The Register®

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/02/apple_launch/

Apple shutters store as fanbois camp out on virtual pavement

Feast your eyes on Post-it of destiny

By Team Register

Posted in Hardware, 2nd March 2011 16:41 GMT

Watch Now : Virtual Machine Movement with Hyper-V

Apple has pulled the plug on its online store, flagging up to he world that it is about to unleash something new and magical and revolutionary on the world.

steve_jobs_ipad

Or it's simply clearing the virtual shelves for the iPad 2 later today.

Visitors to the site are currently being met with the mystic "We'll be back soon" virtual Post-it note.

Which is a red rag to the herds of Apple fans ready to hand over cash for whatever it is Apple – and maybe even Steve Jobs himself – is going to unwrap today.

The big one is the iPad 2 of course. At least until some spoilsport [1] suggested the one to watch for is the iPad 3 in the autumn, which will be "one to make a song and dance about".

Other tips include some kind of repackaging of MobileMe [2], which may or may not include a cloudy iTunes service. The $99 annual MobileMe package has lately disappeared off both real and virtual shelves.

Anyone expecting Thunderbolts may be disappointed – Apple slipped that one out last week [3]. ®