most satisfying part of my time in line: when an Apple Store employee roamed down the line with cards, shouting out iPad models. “Verizon 3G?” he asked, and I raised my hand. He then asked for specifics on what model I needed — I’d been hoping for a 64 GB model, but then he said 32 GB and I figured, what the heck, I don’t need that much music storage. With that compromise made, he handed me my little slip of paper, representing one iPad that was officially mine once I made it into the store. I was still a half of a block away, but the exercise of waiting then became a zen-like experience

“What about AT&T?” Megan asked. The guy assured her that there were plenty of models for AT&T subscribers left. That tune started to change over the next hour — the cards clearly represented low-stock models. Soon the folks in blue t-shirts were distributing cards for AT&T models as well.

A line of people like this is a captive audience, and there was no shortage of people taking advantage of that, passing out cards, flyers or stickers (or saying hi to Phil DeFranco). The best by far were the guys from Sonos, whose magic fanny packs made them into walking phone chargers that waitees could plug into for a quick boost of power. They weren’t even iPhone-only — Android adapters were available.

Getting to the entrance revealed why this process seemed to be taking so long; each customer was individually escorted into the store by an employee, who was inexplicably, extremely cheerful — if not giddy. About ten minutes before 8 PM, I handed my precious card to “Lauren,” who guided me to the back wall to pick out my cover (green), then to the line to check out.

According to Lauren, about 70 percent of the employees working the store (and there were at least two dozen of them on the floor alone) were Austin locals — employees at other, presumably now-understaffed Apple stores. I heard another say that he was from Georgia, and would only be there for a few days before traveling on to another location.

After we left, the store stayed open for another three hours; the last customers left around 11:15 PM. An Apple representative declined to disclose the store’s sales, but I heard one clerk say to her customer that the only Apple store with more iPads in stock was the Fifth Avenue location in New York. The rumor among conference attendees is that Apple sold out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The lines weren’t quite as long, but still present.

Under the most boring of circumstances, three hours is a long time to spend waiting for anything. At SXSW, it was pretty painful, especially when people wandering by would ask what party we were waiting in line for. But I am far from the only one here who made the pilgrimage — the brightly colored paneled covers uniting us in slightly embarrassed solidarity. And while my iPad 2 is a little clunky — and I miss my keyboard and the control I have on my laptop — I feel like I hold the Internet in my hands. There’s definitely magic to that.
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The long line for the SXSW pop-up Apple Store in Austin, TX.

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iPad 2 First Video Look & Comparison to Android Tablets
Although many are braving lines for hours to get an iPad 2, my living in the sticks has paid off in spades: just 20 minutes before Apple’s new tablet went on sale, I showed up at a Best Buy and scored a device. The store also had the Smart Cover (which I inadvertently keep calling a Smart Case), so I grabbed one of those too, because the original iPad case never impressed me. Here’s a short unboxing and my first candid impressions, along with a few size comparisons to some Google Android tablets currently on the market: the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy Tab. I also hit the browser, photos and had a quick FaceTime chat with my son.

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As if you can’t tell from the video, I’m fairly impressed, especially with the feel of the new design. While the iPad 2 is more of an evolutionary upgrade, Apple has tweaked it to make for an even better overall experience that nearly any tablet consumer will appreciate. True, iOS isn’t perfect, but no mobile operating system is, so I can see why many people are in line waiting for the newest Apple tablet: they’re ready to join the “post-PC” era with a well designed, intuitive device.
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iPad 2 Now On Sale in Retail Stores
The iPad 2 is now available for purchase at your local Apple, Verizon, AT&T, Best Buy, Walmart and Target stores if you live on the east coast. It won’t be long before it goes on sale in the other U.S. time zones, too.

So far, it looks like Apple Stores have been the busiest retailer offering the iPad 2, with long lines numbering in the hundreds that began forming as early as yesterday and continued to grow throughout the day. Reports from third-party retailers were mixed, with some reporting plenty of stock and short lines at Best Buy, and others reporting low or no stock at AT&T and other locations. Our own Kevin Tofel scored one of the last iPads from his local Best Buy store.

