Enabling the Secret Multitouch Gestures on iOS 4.3

I successfully tried this yesterday. There's a way to reenable the aborted multitouch gestures on an iPad 1 or 2 on iOS 4.3 without jailbreaking it. This secret "hack" requires Xcode 4 (5$ in the Mac App store) or just try what I did. I signed up as a Free Apple Developer and downloaded Xcode 3.2.6 for free here:

http://developer.apple.com/xcode/

Multitouch gestures are cool because you could use 4 and 5 finger pinches and swipes to close apps, activate the multitasking bar or even fast switch between apps.Really awesome stuff! Too bad Apple decided to hide it from the public for now.

For more info, check this Engadget post:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/14/how-to-enable-multitasking-gestures-in-ios-4-3/

Planning is Ace ( or How I Was First in Line for the iPad 2)

I am Apple sheep and planning ahead is ace.

It Was a One Year Wait. Really.

March 2.

The iPad 2 was unveiled by Apple. 2 cameras. Faster A5 processor. Lighter. Sleeker.
I've waited a year for these specs to finally happen so this will be my 1st iPad then.
Hearing the whole keynote made me giddy. Excited. Manic.
My eyes lit up like a lady window-shopping a pair of shoes behind a pane of glass.. in a still closed store.
And that was the problem.

Apple didn't start the pre-orders that day nor anytime soon after. The iPad 2 was to be released March 11 and the pre-orders will start ON that day too. That meant if you want any chance of getting it on release day, you have to hunt for one and brave the lines that will surely form.
So a plan needed to be in place.



To Pre-order or not to Pre-order and the Super Secret Place

The pre-orders started at about 1AM PST on March 11. And from my prior experience of pre-ordering the iPhone 4, it's not exactly a perfectly easy affair. There's almost like a virtual queue of buy requests and the sheer amount of traffic may overwhelm the site. And of course, even if you've successfully placed an order, the item won't get to you for at least 3 days. (QUICK UPDATE: there was no overnight shipping option for the iPad 2 pre-orders. The soonest you could get it with this route was March 17, Thursday). And if you're unlucky enough not to order within the first batch, the wait will be longer. In this case, 3 weeks to a month. So that won't be a good option for me at all.

I needed to get it somewhere, in-store, with the least chance of huge lines forming. I needed the "Almost Secret iPad 2 Place".

A place where I could procure the exact configuration I wanted, a Wifi only 32 GB black model ( probably the most popular size). Your place in line in releases like this is critical because of the limited on-hand stock. Fall a few places behind in the queue and because of the different iPad 2 model SKUs this time, the exact model you want may be sold out on your turn. You'll go home either with an under-specced one, with a color you don't really want, or an over-specced one you'll shell out more than you're willing to spend.

The Apple Store I was eyeing was the one closest to our house. I figured if I went there early enough, say, in the morning, I could get a decent place in the line. But that means skipping work for a day. And I didn't want to do that. And there are no guarantees too. There might be crazier people camped out there way ahead of everyone so even I got there early, my place won't be secured, and I still have to wait 10 hours for 5PM to hit.

Best Buy stores will pretty much be the same because people will be expecting them there. Lines will surely blow up by mid-day and that meant a few more people ahead of me.

A few options left.

AT&T and Verizon stores were scratched off my list because all they're going to carry are the 3G versions. And since I'm just planning on tethering the iPad 2 to my iPhone 4, I'm settling for the Wifi version.

So that leaves Target and Walmart.

And conveniently enough, I still had friends in one Walmart close to my workplace ( I was in the Wireless Dept. there at one time as my first job here). Since Apple probably won't ship the stock until the night before or on the day of the release, I needed to call this Walmart early morning March 11 and survey ( with inside info) the number of units of the exact configuration I wanted and have one of my friends call me immediately if lines are starting to form so I could get there ASAP.

So that was the plan. And I pre-visualized it all like a supervillain planning a bank heist.

The Plan is Starting to Shape Up

March 10.

12 PM. I called Walmart to check if the iPad 2s were already in the backroom. Negative. But at least I learned that they were advertised on the flyer. "On sale March 11, 5 PM. iPad 2" . It's a sure sign that this Walmart's going to get them, BUT the quantities were unknown. My plan is coming to fruition. But nothing's 100 percent yet.

Called again 5 PM. Nope. No sign yet. So probably they'll be shipped evening or early morning.

9 PM. I had second thoughts about ordering online. What if I stay up till 1 AM, pay more for the overnight shipping. Buy it Friday, ship it the next day, receive it... Tuesday (UPDATE: Even worse. There was no overnight shipping option.) No. Again no guarantees due to the massive surge of online buyers. And if I did that, that won't leave me with any option to buy in-store the next day because my resources were already allocated.
So scrap that. I'll stick with my initial plan.


D-Day or How the Rest was Won



March 11.

Release day. 6 AM. Woke up, checked the news. As expected, online orders were already backdated. Initial batch sold out. All orders from then on will take 3 weeks to a month to ship. Hmm... OK. I got that right.

Checked more news. Oh no. Massive earthquake and tsunami hits Japan. Now that's not good. Had a few minutes of thought about calling this whole thing off as a sign of mourning for the tragedy. Just a few minutes. A prayer should suffice. Mother Nature can't stop my plan NOW.



7:30 AM. Went to work and shortly I got a text from my Walmart source that the iPad 2s were in and he's planning on getting the black 32 GB one too himself. He said that they might only have one in stock and a few units of everything else on hand. Uh-oh, that's the exact model I wanted. I thought of just getting a white one just to avoid any conflict, but one thing was for sure, I had to get there soon to secure a good place in line.

