Apple Store - page 40

New York State regulators are investigating whether Apple got a ‘sweetheart deal’ when it leased space for its largest store in the city’s Grand Central Station. Reportedly, Apple paid the city’s MTA $60 per square foot for space that normally leases for more than $200. Did Apple throw around its marketing muscle to gain preferential treatment? Politicians are up in arms as Apple preps the the location for a Saturday unveiling.

Your average Apple Store is stuffed with a pulsing biomass of customers clamoring for attention, so how do Apple employees know that you’re the guy they are tasked to help?

Well, how does Apple solve any problem? They leverage cutting-edge technology at the problem, and their system is totally ingenious, if a little frightening to the privacy obsessed.

It was recently reported that Apple was putting the finishing touches on its new flagship store in New York City’s Grand Central Station. The store was supposed to be unveiled to the public by Black Friday on November 25th or during this upcoming weekend.

Eager shoppers will apparently have to wait to drop their hard earned cash on Apple products in Grand Central Station, as the store’s opening “won’t be any time too soon.”

The biggest shopping day of the year is fast approaching. This Friday, countless retailers all over the U.S. will be slashing prices for Black Friday, causing a frenzy amongst shoppers who cannot wait to spend some of their hard-earned cash on discounted goods.

Apple famously recognizes the event by discounting some of its hottest products in the Apple online store for one day only, with savings to be made on new Macs, iOS devices, iPods, and even the latest accessories for your beloved Apple gadgets. This year will be no different, so based on the past few years’ reductions, here’s what to expect at the Apple online store on Black Friday.

We exclusively confirmed way back in February that Apple had plans to build a store in Grand Central Station’s main terminal, and following months of speculation it seems the store is set to open its doors this week, just in time for the Christmas rush.

A good friend of mine recently bought a new iPhone 4S from her local Apple Store. When presented with her new iPhone, the Apple Store salesperson tried to sell her on AppleCare+. It was a hard sell; in her opinion, the Apple Store salesperson went about it in all of the wrong ways. She’s a savvy consumer, reads Cult of Mac and other tech blogs, and has even read my new book. She did her own research before she bought the iPhone. She understood the differences between AppleCare and AppleCare+. She weighed risks of accidental damage against the price and limitations of AppleCare+, and decided the extra protection wasn’t for her.

She passed on AppleCare+, but believes that she might have been swayed if she hadn’t done her homework. She made a choice and, whether or not it turns out to be the right one, she was the one to make it. But not everyone is going to take the time to evaluate the pros and cons of AppleCare+ and will be confronted with this question at the time of purchase. Might you or someone you know fall victim to a hard sell on AppleCare+?

AT&T is set to unveil a new store in the bustling metropolis of Chicago tomorrow, and the new space takes multiple cues from the Apple Stores that we’ve all come to know and love.

The carrier has spent recent months studying some of the most successful retail brands, including Apple, in an attempt to create a better in-store experience for customers. As part of AT&T’s new concept store, employees will be able to checkout buyers by using iPhones and iPads to handle transactions.

Could it get any sadder? Ten years late, Microsoft is finally set to open its sad sack retail store later today at Tysons Corner, pretty much directly across from the original Apple Store that started it all way back in 2001. Needless to say, the world’s pretty much yawning at the news, and so Microsoft is trying anything to get people to attend the grand opening. I’m not sure what’s sadder, though: the fact that they hired a Jonas Brother to draw in crowds, or the fact that the Jonas Brother they hired, Joe Jonas, is both a Mac user and a former entertainment act for Apple, famously drawing scores of screaming teens to the SoHo Apple Store in 2008.

Ron Johnson, Apple’s former Senior Vice President of Retail Operations, who changed the face of retail with the opening of the first Apple store in 2001, left the Cupertino company at the beginning of this month. Replacing him has become a mammoth task for Apple, according to a new report, with external candidates struggling to meet Johnson’s caliber, which may force the company to promote from within its ranks.

A trademark feature at Apple retail stores all over the world is the Genius Bar. Operated by a group of Apple experts, the Genius Bar allows any Mac or iOS device owner to take their device to their nearest Apple store and get technical help, repairs, or replacements.

Along with Apple experts, the Genius Bar sports a line of MacBook Pros which Apple staff use to diagnose problems, order parts for repairs, check the status of your product’s warranty, and more. In this “post-PC” era, however, those MacBook Pros are set to be replaced by the iPad.

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaQrr3rlNyk

Update: Unfortunately, the video has been pulled again.

An interesting music video by Apple Store employees was floating around the internet yesterday, but the video was eventually pulled. (It was that good.)

Now, the video has been re-uploaded to YouTube for all to see. The rap outlines Apple’s customer support steps of service that new retail employees have to learn.

