MacRumors

The first customers have received their iPad 2s after standing in line for much of the day. Some of the first photos from an unboxing are provided here:

PCMagazine also had a good unboxing and review video of the iPad 2 based on a review unit they had received:

We've started a forum discussion thread for readers to post their first impressions of the iPad 2 and photos.

As of 5pm Eastern, Apple has started selling the iPad 2 in retail stores along the east coast. Based on reports, there have been lengthy lines for the iPad 2 across the country at Apple Retail stores, but lines at 3rd party retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart have been mixed.

Forum readers are coordinating in our meetup forum and iPad forum.

We expect the first iPad 2s to be in hand momentarily; please send any photos/reports to webmaster@macrumors.com

With shipping estimates for new iPad 2 orders having already slipped to 2-3 weeks just hours after they began, more potential customers may be heading out to their local stores to try to snare one of the popular tablet devices when they go on sale at 5:00 PM local time in the United States.

We're hearing of long lines at many Apple retail stores with a little over two hours to go until the iPad launches at locations in the Eastern Time Zone, although they haven't yet approached the magnitude seen for the iPhone 4 release last June. Lines are reportedly significantly shorter if not non-existent at many third-party retailers such as Best Buy, Target, AT&T, and Verizon, although we're also hearing that stocks may be very limited at these locations.

As noted by Fortune, a woman who had been camped out first in line at Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan since Wednesday afternoon this morning sold her spot for $900. BGR also has a recent photo gallery from outside the Fifth Avenue store, where hundreds of customers have lined up.

Additional photos being posted on our Twitter stream, send any additional photos to webmaster@macrumors.com

Electronista over the weekend noted a growing thread in the Apple Discussions forum regarding flickering issues being experienced by users of the new MacBook Pro paired with a 24-inch LED Cinema Display. A couple of users in our own forums have also reported the issue.

Both the 13- and 15-inch models, and likely the 17-inch model, produce intermittent flickering, brief blackouts and other periodic but noticeable flaws when attached to the out-of-sale screen. The built-in notebook display is unaffected.

Users have already tried some of the more common tricks, such as resetting the SMC, but haven't had any initial success. It also applies whether or not the AMD or Intel graphics are being used.

The Apple Discussions thread has continued to grow in the days following the original report, with at least one user reporting experiencing the issue with a 17-inch MacBook Pro.

Apple support staff are reportedly investigating the issue, having swapped out one user's affected machine specifically to examine a unit known to be experiencing problems.

Well, it appears Apple is aware of the issue. An Apple Discussions Host called me a few days ago after seeing one of my recent posts. He offered to swap my MacBook Pro for a new one so Apple Engineers can get their hands on a known bad unit. I shipped it off last night and anxiously await my replacement.

Apple officially discontinued the 24-inch LED Cinema Display last July alongside the introduction of a new 27-inch model, but the company did continue to sell off its remaining stock for some time after the discontinuation.

Update: French site MacGeneration has posted a video showing the issue. The flicker occurs at about 1:45 in the video.

Just hours after online orders for the iPad 2 went live in the United States, Apple has already extended shipping estimates for new orders out to 2-3 weeks for all 18 models. Those estimates would put new orders on par or even after Apple's scheduled March 25th launch for the iPad 2 in over two dozen other countries.

Apple is likely offering conservative shipment estimates at this time as it seeks to balance its existing stocks and incoming shipments against the surge of orders, so customers may see new orders ship before that timeframe. Regardless, Apple is clearly seeing high demand relative to its launch supplies. Several analysts are predicting debut sales of 500,000-600,000 units, nearly double the 300,000 units sold in the first-day launch of the original iPad.

The Apple online store has updated early and is now offering the iPad 2 for order. Estimated shipping date for iPads are from March 18 - March 25th. There is only "standard shipping" available.

Online sales were scheduled for 4am Eastern but appears to have started early. Apple is also selling the iPad 2 at their retail stores across the country, as well as Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart. We've outlined those options in a previous story.

With the iPad 2 about to launch, a couple of App developers are taking advantage of this time to launch new iPad 2 optimized versions of their apps.

