Apple Store Down: New Product Update

We mentioned in a recent post “New MacBooks: Coming Soon?” seems like there was some truth in the news as the Apple Store is down. When you visit the US Apple Stores, it explains that they are just updating the site; this can only mean that there is to be a product update. Read more

Apple Store News: Macbook Air, iMac, Mobile Me & Exclusive Offers

Introducing Mobile Me for your Mac - MobileMe stores all your email, contacts, and calendars in the online server and keeps them all up to date and in sync across your iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, and PC. When you make a change on one device, MobileMe sends the new information up to the online server, then updates all of your other devices. Your iPhone or iPod touch is updated in real time. And on your Mac or PC, it happens automatically every 15 minutes.

Apple Online Store Exclusive Offers - Free Laser Engraving - Send a gift they’ll cherish forever, by adding your own personal laser-engraved message to the back of any ipod. It’s easy, it’s free and it’s only available on Apple.

Signature Gift Wrapping - Make your present even more memorable with an origami-style gift box. Make the opening of your gift memorable, even if you cant be there in person to see it!

Other Online Exclusives: Create the Mac that fits your life. Customize your Mac to your exact specifications. Free Shipping: Get free shipping for all orders over £78 (including VAT and discounts).

The Mac family just gets better!

The more powerful iMac - Now running at speeds up to 3.06GHz. The exciting new all-in-one iMac line with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors - Starting from £799, the new iMac line also comes with free shipping. This new product packs amazing performance into a stunningly slim space and extends iMac’s lead as the ultimate all-in-one desktop computer for both consumers and professionals.

The new Macbook Air -The world’s thinnest notebook starting at £1,199. MacBook Air measures an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks.

The new, more powerful MacBook Pro - Comes with the newest Intel Core 2 Duo processors up to 2.6GHz, and significantly increased hard drive capacities for unprecedented performance in a stunning, lightweight, aluminum enclosure that is just 2.59cm thin. Designed for mobile professionals, every new MacBook Pro also includes a Multi-Touch trackpad so users can pinch, rotate and swipe.

Excellent savings for teachers and students at the

Apple Education Store - Save up to 8% on Macs and up to 80% of Apple Software products with this exclusive Education discount. Visit the education store.

Apple continues to deliver innovative products that are ideal for teaching and learning. With these great offers from the Education store Apple can help students create a 21st-century learning environment. As both students and teachers get ready over the summer holidays for the new school year ahead this is the perfect time to push the great student offers available on the Apple Online Store.

Visit Apple’s online store today.

£350 for PAYG iPhone 3G at Apple Store, Carphone Warehouse and O2

When it comes to buying a new mobile phone it’s the contract that some users do not like and today we are hearing reports that the PAYG (pay as you go) iPhone 3G options will cost you £350 from O2, Carphone Warehouse and Apple Stores from July 11th onwards. When it comes to the subscription contracts, Apple staff are unfamiliar with this and customers of the iPhone 3G will want to sign up for the service at Apple Retail stores in the UK.

The staff at Apple UK Stores also have no means to run credit checks, so before the release of the iPhone 3G in UK stores, they will need to get this ability and also the staff need to be fully trained. Phones Review are Reporting that O2 are starting to work very closely with Apple to help them run credit checks and sign people onto contracts in store.

The unsubsidized prepay 3G iPhones will be a lot less hassle for both the retail stores and the customer but then you will have to pay a price for that, hence the £350 instead of FREE or £100 options on a contract.

Will you buy the PAYG iPhone 3G or buy the phone on a contract?

As I have an iPhone contract already, the same option sounds good to me for the amount of web browsing, text messages and calls I use. Some users will want an iPhone but will not make many calls; it’s these people that may want to consider the pay as you go option. At least we have a prepay option with the second-generation iPhone.

Summing up the UK costs for a iPhone 3G, you will get the phone on O2 contract from Free to £159 for the 16GB version and the 8GB model costs from Free to £99. £350 is said to be the cost for PAYG. This is a really good price when you think it cost £269 for the first generation iPhone.

All Apple Store’s Down: 3G iPhone and other products maybe

This has got to be some interesting news, right now all international Apple Store’s have gone down and first we looked at the United States and UK Apple stores and they were fine. Then heading to Australia and other international stores showed them down with the standard “back soon” image.

Now while I am in the middle of reporting this news, the US and UK Apple stores have also gone down. Its not often we see all the Apple Stores around the world go down unless something big was about to happen.

With the Worldwide Developers Conference 2008 (WWDC) happening today, and we are just hours away from the keynote speech…it does not take much to guess what’s about to happen. Get ready people for some new products and this could also include the 3G iPhone?

The rolling outage seems to be affecting all stores around the world now, well all the ones we have checked.

Are Apple Store outages technically necessary to update store content?

We have all seen it before; we go to the Apple Store website only to be met with we’ll be back soon. We also assume that this is because they have some new products that need adding to the store.

However I got thinking about other online stores like Amazon and Dell who are big players in the online world. They are always adding new products, and we don’t see then with store outages or technical issues.

So is this truly the case with the Apple Store, or could there be something else behind it. I like a few other people I know think that this could just be a marketing ploy, just so the buying audiences knows that something new is on the way and will keep trying the website, then you have it Apple have got you.