For most everyone that I know, the image above – showing 4G speeds in the San Francisco, Bay Area is probably all the review that is needed.  For others, you may be looking for something a little more, in which case you can feel free to continue reading my thoughts on this modem.

As if all the exciting iPad 2 announcements weren’t enough Apple for the day, Apple has released iOS 4.3.1. Fire up iTunes and download the hefty 666.0 MB upgrade.

Some of the highlights:

• Fixes an occasional graphics glitch on the iPod Touch (4th generation)
• Resolves bugs related to connecting and activating on some cellular networks
• Fixes image flickering with Apple’s new Digital AV Adapter
• Resolves an issue authenticating with some enterprise web services

Curious to hear if you find anything else, but there you have it for today’s excitement.

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Good news, and more good news!. The good news is that Apple is launching the iPad 2 today in 25 other countries. The more good news is that domestic delays (when ordering online) have moved into the 3-4 week range. This is an improvement over the 4-5 weeks that Apple.com was quoting purchasers, although that may change with the additional demand being added to Apple’s already taxed assembly-line.

From everything I’m reading on Twitter and from my overseas friends, the lines in other countries are as long or longer as they were in the united states. I’m guessing the big difference is that people in other countries probably aren’t scalping iPads quite as frequently as they have been here in the US, although the flipping of products in the US has created a very lucrative aftermarket for iPad 2 models in nearly every configuration. If you have any comments on the foreign gray-market for Apple iPads, please do share.

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I am totally amazed at how many different reviews of the iPad 2 there are – and so quickly, too – and every one of these seems to have a different take on how great Apple’s second iPad (the iPad 2) really is. Having finally received mine I’m agreeing across the board, but believe that most are missing the importance of a feature that will revolutionize how people can use their iPad – video mirroring.

Video mirroring is the ability to show the iPad 2 screen on an external display – regardless of application. The first generation iPad had the ability to output some things (presentations and video), but for the most part if you wanted to play Angry Birds you were relegated to the relatively compact iPad screen. Not so with the new iPad. When connecting your new iPad 2 to an external display using the Apple VGA Adapter or the Apple DIgital AV Adapter it is possible to completely mirror all functionality on the iPad 2, including the home screen itself. This works equally well with projectors, big screens, and, to that end, everything I’ve tried to this point. Interesting, though that there isn’t currently a way to connect the iPad to Apple’s own 27″ monitor.

Update: Please check out the bottom of this post for a second way to complete this process and avoid a call to AT&T in the process.

It would seem to me that anyone that had been an early enough adopter to jump on AT&T’s $30 unlimited bandwidth wagon would be an early adopter in the iPad 2 race, so imagine my surprise at seeing and hearing so many different solutions to the “how to move my service” from the old iPad to the new. Hopefully those of you that do manage to find this will save a step and the frustration of trying to do this yourself.

First:

• DO NOT create a new account on your iPad 2.  You will be moving your existing account to your new iPad.
• DO NOT change the AT&T SIM from your old iPad to your new iPad.

I made the trek – not too far mind you – to MacWorld 2011 and found myself wondering whether MacWorld can survive another year and more importantly, after so many came back from CES disappointed, whether the technology trade-show itself can survive. Seriously, how many different iPhone cases does that average trade-show attendee really want to see? Considering how many Blackberry and Droid phones I saw, my inclination would be far fewer then were really there.

Of the products that were there, many seemed to be “coming soon,” and far less than ever before was really available to buy at the show. Overall, I walked away most of the cash that I came with, a couple of stickers, and a feeling of disappointment. I told my wife via text message that MacWorld was a lot like going to Fry’s, same size as the store, a lot of stuff that you would never buy, and shelf space showing stickers for stuff that you really wish you could buy.

Hewlett-Packard has announced a $1.2 billion deal with Palm, Inc. that would allow HP, the highly successful technology mega-company to expand further into the smartphone market.

When Apple says “late April” – as in their project delivery date for the new Apple iPad 3G + WiFi – they apparently mean much more of the late and much less of the April, with deliveries and availability expected on April 30, 2010. Appearing almost everywhere today are messages from people like me that the status on their order has been changed to Prepared for Shipment, leading me to believe that the promised Friday date will be met. What time Friday is yet to be seen, although I’m not holding my breath. At least people that haven’t pre-ordered already know that they may be able to buy one in the retail store after 5:00PM.

Sunday is going to be an interesting day for internet giant Amazon.com and retail giant Target. For Amazon it’s an admission that sometimes consumers really do want to touch and feel a product before making a decision and for Target it’s the chance to market a product that has until now only been available from a web retailer, the Amazon Kindle. Personally, this seems like a win-win to me, even if it goes against everything Amazon stands for.

When I originally ordered my 64GB WiFi + 3G iPad from Apple’s online store, I wasn’t too worried about the “late April” ship date, assuming incorrectly that the release of the WiFi only models meant that those with 3G couldn’t be all that far behind. My mistake was assuming that late april meant sometime after the 15 – not the last day of the month as Apple has just announced.