iPad-launch
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Vendetta Online releases iPad launch date and trailer
At GDC we learned that Vendetta Online for the iPad will be available this spring. Well, guess what? It's spring! Guild Software has announced that iOS system is launching in less than two weeks; come April 17th, iPad users will be able to explore all 30 star systems in the game and participate in twitch-based space combat with all other denizens of the vast universe. On top of that, players on the iOS have access to a single player "free play" mode where they can practice flying and play various minigames even while offline. Vendetta Online will be available on the iPad App Store for just 99 cents, which includes one month of free play. After that, the monthly subscription is $1.00. Wondering how the game looks from the mobile device? Check out the trailer after the break. And for more impressions, check out Massively's hands-on experience. [Source: Guild Software Press release]
PSA: Verizon and AT&T ready to take your money for new iPads on March 16
We've now seen what the new iPad's packaging will entail come Friday, but it doesn't change the fact that elbowing your way to the front of those Apple Store queues isn't for everyone. Fortunately, both Verizon and AT&T are more than willing to sell you their 4G-connected iterations -- alongside a new data plan, we're sure. For the 16GB entry-level model, you're looking at around $630 on Verizon and $530 for AT&T. Before making your choice of carrier, however, we reckon you'll want to read up on those pesky data rates at the pair of source links below.
International iPad launches today
The iPad is launching in several countries today, including Czech Republic, Denmark, Malaysia, Finland, Hungary, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan. In Taiwan, the device will be carried by several Apple Premium Resellers, including Tsann Kuen, Fnac, Studio A and DataExpress 3C retail chains. The iPad began its assault on the tablet market in the U.S., then it moved over to Europe and Asia. Today, less than a year later, the little tablet is disrupting the long-standing PC market. Its relative low cost and sleek appeal have reeled in shoppers who typically avoid Apple products. Please send us your stories and pictures of launch day via the comments. We'd love to share in the fun. [Via 9to5Mac] Update: Czech Republic pricing can be found here.
Apple will open international Stores early for iPad launch this Friday, iBooks app available now
Apple may be a despot of its own walled garden, but that doesn't mean it's not benevolent. The iPad's international launch on May 28 has prompted the company to open Stores an hour early, at 8AM local time, in order to give its devotees a reprieve from hours of queuing outside. Then again, that little asterisk up there points us to an ominous "while supplies last" note at the bottom, which together with current pre-orders being fulfilled at some unidentified point in June, might force the most impatient to just get to the Store even earlier. UK buyers will get an alternative option thanks to Dixons Group stocking Apple's slate in Currys and PC World outlets, an arrangement that we keep hearing might be exclusive for the first sixty days after launch. Either way, you've been warned, don't be tardy if you wanna be trendy. P.S. The iBooks app has also made its debut outside of the US today, though at present it's limited to just freebie titles, and the iBookstore is still described as "US only." Update: The latest we're hearing is that at least some Apple Premium Resellers will also be getting stock of the iPad in the UK -- worth checking out if other options sell out.
How to make $150 million in a day
Seth Godin has a great post up that serves as a good capper on what may have been Apple's best product launch ever. He puts the money made by Apple last Saturday morning at around $150 million, and even if that's not exactly right, I have to say that having been through a few Apple launches now, I think the iPad's launch was the smoothest and easiest opening I've seen -- for all of the complaints and problems people who haven't bought an iPad seem to have, those who did buy one on Saturday seemed happy to me. So how did Apple pull it all off? As Godin says, they started years ago. Apple is one of the only companies in the world with not only the power to set up limits on access on a device this big, but also keep a rabid fanbase hyped and waiting. Apple has created an image designed exactly for releasing products like this, with the secrecy and speculation and announcement events, and so on. And the company has backed up that image with pristine engineering and design -- as Godin says, rather than be everything to everyone, it promised a few things to a certain group of people (the iPad can't do Flash or multitask or take pictures), and then delivered (but it can do the things it does really, really well). And perhaps most importantly, when launch time came around, Apple's management didn't focus on "launching," they focused on simply getting the product into customers' hands. The iPhone had all kinds of issues with setup and purchasing and activating and so on, but Apple went out of its way during the iPad launch to make sure customers had the iPad when they were supposed to --waived shipping fees, plenty of inventory in stores, and a push for delivery at exactly the right time. That's how you make $150 million in a day: Promise what you'll deliver, and deliver what you'll promise.
