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Launch posts

Filed under: Multimedia, Odds and ends, Blogging, Macbook Pro, MacBook

Space geeks love MacBook Pros

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Oct 27th, 2009

Like a lot of my fellow space geeks, I was watching the live feed from Spaceflight Now this morning for the launch of the Ares 1-X test vehicle. Unfortunately, the launch was scrubbed, but I was happy to see that the three guys doing the coverage this morning were all using MacBook Pros.

The MacBook Pros were all being used to do blogging and tweeting during the launch coverage, as well as to receive updates from NASA.

The coverage was being provided by former CNN talking head and well-known aviation enthusiast Miles O'Brien (center), veteran TV reporter David Waters (at left), and Astronaut Leroy Chiao (at right). While the weather didn't cooperate for the launch this morning, that gives TUAW readers another chance tomorrow morning to watch and listen to the launch, and to admire all that gleaming aluminum in the morning sun -- that's the MacBook Pros, not the Ares 1-X.

Tags: ares 1-X, Ares1-x, launch, NASA, spaceflight now, SpaceflightNow

Filed under: iPhone

3G S sales expectations shift higher, Apple offers $30 credit for activation issues

by Michael Rose (RSS feed) on Jun 21st, 2009

It's Father's Day here in the USA, UK and Canada (best wishes to all the Mac daddies out there!), and if the tea-leaf-reading over the iPhone 3G S launch is accurate, it looks like quite a few of those dads may have gotten a shiny new phone as a gift from the spouse and kids. Which would have been really thoughtful and unexpected. If I had gotten one. Anyway.

The pre-launch expectation from analyst Gene Munster was for a comparatively modest 500K units sold over the weekend vs. the 3G million-phone launch, but now his firm has suggested that may have been a conservative number, as noted by AppleInsider. Between AT&T's citing of 'hundreds of thousands' of pre-orders for the phone, and O2 announcing that first-day sales for the 3G S blew past the totals for the 3G last year, it's possible that the 3G S could creep up towards that million-phone number and blockbuster territory.

Despite (or perhaps due to) the brisk sales pace, AT&T's activation infrastructure did not seem to be ready for the influx of account changes; this is a familiar situation, as last year's 3G launch triggered similar delays. Many new buyers (including our own Steve Sande) were faced with activation delays between two hours and two days. In recognition of the aggravation and inconvenience, Apple has begun emailing affected users with the offer of a $30 iTunes credit to be delivered Monday morning, according to Everything iCafe. If you got a credit email, please let us know.

Tags: ATT, credit, iphone, iphone 3g s, Iphone3gS, launch, munster, refund, sales

Filed under: iPhone

iPhone 3G S Launch Day: More pictures from the field

by Michael Rose (RSS feed) on Jun 19th, 2009



We snuck past the line into the glass cube, and got some pictures of the well-behaved crowd downstairs in the 5th Avenue store who were buying and activating their phones (and also checking out the new MacBook Pro lineup while they were there).

Gallery: iPhone 3G S Launch 5th Avenue, set 2

Ian & Bruce from Freeverse


Erica's in line at the Cherry Creek Mall in Colorado and sent us a few quick snapshots.

Gallery: iPhone 3G S Launch, Cherry Creek



If you want to catch every moment of launch day, take a look at Cnet's liveblog from around the country.


Tags: 5th Avenue, 5thAvenue, gallery, iphone 3g s, Iphone3gS, launch, retail

Filed under: iPhone

iPhone 3G S Launch Day: Photos from 5th Avenue

by Michael Rose (RSS feed) on Jun 19th, 2009

Good morning! All day today we'll be updating with reports from iPhone 3G S purchasers around the country, both here and on Twitter. So far the lines seem modest and activation is reportedly going smoothly. Victor notes that AT&T store lines are short where he is and if you are not the primary account holder on your cell plan, you have to go to AT&T anyway to upgrade.

Morning schedules and slow subways kept me from the 7 am store open at 5th Avenue (since Apple moved it earlier from 8 am due to AT&T opening its stores at 7), but by 7:30 the line was still active and purchasers were beginning to emerge. NYPD reports that about half the barricaded area was full at 7 am.

Gallery: iPhone 3G S launch, 5th Ave


Tags: 5th avenue, 5thAvenue, gallery, iphone 3g s, Iphone3gS, launch, store

Filed under: Retail, iPhone, App Store

AT&T to limit iPhone 3G purchases at launch

by Cory Bohon (RSS feed) on Jul 7th, 2008

A recent MacRumors post suggests that you might only be able to purchase one iPhone 3G per customer from AT&T. While we haven't heard official word from Apple, they might be limiting purchases to 2 iPhones per customer like they did last year.

