Engadget reports that the line to purchase an iPhone 3G at the 5th Avenue "Apple Cube" store has already formed. As of yesterday, about 10 people were queued up, sporting foldout chairs, rain tarps, and other long-haul provisions.
Several people in the line are part of a group attempting to break a world record for "longest time waiting in line to buy something." A family at the front of the line is waiting with their six month old baby and are attempting to keep the baby with them in line for the full week, but apparently (happily) they realize this may not be possible.
We the people love Apples. Apple iPhones! The Big Apple! Apples grown locally in New York State!
We are here on a mission to set a new Guinness World Record for "longest time waiting in line to buy something."
Until now, there was never anything we felt excited enough to wait for a ridiculous amount of time. We can't wait for the iPhone 3G.
As the old adage states, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." So, for the next seven days, expect to see us eating a lot of Apples, and sharing Apples with our friends. We will have local apple farmers deliver us apples every day. And as the line grows, we will give locally-grown apples to everyone waiting on line. . . .
The iPhone 3G will be released at 8am on Friday, July 11 at Apple and AT&T retail stores. See you in line!
As AppleInsider reports, if you're an iPhone user who's planning on braving the line on the 11th for an upgrad to iPhone 3G, your first-generation iPhone can still be used as, basically, an iPod touch.
"If the [original] device is not re-activated as a wireless phone after you’ve upgraded to iPhone 3G, it will still work as an iTunes player and can access Wi-Fi," the spokesperson said.
So if you don't hand it off to your wife, girlfriend/boyfriend or cousin, you'll end up with what's more or less an iPod touch with the added ability to record audio and take photographs.
It's not yet clear if a 1G iPhone in such a state could be upgraded to the iPhone 2.0 firmware, but if so, the device could also be used to purchase and use App Store applications and games.
We recently reported that AT&T and Apple reps conducted a briefing at my workplace to familiarize the organization with the enterprise side of the iPhone 3G and iPhone 2.0. In this meeting, an Apple rep stated that the iTunes App Store and iPhone 2.0 would land on July 11, and we've since seen further confirmation of this.
One of the AT&T reps that was in attendance sent us an email that, while obviously of interest to enterprise purchasers, will certainly be of interest to those intending to get in line at 5am in fear of a launch-day sellout, as well.
From the email:
Hello all, If you are planning on purchasing 5 or more iPhones on July 11th, there is a back door for enterprise customers to get at the "front of the line." A bulk order form for Premier can be submitted as early as 5 am on July 11th. ...
This is the first we've heard of any method of securing an iPhone 3G from an AT&T store before the recently announced 8am opening on the 11th. What's more, although we've heard nothing official, there are reports that AT&T will be limiting iPhone 3G sales in its stores; an Engadget report suggests three-per-customer while we've heard other indications of one-per-customer. It would seem these purchase limits, if they are enforced, would not apply to enterprise purchasers.
So non-enterprise consumers: get in line early. It's not just the guys and gals standing in front of you that you'll be competing with for Apple's shiny, new chunk of mobile goodness come launch day...
Apple has posted a 10 minute Guided Tour video that shows off the new features of the iPhone 3G and the upcoming iPhone 2.0 firmware that will be a free upgrade to users of the first-generation iPhone.
The iPhone 3G, the iPhone 2.0 firmware upgrade, and the iTunes App Store will all debut on July 11th.
AT&T also confirmed that they will be subsidizing the price for new and current iPhone customers at the WWDC announced price of $199 (8GB) and $299 (16GB).
Existing AT&T customers must be upgrade eligible in order to receive the $199 and $299 prices. However, AT&T is offer an "early upgrade" price of $399 and $499 to these customers who are not currently eligible. You can check your eligibility in your online AT&T account.
Finally, AT&T is offering an unsubsidized price of $599 and $699 at a later date as a "no commitment" price for individuals who do not wish to sign a long term contract
AT&T's "iReady" checklist is available in PDF form.
