Apple on Tuesday released a highly anticipated update to its Apple Store app for iOS, adding functionality that may represent the future of the company’s retail operations. The new app was released five days later than initially planned and while the cause of the delay is unclear, Apple’s new Store app includes all of the great functionality BGR exclusively detailed last week. Apple’s change log for version 2.0 includes “Personal Pickup,” giving users the ability to make purchase...

While information about Apple’s new iOS app and retail plans have leaked out in various forms over the past few weeks, we now have the whole story thanks to a trusted source. On Thursday, Apple’s new retail store app for iOS will launch, and it will bring two major features with it. First, it will enable online ordering with retail store pick up. This has already started happening in a few stores in California and New York City Apple stores as well, and more stores will go live on Thursday. Hit th...

Despite a later-than-expected launch and a handset that that is physically almost the same as its predecessor, demand for Apple’s iPhone 4S smartphone is reportedly outpacing supply. In a research note on Monday, Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst William Power wrote that numerous Best Buy retail stores around the country are sold of iPhone 4S handsets. While preliminary supply volumes at the nationwide retail giant are unknown, Power calls Best Buy stock-outs a litmus test for iPhone sales performance a...

Apple’s head of retail is leaving the company to become President of JC Penney, Bloomberg said in a wire report. Prior to the move, Ron Johnson lead Apple’s retail strategy and was responsible for its overall performance according to his executive bio on the Apple website. Apple’s retail business reeled in $3.19 billion in revenue last quarter, and it the company is widely heralded for its leadership in the space. Shares of JC Penney stock jumped more than 14% on the news.This post originall...

Apple on Tuesday began selling unlocked iPhone 4 handsets in the U.S. a day earlier than expected. The smartphone is now available in 16GB for $649 or 32GB for $749, and both models come in black or white. Other manufacturers, most notably Nokia and Sony, have sold unlocked smartphones in the U.S. for quite some time. Neither company has seen much success with unlocked handsets thus far, though Apple’s approach is somewhat different. Apple’s primary sales channels in the U.S. are undoubtedly carriers, a...

With rumors of something new being cooked up at U.S. Apple Stores later this week, widespread speculation swept the Web suggesting Apple would finally take the wraps off its updated Sandy Bridge-powered MacBook Air notebooks. According to well-known and well-sourced iOS developer Chronic, that won’t be the case. Instead, for the first time, Apple plans to offer unlocked iPhone 4 models directly to consumers beginning Wednesday. Part numbers break down as follows: MC603 (16GB, Black) MC604 (16GB, White) MC60...

While it seems that most are flipping a coin as to whether or not the upcoming iPhone will have NFC capabilities, BGR has just been given some information from multiple Apple sources that could possibly sway the argument in favor of an imminent NFC-capable iPhone… contrary to recent reports. First off, Apple’s POS devices — its iPod touch-based wireless payment terminals — recently all went offline for “maintenance” for an entire day, leaving customers unable to purchase some item...

We have just received some information from a solid Apple source, and if they’re right, Apple may be planning something big for its 10th retail anniversary this Thursday the 19th. Here’s what we’ve been told:There’s an overnight shift planned for around 10-15 individuals at each Apple Store to work from late Saturday all the way through mid-Sunday.During the overnight shift, it’s going to be required that employees lock cell phones in the main office. They will also have to sign ...

Remember that incident last year when Mr McGraw (CEO of the publishing company McGraw-Hill) leaked the details of the first-gen iPad on an interview with CNBC a day before the official launch? We all know what happened next – the publisher was barred from the launch event and Apple’s iBook store. Apple does not take these things lightly and it seems that Vijay Sales, a retail partner for the iPad 2 in India might have learned it the hard way.A day before Apple officially announced that it would la...