iWasn't but now iAm, an iPad saga
When Apple announced the iPad in January of this year I have to admit that my enthusiasm was rather tepid for the oddly-named device. Apple was proselytizing this notion of a hybrid "computer" of sorts that fit squarely between the iPhone/iPod touch and the MacBook. They used words like "magical" and "revolutionary" to describe what some called a stripped-down netbook and others referred to as a big iPod touch. Still I couldn't help but think that a bigger version of what I already had in my pocket would be anything revolutionary -- let alone magical. I saw the keynote after Apple posted it, I checked out the different app previews from developers and nothing seemed to wet my whistle.
Apple played favorites with iPad access
Boing Boing's Rob Beschizza has an insightful look at something that no one's really noticed yet: Apple definitely played favorites when it came to sharing the iPad. Here's the list of outlets and writers that got access to the iPad for an early review. You'll note that Boing Boing is on there, as is PC Magazine. Engadget and Gizmodo (along with TUAW, though we got one anyway) are not. Time is on there, Newsweek is not. Clearly, Apple's being careful about who's given access, and there's no one reason why an outlet might be on the list or not. And it might be even more confusing than that -- Fake Steve Jobs (a.k.a. writer Dan Lyons) tells a story about how Apple sent word out that they were unhappy about Newsweek officially hiring him after the FSJ reveal. Apple isn't just controlling access -- they're doing their best to control the entire media perception of the company. One thing that Beschizza doesn't mention (he goes on to gloat a little about Boing Boing's history with Apple) is that, in those first few days of iPad app reveals, it was pretty clear which developers had gotten an iPad early. Firemint, PopCap, MLB, EA -- there are hundreds of thousands of developers on the App Store, and Apple came to only a few to offer them a development iPad to play with early. Unfortunately, again, we'll never know the criteria for selection there other than Apple's whims (and I presume the whole thing is wrapped so tightly in an NDA that we won't even know when and how the offers were made), so we don't have a full picture of what access was offered and how. But there's no question that Apple made specific choices about how and where to send the iPad -- some people and companies got in, lots didn't.
Official: Apple sells more than 300K iPads on day one
Apple announced this morning that it sold more than 300,000 iPads on opening day. The comprehensive number includes pre-order pickups, deliveries to channel partners and walk-in sales at Apple Stores. Additionally, customers went home and downloaded more than 1,000,000 apps (oh, it's on) and 250,000 ebooks. As Steve Jobs notes in the press release, the average owner downloaded about 3 iPad apps and 1 book on Saturday. Selling 300,000+ iPads in 24 hours is impressive, but a far cry of Munster's latest estimate of 700,000. Yet, it's right on target with his initial guess: between 200,000 and 300,000. Note that "deliveries to channel partners" means that Apple still counts unit sales for any unsold inventory that's at Best Buy or other authorized resellers. By comparison, the iPhone 3G and 3GS sold one million units in three days and the first iPhone sold one million units in 74 days.
Memo from PETi: stop torturing iPads!