Presumably, Apple will likewise begin selling the new iPhones at retail Apple Stores at 8am. Stay tuned for confirmation on this as news develops.
SoundSpectrum has released G-Force v3.8.3, an audio visualization plug-in for various media players, including iTunes, which can visualize not only digital audio files but also audio sourced through "line-in" or aux audio input. As described on the developer's site...
G-Force features fast anti-aliased effects, millions of possible effect combinations, savable and scriptable effects, video file export capabilities, and unparalleled expandability. G-Force is designed to entertain you on its own, but there are manys it can be customized and extended.
G-Force comes from the makers of WhiteCap, another visualization plug-in. According to the developer, while WhiteCap was the first generation, G-Force represents the second generation of visualization splendor. The screenshotsare impressive.
G-Force supports a variety of platforms, running under Mac OS X (G4, G5, or Intel required) and Windows NT/98/Me/2000/XP (Pentium III or better required). 3D hardware acceleration is not required by G-Force.
New in this release:
Fixed OS X installer permissions issue (error ID 10 or 11).
Apple has been stating that the iPhone 2.0 firmware update and the launch of the iTunes App Store will take place in "early July." Many have assumed this means July 11, the launch day of the new iPhone 3G--but it hasn't been totally clear.
Yesterday I attended an iPhone 3G enterprise briefing seminar at my workplace hosted by reps from AT&T and Apple. The Apple rep confirmed that iTunes App Store and iPhone 2.0 firmware will, in fact, debut on July 11.
As iLounge points out, Apple has made some subtle changes to the iTunes Store in preparation for the launch of the iTunes App Store, which an Apple rep confirmed to me will take place on July 11th.
Today, Apple officially changed the heading on its iPod Games pages from "iPod Games" to "iPod classic and nano Games," differentiating the current listings from possible future listings for iPod touch- and iPhone-compatible games. In addition, the company has begun listing the date that films will be available for rent on the purchase pages. The second change may be to aid users who had hoped to rent a title and were confused as to why it was available for purchase but not for rent, or as a prelude to pre-orders for automatic film rental downloads to a computer.
Apple has announced that it has sold over five billion songs through the iTunes Store since it went on line back in April of 2003.
The iTunes Store is the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over eight million songs, over 20,000 TV episodes and over 2,000 films including over 350 in stunning high definition video. With Apple's legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.
Apple also indicates that iTunes customers are now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies per day, making the iTunes Store the world's most popular online movie store.
Is it simply an unfortunate omission--a troublesome inconvenience that Adobe's Flash is not available on the iPhone? Apple's recently announced javascript framework SproutCore convinces us that the answer to this question is "No." And to find out what SproutCore tells us about Apple's Master Plan, have a look at Daniel Dilger's take on the latest surrounding this new, key technology.
Over the last year, I’ve also outlined Apple’s efforts to starve Adobe’s Flash and AIR (and by extension, Microsoft’s me-too Flash plugin called Silverlight), at a time when pundits have insisted that Flash was a vital missing element on the iPhone and that Apple could/should/would be scrambling to port Flash to it. It might be a surprise to find that Apple’s air supply attack on Flash and its interest in dusting Windows with Cocoa are actually related.
As the article points out, Apple and Google have both shied away from relying upon plug-ins owned by other companies to deliver their web content (with the exception of YouTube which Google purchased...but, then, all of YouTube's videos are also available in h.264 format...hmmm...). Google wants to keep the web HTML vs monolithic binaries to sell ads. Apple doesn't want to get shut out by a Microsoft dominated web or have to rely upon Adobe's weak ability to implement its apps on the Mac. Same goal, different reasons.
The piece is a compelling read and paints one possible future of the web that we feel is a much happier scenario than one that relies upon this or that plug-in from Adobe, Microsoft, or any outfit.
UPDATE: Check out the great interview with Charles Jolley (the man behind SproutCore) over at Ajaxian.
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