Apple store employees may get their first glimpse of the iPad on March 10th when training for the device begins, according to an Examiner.com report.

We not only heard this from inside sources, but confirmed it with an Apple Store manager in Southern California who wishes not to be named.

Examiner.com also offers some information on the expected launch:

- The actual release date hasn’t been set, but March 26 is very likely.
- The 3G versions won’t be available until April or May.
- Commercials will start airing on March 15. E-book capabilities will be emphasized.
- People who camp out for the iPad lauch will receive a “special gift.”

[Via iclarified.com]

This is a great story, true or not take your time in reading this as this is very very entertaining. We have all been to the mall at some point to kill some time just like this gentleman and i’m sure everyone has been to the apple store to kill some time but until now I haven’t heard of such a thing so enjoy guys. Thanks to @hotrod1964 for sharing his story.

@SebastienPage tweeting 2U since U have so many followers.Feel free 2 RT my experience. Went to local APP STORE about 2 weeks ago. For nothing other then I was in the area and had an hour to kill. Figured I’d browse around. Obviously, they were very polite and a salesperson approached me to see if I needed some help (store was not busy at all). Told him “Nope, just browisng”. Being that they were not busy he starts asking me what type of comp I have, what kind of phone and etc…When I told him I dont have an iphone he asked why and if I was interested in 1. Read more…

Apple has finally released their long awaited tablet. Here’s how much it will cost you and when it will be available.

Hardware Costs
The iPad comes in three sizes: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB.

You have the choice of purchasing the device with or without 3G Internet access.

iPad 16GB: $499
iPad 32GB: $599
iPad 64GB: $699

iPad 16GB 3G: $629
iPad 32GB 3G: $729
iPad 64GB 3G: $829
Read more…

A teen in New York has been arrested for leaving a threatening note on the screen of a computer at an Apple Store. The 17-year-old boy was joking around with friends when he typed a note on screen promising “a bloody death” to anyone working in the store via a “bomb loaded with C4, strapped to my chest.” The note was then signed with the name of one of his friends’ fathers. He claims he typed it just to be funny, and then forgot to delete it when he left, but the District Attorney in Staten Island says it’s no joke — the kid faces up to seven years in prison.

I can’t help but think they’ll let him off the hook eventually. Sure, it was a stupid (really stupid) thing to do, and they should come up with a punishment that teaches the kid a lesson, but time in prison labeled as a terrorist seems a little much for showing off to friends in an Apple Store. Maybe they can have him do some in-store lip synching performances as a community service.

[Via Tuaw.com]

Apple’s retail “experts” — a new position that will serve as a roaming counterpart to existing “geniuses” at brick-and-mortar locations — are expected to debut in stores in a matter of weeks, people familiar with the matter have told AppleInsider.

Interviewing for the expert position is said to start this week at the company’s retail outlets, and Apple plans to debut the new personnel in about two weeks. Originally, the “expert” title was only available to current Apple Store employees who sought a promotion within the company.

Apple has referred to the experts as “Family Room expertise out in the Red Zone.” The “Family Room” at an Apple Store is known to customers as the Genius Bar. The “Red Zone” equates to the sales floor.
Read more…

I better be careful next time I walk out of my Apple Store here in Santa Monica — apparently burglars are targeting Apple Store customers here in the Los Angeles area. Over 100 customers have apparently been targeted after leaving the store and keeping a computer or other purchase in their car. The thieves wait for customers to walk away from Apple Store bags in their car, either at home or at another store, and then they break in and take them. For some reason, no computers have yet been returned, either, which makes cops think that they’re possibly being “shipped out of the country or fenced right away.” But of course that would require an organized ring, and police aren’t even sure these are all related yet. Read more…

EyeTV 3 users can now stream live television over a 3G connection to an iPhone. With Elgato’s new EyeTV Live3G web app, you can watch live TV and EyeTV recordings anywhere. The web app connects your iPhone to your Mac at home. It uses state-of-the-art HTTP Live Streaming technology to deliver high quality video streams without sacrificing battery life. The Live3G web app is available immediately at live3g.eyetv.com, and is part of EyeTV 3.3, a free update for EyeTV 3 users. The web app complements Elgato’s recently introduced EyeTV app for the iPhone, which delivers live TV to an iPhone over a Wi-Fi connection. Read more…

If any of you have ever been to an Apple Store you guys know that it looks very elegant and very very professional. Microsoft users can now enjoy a similar look with the new Microsoft Store. As you can see both videos below Microsoft made its store similar to the Apple Store. This is the very first store Microsoft has opened and is dedicated to selling its main products ranging from windows mobile phones, desktop pc’s and even laptops along with Windows 7 Microsoft’s newly released operating system.

Microsoft Store Opening October 22, 2009

Apple Store Opening October 17, 2009

If you were Jack Dorsey, one of the co-founders and current chairman of Twitter, you’d want to think about something else big to follow up on your huge success.

While it doesn’t sound like anything groundbreaking, Dorsey’s new company Square is developing a tiny white cube (see photo above) that plugs into the headphone jack on either an iPhone or iPod touch. The cube is a credit card reader, something missing from all of those credit card apps currently in the iTunes App Store. Read more…

The “geniuses” at the Apple Store in Vermont have probably run into all sorts of excuses for broken iPhones, but they just didn’t believe Kris Rowley. “A bear ate my iPhone,” she told them.

This summer, Rowley was hiking in the woods of Vermont when she felt a predator’s eyes following her. Rowley stopped dead in her tracks. A young bear slowly emerged from behind an evergreen tree. Rowley, CISO for the State of Vermont, knows about facing down malware–not avoiding a mauling.
Read more…