Acer's New Zealand division has confirmed that the Iconia Tab A500 will not receive an Android 4.0 upgrade until sometime in April. The announcement was directed at users in Australia and New Zealand, rather than the company's global customers, leaving the release timing unclear for other regions.
Apple's Time Capsule routers are seeing delays or shortages in different parts of the world, notes 9to5Mac. The company's online stores in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, and France are sometimes seeing delivery times of one to three weeks for 3TB models, or one- to two-week delays for 2TB routers. Third-party vendors Amazon and Best Buy are out of 3TB models, and some Australian Apple Stores may be completely out of stock.
Construction efforts are due or underway on two Apple retail expansions, according to ifoAppleStore. The first is a previously rumored new location in Sydney, Australia, on the third floor of the Broadway Shopping Centre. A black facade (pictured above and below) is now covering units 303 to 307, indicating that the finished shop will measure nearly 6,000 square feet.
Apple is engaging in a rare Boxing Week sale on the iTunes Store. Boxing Day takes place on December 26th in Australia, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand. The Boxing Week promotion is already active, however, if only in Canada.
Following a botched rollout on Wednesday, Apple has today officially expanded iTunes Match to Canada and the UK. In Canada the service costs $28 a year, while in the UK annual pricing is set at £22. Unlike regular iCloud options, iTunes Match allows a person to mirror and remotely access their entire music library, regardless of whether the content is on iTunes.
Apple appears to be quietly rolling out iTunes Match to a number of countries this evening, judging from reports of users who now see the option to sign up available under their iTunes account information pages. Pricing for the service has been revealed to be $28 in Canada, £22 (approximately $34) in Great Britain, and €25 (approximately $32.50) in Europe and equivalently-priced elsewhere.
The changes to Apple TV content made in Canada are also in effect in Australia in the UK, reports note. Residents of the two regions can now access TV shows through iCloud, rather than having to stream them from a computer running iTunes, or an iOS handheld. Pricing for episodes should remain unchanged.
Global iPlayer will make it to the iPhone and iPod touch on December 8th, the BBC has announced. The paid video-on-demand service has been available on the iPad for about five months. A list of countries getting the iPhone app on the 8th includes Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
An iPhone recently caught fire onboard a Regional Express jet in Australia, a press release from the carrier reveals. The plane had just landed after a flight from Lismore to Sydney when the airline says that a passenger's iPhone began "emitting a significant amount of dense smoke, accompanied by a red glow." A photo of the phone's back shows extensive damage, including a missing chunk and cracks throughout the glass.
Apple is currently offering free shipping at its online store, at least in some countries, checks show. At the US storefront, shoppers are now promised "free shipping on everything" until December 22nd. The promotion is scaled back in places like Canada and the UK, where free shipping applies today only. At the Australian store, shoppers are only being given free gift wrapping for iPods and iPads until December 25th.
An Australian retailer, dMavo, is challenging the threat of an Apple lawsuit over sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, says the Sydney Morning Herald. In October Apple won a temporary injunction against Samsung in Australia until it can be decided whether the Galaxy Tab 10.1 "slavishly copied" the iPad. Some retailers like dMavo, though, have continued to do well on Galaxy Tab sales, ignoring Apple legal threats.
The iTunes in the Cloud service is now available in several more regions around the world, users say. Canada, France, Australia and the UK are among the main territories, but other countries are said to be getting the option as well. When available the option lets people re-download music, apps and books from iTunes, or else have the content automatically pushed to multiple devices.
Apple has revealed five additional store openings taking place this weekend. Outlets in Shanghai and Hong Kong were announced earlier this week, but the company has only just, for instance, confirmed that it will indeed launch the Metrotown location this week. The shop is based in Burnaby, British Columbia within the greater Vancouver area, and will start taking in the public at 10AM Saturday morning.
Apple is preparing two international store openings for this Saturday. The most important may be the one happening in Florence, Italy, where an outlet is launching in the I Gigli commercial center. The store will only be Italy's sixth, and the first in the middle of the country. Also rare is its operating hours, which will run from 9AM to 10PM seven days a week.
