Apple sees brief iPhone 3GS shortages; NVIDIA intros CS4 plugins

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Apple nearly saw a repeat of last year's sellouts on the weekend with widespread, but brief, iPhone 3GS shortages at many of its US retail stores. Also, NVIDIA has launched plugins that let Macs with newer video cards dramatically speed up tasks in Adobe's Creative Suite 4.



iPhone 3GS stock runs dry over the weekend



Keeping to its now traditional approach of tracking iPhone supplies closely in the immediate wake of a launch, Apple has posted an iPhone 3GS availability tool that lists stock by store and by model -- and which has hinted at continued strong demand for the third-generation handset a week after it first appeared.



As followed by ifo Apple Store, the weekend began with only minor shortages that saw 29 of 257 shops nationwide reporting any kind of limited availability. By Sunday evening, however, very few stores had any stocks of the white iPhone 3GS model while only the white 32GB model was available at more than 52 percent of stores. Black versions of 16GB and 32GB models were only available at just over a third of stores at 35 percent each, and about 39 stores had no stock whatsoever.



A day later, the situation had improved substantially, with only six stores reporting no iPhones in stock and only a small amount more going without one or more models.



Whether or not the situation will remain the same in weeks to come is hard to tell. Last year's iPhone 3G launch saw even more severe shortages around this time last year and maintained a similar dire state for weeks afterwards, but it's possible both that Apple has better prepared itself for its latest launch as well as that economic woes have kept certain customers out of stores.



These figures are updated hourly and so should be accurate for the iPhone maker's own supply, but they don't include AT&T, Best Buy or Walmart, all of whom play an important part in Apple's true sales numbers.



NVIDIA releases Adobe CS4 CUDA plugins for Macs



Owners of more recent Macs with fast video cards were given an extra speed advantage on Monday with a new set of Adobe Creative Suite 4 plugins.



The suite includes four plugins from third parties and centers on Elemental Accelerator 1.2, a video processing add-on. Those using Mac Pros with a Quadro FX 4800 video card can use the general-purpose computing feature of these graphics chipsets to accelerate video encoding for H.264-formatted videos well beyond what would be possible with the processor alone. NVIDIA estimates that the task can run 11 times faster than it would without the plugin.



The others, from Boris FX ,proDAD and Red Giant Software, provide less conspicuous gains but help out other key apps in Adobe's library, including After Effects, Flash and Photoshop.



Such plugins are a rarity for the Mac, which has supported CUDA since last year but has only occasionally been supported by widely available apps. The situation should change with the release of Mac OS X Snow Leopard in September, when the universal OpenCL standard will encourage cross-platform support and let both ATI and NVIDIA cards run the same special code.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 117
    I didn't pre-order or anything and I spur the moment called my Apple store last wednesday expecting them to be sold out of all iphone 3GS because AT&T had a 2 week wait but to my surprise they had them all in stock and I went about an hour later and picked up a white 32gig. It was fast but pretty unstable, it locked up a couple times randomly while in my pocket or desk and the battery life was just horrible, within 30 mins of unplugging it would be down 10% and thats on standby. I restored and started as a new Iphone but it still locked up and then to my surprise i missed a couple phone calls while it was sitting right next to me on "loud". I couldnt figure it out but then when pandora didn't work either I realized the speakers and headphone jack all went dead. I got it replaced yesterday and my new one hasn't locked up once and the battery life is up to par. Hasnt been charged since yesterday around 6 p.m. which is almost 24 hours and im still at 44%. Thats with a good amount of txting/phone calls/email/ and pandora streaming. Im pretty happy with the purchase now but im looking forward to 3.0.1
  • Reply 2 of 117
    Also, I'm hoping that with the 3.0.1 update they turn on MMS for AT&tT. I know its not Apples fault but hopefully AT&T will be pushed and down talked enough by then to have it ready for the new update.
  • Reply 3 of 117
    virgil-tb2virgil-tb2 Posts: 1,416member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alectheking View Post


