So word on the street (literally) is that a large number of people are queuing in line outside of Apple's flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York City (see above) -- keep in mind the Cube is open 24 hours a day. Our intrepid girl-on-the-scene reports that the group is more than 60-deep, though most people seem confused about what they're waiting for, while some believe they're actually camping out for a 3G iPhone. Meanwhile, Apple reps tell us they're crowd-controlling iPhone buyers because otherwise they would be "screaming" at employees and clogging up the store. See what happens when you get short on stock? More pics after the break.

Update: For those of you convinced this is an Improv Everywhere stunt, here's a post from Charlie Todd -- the group's founder -- denying involvement.

[Thanks, Laura and Abiade]

About this time last year, the cab drivers of New York City were taking a stand against GPS installations. This year, they've taken to the streets of downtown Manhattan in order to rally for the right to use cellphones while on duty. For those unaware, NYC cabbies are currently disallowed from using hands-free apparatuses while on the clock, and those in the profession are arguing that having one would enable them to feel safer and more connected to the outside world. Unfortunately, the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission doesn't seem ready to budge, as it reportedly replied to the lobbying by stating that "cellphone abuse has resulted in many instances of drivers leaving their passengers feeling improperly served and downright unsafe." What's a cab driver got to do to get his / her Snake on, huh?

[Via textually]

In a crisis situation, every moment is crucial in saving lives. Starting in early 2008, New York City will pilot a program that will deliver emergency notifications via text messaging alerts. "These messages could contain crucial information about the steam pipe explosion or subway flooding," says COO Paul Klein of Cellcast -- the company that will be providing the solution to the city -- "and these type of alerts can delivered even if wireless traffic had crashed the networks."

[Via textually.org]

The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, has announced a plan to equip the city's 911 centers with the ability to accept cameraphone images from its residents. If you see a dangerous situation, snap a picture, and send it to a 911 operator via MMS or email. Sounds good to us -- but it may not seem as cutting edge as you think. Several months ago we a mighty similar patent, but New York's system has the distinction of being... well, real. We do see a few problems with this: A) Quality of the picture, B) Convenience of taking a picture or placing a call and C) getting the perp to smile for us.

[Via Cameraphone Report]

See, that wasn't so bad, now was it? We're guessing a few DVB-H fanboys and girls this side of the Atlantic were miffed at the news Modeo had slipped the go-live date for their trial (or "commercial beta," as they're calling it) in New York City -- but just two short weeks later, everything's ready to rock. A few hundred lucky participants will get hooked up with HTC Foreseers to experience music and video services powered by Modeo's DVB-H network, which GigaOM reports will be officially blessed next week at CES. Without any carriers yet signed to their platform, the folks at Modeo have got to be sweating bullets at this point, especially in light of the fact that Verizon and Sprint have both hopped aboard the MediaFLO bandwagon. Cingular and T-Mobile have yet to finalize their plans for mobile TV, but we'd imagine they'll be keeping a keen eye on Gotham for the next few months.

In our formative years we were kept on the straight and narrow with wireless leashes, and we got in touch with our folks the old-fashioned way -- two cans and a string -- and that's the way we liked it. Modern high school students, though, have a decidedly different take on the best way to drop a line, ditching pay phones (or, heaven forbid, the principal's office) in favor of trusty cellphones. Yipes, seems we've got a little hiccup: New York City's public schools have recently started clamping down on its longstanding ban on wireless goodies on school grounds, leaving a healthy percentage of tech-savvy pupils in the lurch. Parents aren't too happy, either, noting that it's the most effective way to keep tabs on lil' Johnny and Susie from afar in the event of an emergency. School officials are responding with the standard arguments, distraction and the threat of cheating, and are coming to the table with a proposal to install lockers outside schools for the sole purpose of housing phones during the school day. Sounds to good to be true, right? A rare case of taxpayer dollars being put to exactly the right use at exactly the right time, you say? Well, there's a catch: thanks to the crushing cost of said lockers, students would likely pay 25-50 cents a day for the privilege of being separated from their technology for a few hours. Needless to say a legal fight seems inevitable, though parents, teachers, and the school board will try to iron things out on the 18th of this month with a little face-to-face time. Of course, they could just give in and make texting a school subject, but we're not really seeing that happen.

We've already seen an influx of hybrid vehicles take their places in the mammoth fleet of New York City taxis, and now that the Taxi 2.0 will reportedly sport GPS tracking an built-in televisions, what else is really left to implement? Stockholm-based Ericsson has apparently seized the opportunity in using the random, perpetual motion of NYC's yellow mainstays to better itself (read: make some coin), and has recently received permission from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission to install small devices "about the size of a computer modem" into cabs in order to "feed information about signal strength and clarity to engineers." The research, which has already been completed in other areas of the world, is being conducted in the Big Apple on behalf of a yet-to-be-named carrier, and it purportedly hopes to more accurately map out dead zones in mobile phone networks. Currently, "at least one fleet" has signed up to participate, and others could join in considering the royalties that will be paid out for tagging along on those zany routes through the city. Of course, this whole system should be relatively invisible to cab riders, but a continual voice recording of furious (and disconnected) passengers could probably work equally well in pinpointing those dead spots.

[Via Textually]

The wait for DVB-H-based mobile TV this side of the pond may have just gotten a little longer. A management shakeup at Modeo -- patron saint (along with Hiwire) of American DVB-H -- has hit the company as their search for a carrier partner continues, and its commercial-grade service trial in New York City using HTC's Foreseer appears to be a casualty. Originally scheduled for a Q4 2006 launch, the trial will now begin (knock on wood) in early '07. Between Hiwire and various MediaFLO-based efforts coming down the pike, Modeo's drama may not ultimately mean much to mobile TV's outlook in these parts, but it'd be tragic nonetheless to see one of these guys bite the dust before they even get out of the gate, would it not?

[Via Phone Scoop]

Besides opening their second flagship store this side of the pond, Nokia had a couple other tricks up their sleeve in preparation for what has turned out to be an exciting weekend for Nokia fanboys of the American persuasion -- namely, the US releases of the E70 and N93. We can personally attest that E70s have been quietly flying off shelves of the Chicago outpost (see picture above) for the past week or so; Nokia's been unable to keep them in stock, in fact, though we don't know whether the release was supposed to have been synched with New York's grand opening today. At any rate, the model being sold is the US-friendly E70-2 variant that swaps out 3G support in favor of a GSM 850 radio, and features a black face that (in our humblest of opinions) looks better than its European counterpart. Meanwhile, the N93 is the same ol' model Europe gets, lacking 850; caveat emptor for peeps with marginal 1900 coverage. Oddly, these handsets are both still listed as "coming soon" on Nokia USA's website, and rumor has it that they may never officially be released here outside the flagship facilities, so book your flights now, folks -- they say the Midwest and the East Coast are nice this time of year.

Cingular Video, anyone? Just a few weeks after having Samsung ZX10s unceremoniously removed from stores, New Yorkers are getting some HSDPA love now that Cingular's network has officially gone live. Yes, that means you can once again get your hands on the UMTS-only ZX10 -- whether you'd want to is another story -- but more importantly, Cingular's 3G PC cards will keep your notebook clipping along at some reasonably healthy speeds, especially if you're used to dealing with EDGE. Coverage is mainly limited to Manhattan and JFK right now, but a rapid expansion is promised through September of this year.

[Via The Wireless Report]