Australia

An Australian court has rejected Apple’s appeal against the country’s refusal to allow it to trademark the term ‘App Store,’ reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Registrar of Trade Marks refused registration of Apple’s “app store” trademark in March last year because it was too descriptive. Apple then appealed this decision in the Federal Court.

On Wednesday, Justice Yates ruled that Apple’s appeal be dismissed and that it pay the court costs of the Registrar of Trade Marks.

The ruling means that Apple is free to continue to use the name, but it cannot prevent other companies from doing the same. The court ruled that consumers understood that the term App Store referred to any online source of apps for any platform, and therefore there was no danger of consumers being misled into thinking they were buying apps from Apple.

In the US, Apple originally sued both Microsoft and Amazon over their use of the term back in 2011, which Apple claimed as a trademark and had used since 2008. Amazon responded by arguing that even Steve Jobs and Tim Cook had used the term generically, and a court dismissed the false advertising element of Apple’s claim while allowing the trademark portion of the case to proceed.

The two companies were then ordered to conduct settlement talks, during which Apple agreed to drop the case on the basis that its own app store was by then so successful that there was no risk of confusion – leaving it unclear why Apple continued to fight the case in Australia.

Apple Pay already works abroad on supported NFC terminals w/ US-based cards

Jordan Kahn Oct 21 2014 - 7:27 am PT

21 Comments

Following yesterday’s launch of Apple Pay through participating card issuers, banks and retailers in the US, some users have discovered that the payment service is also already being accepted through some retailers abroad. 9to5Mac readers report using Apple Pay loaded with a US-based credit card at retailers in Australia and Canada…
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AppleCare+ finally coming soon to Australia

Mark Gurman Sep 5 2014 - 9:49 am PT

AppleCare+ is coming for the first time to Australia in the coming weeks, according to a source. Apple will begin training Apple Store employees in Australia on how to sell the premium protection plan in the coming days. MacRumors is also reporting that the service is inbound to Down Under. iPhone and iPad users in Australia can currently only buy the less-expensive standard AppleCare plan. Apple revamped AppleCare+ for many countries earlier this year with an extended purchase window and by making the plan the standard. Apple typically adds a few new countries to its list of AppleCare countries with new iPhone launches, and with the iPhone 6 upon us, it makes sense that Australia (and potentially some other yet-to-be-supported countries) will get AppleCare+.

Helpful shift scheduler for Apple Store employees turning into App Store app for all

Mark Gurman Sep 2 2014 - 8:43 pm PT

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A couple of years ago, Australia-based former Apple Retail Store employee Josh Hunt realized that he (and his colleagues) had a major problem: even with Apple’s cloud technologies, viewing his Apple Store work schedule was a pain. Apple’s internal network allows Apple Store employees to view their hours each day, but this information is not easily accessible from the Calendar application on the iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Hunt created a tool called Roster Genius that is a web extension to convert Apple’s internal calendaring system into a file that is compatible with the iOS and Mac calendar applications.

Roster Genius was a hit inside the Apple Retail world, and Hunt tells us that the service amassed 8,000 users in 14 countries. But Hunt shut down Roster Genius in favor of building something, alongside co-founder Sam Elliott, with larger implications: an App Store app with similar shift management functionality that could be used by all sorts of users, not just Apple Retail Store employees. The new app, launching in the coming months, is called Shifts, and as the developers tell us, “it is a calendar app, but made specifically for casual/part-time employees – that is, people who work different shifts every day.”

The application can connect to the schedules of others so that “you’ll be able to see when your days off align with your friends, and share your roster with a group of friends and coordinate for things to do on days off, organize the carpool or plan after-work drinks,” according to the developers. The interface for the app is very slick, and it boldly does not use the date picker as it instead relies on the numbered keypad for quickly entering in work times. As for the Apple Retail Store-optimized version, that’s coming back too.

Sony’s discounted ‘Album of the day’ app goes international, up to 70 percent off popular artists

Ben Lovejoy Aug 14 2014 - 3:50 am PT

Sony’s Album of the Day app for iPhone and iPod Touch, which provides a daily discount of up to 70 percent on albums by popular artists, has gone international. Originally launched in Germany in March, it is now available in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Every 24 hours, Album of the Day offers you one album from the artists you know and love at a special limited time promotional price. All deals live on your iPhone and are purchased safely through iTunes and saved to your iTunes library.

