How many times have you misplaced your keys in the last few years? Ok, how about your iPhone? Children? Well the good news is that there are actually iOS accessories that can help you with your forgetfulness, like the hipKey.
The hipKey is a simple proximity sensor, powered by Bluetooth, built to help you keep track of your valuables. It has a key ring, allowing you to attach it to your keys, purse, etc., and a companion iPhone app for easy tracking...
Now that Christmas is just a tiny spec in our rear-view mirrors, it's time to start looking ahead to the next gift-giving holiday: Valentine's Day. And this morning, Apple started doing just that, highlighting the affair on its web store with a new "There's more than one way to say I love you" iPad advertisement...
A new report is out this afternoon claiming that Apple's vice president of retail Jerry McDougal has left the company to spend more time with his family. It's a significant blow, as he's considered to be a big part of Apple's retail success.
McDougal was Ron Johnson's right hand man before he left the company to head up JC Penney in late 2011, and was even said to have been considered for his replacement before Apple decided on the infamous John Browett...
Marco Tabini of Macworld takes an interesting look today at how Apple manages to keep the prices on its products, and subsequently its profits, so much higher than other manufacturers. It turns out, the company uses a unique, two-pronged pricing strategy.
The first part of it has to do with wholesale pricing. Apple, unlike most hardware-makers, doesn't offer resellers much of a discount on products like the iPad or iMac, even if they're buying in bulk. This doesn't give retailers much incentive to carry the products, but with the kind of foot traffic they produce, it doesn't really have to...
Last week, Tim Cook made it clear that Apple intends to beef up its presence in China. The CEO said that although the country is only its second largest market right now (behind the US), it will soon be number one.
With that, comes a report today that Apple has introduced a new interest-free installment payment option to its web store in China as a way of enticing potential customers that may not have enough cash on-hand...
No matter if you are in Syracuse, NY or Singapore, when you step into an Apple Store, you're likely to be greeted in a singular manner. That's no mistake. In fact, the 'brain' of Apple's retailing success is part of a patent filing for a centralized floor plan management. It's entitled "System and method for planning layout of a retail store" and details, well, everything.
Starting from how the tech giant uses the iPad and centrally-controlled in-store displays to offer customers a unified appearance, no matter which Apple Store around the globe you happen to waltz in. Indeed, if tech retailing were part of the Star Trek universe, Apple locations would be manned by the Borg - seeming to operate with one mind...
While much of the world spent yesterday recovering from dehydration and hangovers, Apple was dealing with a different kind of headache. You know, the type of headache you get when someone steals over a million dollars in merchandise from you.
That's right, in what sounds like a rejected Ocean's 11 plot, the Apple Store in Paris's Opera district was robbed at gunpoint on New Year's Eve. And the masked thieves are believed to have made off with more than a million dollars in stolen products...
Apple, usually the benchmark for customer satisfaction, fell from its lofty perch during the all-important Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping period. After quickly jettisoning its senior vice-president of retail and suffering questions surrounding supplies of new products, the company "stumbled", falling to a four-year low, according to a customer satisfaction analytics firm Thursday. The iPhone maker fell 3 points to 80 out of 100, dropping it from the overall top five online holiday retailers and behind #1 Amazon.com, which was rated 88 out of 100 by Forsee...
Apple has thrown in another nice perk that should appeal to last minute shoppers: the company's web store is now offering free next-day shipping on every item available in the store. Previously, only a select few products were eligible for free shipping, including the items listed on Apple's 2012 Holiday Gift Guide. Unfortunately, only US orders include free next-day shipping. Be that as it may, those that have not ordered their holiday gifts yet needn't despair as with this promotion your last minute purchases should be received in time for the holidays...
In another display of Apple catching up to iPhone demand, the company's online store in New Zealand is now quoting 2-4 business days for deliveries. It was only a week ago that the New Zealand store indicated shipping times were improving to one week. Prior to that, it took Apple about a month following the iPhone 5 launch to improve delivery times for online orders from 2-3 weeks to one week. The online US store gave us a one-week shipping estimate at press time but we're expecting international stores to follow suit and update estimates later in the day...
In addition to its carrier satisfaction survey, Consumer Reports also released the results of its cellphone buying experience survey this morning. The firm's National Research center asked 10,000 subscribers who had purchased a cellphone in the last two years to rate their buying experience. And surprise, surprise, Apple came out on top...
Like an elusive unicorn, the unlocked iPhone 5 remains a pipedream in the United States, where the government doesn't require telcos to offer unlocked, contract-free devices alongside subsidized ones, like in Italy, France and elsewhere.
If you're unwilling to commit your soul to your carrier just to get your hands on an iPhone 5, you may wanna keep a close eye on the online Apple Store at around 9pm tonight as it's been reported factory-unlocked devices will appear as early as this midnight...