Australian developer Firemint has just launched Real Racing 2 HD, which is the iPad version of their popular racing game. Besides supporting the original iPad, the new version of the game also supports the iPad 2 specifically:

- For iPad 2, full-screen anti-aliasing, fully-modeled vehicle interiors visible through translucent windows, high-detail objects and surfaces and enhanced reflections
- Full support for iPad 2's gyroscope for precision steering

The iPad/iPad 2 version of the game is available now for $9.99. [App Store]

Meanwhile, ChAIR / Epic Games has announced that Infinity Blade will see an updates on Friday bringing iPad 2 optimizations to their game.

One of the most popular gaming apps released to date, the ground-breaking Infinity Blade will be updated tomorrow with new optimizations specifically for iPad 2. Taking advantage of the processing power of iPad 2, Infinity Blade looks and plays better than ever and is the ultimate show off your iPad 2s graphics prowess" app!

Infinity Blade is based on Epic's Unreal Engine 3 and has been an impressive example of what's possible on Apple's iOS devices. The iPad 2 update has not yet been released, but the original version remains available for $5.99. [App Store]

iDealsChina claims to have engineering diagrams of the new iPhone 5. The images look pretty much like an iPhone 4 with the exception of a larger screen which seems to take up a larger portion of the front face. The designs are consistent with the photo of the bezel that was posted previously by the site, though there have been some questions of that image's authenticity.

We just got what appears to be mold engineering drawings for iPhone 5. These would be used by case designers to create plastic, TPU, aluminum, silicone and leather cases. A while back we hear rumors that iPhone 5 would have a curved back but these images show iPhone 5 with the same form factor as iPhone 4 but with an edge to edge screen.

Chinese accessory manufacturers clearly get access to early design documents as has been evidenced multiple times. The early iPad 2 cases were indeed accurate representations of the iPad 2. iDealsChina was also the source of a design rendering of the 4th Generation iPod Nano which turned out to be an accurate depiction of the then-unreleased iPod Nano.

If this is indeed an accurate design document, we would expect to see accessory companies to start creating actual cases. We should warn that even if this is a real "design document", we've also seen cases for products that have never been released. The most notable is the iPhone Nano which saw several case designs from different manufacturers.

Apple Stores and Online

Apple announced this morning that they would begin taking online orders for the iPad 2 at 1:00 AM Pacific Time / 4:00 AM Eastern Time. Unfortunately, it looks like there will not be an option to reserve an iPad 2 for in store pickup, which means you'll have to wait for the iPad 2 to be delivered. So, if you are hoping to pick one up on launch day, online ordering won't help.

With every major product launch, Apple retail stores tend to get the best supplied but also the most crowded. If you want to get an iPad 2 on launch day, and don't mind standing in line, an Apple Retail store is your best bet.

Local Apple Retail stores can be found online. The iPad 2 will go on sale starting at 5 PM local time and Apple is offering free personal setup to customers.

Best Buy

BestBuy has posted a FAQ about their iPad 2 sales. BestBuy will not be offering online sales at launch. They will implement a "ticket system" at their retail stores. Tickets will be handed out at 4:30 PM local time on March 11th. These tickets will be used to get an iPad 2. Presumably they will be giving out only as many tickets as they have iPad 2s, so you won't needlessly wait in line if stock runs out.

BestBuy also says that only BestBuy Stores with "Apple Areas" are going to be carrying the 3G models, so that is something to consider if you are interested in the 3G model. Several readers have also noted that their BestBuy's are limiting customers to one iPad 2 per customer. We've heard mixed reports but many Best Buy stores seem to be getting ~100 different models of the iPad 2 in stock for launch day.

Wal Mart and Target

Both Wal-Mart and Target tend to be a bit less organized with major product launches. Reader reports indicate that some of the stores don't even know if they are getting stock for launch, while others report only a handful of units. This could serve to your advantage depending on the store. One reader reports that they saw an iPad 2 on the shelves today, but weren't able to buy it:

I was surprised to find the new models on the same shelf. Black only (at my rural walmart.) I didn't check to see all the models available, but they definitely had the 16 and 32g in both Wifi and 3G varieties. They may have had more. They only had a few out. Sorry, I didn't count them.

