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Posts tagged with "apple store"

New Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme Launching Today?

Speculation around a Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme refresh has been intensifying lately and it looks like the new models are ready to go as model numbers have surfaced and an FCC filing discovered by Engadget confirms Apple is about to launch at least a new AirPort Extreme device, model A1408. Little is known from the FCC documents, but in a separate report 9to5mac shares the new model numbers and indicates the AirPort Extreme will keep a single configuration, with the Time Capsule adding a 3 TB option in addition to the existing 2 TB one.

  • MD031LL/A – AIRPORT EXTREME 802.11N (5TH GEN)- USA
  • MD032LL/A – TIME CAPSULE 2TB (4TH GENERATION) – USA
  • MD033LL/A – TIME CAPSULE 3TB (4TH GENERATION) – USA

The new Time Capsules are rumored to be getting a new functionality to cache software updates for iOS and OS X devices, in order to speed up the process of downloading and installing new software. This feature was also confirmed by some code strings found in the latest AirPort Utility update. As Apple usually likes to time its hardware refreshes with FCC document releases, there’s the possibility the new AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule will come out later today.

Apple Launches 2011 Back To School Promotion In US And Europe, Features $100 Gift Card

As had been rumored and then confirmed last night, Apple has launched its 2011 Back to School promotion today, featuring a $100 gift card for use on any of Apple’s digital stores. The promotion runs from today until September 20th this year and is available for college students and faculty staff.

When you buy a new qualifying Mac with Apple education pricing* from June 16, 2011, through September 20, 2011, you’ll get a $100 Back to School Card

The qualifying Mac’s include the MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMac – all of which are at a discounted rate for students. The gift card will work on the Mac App Store, App Store, iTunes Store or the iBookstore. The promotional page also highlights some accessories to help you “Gear up for college” as well as suggested “Apps for Studies” and “Apps for Study Breaks”.

The promotion has also launched in the UK where a £65 gift card is offered and in various other European countries where a 75 € gift card is offered.

New Apple Store Opens In Lyon, France

Announced by several media outlets earlier this week, Apple opened a new retail store today in Lyon, France. The seventh Apple Store in the country is located in the La Part-Dieu shopping mall which, as noted by MacRumors, is very close to the Lyon Part-Dieu railway station – a transportation hub that will surely make it easy to customers to reach the Store.

French website AccessoWeb has posted some photos and a video of the grand opening, showing a long queue to get in and the usual cheering and clapping from Apple Store employees. Other videos posted on YouTube, and embedded after the break, show the interactive iPad displays on each store table as recently introduced by Apple in the so-called Apple Store 2.0 experience.

Check out more photos here, and the store’s official page on Apple’s website.

Update: More photos of the grand opening, courtesy of Anthony Nelzin. Check out his full photo set on Flickr.

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The Success of Apple’s Retail Division

One of Apple’s greatest achievements is the success of their 324 retail stores, spanning several countries and employing 30,200 employees who are, on average, paid much more than their competitors. Becoming an Apple Employee isn’t easy, but those who are hired on as a “blue shirt” come to enjoy a past-paced product environment and challenging rewards with health benefits and company perks based on the stores’ target success. With 2,500 positions open in retail, Apple is still looking to add Geniuses, Creatives, and managers to help customers and sell product on their show floors, and it’s Shareen Pathak from FINS who comments on Apple’s success in this space.

According to people familiar with the operation, the Fifth Avenue store employs one staff member for every 20 square feet of retail space. That’s one staffer every few feet. All a shopper has to do to get help in an Apple store is reach out and touch someone.

The employees, under strict NDA and ready to serve potential customers, are offered a relatively healthy amount of pay for their hard work. Geniuses on average make $18 dollars an hour, with the helpful blue shirts earning around $16 dollars an hour as they guide customers to new products, show them how to use services, and make sales. In comparison, Pathak writes that a Best Buy Geek Squad Agent on average only makes $12 an hour. Part of Apple’s success is that while work can be demanding, employees are motivated and expected to work hard and sell the Apple experience.

In the first two fiscal quarters for 2011, Apple’s retail division has already earned $7.04 billion in revenue of Apple’s $51.41 billion, in comparison to Pathak’s figure of $10 billion in retail of Apple’s $60 billion at the end of September, 2010. The retail division is on track to nearly double the revenues earned by 2012, after Apple’s Peter Oppenheimer announced a billion retail customers have visited the Apple Store on April 20th, 2011.

From the glass entrances to the Glowing Apple above the double doors, to updated iPad experience and the employees who are ready to help you at moment’s notice, Apple’s retail stores offer a level of convenience and friendliness that big retail chains just can’t match. It’s well worth your time to read the rest of Pathak’s writeup on how Apple hires, how valuable employees are to the company, and just how hard they work to make the whole system operate as a well oiled machine.

[via FINS, Fiscal Q1 2011, Fiscal Q2 2011]

Apple Thanks Apple Store Employees In Tenth Anniversary Poster

Apple didn’t openly celebrate the tenth anniversary of its retail stores except for using the occasion to role out iPads as an interactive “smart sign”. However it has been noticed that in the back-end of stores, Apple has sent a tenth anniversary poster. The poster is almost philosophical in its review of the past ten years of Apple stores, highlighting the successes, failures, trivial facts and lessons learnt.

Jump the break for a recreated version of the poster, or head to ifoAppleStore for a transcribed copy of the poster. Otherwise, here are some highlights that we thought were interesting:

We’ve learned that a 32’6” transparent glass box can stand tall even among the giants of the Manhattan skyline.That when glass becomes as iconic as the Fifth Avenue Cube, it can also become the fifth most photographed landmark in New York City.

