CoventGarden
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Daily Update for July 30, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Historic London Apple Store undergoing renovation
One of Apple's most high-profile stores is undergoing a renovation to tweak the design to perfection. According to ifoAppleStore.com, the Covent Garden Apple Store in London is having minor work done at night so that the busy store can remain open for business during the day. Most of the renovation work appears to be aimed at smoothing the "flow of visitors into and within the store," including moving a display table that's nearest to the iconic glass staircase so that there's more room for greeting customers. The store's Genius Bar has been converted to the popular new 360-degree version, providing a more personable one-on-one situation between the store Geniuses and their customers. Wall-mounted graphics panels have been replaced with a newer design that allows for faster switching of the artwork, which should come in handy when new products or promotions are announced. Accent lighting under the glass staircase that was apparently turned off most of the time because of heat issues is now being removed, and the surrounding stonework will be replaced. Has your favorite Apple Store received any renovations lately? Be sure to let us know in the comments.
O2 offering free WiFi around London's busiest streets
O2 is making good on its promise to coat the busiest parts of London in free WiFi. Between now and the end of July, seven locations including Oxford Street, Regent Street, Exhibition Road, Leicester and Piccadilly Squares will offer unfettered access -- even if you don't subscribe to O2's cellphone network. There's no word on if the network will remain free forever, but given the painful time we spent crouching in Starbucks doorways on recent trips to New York and Paris, we hope the company does the right thing for the sake of harassed visitors to the capital.
London's Covent Garden Apple Store hit by burglars
In what is the most high-profile Apple Store robbery to date, a gang of thugs carried out a smash-and-grab raid on London's Covent Garden Apple Store. The store, which opened fourteen months ago, is Apple's second flagship store. It was built in a remodeled 19th century building and features a glass roof over a courtyard that was originally designed for delivery of merchandise by horses. The Guardian reports that shortly before 1 AM a gang of seven masked thieves rode up to the Apple Store on mopeds and motorcycles and smashed one of the store's windows. They then proceeded to grab Apple devices including iPads, and then jumped back on their vehicles and sped away. Shortly after the burglary, police in the London neighborhood of Islington (about a 10 minute ride away from Covent Garden at that time of night) spotted one of the vehicles used in the raid and two men were arrested at the scene. Scotland Yard said that some stolen Apple devices were recovered from their possession. The police are asking anyone else who might have information about the burglary to contact the Metropolitan Police Service. [image credit: Rob Shoesmith]
Lonely Planet launches audio walking tours in London
This is a cool new feature in travel apps that I'd like to see a lot more of: Lonely Planet has released some walking audio tours as apps on the App Store. Unfortunately, all of the tours so far are just based in London, but the apps will walk you around some of London's most interesting areas, including Covent Garden and the West End, bringing along audio reviews and insight from Lonely Planet's editors and experts. The apps will work offline (for tourists traveling abroad), but they're also location aware, so you can get the audio read out to you when you're in the right place as well. I love this idea -- I am a big fan of walking tours, and I think there's a lot of potential still unexplored in terms of connecting up information with users of connected smartphones. We've seen some interesting AR applications already along these lines, but I'd like to see even more ways to use your iPhone to really explore and learn more about the world around you. Hopefully Lonely Planet will get these tours rolling elsewhere soon. Right now, the apps are US$1.99, half off the usual price, for a launch sale.
Found Footage: Apple Store Covent Garden opening in iPhone 4 HD
The Apple Store Covent Garden opened in London this weekend to great crowds and fanfare, and of course we've been inundated with photos, video, and personal stories about the opening. We'd love to thank all of you for your input, as we all love Apple Store openings as much as anyone! Mike Hellers took some wonderful footage of the opening in 720p HD video with his iPhone 4. Not just any iPhone 4 -- this one was sitting on a customized Hague Mini Motion-Cam for extra steady camera work. Another short video by drcjep showing Mike and the Motion-cam follows on page 2.
Take a video tour of Apple's Covent Garden store
A UK site called Electricpig has posted a full video walkthrough of her majesty's latest Apple Store, which opened just recently in London's Covent Garden. The place is gigantic -- while all we get of the main sale area is a high-speed walkthrough, you can tell it's huge, with multiple rooms and areas for each of Apple's device lines. There are not one but two glass staircases, one spiral and one square, and as the video says, the whole of New York's Fifth Avenue store would fit inside the main area of Covent Garden -- an area that doesn't include the world's largest Genius Bar. Good stuff. I'd like to know exactly where that huge wall of iPads is -- I'm guessing it's in a backroom somewhere rather than out among the public. But congratulations, UK, you've got one heck of an Apple Store there. Now for Jobs and company to build us something even bigger back here in the ol' US of A.
Apple's London Covent Garden store to open on August 7
Calling fellow Londoners! The London Evening Standard is reporting that Apple is finally set to open the Covent Garden store on August 7th. The store will be housed in a building that was built in 1877 and feature a glass roof over a courtyard that was originally for delivery by horses. The new location is comprised of four floors, the top two for offices and exhibitions and the bottom two comprising the store itself. Apple's store on Regent Street is currently the most profitable store in London based on sales per square foot, and if you've ever stepped foot in it, it shows. The Regent Street store is packed from open to close. Sometimes it's so busy, it takes you half an hour just to check out. Getting a Genius Bar appointment takes even longer -- many waiting times are measured in days, not hours. It is hoped that the Covent Garden store, which is located about a mile from the Regent Street store, will take some of the pressure off Apple's first European flagship location. Good luck to Apple with that, because most days it seems like there are as many people in Covent Garden as walking along the Oxford and Regent intersection. According to the Evening Standard, Apple spared no expense in designing the store and restoring the building. They even reportedly removed a set of brick arches piece-by-piece and then rebuilt the arches exactly as they were on a new floor. Why? Because they wanted to lower the arches by a mere four inches. The Covent Garden store opens at 10AM on Saturday, August 7th. Its normal operating hours will be 9AM-9PM Monday through Saturday and Noon-6PM on Sunday. Image from ifoapplestore.com.
