An unusually-large shipment of 188 mysterious containers has arrived in North America from Apple's manufacturing partners in China. The contents? "Electric computers," a term that Apple has never before used on its customs declarations.
Additionally, 67 of the containers were destined for Canada, landing in Vancouver, BC.
These containers are not to be confused with Apple's regular flotilla of shipping destined for the west coast. Typically, those containers are labeled as having "desktop computers" inside on their customs forms.
ImportGenius.com speculates that each container could contain up to 40,000 units of new iPhones.
Either that, or the UNIVAC I ordered finally arrived.
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday I penned a post reassuring people that the Time Capsule would, in fact, be shipping on time (where on time is 'by the end of February'). We are now getting reports that people who pre-order the Time Capsule are receiving shipping notifications. See? Nothing to worry about.
Sadly, my Time Capsule is still being prepared for shipment, but it should ship by tomorrow. Soon I will not have to hang my head in shame when someone asks me about my backup strategy.
The online Apple Store lists the MacBook Air as shipping in 2-3 weeks, however, if you ordered right after the keynote your MacBook Air might be on its way. We have received several excited emails sharing the news that MacBook Air orders seem to be shipping (one reader should have his on February 1st).
Does this lend any credence to the rumor that Apple Stores will have some MacBook Airs in stock shortly? Perhaps. Sound off in the comments if you ordered the MacBook Air right at the keynote, we want to know if it is shipping.
Sometimes I wonder if the frequent use of the terms "unlock" and "jailbreak" in conversations about the iPhone has caused a cognitive break for people who would otherwise keep to the straight and narrow. Case in point: two New York truckdrivers and an accomplice decided the best way to easy money was to crack open a shipment of 300 iPhones bound for Hong Kong, pull the phones out of the bottom of the shipping crate, throw in some reams of paper for weight and then re-shrinkwrap the package for delivery. Genius!
Unfortunately for the three men, the package didn't look quite right to an airline worker in Hong Kong, who alerted cops. The investigation led back to the Baldwin, LI shipping company that had transferred the iPhone crate, and the drivers who had sold the illicit phones (some on Craigslist) for an $80,000 windfall. The men were arrested in possession of $23,000 (quite a bit of cash already gone on luxury splurges) and just about to move to Florida. Per the NY Daily News: When he was asked about them last week, the truck drivers' boss said, "It's funny you should be asking about them. They just resigned."
No kidding. I think we've all learned something today... first, if you're going to replace packaged iPhones with something, rock beats paper. Second, 300 iPhones in a crate going to Hong Kong, where they aren't officially on sale? Maybe those 30% unlock estimates aren't so wacky after all.
Brian A. sent a tip to say he called his FedEx delivery manager in Huntsville, AL, and they told him that they were backed up with Leopard deliveries. Apparently, they weren't able to make the 10:30 AM deadline in some areas, and though delivery is still scheduled for sometime this afternoon, they'll be showing up late. How late? We're not sure, but hopefully not too late for Apple stores to receive their copies. Hopefully, this is just a hiccup in shipping, and not the start of a widespread delay.
In other news, reader Don also had a problem with his Leopard delivery-- when checking his tracking number with FedEx online, he noticed to his dismay that someone named "Ramirez" had already signed for his package (and he doesn't know anyone named Ramirez). He called Apple and they blamed FedEx, saying that FedEx was reusing tracking numbers, and the signature Don was seeing was for a different package.
And even if you have your copy, you may still be having problems-- Paul got his copy in Australia last night, but says Software Update has been zerged to death. With so many people trying to sign on and get their new apps, it may be a rough road for installers this weekend. Good luck out there.
Update: We've also heard about a delay out of Indy. If you were expecting Leopard in the US by 10:30am, odds are you don't have it yet.
Mike Pointek has updated his rockin' Delivery Status widget with Growl notifications, making it pretty much the most feature-packed, well-designed and useful shipping widgets that has ever graced this blogger's Dashboard. In addition to now being able to notify you of changes in your package's status, Delivery Status can also run multiple instances to keep track of more than one delivery, track shipments from ten different companies and services (sixteen if you count each one of Amazon's international sites separately), refresh as often as you like and easily take you to the package's shipment details at the shipping service's site.
Apple has just issued a press releasestatement announcing that Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard has been delayed until October. The reason? iPhone: "we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned." However, Apple will still be displaying a "feature complete" version of Leopard at June's WWDC event, and will be giving beta versions for developers to take home and help put the finishing touches on.
