Given the recent publicity given to the iPad 2 grey market, especially overseas, you’re probably not going to be surprised to hear that many people waiting in line for an iPad 2 at Apple’s flagship 5th Avenue Store after every delivery are being paid to wait in line and buy their iPads for someone who will then sell them overseas. These line-waiters tend to make between $100 to $200 dollars for their services, and with iPad 2s going for at least twice and sometimes three times their retail price on eBay or in other countries, grey marketeers are obviously interested in soaking up as many iPad 2s as possible.

What might shock you is just how big a problem this is. According to the New York Post, though, more than half of the 400 people in line at Apple’s 5th Avenue Store last Thursday handed over their two purchased iPads in exchange for cash to a man sitting in a nearby BMW-X5.

“This has been going on for days,” one Apple Store employee said. “I feel for the die-hard customers who want the product but can’t get it.”

BGR is reporting that Apple is already preparing a small point release of iOS 4.3 for release within two weeks time, and when it lands, iOS 4.3.1 will not only close the iPad 2’s jailbreak vulnerability, but update the baseband for the iPhone 3GS and first-gen iPad as well.

Here’s the fixes, according to BGR:

Baseband updates for the 3GS and iPad (original)
Fixed memory hang that results in memory corruption when reading large files from USIM filesystem
Fixed problem with NTLM authentication in apps and on websites
Fixed issue with the Springboard and 3rd party apps not recgonizing the gyroscope on the iPad 2
Fixed iPad 2 jailbreak vulneratbility

No word there on fixing the massive battery life drains that users of fourth-generation iPod Touches have been reporting, or a software fix for the yellowing display problems some iPad 2 owners have been experiencing. There’s also no word as to whether or not iOS 4.3.1 will be available for Verizon iPhone customers.

The clock is ticking for Sprint, the only U.S. carrier that hasn’t established a way to eventually offer the iPhone. First, there was only AT&T, then Verizon and now potentially T-Mobile USA, if a $39 billion acquisition by AT&T is approved. Although T-Mobile says it won’t offer the Apple handset for around 12 months, Sprint is already calling ‘foul.’

“The merger would result in a wireless industry dominated overwhelmingly by two vertically-integrated companies that control almost 80 percent of the U.S. wireless post-paid market, as well as the availability and price of key inputs such as backhaul and access needed by other wireless companies to compete,” Sprint bemoaned in a statement.

Owners of 15-inch and 17-inch 2011 MacBook Pros are reporting that their notebooks are freezing up entirely under extensive load… and the problem is so persistent that one sufferer was able to reproduce it on every MBP at his local Apple Store.

Apparently, owners of 2011 MacBook Pros are reporting that under heavy load, their notebooks will freeze, even as sound continues. The cursor will still be movable, but the computer is completely unresponsive, and the only way to solve the problem is a hard reboot.

Just one of the Apple.com Support Threads about the issue is now 41 pages long, and the word “systemic” is being thrown around. One fix being suggested is to try to limit yourself to using software that only uses the integrated Sandy Bridge GPU on the MacBook Pro, instead of the ATI one.

Given how wide spread this issue is, hopefully Apple will release a fix sooner rather than later. Have any of our readers noticed this problem? Let us know in the comments.

[via MacStories]

The Daily Mail — I know! — has posted up an excellent bio on Jonny Ive, explaining how the soft-spoken muscle man from Chingford went from designing toilet bowls — I know! — to becoming the lead designer over at Apple, which they argue makes him the most valuable Englishman on Earth.

From a news perspective, the most interesting detail of the bio might be word from close friends of Ive who say that he has no intention of leaving Apple to go back to the UK, and is, in fact, looking to sell his Grade II mansion in Britain to concentrate on America more closely.

Warren Buffet, the world’s third richest man, has an aversion to buying Apple stock… because he just doesn’t get them.

“We held very few in the past and we’re likely to hold very few in the future,” said the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. “[It is] very easy for me to come to a conclusion as to what it will look like economically in five or 10 years, and it’s not easy for me to come to a conclusion about Apple.”

My first instinct was to decry this Mumm-Ra of financial wizardry for opening his desiccated gum flap and, with a puff of dust and a voice the sound of an unoiled door hinge slowly creaking open, shouting “I’M OLD!” in this manner.

Then I thought about it, and I realized he was right. I mean, not economically — I have no idea what AAPL stock will look like in five or ten years, although I think he’s right as an investing chairman interested in the long-term to view electronics as a tumultuous market: ten years ago, for example, Microsoft and Dell seemed untoppleable, Apple seemed doomed and no one gave a damn about Google. Apple just isn’t as sure a thing as Coca-Cola over the long haul.

But Buffett’s right in another way, too. I have no idea what Apple will even look like as a company in 10 years, or even five. After all, five years ago, Apple was still primarily an MP3 player maker. Ten years ago, they were primarily a computer maker. Now, they’re primarily a mobile device maker. Twenty years from now, they could be selling us all brain implants for all I know. But unlike Buffett, I don’t fear that. It excites me.

I know everyone is interested in purchasing an iPad 2, but you are not sure about whether your local Apple store has any in stock. What we need is an Apple iPad availability Web tool like the one we had before for the iPhone 3GS in 2009. Back then that page declared:

The Apple Retail Store likely has your iPhone 3GS in stock. You can check the most up-to-date availability right here. Shipments of iPhone 3GS arrive most days, and availability is updated hourly. The 8GB iPhone 3G is currently available in all stores.

You could access the tool to check the availability of an iPhone 3GS in your state. I checked and the URL no longer works — even when you substitute the word iPad in it for iPhone in the old URL.

I think that Apple would probably re-launch this tool again if they had better inventory availability, but with the iPad 2 selling out and screen manufacturing problems they probably don’t really need this tool right now.

Hopefully all that will change soon and a site like this will re-launch for the iPad 2. Then you won’t have to stand in ridiculous iPad 2 lines any more.

This is a guest post by Mark Hosbein, a potential iPad 2 customer. Mark has been unable to get an iPad 2 after several days waiting in line. He expresses the frustration felt by many. As we’ve reported, Apple continues to see long lines for the iPad 2 a week after launch day. Mark’s piece was originally published here.

I just returned from the Apple Store at the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey. I arrived at the mall at 5.20 AM to wait in line for my chance to buy an iPad 2. I was number 27 in line. I did not get one. The line went to 81. My wife had been there for the past two days, and both days she was shut out. She was number 39 yesterday, with no luck.

For a revered brand, Apple is risking customer will in the way they are managing the iPad launch.

Google has today launched Google TV Remote for iOS – a fully functional remote control for Google TV devices, featuring the complete range of buttons, a mouse pad, and even voice search.

The application has been available on Android devices for a while, and just like the Android version, this one’s free to download. It’s compatible with all Google TV devices and it’s simple to set up – just ensure your iPhone or iPod touch and your Google TV device are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

Check out Google’s tutorial for the app below:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGBMFxN_eys&feature=player_embedded

Apple has a serious problem on its hands with the iPad 2 display.

Last week I purchased an iPad 2 on launch day. It suffered from backlight bleeding. I took it back to my local Apple Store, which replaced it on Friday. This second iPad 2 also suffers from backlight bleeding.

I’m pissed. I spent more than $1,000 for the whole thing with accessories – I want something worth the investment not a dud.

But I’m not taking it back to Apple a third time. Why not?