    I didn't pre-order or anything and I spur the moment called my Apple store last wednesday expecting them to be sold out of all iphone 3GS because AT&T had a 2 week wait but to my surprise they had them all in stock and I went about an hour later and picked up a white 32gig. It was fast but pretty unstable, it locked up a couple times randomly while in my pocket or desk and the battery life was just horrible, within 30 mins of unplugging it would be down 10% and thats on standby. I restored and started as a new Iphone but it still locked up and then to my surprise i missed a couple phone calls while it was sitting right next to me on "loud". I couldnt figure it out but then when pandora didn't work either I realized the speakers and headphone jack all went dead. I got it replaced yesterday and my new one hasn't locked up once and the battery life is up to par. Hasnt been charged since yesterday around 6 p.m. which is almost 24 hours and im still at 44%. Thats with a good amount of txting/phone calls/email/ and pandora streaming. Im pretty happy with the purchase now but im looking forward to 3.0.1



    Dude, I think you have the wrong site.



    This is *not* the "yammering on about my personal troubles" site, it's an Apple rumour site.
  • Reply 4 of 117
    oneaburnsoneaburns Posts: 354member
    It would have been nice if they would have put the availability link up there the weekend it launched (when I tried but failed to get one) and not the weekend after (when they had lots in stock I guess they weren't expecting this much demand. The whole activation process was a little messy though. \ You walk into the store not sure where to go. I saw an employee in an orange shirt and stopped them and said I'd like the 32GB Black iPhone. "OK, I'm going to take you over here to Aliya (another Orange shirt.)" Aliyah informs me I need to go wait by the table in the corner that has 8 iPhones on display. I go to that table unsure of how many people are just playing with the displays and how many are buying. Unsure where to stand I ask someone standing at one corner of the table and they explain the buyers stand in the southwest corner. I meander over there. Moo. I then ask my fellow iPhone companions how long they've been waiting there. "45 minutes," was the reply. I asked what exactly is it that we are waiting for and they say they don't know. Not satisfied with that answer, I go back to the special senior orange shirt employee and ask what we are actually waiting for. Of course, she looks confused and says, "the iPhone." I bite my tongue, remain polite and explain that I realize what I came here to purchase but want to know what is causing the current 45 minute wait to get said iPhone. Are we waiting on a new shipment? Are there any physically in stock? Does a magic poem need to be read? She informs me that we need to wait for a person in a teal shirt to get us the phone but they are all busy helping people with questions about computers. As anyone who has browsed through an Apple store knows, it is often filled with computer "shoppers" who will ask questions for 30 minutes straight but have no intention of ever actually buying anything. Kudos to Apple for answering all those questions but when you are ready to buy it's not efficient to have to wait for the same people. Anyway, 5 minutes go by when I see a teal-shirter getting done helping a laptop shopper. I try to waive him over to help one of the iPhone buyers in front of me but he informs me that the orange shirts control the workflow (I suddenly feel like a jet trying to maneuver on an aircraft carrier.) He goes to the master orange shirt and she confirms that the iPhone buyers are in fact next to be helped...yay. There are two women ahead of me. The first one says that all 5 of us are buying iPhones so he can bring out that many. "Sorry, I can only bring one at a time." D'oh! Oh well, hopefully it won't be too long. But, I got lucky. Just then 3 teal-shirts free up and the senior orange shirt woman lets two of them help some of us iPhone schleps. The activation goes fine and in total, I spent 30 minutes in the store. Not too bad but it seems like the process could have been made a little more clear so customers know that someone will be there to assist them. "Go stand by that table and wait," is not a good way to treat someone about to drop $300 to vote for your phone.



    On a side note, it is interesting that the place was packed with laptop shoppers. I don't know how many of those translated into sales but I've never seen it that packed in there before.
  • Reply 5 of 117
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by oneaburns View Post


    The activation goes fine and in total, I spent 30 minutes in the store. Not too bad but it seems like the process could have been made a little more clear so customers know that someone will be there to assist them. "Go stand by that table and wait," is not a good way to treat someone about to drop $300 to vote for your phone.



    I was in and out in about 5 mins. More than impressed as they were quite busy, but I was out quick so thats all that matters.
  • Reply 6 of 117
    cubertcubert Posts: 728member
    Does anyone know if this Adobe plug-in is Mac only? I looked at their site briefly and couldn't find any info. Or, are we being given the redheaded stepchild treatment by Adobe and NVIDIA here, too, and this is our carrot?
  • Reply 7 of 117
    akacakac Posts: 512member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alectheking View Post


    Also, I'm hoping that with the 3.0.1 update they turn on MMS for AT&tT. I know its not Apples fault but hopefully AT&T will be pushed and down talked enough by then to have it ready for the new update.



