May 22 - 12:35pm EDT   The grand opening of Apple's latest store in Switzerland has drawn large crowds, as shown in images posted by the Italian Mac-enthusiast site Macitynet. The building, located at 77 Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, offers over 4,300 square feet of space and employs 70 staff members. The layout is split between two levels, with unique utilization of the below-ground area for a Genius Bar. Following the typical Apple Store design, the architects integrated a large proportion of glass and stainless steel. [full story]

November 5 - 9:35am EST   UK sales of the iPhone have diminished in recent weeks, sources claim. Regional carrier O2 is said to be selling between 18,000 and 20,000 phones per week, down from recently-quoted levels of about 27,000, and an early high of 50,000. The reason for the decline is uncertain, but is said to be attributable to the Android-based T-Mobile G1, and Research in Motion's BlackBerry Storm, both of which have been highly anticipated and are due to release soon in the UK. [full story]

September 15 - 3:30pm EDT   The first Apple Store in the Swiss city of Geneva will be opening September 29th, according to a tipster for MacNN. The source claims that a staff meeting was held at the Warwick Hotel in downtown Geneva last week, and that the actual retail location will open "exactly" two weeks from today. The store is situated on Rue de Rive, and had "bientôt ouvert" painted on its black construction facade approximately two weeks ago. The erection of such facades typically indicates that an Apple Store will open within a month. [full story]

September 4 - 9:30am EDT   Apple is expected to open three new retail stores in Switzerland by the end of the year, multiple sources say. One shop is the Rue de Rive location, Geneva's first Apple Store, which recently had the words "bientôt ouvert" (opening soon) added to its black construction facade (photo below). Workers are said to have already begun training, and it is believed that the store could effectively be ready to go by the middle of the month, though when exactly it will open is a matter of speculation. [full story]

August 5 - 1:00am EDT   Following closely on dissent towards Comcast and AT&T – two firms that supply internet service, but lack a stance of network data neutrality – the Electronic Frontier Foundation has unveiled Switzerland, a new ISP testing tool that detects blocked communications. Comcast is accused of blocking peer-to-peer networking software, such as BitTorrent, without citing the practice in its license agreement or making any other mention of it whatsoever. The action counters the neutral stance put forth by the FCC in its 2005 "Internet Policy Statement." [full story]

July 8 - 5:05pm EDT   Photos have already been made available of an iPhone 3G demonstration booth, a French-language site observes. The images are said to have been taken inside a store in Lausanne, Switzerland this afternoon, and show a lone 3G sitting in the new rounded dock design, but tethered to an anti-theft cable. The phone is also on and running, but does not appear to be fully activated. Official sales are scheduled to begin on Friday, July 11th. Swiss carriers will include Orange and Swisscom. [full story]

July 8 - 9:20am EDT   Policies for iPhone 3G access to carrier Wi-Fi should vary dramatically around the world, reports say. While carriers such as AT&T and Rogers Wireless have committed to free hotspot access with a subscription, other countries may not hold this policy in common. Vodafone Italy now admits that it will not be offering any free access, and Orange Switzerland says this will be limited to 100 hours per month. [full story]

July 1 - 9:25am EDT   Swisscom has announced its plans for the iPhone 3G, according to company PR. With the launch of the device on July 11th, Swiss customers will have access to three two-year subscription plans, in three different sizes: piccolo, mezzo and grande. At the piccolo level people will pay 249 CHF for an 8GB phone, or 349 CHF for 16GB; this costs 25 CHF per month, and is limited to a 0.70 CHF hourly voice rate and just 100MB of data per month. [full story]

May 16 - 11:55am EDT   Apple is resisting a blank media levy imposed by the Swiss government, according to local newspaper Basler Zeitung. The levy is managed by SUISA, the Swiss Society for the Rights of Authors of Musical Works, and is intended to compensate labels and musicians for the effect of piracy. It applies to all media players sold in the country, but Apple is said to be arguing for exemption, on the basis that Swiss iPods sold online are actually shipped out of Ireland. [full story]