AppleStore

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We’re hearing that there were some last minute delays but Apple Stores will soon be rolling out a lot more signs like the one above.  Customers will soon be able to pay for accessories at the Apple Store with their iOS device via camera and Apple Store App. Thanks Dylan!
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Update: Here it is! (Thanks Dapper!)

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Thanks Marty!

Apple has just started closing down its 5th Avenue Store which is usually open 24/7/365 where patrons are filing out of the GM building entrance.  It is preparing for a grand re-opening at 10am tomorrow where a newly-designed $6 million cube will be unveiled.  The number of panes in the cube will drop from 90 to just 15 (3 per side).

We’re simplifying the Fifth Avenue cube. By using larger, seamless pieces of glass, we’re using just 15 panes instead of 90.

Apple will spend the next 12 hours getting the store ready according to the 5th Avenue Store web page.

Attention:We’ll be closed starting at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 3 and will reopen at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, November 4.

Apple began pulling the wraps off of the 5th Avenue Store Cube upgrade project this evening.  The above pictures shows the new seamless glass panels that will eventually look like this artist’s rendition, below:
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Apple issues its 10-K report with the SEC at the end of every fiscal year and this year’s (via MacRumors, TNW) is full of growth. Numbers grew across the board from the end of fiscal 2010 to 2011:

1. Full time employees went from 49,400 to 60,400. Retail was the bulk of that which went from 25.6K to 36K.
2. Retail Stores up 40: 317 to 357.
3. Ad spending up 35% from $691 million to $933 million.
4. R&D spending up 36% to $2.4B.
5. Leases 7 million square feet of building space 3 million of those are for retail.
6. Apple owns 584 acres of land in various locations (including a future solar farm in North Carolina).
7. Finally, Apple ended the year with $81.6B in cash, marketable securities and cash equivalents.

Yesterday it was revealed that Apple would begin to offer a ship to store option on its online store and it appears that it has just gone online. We heard it would be hitting San Francisco first:

…now we’re hearing it’s going live tonight/tomorrow (depending on your time zone) in the San Francisco area. The pilot program will reach other parts of the Bay Area within the next couple of days or so, and will gradually make its way throughout the United States over the upcoming weeks and months.

As you can see from the screenshot above, it is now live. Apple Store online shoppers now have the option of sending their item(s) to a physical Store in San Francisco. Others soon will follow leading up to the holidays.

Can you imagine how great this will be for the new Apple Store inside Grand Central Terminal?

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Update: Training for Apple Store Grand Central employees began today at a hotel in Times Square,will end Nov 11, ahead of end of Nov opening. (thanks @iDannyOcean)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpBEcpw3wqA]

In August, we had the opportunity to do a thorough walkthrough of the Grand Central Apple Store space (video above) as construction was just getting kicked off. Shortly thereafter, Apple built a wall around the space so that onlookers can’t get a sneak preview of what is to come (though the renderings, below give you a pretty good idea what Apple has in mind).

Today, a tipster from the MTA has provided us with a progress report of sorts. The pictures, show below and taken yesterday, show that construction is well on its way but as we near its anticipated November launch, still show significant work is left to be done. Talking to one of the construction workers, our source said that Apple plans to have it open for Black Friday, if not sooner.

Remember, this is only one part of the huge space which is said to make it one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Flagship Apple Stores in the world. Additional images below:

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Apple’s homepage returned to normal with the iPhone 4S headlining last night (US only atm). Apple had the Steve Jobs memorial picture up for two weeks following his passing.

There is still a Remembering Steve link at the bottom of the page which leads to the thousands of words of condolence taken from the millions of submissions following his death. In fact, it appears that Apple has purchased the RememberingSteveJobs.com domain.

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As we reported over the weekend and others reported yesterday, Apple Store will be closed for three hours today to view the celebration of Steve Jobs’ life stream coming from AppleHQ.

