05/09, 11:55am
Service currently limited to Houston, Orlando, Tampa
AT&T has officially launched Aio Wireless, an awaited MVNO carrier offering cheaper prepaid plans. Aio is offering Basic, Smart, and Pro tiers for phones, all of which including unlimited calling and texting. Basic costs between $35 and $40, and includes 250MB of data. Smart costs $55 per month for 2GB, and the $70 Pro plan ups the data cap to 7GB. Once a cap is exceeded, Aio begins throttling speeds. A special $15 tablet plan provides 250MB of data.
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04/22, 7:56pm
First office building nearly complete, part of first phase
Photos revealed on AppleInsider have shown that construction on the first phase of Apple's new Austin, Texas expansion campus is progressing smoothly. From outward appearances, the first of two planned office buildings and a parking garage in the first phase of the construction are already well along, with the former already having been painted hand having had its glass windows installed. When the first phase is complete in 2015, the project will double Apple's present Austin workforce to over 7,000 workers.
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04/09, 3:43pm
Says it expects government to offer same breaks as Google
Following in the wake of Google's announcement of Fiber expansion in Austin, AT&T has announced similar plans, according to a press release. The company is planning to build out a gigabit fiber network in the city, but hasn't yet revealed what parts of the city will be served, or what the gigabit tier might cost. Likewise, it hasn't set a timeline for when the network will be completed.
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04/09, 1:22pm
Austin Gigabit Internet likely to cost same as Kansas City project
Google has officially announced it will be building its fiber Internet service in Austin, Texas. The expansion, leaked over the last few days, will see Austin become the second city after Kansas City to get the Gigabit Internet and TV service through Google Fiber, with the company hoping to "start connecting homes" to the network by mid-2014.
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04/05, 5:37pm
City was in close competition for initial rollout
Austin, Texas could be the next city to get Google Fiber, an upcoming meeting suggests. Google and the City of Austin are holding an event on April 9th, and city sources tell GigaOM that they suspect it's related to broadband. "You are a leader here in Austin," a leaked invitation reads. "Every day, your work and contributions help make our community better and stronger. That’s why we want you to be one of the first to hear about something new coming to Austin. Please join Google and the City of Austin for an announcement on Tuesday."
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03/19, 12:34pm
Promises more meeting spaces, bigger Genius Bar
Apple is relaunching its Barton Creek outlet in Austin, Texas on March 23rd at 10AM. The company says that the overhauled location will be larger than before, for instance offering more demo units. More significantly the store will have more space for training, workshops, and meetings with business staff, and a larger Genius Bar.
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01/25, 12:42pm
Should allow AT&T to make significant LTE expansions
AT&T has bought $1.9 billion in 700 MHz B spectrum from Verizon Wireless, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. AT&T says that the licenses should cover over 42 million people in 18 states: California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming. As a part of the deal, it will also get AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum in five of those markets.
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01/17, 1:08pm
Expansion mostly limited to minor towns
Sprint has expanded its LTE 4G coverage to 28 more towns in the US, according an announcement. The new locations are spread out across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Missouri, Mississippi, Minnesota, Washington, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, and Massachusetts. Most of them are relatively minor; some notable names include Branson, Missouri, and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
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12/19, 10:58am
Sites in Texas, California also allegedly under consideration
The states of Oregon and New York may be competing for a chip factory under consideration by an Apple supplier, says The Oregonian. Oregon's economic development agency, Business Oregon, says it is trying to recruit a company operating under the codename "Azalea." A non-disclosure agreement is preventing any more details from emerging, though a similar project --tagged with a "Project Azalea" codename -- is being pursued in New York state.
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12/04, 4:40pm
Project may be important to city's economy
Construction work has started on Apple's expanded presence in Austin, Texas, the Austin America-Statesman reports. Crews are said to be doing earthwork at the new West Parmer site, and have already erected a concrete shell for what appears to be a three-story office building. So far, though, no signs have identified the project, its future occupant, or even the company doing the construction, although the developer is known to be Conor Commercial. A security guard has refused to say whether or not Apple is involved.
