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Nike's new store in New York City is loaded with tech
SoHo is one of the trendiest neighborhoods in New York City. It's home to hundreds of shops from some of the most popular brands, including Apple, Adidas and, as of last month, Google. Now you can add Nike to this list. On November 18th, the sportswear giant will open a five-story 55,000-square-foot space loaded with technology, from 3D-printed decorations (pictured above) to a Kinect-powered basketball court. There are also other simple, yet useful, things such as Apple Pay support and large touchscreens on walls that help you call an associate or buy products on the spot.
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.
Comet Ison may have survived its kiss with the sun (update: it didn't)
We humans can form curious attachments to non-living things, so when Comet Ison veered recklessly toward the sun, naturally we rooted for the plucky iceball. Unfortunately, scientists feared the worst after seeing it mostly vanish when it brushed past the sun's corona. Cue the heroic music, though, as new footage released early today (after the break) shows that at least part of the 1.4 mile-wide comet has emerged from the brutal encounter. It's looking a bit ragged after all that, so astronomers will have to wait a bit more to make a final call on its health. Hopefully it'll still be classed as "comet" rather than "scorched hunk of rock." Update: Sorry folks, but it looks like the comet Icarus Ison got a little too close to the sun, as it's been confirmed that the comet has broken apart and is no more. Watch its fiery destruction in the new video after the break.
ioSafe takes to Indiegogo to raise funds for the N2, its new disaster-proof NAS
ioSafe makes hard-drives so sturdy that it can reduce fire, electricity and Terrence O'Brien to tears at the mere thought of them. Now, it's producing a new disaster-proof NAS, but as a small business, needs a cash injection from consumers to make it happen. As such, it's taking to Indiegogo to raise funds for the ioSafe N2, a private cloud Synology-powered NAS that'll keep up to 8TB of data protected from the elements. On the outside, a steel body that'll take a building collapsing onto it protects a chemically bound fireproof insulation and water / heat barrier will stop your discs flooding or melting, depending on the catastrophe. The company's planning to have the units shipping by January next year, when the 23lb box will set you back $600 without discs -- and if you're hard enough, you can find PR after the break.
WD Red HDDs aim to improve company's NASty reputation, bolster reliability in networked homes
Ever heard a story involving Western Digital Green hard drives within a NAS? It probably didn't end well. For whatever reason, the aforesaid outfit's Green portfolio never has been a hit in the network attached storage world, but the company's (in)directly addressing precisely that with its new line of WD Red HDDs. Specifically, these are called out as being "NAS hard drives" -- SATA interfacing spinners engineered to hold up under the continual pressures of serving information to home and small office NAS users. They're destined to end up in homes with "one to five drive bays," with the units available in 3.5-inch 1TB ($109), 2TB ($139) and 3TB ($189) capacities. WD's trumpeting the Red line's NASware technology, which is said to "reduce customer downtime and simplify the integration process." Those taking WD at its word can find 'em on store shelves this week; everyone else can hang tight for the eventual flood of torture test reviews.
Apple to offer filmmaker workshops for Tribeca Film Festival
Filmmakers in New York will want to be sure to stop by the West 14th Street and Soho Apple stores beginning April 20th through April 28th. The company is offering a series of filmmaking talks and workshops at the two locations in honor of the Tribeca Film Festival. The Apple Store, West 14th Street, and the Apple Store, SoHo, are proud to take part in the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival. To celebrate the spirit of independent film making, we're hosting free events and workshops from April 20 through April 28. And everyone's invited to attend. Grab a seat for an exclusive Meet the Filmmakers session - presented by Apple and Indiewire - and hear the film industry's leading actors, writers, directors, and producers discuss their latest projects. The "Meet the Filmmakers" events will feature Q&A's with writers, directors, producers, and actors including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brad Hall, Emily Blunt, Morgan Spurlock, Chris Colfer, Jenna Fischer, Julie Delpy, Freida Pinto, and more. There will also be several "What's New in Filmmaking" workshops that delve into Final Cut Pro X, iLife and iWork for filmmakers, social media in film making, location scouting, lighting, effective story telling, and more. A full list of workshop schedules can be found here. Interested readers can also download the free Tribeca Film Festival app.
MacTech Boot Camp
"MacTech Boot Camp is specifically designed for those techs and consultants supporting home users, small office/home office, and small-to-medium sized businesses. This one-day, hotel-based, seminar is designed specifically to help you be the most successful consultant you can be. Learn. Network. Expand your horizons." We're a media sponsor for the MacTech events, and from what we have seen they are quite excellent. Plus, there's a special deal for TUAW readers here that'll save you US$200. To see what sessions and topics will be covered, check out this page. For a full schedule, look here. Did I mention lunch is included? Seriously, if you are a consultant for the clients mentioned above, these Boot Camp sessions are an excellent way to get up-to-date on what's going on with Apple technologies.