If you allow push notifications, you’ll receive a notification of each day’s deal, which is available for just 24 hours. You can download the free app from iTunes.

(via TNW)

Apple issues 2014 Environmental Responsibility Report, highlights its significant advances in clean energy usage

Mark Gurman Jul 9 2014 - 5:17 pm PT

4 Comments

Apple updated its Environmental Initiatives website and has issued its 2014 Environmental Responsibility Report today. Today’s update fulfills a promise from Earth Day in which Apple said that it would more frequently update consumers on its environmental progress. Apple has always been focused on the environment, but it has pushed its attention to new levels with the hire of former EPA head Lisa Jackson last year.

Today’s report has several updates. First, Apple says that it will now be providing carbon emissions data to the Carbon Disclosure Project at the request of shareholders. Apple says that it has made this data public for the past 6 years, but today’s change is the planned submissions to the aforementioned CDP. Apple also announced that it has re-calculated its 2012 emissions data and has found that its carbon footprint actually shrank (for the first time) 3% between 2012 and 2013:

iCloud goes down… down under

Jordan Kahn May 2 2014 - 7:38 am PT

8 Comments

Several reports are coming in that Apple’s iCloud services have been experiencing an outage in Australia in addition to a few reports from New Zealand. Most appear unable to access any iCloud services such as Calendars and Mail, and others report Apple’s iMessage service is also down. The problems appear to have started late last night eastern time and continued into the morning today.

Apple is yet to update its System Status page to reflect the outages, but users continue to report problems. A long list of tweets from users in both Australia and New Zealand note the system was still down as of this morning.

[tweet https://twitter.com/peterchaly/status/462186048710512640]

[tweet https://twitter.com/dreasaez/status/462183077885001728]

[tweet https://twitter.com/justinholst/status/462194257323757571]

Strong iPhone 5s sales sees Apple gain market share in Japan, Australia, UK, France & Spain

Ben Lovejoy Apr 28 2014 - 4:00 am PT

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Kantar data showed that Apple saw its smartphone market share rise in five out of nine countries surveyed “primarily due to the strong performance of the iPhone 5s.”

The iPhone gained market share in Japan, Australia, UK, France and Spain, with its strongest growth in Japan, where first quarter market share grew by 8.6 percent, from 49 percent in 2013 ro 57.6 percent in 2014. Apple’s success in the country followed a deal with Japan’s largest wireless carrier, DoCoMo.

Japan’s love affair with Apple shows no sign of fading. Even though the iPhone has now been available on Japan’s largest carrier, NTT DoCoMo, for a number of months Apple still accounts for more than 40% of sales on the network. The success of the iPhone is also filtering through to the iPad, with almost a quarter of Japanese iPhone owners also owning an iPad. With smartphone penetration in Japan lagging well behind Europe and the US, Japan will remain a key growth market for Apple …

Apple meeting with UK ad agencies in preparation for iTunes Radio rollout

Benjamin Mayo Apr 15 2014 - 9:57 am PT

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Apple appears to be readying for an UK iTunes Radio launch in the near future. As indicated by this tweet, Apple’s director of iAd Paul Wright has recently been visiting media marketing agencies to discuss iAd in relation to iTunes Radio.

Bloomberg said that Apple was planning to launch in the UK in ‘early 2014’ last October, but so far this has not happened several months into 2014. Although many people have seen iTunes Radio sporadically appear on their devices in recent months, it is has only officially expanded to Australia beyond the US launch alongside iOS 7.

Rovio’s next Angry Birds game is a turn-based RPG, called Angry Birds Epic

Benjamin Mayo Mar 12 2014 - 11:00 am PT

Rovio has announced details of its latest game in the Angry Birds series(Via Kotaku). The game is a turn-based role player, a significant departure from the mobile mini-game physics puzzler Angry Birds is known for. The game will feature turn-based combat and a crafting system — players can craft armor, potions and weapons. This item system will apparently be funded through a game currency, or via in-app purchases.