Apple has revealed several important details about its retail chain in relation to a new store in Penrith, Australia, says local publication Current.com.au, quoting an Apple spokesperson. The first is that Apple has seen over 1 billion visitors during the 10 years the chain has been active. Asked to explain why Apple Stores are so successful, the spokesperson cites customer service. "We had over 1 million customers sign-up for our Personal Setup offering last quarter alone," according to the representative.
iTunes Connect is officially scheduled to undergo maintenance today between 9AM and 4PM Pacific time, developers reveal. The service represents the backend of iTunes, the means by which people submit audio, video and applications. Apple is cautioning app developers to avoid making pricing changes during the downtime, since that will cause an app to disappear from sale until the maintenance is over. At that point an app should return with its new pricetag.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has published a commentary critical of new voluntary censorship measures adopted by two of Australia’s largest ISPs, Optus and Telstra. Optus and Telstra have taken the decision to block a list of websites that depict child abuse provided by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). While most people would support the blocking of child porn websites, critics have argued that there is no transparency in the selection of URLs to be blocked and no accountability required of the regulatory bodies that develop the lists.
As part of a continuing trend of expansions, Apple is looking to upgrade its retail stores in Honolulu, Hawaii and Miami Beach in Florida. With the latter Apple has been encountering some difficulty, and has in fact withdrawn a proposal to demolish a building near the current Lincoln Road outlet. The company is hoping to move along the same street from a 738 address to 1001, putting it in an upscale shopping district with pedestrian foot traffic. The city's Historic Preservation Board objected to the proposal though, which would have seen the construction of large stone walls similar to those of the Upper West Side store in New York City. The HPB wants the walls to be smaller, and more critically to match the historic architecture in the district.
The George Street Apple Store in downtown Sydney, Australia will soon have a companion outlet, building permits show. The documents point to a location coming to the third level of the Broadway Shopping Centre, specifically one that will combine three different spaces in the mall. Broadway is notably just two miles away from the George Street store, which should represent one of the smallest gaps between Apple Stores anywhere in the world.
The location of an upcoming south Melbourne Apple Store has been confirmed, a report says. Construction has already begun on a shop in Westfield Southland, a mall in the suburb of Cheltenham. The claim was initially made by a local photographer, but later validated by a Westfield worker, who added that management isn't sure when the store will actually launch.
The special preparations underway at Apple Stores this week appear to be global, a 9to5Mac source notes. "This Saturday (21st), all Australian (at least) retail stores will under go visual merchandising from 6pm – 6am (22nd)," the person writes. "A sheet will be raised to prevent any one seeing inside, and from 6am – 10am, all apple [sic] retail staff will participate in a compulsory meeting. Something big? VM is rarely so private, and is never followed by an all staff meeting."
Plans for a renovation of the historic MacArthur Chambers in Brisbane may have revealed a forthcoming Apple Retail store, continue the company's interest in locating some "showcase" stores in historic buildings. Although Apple is not directly mentioned in the application, telltale signs in the application -- including twin glass stores, a "feature staircase" and revamped interior in "shades of white" tipped off alert MacTalk readers. If approved, the store would be the largest in Australia, even surpassing Apple's flagship store in Sydney.
Details of several new confirmed and rumored Apple Stores have emerged. Two in the confirmed category are both planned for the UK; one will be located on the upper level of Festival Place in Basingstoke, 50 miles away from London. Job listings have been up since last week, and construction is already underway. Also currently hiring is a shop that will open in time with the Westfield Stratford City mall in September. The location is just five miles away from London city center, and will be extremely close to the site of the 2012 Olympic Games.
Apple's Australian division has lowered the prices on all iPod models. As with most countries, Apple charges more for its products in Australia than it does in the US, even when taking exchange rates into account. The latest cuts may be an acknowledgment, however, of the flip in value between the American and Australian dollars.
The iPad 2 is now on sale through Apple's Australia and New Zealand online stores. Within the latter country, Wi-Fi iPads are priced at $799 NZ for 16GB, $949 for 32GB, and $1,099 for 64GB. 3G models are $998, $1,149 and $1,289, respectively.