I asked to buy one. The nice lady behind the electronics counter opened the case, pulled the 16gWifi out for me, and began to ring me up. I was really excited. BUT, the system notified her that she couldn't sell them yet. She (mis)informed me that if I came back after midnight tonight I could get one. We'll see.

AT&T / Verizon

In line with Apple's plans, AT&T will begin taking online orders at 1:00 AM Pacific Time, with in-store availability set for 5:00 PM local time. Verizon appears to only be offering in-store sales at "select" retail stores beginning at 5:00 PM local time.

Contrary to early speculation, there's no activation fee for the Verizon data plans. One reader has posted the Verizon sales manual for the iPad 2.

Readers are organizing and sharing information about various locations in our iPad forums and launch meetup forum.

The Washington Post reports that Apple's iOS 4.3 released yesterday includes change that will require users to reenter their iTunes Store password to initiate an in app purchase, even if the user had just entered the password to download the application. The change is designed to address concerns over incidents in which children have managed to initiate as much as hundreds of dollars worth of in app purchases.

The Cupertino company's move affects users of its most recent operating system and comes amid growing concern by federal and state enforcement agencies that consumers, including children, were not adequately informed or aware that they were incurring charges on iTunes accounts because of a 15-minute period that allowed for purchases without a password.

Apple said its new device software, iOS 4.3, made available Wednesday, will come with a feature that requires a password when purchases are made within an application after it is downloaded.

An Apple spokeswoman stated that in addition to existing parental controls that can disable in app purchases entirely, the change in iOS 4.3 should prevent children without knowledge of the device's iTunes Store password from accessing in app purchase content.

"We are proud to have industry-leading parental controls with iOS," said Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple. She said users have always been able to use parental control setting and restrictions of in-app purchases to protect their iTunes accounts from accidental charges. "With iOS 4.3, in addition to a password being required to purchase an app on the App Store, a reentry of your password is now required when making an in-app purchase."

iOS 4.3 was released yesterday for the first-generation iPad, iPhone 4 and 3GS, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch. iOS 4.3 will also come preinstalled on second-generation iPads launching tomorrow.

ChangeWave Research today released the results of a February survey of U.S. professionals and early-adopter consumers showing that even before the unveiling of the iPad 2 customers were continuing to turn to the iPad when considering tablet purchases. According to the report, 82% of surveyed customers who were planning to purchase a tablet were looking to acquire an iPad, with competitors such as the Motorola Xoom, Research in Motion BlackBerry PlayBook, and Samsung Galaxy Tab all barely registering in the 3-4% range each.

Apple's iPad also continues to enjoy stellar consumer satisfaction ratings, with 70% of users registering as "very satisfied" and an additional 25% pegging their position as "somewhat satisfied".

In taking a broader look at tablet customers' buying preferences, the survey also found that tablets, dominated by the iPad, continue to eat into planned purchases of devices such as eReaders and portable PCs, with 17% of tablet-owning respondents reporting that they put on hold or canceled the purchase of a Kindle because of their tablet purchase. Netbooks and traditional notebooks also took a hit, with 10-11% of tablet purchasers reporting that they had delayed or canceled planned purchases in each of those categories of devices.

Finally, ChangeWave surveyed customers planning to purchase an iPad in the near future about wireless service, finding that 24% of customers planned to purchase AT&T service, compared to 17% planning to use Verizon service and 27% opting for Wi-Fi only. An additional 30% were undecided. Notably, Verizon's solid appeal was present even before Apple unveiled the new iPad with built-in support for Verizon's network. With the original iPad, customers looking to use Verizon service have been limited to Wi-Fi iPad models paired with MiFi hotspot devices.

Ahead of tomorrow's launch of the iPad 2, Apple has launched iMovie and GarageBand for the device, the two main apps featured during the iPad 2 launch event last week. Each app costs $4.99.

iMovie [App Store], comes as an update to the existing iPhone application, becoming a universal app compatible with the iPad 2, iPhone 4, and fourth-generation iPod touch.