11:30 AM. Asked permission from our manager if I could take the rest of the day off to take care of "personal matters" which is technically true because this surely will bug me for a month and affect my emotional health if I didn't get my iPad 2 that day. Haha. He said OK and off I went. ( I have a feeling he knew what was going on anyway).

12:00 NN. Got to Walmart and scanned the scene. No lines yet but a lot of calls. Sweet! I was set except for one small matter. If they only had one black 32 GB, that meant I'll be stepping on the toes of my Walmart friend. Oh well. It's called the circle of life. He's not getting off work till 3 anyway so by the unwritten law of lines, I still get first dibs.
Thankfully, the manager told us that they actually have two 32 black GBs ( they only had a grand total of 16 units coming in) so yipee, major friend crisis averted.

So I asked them if they're giving away any deli style numbers and surprisingly, they were not. So that meant I had to hold my place in line for 5 freaking hours! So no problemo, I could do that. Push comes to shove, I'll tie myself to that waiting bench!
But that won't be necessary. No one was in sight yet and my friends in the electronics department will surely vouch for me if I for a wander out from the line. So I grabbed a burger, fries and a drink, took them to the waiting bench and used them as a my place marker. If anyone comes in and decides to line up and take my first place honors, my Happy Meal will tell them otherwise.

So, there I was, staking it out for five hours. It wasn't that bad at all because I got the chance to hang out and catch up with people I worked with before. Some people were actually wondering what the hell am I waiting for. Am I applying for a job? Am I claiming some unpaid dues? "No, people. This is for the iPad 2." The younger set understood. The older ones, just waved me off disgustingly, dismissing me as crazy. Lining up for a damn toy? "Oh yes ma'am and dear sirs."

2:30 PM. iPad 2 Customer No. 2 arrives. He's an older man hoping to get a white 64 GB. Cool, he's not getting the one I wanted. He just came from the Apple Store and he left because the line was stretched out for more than a block. So ok. dude, take your place behind me.

3:15 PM. My friend clocked out and got off work. He became customer no.3 and he's getting the same model I wanted. So the two 32 GBs were now accounted for.

3:30 PM. Customer No. 4 arrives. He was coming from the Best Buy next door and of course, the line was atrocious. "Probably more than 200 people were already there", he says. He wanted two. One black 32 GB and one white 32 GB for his wife. Oops. The managers at Walmart limited just one unit for each customer. So he calls his wife to get to the store ASAP. But the 32 GB black one was already reserved for my friend, so after thinking about it for a good half an hour, he decided to just try his luck at Best Buy again, just to get the exact units he wanted. (See how critical line positioning was?)





4 PM. The iPad 2 hopefuls now started coming in droves. One Walmart employee began asking them what model they were looking for and started checking off units on his list. A whole assortment of people came in. Young, old, geeks, non-geeks and even the brother of Phoenix Sun Robin Lopez came in to line up ( he got a 64 GB black, I think.)
So now I feel vindicated for getting there so early. I didn't have to deal with the hard choices of settling for something you actually didn't plan on getting.
So with quite the crowd there, the usual conversations about tech stuff commenced and this probably makes up a bulk of the experience of lining up for a gadget release. It's the whole community feeling. The feeling of being a part of something big. Of a phenomenon. And sharing the visceral emotion of getting something you really want. The communal feeling was tangible. And everyone was really excited.


The Moment Has Come But WTF? Sale Not Allowed?

4:55 PM. The assistant manager approached the line and announced that the iPad 2 sales were about the start. And of course, everyone cheered (but not as loud as me.) He called me, being the first one, to start the line over by the photo department register so the sales could be started. Standing there by the register, seeing the whole cart of iPad 2s was surreal. Like I've said, I've pre-visualized this whole ordeal and now it was happening. For one second, I think they actually emanated a bright golden glow straight off the lost ark or something.
And so the associate checked his time, it said 5:00 PM, I told him 32 GB black, he takes the black ones off the cart, I get to examine the boxes, I get to choose which BOX I want ( I'm telling you, first dibs!) and he scanned it and boom... SALE NOT ALLOWED! What? What in the name of magical was this? So he checks the time of the cash register.... 4:59 PM. So it was 4:59 PM Walmart Time. The iPad 2s were still locked out of their system. Hmm.. ok. Fair enough. Let's start a countdown in our heads then. 1...mississippi. 2... mississippi. 3.... mississippi. Are we there yet?
Finally, cash register ticks tocks the 5PM, associate scans the iPad 2, asks me if I wanted the 2-year warranty ( I said a polite "No"), I swipe my card and was instantly 670$ poorer. Great.
But look what I got! He handed me the iPad 2 box and asked him to triple bag it. Yeah, triple bag it! You know how flimsy these WM plastic bags could get and for some good reason I was a little bit afraid of walking off a Walmart parking lot with a hot new iPad 2 in tow. But that's just me.

First Dibs

So at about 5:05 PM PST, after a few days of mulling over it, a few tense hours of weighing the pros and cons. A few weeks of quiet anticipation...
I became one of the first few people to get the iPad 2 in our time zone and if you think about it...the whole wide wide world.


"How's that for a little reckless planning huh?"

UPDATE: As of March 12, iPad 2s are sold out everywhere. And it might take three to four weeks before the next batch comes in.

iPad 2 Unboxing and First Boot

I was first in line to get the iPad 2 on release day March 11. For this reason, I got the exact model I wanted.  32 G Wifi Only (for iPhone 4 tethering), Black, no more , no less. Wow, it's like I won something except I actually lost money.