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11/09, 1:07pm
Dispute expands to iPhone 5 and iPad mini
VirnetX has filed a second lawsuit against Apple, kicking off a new legal battle just hours after the patent holding company won a $368 million patent-infringement judgement for technology used in iPads, iPhones and Mac computers. The fresh filing expands the litigation to include Apple's latest devices, such as the iPhone 5, fifth-generation iPod touch, fourth-generation iPad, iPad mini and latest Mac computers.
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08/21, 11:23am
Facility produces Apple's A-series processors
Samsung has announced that it will spend roughly $4 billion overhauling its chip manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas, Reuters reports. The company plans to renovate is current production line there and boost system chip production. The money follows a $1.98 billion investment in a new chip plant in the company's home country of South Korea, and the conversion of two memory chip lines into ones for logic chips for clients like Apple.
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07/18, 12:52pm
New ground located next to existing campus
Apple has already bought three tracts of land in preparation for its expansion in Austin, Texas, according to the Austin Business Journal. The real estate is in the Milwood Section 20 subdivision near West Parmer and Delcour, next to Apple's existing Austin campus, situated at Riata Vista Circle. A deal between Apple and McShane Development is said to have been finalized on June 20th, although the price paid and the square footage involved haven't been made public.
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05/01, 3:00pm
Includes suggested salary protections, hiring deadlines
The Travis County Commissioners Court has voted in favor of a deal to bring a second Apple campus to Austin, Texas, the Austin-American Statesman reports. In the end commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of the plan, which was recently amended to include stricter hiring requirements. The lone dissenter was Precinct 2 Commissioner Sarah Eckhardt, who argued the deal should have stronger requirements to hire people from the county; she was also upset that requirements for the poor were dropped. Judge Sam Biscoe said he was willing to take Apple's word that it would hire the poor despite no contractual obligations.
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05/01, 1:00pm
Apple not singled out in Houston gunfire
Apple is planning to build a new Canadian store in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, ifoAppleStore reports. The outlet will be based in the Cornwall Centre shopping mall, and fill a substantial hole in Apple's Canadian coverage. While Regina is a comparatively small city, the store will fill in a 700-mile gap. To the west and east the closest stores are in entirely different provinces, which has so far left Saskatchewanians no choice but to shop online or at resellers.
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05/01, 12:00pm
New deal would put strict hiring demands on Apple
Travis County commissioners could potentially approve an altered handout deal to Apple later today, according to the Austin-American Statesman. Apple is hoping to build a second campus in Austin, Texas worth $304 million, and is expected to bring 3,665 more jobs to the city over the course of the next 10 years. The county may contribute $6.4 million out of a total $36 million in incentives, but last week skepticism about the deal postponed a vote on the matter.
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04/27, 6:20pm
Amazon creating 2500 Texas jobs in next four years
Amazon has settled a dispute with the state of Texas over $269 million in unpaid sales taxes between 2005 and 2009. The settlement terms require the company to create jobs in the state and collect sales tax beginning in July.
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04/27, 9:55am
Skepticism about Apple terms, Austin's benefits
An expansion deal between Apple and the city of Austin, Texas is on shaky ground, a report suggests. Dave Porter, the senior VP of economic development at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, tells the Austin-American Statesman that the deal isn't finished, and "remains in peril." Apple is allegedly "frustrated" with some recent developments.
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03/16, 10:15am
Thousands gather outside NYC Apple Stores
A few short hours after Asian and European debuts, Apple has begun the day's US launches of the third-generation iPad. In New York City, the Grand Central Apple Store alone is said to have seen about 500 people in line. Similar numbers were seen at Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store (see video below).
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03/15, 4:30pm
New campus could take city, county, state money
An Apple official today answered questions in front of Austin City Council in an attempt to secure funding for its expanded presence in the city. The Council is offering to pay $8.6 million in incentives over 10 years if Apple meets job and investment targets. Apple may also receive $21 million from the state-level Texas Enterprise Fund, and still more cash from Travis County, although county officials are believed to be waiting until after a City Council vote to say what it might contribute.
