January 15, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

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]

January 13, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

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…

January 08, 2010 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

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…

December 16, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

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…

October 23, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

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

October 19, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

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…

October 12, 2009 :: Posted by - Thomas :: Category - News

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…

October 02, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

There’s a story on ifoAppleStore today about one Mr. Donald Goodrich, who was having trouble with his iPhone. As many customers have done, Mr. Goodrich brought his iPhone to his local Genius Bar in Cincinnati, OH. While talking with an Apple Store employee, he allegedly said, “I’m so mad, I could pop a 9mm at it,” meaning the iPhone.

According to police, he then said, “I’ll do it right now! Look!” and pulled his shirt aside to show the employee the handgun he was carrying. While that employee escorted him to the Genius Bar (clearly not the right place for Mr. Goodrich), another called police Read more…

October 01, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

A man who took his iPhone 3G in to a New York City Apple Store because of a large number of dropped calls was allegedly told that a 30 percent failure rate is average for a local AT&T customer.

In a diagnosis issued by the Genius Bar, the proposed resolution for the issue was for the customer to contact AT&T, because “the problem is consistent with the service provided” by the wireless carrier. Not included in the report, however, is what a Gizmodo reader claimed he was told by the Apple Store Genius: That a 30 percent dropped call rate is average for the New York area.

The man took his iPhone 3G to the Apple Store in SoHo, located at 103 Prince Street in New York City, to see if his dropped calls were as a result of the hardware. The man said that roughly a third of his calls disconnected. Read more…

September 22, 2009 :: Posted by - SoSly :: Category - News

Porn and iPhone, it is out there and every once in a while you may even find porn in there. In an Apple Retail Store on one of the iPhone and iPod Touch demos, that is.

That’s exactly what happened just the other day as a mother found her 10 year old girl mesmerized by some X-rated content on one of the Apple Store demo devices:

“I called to complain and was told matter of factly by staff this happens a lot as people come in and download it for a laugh, I don’t find it funny and all my friends think it’s disgusting, but Apple say there is nothing they can do to stop it.”

Apple does a fantastic job of keeping smut out of iTunes and their App Store, surely they can figure something out for their real-world stores.

Via Cult of Mac