M E M O R A N D U M From: Ima Bettar Thanayou Vice President, People for the Ethical Treatment of iPads (PETi) To: YouTube user THISisCaSpEr Dear Mr. THISisCaSpEr, We received an anonymous tip from a friend of iPads about the horrendous treatment that you gave to a poor, defenseless iPad yesterday. He sent pictures and a video, so there's no way that you're going to weasel out of this one, buster! These young iPads (or Pad Puppies as we call them) experience plenty of trauma being dragged away from their parents, forced into boxes with fruit stickers inside of them, and then sold into slavery to surf the web, check email, and play games for their brutal owners. The thought of all those people stroking their fingers over these young iPads just makes me sick. You, sir, take matters beyond that with your violent and unjustified attacks. We're publicizing this brutal and pointless beating, Mr. THISisCaSpEr, so that others will see what a horrific scene you created. And if we can take some sort of action against you, we will. Sincerely, I.B.T. Vice President PETi We would like to protect our readers from the ghastly sight of the iPad being beaten, dropped, and otherwise abused, so we've hidden the video on the next page. Click the Read More link, if you dare, but please don't let children see this. They may get the idea that they should grow up to be rich sophomoric jerks who have nothing better to do than to pulverize expensive equipment for no apparent reason.
Steve pays a visit to Palo Alto store
Imagine that you're an Apple Store employee -- at the University Avenue store in Palo Alto, for instance -- and that iPad Saturday is one of the busiest, highest-pressure work experiences you've ever had. It's been hectic, customers are streaming through the store, there's media and onlookers everywhere. Of course you're demoing and selling a product that you hadn't ever touched until minutes before the store opened. You're cool as a cucumber, though; you've got things going right on track, dialed in and solid. Now imagine that Steve Jobs just shows up to casually check out how things are going. So much for your equilibrium, right? I dearly wish we had some spy video or behind-the-scenes profane exclamations, but all we've got is the Mercury News story. Steve, plus his wife and daughter, dropped by the store around noon Pacific time to observe the festivities and deliver an unexpected thrill to iPad shoppers. He reportedly chatted with several iPad buyers while visiting the store, but we cannot confirm at this time whether Mr. Jobs was called upon to autograph any body parts or demonstrate his ability to say 'boom!' Personally, I spent about four hours total today in three iPad-selling venues (two Apple Stores and a Best Buy), and I'm not sure if a drop-in visit from Steve himself could have added any more hype or excitement to the situation. Well, maybe at Best Buy. Update: French site ViPad.fr caught a snapshot of Steve leaving the store (bottom of the page).
iPad launch giveaway: custom TUAW StealthArmor for iPad
In what will probably be the first of a lot of giveaways here on TUAW for iPad owners, we're giving away three custom StealthArmor protective shields. These are perfect for those of you who don't want to use something like the Apple iPad Case, but also don't want that nice new iPad to go sliding out of your hands. StealthArmor is a product from Fusion of Ideas in Orange County, CA, and the company has been making their shields for iPhones and Macs for a while. Now they've taken this technology to the iPad, and from the photos they sent us, they look great. The shields include a protective cover for the screen as well as the film for the back of the iPad. The three winners of our giveaway will have their choice of any of the following finishes for the back (with a TUAW logo on board as well!): To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment below with your choice of finish. We'll select the winners from a random drawing, and StealthArmor will send your custom iPad armor shortly thereafter. If you don't have an iPad, but you DO have an iPhone, please enter anyway (just tell us you have an iPhone) and we'll give away two carbon fiber StealthArmor shields for iPhones as well. Here are the rules: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter, leave a comment with your choice of StealthArmor finish or tell us that you have an iPhone instead The comment must be left before Monday, April 5, 2010, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Five winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: Three winners will win a custom StealthArmor for iPad (Value US$45 for clear, $65 for the other finishes), two will win StealthArmor for iPhone with the carbon fiber finish (Value US$45) Click Here for complete Official Rules. Here are a few screenshots of the first iPad to get the StealthArmor treatment this morning: %Gallery-89693%
