Tag Archives: shopping

Apple Stores underway in US, Canada, France, UK

Posted on May 19, 2012 by admin

On the heels of last week’s opening of the Murcia, Spain Apple Store, various sources have reported stores underway or near opening around the world. The next most likely international store is thought to be in Paris, France in the La Defense district, which is scheduled to open on May 26. Also coming later in the year is a new story in Salt Lake City, Utah; one near Bakersfield, California; a planned expansion of the existing store in Calgary, Alberta in Canada, and Apple has allegedly taken over a lease on a store in Plymouth, England…. Continue reading →

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New Apple Retail Store Opening in Madrid on April 27 [Mac Blog]

Posted on April 24, 2012 by admin

Following last week’s retail store opening in Rome, Italy , Apple has announced another international grand opening this week with the debut of the Gran Plaza 2 store in Madrid, Spain. Centro Comercial Gran Plaza 2 under construction Rather than the traditional Saturday grand opening, the Gran Plaza 2 store will open to the public at 10:00 AM on Friday, April 27 to coincide with the opening of the shopping center itself. The new store will be Apple’s sixth in Spain and third in the Madrid area, joining two other mall-based stores: Parquesur and Xanadú . Continue reading →

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Rumored Houston Retail Store Grand Opening Sparks Speculation of iPad 3 Launch on March 16

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

The Houston Chronicle reports that Apple’s forthcoming Highland Village retail store will be opening on Friday, March 16. According to the report’s source, the store was originally scheduled to open in January, but delays in the construction schedule pushed the opening back to Saturday, March 17. But just weeks ago the opening was bumped up by a day to March 16, sparking speculation that the company is seeking to have the store open for an iPad 3 launch on that day. The store, located in the Highland Village Shopping center at Westheimer and Drexel , was originally supposed to open in January, according to the source, but was delayed. March 17 was originally set as the new opening date, but the source said it was moved to the 16th a few weeks ago. Apple retail store grand openings for the public typically take place on Saturdays, although they are occasionally held on different days of the week when special circumstances dictate. An iPad 3 launch on March 16 would line up nicely with Apple’s media event scheduled for next Wednesday, March 7, putting the launch nine days after the event. The exact same timing occurred last year with the iPad 2 being introduced on March 2 and debuting at 5:00 PM local time on March 11. Pre-orders were not available for the iPad 2, leaving those looking to get their hands on the device as soon as possible to line up for the limited launch stock. Photo by Dwight Silverman / Houston Chronicle The Highland Village store is among the first of Apple’s retail stores to be based on a prototype design from the company’s Upper West Side store in Manhattan. Similar designs are in the works in Santa Monica and Palo Alto. Utilizing an all-glass roof and entrances at front and back, the Highland Village store will be the first of the Houston area’s seven Apple retail stores to be located outside of a shopping mall. Continue reading →

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‘Apple Store’ App for iOS Updated with Account Management Features

Posted on February 29, 2012 by admin

Apple today updated its Apple Store app [ App Store ] for iOS to version 2.1, adding several new features and making the app available in the Netherlands for the first time to support the Amsterdam store opening this week. Among the most notable additions to the app is a new “Account” section where users can update their billing information and addresses as well as shipping addresses right from the app. Users have until now had to log into their accounts through the Apple website in order to update payment methods if they wished to change them for an in-store EasyPay purchase. Apple also touts the ability for customers in the United States to choose from any of the three iPhone carriers when purchasing an iPhone through the app. What’s New in Version 2.1 – Choose iPhone plans from all three U.S. carriers — AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint (U.S. Only) – Make your shopping experience even more convenient with new account management editing and billing options. – The Apple Store app is now available in the Netherlands. – Requires iOS 4.3.3 or higher. Apple rolled out its EasyPay functionality in a major update last November. The feature allows customers to scan the barcodes of any self-service items at an Apple retail store and charge the purchases to their iTunes Store accounts, eliminating the need to track down store employees to conduct the transactions. Continue reading →