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03/12, 1:15pm
Timing unusually early for regular store launches
The new Highland Village Apple Store in Houston, Texas will open at 8AM on the 16th, Apple has announced. The company more typically opens new stores at 10AM; the Houston Chronicle speculates, as a result, that Apple may be preparing to open all of its stores at 8AM for the launch of the third-generation iPad. An Apple spokeswoman has refused to confirm or deny such plans.
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03/09, 12:20pm
City to get roughly 3,600 jobs
The State of Texas has announced an agreement by Apple to spend another $304 million in Austin to expand operations. The company is building a new campus that will double its workforce in the state during the next 10 years, primarily boosting customer support, sales, and accounting divisions. In exchange, the state is handing out $21 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund.
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03/01, 4:50pm
Highland Village to open one day earlier
The planned opening of a new Houston Apple Store may indicate a launch date for the iPad 3, the Houston Chronicle reports. Apple is on the verge of opening a new outlet in the Highland Village shopping center. A source connected to the store's opening says that the outlet was originally supposed to debut in January, and later March 17th. Just a few weeks ago, though, the date was allegedly adjusted to March 16th.
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12/06, 9:55am
Outlet may be ready in January
A new Houston Apple Store, still under construction, borrows the design of Apple's Upper West Side shop in New York City, reports indicate. The Highland Village outlet likewise sports an all-glass storefront and roof, flanked by limestone side walls. Distinguishing the new location is the addition of a glass rear, and the shifting of back-of-house space to a nearby building, rather than a basement.
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11/22, 4:15pm
Apple expected to move into old HMV store
Apple is planning to open another Vancouver, Canada outlet by the end of 2012, sources identified as "real estate insiders" claim. The company is expected to move into 750 Burrard Street, currently home to an HMV megastore scheduled to close down in January. Once HMV is gone Apple's plans reportedly involve renovating 16,000 square feet spread across two floors.
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10/20, 4:10pm
Revives Tech Talk concept
Apple has unveiled plans for an iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour. Apple experts are scheduled to visit nine cities during the tour, including Berlin, London, Rome, Beijing, Seoul, São Paolo, New York City, Seattle, and Austin. Events will start in Berlin on November 2nd and end in Austin on January 23rd. Registration for January 13th's New York City event is already full.
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10/17, 9:35am
Business, legal issues being kept separate
Samsung is still the main producer for Apple's next-generation mobile processor, the A6, claims an anonymous executive with a South Korea-based Apple supplier. "Apple has been in talks with Samsung over shipment of its A6 quad-core mobile processor (AP) chips to be used in the next iPhone. It appears that Apple clearly has concluded that Samsung remains a critical business partner," the person tells the Korea Times. Samsung is in fact said to be boosting output of A6 chips at a manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas.
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10/14, 9:50am
Built-up demand draws crowds
The launch of the iPhone 4S so far appears to be drawing major crowds in the US. At the company's flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York City, the lineup reportedly stretched around two sides of the block. While last year's iPhone 4's lineup is said to have wrapped around four sides, rain is thought to be keeping some 4S buyers at home for the time being.
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09/13, 12:20pm
El Paso store begins filling in large gap
At least two new Apple Stores are set to open this Saturday, checks confirm. The first is a Jungfernstieg location in Hamburg, Germany, which will represent the first time Apple has built more than one outlet per city in the country. Reports originally called for the shop to debut on the 10th, but the opening may simply have been delayed a week, for whatever reason.
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06/22, 11:45am
Reading, UK Apple Store opens on Saturday
Apple is planning to open a new store in El Paso, Texas, city building permits show. The outlet will be based on the ground floor of the Cielo Vista Mall, which is found alongside Interstate 10 on the east side of the city. It will specifically be located next to a Gap clothing store, and the permits give an estimated construction cost of $500,000. It could open in early 2012 based on construction schedules.
