>Apple: Online IPad 2 Orders Begin Mar. 11, 1 A.m. Pacific

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Early Thursday morning, Apple issued a press release reminding us all that the iPad 2 goes on sale Friday. The juiciest bit of new intel in the release is the fact that you’ll be able to order the iPad 2 from Apple’s Website beginning at 1 a.m. Pacific (that’s 4 a.m. Eastern) early Friday morning.Apple’s announcement rehashes other information we already know–namely, that the iPad will go on sale at 5 p.m. local time at all 236 Apple retail locations, along with stores run by AT&T, Best Buy, Target, Verizon Wireless, Walmart, and select Apple Authorized Resellers.
The release also states that GarageBand and iMovie for iOS are available Thursday, though there’s no sign of them in the App Store as of this writing.
The iPad 2’s price will start at $499, and is available in Wi-Fi-only models, plus Wi-Fi + 3G configurations for both AT&T and Verizon’s networks–and, of course, you have your choice of white or black models. Macworld posted its full review on Wednesday.

>Apple Selling iPad 2 Online Early Fri. Morning

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Taking a page from Verizon’s book, Apple announced Thursday that the iPad 2 will be available online starting at 4am Eastern time Friday.

Unlike the first iPad, Apple did not offer a pre-sale for the iPad 2. The next-generation tablet will be available in Apple Stores, as well as Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores at 5pm local time, but those who are truly eager for the iPad 2 can get up at 4am (or 1am on the West Coast) to place their order.
Apple said that customers who purchase the tablet in-store will get a free personal setup service, which will assist with e-mail and apps.
The Wi-Fi version of the iPad 2 will sell for $499 for the 16GB model, $599 for the 32GB model, $699 for the 64GB model. The iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be available for $629 for the 16GB model, $729 for the 32GB model and $829 for the 64GB model. It will come in white or black, and Apple will sell versions that run on the Verizon or AT&T networks.
In the App Store, Apple will add iMovie and GarageBand for iPad for $4.99 each. The new iPad 2 Smart Cover will also go on sale Friday in a variety of polyurethane colors for $39 or leather for $69.
On March 25, the iPad 2 will hit Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
When Verizon released its version of the Apple iPhone, the carrier held a pre-sale for existing customers that started at 3am Eastern time. Verizon later said said the pre-sale was its “most successful first day sales in the history of the company.”

>Apple TV Now Has MLB.TV And NBA Live Game Streaming

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Good news for baseball and basketball fans: Apple TV now has MLB.TV, baseball’s live game streaming service, and NBA basketball streaming, too.

MLB is now promoting the service on this page. This will require a software update for Apple TV devices, and a subscription to MLB.TV. Some Spring Training games are free to stream.

This is NOT part of any Apple TV App Store — like the Netflix app, it’s hard-coded into Apple TV. But it’s exactly the sort of stuff we could see becoming popular in that sort of store, if Apple were to introduce one at some point.

MLB.TV streaming has existed on Roku and Boxee for a couple of years already, but it’s a nice addition to Apple TV, too.

Apple’s new, $99 Apple TV device seems to be doing well — it’s currently the #12 best-selling electronic gadget at Amazon, and has been in the top 15 every time we’ve checked since last November.