Appletell

It seems o2 are blaming Apple for a shortage of UK iPhone 3G stock. In an e-mail response to an inquiring customer, Steve Shurrock, sales director of o2 had the following to say,

“We have been working continuously with them [Apple] to get as much stock for the UK as possible. Unfortunately, they have only been able to supply a small proportion of the number of phones we asked for, because they are launching simultaneously in 22 countries.”

Shurrock goes onto say that he is confident that the volume of iPhones will increase over time and become sufficient for customer demand.

More after the break.

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Apple has begun making plans for a retail store which will be launching sometime in the near future at the famous location known as “Le Louvre” in Paris, France. Yesterday, Apple confirmed it will open a store in the Carrousel du Louvre, the shopping center in the Louvre Palace next to the famous museum and glass pyramid. Though Apple gave few details about the new store, French website Nanoblog reported that Apple will occupy 7,696 square feet of space on two floors.

Though the store will be in a mall setting, it could still become another one of Apple’s iconic retail centers, among the likes of its Cube-like outlet on Fifth Avenue in New York City. After all, Le Louvre is one of Europe’s biggest tourist attractions, drawing millions of visitors every year. No confirmation has yet been given when the new retail store will open. In a statement, Apple said that it was “thrilled” to move into the Carrousel du Louvre, and they are looking forward to bringing the unique Apple retail experience to their customers in France.

Via [TUAW]

BBC America TV shows have just been added to the US iTunes Store. There are only three shows at this point in time, but expect more to be on their way:

• Torchwood (Series 1 and 2)
• Little Britain (Series 3 only)
• Robin Hood (Series 2 only)

This small collection of shows is available for the usual $1.99 per show - buying entire seasons can vary in cost, but is usually slightly cheaper than buying episode-after-episode. This is still very limited, and what I would call not worth paying for. But I guess if you don’t have access to the BBC World channel, or you want it on your computer/iPod/iPhone - then this is the way to go. If you’re in the UK, you’ll have a much wider variety of choice; including the BBC’s own iPlayer - which lets you catch-up on shows every 7 days. This service is also available for streaming on iPhones and iPod Touches in the UK.

Via [TUAW]

Today, Apple celebrates the fifth anniversary of its iTunes store with a look back at “all of the great music, video, and exclusives” that users discovered on iTunes, and highlighting the songs and shows that defined each year of the iTunes store’s life. Apple gives a brief history along with a collection of “best sellers” on its iTunes store today, and claims its music catalogue grew from over 200,000 songs and a handful of exclusive tracks to over 10 million songs, according to information available on the iTunes store.

Earlier this month, Apple announced that the iTunes Store surpassed Wal-Mart to become the number one music retailer in the United States, based on data from January and February of 2008. Apple also stated that it had served over 50 million customers and sold more than four billion songs.

iTunes makes up approximately 70 percent of digital music sold worldwide. It is estimated that in the next five years, Apple’s media service may account for a staggering 28 percent of all music sold worldwide.

Via [The iPod Observer]

ITV PLC, the U.K.’s largest free-to-air commercial broadcaster according to sales, announced on Tuesday that a selection of its programming is now available to buy or download from Apple’s U.K. iTunes store. The shows offered cost from £1.89 an episode and may be bought as a complete series, ITV said. The programs offered include Lewis and Cold Feet, Brideshead Revisited, and Captain Scarlet. Additional programming will become available in the UK iTunes store throughout the year.

ITV’s managing director of global content, Dawn Airey, said that the partnership with Apple shows that ITV is delivering on its strategy of making content available on multiple platforms. Airey, who was hired from British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC last May, is in charge of doubling sales of ITV programs and intellectual property to the international market by 2012. ITV’s global content division brings together all of ITV’s U.K. and international production and distribution businesses.

ITV’s broadband service has delivered 38 million videos since August of last year, according to ITV, and it also signed a partnership with online community Bebo to deliver premium ITV content to its 40 million users worldwide.

Via [guardian.co.uk]

Right after a recent patent application that sparked rumors of new stores, Nielson Online is reporting that Apple’s online web traffic and sales has grown significantly.  Last year at this time, Apple had a three month average unique visitors amount of 42.9 million, but that has now reached 48.4 million.  On top of this, total minutes spent on the site increased from 9.4 billion to 10.5 billion over the same time span.  From this extra time, the amount of purchases on the site has increased from 322,000 to 424,000, also.  Those are some pretty impressive numbers and really show that Apple is gaining popularity.

