Hasta La Gadget!

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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Remember what the experience of shopping for a gadget was like at big-box stores years ago? Whatever your actual needs were, the store clerks would invariably steer you towards whatever they were getting a commission to sell, or whatever scratched their personal itch. Why would you even go to a store if you knew you would never get an honest answer? The problem was bad enough for Apple in the 1990s, when Macs were often relegated to a dark corner alongside the Ethernet cables, that the company started up its own retail chain. It didn’t get better for most of us until outlets like Best Buy backed off and sometimes made it a point to advertise commission-free staff. Today, while it’s tough to completely escape personal bias and the occasional exception to the rule, it’s more likely than not that a modern general electronics store will give you a decent shot at buying what you really want.

But just try buying a cellphone at a carrier store today.

Continue reading Editorial: Carriers, let customers choose their own phones

Filed under: Cellphones

Editorial: Carriers, let customers choose their own phones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 17:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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According to a leaked screengrab hosted up at MacRumors, Apple retail shops now have the authority to price match carrier and rival retail discounts on iPhone. Specifically, the note informs employees that prices from Best Buy, “carriers,” Radio Shack and Target can be matched, with $49.01 seeming to be the savings across the board. Curiously, places like Wirefly, Amazon, Negri Electronics and even Walmart aren’t mentioned, so we wouldn’t recommend trying to work the price down based on ads seen from any of those. The note also mentions the iPhone 4 and 4S exclusively, and we’re fairly sure this sort of goodwill won’t ever been applied to iPad, Mac hardware or pretty much any other Apple kit. Of course, crazier things have happened. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment, and will update this article should it choose to reply.

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple reportedly price matching iPhone discounts from carriers and other retailers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you have the world’s most awesome idea for a geeky product that would be perfect on ThinkGeek, the company’s new IdeaFactory will blow your mind. ThinkGeek has announced that it is launching a new program with the goal of allowing geeks to submit ideas for products with a chance of getting the product made and making some money. This may be the perfect chance for me to get my genius idea on the market- two words: bacon bra.

The way IdeaFactory works is that you submit your idea via a written description and an image. The image can be a rendering or a detailed engineering style drawing. ThinkGeek then reviews the ideas and ensures that it passes a few unknown caveats and will then respond to you within 60 days. If the product is deemed worthy, you make some money.

ThinkGeek will pay you in advance of $1000 if your idea is selected for production. That thousand dollars isn’t all you get, you also earn 10% of all retail sales the life of the product up to $1 million. If the product should reach that $1 million mark, the royalty rate drops to 5%. Royalties are paid out quarterly, and ThinkGeek will sell you all of the product that you want to buy for slightly more the cost plus shipping.

You can sell the product on your own website or at public appearances. Unlike some other sites on the web, there is no submission fee and no development costs. That means all you have to do is submit a decent idea to make some money.

ThinkGeek IdeaFactory can turn your geeky dreams into reality is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dead tree product catalogs — dated. Fortunate, then, at least for Mother Earth, that Microsoft’s unveiled the results of its team-up with retail-focused search engine TheFind, several web-based Glimpse catalogs, offering the visual pizazz of a retail magazine without the carbon hangover. Injecting Redmond’s HTML5 know-how into the shopping hub’s catalog and social apps, it distills those functions into the single site. Stores including Brooks Brothers and Lands’ End have already offered up their collections in the web store, but Techcrunch reckons the venture needs a little more work. The images appear to be little too compressed and blurred in the new format, while the detail view directs users to social network sharing rather than a product’s description. But with Microsoft already offering the HTML5 juice that powers the online app for free, someone else might improve on the company’s groundwork.

Continue reading Microsoft teams up with shopping search engine for HTML5 digital catalogs

Filed under: Internet

Microsoft teams up with shopping search engine for HTML5 digital catalogs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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