    The good news is that MMS doesn't need an OS update. The only thing controlling MMS is the carrier file that describes what the settings are per carrier. AT&T just needs to send an updated Carrier file and voila.
  • Reply 8 of 117
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Akac View Post


    The good news is that MMS doesn't need an OS update. The only thing controlling MMS is the carrier file that describes what the settings are per carrier. AT&T just needs to send an updated Carrier file and voila.



    thats good I wasn't sure what the process was but carrier updates only take seconds. I want my damn MMS already I cant believe they "weren't ready" when the OS was released.
  • Reply 9 of 117
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by oneaburns View Post


    It would have been nice if they would have put the availability link up there the weekend it launched (when I tried but failed to get one) and not the weekend after (when they had lots in stock I guess they weren't expecting this much demand. The whole activation process was a little messy though. \ You walk into the store not sure where to go. I saw an employee in an orange shirt and stopped them and said I'd like the 32GB Black iPhone. "OK, I'm going to take you over here to Aliya (another Orange shirt.)" Aliyah informs me I need to go wait by the table in the corner that has 8 iPhones on display. I go to that table unsure of how many people are just playing with the displays and how many are buying. Unsure where to stand I ask someone standing at one corner of the table and they explain the buyers stand in the southwest corner. I meander over there. Moo. I then ask my fellow iPhone companions how long they've been waiting there. "45 minutes," was the reply. I asked what exactly is it that we are waiting for and they say they don't know. Not satisfied with that answer, I go back to the special senior orange shirt employee and ask what we are actually waiting for. Of course, she looks confused and says, "the iPhone." I bite my tongue, remain polite and explain that I realize what I came here to purchase but want to know what is causing the current 45 minute wait to get said iPhone. Are we waiting on a new shipment? Are there any physically in stock? Does a magic poem need to be read? She informs me that we need to wait for a person in a teal shirt to get us the phone but they are all busy helping people with questions about computers. As anyone who has browsed through an Apple store knows, it is often filled with computer "shoppers" who will ask questions for 30 minutes straight but have no intention of ever actually buying anything. Kudos to Apple for answering all those questions but when you are ready to buy it's not efficient to have to wait for the same people. Anyway, 5 minutes go by when I see a teal-shirter getting done helping a laptop shopper. I try to waive him over to help one of the iPhone buyers in front of me but he informs me that the orange shirts control the workflow (I suddenly feel like a jet trying to maneuver on an aircraft carrier.) He goes to the master orange shirt and she confirms that the iPhone buyers are in fact next to be helped...yay. There are two women ahead of me. The first one says that all 5 of us are buying iPhones so he can bring out that many. "Sorry, I can only bring one at a time." D'oh! Oh well, hopefully it won't be too long. But, I got lucky. Just then 3 teal-shirts free up and the senior orange shirt woman lets two of them help some of us iPhone schleps. The activation goes fine and in total, I spent 30 minutes in the store. Not too bad but it seems like the process could have been made a little more clear so customers know that someone will be there to assist them. "Go stand by that table and wait," is not a good way to treat someone about to drop $300 to vote for your phone.



    On a side note, it is interesting that the place was packed with laptop shoppers. I don't know how many of those translated into sales but I've never seen it that packed in there before.



    Formatting makes it so much more interesting for the reader.
  • Reply 10 of 117
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    LOL yeah paragraphs, dude, paragraphs.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by oneaburns View Post


