What this means is, assuming everything goes according to plan, you can order a new iPad mini from the Apple website today and you’ll get it by about December 12 or so. If you plan on giving Apple’s mini tablet to a special someone in your life as a Christmas present–especially if you’re taking advantage of the free engraving–you should probably order within the next week or so. You know how these holiday rushes can be.

In any case, it’s good that we’re not stuck with multi-week waiting lists for this tablet anymore. That applies to both the WiFi-only versions and the cellular-enabled models for AT&T, Sprint or Verison. Head over to the Apple online store to see for yourself. Prices start at $329 for the 16GB WiFi-only model of the iPad mini, going up to $659 for the 64GB version with WiFi+cellular.

The post Apple Cuts iPad mini Shipping Dates to Just One Week appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

While iOS 6 is really a pretty impressive update, there are two things that are holding it back and bringing lots of negative attention its way: its Wi-Fi connectivity problems and its less-than-stellar Maps. While they’ve yet to say what they are doing to fix the Wi-Fi problems, Apple is now speaking up about their plans for improving their map app.

The idea is that they will use a large number of their retail store employees to help develop the company’s new Maps app for iOS 6. Yah… not exactly detailed on what they mean by this and how they intend to do it. We do know that all participating stores will contribute a total of 40 hour of staff time per week to the effort.

Are Apple Maps all that bad? Eh, depends on where you are using them and who you ask. Some areas are pretty well detailed and get the job done without issue. Other cities and locations have tons of major issues, missing roads and other problems.

For now even Apple’s CEO recommends using an alternative program, formally apologizing for the issues facing iOS 6 users. There is no doubt that Apple will improve the Maps app. The question is why didn’t the do a better job ensuring that it was working correctly in the first place. What do you think?

[ source ]

The post Apple Plans on Using its Apple Store Employees to Improve Map Experience appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

In the past Apple has had problems with shortages when launching new iPhone devices, and it seems that the iPhone 5 might not be any different. Apple already added the iPhone 5, new iPods and tons of accessories to its online store but sthedates for shipping have begun to slip.

By how much exactly? About 2-3 weeks for many accessories and a bit over a week for the iPhone 5 itself. This includes Apple’s new adapter for its lightning port, which has totally sold out. Considering the necessity of the adapter for using older accessories, it’s pretty unwise of Apple to have not made enough. Actually, it’s kinda brilliant.

Apple can claim they just didn’t properly anticipate the amount that would be purchased (which may be true) and impatient types will likely just buy new docks and accessories rather than wait a good month or more to get the adapter. Okay, so it probably wasn’t intentional, but it could result in more people ditching their accessories for the lightning standard instead of purchasing a handful of adapters.

While the store’s shipping dates are slipping, it’s interesting to note that Verizon, AT&T and Sprint are all still advertising the iPhone 5 as hitting on 9/21. Perhaps they already have a limited supply secured?

Have you already preordered the iPhone 5? If not, are you waiting until the hoopla dies down, or are you simply not interested in Apple’s smartphone offerings?

[ source ]

The post Apple’s Online Store Pushes Back iPhone 5 Shipment Dates appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The training manual has been posted on Gizmodo and it goes through some the different sections of the internal training. For example, employees are taught to never apologize for the faults of the hardware, rather directing the customer toward how an issue can be fixed. Your iPad or iPhone didn’t “crash.” Instead, it “stopped responding.”

Apple Geniuses in the making are told that they should “guide every interaction” and “strive to inspire.” They “enrich” the lives of their customers by taking “personal initiative to make it right.” The theme of empathy is pervasive through the manual, providing plenty of examples of how a Genius should respond to a customer’s problems. “I may know how you feel” and “I can see how you’d feel that way.” Or, “I felt the same way too unless I tried it for myself.” They’re also told not to correct the customer, but rather to “surprise” them with the great Apple features, starting a sentence with “as it turns out.”

It’s a fascinating read into the culture of being an Apple employee. It can feel a little cult-ish, but you can see why Apple can be so darn profitable while paying employees comparatively low wages for the kind of cash they’re bringing in.

[Source]

The post Apple Genius Internal Training Manual Leaked appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Sony Store has been around for a long time. The Apple Store is as popular as ever. Following in those footsteps, it looks like Samsung is ready to open some retail outlets of its own right here in Canada.

Samsung has already experimented with retail stores internationally, including the temporary “pop-up” stores that were placed next to Apple locations, but this would represent the first time that Samsung would have its own permanent retail locations in Canada. This is in addition to Samsung “Experience Zones” that will appear as a “store-within-a-store” at places like Telus and other partner stores.

The company hasn’t yet come forth with its launch cities for these retail outlets, but the first standalone location is being planned for later this year. I’d imagine they’ll have one in Toronto and probably Vancouver to start before rolling out to possibly Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal. But that’s just conjecture.

The hope is that Samsung will achieve the same kind of success as Apple with its retail outings and not the abysmal failure that has been experienced by the likes of Microsoft and HP. The good news for Samsung is that brand awareness and popularity are at an all time high, so the opening of retail stores may help to keep that trend going.

“We want them to see everything that Samsung can bring to them,” said Samsung Electronics Canada president James Politeski. “We want to give consumers the opportunity to experience the brand and the products in a way that they’ve never seen before, that really takes that experience up.”

