The new iPad—the third generation—is officially on sale today and, like clockwork, there are lines outside stores. This is the first product release for the new Apple Store at Grand Central, and it seems like the terminal's cavernous halls are perfect for waiting during this miserable day, some of the lines are inside long hallways. more ›

Tonight Nightline will broadcast a segment on Foxconn's massive factories in Shenzhen, which has a population of workers greater than NYC. That they toil for low pay in exploitative conditions to make our shiny Apple products is an open secret the mainstream media is finally covering. But monologuist Mike Daisey shining on a spotlight on Foxconn factories for years, particularly with his electrifying play The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. Having read a transcript of the Nightline segment, Daisey says it "does a lot for actually helping to give a human face to people who have been ignored forever." However, "context is everything." On his blog, he writes: more ›

Add another headache to NYPD spin doctor Paul Browne's plate. Yesterday a 39-year-old police officer was arrested for stealing iPads from a perp he was arresting. Anthony Rivera of the 123rd Precinct now faces charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and official misconduct. more ›

According to the Post, a 27-year-old man was killed over an iPhone: "The victim, whose name was withheld pending family notification, was shot in the back at about 9 p.m. in the lobby of a Sheepshead Bay apartment building on Ocean Avenue near Avenue W... Cops said the victim was arguing with two men shortly before he died. Two friends of the victim said the fight was over an iPhone." more ›

Our long national nightmare may soon be over! AllThingsD is reporting that Apple will be holding its next big media event—presumably to announce the highly-anticipated iPhone 5—on Tuesday, October 4. Beyond giving us a new gizmo to lust after, the event will also be an important chance for the company to show off its new CEO, Tim Cook, in the wake of Steve Jobs recent departure. more ›

The latest NYPD crime statistics revealed a 29% jump in robberies for October 11-17 compared to last year, according to the NY Post, and that means top NYPD officials will be holding an "emergency summit today.... Chief of Department Joseph Esposito, the highest ranking uniformed officer, and Chief of Operations Patrick Timlin are expected to grill the heads of the NYPD's eight borough commands, detective borough chiefs and housing and transit borough chiefs, the sources said." more ›

With station agents removed from many subway entrances, small-time crooks have been filling the void. Their scam is simple: they vandalize the MetroCard vending machine, then sell swipes to commuters who don't want to bother going around to another entrance with a functional machine. Hey, it's a living, and it sure beats token sucking. And the city profits too, because cops are writing lots of summonses to riders who, instead of buying a swipe, jump the turnstile instead. more ›

While shipments have already reached some iPhone faithful already, there are lines outside Apple Stores around the world for the eagerly awaited iPhone 4. Yesterday, the Fifth Avenue Apple Store's line saw a visit from Conan O'Brien, this morning the cops were called in to calm crowds at the Staten Island Apple Store, and today, the first Fifth Avenue customers are being cheered: more ›

The iPad has arrived and its owners are getting their greasy fingerprints all over the sleek display. Or they are showing off their wares—see this recently Tweeted video of someone outside the SoHo Apple Store. We hear that the lines at the Upper West Side and 14th Street moved along; the 14th Street store's lines were "depleted" by 11 a.m., which really does suggest that waiting basically two days in advance of the iPad launch is something for real, hardcore fans who have the time. more ›

There may be a recession, but Apple products might be nearly recession-proof. According to Bloomberg News, the company's Fifth Avenue store at 59th Street is the highest grossing store along that ritzy part of the street, which includes Tiffany & Co., Harry Winston, and Abercrombie & Fitch. While Apple doesn't disclose store specific data, given that Apple's overall store revenue has increased by 2.5% and other neighboring stores' company revenue has declined 22-30%, the guess is that the Fifth Avenue Apple store has $350 million in annual sales or $35,000 of sales per square foot (per square foot, Tiffany does less than half). Native New Yorkers and tourists alike flock there, and one analyst explained, "Even if [people] are not spending money elsewhere, people are still spending money on technology gadgets. It’s both a need and a want. It fulfills that retail-therapy component." Apple's retail chief Ron Johnson pointed out that the location is open 24/7: "The middle of the night is a really interesting time. It’s the waiters in the restaurants, it’s the actors on the stage. When they’re off work, they may not want to go off to a club or want to go home." He also confirmed that the Upper West Side location will open later this year. more ›

A few more details about subway robberies being slightly up in 2008 compared to 2007. Apparently a third of those subway thefts were for cell phones. WCBS 2 reports, "Police say the easiest marks are the riders near the doors. Thieves time it so that just as the doors are about to close, they make their grab and take off, leaving the victim trapped inside the train, and helpless to do anything about it." One rider was philosophical "You know if [my phone] gets stolen, I'd rather let it get stolen than get stabbed or something like that." And just last summer, a cop told the Daily News, "A kid taking out an iPhone and using it is like waving around $300." more ›

Yesterday, the Gothamist Newsmap noted there was a "suspicious package" at the Flatbush & 7th Avenue subway station in Brooklyn. It now turns out it was a backpack that started to smoke, by way of a science project. more ›