Customers can now buy products online from the Apple Store using PayPal. Previously available as a payment option for purchases made through the App Store and iTunes, PayPal could only be used for buying digital goods, but this seems to have changed now.
Apple knows that getting potential customers through the door at an early stage increases the chances of them becoming customers for life, which is why it keeps promoting apps that are designed for kids during App Store promotions. If you can get youngsters used to handling iPads and interacting with the App Store at an early stage then they're more likely to buy iPhones and Macs when they grow up. It might sound cynical, but it's a fact of life.
One of the major announcements at last month's Apple event - aside from the introduction of two new smartphones and the company's inaugural smartwatch effort - was that of Apple Pay, a contactless, NFC-driven system that would allow iOS 8 users to seamlessly pay for goods at a wide selection of outlets. As excited as we were about this significant new initiative, Apple did make it clear at the time that Apple Pay wouldn't be hitting the scene until this month. With iOS 8.1 now upon us, we're likely to witness a rapid, concerted effort to support the new infrastructure, and this has begun quite close to home today with an update to the Apple Store app.
Apple's iconic retail stores are recognizable the world over, but despite the company having broadened its horizons significantly over the past few years, major cities and shopping malls across the world have yet to be graced with the presence of the famed, glass-clad outlets. Rumor has long since suggested that a very sizeable store would soon grace the United Arab Emirates, with reports also implying that it would be the biggest Apple Retail Store to date, and now, it seems as though Dubai's Mall of the Emirates will soon play host to a vast Apple Store.
Apple customers in the United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and a whole host of other European countries are now able to utilize a handy new feature to add monetary credit to their iTunes accounts. After silently rolling the iTunes Pass feature out in Japan, Apple has continued on the path of giving by making the feature available to those in the US and Canada, with a number of additional countries also confirmed to be in on the action, including Germany. The feature allows consumers to adds funds to an iTunes account using Passbook, rather than having to purchase an iTunes Gift Card to redeem.
Following on from earlier reports that Apple, among a string of other companies, was planning on opening up a store on location at New York's upcoming World Trade Center Mall, it has now been all-but confirmed by independent reports that this will indeed be the case.
Witnesses on the scene in New York are reporting that a snowblower has accidentally collided with one of the glass panes in Apple's Fifth Avenue Retail Store. It's certainly not unusual to see a heavy piece of machinery snowblowers on the streets of New York City as part of the cleanup crew that is dealing with the aftermath of a heavy snow storm. However, Apple employees will be slightly dismayed to see that such substantial damage has been caused to the $450,000 piece of glass that forms part of the store's iconic "cube" exterior.
Apple has today announced that January 10th will be the date for its annual 'Red Friday' sale for consumers in Asian countries. The special one-day shopping event takes place around the same time every year, representing a chance for technology aficionados in participating countries to get their hands on some Apple merchandise at often heavily discounted rates. Although the event is officially a Lunar New Year sale, due to the fact that it takes place a few weeks before the Lunar New Year, it's affectionately given the Red Friday title as it's thought of as being the Asian variant of Black Friday.
It's no secret that Apple is looking to make a lot more of its Apple Store app than it has so far. Over the past few years, it has been used to place orders, pay for purchases wirelessly when in the Apple Store, and to check out the latest products released by the Cupertino company, but in more recent times, we've seen Apple promote the app by giving away free stuff. With this this in mind, as well as the fact that the holiday season is now upon us, Apple has released a playlist of Christmas-themed songs from famed artist such as Mary J. Blige, Kool and the Gang and Kelly Clarkson, and all are available for free through the Apple Store app.
The holiday season deals kicked off this weekend and for large parts of today due to Thanksgiving, and with more festivities coming up during the next couple of weeks, it's a great month to be a tech fan. In the spirit of things, Apple has announced that it will ship items for free up until and including December 22nd, without any minimum spending requirement. Also, the company revealed the latest dates one can order certain items for receipt before December 24th, while extending its returns policy to January 7th for items purchased from November 1st to December 25th.