Daily News Courier

If you thought Apple?s retail chain was like any other consumer chain in the world, you were mistaken. A new video just released by Washington Square Films demonstrates that Apple develops its retail philosophy very carefully and takes into account every single detail. The mini film which also won some awards, aims to illustrate the importance Apple places on the experience it provides customers with in its store locations.

The video is entitled ?Retail Significant Stores? and presents Senior Vice President of Retail Operation, Ron Jonhson and Bob Bridger, discussing some insights into the philosophy of the Apple store. 9to5Mac was the one who discovered the mini-movie in the Washington Square Films archive. The clip never officially aired because it was meant to provide inspiration for Apple store workers only. The video is one year old. Since then, Jonhson left Apple and went on to become CEO of J.C. Penney. The mini-clip features images of Apple retail stores around the world (we can see New York?s Fifth Avenue, the London store and the one situated in Shanghai) interwoven with the guests? commentaries. Jonhson states at one point:

"If you can tailor a store uniquely to its setting, it can actually improve communities. Most retailers view their space as the square footage they rent, we view our space as the environment we inhabit."

The speakers in the clip also try to explain Apple?s enormous success in the tech world. It?s not so much because of innovative products like iPhones and MacBooks. No, the popularity and brand loyalty stems from the fact that Apple views each customer as special and offers him/her all the attention they need.

Source: 9to5Mac

Source 2: Link to video

With Apple recently refreshing the iPhone and iPad lines, sales were expected to increase. But this week, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty reported in a note she sent to investors that the iPhone/iPad sales surpassed every wildest expectations. She got the information from sources inside Apple?s supply chain that have reported massive orders coming in for the December quarter and impressive amounts of revenue collected so far.

"Key suppliers into iPhone and iPad noted above seasonal March quarter order trends, stronger than expected December quarter revenue, and the potential to further upside before year-end."

The Wall Street Journal predicted that Cupertino will manage to sell 46 million iPhones and 23 million iPads in the holiday quarter, but by the way things are looking right now, the tech giant might end up selling a lot more.

Huberty also reported that the increased demand on Apple products has taken its toll on desktop computer shipments, even if the much advertised Windows 8 has just been released. Suppliers also told Huberty that the iPhone 5 is expected to become a major hit in China once it will be released.

The issues Apple had with the assembly of the new in-cell touchscreen panels are already forgotten now, so shipments are not expected to encounter any problems in the near future.

By Radu

Source – Apple’s iPhone, iPad mini sales even stronger than expected – report

Following on from reports earlier in the week that Samsung is asking Apple to pay 20% more for the A-series chips used in its iPhones and iPads, MacRumors reports that according to an article in Korean newspaper The Hankyoreh, a Samsung executive has denied the rumours, saying that the prices for the chips are set at the start of the year, and are not easily changed. It?s actually surprising that this story does not appear to be true, as it was very plausible that Samsung would be wanting to make things a little more difficult for its bitter rival, with relations between the two companies continuing to be very frosty indeed, both in and out of the courtroom, what with Samsung only recently saying that it has ?no such intention? of following HTC?s lead and settling its patent dispute with Apple. ?We don?t intend to [negotiate] at all,? said the head of Samsung?s mobile unit, J.K. Shin.

Source: Samsung Denies Claims of Price Hikes for iOS Device Chip Production – Mac Rumors
Samsung Not Interested in Settlement with Apple over Patent Issues – Mac Rumors

The New York Times?Bits blog reports today that Nokia has announced that it will be releasing an iOS maps app called Here. The app will be free to download, and according to Bits, it reflects the fact that Nokia is rather proud of its maps technology. In fact, Nokia even published a blog post during Apple?s iOS 6 Maps problems a few weeks back, in which it favourably compared its own maps with Apple?s and Google?s. Nokia?s mapping database has information on 200 countries, and is one of the central features of its Lumia smartphones. Bits asks, why would Nokia want to give away one of the vital ingredients from its own, poorly selling smartphone? Well, according to Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, Nokia?s mapping platform needs to have lots of users in order for it to stay competitive. In fact, the more people use Nokia?s maps to look up directions or find locations, the smarter the mapping will become, so it is beneficial to Nokia in the long run to have an iOS version of its mapping. Elop also said that Nokia can still give the Lumia phones exclusive features that are not available in the other apps, such as the City Lens feature in current Lumia phones which enables you to see data on screen when you point the camera at something in the real world, such as seeing restaurant reviews when you point your camera at a particular restaurant.

Source: Nokia to Offer Its Maps for iPhones and Android Phones – NYTimes.com

iPhones and iPads have tickled the imagination of lots of inventors that have come up with ingenious way of combining them with other objects. The invention we are going to talk about today has the potential to please those that love to spend relaxing moments with their iPads.

Zurich based company Micasa Lab has come up with a rocking chair that will charge your iPad as you comfortably sit and unwind in it. The invention has been nicknamed the iRock Rocking Chair and makes use of the energy created by the chair?s rocking process to preserve the life of your precious iDevice. Not only that, the chair has built-in speakers located in the chair?s backrest, which are charged the same way.

The iRock is also stylish, not only smart as it is constructed out of good quality Swedish oak covered in five layers of paint that provide a shiny appearance. The energy created is collected by a generator located on the back of one of the rockers. The generator will in turn power a battery that?s keeps the juices pumping into the iDevice. One hour of relaxing rocking will give users 35% more iPad battery capacity.

Interested users have the possibility of choosing between five classy colors ? white, black, green, blue and red. For those interested about size the chair is 3.9 ft long and 3.7 ft high and weights and average of 18 kg. It doesn?t come really cheap either and interested parties should pay up to $1,685 for a piece. Shipping dates have been set for late 2013.

[Editor's Note: What will they think of next? ~ dgstorm]

By Radu

Source – iRock: The power-generating rocking chair for iDevices

AppleInsider reports today that Canaccord Genuity?s Michael Walkley is forecasting that Apple will sell 101.6 million iPads and 193.9 iPhones in the next calendar year. The iPad sales in particular would see Apple claiming 58.4% of the tablet market as a whole. He thinks that Amazon will only sell 10.7 million tablets and Samsung will only sell 8.4 million. As far as the smartphone market is concerned, Walkley says that Apple and Samsung will be the two dominant parties, with Samsung shifting a whopping 303.6 million phones. Together, he expects Apple and Samsung to have more than 50% of the market. Walkley also says that Apple and Samsung together had 106% of the handset industry profits in the third quarter of 2012. And it doesn?t look like the dominance of these two giant rivals will be broken any time soon, as the nearest competitor is Huawei, with just 47.9 million smartphone sales forecast for next year.

Source: Apple forecast to sell 102M iPads, 194M iPhones in 2013