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Adding to the mountain of iPad 3 rumors is word that shipments of Apple’s next generation tablet will be leaving Foxconn factories in China on February 26 for arrival in the U.S. on March 9.
Friends broke the news: Chengdu International Airport at major international cargo charter flights, cargo owners demanding security, from CTU takeoff by stop PVG Shanghai, and then directly to ORD Chicago, the JFK New York, LAX in Los Angeles, March 9, completed before transport. According to the privately disclosed the Chengdu F production for the U.S. A company’s latest products… Received friends inside information, Chengdu International Airport night cargo charter flights, said the owner of the security demanding, and in private that the Chengdu Fu X Kang new products. Takes note of the location of the United States (ORD Chicago, JFK New York, LAX in Los Angeles)
Looks like there may be some components, including storage chips, being shipped as well, according to photos found by Sonny Dickson. iMore previously heard that Apple was planning their iPad 3 event for March 7 and BGR has reported that iOS 5.1 was scheduled for March 9.
Apple released the last 2 iPads on Fridays, so that’s consistent, however at 2 days it’s also a far shorter period of time than last year’s 9 days (announcement on March 2, launch on March 9). A GM version of iOS 5.1 hasn’t even been released to developers yet, let alone a version that supports additional features presumed to be coming with the iPad 3. If Apple releases the GM seed of iOS 5.1 at the iPad 3 event, we’d expect at least a week between that and final release, a couple days before the product launch.
Furthermore, 9to5Mac‘s Marc Gurman has heard there may be pre-orders for the iPad 3, which would also indicate a slightly longer timeline. While the iPad 2 didn’t have pre-orders, the iPhone 4S did (announcement on October 4, pre-orders on October 7, launch on October 14).
Gurman has also heard more talk of the iPad 2 sticking around at a lower price point.
Additionally, our sources are pointing to the discontinuation of all iPad 2 WiFi + 3G models and all iPad 2 WiFi-only models (except the black and white 16GB units – at least initially) when the iPad 3 launches. This would refute rumors of Apple launching the Retina Display-packing iPad 3 as an extension of the iPad 2 line, and would seem to back up rumors of Apple keeping the 16 GB iPad 2 around at a lower price point. This iPad 2 model discontinuation information is based on Apple product supply checks.
If that proves accurate, it could take some air out of the lower end, Amazon Kindle Fire and BlackBerry Playbook market.
Source: Weiphone, Apple.pro, 9to5Mac, @SonnyDickson

It's only 4AM in Barcelona, but the Mobile World Congress news is already popping — Samsung just took the wraps off the Galaxy Beam, an Android 2.3 smartphone with a built-in HD projector. Outside of the projector, the phone's other specs are fairly pedestrian. There's a 4-inch display with an 800 x 480 resolution, 1GHz dual-core processor, 5MP back camera with flash plus a 1.3MP front-facing camera, and 8GB of storage onboard (plus a microSD slot). As for connectivity, it'll run on GSM networks thanks to quad-band HSPA+.
While the specs are unexciting, the projector is the real draw here. It's rated at an "ultra-bright" 15 lumens and can project onto surfaces in HD up to 50 feet wide. There's also some custom software on board -- it sounds like the project doesn't just output whatever is on your screen but instead uses a "project dedicated" application to let users share specific pieces of content like photos, video, or games. We'll surely get to see this handset at MWC and will let you know our impressions.

Facebook isn't being shy about rolling out its Timeline interface to as many of the corners of its site as it can. In addition to the rumored addition of the Timeline to Brand Pages, the social network is also adding Timeline features to Facebook Groups. The most obvious change is the new full-width top image, though if the administrator doesn't set a lead image it defaults to a collage of the profile images from group members. There are also clearer sections for group topics, links, members, and events. The new topic prompts, "What should people post in this group?" is apparently designed to make it less likely that groups will be filled up with the kind of chatter than can result in annoying notifications.
The features are available now to all users.

Samsung will soon officially announce its first quad-core mobile processor, a successor to its current Exynos chip. At the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, Samsung offered a look at the new processor, which comes in dual- and quad-core format and will use 32nm rather than 45nm technology. The chip is supposed to have 26 percent higher performance than its 45nm predecessor, and Samsung promises a 34 to 50 percent improvement in battery life. It's also supposed to improve video framerates by about a quarter.
With this chip, Samsung is apparently optimizing for battery rather than pure performance, with an eye towards more efficient smartphone power use and heat management. When the chip is released, it will be competing with Nvidia's quad-core processor, which was announced last year. We'll also be waiting to see if it's officially unveiled at MWC.