The game is launching in Australia and Canada this week (likely tomorrow), with more countries to follow. Rovio is touting it as the most ‘epic’ soft launch ever.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Nh92eGP8I]

Apple under fire for Australian profit-shifting scheme that moved $9 billion in untaxed profit to Ireland

Mike Beasley Mar 5 2014 - 8:18 pm PT

41 Comments

Image of CFO Oppenheimer and CEO Cook

Following the announcement that Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer will be retiring in September, the Australian Financial Review has uncovered evidence of a scheme that it says has allowed Apple to move around $9 billion in untaxed Aussie profit to Ireland. The program has allowed Apple to get away with paying only $200 million in taxes on $8.9 billion in profit over the past ten years or so.

Here’s how the whole thing works: Apple has created an Ireland-based company known as Apple Sales International which contributes money toward the research and development budget in Cupertino. This allows the company to legally claim an economic stake in these products and gives ASI partial ownership of the intellectual properties that comprise Apple’s products.

Apple’s iTunes Radio launches internationally, starting with Australia

Mark Gurman Feb 10 2014 - 10:42 am PT

14 Comments

Apple has finally taken its iTunes Radio streaming music service internationally: starting with Australia. The service, which launched in the United States late last year, works on iPads, iPhones, iPods running iOS 7, the Apple TV, and on iTunes 11 on the Mac or PC.

Apple® today announced iTunes Radio™ is now available to music fans in Australia. iTunes Radio is a free Internet radio service featuring over 100 stations and an incredible catalog of music from the iTunes Store®, combined with features only iTunes® can deliver. When you tune into iTunes Radio on your iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch®, Mac®, PC or Apple TV®, you’ll have access to stations inspired by the music you already listen to, Featured Stations curated by Apple and genre-focused stations that are personalized just for you. iTunes Radio evolves based on the music you play and download. The more you use iTunes Radio and iTunes, the more it knows what you like to listen to and the more personalized your experience becomes. iTunes Radio also gives you access to exclusive “First Play” premieres from top selling artists, plus the ability to tag or buy anything you hear with just one click.

Like in the United States, iTunes Radio in Australia is supported by advertisements. However, iTunes Match subscribers can listen to iTunes Radio without ads. Apple is yet to announce any other international iTunes Radio countries, but evidence and reports suggest that Canada, New Zealand, and some European countries will be gaining the feature soon.

Leaked images provide a first look at the new flagship Apple Store in Brisbane, Australia

Mike Beasley Jan 14 2014 - 4:50 pm PT

Apple is opening a new retail outlet in Brisbane this week, but you won’t have to wait until Friday to see the finished store. Images have leaked online from an anonymous source (via MacRumors). This will be Apple’s twenty-second store in the country, and one of the first few new stores opened in 2014.

We’ve included even more of the leaked shots below.

New flagship Apple Store in Brisbane, Australia set for Jan. 17th opening

Mark Gurman Jan 10 2014 - 1:08 pm PT

Apple has announced on its retail website that the forthcoming flagship Apple Store in Brisbane, Australia will have its grand opening on Friday, January 17th. The store will open at 10 AM on that date, with regular business hours beginning at 9 AM Monday through Saturday. The store will always open up at 10 AM on Sundays. The closing hours are shown in the image above from the store’s official website. Late last year, Apple teased the opening of this store with a Twitter hashtag and colorful barricades.

Apple signage says new flagship Brisbane, Australia store opening soon

Mike Beasley Dec 29 2013 - 4:29 pm PT

5 Comments

Signage for a new Apple Store in Brisbane, Australia has started appearing. The store will be located in the MacArthur Chambers building. The store doesn’t have an official opening date yet, but the second week of January seems to be a pretty decent estimation.

[tweet https://twitter.com/ifostore/status/417444455042400256 align=’center’]

The new location will be the twenty-first Apple Store in the country. The new store will also help push forward Tim Cook’s vision of selling even more Apple devices through first-party retail stores.

[tweet https://twitter.com/AnJellyCue/status/417435253909639169 align=’center’]

Watchdog group forces Apple to change Australian refund policy, review two years of possible violations

Mike Beasley Dec 17 2013 - 11:50 pm PT

1 Comment

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, a business competition watchdog organization, has forced Apple to make modifications to its refund policy in order to comply with consumer protection legislation, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. According to the group, Apple misled customers with regard to what types of refund or repair they were entitled to.

