Neither recession nor gadget overload shall slow the mania surrounding the introduction of Apple's iPad mobile computer. On Friday, the first day that buyers could pre-order the device (it arrives in stores next month), Apple racked up an estimated 91,000 sales in just the first six hours of availability, putting temporarily to rest the Internet's persistent "iPad fail" meme. Analysts predict the first-year sales could reach 5 million.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday launched a broadband test service to help consumers clock the speed of their Internet. Located at the site http://www.broadband.gov, the test is aimed at allowing consumers to compare their actual speeds with the speeds advertised by their providers. The FCC release follows an FCC meeting in September where officials said that actual speeds were estimated to lag by as much as 50 percent during busy hours.