Apple Store team busy installing extra noise, additional funk

As has been widely emailed by our crack readers, the Apple Store is down as of midnight. We'd chalk this up to actual maintenance, but since it is officially Tuesday on the US East Coast, we'll give it the new-product benefit of the doubt. Some items, including Airport Express units and the Mac Mini, have been reported in limited availability mode for a while, so it's possible that we'll see some revisions come daylight. We also have been told that the iPod touch January Update is mysteriously unavailable for purchase at the moment (thanks Will!) so perhaps that's in play as well. Of course, it could just be, you know, maintenance.The question must be considered: are the Apple Store outages really technically necessary to update the store content, or are they a form of grass-roots marketing that primes the buying audience for something new? After all, Amazon, Dell and Newegg add products constantly and never seem to stall into these extended cones of silence. Is the Tuesday lacuna just a passive-aggressive way to get our attention, like a child throwing a sulk? Recently, former Apple staffer Chuq von Rospach suggested via a Twitter response to Shawn King that the architecture of the Apple Store really, truly does require extended downtime to make changes to the product lineup. If that's the case, then this is an astonishingly powerful argument for the existence of the RDF -- only a marketing force capable of warping the fabric of space could turn an engineering flaw into self-generating hype with every minor tweak of the product line.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple Store down, updates are on their way

Section: Apple News, Updates Happy Tuesday folks.  It looks like the Apple Store is down this morning, so we’re waiting patiently for some product updates to show their faces.  The store has been down a few times this month so far, and has included such updates as Apperture 2, the 16GB iPhone, and the 32GB iPod Touch.  Hopefully we see something a bit more exciting this time.  We’ll hit you back in a bit when updates come through. Full Story » | Written by Doug Berger for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Breaking: New 16GB iPhone, 32GB iPod touch models hit the Apple Store

In another case of rumor-becomes-the-truth, Apple has just silently launched the new 16GB iPhone, and 32GB iPod touch via the Apple Store.  The new touch line comes in 8, 16, and now 32GB flavors, and the iPhone now comes in 8 and 16GB models.  The 16GB iPhone retails for $499, and the 32GB iPod touch for $499 as well.  Head over to the Apple Store to pick up yours.  Oh, and I’m glad there wasn’t a Macbook update - because as I mentioned, I just told someone to buy one. 16GB iPhone [Apple Store] 32GB iPod touch [Apple Store] Written by Doug Berger for Appletell. | Permalink | Have something to say? Add a Comment! Section: Apple News, Updates, Audio Video, iPod Touch, Communications, iPhone, Current-Products, iphone_product, ipod-touch, Features

Buy a MacBook, get a free… husband?

According to Cosmo, which is NEVER wrong, girls looking to find a single man need look no further than their local Apple Store. That’s right. Thanks to sky-high Mac and iPod sales, Apple’s 142 Stores have made Cosmo’s short list of the The Best Places to Meet a Guy. Although, if Cosmo’s readers [...]