As the international date line swung around to the States and rain finally stopped in NY, a few hundred people lined up outside the Fifth Avenue Apple Store today for Apple's new iPhone, with the those The iLife guys up front descending into the store at 7AM to the sound of applause from the cheery horde of Apple Store employees. It was a far sight from the mayhem of previous launches -- the whole line was able to be contained in the elevated portion to the right of the store, no sidewalk necessary -- but it was still a fairly impressive turnout for a spec-bumped phone and a rainy night. Stand by for video from the launch, and be sure to send in your own launch impressions.

Update: Video is after the break!

It's pretty gross in NY right now -- sure, you've seen rain before, but you've never really experienced it until you've seen the grit and determination of these city folk wandering around in a light downpour with their $500 umbrellas. That's why it comes as zero surprise to see that despite the ongoing drizzle, a few brave souls have gathered in front of Apple's flagship store to be among the first in the States to get an iPhone 3G S tomorrow morning. Sure, they could've pre-ordered for delivery and stayed dry, but what's the fun in that? So far it's four friends from The iLife blog keeping each other company, with plans to upgrade one of the crew's original iPhones (for that attractive full subsidy price). These guys also braved the mayhem of the iPhone 3G launch, and who knows if they'll wise up before the next one. By 7AM tomorrow they'll have spent 24 hours in the elements -- quite a lot of commitment for a phone, but hey, that video recording bit is pretty neat, and male bonding is forever. Meet these guys and their cloud-sent adversary on video after the break, and check out the read link for their ongoing liveblog of the launch -- naturally courtesy of some iPhone 3.0 tethering.

It's getting close, people -- the Palm Pre officially goes on sale for Sprint Premiere customers tonight at invite-only launch parties around the country, while the rest of us can get in on the action bright and early tomorrow morning at 8AM. Of course, Palm and Sprint have been trying to spin the launch as a bit more low-key than the usual Apple hysteria, and so far it looks like things are pretty quiet -- actually, we haven't heard a peep about lines anywhere so far, which seems a little strange to us. So what's going on out there? Anyone camping out tonight? Setting multiple alarms? Drinking all night and getting to Best Buy with no pants on? Or is everyone waiting for Monday? Sound off!

Streaky lines on your G10 photos? Don't call MUFON, hit up your local Canon repair center. The company is acknowledging an issue that results in small, horizontal defects like that pictured above. Apparently such aberrations seem to appear at random, regardless of camera settings, but the affected units' serial numbers are at least easy to pick out at the read link. Not exactly good news for Canon, hot on the heels of the 50D vertical banding fix, but at least it isn't attempting some sort of cover-up.

Update: LimeyHoya commented to let us know Canon USA has posted up the same notice, meaning you can now figure out if you're affected without having to ponder any abstract Google Translate koans.

[Via Impress]

This'll come as no surprise to those of you that've been following our worldwide line / stock watch, but with lines hitting six hours long, Apple's started capping them so that stores can close and prepare for tomorrow. Reports of line capping are coming mostly from larger stores in the East Coast and Midwest, but the Glendale Apple store in California is reportedly capped as well. Interestingly, while carrier stores worldwide have all sold out, we've heard that most Apple stores have had more than enough inventory -- one tipster reported that delivery trucks were being used to store overflow, since the main stock rooms were full at his local store -- so we're guessing the lines have more to do with the slowness of the activation process catching Apple off-guard. It certainly wasn't smooth sailing today, but eventually things started working, and it seems like anger's turned to love for a lot of folks. And isn't that the basis of every good relationship? Oh, right. So who's going to get up and do this all again with us tomorrow?

So we heard some really over-eager folks have decided to get a jump on the iPhone 3G line -- a really, really big jump. Obviously, we had to head down and see if it was true... and it is. Right now, about ten people have started a line outside of Apple's flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York. Word is that the family at the head of the queue are attempting to break some kind of record which involves their baby -- which kind of sounds a little intense if you ask us. On the other hand, you didn't hear Greg Packer complaining, right? We're going to wrangle some of these cats for an interview and video, so stay tuned! For right now, check some more pics after the break.

Update: We got a chance to speak with group leader Daniel on video, who let us in the gang's desire to break the world record for waiting in line, as well as some... er, broad political ideas. We also learned that the baby probably won't be forced to stay outside of the Apple Store all week. See it for yourself in the clip after the break!

Update 2: According to a Fortune report on the group, five of the ten have already hit the road, and New York City cops sent the baby packing not long after we visited the scene. The remaining neo-hippies have also refined their confused political message as well, which manages to come off as somehow more inane than just wanting to break a world record.