This is a pretty significant announcement, especially considering that Apple has fallen under criticism as of late for dropping 'Computer' from their name and seemingly shifting their focus from computers to consumer devices such as the iPod, Apple TV and now Mac OS X-delaying iPhone. In a way though, I'm not surprised either, as a number of Mac OS X developers have expressed disbelief that Apple was going to hit a June release with Leopard in its currently buggy and fairly unfinished state.
On the bright side, this hopefully can be taken as a sign that Apple is still committed to releasing quality software, even if slightly late this time around. The company could simply have shipped in June and issued 'Service Pack 1' later to patch all the gaping holes their customers found. But that wouldn't be very Apple, would it?
[Update: Still nothing at apple.com/pr, but it has been posted to Apple's Hot News site: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/]
Check your credit cards. Looks like Apple is finally charging those cards for Apple TV. With the order pages stating that "APPLE TV-USA Ships by: Mar 20 Delivers by: Mar 26", it seems as if Apple TV is finally getting ready to launch. I called around a few Apple Stores and they denied all knowledge about when store displays would go live. Just "check in again at the end of the month."
Update: Several readers report that the charges may only be pre-authorization checks.
Adobe has announced a shipping date of February 19th for Lightroom, their new toolbox for professional photographers that's been in beta for the last year. Lightroom carries a final retail price of $299, but until April 30th, Adobe is saying thanks to everyone who participated in the beta (and lowering the bar for early customers) with a price of $199. The current beta expires February 28th, so either way it's decision time for those who have found a place in their hearts (and workflows) for this professional managing, adjusting and presenting photography software.
For more details on Lightroom, we've been following the betas since Lightroom's introduction, and Macworld also has a nice summary of the latest improvements to the shipping version. Adobe, naturally, also has an official product page with demos, feature tours and interviews with photographers on the beta experience and what it's like to see Lightroom get all growed up, ready to make a difference in the (wide-angled) world of professional photography.
The above image says it all really. People purchasing Macs in the U.K. and, I assume, Europe are stuck with a vague 3-7 day shipping method while Americans get the option of a superior free 5 day service or the option of 2-3 day shipping for $18 extra. Why?
Good
news, UK. It seems that Apple has worked out the supply-and-demand issues that were hindering the shipment of MacBook
Pros. According to Macworkd UK, the online
Apple Store now promises that MacBook Pros will be ready for shipment within 24 hours of your placing an order. Huzzah!
Enjoy your swanky new laptops!
As Scott said, "We've all been
there." The time that passes while you wait for a new Mac to arrive can seem interminable. In fact, you can go a
little crazy from waiting. For example, check out this Flickr set by io burn. Not only did he make a
MacBook Pro out of cardboard, but also a cardboard web browser, pointed to the FedEx page and displaying tracking
information on his en route MacBook. Wow.
io burn: Just put the pen down, and step outside. Maybe have a
cool iced tea. It's on its way.
Lots of
people have emailed us to share the news: Apple has shipped their MacBook Pros. Now, after you recover from the carpal
tunnel of hitting refresh on the package tracking website (we have all been there) I expect you to take lots of
pictures while opening up the first Mac portable with an Intel chip. What are you going to do with those pictures? Why,
send us a link to them!
Over the
last couple of days I've been hearing some rumors that the MacBook Pro availability might get pushed back to March, but
I didn't want to post on it until something legitimate happened - and it has. TUAW reader Oliver noticed that the
MacBook Pro's availability from apple.com/store has changed to 3-4 weeks,
essentially pushing it back to March.
Whether this means no one is getting their MacBook Pro until
March is yet to be seen. I have yet to hear of shipment confirmation emails, but it is already a week into February.
Here's hoping this is just a sign of surging MacBook Pro orders.
An unusually-large shipment of 188 mysterious containers has arrived in North America from Apple's manufacturing partners in China. The contents? "Electric computers," a term that Apple has never before used on its customs declarations. 
Sometimes I wonder if the frequent use of the terms "unlock" and "jailbreak" in conversations about the 
Apple has just issued a 
Check your credit cards. Looks like Apple is finally 
Adobe has announced a shipping date of February 19th for 
Good
news, UK. It seems that Apple has worked out the supply-and-demand issues that were hindering the shipment of MacBook
Pros. 
Over the
last couple of days I've been hearing some rumors that the MacBook Pro availability might get pushed back to March, but
I didn't want to post on it until something legitimate happened - and it has. TUAW reader Oliver noticed that the
MacBook Pro's availability from 