MacRumors also reports that AT&T stores have received their iPhone 3Gs for the displays and they are to be activated on Thursday, July 10th, and must have downloaded 3rd-party applications on the displays in time for the launch on July 11th at 8 a.m.

They also report that Apple held a meeting to discuss sales of the iPhone. Speculation says that Apple stores might be opening at 8 a.m. to mimic AT&T's launch. Leak information also speculates that you will be able to use Apple gift cards, credit cards and checks to purchase the iPhone 3G (for the original iPhone launch, credit cards were required to track purchases).

Update: Apple has confirmed an 8 a.m. launch of the iPhone 3G at all Apple Stores. For more information about the iPhone launch at Apple Stores, visit the Apple retail website.


[via ArsTechnica]

Tags: Apple, Apple Store, AppleStore, ATT, iPhone 3G, Iphone3g, launch, retail

Filed under: Rumors, WWDC, Steve Jobs, iPhone

Rumor: iPhone 3G Launch on June 9th

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on May 20th, 2008

Graphic by Jesus Diaz, Gizmodo Gizmodo is reporting that "sources close to the 3G launch" have provided confirmation that the iPhone 3G will be announced at the WWDC 2008 Keynote on June 9th. While this does sound a lot like a rumor, other factors such as nonexistent stocks of first-generation iPhones, the flurry of non-US iPhone launch announcements last week, and the all-but-confirmed Steve Jobs keynote all point to something big.

Gizmodo also speculates that European launch dates are scheduled to follow close on the heels of the US announcement, with iPhone 3G availability in Spain at the grand opening of the Telefonica megastore in Madrid on June 18th.

June 9th sounds good to me, since I can buy my wife an iPhone 3G for our 29th anniversary on that day! What's your take on the iPhone 3G rumor du jour? Give it a reality check by taking our poll:

iPhone 3G Rumor Reality Check



Tip 'o the TUAW Stetson to Sharvil for pointing this out!

Tags: 3g, iphone, keynote, launch, wwdc08

Filed under: Other Events, Apple

iPhone UK: The Liveblog

by Nik Fletcher (RSS feed) on Nov 8th, 2007

Greetings TUAW readers, from our temporary HQ located just outside London's Regent Street store. Yes, that's right: we're live from London until 6:02pm tomorrow, updated as and when yours truly isn't too busy consuming food (or caffeine for that matter). If you're in-line for an iPhone somewhere in the U.K. and have a tip to share, be sure to link to photos in the comments or hit us up on our tips form.

Continue reading “iPhone UK: The Liveblog”

Tags: Apple-iPhone-UK-launch, iphone, iPhone-UK-launch, iPhone-UK-liveblog, launch, uk

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Apple, Leopard

Leopard: All signs point to 10/26

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 9th, 2007

Does anyone else think it's a little crazy that we're already 1/4 of the way through October and we still don't have an official release date for Leopard? It'll almost assuredly be at the very end of the month, but in terms of date and time, no one has an official clue.

For a Piper Jaffray analyst, however, all signs point to October 26th (and gwhiz adds 6 p.m. on that Friday afternoon just like the iPhone launch). Makes a lot of sense to me-- Friday is clearly a great day to launch a product, as it gives Apple the weekend to claim sales figures, as well as gives us consumers a chance to break open the box and get it installed right away. Analyst Gene Munster says, also, that it's the end of the first month of a fiscal quarter, which Apple likes for boosting sales-- Tiger released in the same situation.

Plus, you know, the 25th is a full moon, so there's even more fuel for the speculatory fire. I agree that the 26th sounds pretty convincing, but of course we won't know for sure until Steve wants us to.

Thanks, Zoli!

Tags: date, Fortune, friday, full-moon, gene-munster, iphone, launch, leopard, october-26th, release, speculation

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Retail, Video, Other Events, Apple, iPhone

Line walk, AT&T State Street and Apple Michigan Ave.

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jun 29th, 2007


Click To Play

Maybe it's just me, but I thought the State Street AT&T store line had much more verve and character than the Michigan Ave. Apple Store line. The Apple Store had Starbucks coffee being given out for free, but the State Street line turned back into a brickwalled alley. There were balloons, and guys impatiently waiting "until 6:00," and dudes sitting with their laptops, and generally just a more both concerned and cordial atmosphere.

