storefront
Latest
Humble Bundle moves forward with charitable donation caps on purchases
In mid-July, Humble Bundle will move forward with its previous decision to cap charitable donations.
Humble Bundle backtracks on charity donation cap plans after a backlash
The sliders will stick around, at least for now.
Humble Bundle will test limiting charitable contributions to 15 percent
Starting in late May, Humble Bundle plans to test a new store page that will do away with its signature sliders.
Itch.io will give developers its cut of game sales on Black Friday
The indie marketplace is also planning a weekend-long sale.
Chipotle is redesigning its restaurants to better serve mobile orders
No one wants to wait in line for their Chipotle order, and honestly, most people don't want to talk to anyone either. For those reasons, Chipotle's "digital business" -- orders placed through the app, online or via third-parties like DoorDash -- has grown to $1 billion. Now, Chipotle says it's going to make the digital ordering process even better with new restaurant designs optimized for pickups.
Google reportedly abandons plan to open retail store in NYC
Remember those rumors about Google opening a chain of retail stores? Apparently, it isn't happening -- at least not in New York City. According to Crain's the retail space the company leased (and spent $6 million renovating) in NYC's SoHo district last year is back on the market. If the search giant is opening a retail location, it won't be at 131 Greene Street.
Ask Engadget: best online storefront for a small business?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Cesar, who wants to become the next eBoy. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "I design and make customized t-shirts in my town, and over the last two years they've become pretty popular. I've had to expand to keep up with all the demand, so now I'm looking at taking my business online, but I don't know anything about building my own e-store. What's the best way for a newbie to start their own e-store? I've been looking at services like Wix, but can you think of anything better? Thanks in advance!"We're always looking to ask questions that are a little bit different than "help me pick an Android tablet" and this one's a real doozy. In a former life we once had to help build a site that used POWA, which we were quite taken with, but that's as far as our knowledge goes. Perhaps one of you knows of a truly excellent e-commerce platform for small businesses and can point Cesar in the right direction. Go on, let's be good to one another.
Lego's augmented reality at IDF, eyes-on (video)
It's not as cool as Chipzilla's other augmented reality project, but at least this one exists out in the real world. Present at branded storefronts, the camera-based AR tech uses image recognition on Lego boxes to superimpose their brick-ladden contents in fully animated form. New at IDF was the second generation of the already existing product, which despite being functionally identical to its predecessor, has now been miniaturized thanks to second generation Core processors. Ready to see it in action? Peep the gallery below and the video after the break. Myriam Joire contributed to this report. %Gallery-134152%
Walmart rolling out dedicated wireless shops to 150 stores
Walmart may not be the obvious choice when it comes time to procure a new handset, but the retail monolith has been doing its darndnest to change that -- if you'll recall, it launched a trial of dedicated wireless stores in 20 of its locations last fall. Cleverly named Walmart Wireless, these showrooms are located in the front of the building -- next to the optical and banking outlets -- with an average size of 2,000 square feet. We're hearing that the trial was so successful that it'll soon expand said shops to an extra 150 locations by the year's end. It's hard to say which Wally Worlds will be the beneficiaries of the extended trial, but we're guessing you'll let us know if one invades your own down in comments below.
Sony offers sneak peek of new LA store - no fooling (video)
You might see a bunch of fake news on the internet tomorrow, but considering what we've seen of Sony's new LA storefront, we're fairly certain this isn't a prank. That's right, Sony's launching a newly branded retail store in the City of Angels Friday, and from the look of things, it spared no expense. The 4,200-square foot space is the first to ditch the Sony Style moniker for the simpler Sony Store, and while the aesthetics are decidedly minimal, the experience is anything but. As you might expect, the shop offers demos of a slew of devices; it's packed full of everything from VAIOs to ray modelers to 3D Handycams, and it's also rocking a fully loaded home theater setup called "The Cube." Considering the outfit's been looking to up its retail cred, we'd say the new spot has the stuff to do the job, even if that bright white modular look does seem strangely familiar. If you're in the LA area, you can check out the new digs starting tomorrow -- if not, hit up the guided video tour above.
RIM readies BlackBerry Application Storefront and Application Center
Big surprise here and all, but we hear RIM is actually thinking of crafting an App Store of its own in order to not get lapped by the likes of Apple and Google. Made official today was Research In Motion's plans to introduce a pair of "major distribution initiatives" for BlackBerry applications: the BlackBerry Application Storefront and the BlackBerry Application Center. The former is slated to launch in March 2009 (translation: forever from now), though developers can begin submitting their apps and content beginning in December. Similar to Apple's initiative, RIM will give devs the ability to set prices and retain 80% of all revenue from sales, and it will be giving the rest of the dough to working with PayPal for transactions. Of course, enterprise admins can still maintain control over what apps can be downloaded onto company phones, but you know you can sweet talk the boss into relaxing some of those restrictions. The Application Center is a carrier-customized, on-device tool for providers to host specific programs for customers. Details on deployment (and more importantly, app screening) are all but nil, but considering we've got until March before we can even use the Storefront, we can wait. Angrily.[Via phonescoop]
ZOMG MySpace vs iTunes
Ohai ZOMG. Realz! MySpace can has fab nu Music cheezburger. Wurks with iPod, all 4 awzom Muzik labels! Dayz wil haz MP3 for $$. "MySpaceMusic" so kyoot! Universal Music/MySpace fwends -- bai bai "copyright-infringement lawsuit" for realz. iTunes ftl. MySpace ftw. kthxbai.
Architects asleep at the wheel at Miami Beach store
Granted, I've never really been a fan of the architecture in Miami, but this has gone too far. Instead of the sleek minimalist aluminum monolith we have all come to know and love from our Apple Stores, the Lincoln Road store breaks the mold with its bold facade featuring a metal Apple centered in a square of corrugated metal. Yes, corrugated metal, such as one would find in a shanty town. Now, I understand if the community wanted a more low key design, but why didn't Apple go with something tasteful like its SoHo store? Maybe it's just me. Maybe I have some high-and-mighty castle-on-a-hill vision of how all Apple Stores should be. But even so, the design doesn't reflect any of the design sense we have come to expect from Apple, and that is certainly a disappointment. Photo and story via ifoAppleStore
Moto preps "Destination Q" in hometown
We've known for a while now that Motorola's been throwing together the plans for Operation: Don't Get Embarrassed By Nokia In Our Hometown, but they're just now starting to make some deets official for their Chicago boutique -- now known as "Destination Q" -- one week before the scheduled grand opening of June 8. From the press release, it sounds like the storefront is going to be something of a shrine to Moto's love affair with Verizon, putting their Q, V3c, and V325 front and center. Heck, they're even importing a handful of Verizon reps to hassle you while you sample the goods. We also know that Destination Q is being labeled as a glorified kiosk popup store. In fact, the boutique's home, the former location of the Terra Museum of American Art, is scheduled to be replaced by a residential building next year, leaving Moto precious little time to do battle with the more-permanent Nokia facility across the street. So, where can you find Destination Q, you ask? 666 N. Michigan Avenue on Chicago's Magnificent Mile -- the perfect location for Verizon to test-market its "$199 with a 2-year contract or your soul" promotion on the Q.