Australia's official research organization, the CSIRO, has begun testing a new Wi-Fi system, named Ngara, that routes signals through television antennas. The technology is claimed to reach data transfer rates up to 12 Megabits per second, even while a large number of users are simultaneously uploading data.
Apple has displaced Nokia as the top smartphone vendor in Australia, says the Sydney Morning Herald. New IDC figures indicate that the iPhone represents roughly 36.5 percent of the local market. Nokia has slipped to second place with 30.5 percent of smartphones, though the company still leads in overall cellphone sales with 37.6 percent.
The Australian Government’s controversial high-speed National Broadband Network (NBN)is one step closer to reality after key legislation underpinning it passed through Senate lawmakers. The legislation is designed to deliver a 100Mbps fiber-to-the-home network that will provide the backbone of Australia’s communications infrastructure at a cost of $35.7 billion AUD ($35 billion US). Central to the legislation is the splitting of Telstra’s wholesale and retail arms helping to break its monopoly on Australia’s communication network.
Apple has set its sights on building a second retail store in Brisbane, Australia, sources claim. The people specifically say that Apple will assume the lease of a sports outlet, Rebel Sport, located on the eastern side of the city in the Westfield Carindale mall. Rebel Sport is believed to be moving to another space within the mall, but possibly to part of an expansion still under construction.
Jetstar flights run by Australia's Qantas Airways will soon feature iPads for in-flight entertainment, Dow Jones reports. "We're in the final stages of putting in place what would be a broader roll out across the network," says a Jetstar spokesman. "We're in ongoing discussion with the manufacturer around a more integrated network proposition." An Apple Australia spokeswoman has declined to comment.
A fix is coming for an iOS bug Australians have been coping with for roughly a week, according to Apple. Since Sunday last week, people in some areas of the country -- including New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Tasmania -- have discovered that the Clock app is not properly registering a daylight savings switchover. Recurring alarms are said to be going off an hour earlier than scheduled.
A strange bug discovered when eastern and southern Australia (excluding Queensland) changed to Daylight Savings Time last weekend will be patched by the company in an upcoming software update, Apple told Australian media today. The bug caused iOS devices with recurring alarms set to go off an hour earlier than they should, ignoring the time change. Some users reported their alarms simply didn't go off at all.
Apple has yet to find a fix for flaws with the iPhone 4's proximity sensor, according to one of the company's Australian spokespeople, Fiona Martin. Normally the sensor detects when an iPhone is next to a person's face, and shuts off the touchscreen to prevent people from accidentally tapping onscreen buttons. In some cases the sensor is failing, potentially leading to interrupted calls.
Apple has confirmed plans to release the iPhone 4 in 17 more regions on Friday. In North America, Canada will finally get the device; the bulk of additional launches are in Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Elsewhere, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore will begin sales.
Auction site eBay has broadened the international support of its apps for iOS and Android devices. In the former category, eBay Selling is now available in the German and UK App Stores. The app is said to be intended for "casual" sellers, and so doesn't support all eBay.com options; it does, however, let people quickly snap a picture for insertion into a listing.
Apple is opening two more retail stores in time for this week's iPhone 4 launch. The first, in Cerritos, California, will have an opening day-and-date with the Thursday iPhone rollout, to the extent of beginning sales at 7AM rather than a more standard 9 or 10AM, though only for iPhones at first. The shop is in the Los Cerritos Center, and will have regular hours of 10AM to 9PM Monday through Friday, closing an hour earlier on Saturday. Sunday hours are 11AM to 7PM.
Even though the opening of the outlet is scheduled for 8AM Friday morning, the Bondi Apple Store in Sydney, Australia remains unfinished, a Wednesday report mentions. Tarps and scaffolding were still noted to be place around afternoon local time, and witnesses say that hammering and other construction noises have been heard inside. Workers wearing "Apple" badges have been seen at the shop unloading trucks of merchandise.