What is your thoughts on these numbers?  Is this another sign Apple is increasing its market presence, or just an expected growth due to the hype around new Apple products such as the MacBook Air?

Via [a href="http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/04/22/apples.web.traffic/">MacNN]

So you just switched from a PC to a Mac and you’re completely lost on what to do.  Fortunately, there is plenty of options available to learn about your new machine.  The best part?  Many of these options are free!  Here they are:

1) Apple Store Sessions:  If you head on over to you nearest Apple Store’s Calendar of Events, you will find a whole schedule full of free sessions they offer.  These sessions are made to help you get to know your computer and the software on it and are usually one hour in length.  A small price to pay for how helpful and smart some of those Apple employees are if you ask me.

2) Podcasts:  Podcasts are a great way to learn about anything, not just Macs.  However, if you want to use these free audio/video services to help you, I recommend it.  Apple even offers it’s Quick Tip of the Week (note: iTunes link) video podcast.  The advice that comes from most of these feeds is extremely high quality.

3) Application Help Menus:  In almost every application on your Mac there is a “Help” menu item.  Filled with FAQs, these are a great place to read how to do a certain task.  Just type in what you are looking for and you will most likely find a few options to help you.  I, to this day, still find myself using these sometimes.

4) Google!! Google is your friend.  Always.  Anything that is on the internet is on Google.  Just type in your question and you will instantly have numerous ways to go about answering it.

5) The Community:  Join a social networking site and make some friends.  Your bound to find someone who knows how to do what you are trying to.  The internet is a great place to meet new people and get advice from them.

“Pick of the Week,” a new program from Apple and Starbucks, will consist of Pick of the Week cards stocked at more that 7,000 Starbucks locations that give customers a chance to discover new music and video.  Simply grab the card while getting your coffee, then fire up iTunes and redeem the song or video of the week.  The first song being featured is Counting Crow’s “Washington Square,” but don’t feel rushed because Apple says customers will have 60 days to redeem the song from the date it is available.  The companies expect this new program to drive more than 1.5 million downloads every week.

This is the another big announcement coming from these two companies since October 2006, where the iTunes Wifi Music Store was launched that allows users to easily find songs they hear at Starbucks.  Apple and Starbucks seem to really be enjoying their partnership with each other, so it will be interesting to see what else comes from their relationship.

Another day, another Apple retail location. The computer giant is set to open yet another store, this time closer to the Delaware. Almost in Philadelphia, the new store is set to be located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Not only is this good news to citizens of Cherry Hill, but is also welcoming news to Apple fans in Philadelphia, as the city still goes without an Apple Store.  Thankfully, it’s a super short drive from Philly to the new Cherry Hill location. Apple’s new store is the 10th in New Jersey, giving residents of the state many stores to choose from. The new store is set to open soon, very soon on Saturday, March 29th at 10:00 AM. You know those Armarni Exchange and M.A.C. stores? Good, as the Apple’s new location will be squeezed between the two.

Be there or… sleep in.

[Apple Retail] via [TUAW]

You know that phone that’s all the rage right now? That iPhone thing? Well The Huffington Post is reporting that the bugger is sold out at all three New York Apple Stores. One employee told the paper that customers “can always go online”. AT&T’s stores are also an option for picking up one of these phones, though stock of the phone is unreported and unavailable right now. Even Apple’s online store reports a 5 to 7 day shipping time for both models.

For me, I can account for how busy these stores are. Although I’m not a frequent visitor to any of the three, I do go to them when necessary. As a New Yorker, I personally know how incredibly busy these stores are. On some weekends, and even weekdays there are lines to get into the Fifth Avenue store. The SoHo store is also reasonably busy, but nothing like the 59th Street store, which has dedicated lines for iPhones. Understandably, these things sell out quickly, as the line literally never ends, and customers tend to buy multiple phones. So, New Yorkers (and/or tourists/visitors ), you may have to look elsewhere if you need a new iPhone. Again, AT&T Stores as well as Apple’s online store are alternatives. Personally, I like buying products, in person, in store.

[Huffington Post] Via [TUAW]