Thanks Danny, Steven

Thanks

Update: White curtains going up everywhere for privacy. Gallery:

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Today Apple debuted their iPhone 4S retail availability reservation system via www.apple.com/retail/iphone/ and the Apple Store iOS app. 9to5Mac has received a bit more clarification concerning the reservation process and walk-in availability from the Apple Store Daily Download. Each evening from 9 p.m. to Midnight, hopeful iPhone 4S buyers can log on to apple.com or the Apple Store app to check model availability and reserve their iPhone 4S for the next business day. When an individual successfully creates a reservation they will have from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. the next day to pick up their reservation. Apple stores will cease all iPhone 4S sales at 8:30 p.m. to allow ample time to prepare for the nightly reservation process.

Contrary to previous reports, the iPhone 4S will be available for walk-in traffic as well as reserved at Apple retail stores. After 6 p.m. all unclaimed reservations will be forfeited and available for walk-in purchasers to buy. Select stores will also be making unclaimed inventory from the night before available from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. each day. We hope everybody who wants to get their hands on Apple’s fastest iPhone yet are able to soon!

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Chestnut St Apple Store, San Francisco. Thanks John!

Closeup below:
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We’re hearing it is perhaps weeks from being open but this evening you are seeing the enormity of this store in Hong Kong’s IFC shopping complex.  That is a four story tall red Apple which spans three lanes of traffic for those measuring at home.

Update: Reader Joe send in this shot from inside:

Update 2: Engadget has nabbed some higher-resolution pictures. They also say the store opens September 24th!

Related articles

• Monster Apple Store in the heart of Hong Kong’s IFC center to open this Fall? (9to5mac.com)
• Priciest Apple Store in the world set to open next month in Hong Kong (Video) (9to5mac.com)
• ‘Apple is only scratching the surface in China’ with 6X Growth and 3.8B quarter? (9to5mac.com)

While Apple’s London Covent Garden and Regent Street stores have given the company a prominent presence in the city centre, a proposed development at 100 Cheapside in London’s uber-rich financial district may be threatened by neighbours claiming rights to sunlight.

ifoAppleStore got their hands on a rendering of the proposed development which would cover 87,000 square-feet of office space, and 13,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. A report from Reuters notes that Apple is currently interested in moving in. Judging by the mock up above, an Apple retail space would fit nicely in that large windowed, street-level storefront.

However, it looks like if Apple is really interested in making it happen they might have to throw some of those billions to appease neighbours and get the job done. Reuters reports:
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customers and employees waiting for the Fifth Avenue Store to re-open

You might have heard there was a little trembler on the east coast earlier today.  Perhaps due to the renovation of the glass cube overhead, we’re hearing that the whole 5th Avenue Store was evacuated and both customers and employees were relocated to Central Park while the structure was checked for damages (above).

Better safe than sorry.
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(Thanks Brian Fu)

As five Apple Stores open up today including Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall (Anchorage, Alaska), Fashion Place (Murray, Utah), Southland (Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia), Conestoga: (RIM HQ Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) I Gigli: (Florence, Italy), the biggest store of the quarter and possibly the most expensive Apple Store in history is getting its wraps taken off in Hong Kong’s IFC this week.

Apple COO Tim Cook mentioned that the Hong Kong Store was set to open this quarter, along with 30 others in the Earnings Call last month.

Thanks Tom Read

We’ve heard from two sources, one a credit fulfillment processor, that the grand opening is set for September 24th.  It spans six lanes of traffic and three-plus floors of Hong Kong’s IFC building.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IabjY5AmWOk&start=38]

Update: Richard Lai got some pictures inside this-a-way.

Another monster Hong Kong Apple Store is set to open in Causeway Bay later this year.  Another shot below (Readers, please send more!):
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We’re getting images in from around the UK of Apple Stores having removed their inventory after closing of business. The concern is the ongoing riots that have plagued London and now the greater UK for the past 3 days.

Above: Due To The Riots In England, The Apple Store In Liverpool One have moved all stock up stairs from the show floor.

Even resellers are getting into the action. Canterbury, Kent, below:

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More on the way, unfortunately.
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Macrumors notes that the boarded up Fifth Avenue Apple Store now reveals plans to improve the appearance of the cube by using “bigger, seamless” panes of glass.  The number of panes will drop from 90 to just 15 (3 per side).

We’re simplifying the Fifth Avenue cube. By using larger, seamless pieces of glass, we’re using just 15 panes instead of 90.