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01/12, 12:15pm
Includes more German, Italian, American shops
A bevy of new Apple Stores are in the works for 2011, a report says. At least several of these are forecast to open in Italy by the middle of the year, including one in Bologna, a previously unexpected outlet in Florence, and a second Milan location. Possible addresses for the Milan and Florence stores remain unknown.
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11/01, 4:40pm
Shop would serve several regions
Apple has been searching El Paso, Texas for a place to put a new retail store, a report claims. Real estate sources in fact suggest that the company has most likely settled on the Sunland Park Mall, a two-level complex in a neighborhood with higher-than-average household income as compared to the city as a whole. A current lease plan shows three large spaces available on the ground level.
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08/26, 12:10pm
Protocol patent at center of dispute
Apple, Adobe, Tivo, HP and Xerox are among 23 companies being sued by an Allen, Texas business, Ganas, in a new patent infringement lawsuit. Although four patents in total are said to be at stake, the key one is 7,136,913. This describes "a system for communication over the internet and through a firewall utilizing a single communications protocol," using a simple object access communications protocol, or SOAP.
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05/14, 11:05am
Affected products could include broad array
Submitting through a court for the Western District of Texas, Austin-based MONKEYmedia has filed a new patent infringement lawsuit against Apple. In particular, Apple is accused of violating three patents related to MONKEYmedia's "Seamless Contraction" interface technology: one for document summary, another for RSS readers, and finally one for video players displaying multiple versions of text or AV content. MONKEYmedia is asking for an injunction, back royalties and other applicable damages and expenses.
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08/25, 10:40am
Frisco, Dedham stores soon
Apple has formally announced two new retail store openings, with a third believed to be coming soon. The first opening will take place at 10AM Eastern on August 29th, in Dedham, Massachusetts. Known as Apple Store Legacy Place, the shop is situated at 950 Providence Highway, near an intersection with Elm Street. No details on store hours have been provided.
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08/11, 9:15pm
Sprint expanding 4G range
Sprint on Tuesday announced plans to expand its 4G WiMAX service to 17 additional cities in Hawaii, Idaho, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Washington. The carrier claims mobile broadband speeds reaching 10 Mb/s while downloading or between 3-6 Mb/s for uploads. The 4G service is said to exceed 3G speeds by a factor of three to five.
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08/19, 11:30am
Fort Worth store opening
Apple has announced that the grand opening of a new retail store in Fort Worth, Texas will happen this upcoming Saturday, August 23rd. The new store is located on University Drive, and will be the 15th Apple Store located in Texas. The location is halfway between downtown and TCU (Texas Christian University), giving both students and residents of Fort Worth easy access.
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07/02, 3:45am
Apple, Dell sued in Texas
Apple, along with Acer, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, are faced with a new patent violation suit in the "plaintiff-friendly" Eastern District of Texas, a new report says. The suit is being brought by Saxon Innovations (site under construction), an intellectual property licensing company. Saxon claims that the defendants violated its "Wireless Communications Privacy Method and System" patent, number 5,592,555; patent 5,502,689, relating to a "clock generation capable of shutdown mode;" and patents 5,530,597 and 5,235,635, connected to "processor interrupt masks" and "keypad activity based activation."
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06/24, 10:20am
Second San Antonio store
Apple will open its second store in San Antonio, Texas this Saturday, the company has announced. The location is at 7400 San Pedro Avenue within the North Star mall, and is situated next to Ann Taylor and bluemercury; on launch day the store will be open from 10AM to 9PM, with Sunday hours being reduced to 12PM to 6PM. Monday to Friday hours are the same as Saturday's.
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06/03, 9:45am
Third Houston Apple Store
Apple has announced that its third store in Houston, Texas will open this Saturday, June 7th. The shop (not pictured) is located within the Willowbrook Mall, near Dillards and JC Penney, and on opening day will be open from 10AM to 9PM. Sunday hours are 11AM to 7PM, and weekday hours are a consistent 10AM to 9PM. As with other Apple Stores, people will have access to services like the Genius Bar, personal training, and personal shopping appointments; no workshops, however, are scheduled within the first three days of the store's opening.
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