    It would have been nice if they would have put the availability link up there the weekend it launched (when I tried but failed to get one) and not the weekend after (when they had lots in stock I guess they weren't expecting this much demand. The whole activation process was a little messy though. \ You walk into the store not sure where to go. I saw an employee in an orange shirt and stopped them and said I'd like the 32GB Black iPhone. "OK, I'm going to take you over here to Aliya (another Orange shirt.)" Aliyah informs me I need to go wait by the table in the corner that has 8 iPhones on display. I go to that table unsure of how many people are just playing with the displays and how many are buying. Unsure where to stand I ask someone standing at one corner of the table and they explain the buyers stand in the southwest corner. I meander over there. Moo. I then ask my fellow iPhone companions how long they've been waiting there. "45 minutes," was the reply. I asked what exactly is it that we are waiting for and they say they don't know. Not satisfied with that answer, I go back to the special senior orange shirt employee and ask what we are actually waiting for. Of course, she looks confused and says, "the iPhone." I bite my tongue, remain polite and explain that I realize what I came here to purchase but want to know what is causing the current 45 minute wait to get said iPhone. Are we waiting on a new shipment? Are there any physically in stock? Does a magic poem need to be read? She informs me that we need to wait for a person in a teal shirt to get us the phone but they are all busy helping people with questions about computers. As anyone who has browsed through an Apple store knows, it is often filled with computer "shoppers" who will ask questions for 30 minutes straight but have no intention of ever actually buying anything. Kudos to Apple for answering all those questions but when you are ready to buy it's not efficient to have to wait for the same people. Anyway, 5 minutes go by when I see a teal-shirter getting done helping a laptop shopper. I try to waive him over to help one of the iPhone buyers in front of me but he informs me that the orange shirts control the workflow (I suddenly feel like a jet trying to maneuver on an aircraft carrier.) He goes to the master orange shirt and she confirms that the iPhone buyers are in fact next to be helped...yay. There are two women ahead of me. The first one says that all 5 of us are buying iPhones so he can bring out that many. "Sorry, I can only bring one at a time." D'oh! Oh well, hopefully it won't be too long. But, I got lucky. Just then 3 teal-shirts free up and the senior orange shirt woman lets two of them help some of us iPhone schleps. The activation goes fine and in total, I spent 30 minutes in the store. Not too bad but it seems like the process could have been made a little more clear so customers know that someone will be there to assist them. "Go stand by that table and wait," is not a good way to treat someone about to drop $300 to vote for your phone.



    On a side note, it is interesting that the place was packed with laptop shoppers. I don't know how many of those translated into sales but I've never seen it that packed in there before.



  • Reply 11 of 117
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by oneaburns View Post


    It would have been nice if they would have put the availability link up there the weekend it launched (when I tried but failed to get one) and not the weekend after (when they had lots in stock I guess they weren't expecting this much demand. The whole activation process was a little messy though. blah blah blah



    On a side note, it is interesting that the place was packed with laptop shoppers. I don't know how many of those translated into sales but I've never seen it that packed in there before.



    Somehow I wonder if you are telling the truth....
  • Reply 12 of 117
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alectheking View Post


    I was in and out in about 5 mins. More than impressed as they were quite busy, but I was out quick so thats all that matters.



    That's what she said. Sorry couldn't resist.
  • Reply 13 of 117
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Formatting makes it so much more interesting for the reader.



    Trust me, it wouldn't have. Plus, paragraphs would have been inappropriate in that post - he shouldn't have even used commas if you wanted it how it came out of his mind
  • Reply 14 of 117
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alectheking View Post


    thats good I wasn't sure what the process was but carrier updates only take seconds. I want my damn MMS already I cant believe they "weren't ready" when the OS was released.



    AT&T makes the US a laughing stock when it comes to mobile telephony. What is up with them? No MMS, no tethering. For video calls, Apple would have introduced it for sure if AT&T was anywhere *close* to being able to deliver on that, IMHO.
  • Reply 15 of 117
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    AT&T makes the US a laughing stock when it comes to mobile telephony. What is up with them? No MMS, no tethering. For video calls, Apple would have introduced it for sure if AT&T was anywhere *close* to being able to deliver on that, IMHO.



    Do you honestly think that Apple didn't have the timeline for AT&T offering Tethering or MMS on the iPhone? Do you really think Steve Jobs is that ignorant.



    AT&T offers both features on many other phones today and could today with the flip of a switch.



    Both Apple & AT&T are in a partnership. Apple obviously having the upper hand given the popularity of the iPhone.



    Steve knew this LONG before the release of 3.0 and the 3GS.
  • Reply 16 of 117
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iPhone1982 View Post


    Do you honestly think that Apple didn't have the timeline for AT&T offering Tethering or MMS on the iPhone? Do you really think Steve Jobs is that ignorant.