A look inside New York's temporary Apple Store
Apple's Soho retail store in New York, at 103 Prince Street, has been shut down for some major refurbishment. However, a temporary store just a few minutes walk away has been opened to make sure local customers aren't put out. I say "temporary," but according to some photos published by Racked, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between this temporary store and any other regular Apple store. With staff dressed in blue Apple t-shirts, a Genius Bar and all manner of Apple products displayed on blond wooden tables, it looks like this temporary store will be here for a little while at least. Perhaps the only tell tale sign that this store isn't permanent is the wooden stair case instead of the customary glass ones found in regular Apple stores. Check out photos taken inside the temporary store and further details at Racked. [Via MacRumors]
Temporary Apple Store coming to SoHo
Apple is preparing to open a temporary store at 72 Greene Street in SoHo, according to AppleInsider. The temporary store will offer retail sales on the ground floor and part of the second floor, while the basement will be used for inventory. Earlier this year it was revealed that Apple will temporarily close the existing Apple Store at 103 Prince Street as it undergoes renovation, including the addition of a former post office's 5,000-square-foot retail space. There is currently no word on when the temporary store will open, although AppleInsider speculates it will happen within the next few months.
Apple to close, revamp SoHo Apple store
We knew back in March that Apple had plans to expand and renovate its SoHo store in NYC. Now, we have some more details on the planned changes. According to ifoAppleStore.com, the SoHo store will close in the next three months and will remain closed for an unknown amount of time. It's an exciting time for Apple fans in NYC as the iconic glass cube outside its Fifth Avenue store is getting a facelift at the same time. Apple will expand its SoHo store and take over the rear ground floor of the building. This part of the building has been vacant since the U.S. Postal Service left in 2009. The first floor and the new rear section will be renovated, while the upper level and glass staircase will remain untouched. The location is a Heritage structure, but, thankfully, Apple's changes meet the criteria set by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Building permits suggest SoHo Apple Store ready for expansion
Apple's New York SoHo store has a long and storied history. It was the first Apple Store to open in New York City and is housed in an old, distinctively-styled Post Office building. It has been visited by Steve Jobs himself and has been the host of several high-profile guest appearances by the Coen Brothers and the Jonas Brothers. These appearances attracted so much attention that the store was cited as a bad neighbor by its community. Though its reputation is large, the square footage of the SoHo store reaches a mere 16,000 square-feet, making it the smallest Apple store in the Big Apple. A recent building permit issued for work on the SoHo store and a rental agreement for an adjacent property suggests the store may be expanding its retail footprint. The store currently occupies the upper level and a portion of the lower level and basement of 103 Prince Street. A remaining portion of the building is addressed as 124 Greene Street and was home to a Post Office branch until 2009. Now that this spot has been vacated, Apple has reportedly signed a lease for this parcel and is looking to integrate the 5,000-square foot space into its existing SoHo store. This expansion would put the SoHo store on equal footing with the other NYC stores, which average 20,000+ square-feet.
MacTech Boot Camp San Francisco 2011, five days left to save
We attended the MacTech Conference in 2010 and we can tell you: they put on a great conference. The MacTech Boot Camp is designed for a different audience. Instead of the hardcore IT pro, the Boot Camp experience is more for the folks who support small businesses and home users. The event is close to selling out, but you can still take advantage of pre-registration pricing ($100 off) until Monday, January 17. As a bonus, if you're interested in becoming Apple Certified, there's a study session and exam the day prior. You can check out more info on the exam and study session here. MacTech Boot Camp is a one-day program, to be held on January 26 from 9 AM to 6 PM at the Parc55 Hotel in San Francisco. You can check out the registration page here and register now for $395 (it goes up to $495 after Monday). Check out the full schedule here, or the list of topics covered at Boot Camp here. It'll be a jam-packed day, and we'll be sure to have some coverage while we're there. Educational pricing is also available. See you in San Francisco!
Microsoft Office or iWork, that is the question
No doubt about it: Microsoft Office is the 800-pound gorilla of productivity suites, both on the Mac and on Windows. In the latest version, Office 2011, the product teams have added lots of zing both in performance and features. Question is, can you go with alternatives? In particular, what about iWork? The answer is, it depends on the apps that you'll be using, the level of functionality you want from them, how you work and who you collaborate with. As there are great deals to be had today on Office ($80 for Home/Student, which only lacks Outlook vs. the Business edition), it's worth thinking about the match-up. [There are other commercial options, like Mariner Write/Calc, open-source alternatives like KOffice, NeoOffice and Open Office.org, and of course, cloud apps like ThinkFree, SlideRocket and Google Docs. Today we're talking iWork. –Ed.] For basic word processing, Pages is up to the task against Microsoft Word. Sure, things are in different places and the lingo may not be as familiar, and that may take some time getting used to. However, if the end goal is to get your thoughts on paper and to have the flexibility to format these words the way you want to, Pages will do the job. And if you need page layout flexibility, Pages' page layout tools makes for a more elegant and easy-to-use solution for documents that require you to position things around.
