The UK-based ARM Holdings, which produces chips for about 95 percent of the tablet market, would seem to be nervously biting its corporate fingernails on chatter that Apple’s supreme dominance of the sector could leave component manufacturers for competing devices high-and-dry. Instead, the company’s stock is up on analyst comments dismissing the concern.

Recently, JPMorgan Research warned investors rival tablet makers could see almost 50 percent of their devices unsold amid Apple’s dominant market position. Such talk naturally spurred worries in the component manufacturing arena potentially producing parts for devices that won’t sell. Pshaw, replied an RBS analyst Friday.

Writer’s notes: this handy dandy guide was made with love to help you with your purchase of the iPad 2. If you’re looking to buy “the new iPad” which will be released on March 16th, 2012, click this pretty link for our updated guide.

We’ve been getting a lot of questions from readers and friends over which iPad 2 you should buy. Should you go with WiFi only, or the 3G version for when you’re not around a hotspot? How much storage do you need? And most importantly, how do you choose between black or white?

The answer is that you should get the 16GB WiFi-only model in black. Here’s why:

iMovie and GarageBand — two of the most exciting new applications for the iPad — went live in the App Store yesterday, and although GarageBand is supported on the first-generation iPad, iMovie unfortunately isn’t. There is a workaround, however, and you don’t need to jailbreak!

Just a few minutes ago, after a nine day wait, the iPad 2 went up for order… and even if you dropped you order within seconds of them becoming available, Apple’s estimated shipping delay was between 3-5 business days. Worse, free shipping is your only option with the iPad 2: there’s no way to overnight it.

For a guy like me, the fact that the iPad 2 won’t be shipping out for almost another week was a problem. I have an obvious professional interest in having an iPad 2 as quickly as possible. Yet as I considered my options, I ended up hitting the order button anyway, because I just don’t think I can be part of the Apple Store launch day spectacle this time.

If you’re up right this second, there can only be one possible reason: to order the iPad 2. As you can see from the image above, iPad 2’s went up for order a little before 1AM PT / 4AM ET. All models came with an estimated 3-5 business days shipping delay, and there is no option to get overnight shipping: free shipping is the only option.

The only problem? Seconds after making the above order, the order page appears to be down again. Was 3-5 business days delivery just a technical blip, and will the iPad 2 come back up sometime soon with a more aggressive shipping date? Or is Apple already sold out? (Edit: Nope! Back up again, with the same 3-5 business days estimate!)

We’ll keep you updated. Anyone grab their iPad 2 yet? Which one’d you end up ordering and why?

Steve Jobs has jumped almost 40 places on Forbes’ list of the World’s Billionaires. He is the 43 ^rd richest person in the U.S. and the 110^th richest in the world.

Jobs’ net worth has jumped almost $2 billion in one year, from $5.5 to $8.3 billion, Forbes estimated. The leap is thanks to Apple’s surging stock, bouyed by a successful year of iPads and iPhone 4s. Jobs has been on Forbes’ 400 list for the last 11 years. He’s grown his net worth more than 500%. Not bad for a college dropout.

Here’s Jobs’ profile on Forbes, and the annual list of filthy rich.

We start another day of dealing with the MacBook Pro. Expercom is offering a bundle that includes a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with 13-inch screen, plus a three-year AppleCare license for $1,268. Next we have several iPod touch units, including an 8GB version for just $149. Finally, if you are curious how the Google TV stacks up against Apple TV, there is a deal on the Logitech Revue unit that includes a wireless keyboard, remote and 802.11n wireless for $220.

Along the way, we check out other Mac-related devices, such as the XtremeMac InCharger to power up your iPhone, iPad or iPod. As always, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Half of all people using mobile devices for business transfer “sensitive” data over smartphones and tablets, according to a Harris Poll released Thursday. Results of the survey, compiled from the responses of more than 2300 Americans in late January 2011 indicate tablets such as Apple’s iPad may herald a post-PC society, with men and younger audiences more likely to trust the security of their mobile data.

FuzeBox, developers of collaboration solutions for desktop and mobile installations, commissioned the survey, which found that sensitive data transfers appear to be increasing in the mobile universe as professionals begin to adopt tablets in larger numbers, and that tablets, generally, increase the likelihood of transferring sensitive and private information.

Want an iPad 2 but don’t have the cash?

Here’s a random round-up of contests we’ve found offering the latest iPad as the prize.

Just about all are no-brainers that ask you to tweet or give your details in exchange for the chance to win, although some have age and geographical restrictions.

Good news for RSS users: NetNewsWire Lite is now in the Mac App Store.

This free news reader remains one of the nicest around, and this new update looks particularly smart, with new toolbar icons and a complete re-write of all the code behind the scenes.

Note that “Lite” means “lite”. This is a deliberately lightweight, stripped-down cousin of the much meatier NetNewsWire application (which will be on the App Store at a later date). That means that some features some people insist on – like syncing with Google Reader – are not included.

But if, like me, you just want to keep an eye on some feeds and do it quickly, NNW is an excellent choice of news reader. Recommended.