iPad launch: the view from Southern Arizona
Here in Arizona one thing you see is a lot of trucks in the Apple Store parking areas. A few gun racks too. Not really the ambiance of Silicon Valley or Chicago or New York. There was a lot of enthusiasm about the iPad, especially at our one local Apple Store at the La Encantada Mall. My first stop was at the Best Buy in Oro Valley. I drove by just before 8 A.M. and 7 people were outside. They explained to me that the Best Buy had 15 to sell, and the manager would be out with claim checks. Hmmm. Only 7 people. I wasn't planning on getting an iPad just yet. No camera, no printing. What the hell. It was easy to raise my hand. They gave my my claim check, and said they would call later today when UPS arrives with the iPads. Then it was off to the Apple Store. It's the only one in Tucson. As I expected, things were hopping about 30 minutes before the doors opened. The lines were longer than the 3GS iPhone rollout and that should be encouraging for Apple. Like everywhere else there were 2 lines. One for pre-orders, the others for the hopeful hoping to bag an iPad today. The Apple Store manager told me they had a lot in stock, but didn't think the stash would hold out for everyone who wanted one. I expect that's right, as the purchase line was growing visibly longer in just the few minutes I was there. There was a big round of applause when an iPad showed up in the store window. My informal survey of line denizens indicated the 32GB version would be the top seller. It will be interesting if that holds up around the country. All in all, a good iPad day. 63 degrees, sunny, and 20% humidity. Certainly those good looking iPad screens won't be fogging up. Were you at any of the Tucson Best Buys or Apple Store? What was your experience? Photos below: %Gallery-89692%
iPad launch: Boston's Boylston Street store
The crystal-clear facade of Boston's Boylston Street Apple Store* beckoned and a slew of customers heeded the call this morning to greet the iPad. By the time I arrived at 8am, a line had formed down the street and around the corner -- a few hundred people at least. A second line for pre-order customers formed later in the morning, and by 9am was just as long as the first line. The store's interior was hidden by a black curtain that ran the length of the building. The mood was jovial, with everyone discussing their plans for the new device. Apple Store employees were moving up and down the line, making chit-chat and offering candy, water and coffee. The weather was fine (unlike the rainy iPhone launch), if not a little cold. %Gallery-89691%
Square payment system launches on iPad
The wait is over. The app that blew us away at Macworld Expo, Square, has finally launched...on the iPad. Originally developed and advertised as an iPhone app, Square hit shelves this morning as a fully-optimized iPad app. Now customers can install Square on their iPads, effectively turning them into flat black cash registers. While we loved the preview of Square on the iPhone, it's another ball of wax on the iPad. The extra room and gorgeous UI make it look more professional, plus there's plenty of room for signatures, images and more. The "receipt" itself is much more legible. I can easily see this sitting on a dock or being carried around by a merchant. The free app includes a dongle that plugs into the iPad's headphone jack, which means you can still use the app while the iPad is docked. This speaks directly to what I said about the iPad yesterday: Its "killer app" is potential, the blank slate it offers to developers. For many customers, this app will be a game-changer.
Consumer Reports discovers iPad charging issues
Consumer Reports has discovered that thus far, iPads can not be recharged using the USB ports on any non-Apple computer. The places where the iPad did charge, in their tests, included an iMac and a MacBook Pro. The iPad would not charge using any USB ports on several Windows machines, nor through the USB port on an Apple wired keyboard connected to the iMac. They're not the only ones to notice it. Our own Steve Sande just noticed that his iPad, which is linked to a USB hub connected to his iMac, is not charging through the hub. Apple's tech note for iPad charging covers some of these contingencies. Apple Tech Support told Consumer Reports that the iPad was designed to be powered using the wall charger. Dave Caolo also was informed by Apple retail staff that using the iPad charger to charge your iPhone is not recommended. If you don't have a Mac, for now you're better off using the wall charger to power the device. Have you found other places where the iPad is not charging? Talk about it in the comments, or click through and let Consumer Reports know as well.