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iOS Basics: Gifting iOS apps

Posted on December 23, 2011 by admin

Struggling for last-minute stocking stuffers? If anyone on your shopping list owns an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, it’s easy to send them an app. We give you a crash course on how it works. Continue reading →

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Microsoft to End Participation in CES Keynotes After 2012

Posted on December 21, 2011 by admin

Following Apple’s lead in pulling out of Macworld Expo several years ago, Microsoft today announced that next month’s keynote presentation at CES in Las Vegas will be the company’s last at the major consumer electronics show. In its announcement, Microsoft cites many of the same factors addressed by Apple as reasons for its ending of trade show participation. Most notably, trade shows have become less relevant for new product announcements given the increasing connectedness and interactivity offered by the Internet and social media, and in many cases the scheduled nature of trade shows imposes undesired rigidity on timeframes for new product announcements. Our industry moves fast and changes faster. And so the way we communicate with our customers must change in equally speedy ways. To ensure it does, we constantly challenge our assumptions. For example: – What’s the right time and place to make announcements? – Are we adjusting to the changing dynamics of our customers? – Are we doing something because it’s the right thing to do, or because “it’s the way we’ve always done it”? Microsoft points to its own media and developer events, social media tools, and even its retail stores as venues for connecting with customers that provide better opportunities than trade show keynotes. Microsoft will maintain a presence at CES going forward with its employees attending the event, but the company will no longer participate in the opening keynote as it has routinely done, and will not sponsor a booth on the exhibition floor after 2012. Continue reading →

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OS X 10.7.3 Beta Reveals Active Work on ‘Retina’ Display Support for Mac

Posted on December 21, 2011 by admin

Several times earlier this year, we covered Apple’s work on “HiDPI” modes in OS X Lion for supporting ultra high-resolution displays offering greater pixel density with a similar increase in image quality to that seen with the iPhone’s transition to a “Retina” display. With new claims that Apple is set to release a new 15″ MacBook Pro offering a resolution of 2880×1800 early next year, Apple’s work on its HiDPI software support has also been gaining renewed attention. By doubling the resolution in each dimension over the existing 1440×900 MacBook Pro, Apple would achieve four times the number of pixels and provide developers with an easy way to scale existing artwork. Evidence of Apple’s continued work on HiDPI has shown up in developer builds of OS X 10.7.3, with the “Get Info” window for applications seeing the addition of an “Open in HIDPI mode” checkbox. But while that checkbox would presumably automatically use higher-resolution fonts and graphics that would display at the same absolute size as existing elements, it has not been functional in developer builds where it is present. With yesterday’s release of Build 11D36 to developers, Apple has now removed that checkbox from the “Get Info” window entirely. While its removal may suggest a step backward in Apple’s implementation of HiDPI support, it is routine for Apple to activate and deactivate portions of features as it works on them. Consequently, the mere change in the checkbox’s visibility in the new build indicates that Apple is indeed likely actively working on the feature. Continue reading →

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Apple Now Offering Free Next-Day Shipping for Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers

Posted on December 20, 2011 by admin

Apple today upgraded its free holiday shipping offer ( via 9to5Mac ) for online orders in the United States to include next-day shipping on all of the company’s major in-stock products. The move will help last-minute shoppers make sure they receive their gifts in time for the Christmas weekend. The deadline for free next-day shipping is tomorrow and the offer is good on all major products with the exception of the iPhone 4S, which is in short supply and for which the holiday shipping deadline has already passed, and engraved iPods and iPads. Build-to-order Macs are also no longer available in time for delivery before Christmas. Apple announced late last month that it would extend its usual free shipping offer to include orders under $50 leading up to the holidays. The company last week bumped the offer up to free 2-3 business day shipping for its major products, making an increased effort to capture shoppers’ business as time began to run short. Continue reading →

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On-Device App Store Downloads Currently Broken for Pre-iOS 4 Devices [Updated]