According to the claims, the U.S.-based company did not provide customers with sufficient compensation for faulty devices to comply with Australian law. Now Apple has been forced to re-evaluate its practices and will have to re-examine countless potential violations that took place over the past two years. Failure to comply with the new policy could result in a massive class-action lawsuit against Apple.

Apple increases Mac mini pricing in multiple countries

Mark Gurman Sep 25 2013 - 4:05 pm PT

22 Comments

Alongside the new iMacs, Apple has silently raised the prices of all Mac mini models in both Australia and Brazil. In Australia, the prices were formerly A$699 and A$899 for the standard configurations, and the Mac mini Server model was priced at A$ 1,099.00. Now, the machines are priced at A$749, A$999, and A$1249, respectively.

Here are the new prices in Brazil (up R$ 300, 400, and 500 respectively):

The prices for the Mac mini have also been raised in Portugal and Malaysia, multiple tipsters have noticed.

These are notable price increases, but it is unclear if there is reasoning for the change beyond standard currency fluctuations. The iMacs pricing was also tweaked when it was updated yesterday, but the Mac mini has not been altered. No other Mac prices in Australia nor Brazil have changed.

The Mac mini is presumably due for a hardware update with 802.11ac WiFi, new Fusion Drive options, and Haswell processors to match the new iMacs. Thanks, James and Joao!

Long lines forming at Apple Stores around the globe for iPhone 5s/5c retail launch

Jordan Kahn Sep 19 2013 - 4:53 pm PT

29 Comments

As online sales for the iPhone 5s begin to go live in Australia, Asia, and now the UK, lines outside of Apple stores around the world are starting to grow in anticipation the September 20th, 8AM retail launch of the iPhone 5s and 5c. Shipping times for the 5c have been slipping since preorders went live last week, but Apple seems to be in even shorter supply of the iPhone 5s as shipping times are starting at 7-10 days in most countries where online orders have already kicked off.

If you’re expecting to queue up to get your hands on an iPhone 5s like the many customers pictured below, you might want to get in line soon. We learned earlier today that retailers, including Apple stores, are getting little to no Gold and white iPhone 5s units, and will mainly have just the new Space Grey model available in store. However, as we’ve seen following launches in other countries today, the 5s in all colors seems to be in shorty supply even for online orders.

@varunkrish People in line at Apple store , Apple reps saying not more than 10 pieces of gold iPhone per store.
That is pretty bad.

— SD (@sonaldeshmukh) September 19, 2013

The September 20 iPhone 5s and 5c retail launch will take place in the US, Australia, China, Canada, Germany, France, Singapore, UK, and Japan.

Head below for a look at the long lines starting to form outside Apple Stores around the globe:
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iPhone 5s sales go live, with 7-10 day shipping estimates in Australia, Chinese Apple Store quoting October delivery

Benjamin Mayo Sep 19 2013 - 9:22 am PT

3 Comments

Update:

In the UK, the iPhone 5s has just gone on sale. Shipping estimates stand at 7-10 days. At the time of writing, all models are expected to be delivered in the first week of October.

The iPhone 5s has just gone on sale in Australia. However, as has been noted several times, supply of the 5s is extremely constrained. As a result, Apple is already quoting 7-10 day shipping estimates for the device. The prolonged availability applies to all models and all colors. 5s cases are similarly low in supply, to a similar extent, quoting 3-5 day shipping times.

Supply issues seem to apply to all countries. In the UK, O2 has announced that they will have no 5s’ in stock, but will order it for when it becomes available. Via CZ on Twitter, for the Apple Store in Hong Kong, the 5s has already lapsed into October for shipping.

@markgurman if you check HK apple online store. 5s available to ship in October

— CZ (@CSZhang) September 19, 2013

The iPhone 5s becomes available in the US at 12.01 Pacific Time tonight.

Thanks Sonny Dickson.