We’ve also learned that getting these details perfect can feel like trying to move a mountain. Sometimes two. But in the end, the effort is worth it. Because steel, glass, and stone can combine to create truly unique and inspiring spaces.

We’ve learned that a visit to the Genius Bar can fix more than just computers. It can also restore a customer’s relationship with Apple

We’ve found that when we wear black T-shirts, we blend in. And when we wear too many colors it’s confusing. But blue shirts are just right. We’ve also learned that it takes precisely 4,253 stitches to embroider the Apple logo on those blue shirts. And we even figured out which direction the stitches should go in.

As beautiful and iconic as our stores may be, the people who create and staff those stores are what matters most. So on this 3,652nd day we say think you to very single one of you. We say thank you to thosewho were there on the first day, to those whose first day is today.

[Via MacRumors]

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AirPort and Time Capsule Stock Running Low, Refresh Imminent?

Both TUAW and MacRumors report tonight several Apple retail store locations in the United States are running / have run out of stock for AirPort Express and AirPort Extreme stations, as well as Time Capsule units. Both reports indicate how some stores have completely run out of Time Capsule and AirPort Express / Extreme without getting any new shipments, with other locations lacking only AirPort Express stations. TUAW also hints at a store getting a notice to send all available units back.

A reader let us know that all of the Apple Stores in his area are out of AirPort Express models, and one of our sources confirmed the Apple Store in his area is out of stock on not just the Express, but the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule as well. Another source says supplies at one store are not constrained and never have been, but the store “may have” received a notice to send its AirPort device inventory back.

Supply constraints ahead of the WWDC may hint at upcoming refreshes to the various lines being announced next week, though several reports claimed the Developers Conference would be software focused with no hardware announcements. As the Apple online store still reports 24 hours shipments for AirPort devices and the family was last updated almost two years ago, Apple might as well simply take the store down sometime next week and release the new product without an on-stage announcement. Some are already speculating Apple could deploy its own home-based networking solution to interact with iCloud much like devices like the Pogoplug already allow you to access locally stored media from a remote device, though the solution sounds unlikely as it appears Apple is shooting for an all-remote, cloud-based service with streaming and storage on the company’s servers. However, the AirPort Extreme station could use an update to bring an additional USB port or more integration with iOS devices – these are some features AirPort Extreme users (including me) have been asking and wondering about a lot lately.

After Data Center, Apple To Open Fifth Store in North Carolina

Apple is set to open a new Apple Store in Charlotte, North Carolina, by year’s end, ifoAppleStore reports. The website, a well-connected source of Apple retail information and tidbits, reports Apple’s plan to open a fifth store in the State falls in line with North Carolina quickly becoming the center of Apple’s super-high tech infrastructure, with the famous 500,000 square feet data center (set to expand to 1 million square feet) in Maiden, NC, located just 30 miles away from Charlotte and reportedly launched with online operations and iTunes services this Spring.

The new store – according to job postings and building permits – will open inside the Northlake Mall and located on the second level, 16 miles north of the existing SouthPark Apple Store. ifoAppleStore also reported Apple will open a new retail store this Saturday in Lyon, France, and another one in the MetroTown shopping mall in Burnaby, Canada.

A Lunch At Apple Changed Square’s Name and Design→

A Lunch At Apple Changed Square’s Name and Design

The name Squirrel was known even before Square’s official announcement in December of 2009. As was the fact that the dongle was acorn shaped. The information that a lunch at Apple changed the design of the Square dongle so drastically and was the reason behind the name change is new, as far as I can tell.

I can just imagine that lunch in the Apple cafeteria with Steve Jobs telling Dorsey to drop the woodsy Acorn look and go with something white, minimal and squared off. Hey, it worked for Apple right?

The Next Web reports Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and Square CEO, gave out interesting tidbits on the origins of Square when accepting the 21st Century Visionary award in San Francisco last night. In particular, Square was originally called Squirrel and the reader was wooden and acorn shaped. That was, until a lunch at Apple, quite possibly with Scott Forstall, magically changed the design to a squared off white reader named Square.

Furthermore, it really seems like Apple is a major source of inspiration for Square. From the design of the card reader and the website, to the skeuomorphic attention to detail in the new Card Case app and the whole style of Jack Dorsey’s presentation earlier this week, the simplicity and elegance of Square are certainly well-suited for Apple’s retail stores.

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New Apple Stores Set To Open In Florence and Madrid

The trusted source on new Apple Store openings, ifoAppleStore, is today reporting on two new Apple stores in Spain and Italy that are currently undergoing construction. The new Italy store is expected to be opened in the I Gigli suburban shopping center in Florence, located on the ground floor and facing a large circular courtyard. Based on documents that were posted on the traditional black barricade, the stores construction will be completed in August, suggesting an early September opening.

The third Apple store in Spain, is set to be a spectacle, occupying all seven levels of the historic building at #1 Puerta del Sol in Madrid, overlooking the large city plaza (pictured above). The historic 1863 building is currently being restored and renovated. The retail store is then expected to operate on at least two levels and the basement. As for the other levels, ifoAppleStore speculates that they may be used as administrative offices for Apple, meeting rooms or training space. Madrid’s mayor revealed the plans last week when he confirmed to reporters that Apple was leasing the entire building. The building, which has an iconic “Tio Pepe” electronic sign will be returned to the building after renovations are complete. The store will most likely open early next year, with significant construction work still to be completed.