The new iPad: Crowds hit stores for launch

Eager consumers in the United States are awaiting the arrival of Apple’s third-generation iPad, but the highly anticipated tablet has already made its debut in other parts of the world. In Australia, dozens waited in line outside an Apple store in Sydney to snag their device. As BusinessWeek reports: “Employees in blue T-shirts cheered and counted down the 10 seconds until doors opened at 8 a.m. A queue of at least 200 people snaked 100 meters around three sides of the city block.” Eight other countries will get access to the new iPad starting at 8 a.m. local time: Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In Japan, more than 450 people waited at an Apple store in Tokyo in hopes of getting an iPad, the Wall Street Journal reports. One student, Ryo Watanabe, tells the Journal he and a friend took turns waiting in line for 37 hours to be first in line. “The fact that the display has gotten better is a big enough reason for me to get it,” Watanabe tells the paper. The device includes a Retina display, faster processing chip with quad-core graphics and an iSight camera. Follow Technology Live for the latest on the launch of the iPad.