Reporter's Notebook: Excitement Fills iPhone Launch
Towson, Maryland - Friday, June 29 Hours before the iPhone was to go on sale, the line for the Apple Store here stretched all the way around the mall's top level perimeter, numbering 80 strong. Security was tight, despite the general quietness of the growing crowd.
The head of security said the first people, several gentlemen in their late 50's, had been there since 7am. They appeared to be in extremely high spirits, and were eager to chat with whomever came along. Apple employees were circulating, giving out Smart Water and keeping the general enthusiasm high. The line continued to grow.
First Day iPhone Supply Exceeds Demand
In retrospect, Apple should have made a disclaimer before the iPhone went on sale Friday at 6pm: If you want an iPhone, don't go to an AT&T store. Hoping to avoid massive crowds, many iPhone buyers ventured to smaller AT&T stores, like the one in Asburn, Virginia. But it turns out the real stock was located at Apple's own stores, and standing in line was not a requirement.
With extra employees, free water and donuts, and even teaser demos to those waiting, Apple was well prepared to handle an onslaught of iPhone customers. Some stores had thousands of units on hand to sell, and after initial lines were satisfied, anyone could walk in and buy one without waiting. No Apple store was reported to have sold out Friday night. Where did they hide all those iPhones? Scroll down.
Ashburn AT&T Store Leaves Dozens iPhone-less
For over 75 people lined up at the AT&T store in Ashburn, Virginia -- a major technology center and nearby to companies such as AOL -- excitement quickly turned to anger as dozens who waited over five hours were left without an iPhone due to the store's paltry stock of just 14 phones.
Ashburn seemed like a prime location to score one of Apple's lusted after new devices, which officially went on sale at 6pm Friday night. Nearby stores in Sterling and Reston, Virginia had lines nearing triple digits by mid-afternoon, but Ashburn is just outside the urban centers of Fairfax County - far enough to keep the crowds low, we thought.
Waiting for iPhone: Columbus (Indiana) Discovers the iPhone
A few dozen people waited in line since early afternoon outside an AT&T store in Columbus, Indiana. At a few minutes past six o'clock, twelve were let in at a time, and in only a half hour's time, everyone in line plus at least ten others walked out with an iPhone and accessories. There were no hitches, and plenty of smiling faces. So why isn't it like this everywhere else in the country?
It may very well have been the nicest place to wait in line for an iPhone in America. With approximately 39,000 citizens, Columbus, Indiana, is about an hour's drive south of Indianapolis in slow traffic. A few decades ago when small town America became threatened by recession, a lackluster economy, and diminishing jobs, Columbus refused to wither away and become a ghost town.
Cali. Laptop Thief May Get Life in Prison
Here's a lesson for those of you trying to find love online: watch what kind of access you give them to your home. A state appeals court this week in California upheld a ruling against a man who broke into the apartment of a woman he met through an online dating service. Stolen was her laptop and accessories, which was then pawned off for about USD $250. However, the man made one fatal mistake: he changed the administrator username to his online dating access.
Now, here's where the story gets interesting. Ronnie Henning was already in trouble with the law, and had several felonies on his record, including previous thefts from the objects of his online trysts. In California, there is a law known as "three strikes," which gives repeat offenders stiff sentences for repeat violations. As a result, Henning could face 31 years to life in prison as a result of his crimes.
Waiting for iPhone: Reading, PA
For all the buzz surrounding the iPhone, the reception here in Reading, a town about 65 miles northwest of Philadelphia has been somewhat muted.
Outside of the AT&T store in the Berkshire Mall on the outskirts of Reading, the line as of early afternoon was only about a half dozen strong. Contrary to those braving the elements in the bigger cities, no one had been waiting in line longer than late morning.
ECMA to Begin Drafting XPS as Alternative Standard to PDF
A meeting of ECMA International Technical Committee 46 will be convened next month in Cambridge, to begin the drafting process for an independent specification for "XML Paper" or XPS - the typeset document standard created by Microsoft as an alternative to Adobe's PDF format.
The notice came silently, as a very short post on the organization's Web site. However, it immediately drew criticism from attorney Andrew Updegrove, who represents high-tech firms and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Linux Foundation.
Qualcomm Rejects Broadcom's $6-per-chip Licensing Offer
Last week, as we reported, Qualcomm's request for a stay of injunction against the sale of certain of its chips in the US was denied, and that denial was upheld by the International Trade Commission. This after the company was found to have infringed upon three Broadcom patents. At that time, Broadcom said it was open to seeking a negotiated settlement with Broadcom.