[Via GearDiary]

So word on the street (literally) is that a large number of people are queuing in line outside of Apple's flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York City (see above) -- keep in mind the Cube is open 24 hours a day. Our intrepid girl-on-the-scene reports that the group is more than 60-deep, though most people seem confused about what they're waiting for, while some believe they're actually camping out for a 3G iPhone. Meanwhile, Apple reps tell us they're crowd-controlling iPhone buyers because otherwise they would be "screaming" at employees and clogging up the store. See what happens when you get short on stock? More pics after the break.

Update: For those of you convinced this is an Improv Everywhere stunt, here's a post from Charlie Todd -- the group's founder -- denying involvement.

[Thanks, Laura and Abiade]

Look out world, er, Europe, as Sony is debuting a new trio of LCD HDTVs in your neck of the woods. The BRAVIA V4500 line consists of a 26-, 32- and 37-inch model, each of which posses a WXGA (1,360 x 768) panel and the company's own BRAVIA ENGINE 2 technology. You'll also find a 33,000:1 contrast ratio on the smaller two, and the whole lot packs 178-degree viewing angles, BRAVIA Sync and a built-in HD tuner for snagging DVB-T / DVB-C signals where available. There's also the Picture Frame Mode for turning your set into a digital art canvas (USB port included for image viewing), and the three HDMI inputs ensure that your PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and hacked up Atari Jaguar won't be fighting for sockets. Unfortunately, mum's the word on a price / release date.

This is it, iDay. Nerds from coast to coast will be lining up at their local Apple and AT&T stores to snag what's essentially the most anticipated consumer electronics launch ever. So what else is there to do but live blog those lines in whichever cities we can? Check back throughout the day as the iJinx ensues in the final run-up to the iPhone.

Update: things are really heating up at The Cube, the store is being filled with iPhones, as seen above, and the line has started to move. Keep an eye on this post (after the break) for the latest.

Update 2: Here at last.

We just stopped by the Chicago Apple flagship store and were greeted by chaos -- at least 35 to 40 people in line and a media frenzy of interviews taking place. Tyler Tessmann, the first guy in line, had gotten there at 2:30 and was holding court with NBC 5, while the rest of the media patiently waited to pounce. The store seemed busy but ready -- employees told us that most of the prep was done, and that the store was closing down tomorrow just to manage to crowd flow.

So far, the throngs of iPhone-demanding humanity beating on the glass shells of Apple Stores across the globe haven't materialized -- at least not here in Apple's backyard. At this point, the line consists of about one woman, four gentlemen, and three clowns. For whatever reason, we were expecting more (way more) people and generally fewer clowns. Are the contract requirements and price keeping the buying public at bay? We'll know tomorrow! Stay tuned for more updates live from the San Francisco outpost.

So, um, the PS3 is out today. Had you heard? That's right, that shiny box which has had been subjected to the harshest criticism, the loudest praise, and a shortage of epic proportions, has finally made it's way in -- and out -- of stores on this launch day to end all launch days. We got a pretty dang good idea of how ugly things were going to get last night, but who could've predicted 12:01AM would be greeted by such violence? We've got ourselves an actual shooting (none of this BB nonsense), hospitalizations aplenty (due to the genius who lined up 300 people to make a run for the door in the pic above), an armed EB holdup that netted 5 PS3s for the thieves, pepper ball riot control and an escaped convict just to spice things up a bit. Plus, all these suckers missed last night's episode of The Office -- how dreadful! Jim and Pam fuhevah!

Read - CT man shot outside Wal-Mart, suspects still on the loose. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - Armed robbers steal 5 PS3s from Ohio EB Games store. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read - Riot breaks out at Circuit City. [Thanks, John C.]
Read - Police use pepper balls to control crowd in Tyson, VA. [Thanks, Troutman]
Read - Escaped rapist apprehended in Best Buy PS3 line. [Thanks, MrMarvey]

Update: While not actually criminal, last night's award for cruel and unusual went to PC Gamer, who were on hand in SF to try to convince a card-carrying line-waiting PS3 fanboy to swear off Sony forever. In exchange for a $7,500 Falcon Northwest PC rig, dude had to sign a legally binding contract to not purchase or ever own a PS3, under pain of death paying back $7,500. Some guy named Neil, who'd been waiting for 40 hours, signed his life away -- pic after the break.

We'll try not to bother you with every single second of these guy's Best Buy exploits, but a few soundbites TG Daily picked up from the Burbank PS3 campers the other day were just too good pass up. Apparently one of the campers called in sick (for two weeks?), and had to postpone his engagement to divert the ring fund to a PlayStation 3, while another guy quit his job altogether. Hit the read link for a full video of these crazies, who fend off naysayers saying "They look at us like we have nothing to do... but we are getting a PlayStation 3." Well, we would sure hope so!