loving the Apple (in a Beta'ish way)
The glorious glass tower that stands out at the IFC Mall, Pudong Shanghai is Apple’s second retail store in China, the first being in Beijing. This new store’s glass tower can definitely match the glass cube at the Fifth Avenue store in New York.
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2010 could be a very exciting year for Apple. Towards the end of last year, Jimmy and I were discussing what would be the top 10 things we’d like to see from Apple this year and here it is. Some of these we know will happen, some others will be like praying for rain in the middle of the desert. Who knows, miracles might happen right?
Let’s put things into perspective. If you sat down and counted from 1 to 1 billion, you would take about 95 years to complete. And if you were to find a fishbowl big enough to fit 1 billion goldfishes, you would need a stadium to fit them all. Now double that.
Apple announced last Monday that the app store has surpassed 2 billion downloads from 50 million iPhone and iPod Touch users worldwide. That’s an average of 40 apps per device and according to Steve Jobs, half a billion was downloaded in this quarter alone. The calculators here in iHeartApple don’t have enough room to display enough zeros, so while we buy new ones, AppleInsider has kindly done all the maths for us. In the last 80 days alone, 6.3 million apps were downloaded per day, up from 4.1 million per day in the first 365 days of the app store launch.
That’s a staggering amount considering Singapore’s population barely tipped 4.99 million, as of June 2009.
What does this all mean for us? Well, I think a mobile device is only as useful as what it can do for you. With 85,000 apps to choose from, your iPhone and iPod Touch will give you far better mileage than other mobile devices currently in the market, all packed in a sleek and intuitive user interface Apple is famous for.
This 2 billion downloads is only the beginning. With numbers like this, Apple’s app store is by far the best solution for developers who are looking for a robust distribution infrastructure and this only means we will soon see more and more apps come through as software makers choose this app store over others.
So if you already own an iPhone or iPod Touch, I think we’re on the right boat with this one. If not, you can pick up a new iPod Touch from Apple SG Store and an iPhone from SingTel.
Just a filler before we get back to hopefully more-regular postings…
This was self-written and recorded live in the NYC Apple Store by Ray William Johnson of Fatty Spins. Not the first and definitely not the last to record stuff in those funky Apple Stores in the US. Have a look at the raw footage if you thought it was green-screened.
Doubt you can try it here in town as most only provide restricted access to the Macs on display in Apple resellers.
If you are a student, faculty or staff member of any qualified Education institution in Singapore, or even parents of a student studying there, between now till September 8, 2009, you can buy a Mac at Apple’s special price for Education purchases, and at the same time, get an iPod touch for free!
Go pop over to the Apple Online Store Singapore to take advantage of the one day Red Wednesday Sale.
Some of the better discounts are at the accessories section – discounts can be up to 30% off (like the Sennheiser CX300 In-Ear Earphones. Not so much for the Mac hardware though. Most offers are good enough to offset the GST charges.
So don’t wait, go have a look at the “Apple Store SG One Day Sale”: http://store.apple.com/sg/browse/campaigns/red_wed?mco=MzEzMTkxNA.
Apple Singapore updated the Apple Store with a notice for Red Wednesday – a one day special sale, like Black Friday in the USA.
Come back to the Apple Online Store this Wednesday for a special one-day-only shopping event. You’ll find dozens of great iPod, iPhone and Mac gift ideas – all with free delivery.
Looks like a good time to get some discounted items and accessories for yourself, your family and friends. So remember to put a note on your calendar for 14 January 2009 for this one day sale.
For those who don’t need the newest and the baddest Macs that Apple come out with, you can always save a fair bit at the Apple Store’s Refurbished section. These machines are all tested and certified by Apple and also comes with a one year warranty. Do check back often as stocks are limited and not every Macs are available.
This weekend feature item is the iMac 20-inch 2.66GHz. This model has almost the same spec as the latest iMac at the Apple Store except the graphics card is an ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT and not the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO. Other specs includes 2GB RAM, 320GB Serial ATA 7200rpm Hard drive.
The refurbished iMac is selling at S$1,948 (including GST) with a savings of 18% off its retail price whereas the current retail price of the 20-inch 2.66GHz model is S$2,388. Get it while this item is available.
Other items available at the Refurbished section are the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro. There is also a list of refurbished iPods that are on sale though most of them are the older models. But they are great for Christmas gifts for the younger ones!
These new In-Ear Headphones are available from the Singapore Apple’s Online Store for a nice price of S$128 and will be delivered between 7-10 days.
These new headphones gives better audio quality and improved sound isolation. It also comes with a remote volume control, music and video control and also has a built-in mic. However, as noted by iLounge, although they can be used with the iPhone, volume control is yet to be supported.
I didn’t like the original In-Ear Headphones from Apple as they didn’t fit my ear canals properly and I had to replaced the silicon ear tips with those from an old Sony headphones for a better fit. If you have these new earbuds from Apple, do let us know how it sounds.
Back soon?
The Singapore Apple Store has been down for a while since this afternoon. A routine maintenance or maybe our own version of Black Friday? What’s your guest?