Posted on December 20, 2011 by admin

Engadget points to a growing thread in Apple’s discussion forums documenting an issue in which users on pre-iOS 4 devices are unable to purchase or download apps from the App Store on their devices. The issue appears to have started on December 16th with a change in the way Apple is serving App Store content to the devices. Whenever I go into a specific app in the app store, none of the buttons work properly. 1) clicking on the price no longer downloads the app, 2) the ratings button does nothing, 3) the ‘tell a friend’ and ‘git this app’ buttons jump back to the top of the app window, 4) pictures usually don’t show up. They usually appear as five gray rectangular boxes with white borders (though in one app one too-large-for-the-window picture shows up (see pic), 5) the ‘app support’ button still goes to the developer’s website. 6) the ‘top in-app purchases’ banner is just text now. Users are reportedly having difficulty convincing Apple support staff that the issue on Apple’s end, with support staff so far only suggesting a range of potential solutions that could help address device issues but which have proven unsuccessful for affected users. Broken App Store display on iPhone running iOS 3.1.3 Given the display anomalies experienced by affected users, it seems likely that the issue is a bug on Apple’s end rather than any sort of planned obsolescence of pre-iOS 4 operating systems and devices by cutting off App Store access. For the time being, affected users can still download apps via iTunes on their computers and then sync them to their devices. It is unknown when Apple might roll out a fix for the on-device App Store access problems. The original iPhone and first-generation iPod touch do not support iOS 4 and are thus limited to a maximum of iOS 3.1.3. Other users of devices such as the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch have elected not to upgrade to iOS 4 for a number of reasons, most commonly due to complaints over those devices becoming more sluggish with the upgrade to iOS 4. Update : Engadget now reports that the issue has been fixed. Readers in our forums have been reporting mixed results over the past few hours, with some seeing improvement while others were still having difficulty fairly recently. Continue reading →

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Apple Now Suing Samsung over Tablet and Phone Case Designs [Updated]

Posted on December 20, 2011 by admin

While Apple and Samsung remain locked in a war involving numerous lawsuits related to alleged patent and design infringement in their tablet and smartphone products, Apple has now brought cases for the devices into the mix. As reported by Bloomberg , Apple disclosed during an Australian court hearing that it has sent a notice of infringement to Samsung over the company’s tablet and smartphone cases, and will be pursuing legal action. Apple Inc., which on Dec. 9 lost a bid to keep Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy 10.1 tablet out of Australia, claims the case for the device and cases for Samsung phones infringe its patents and registered design. Apple issued the notice of infringement to Samsung in Australia over the cases, and will file a statement of claim, Apple’s lawyer Stephen Burley said at a hearing in Sydney today. Samsung’s lawyer Katrina Howard said at the same hearing the company was served with the notice that the cases infringe at least 10 patents. It is unclear exactly what Samsung cases Apple is targeting with its new infringement claims. Samsung did, however, find itself amid controversy earlier this year after accessory company Anymode offered a “Smart Case” for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 that closely resembled the iPad 2 Smart Cover. While the product initially appeared to carry Samsung’s stamp of approval and came from a company with familial connections to Samsung, a blog post issued by Samsung quickly clarified that the product was not in fact approved by Samsung and was immediately pulled before it had begun selling. But given that the Smart Case was not directly produced by Samsung, it does not seem that Apple’s claims of infringement would relate to that product. Samsung currently offers several styles of cases for the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and it is not immediately clear which designs Apple might consider to be infringing upon its own case designs. Update : Samsung has released an official statement on the issue, noting that the term “case” was misinterpreted in early media reports as referring to protective case accessories. In fact, the term was referring to the external design of the devices themselves. We would like to clarify that the additional claims filed by Apple in Australia do not relate to protective case accessories, as has been indicated in some media reports. In fact, the intellectual property asserted are patents related to the utility of mobile devices and design rights related to the external appearance of devices. We are confident we can demonstrate that the GALAXY range of devices is innovative and distinctive, and will take all available measures to ensure our products remain available to consumers in Australia. Continue reading →

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