iPad launch: Buying at the Walt Whitman Mall in Huntington Station, NY
I got to the Apple Store at Walt Whitman Mall at about 8:30 AM and the mall doors were open. There were already about 150 people waiting for their iPad, and the Apple Store folks had two lines set up: one for advance reservations and one for walk-ins. As a pre-order customer, I gave my name to a blue-shirted Apple person and was told to wait on the reservation line. For each 10 people with a reservation they would let in one person without, so perhaps they had something of a handle on inventory. There was coffee and water to be had while waiting and a quick look inside the store showed so many Apple workers that I couldn't imagine how any customers would fit. At ten minutes to opening, a huge crowd of blue shirts ran up and down the mall screaming at the top of their lungs to pump up the crowd, but we didn't need pumping up. Everyone was really psyched already. I talked to a few people while waiting to get in, and I met someone named Theo who had a real reason for buying an iPad: He's a DJ and wanted to use it to kick off videos while performing. Most everyone else had vague answers about why they were there, ranging from, "it just seems really cool," to "I don't know what I'm going to do with it, but I need one."
iPad launch: Santa Monica Apple Store
It was actually a low-key affair at the Santa Monica Apple Store on the Third Street Promenade this morning. About an hour before the store opened for business at 9am PST, there were only about 100 people in line, and by the time all of the Apple employees moved outside, clapping and trying to get the sedate crowd to show a little excitement about emptying their wallets for the Church of Jobs, there were probably at most 500 people. But the gathered took the launch in stride -- the mood was cordial, the media were few, and most everybody just walked in, grabbed their iPad, and headed out without fanfare. You can see pictures of the goings-on in the gallery below. This store is usually frequented by at least a few celebrities, but we didn't recognize anybody specific, so see if you can catch one we missed in the pictures. All in all, it was about as smooth a launch as you could ask for -- aside from the folks who walked by asking what the line was about, and then turned away in an eye-rolling huff when they were told about "some iPad doohickey," everybody had a pretty good time. %Gallery-89689%
iPad launch day, Broadway/UWS store
The sun-dappled temple of Apple just north of Lincoln Center was quite a bit more laid-back than the 5th Ave. store, at least by the time I arrived in the late morning. Reservations were being handled downstairs (no line to speak of) and walk-in sales up on the show floor. Stock of all three models was "fine," according to overheard chatter between salesfolk and would-be buyers. (They also seem to be pushing the MobileMe, for what it's worth.) I did swing by the Best Buy that's conveniently located between the two uptown NYC Apple Stores, and indeed they also had iPads in stock. No line there either, but a nice little crowd chatting with the Apple Specialist. Note to whoever put the laserprinted sign on the front door: it's "iPads," not "Ipads." %Gallery-89684%
iPad launch: Boston's first in line
We're were on the ground in Boston this morning (and New York, and Colorado, and ... ) waiting for the Apple Store to open. Here at the Boylston Street store the line started very early. At 12:00 am, in fact. Meet Miles. He's a New Yorker currently attending school in nearby Beverly, MA and was Boston's 1st customer. He arrived at just after midnight to grab the coveted spot. He told me that others began arriving after 12:30 and the stream was steady after then. The mood in the line was optimistic and people are chatty, as typically happens at Apple line-ups. Miles told me that he had a conversation with one customer about the benefits of the Blackberry, but it didn't last long. Apple employees are occasionally peering down from behind the store's glass facade and shouting "Miles!" and waving. This isn't the first time he's waited in line. A few years ago he lined up in New York for the first iPhone and waited out Leopard's release as well. As for what he's most anticipating? "The Netflix app for sure. And I hope there's a Hulu app as well" (so do we). Congratulations, Miles! Enjoy your new iPad. We at TUAW admire your resolve.
TUAW TV Live -- Unboxing the iPad
If you were watching TUAW this morning, you probably saw blogger Steve Sande doing live video from the Aspen Grove Apple Store in Littleton, CO. He's home now, and will be doing live streaming video of the unboxing!