The upgrade reportedly costs $6 million. We’d be very surprised if the renovation isn’t complete for the October iPhone 5 launch.

Apple is also expected to have its Grand Central location, just 15 or so blocks south, open for the holidays and is also doing an upgrade to its Soho Store.

Update: The Gothamist posts a rendering:

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The New York Times reports that Apple is close to approval on the Grand Central Station Apple Store that has been rumored over the past year:

When Apple proposed opening a store on the balcony overlooking the main hall, it submitted its bid in linen-lined boxes, as if it were a wedding present to transit officials, a source familiar with the application process said. The board is expected to approve the deal as early as next week, at its monthly board meeting.

Class.

(view from proposed store below – thanks Ken!)
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We are getting reports that Apple Stores are receiving packages that aren’t to be opened until Tuesday.  Perhaps they are fluffy little iClouds – or maybe new Airport adverts?  Or, yes, Lion and iOS 5

Thanks Jmfm!
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Image via Amazon

We’ve been tracking Time Capsule/Airport shortages reported earlier for about a week. Our sources noted that Airport Express has been plentiful but supplies of TimeCapsule and Airport Extreme have been tightening globally the way products usually do before a refresh.

What we do know is that Apple has been internally testing Time Capsules to cache Software Updates for both Mac and iOS devices.  The way we’ve heard it works is that the new Time Capsule learns which devices connect to it via Wifi.  It then goes out to Apple’s servers and downloads Software Updates for those products.

When the user wants to install the software update, the Time Capsule, which is also the router, routes you to the locally stored update, rather than downloading the whole thing over the Internet.  This works for iOS updates as well, though the updating still happened via the Mac.

Apple’s Mac OSX Servers currently do this for Mac businesses, so the technology already exists externally (though Mac OSX Server just downloads everything – without knowing which devices will be connected).

With Apple’s new iCloud component, we believe Apple has a chance to extend this functionality.  Perhaps Time Capsules could cache parts of your iCloud music locker that you use the most so that it speeds up the streaming process.  It could also cache large documents and files that get used often or even movies and photos you own.

While Macs have plenty of local storage, this would be particularly beneficial for iOS devices which are limited to Flash storage, especially AppleTV which has very little local storage.  As HD video gets bigger (1080P) Apple will need new ways to deliver and store this content.

The system could also work in reverse.  Apple could allow these new Time Capsules to back up your backups to the Cloud.

Will this be part of Apple’s iOS 5/Lion/iCloud announcement?  We’ll just have to wait and see.
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Image via Sean Percival

Our spidey sense has been tingling over the past few weeks on this “Late May, 10th anniversary meeting”  we’ve been hearing much about.  Today BGR lays the groundwork for such an event:

• There’s an overnight shift planned for around 10-15 individuals at each Apple Store to work from late Saturday all the way through mid-Sunday.
• During the overnight shift, it’s going to be required that employees lock cell phones in the main office. They will also have to sign an NDA with Apple.
• There are a wide variety of roles, we’re told, for the overnight shift. This includes all visuals staff, a manager, a business team member, a few Genius team members, one back-of-house employee, and a few generic Apple specialists.
• Apple stores have apparently already received hardware to install, and are expecting more hardware to come on Friday or Saturday. All materials that Apple stores have received have been instructed to be under lock and key until after close on Saturday night.
• Apple employees will be putting up black curtains at all stores so that people walking outside cannot see inside.
• Employees have had to download gigabytes of data from Apple corporate labeled, “training” in a password-protected zipped folder that won’t accessible to managers or anyone else until Saturday afternoon.
• Lastly, all Apple retail stores have mandatory meetings on Sunday, May 22nd. Most meeting are scheduled for the morning, but there are evening meetings as well.

Additionally, MacStories is reporting that the normal Sunday evening meeting has been moved to the morning.
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Apple is set to open a new high-profile retail store in Germany by the end of March. A series of leaked work-in-progress photos showing both interior and exterior reveal that a two-floor store will occupy a large space, suggesting that Apple plans to carry the full product lineup sold in their other big retail stores.  (inside shots below)

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