[Source]

The post Samsung Retail Stores to Open in Canada This Year appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

If you clicked on this post hoping to see a bit of iBoobie, sorry, it’s not going to happen. Matt Bomer, the hero in White Collar, would have never guessed about what was going to come at him during a Q&A with his fans at the SoHo Apple Store. Well, he didn’t and was not prepared for the stoned lunatic who stormed the stage, naked.

Bomer was promoting the third season of White Collar at the store when he had to endure the boob flash, thoughts (good or bad) about which are definitely going to be in his wildest dreams for quite some time.

This is what a shocked Apple Store customer who was present at the live show had to say on the matter via Tumblr:

“Went to go see Matt Bomer at the Soho Apple store – he’s promoting the second part of the third season of White Collar, premiering tomorrow. Cristen and I sat in the back on the side. This older blonde woman with a drawn on mustache sat next to Cristen, and she REEKED of marijuana. Midway through the thing, she TAKES OFF HER TOP, stands on a chair, completely topless, and starts screaming about how she is the naked paparazzo and how we should all go visit her website and see her drag queen friends perform blahblahblah. Cristen was hiding in my lap because this lady was right next to her, and Matt Bomer had this insanely giddy grin on his face and is squealing THIS IS THE BEST THING TO HAVE EVER HAPPENED IN MY CAREER!!!!!!!! He also proceeded to bring it up at every chance he possibly could throughout the rest of the night. ONLY IN NYC, MY FRIENDS. ONLY IN NYC”.

No word on what happened to the stoned woman after the act. But we do know that some of you out there have found one more reason to pay a visit to the nearest Apple Store.

The post Woman Unveils iBoob At Apple Store appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

When it comes to Apple, aesthetics are very important to the designers. We see the beauty of design in nearly everything Apple crafts from the iPhone to the Mac, and even their retail locations. It has been ten years since the first Apple Stores started popping up, and the elegant yet minimalist look that suites Apple products has been rather faithfully mimicked even in the way the stores are built and laid out.

Now Apple is preparing to build a new store in Palo Alto, just one block away from their existing older store. The new store will serve as a prototype design for what to expect in future design style from Apple, although they will continue to keep each and every Apple Store’s design as unique as possible. It is important to the company that they adapt to the environment and structural limitations of every location, while still keeping up with Apple style.

The new location will be designed by the same folks as the Upper West Side store design (pictured above), Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. It will be a two-story design just over 15,000 square feet of total space, and will include a basement for offices.

The store will begin construction any day now and is expected to cost a total of $3.15 million. Once completed the older store (built in 2001), will be shut down. Estimates for the grand opening on the new Palo Alto location are sometime in the late spring or early summer.

The post New Apple Store In Palo Alto appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Well, that’s one way to get some attention. The launch of the iPhone 4S at the Apple Store in Sydney is going to be the first place in the world where people will be able to buy the new smartphone, but Samsung is looking to steal some of that thunder. You see, they ambushed the event by setting up a temporary “pop up” store just a few shops over. And they’re selling smartphones for two bucks.

To counter the droves of people lining up outside the Apple Store, Samsung is encouraging an equal number of people to camp outside this temporary store. That’s because the first ten people each day at the temporary Samsung store can buy the Galaxy S II for just two bucks. This is a $600+ smartphone for two dollars. Two!

And depending on who you ask, the Samsung Galaxy S II is a superior phone to the iPhone 4S. Yes, there are still going to be people who would rather still line up and pay full price for Siri and the new iPhone, but this is a clever marketing ploy by Samsung. And it looks to be working better than the double-sized Microsoft Stores being set up next to Apple Stores. If it was just a pop-up store, no one would care, but the $2 high-end superphone is a clear draw for sure.

Check out the video on SMH.com.au.

The post Samsung was selling Galaxy S II for $2 next door to iPhone 4S launch appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

What’s interesting is that the reason they’re being closed really has nothing to do with posing as real Apple Stores; it’s because they were operating without business licenses. The whole knocking off the store and passing themselves off as real Apple Stores has nothing to do with them closing their doors. That’s utterly fascinating.

What else is fascinating is that I’m hearing the products being sold at these fake Apple Stores — a few of them are still up and running in China — are not Apple knockoffs. They’re actually real MacBooks and real iPhones, gathered up from real authorized resellers. They were using the Apple logo without permission, but at least they were selling real Apple products.

And China isn’t the only place with fake Apple Stores either. There are reports of other knockoff stores in Croatia, Colombia, Burma, Venezuala, Slovenia, and Spain, as well as “a dozen locations right here in China.”

The post Apple Store fakers in China shut down, but not why you would think appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

We’re hearing that Apple Stores in both the UK and the US are ramping up their staffing needs for August through to October. They’re going on a hiring spree and rehiring past employees on a part-time basis.

Yes, this could just be for the back to school rush. Yes, college students are going to want a new MacBook as they get ready to hit the books again. That being said, the September timeframe is also when we are expecting to see the announcement and subsequent launch of the next iPhone model; whether it ends up being called the iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 is secondary at this point.

As with just about everything else that has to do with Apple, we won’t know anything for sure until they make some sort of formal announcement, but this just adds more fuel to the fire. All signs are pointing toward a fall unveiling of the next iPhone and the increased staff lends itself to the expectation of seeing more iFans storm the iStores for more Apple goodies.

Photo: Engadget Mobile

The post Increased Apple Store staffing points to iPhone 5 launch? appeared first on Mobile Magazine.