What's New in Version 1.2

- Universal app designed for iPad 2, iPhone 4, and iPod touch (4th generation).
- Multi-Touch Precision Editor (iPad only).
- Multitrack audio editing with 8 themed soundtracks and over 50 bundled sound effects.
- Audio recording directly into the timeline.
- Audio waveforms (iPad only).
- Three new themes - Neon, Simple, and CNN iReport.
- HD sharing directly to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and CNN iReport.
- AirPlay support for sharing to Apple TV (compatible only with second-generation Apple TV; requires iOS 4.3 or later).
- Project transfer to your computer and compatible iOS devices through iTunes.
- Ability to add titles on photos.
- Option to add fade-in from black and fade-out to black.
- Numerous enhancements, including trimming in Video Browser, in-use markers, video rotation, and more.

GarageBand [App Store] is an iPad-only application compatible with both the first- and second-generation models.

GarageBand turns your iPad into a collection of Touch Instruments and a full-featured recording studio - so you can make music anywhere you go. Use Multi-Touch gestures to play pianos, organs, guitars, drums, and basses on your iPad. They sound and play like their counterparts, but let you do things you could never do on a real instrument. Enjoy a full range of Smart Instruments that make you sound like a pro - even if you've never played a note before. Plug an electric guitar into your iPad and play through classic amps and stompbox effects. Use the built-in microphone or a guitar to record, or capture any performance. Then mix up to eight tracks to create a song you can share.

For U.S. customers, Apple will begin taking orders for the iPad 2 in its online store at 1:00 AM tomorrow, with in-store availability set for 5:00 PM local time.

Forbes today released its annual list of the world's billionaires, ranking Apple CEO Steve Jobs in a tie for 110th place with a net worth of $8.3 billion. Jobs' net worth is up from $5.5 billion and 136th place in last year's rankings. Jobs' net worth also ranks 34th among billionaires in the United States.

In March the Apple founder made a surprise appearance at the unveiling of his iPad 2, after taking medical leave in January. Insanely creative Apple chief transforms a multibillion-dollar industry every few years. First, personal computers with Apple II, Macintosh; then film with Pixar; music (iTunes), mobile (iPhone). Now iPad is treated as messiah tablet, savior for publishing industry. Apple still sells computers, but twice as much revenue now comes from music distribution and hand-held devices. Shot past long-time rival Microsoft as world's most valuable tech company in May. Shares of Apple surged more than 80% over the last year. Still, the majority of Job's fortune comes from Disney; as largest shareholder he owns about $4.4 billion of stock. Reed College dropout founded Apple 1976.

Mexican telecommunications tycoon Carlos Slim Helu holds the top spot for the second consecutive year with a net worth of $74 billion, easily outdistancing Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his $56 billion fortune. Despite strong growth in the fortunes of other billionaires, Gates' net worth has remained relatively stable over the past few years as he and his wife Melinda have siphoned off over $28 billion to support their foundation's philanthropic endeavors.

ZDNet reports that a MacBook running Safari was the first machine to fall victim to a security exploit in the PWN2OWN hacker challenge at the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, Canada. French security researchers compromised the MacBook and launched code within five seconds of contacting the machine, winning a $15,000 cash prize and a new 13-inch MacBook Air for their efforts.

VUPEN co-founder Chaouki Bekrar lured a target MacBook to a specially rigged website and successfully launched a calculator on the compromised machine.

The hijacked machine was running a fully patched version of Mac OS X (64-bit).

In an interview with ZDNet, Bekrar said the vulnerability exists in WebKit, the open-source browser rendering engine. A three-man team of researchers spent about two weeks to find the vulnerability (using fuzzers) and writing a reliable exploit.

While Bekrar noted some difficulties in preparing the exploit due to a lack of documentation on how to exploit 64-bit Mac OS X code, his team was ultimately able to bypass several anti-exploit tactics included in Mac OS X to demonstrate how a machine could become comprised simply by visiting a malicious webpage and without crashing the browser.

Macs have become popular targets for researchers seeking to find security holes, with CanSecWest being a major forum for discussion and demonstration of their work. In 2007, the conference sponsored a "Hack a Mac" contest with a $10,000 cash prize, although organizers did have to loosen the contest rules before researchers succeeded in compromising a MacBook.