Apple Stores in Asia/Oceania go down ahead of iPhone 5s launch, 5c shipping times slip again

Jordan Kahn Sep 19 2013 - 7:20 am PT

Ahead of the iPhone 5s launch tomorrow morning in Apple Stores around the world at 8AM local time, Apple appears to be preparing for online orders with its websites for China, Hong Kong, Australia, and Singapore currently experiencing downtime. Orders from Apple’s online store are about to kick off in the coming hours in Australia, while China and Hong Kong opened up reservations for the device earlier this week and also plan 8am retail launches. In the U.S. and most other countries online orders will start at 12am (PST in the US) and local time in other locations. Word has it the iPhone 5s will be in short supply at launch, but it’s taken Apple’s iPhone 5c over a week before experiencing any significant shipping delays.

Shipping times for certain models of the iPhone 5c began slipping over the last week, but most models in the initial launch countries remained available for delivery by the expected September 20 launch date. Today that has started to change with many more models of the iPhone 5c experiencing delays in several countries.

In the U.S. and Canada, all models of the device are currently listed as shipping in 1-3 business days, while France and Germany are now listing “5 working days” for most models and “7-10 working days” for others. Of course, shipping times could easily change again tomorrow when the iPhone 5c officially hits Apple retail stores alongside the 5s. We’ll keep you updated if they do.

Plants vs Zombies 2 for iOS launches in Australia & New Zealand App Stores

Jordan Kahn Jul 9 2013 - 1:51 pm PT

EA already said that Plants vs Zombies 2‘s July 18 release date would be delayed slightly until later this summer, but today PopCap announced that it is kicking off a soft launch today in Australia and New Zealand to fine tune the experience. In fact, the game is already available on the App Store in both Australia and New Zealand (and of course any user can access the download with an Apple ID associated with one of those locations).

we are launching the game a bit early in Australia and New Zealand to help us test out all of the new systems and features we’ve built into the game. We’ve added a bunch of new features that allow us to take advantage of new technologies to make a better experience for our players, and those innovations require us to perform some large tests to make sure we are ready for our worldwide audience to play.

PopCap already announced that the game would be a free-to-play experience, but today noted that it will “be testing all sorts of different aspects of the game’s functionality, pricing, stability, etc.”

Hahaha crashes on iOS 7! RT @9to5mac: Plants vs Zombies 2 for iOS launches in Australia & New Zealand App Stores http://t.co/RC3YbBshFK

— Lars™ (@larsetc) July 9, 2013

A break down of new game features from iTunes below:

Game Features

NEW PLANTS! NEW ZOMBIES!
Meet B**k Choy, Bloomerang and Lightning Reed: Just a few of the powerful new plants that will defend your lawn through time. Go toe-to-missing-toe with dozens of new zombies including Ra Zombie in Ancient Egypt, Swashbuckler Zombie on the Pirate Seas, or Chicken Wrangler Zombie in the Wild West. In every new world, clever new zombies and brain-teasing challenges will test your zombie-zapping skills.

AMAZING NEW WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR BRAIN
New Plant Food and power-ups will take your game to new dimensions. Plant Food will supercharge your plants when you need it most. Use your fingers to pinch, flick and zap zombies off your lawn.

LOOK OUT! ZOMBIE CHICKENS!
Seriously.

NEW LEVELS OF EXCITEMENT
Battle the fun-dead on land, on sea and… on the rails? Unlock ultra-challenging (and ultra-fun) endless levels — Pyramid of Doom, Pirate’s Booty and the Big Bad Butte.

THE FUN NEVER DIES
Gather keys to unlock brain teasers and new plants. Collect coins to purchase potent power-ups. Earn stars to take you to new worlds. Survive long enough and you’ll be rewarded with piles of prizes and achievements. And that’s just the beginning! The future holds many mysteries. Also, zombies. Lots and lots of zombies.

Adelaide Australia Apple Store opens Saturday, here’s a look from the inside

Seth Weintraub May 20 2013 - 6:40 pm PT

Welcome South Australia to the Apple Store family. The Rundle Place Centre Apple Store will open at 10am local time on Saturday May 25th.

An anonymous tipster from the area sent in the above image which is supposed to be the store before opening.

Apple opening two new Australian stores, in Melbourne and Adelaide

Ben Lovejoy Apr 23 2013 - 4:46 am PT