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Apple’s Black Friday Announced

J.R. Bookwalter — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:46:11 -0600

In keeping with tradition for the past several years, Apple has announced today that they’ll be holding their traditional Black Friday shopping event yet again.

The day after Thanksgiving has been christened “Black Friday” in the U.S., cited as one of the busiest shopping days of the year and one that retailers count on to get their bottom line out of the red. While Apple certainly doesn’t have to worry about that based on their most recent quarterly results, they’ll be joining in the fun at the Apple Online Store.

A teaser posted this morning on Apple’s website announces “the special one-day Apple shopping event” coming this Friday, November 27. “Come back to the Apple Online Store the day after Thanksgiving for a special one-day-only holiday shopping event,” the announcement proclaims. “You’ll find dozens of great iPod, iPhone, and Mac gift ideas — all with free shipping.”

Rumors were swirling last week that Apple would offer the steepest discounts yet on iPods and Macs this year, although in previous years the discounts have been modest at best.

But it beats getting up in the middle of the night to chase down deals at your local retailers, right?

Apple's Black Friday Sales Hints

Brian Proffit — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:34:40 -0600

BoyGeniusReport just posted a graphic purporting to reveal significant discounts Apple will be offering on Black Friday sales. Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S.) is traditionally the hottest shopping day of the year, as people get ready for the holidays.

The ad, which is supposedly about to be emailed to Apple stores, says on that day only Apple will be offering up to 30% off on iPods (excluding iPhone and iPod Shuffle), up to 25% off on all Macs, and up to 15% off on accessories and software. It also says that "select" Apple stores will open at 6 a.m. for shoppers, and in-store gift wrapping will be available.

But i4u warns shoppers not to get their hopes up. "Last year only the 13.3-inch MacBook had a significant discount."

New York’s Latest Apple Mecca Unveiled

J.R. Bookwalter — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:50:45 -0600

Apple Stores have always been a thing of beauty, even the more modest ones set up inside traditional shopping malls. Tomorrow, Apple will unveil its most impressive location yet, if the photos now live on Gizmodo are any indication.

Located on Broadway at 67th Street in New York’s Upper West Side, the new location marks Apple’s fourth Manhattan. “We opened our first store in Manhattan seven years ago, and the response has been incredible,” said Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail. “We hope our new store on the Upper West Side will become as much a part of the community as our stores in SoHo, the Meatpacking District and on Fifth Avenue.”

Speaking of which, Gizmodo claims that the new store is large enough to fit eleven of the 5th Avenue stores inside its walls. The top floor is a huge, open space with stone walls and an arched glass ceiling, with rows of tables in the main room. Most of the action takes place underground, in the basement floor occupied by the Genius Bar and personal training space that’s said to be the biggest of any Apple Store yet. How big? Imagine a 45-foot spread with enough room to handle up to 100 customers at once!

If you’re in or near Manhattan, you can check it out for yourself when the doors swing open at 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 14. The Apple Store Upper West Side is located at 1981 Broadway and the first 2,500 visitors to the store will receive a limited edition, commemorative t-shirt. Nothing says “I was here” like a free t-shirt!

Apple Stores' New Easy Pay iPod touch

Andrew Villa — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:18:47 -0600

According to ifoAppleStore and AppleInsider, in about two weeks, Apple stores will start retiring their current Windows CE portable computers and start using custom iPod touches to check out customers.

Apple's new EasyPay system uses the the touchscreen interface of the iPod touch to help any customer with purchases and returns. Apple is wrapping the iPod touch in a hard plastic, two-piece shell with a magstripe reader in the back, and a barcode scanner installed on the top of the device. Inside the shell a rechargeable battery will help power the card reader and scanner, and there is a set of four lights on the back to help indicate the state of the battery's charge.

Credit card transactions are very similar to the current method, customers will write their signature on the iPod touch using a Pogo Sketch stylus.

The iPod touch scanner can read all four barcodes printed on the iPhone box, and automatically fills in the data fields on the order screen. "The software even displays the iPhone 'Terms and Conditions' for the customer to read, and then accepts the customers signature to verify their acceptance," says AppleInsider.

Consumer Reports Readers Heart the Apple Store

Andrew Villa — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:22:30 -0600

In the December issue of Consumer Reports the results of a poll show that, on a scale of 0 to 100, readers rated their experience at the Apple Store a 90. Ratings were based on responses of more than 31,000 readers who purchased electronics during June 2008 and June 2009.

Readers gave the Apple Store the highest marks for product quality, customer service, and ease of buying; readers also gave Apple failing grades for price and selections. Consumer Reports editors noted that the Apple Store "is, of course, limited to selling Apple Products."

Changes Coming to Apple Stores in Time For the Holidays

Christine Chan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:46:36 -0500

Image source: Tony Shi, NY-NJ's Flickr photostream

As Microsoft begins rolling out their retail stores, Apple is allegedly preparing to make some changes to their own store, just in time for the holiday season.

The first reported change is phasing out multiple shirt colors that employees wear in order to differentiate themselves by their roles. These color coded uniforms tend to confuse shoppers as to who handles each task. Allegedly there will be only one color of uniform for all employees, although ifoAppleStore reports that the color may change every few months just to keep things fresh.

The other change will involve the checkout system, which will be switching from the Microsoft EasyPay handhelds to iPod touches that will be custom-equipped with a barcode reading accessory. This checkout system will also allow customers to pay with cash on the spot, rather than having to maneuver to the cash register. Apparently, the Windows CE-based devices were "prone to crashes and non-responsiveness by employees."

Surprise!

So in the near future, you will now be able to go in and out of an Apple Store even faster with all of your shiny new goods!

MacBook Pros to Receive New Processors in the Coming Weeks?

Andrew Villa — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:46:50 -0500

According to an Applesana message board poster, there is a report that the newest build of OS X 10.6.2 10C531 contains references to new MacBook Pros. The current version of MacBook Pros are at 5_5, the screen shot shows MacBook Pros 6_1 and 6_2.

Could a new MacBook Pro be coming with the introduction of the 10.6.2 update?

There is also speculation that Apple Store Geniuses are being trained on the new Quad-Core processors, which could be in MacBook Pros. Delivery could be timed with the new intel Core i5 and i7 iMacs in November.

Apple Stores Are Down

Roberto Baldwin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:22:58 -0500

Uh oh, are the new Macs being prepped for our wallets?

Let's hope so.