Data Robotics goes large with 8-bay DroboPro
Not sure if you've been keeping tabs, but it's been just shy of a full year since we've seen a new piece of hardware from the labs of Data Robotics. 60,000 Drobos later, we're being formally introduced to the bigger, stronger and more capacious DroboPro. As the name implies, this 8-bay beast is truly aimed at small businesses and creative professionals, but there's nothing here that the average consumer can't fall in love with. Generally speaking, everything here has remained the same as the second-gen Drobo: it looks similar, it uses the same genius BeyondRAID intelligent data storage technology and it's not really meant to be used on networks. Interested to hear more? Hop on past the break for all the dirt.
Wakamaru robot to help / freak out UNIQLO SoHo shoppers
Shopping robots aren't totally unheard of from a global perspective, but we certainly haven't seen too many out and about in NY boutiques. Reportedly, that's about to change -- UNIQLO SoHo will soon be home to Mitsubishi's Wakamaru, a humanoid that can look you in the eye, communicate on a very basic level and somehow help you decide between this dress or that other one over there. Word on the street has it arriving sometime next week, so if any of you regulars happen to see it, let us know just how convincing it is / isn't.[Via TokyoMango]
Apple Store SoHo cited as a bad neighbor
Is Apple's oldest NYC retail store causing agita for its well-heeled neighbors in SoHo? AFP and Dow Jones are reporting that the SoHo Alliance, an umbrella community organization, has complained to city officials and Apple execs about a litany of issues with the popular outlet. Crowds outside the store (sometimes overnight) have blocked streets and left trash behind, to the frustration of nearby residents. The recent Jonas Brothers in-store concert may have been the final indignity for alliance director Sean Sweeney. "This concert attracted thousands of young teenage girls who screamed incessantly on the street for hours for their idols, blocking traffic, injuring one resident in the crush, and inconveniencing scores of other people and businesses." I suppose there's a price to pay for being busy and popular. Considering that the immediate vicinity of the store is home to scores of restaurants, bars and high-end boutiques, it's surprising that Apple is the biggest quality-of-life offender in the area, but maybe it's time for some of the bigger draws to move to the 14th Street store instead. [via Cult of Mac]
NYC SoHo luxury condo with matching Bang & Olufsen gear, great view, $975,000
The downturn in the housing market is producing some interesting cross-marketing promotions. Well-heeled jet-setters moving into NYC's SoHo Renwick luxury condos when it opens in 2009 will be greeted by Bang & Olufsen gear, including a BeoVision 8 32-inch LCD TV, BeoSound 4 audio player and a BeoLab 4000 speaker. For sure, luxury space comes at a premium price in SoHo, so we can understand the desire of residents to own a compact system. And with the Renwick's all-glass exterior, the super-bright output of an LCD display also makes sense. Top it all off with B&O's famous design, and you've got a system that's a good fit for the target demographic. Sure, it's not the most bang-for-your-buck setup, but we don't really expect that Renwick residents will be counting pennies anyways -- prices for the units start at $975,000 for a one-bedroom unit. For that price, couldn't they toss in a larger 1080p set?
Datto Backup NAS brings off-site storage to the little guys
Though it's not the first box we've seen built to take your local backups elsewhere, the Datto Backup NAS drive could certainly fill a gaping security hole at many small / medium-sized businesses that are currently operating without any kind of off-site storage. Said devices come in 100GB and 500GB versions, play nice with Windows, Mac or Linux setups and pipe your data to secure external servers (using AES+ SSL key-based encryption, too) in order to keep the process load off of your machine(s). Granted, the annual service fee is $99 for 100GB and $249 for 500GB (monthly plans available), but that does include free support, 24 / 7 backup monitoring and the promise of bringing you back up to speed in under 24 hours should disaster strike. Both drives are available now for $399 and $599, respectively. [Warning: PDF read link]
Huffington Post: New York Apple Stores running out of iPhones?
If you were planning to buy an iPhone at one of the three New York Apple Stores, then you might be out of luck. According to The Huffington Post, the SoHo, 59th Street (5th Avenue Store), and new W 14th Street locations are all sold out of this hot little phone. At the 59th Street store, an Apple employee was quoted saying, "You can always go online." So, if you are looking for an iPhone in NY, you might be left only two options: AT&T stores, or Apple's online store.Update: the online US Apple Store is showing "5-7 days" shipping time for both the 8 and 16 GB models.
Linkin Park performed "secret show" for iTunes Live session
According to Billboard, Apple hosted a "secret show" at 12a this morning at the Apple SoHo Store in New York. Un-named sources say that the set was recorded, most likely for an iTunes Live session that will be released in March on iTunes. "This is the best show in an Apple store we've ever played," said Chester Bennington, who is the lead singer for Linkin Park. This isn't the first time that Apple has hosted in-store concerts for their iTunes Live Sessions; as you may recall, Thurston Moore, Kaki King, The New Pornographers, and many others have all played live for Apple. However, Linkin Park is the most well-known band to play in the SoHo Store.
