Hasta La Gadget!

With the big event only a few hours away Apple has already taken its shop offline. It’s become standard practice for the Cupertino crew, so it’s hardly a surprise. Still, it’s a good sign that some new products will be available, at least for pre-order, starting today. Interestingly, the store isn’t the only Apple property out of commission currently — reports have been trickling in since yesterday that iCloud is out for some customers as well. The down time could just be a bug that needs fixing, but perhaps iCloud will also get some significant updates this morning to accompany the launch of the iPhone 5 and iOS 6.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Internet

Apple Store goes down ahead of iPhone announcement originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 08:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s latest tweak to its online store has now included a real-life genius that you can chat to if you’re undecided about buying your next iPhone or iPad. If you’re based in the UK, Germany, Spain or Brazil, you can surf to either product page, and an “Ask Now” button in the top right corner will offer you a choice of a phone-chat, instant messaging or a guided tour. The staffers can even help set up your newest handset once you’ve purchased it — or just let you chat to someone if you’re feeling lonely. If we have a worry, it’s that this might be one of John Browett’s schemes to cut costs, but let’s hope he isn’t dreaming of a future where Cupertino’s personal touch is entirely replaced with an IM chat to someone in a call center.

Filed under: Internet

Apple brings Geniuses online in four countries, lets us ask questions before we buy originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Aug 2012 06:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week someone at Gizmodo has gotten their hands on a workbook of training documents used by Apple to make sure their Genius Bar works for the customers that need it. While it might seem that any Apple document not meant to be seen by the public would be full of undeniably valuable or otherwise magical information, here the content is essentially bland. The majority of the manual, it would seem, is dedicated to making sure that each Genius makes the customers they work with happy – and satisfied enough to buy products in the future.

The manual brings on just as much psychological training as it does technical info, with the phrase “Everyone in the Apple Store is in the business of selling” right at the core. There’s a section by the name of “Selling Gadget Joy” which uses the letters A.P.P.L.E. to make the concept simple for whoever’s aiming to become Genius material. (A)pproach, (P)robe, (P)resent, (L)isten, (E)nd. That’s the Apple way for a Genius.

One of the main abilities that every Genius is taught – or that they need, rather – is the ability to empathize with whoever they’re conversing with. Apple makes it clear that a Genius should often be using the “Three Fs: Feel, Felt, and Found. This works especially well when the customer is mistaken or has bad information.” This “Fs” situation works best when a Genius (or any other Apple Store employee, for that matter,) is speaking with a customer about a product that they feel has a feature that’s out of place – or if a product is too expensive.

“Customer: This Mac is just too expensive.
Genius: I can see how you’d feel this way. I felt the price was a little high, but I found it’s a real value because of all the built-in software and capabilities.”

There are a list of words not to use in the manual which all lead the Genius to agreeing with and helping the customer. For example instead of saying “freeze” or “frozen” or “crash”, a Genius should try to use “unexpectedly quits”, “does not respond”, or “stops responding”. Another example is “bug” or “problem” – a Genius is taught to say “condition”, “issue”, or “situation” instead.

In the end, the most controversial part of the training was the supposed set of Apple employees (or former employees) who found the training itself to be robotic. See if a Genius tells you the same next time you’re getting help from them in an Apple Store – was your training intense? They may very well tell you that they certainly felt that it was just fabulous.

[via Gizmodo]

Apple Genius Training student workbook “leaked” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Despite Russia’s size, Apple has always had to sell in the country through carriers and resellers — a pain for customers who might have to wait weeks beyond the initial launch of a device to see it in stores. If we’re to believe tips from distributor insiders speaking with Kommersant, Apple wants at least some kind of first-party presence in the country. The company has supposedly set up a majority-owned local branch, Apple Rus, to run an operation that would start direct sales as soon as 2013. As for official retail stores, we simply don’t know. Apple executives were reported as disappointed in available locations following a trip to Moscow in 2011, but there’s been no chatter since. Apple certainly hasn’t commented on the subject. We do know that iOS- and Mac-loving Russians in at least major cities will be happy if Apple establishes a more official presence, even if it still leaves us mourning the lost opportunity for an obvious Snow Leopard tie-in.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops

Apple reported to be preparing direct sales in Russia, wanting more Macs for Moscow originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has announced that it will be reversing some staffing cutbacks the company recently made at some of its stores, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. We first caught wind of these cutbacks a couple of days ago, as it was reported that Apple had laid off a number of workers at some of its retail stores in the UK. Apparently, the decision to let some workers go and cut the hours of others was “a mistake” and Apple will now work to remedy the situation.

It’s a rather strange story to be honest with you, with the cuts in question being implemented by John Browett, who recently became Apple’s head of retail. That’s according to an anonymous Apple employee, who also said that Browett had been limiting transfers between stores. Kristin Huguet, a spokesperson for Apple, told Buisinessweek that the company will be returning to its old policy after realizing that these cuts were a mistake. “We recently implemented some changes in retail staffing,” she said. “Making these changes was a mistake and the changes are being reversed.”

Indeed, the cutbacks didn’t seem to make much sense, with Apple Stores actually pulling in 17% more money for the company last quarter than they did the year before. Another thing that makes the timing of these cutbacks strange is that Apple is expected to release the next iPhone next month. Not only that, but there are rumors going around that claim an iPad Mini may also be slated for a reveal. If that’s the case, then it doesn’t make much sense that Apple would be cutting back on employees, when in just a few weeks those retail stores are likely to be bombarded with customers looking to get their hands on the newest Apple devices.

Whatever the reason behind those odd cutbacks, they’ve been reversed now, or at least will be in the not-too-distant future. Apparently the confusion was caused by a change in Apple’s “staffing formula” but with Apple now returning to its formula from the past, the cause of the cutbacks doesn’t much matter now. Be sure to have a look at our story timeline below for more on Apple’s recent exploits.

Apple: recent staffing cutbacks were ‘a mistake’ is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.