Apple Retail is reportedly in the process of overhauling its Genius Bar experience. In a bid to better serve customers, starting from the week of March 9, a new initiative dubbed "Concierge" will be rolled out to replace walk-in appointments. The program involves Apple Store employees using an algorithm-driven iPad app to provide priority-assessed wait times for a customer's query.According to 9to5Mac:
The customer then provides a phone number, which Apple uses to send three text messages with wait time updates:
An initial text message confirming the Genius Bar request and providing the wait time
A text message telling the customer to start heading back to the Apple Store
A final text message telling the customer that their technician is ready to help and where they can be located in the store
Online bookings are said to remain the same.
The program is reportedly being spearheaded by senior vice president of retail and online storesAngela Ahrendts, who has introduced several changes since joining Apple last year. These including an increased focus on China, new measures to safeguard the upcoming Apple Watch Edition smartwatches within retail stores, as well as retooling the retail experience to aimed at "surprising and delighting" customers.
The Concierge program, however, would be one of the most significant changes, would allow store employees as well as customers to manage their time better.
It looks like Apple acquired digital audio instrument and plug-in maker Camel Audio, according to the company's corporate information listed in the UK government's Companies House website.
The new address for Camel Audio is listed as 100 New Bridge Street in London, which is the address of Apple's London office. MacRumors also highlighted the change in directors for the company, which currently includes one name: Heather Joy Morrison, who is a member of Apple's legal team.
Camel Audio shuttered its doors earlier this year, leaving the following message on its site:
We would like to thank you for the support we've received over the years in our efforts to create instruments and effects plug-ins and sound libraries. Camel Audio's plug-ins, Alchemy Mobile IAPs and sound libraries are no longer available for purchase.
We will continue to provide downloads of your previous purchases and email support until July 7, 2015. We recommend you download all of your purchases and back them up so that you can continue to use them (Instructions: How toDownload and Backup Your Products).
The plug-in vendor is best known for its Alchemy VSTi (Virtual Studio Technology Instrument), a digital instrument that allowed musicians to create a wide range of sounds. It is possible Apple will be looking to integrate Camel Audio's technology into its own music creation software, Logic Pro X.
After Apple released the iPod there were rumors the company was working on a phone. (They were working on a tablet, but it became a phone). After the iPhone, there were rumors they were working on a tablet. After the iPad, rumors they were working on TV or a watch. Now that the Apple Watchis on deck, rumors have shifted to an Apple Car. For Apple and for those fascinated by Apple, the reason is the same — humans want to cross seas and climb mountains. The minute we have something we immediately want to know what's next.
I've mentioned before that Apple is filled with incredibly smart people and, as a company, they make exceedingly logical decisions. In other words, if a writer on a website can theorize that it would make sense for Apple to think about TVs or cars or cameras or whatever, chances are several of those incredibly smart people have already thought about, and perhaps even investigated the potential, of doing just that. To do anything else would be negligent.
Not everything Apple thinks about leads to investigation, not every investigation goes into prototype, and not every prototype goes into production. It takes a lot of work to generate those "thousand nos for every yes".
When it comes to cars, Apple has been thinking about them for years. From The New York Times:
In a meeting in his office before he died, Steven P. Jobs, Apple's co-founder and former chief executive, told John Markoff of The New York Times that if he had more energy, he would have liked to take on Detroit with an Apple car.
Steve Jobs passed away in 2011. In 2013 Apple announced CarPlay, part of their systematic decoupling of interface and device, and a way to give iPhone owners a better experience beyond the confines of a single product. Apple is still actively working with the auto industry on developing CarPlay, and given the other technologies they're releasing, it's not hard to imagine how far future versions could go.
Some of the recent rumors sound, in part, like they're conflating ongoing work on CarPlay with work on an actual car, but consider this — if you ran Apple, would you be at least thinking about making your own car hardware? Would you think it worth investigating?
Apple has several hundred employees working secretly toward creating an Apple-branded electric vehicle, according to people familiar with the matter. They said the project, code-named "Titan," has an initial design of a vehicle that resembles a minivan, one of these people said.
Just like with the phone and tablet and watch, there'll no doubt be a ton of conflated and conflicted rumors about an Apple Car — Car? — for months and years to come. The only thing for certain is, just like there was a phone and tablet and now a watch, unless Tim Cook and company decide to drop the mic and "Apple out!", there will be something next.
There will be products they believe they can bring to market to solve real problems and provide great experiences and, of course, increase the value of Apple's other products and ultimately, Apple itself.
Maybe that something next will be an Apple Car, or maybe it'll be another service like Apple Pay, or a hybrid, or something that's yet to be so much as rumored.
The only questions right are — will a car make it onto that incredibly short, incredibly focused product list, and when?
The Apple Watch is Apple's first foray into the world of wearables. Completely customizable and personal, the Apple Watch combines fashion with technology. On the inside, the Apple Watch functions not only as a watch that is accurate down to 50 milliseconds, it also contains sensors that provide a wide array of health data, presumably right to HealthKit. On the outside, the Apple Watch features a sapphire crystal display combined with stainless steel construction for durability.
The Apple Watch has its own customized interface that integrates seamlessly will integrate seamlessly with your iPhone. Want to invoke your Apple Watch? Simply hold your wrist up in order to activate the display. The interface can also be personalized to show information that's important to each individual. Notifications are also tightly integrated into Apple Watch. For example, receiving a calendar event will cause Apple Watch to vibrate on your wrist. Raise it up to look at it at the notification will then be displayed. Swipe up on the screen to view action buttons that you can fully interact with.
When it comes to choosing an Apple Watch, there are different bands available through three different collections — the Apple Watch, Apple Watch Edition, and the Apple Watch Sport. Band materials through all three collections cover a wide array of materials including 18-karat gold (the Apple Watch Edition), leather, and a rubber polymer that will hold up well to gym use. The actual watch face differs depending on which Apple Watch collection you choose. And since watches aren't one size fits all, there are two sizes of Apple Watch that have matching sized bands.
The Apple Watch will require an iPhone in order to work. Apple has stated that Apple Watch pricing will begin at $349 and will be available for purchase starting in early 2015.