A gold start to anyone that can sit through the whole song.

Apple’s iPhone 4S has proven to be a huge hit in Hong Kong, with the city’s flagship Apple store selling all of its stock within a matter of hours. The fifth-generation device went on sale at 7 AM local time, but by lunchtime it was all gone.

Appcessories. Just the word sounds cool, blending the popularity of apps with the omnipresent accessories for your Apple device. But can a word create a trend? You decide. The idea is being promoted by a hardware developer that iPhone apps controlling hardware devices could be as big as that watermelon-flavored case or the Nike+ iPod add-on. Indeed, the Apple Store could feature the category soon – or not.

Apple’s iPhone 4S is one of the hottest smartphones available right now, spawning lengthy launch-day queues outside of Apple stores all over the world. In Hong Kong, where the device goes on sale in just a few hours’ time, police have been called to settle violent fights that broke out with a group of South Asian “professional queuers” who attempted to push their way to the front of the line.

Over the course of the last ten years, Apple has built over 350 Apple Stores, so Thomas Park decided to put up a huge gallery of every single one of their store fronts.

The results are here, and it’s actually fascinating to be able to scroll past of all the storefronts in a go. Early on, Apple seemed to favor flanking each entry way to the Apple Store with a piano black monolith emblazoned with the Apple logo, but that quickly fell out of favor in lieu of brushed aluminum and glass whenever possible. As always, though, it’s the exception Apple Stores that are the most interesting in their design: places like the 5th Avenue location, or Convent Garden.

You can find the whole gallery here.

Remember that new cheekily-christened “EasyTheft” system Apple was planning on rolling out to its official Apple Store app? The official update is here, and anyone can now try it out!

Following reports Apple is set to introduce a new self-checkout system in its retail stores using its Apple Store app for iOS, the Cupertino company has begun preparing stores with EasyPay signs that inform customers they can pay for certain products by themselves.

Apple revolutionized retail shopping when it opened up its first brick and mortar store back in 2001, and it’s about to do it all over again — using an iOS app. The Cupertino company will reportedly issue a major update to its Apple Store app for iOS devices this Thursday that will change the way you buy Apple products forever.

UPDATE: Apple just sent us a statement saying Cano has not been named head of retail. A spokeswoman said: “The search is underway with lots of interest and we are carefully selecting Ron’s successor. We have nothing to announce today.”

Although an official announcement has yet to be made, Cult of Mac has learned that Apple has already replaced its outgoing head of retail, Ron Johnson.

Reports on Monday suggested Apple hasn’t found a replacement for Johnson, its highly-regarded Senior Vice President of Retail. But we’ve been told by a source that Apple has already promoted an internal candidate to Johnson’s job.

Apple’s new retail boss isn’t just some suit, though. He’s one of the first retail employees Apple ever hired, a California surfer dude who has climbed from the sales floor to the very top rung of Apple management.

It’s a real rags-to-riches story that should be inspiration to every stressed out Apple Store sales associate or overworked Genius: your work can be noticed, and you too can go to the very top.

Apple has closed its original SoHo location in New York City to perform some renovations. The SoHo store on Prince Street is closed for a limited time, and Apple has opened a temporary store on Greene Street.

Described as “raw and “rustic,” Apple’s temporary SoHo store is bustling with activity and features all the aspects that customers would expect from an Apple Store. Apple sure knows how to throw a store together.

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Retail Operations, Ron Johnson, has officially left the Cupertino company to become CEO of JC Penney. His biography was removed from Apple’s website today and a successor is yet to be announced.

Apple is finally unveiling its seamless glass cube entrance to the Fifth Avenue store on Friday, according to MacRumors. Apple’s Fifth Avenue retail store is one of the most recognized Apple stores in the world and a main tourist attraction in New York City.

$6.6. million in renovations to the Fifth Avenue store will finally be revealed to the public on Friday, November 4th. Since June, there have been a series of temporary walls hiding the work that has now been done to the glass cube entrance of the store.

The official Apple Store app is already a useful tool if you have to sally forth into meat space, allowing you to schedule appointment times at your local Genius Bar, reserve items for pickup at your local Apple Store and the like.

Come November 3rd, though, the Apple Store iOS app is set to gain some cool new functionality: the ability to check your own purchases out at Apple’s physical retail locations.

Apple’s MacBook Pro family wasn’t the only product lineup to get an update today. The Cupertino company has also issued a refresh to its iPad 2 Smart Covers, which has seen the orange cover discontinued in favor of a new dark gray model, and interior lining that’s colored to match the exterior.

Since Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, we’ve seen a stack of awesome of tribute images created from MacBook parts, Minecraft building blocks, and even salt. However, this has to be one of my favorite: a portrait of Steve created with 4,001 Post-it notes.