How have you found the lines? Anyone turned away because of stock sellout or low stock to begin with?
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The iPad 2 Launch Day in Pictures and Video
The iPad 2 launch day is upon us, and as predicted, there are lines at Apple Store locations across the country. We’ve got staff at a few different locations who’ll be keeping us updated with pics and video, which we’ll post here for you to see. Check back regularly for new content and comments from the scene.

The first customer at the Leawood, KS store gets his iPads! From Dave Greenbaum:

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The Apple Store opens in Leawood, KS, and Dave Greenbaum is there to catch the action:

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3:20 — More new pictures in the gallery. A few new videos still to come.

2:44 — New photos in the gallery, including shots of Geoffrey Goetz getting his hands on an actual iPad 2!

Charles Jade shot this video of an Apple Store employee in NC telling people how to buy their iPads, and of the long line wrapping around the building:

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2:18 — Updated with a bunch more photos, including some from San Francisco and one of the store opening in Durham, NC. Videos of store opening coming soon!

1:45 — Added a few new photos from Leawood, KS and Durham, NC to the image gallery below.

Another Mall of America customer looking forward to getting his hands on the iPad 2:

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1:07 – Just added a bunch of new photos, including one of Apple setting up the new iPad 2 window display. Scroll down to the gallery to check them out.

The first two guys in line at the Leawood, KS store talk to Dave Greenbaum about the experience:

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An interview sent in by Andy Flochinni with an early line-goer at the Mall of America:

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Ryan Kim provides a longer look at the situation outside the NYC 5th Avenue Store:

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Here’s a new video from Ryan Kim filmed at the NYC 5th Avenue Apple Store:

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Writer Dave Greenbaum stopped by AT&T before heading to check out the line at the Leawood, KS Apple Store:

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Which Model to Buy? iPad 2′s Assisted GPS Demystified
There seems to be quite a bit of confusion online about what exactly “Assisted GPS” on Apple’s iOS devices is, especially regarding navigation-based app requirements. It can be a bit complicated, but understanding what it means could help you decide which iPad to buy.

For developers, the Core Location Framework in iOS can use the onboard GPS, cell, or Wi-Fi radios to find the user's current longitude and latitude. Each one has a different degree of accuracy and uses a different amount of battery life. This abstraction allows developers to write code without exactly knowing what capabilities the iOS device has available to it. So, for the most part, developers don’t always have strict requirements where GPS capabilities are concerned. But as a consumer, you want to know exactly what you’re getting for your money.

Wi-Fi iPad 2 and iPod Touch’s Wi-Fi Database

According to the tech specs for the iPod touch, this iOS device has what is referred to as “Maps location-based service”. This means that the user’s longitude and latitude are determined based on their proximity to known Wi-Fi networks. Since iOS 3.2, Apple has claimed to be using its own databases to provide such location-based services. So we know that the iPod touch and the Wi-Fi only iPad 2 aren’t using GPS, but what about the iPhone 4 and 3G-capable iPad 2?

Wi-Fi + 3G iPad 2 and iPhone 4′s Assisted GPS

With GPS devices, the assisted terminology refers to the fact that the resulting GPS data is enhanced. Under certain conditions, this enhancement can speed the start-up time to get an initial location fix faster. So the same technology that’s used in the iPod touch to determine a user’s location based on Wi-Fi proximity is being used on the iPhone and the Wi-Fi + 3G iPad 2 to assist these devices in getting that initial fix. The tech specs for the iPad 2 claim that only the Wi-Fi + 3G model has this “Assisted GPS” feature, and this is the same feature found on the iPhone. The Wi-Fi only model of the iPad 2 does not have this feature.

What Good is GPS on an iPad Beyond Online Maps?

While it is certainly true that the built-in Maps App is pretty much useless without data connectivity, there are an increasing number of apps that will either cache, install or download maps for offline access. MotionX GPS HD for US $2.99 in the App Store has what is likely to be one of the better implementations of downloading maps at a very reasonable price. GPS also means you’ll have more accurate results when using location-based recommendation or social networking apps. It’s not something that everyone needs, but as it becomes more and more popular, it could represent a significant upside to owning an iPad, so consider the benefits of assisted GPS when making your choice.
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Newspaper Plans to Give Free iPads to Subscribers
Montreal, Canada-based newspaper La Presse unveiled a plan today to offer a free iPad to readers of the paper who sign up for subscription terms of at least three years, according to Projetj.ca. The offer is part of the so-called “Plan iPad” of newspaper president and editor Guy Crevier, which details the publication’s strategy over the next three to five years.