But I'll let you decide-- the State Street linewalk is above, and Michigan Avenue (which did curve all the way around the building-- I had to shoot it in 3 seperate cuts) is below the jump. Enjoy-- now you too can pretend like you waited hours for a phone you could have waited 5 minutes for.

Continue reading “Line walk, AT&T State Street and Apple Michigan Ave.”

Tags: apple, chicago, iphone, launch, lines, retail, statestreet, video, waiting

Filed under: Video, iPhone

Line Walk, AT&T Store NYC 17th & 6th

by Michael Rose (RSS feed) on Jun 29th, 2007


Click To Play


Another crew awaits the iPhone. The six guys in the front are all high school students who are getting $250 a head to pick up iPhones for well-heeled customers.

Tags: apple, cult of mac, iphone, launch, line walk, new york, tuaw

Filed under: Retail, Other Events, Apple, iPhone

iPhone Launch Gallery: Michigan Ave. in Chicago, IL

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jun 29th, 2007


I braved the mean streets of Chicago to bring you, dear readers, photographic proof that Apple did in fact launch the iPhone today. Around 5:00, I strolled up State Street (that great street, I just gotta say) to the AT&T Store near the Chicago Theatre, where the nearby television station was out in force. Then, I walked north, to the Michigan Avenue Apple store, where it was madness. The line curved all the way around the building, and there must have been ten or fifteen cameras, along with six or seven times that many onlookers standing in front of the store.

At 5:45 CST, the 50 or so Apple employees opened the door, and the line started rolling through. Seems like things moved fast, and by 6:30 or so, lots of people had walked out carrying the little black bags with the iPhone on the side, and they started letting us plebians into the store to check out the iPhone. Having loaded TUAW on all their display units, I headed out at around 7:00, and from what I saw, they still had tons of iPhones left, even after having sold a good few hundred from my estimation. All in all, a very smooth launch. Check the gallery below to experience it for yourself.

Gallery: iPhone Launch on Michigan Ave.

TUAW on the iPhone

Tags: abc7, apple, applestore, chicago, iphone, launch, michiganave, state street, StateStreet

Filed under: Terminal Tips

Terminal Tip: Four ways to turn off Finder animations and speed up your system

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on May 21st, 2007

Mac OS X Hints has posted several ways to disable Finder animations like the snap-to-grid animation and the Info window opening animation. They are:

1. Disable standard Finder animations.
defaults write com.apple.finder DisableAllAnimations -bool true

2. Disable 'snap to grid'.
defaults Write com.apple.Finder AnimateSnapToGrid -bool FALSE

3. Disable Info pane animations
defaults write com.apple.finder AnimateInfoPanes -bool false

4. Disable slow-mo animations (seen when you press Shift during Exposé launches or window minimization)
defaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableSlowAnimation -bool true

Issue any or all of these at the command line, and then restart Finder. (Enter killall "Finder" at the command line.) To reverse these effects, change from true to false or false to true and restart Finder again. So did this make my creaky 733 G4 Power PC Mac run faster? Perhaps a little. The biggest changes in speed I noticed were in accessing folders from the dock.

Tags: animation, dock, finder, launch

Filed under: Accessories, iPhone

iPhone accessories are growth industry

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Apr 19th, 2007

Wired tells us that iPhone accessory launches are starting even before the iPhone's release. Leander Kahney writes that Japanese case makers are rolling out protective iPhone cases like the one shown here.

The iPhone isn't due until June and iPod's $1 billion accessory market makes the iPhone a hot prospect for similar entrepreneurship. keep in mind that the iPhone will sport the same Dock connector that has made the iPod accessory market thrive. We certainly live in interesting times.

Tags: Accessories, Early, iPhone, Launch

Filed under: Apple Corporate, iTS

Apple Launches iTunes Store New Zealand

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Dec 5th, 2006

After tons of rumors and speculation, the New Zealand iTunes store debuted today. The online store offers over two million songs, with individual tracks priced at NZ$1.79, music videos at NZ$3.59 and many albums at NZ$17.99. Many New Zealand artists are featured exclusively in the New Zealand store, including Fat Freddy's Drop, Brooke Fraser, Tim Finn, The Datsuns and Bic Runga as well as extensive catalogues from New Zealand greats including Shihad, Crowded House, The Black Seeds, Breaks Co-Op, Elemeno P and Dei Hamo.

Tags: iTunes, Launch, New Zealand, NewZealand, Store

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