    AT&T offers both features on many other phones today and could today with the flip of a switch.



    Both Apple & AT&T are in a partnership. Apple obviously having the upper hand given the popularity of the iPhone.



    Steve knew this LONG before the release of 3.0 and the 3GS.



    I'm not sure what your point is here. He made no mention that I see that Apple wasnt aware of their timeline or network issues in his post. Are you saying because AT&T offers it with their other phones that it's Apple's fault?
  • Reply 17 of 117
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I'm sure what your point is here. He made no mention that I see that Apple wasnt aware of their timeline or network issues in his

    post. Are you saying because AT&T offers it with their other phones that it's Apple's fault?



    Please don't say you don't know exactly where my statement was going.

    Apple knew the timeline, AT&T knew the timeline for both features down to the day/time and probably second given how SJ negotiates.



    And what part of



    Quote:

    Apple would have introduced it for sure if AT&T was anywhere *close* to being able to deliver on that, IMHO.



    don't you understand about Apple was and is aware of why the features aren't released?



    Quote:

    Are you saying because AT&T offers it with their other phones that it's Apple's fault?



    I'm saying Apple was fully aware of the timeline of when the features were going to be released and this as well as all other Apple Forums are making AT&T to be sole bandit.



    My question is WHY would Apple knowingly accept this?
  • Reply 18 of 117
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iPhone1982 View Post


    Please don't say you don't know exactly where my statement was going.

    Apple knew the timeline, AT&T knew the timeline for both features down to the day/time and probably second given how SJ negotiates.



    And what part of don't you understand about Apple was and is aware of why the features aren't released?







    I'm saying Apple was fully aware of the timeline of when the features were going to be released and this as well as all other Apple Forums are making AT&T to be sole bandit.



    My question is WHY would Apple knowingly accept this?



    Merdhead?
  • Reply 19 of 117
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iPhone1982 View Post


    Please don't say you don't know exactly where my statement was going.

    Apple knew the timeline, AT&T knew the timeline for both features down to the day/time and probably second given how SJ negotiates.



    And what part of



    don't you understand about Apple was and is aware of why the features aren't released?



    I'm saying Apple was fully aware of the timeline of when the features were going to be released and this as well as all other Apple Forums are making AT&T to be sole bandit.



    My question is WHY would Apple knowingly accept this?



    I'm trying but I'm still not following your thought process. Are you saying that when Apple stated at the WWDC that MMS will be available for v3.0 for a plethora of carriers but not for AT&T, that they could have given up an exact " timeline for both features down to the day/time and probably second"? You don't think unexpected delays happen in the tech field? You must think that Apple's response last March for grossly underestimating Push Notifications was a ruse to distract from a worse reason than stating that we didn't think it trough well enough



    Apple could very well have contracts that specify that AT&T will have certain features ready by a certain time but that doesn't mean they will, it only means that AT&T will be required to pay whatever penalty is written into the contract if a deadline is not meant. It also doesn't mean Apple is happy with AT&T on this front, but to suggest that contract signing for the iPhone during or before 2006 should have included a "timeline for both features down to the day/time and probably second" for including MMS and tethering in 2009 is not rational.
  • Reply 20 of 117
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I'm trying but I'm still not following your thought process. Are you saying that when Apple stated at the WWDC that MMS will be available for v3.0 for a plethora of carriers but not for AT&T, that they could have given up an exact " timeline for both features down to the day/time and probably second"? You don't think unexpected delays happen in the tech field? You must think that Apple's response last March for grossly underestimating Push Notifications was a ruse to distract from a worse reason than stating that we didn't think it trough well enough



    Apple could very well have contracts that specify that AT&T will have certain features ready by a certain time but that doesn't mean they will, it only means that AT&T will be required to pay whatever penalty is written into the contract if a deadline is not meant. It also doesn't mean Apple is happy with AT&T on this front, but to suggest that contract signing for the iPhone during or before 2006 should have included a "timeline for both features down to the day/time and probably second" for including MMS and tethering in 2009 is not rational.



    I've followed way to many of your postings to know when you are hell bent on making your point you will do it at all costs.



    Not even going to play the game.
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