The newspaper plans to invests around $25 million into the iPad plan, which also calls for an increasing shift toward digital and away from traditional paper distribution. Crevier has been bolstering the paper’s digital expertise with hires and technology investment in recent months, with the ultimate aim of going digital-only. Crevier reportedly looks to The Daily as a model of the future of the newspaper industry.

Crevier’s plan is to provide free iPads to subscribers within three years. A one-year subscription to the print edition of La Presse will cost you around $20 per month, or about $235. That means that three years, if pricing remains the same, will cost you around $690. Assuming La Presse is planning to offer the baseline 16 GB Wi-Fi model iPad as its free device (or whatever replaces that in three years’ time), it’ll be making about $160 per three-year subscription not including shipping costs, taxes, etc. But it could also choose to offer buyers a discounted deal on hardware with cheaper subscriptions, and absorb some of the cost of each device itself, buffering the financial blow with alternate revenue sources.

If La Presse continues to sell ad space for its new iPad-specific edition (which it almost certainly will, especially if it’s using The Daily as a benchmark), the newspaper could still stand to make quite a bit of money. Ad revenue is where print publications really see profit, anyways, with subscriptions barely covering distribution costs in most existing revenue models. Plus, distribution and publication costs will ultimately be reduced with digital-only publication.

It’s a model that seems to stand a good chance of incentivizing newspaper subscriptions, but it doesn’t address concerns surrounding the quality of digital newspaper content, and the ongoing inability of publications to keep iPad readers interested. Even if La Presse and other publications can hook readers with by dangling free iPads, it still needs them to keep opening the app and turning the virtual pages to land and maintain lucrative advertising partnerships.

What do you think? Would a free iPad convince you to renew that lapsed newspaper subscription, and if so, only under what circumstances and conditions?
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iOS App Provides Coverage of Japanese Earthquake
If, like us, you’re shocked about the news of the massive earthquake that occurred overnight in Japan, and you want to keep abreast of what’s going on in the country in the wake of the disaster, Japan’s national broadcaster NHK has a free English-language app for iOS devices that provides live coverage.

NHK World TV Live provides live, Japan-based coverage streaming over both Wi-Fi and 3G connections. It’s an iPhone and iPod touch-specific app, but it runs just fine on the iPad in 2x compatibility mode. Our hearts and thoughts go out to the Japanese people as they do their best to cope with this disaster.
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iPad 2 Now On Sale at Apple Online Store; Expect a Wait
In case you missed it, the iPad 2 officially went on sale online at the Apple Store at 1 AM PST today. Online sales may have started a good 16 hours before the iPad 2 arrives in physical retail stores, but if even if you order right now you’ll be facing a much longer wait than you probably would if you were waiting in line.

All models are currently available, but already wait times for shipping have gone from three-to-five days, to five-to-seven days, and are now at two-to-three weeks for every model save one: the black 16 GB 3G Verizon iPad ships in three-to-five business days as of this writing. Either the iPad 2 is doing amazingly well right out of the gate, or Apple put most of the available stock into its brick-and-mortar retail channels to ensure customers who braved lines don’t walk away disappointed.

A two to three week shipping timeframe for current orders puts the U.S. iPad 2 in line with Apple’s limited international release, set for Mar. 25. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but if demand is stronger than Apple anticipated, those of us outside the U.S. should prepare for an extended wait as Apple scrambles to fill existing orders. Apple is limiting customers to a maximum of two iPad purchases, likely an effort to staunch the flow of overpriced resales through eBay, craigslist and other similar channels.

Customers hoping to get their iPad 2 from other online sources can check out AT&T, which is offering the 16 and 32 GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models for sale right now, with a listed shipping time of five to seven business days. Verizon doesn’t begin its online sales until 5 PM today, and other outlets like Best Buy and Walmart have yet to begin or detail plans for e-sales.

Did anyone already place their online order? If so, when did you order it and what was your expected shipping time?
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