UPDATED 07:30 EDT / MARCH 16 2012

So Who Was The First To Get The New iPad? It Wasn’t Steve Wozniak

Today’s mobile roundup features the official launch of the new iPad, Samsung’s Galaxy Note launch in Australia and more.

Apple

People in different parts of the world geared up to wait in line to be the first to get their hands on Apple’s new iPad.  And guess who was the first to nab the new iPad?   David Tarasenko at the flagship Telstra store on George Street in Sydney, Australia.

The new iPad first went on sale in Australia followed by Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, France, the U.K., and the U.S., where the launch was of course met by long lines of waiting fanbois.

If Steve Wozniak was first in line at a California Apple Store when the iPhone 4S went on sale last October, this time he came in second — to his wife.

“My wife was the first, I was the second. We came at about noon. We’re used to Northern California where the stores lines start early,” Wozniak said to What’s Trending. “It’s become a ritual almost because I’ve done it so many times. It’s not something that I have to do. Nobody need to wait in line. You can pre-order… But I’d rather be there genuine like the real people. I want to be one of the people lined up and wait all night. Apple’s just that important to so many of us.”

In time for the new iPad going on sale, a survey conducted by dealnews stated that 55% of current iPad owners said they would upgrade to the new iPad, and 78% of non-tablet owners stated that they would buy Apple’s new offering within the next year.  As for the remaining 22% of non-tablet owners, 60% stated that they would but the iPad 2 instead of the new iPad because it is now cheaper at $399.

If Apple is celebrating the presumably massive attention bubbling around the new iPad, they have no reason to celebrate in Germany, as  the German Patent and Trade Mark Office denied the validity of the “slide-to-unlock” patent they used against Samsung Electronics Co.

Samsung

Though samsung will be providing the screens for the new iPad, it doesn’t mean they’re backing out of the gadget race.  In time with the new iPad’s arrival in Australia, the South Korean company also made their hybrid smartphone-tablet, Galaxy Note, available in the Australian market.  The Galaxy note will be available at Optus and Vodafone stores for $899 just for the device but will cost $0 on Optus’ 24 month $79 cap plan, and $5 on Vodafone’s 24 month $59 cap plan.

“The product combines the freedom of a paper notebook with the connectivity of Samsung’s smartphone technology and services,” Samsung’s vice president of telecommunications, Tyler McGee, said in a statement.

On the downside, the scheduled release for Android 4.0 upgrades for Ice Cream Sandwich on Samsung devices has been postponed yet again, expecting to roll out in Q2.

HTC

A handful of HTC Vivid-toting AT&T subscribers are now happily enjoying the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for their handsets.  So why is that only a few got the update?  AT&T pulled it back immediately for vague reasons, stating that it was accidentally released and the update will be available soon.

But because of the premature release, people at the XDA forum were able to provide other HTC Vivid users with the update.  The most notable feature of the ICS on HTC Vivid  the ability to disable “locked” applications even on unrooted software which is currently only available on the said device.

Sprint

Just like the failed AT&T-T-Mobile deal, Sprint Nextel Corp. will end the 15-year contract with billionaire Philip Falcone’s LightSquared Inc. due to the Federal Communications Commission blocking the said deal.  The termination of the contract is expected to be announced later today.

Earlier this year, the FCC stated that they intend to block LightSquared from operating their planned nationwide fourth-generation network.  The termination of the contract will cripple LightSquared, leaving them without a partner in building their planned network of 40,000 cell towers.


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