As Bloomberg News first reported yesterday, Broadcom invited Qualcomm to the table but set a fairly hefty entry fee: $6 for every unit of Qualcomm's infringing chips already exported to the US, as a catch-up licensing fee. Qualcomm has apparently rejected that offer, publicly stating that it was hoping for something closer to $100 million to call it even, and then cross-license each other's patents for no charge.
iRobot Teams With Taser for Armed Robots
Although its more commonly known for its floor-cleaning robots, iRobot also contracts out to law enforcement and the Pentagon. A new robot could soon be armed to assist soldiers and law enforcement.
The company said Thursday that it teamed up with the maker of Tasers to incorporate the technology into robots that it builds for its clients. The first prototype of a model using the technology will be shown off at a Taser conference in Chicago, July 9-10.
Waiting for iPhone: Prospects Look Bright for Indy's Earliest Adopters
INDIANAPOLIS - There were at least a handful of folks outside the Apple Store at Keystone at the Crossing Mall in Indianapolis as early as 4 a.m. this morning, before a security crew politely told them to return at 7. They did as they were told, and were met by another handful of reporters from early morning local TV news. Perhaps it was the bright spotlights and the microwave truck that helped it sink in for them: They were present for history...or at least as much history as you could find at the crack of dawn in a mall parking lot.
Supposedly, the Apple Store isn't the only place for early adopters to get an iPhone. Officials with the local AT&T outlet stores here tell me there will be units on hand in Indianapolis stores and throughout the state, after reopening early this evening at 6:00 pm following a dramatic, one-time-only 4:30 pm closing to break out the boxes...if they have any. AT&T salespeople here (especially at the franchise stores) have been telling customers not to pin their hopes on too many units coming in, though their bosses told me there should be plenty of units to go around, at least at the corporate owned stores.
HD DVD Turns On Web-Enabled Content
Toshiba continued to press forward with its HD DVD format, saying Friday that it had added functionality that allows set-top player owners to access exclusive web content.
The new functionality allows the player to download exclusive content from the movie studio's server. Once downloaded, it is saved within the persistent storage of the set-top player for access.
2,600 Web Sites Using Windows Server 2008
According to Web statistics firm Netcraft, about 2,600 Web sites are already using Windows Server 2008 with Internet Information Server 7.0, including Microsoft's main site. Data shows that while a good portion of those servers using the OS are indeed the company's own, the majority are not, showing that Microsoft already has traction for the next server OS release.
Microsoft has been providing a 'Go Live' license, which allows users to deploy the beta platform in a live environment for free. In any case, it will likely take years for the Windows Server 2008 user base to overtake that of previous versions: it took several years for Windows Server 2003 to overtake Windows 2000, and even today there is a significant number of sites still using the latter version.
Apple Preps Macs for iPhone
Apple released an update for iTunes on Friday in preparation for the iPhone. Version 7.3 allows the user to activate their iPhone service through the application. In addition, the new version also allows the user to sync their media with the device. Non-iPhone related updates include the ability to share digital photos from any computer with a user's Apple TV, the company says.
Microsoft's recent update for Exchange Server may have also targeted the iPhone: it fixed a problem with the platform and Mac Mail with the IMAP protocol, and could potentially have been targeted at the device as well. In addition, to the iPhone releases, Apple has also released a firmware update for MacBook Pro users, "provides important bug fixes and is recommended for all 2.2/2.4GHz MacBook Pro models."
House Hearings on Internet Radio Royalties Cast Spotlight on Impasse
Lawmakers debating whether Congress should stop the imposition of dramatically higher royalties on Internet streaming music providers heard testimony this morning from people involved in small businesses throughout the independent music economy: a private webcaster, two artists, two indie record producers, a public broadcaster, and the president of the nation's leading musicians' union.
But almost everyone in the room today appeared to agree on one thing: The ultimate resolution to the issue of how artists should be fairly paid for their contribution to commercial music, and how webcasters can equitably contribute to artists' compensation, was in the hands of precisely no one in attendance.
Yahoo Hires Ethics Officer
Yahoo's announcement Thursday that it had created a new position called "Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer" is raising eyebrows, and some are speculating that it may have something to do with the criticism it received at its annual shareholder's meeting about its cooperation with the Chinese government. David Farrell, formerly chief compliance officer at Sun, has been hired for the position.
Among Farrell's responsibilities would be to ensure that the company is complying with the best practices of the industry at large, as well as being socially responsible and protecting the privacy of its users. In the most widely publicized example of Yahoo's cooperation with China, a writer was sentenced to a 10-year prison team after Yahoo provided access to the man's e-mail account to authorities. Yahoo has since been sued over the incident.
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