In an unusual confluence, three new Apple Stores are set to open over the weekend. The most prominent is the Bondi location in Sydney, Australia, which will open at 8AM Friday morning at 213 Oxford Street. Much of the store's event schedule revolves around the iPad, which will see a simultaneous Australian debut. One iPad workshop is scheduled for 9AM, and several more are scheduled for subsequent days. The store will also host regular concerts, beginning with the Beautiful Girls on Sunday afternoon.
Apple is already pushing out the shipping times for international iPad pre-orders, checks show. The first wave of tablets is set to ship on May 28th, to Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. All of Apple's online storefronts in those countries now display a June 7th shipping date for new customers.
More pricing details have come out for the international iPad, which launches on May 28th. Japanese carrier Softbank has announced intentions to sell both the tablet and various data plans. Paying upfront, Wi-Fi iPads are 48,960, 59,040 and 68,880 yen, for 16, 32 and 64GB capacities; 3G models are 61,920, 72,000 and 81,840 yen.
Most or all countries getting the iPad on May 28th will also get iBooks and access to the iBookstore at the same time, Apple has disclosed. So far confirmed are Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Spain and the UK. France, Germany and Switzerland are likely to have iBooks support as well, but this has yet to be mentioned by Apple.
Clearing up a formerly ambiguous timetable, Apple has announced that the international launch of the iPad is now set for May 28th. Nine regions will get the tablet initially: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. A second wave is only expected in July, including Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Ireland, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Singapore.
Three international phone carriers have announced new plans for the iPad, a report observes. Vodafone says it will carry the 3G version of tablet in at least five countries: Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Pricing details should be available towards the end of May, even though Apple has said international pricing should first become available on May 10th.
An Australian trademark tribunal has rejected Apple's attempt to prevent some companies from using a lowercase "i" in their names, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. At the center of the case is DOPi, a brand of bags and cases for Apple products sold by the Sydney-based Wholesale Central. Apple complained to IP Australia, the government body behind the tribunal, that people could potentially confuse DOPi products for its own, as the name is a reversed take on "iPod."
Apple has at last set a formal release date for the first iPad models. Wi-Fi only iPads will go on sale in the US on April 3rd, in an unusual Saturday launch. Online pre-orders however are set to begin March 12th, for both Wi-Fi- and 3G-ready tablets. Sales in other countries -- namely Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK -- will only begin in late April, but all regions will have access to 3G models at that point.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is diving headlong into iPad development, says the Sydney Morning Herald. The network is said to be speaking with various technology companies for help, with the aim of bringing apps to the tablet sometime this year. No specific titles have been announced, but much like the CBC in Canada and BBC in the UK, the ABC has assets in radio, TV and the web.
The first known iPhone worm has been observed in the wild, reports say. Called Ikee, the worm is considered relatively inoffensive, as it does not steal information or sabotage hardware or software. Instead the package merely changes a phone's wallpaper to a photo of singer Rick Astley before seeking out more points to infect.
Japanese shoppers are already in line to buy the iPhone 3G S, which goes on sale with Softbank at 7AM local time on Friday, equivalent to 6PM Eastern on Thursday. Lines are smaller than those for the iPhone 3G launch, according to IDG, at present closer to 100 people at Softbank's flagship Omotesando store. When reservations opened for the 3G S last week, approximately 200 people arrived at the Omotesando location. Online preorders have not been allowed with Japanese iPhones.
Australian carrier Optus has let slip the details of new iPhone subscription options, meant to coincide with the release of the 3GS, a leak claims. The carrier's "yes" cap plans should now range from $19 to $79 a month, and by default provide between 100MB and 1GB of data; missing is a $29 option, which will come sometime after launch if at all. Varying payments may be necessary based on the choice of iPhone model, and the length of a contract, spanning one to two years.
The Australian website that leaked a memo concerning low iPhone stock in the country has received a cease-and-desist order, its owner claims. Anthony Agius has refused to say which party issued the notice, but it is believed to be either the memo's circulator, Vodafone, or the carrier's regional supplier, Brightpoint. Apple could also be involved, given mention of its products.