The following year, a MacBook Air was the first to be compromised at PWN2OWN, falling victim to a exploit initiated through Safari. Apple released a Safari update just a few weeks later to address that issue. And in 2010, noted researcher Charlie Miller used the conference to expose 20 zero-day holes in Mac OS X, claiming that Mac users' infrequent run-ins with hackers have primarily been due to "security by obscurity", with most malicious hackers preferring to attack Windows platforms with substantially larger user bases.

Notably, Apple is said to have reached out to security researchers for the first time with the initial developer build of Mac OS X Lion, inviting them to test out the forthcoming operating system in hopes of finding and patching as many holes as possible before Lion reaches customers' hands later this year. Miller and some other researchers have, however, scaled back their reporting of security flaws to Apple in the face of its refusal to match other companies' offerings of cash rewards for finding such holes.

Research firm IDC today announced the release of its data on worldwide tablet shipments for the fourth quarter of 2010, pegging Apple's share of the market at 73%, down from a 93% share in the third quarter in the face of competitors beginning shipments of their devices. Overall tablet sales more than doubled quarter-to-quarter, moving from 4.5 million in the third quarter to 10.1 million in the fourth quarter.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker, 10.1 million media tablets were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10) - more than double the 4.5 million shipped in the third quarter. Apple's share came down from 93% in 3Q10 to 73% in 4Q10, but still reflected Apple's strong leadership position. Samsung's Galaxy Tab was the primary competitor in the holiday season, beating other players to market and capturing more than 17% share, while a number of smaller regional players also participated.

IDC points to Apple's imminent launch of the iPad 2 as reason to believe that the company will be able to maintain 70-80% market share moving forward. In addition, the firm called demand for the Samsung Galaxy Tab "stifled" by uncompetitive pricing and Apple's momentum, suggesting that a high number of the shipped units moved into the distribution channels without making their way to customers.

Overall, IDC is predicting shipments of roughly 50 million units for 2011.

Apple today officially announced its iPad 2 U.S. launch plans for tomorrow, including revealing for the first time that online sales will begin at 1:00 AM Pacific Time / 4:00 AM Eastern Time. As previously announced, in-store sales at Apple retail stores and other retail partner stores will begin at 5:00 PM.

Apple today announced that iPad 2, the next generation of its magical device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading ebooks and much more, will be available tomorrow at 5 p.m. local time at all 236 Apple retail stores in the US and through the Apple Store (www.apple.com) beginning at 1 a.m. PT. Every customer who buys an iPad 2 at an Apple retail store will be offered free Personal Setup service, helping them customize their iPad 2 by setting up email, loading new apps from the App Store and more, so they'll be up and running with their new iPad 2 before they leave the store. iPad 2 will also be available beginning at 5 p.m. local time at AT&T, Best Buy, Target, Verizon Wireless, Walmart and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

The broad distribution and daytime launch should hopefully limit long lines, but the lack of online pre-orders may drive more customers who do not want to wait for shipping from the online store to line up at retail stores.

Initial stock levels for Apple retail locations are currently unknown, but we have received word from an employee of one Best Buy location that is looking to have 100-150 units on hand, spread relatively evenly across all nine models (three capacities each of Wi-Fi, AT&T 3G and Verizon 3G) with a slight emphasis on the entry-level 16 GB Wi-Fi model.

Update: AT&T and Verizon have also issued press releases announcing availability for tomorrow. In line with Apple's plans, AT&T will begin taking online orders at 1:00 AM Pacific Time, with in-store availability set for 5:00 PM local time. Verizon appears to only be offering in-store sales at "select" retail stores beginning at 5:00 PM local time.

AT&T's press release also notes that the personal hotspot functionality included in iOS 4.3 will be available to customers on the $45/month data + tethering plan. Interestingly, the wording makes no mention of the iPhone 4, in fact suggesting that tethering and hotspot functionality is available on iPad data plans. Apple has been clear, however, that the personal hotspot functionality is for the iPhone 4 only, but can obviously be used to provide on-the-go data access for Wi-Fi-only iPads linked through an iPhone.