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Charmin's ‘Van-Go’ is the on-demand toilet NYC deserves
Everybody's favorite cartoon shit bear (slow your roll there, Mike Isaac), is coming to New York City! On June 21st and 22nd, the Charmin toilet paper company is running a promotional event wherein folks will be able to order an on-demand, mobile port-a-potty in select neighborhoods throughout the city, right from their smartphones.
Daily Update for May 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
Long-standing fountain snags Apple's San Francisco store plans
Two weeks ago, we were greeted with the news that Apple was planning to move the Apple Store at the corner of Stockton and Ellis Streets in San Francisco to a new flagship facility to be located in the city's Union Square retail area. Now things aren't as rosy for the future of the new store, with critics being upset with the proposed design of the structure and the fate of a fountain behind the location. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has said that he would be taking another look at the plans to see if the fountain "would or would not complement Apple's proposal for a raised narrow plaza between its store and the Grand Hyatt," according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Other complaints include an 80-foot-long blank wall facing Stockton Street, which apparently caught flak from city officials during the initial discussions about the plans. Apple was, according to the Chronicle, "very receptive" to those concerns. The project is by no means in "shovel ready" condition; it also needs to pass muster by the city's planning and historic preservation commissions. The 1970s vintage fountain -- seen in the image at top -- is on property owned by the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, which has noted that "it's too premature" to address whether Apple's proposal will require changes.
Apple to re-locate flagship store in San Francisco
Attendees of Macworld/iWorld and WWDC have always known that if they needed an Apple fix during their conference stay, they could walk over to the Apple Store at the corner of Stockton and Ellis streets. The SFGate blog is reporting that the company has submitted plans to open a new flagship store on Union Square a few blocks away. The new store is expected to occupy a space at Stockton and Post streets that was previously the home of a Levi's store. The design of the new building is intriguing -- it's a silver box-shaped store with an all-glass front, with the iconic Apple logo seemingly floating in midair. Apple said that the move to the new location -- about 45 percent larger than the existing store -- will increase employment by about 50 jobs over the existing 350. There's currently no schedule for the renovation and relocation. San Francisco politicians were thrilled by the news, with Supervisor David Chiu saying that he hoped the new flagship store would "turbo-charge" the Union Square area, and Mayor Ed Lee saying his office is working with Apple on green initiatives.
The Nintendo 3DS New York City launch event, in pictures
Trust us when we say this: you were lucky not to have weathered NYC's shockingly cold East Village this evening. No matter how much you want a Nintendo 3DS -- nothing was worth the blistering wait. Except, to the hundreds of folks munching down hot dogs and giant pretzels (not to mention the free tacos), and happily donning 3DS-branded woolen caps and tees, the cold wasn't such a big deal. As we approached the front of the line, blankets and makeshift blanket forts were keeping the most loyal -- or perhaps the craziest? -- warm in the last painful hour, with smiles as ubiquitous as the blankets. The cold, it seems, may have pushed some people off. As you'll see in the gallery after the break, the 3DS's big coming-out party could've probably used a few more attendees lining up to get inside. We're sure Nintendo will have no problem getting rid of consoles at launch and in the coming weeks, but the catering company from tonight's event is likely gonna need to get rid of a few hundred extra hot dogs.
Hideo Kojima autograph signings scheduled for Los Angeles and New York
Did you miss your chance to meet Hideo Kojima for the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4? You'll have yet another opportunity, this time to coincide with the launch of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Provided you're willing to travel to Los Angeles or New York, you'll be able to say "Hi!" to the man most famously known for his involvement in the Zone of the Enders franchise. Kojima will make his appearance in New York on June 11, at Uniqlo from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and at Best Buy Union Square from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.. West Coasters will want to stop by the Universal Citywalk GameStop in Los Angeles on June 13 between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Don't forget to mark your calendars. And, if you want to guarantee a visit with the game designer, you best start waiting in line ... now.
Panasonic 3D home entertainment system goes on sale to a country in mourning
Beginning today, customers at Best Buy's Magnolia stores can pick up that Panasonic full HD 3D Home Entertainment System the kids in Japan have been going crazy over for the last month or so. Consisting of a 50-inch Viera VT20 HDTV, a BDT300 Blu-ray Disc Player, and but one pair of Panasonic 3D Active Shutter glasses, the total price is $2900 -- but if you plan on having company over you'll need to pick up additional pairs of 3D eyewear for $150 each. As you well know, Panny is due to start sponsoring free 3D programming to DirecTV HD customers starting in June, so if you're not set up with the service you might as well add that to your shopping list. PC Magazine braved the stampede to check out the scene in Manhattan, so hit the source link to see the pics. As for us, we're going back to watching Snowboard Academy on VHS, as we do every time one of its stars has fallen. PR after the break.
Panasonic's VT25 3DTVs will be nearly 50% off Japanese prices, launch this week at Best Buy
Good news for those who found themselves a few yen short after hearing the Japanese prices of Panasonic's first 3D plasma HDTVs -- their American counterparts will be considerably cheaper. Even at a recent line show the company kept the MSRPs close to its chest, but March 10 Best Buy's 24 hour location at Union Square will sell the first full HD 3D home theater system, consisting of the aforementioned VT25, DMP-BDT350 Blu-ray player and active shutter glasses. Japan's Nikkei pegs the bundle price at around $3,000, with 50-inch televisions by themselves arriving for around $2,500. Compare that to the ¥430,000 ($4,813) price in Japan and you've got an idea of the discounting going on so Panasonic can hit its targets of 1 million 3DTVs (worldwide) sold in 2010. Can't get to Manhattan by Wednesday? The Panasonic/Best Buy team up will reportedly place demos at 300 or so stores shortly, rising to 1,000 locations by the end of the year. Unfortunately they won't be able to advertise an Academy Award for Best Picture winner (catch Samsung's ad last night?) in the 3D demo reel, but between Avatar and this week's box office smash, Alice in Wonderland, we're sure there will be at least a few people interested in taking 3D home once it's available.
Bees terrorize GameStop employees, various New Yorkers
We've only got so many words here to explain a story of bee terror, and as such, we promise to keep the bee puns to an absolute minimum. Here goes nothing! At a GameStop this weekend in Union Square, NYC, a bee infestation forced the employees to shut down the store and call for help. One bee-leaguered eyewitness at the scene talked to ABC, saying, "When I got here, there was already like a thousand bees in there ... then they came out ... there were more ... they were like -- in a pack." No! Only four sentences in!The terror apparently continued for a number of hours while employees indoors anxiously awaited the NYPD "Bee Expert" (seriously), Tony Planakis. "I'm probably gonna be relying on scent ... the queen bee's scent ... it could take a half hour, an hour ... two hours ... I don't know," Planakis told ABC, hot on the queen bee's trail. It's not clear whether the GameStop employees were playing Buck Bumble inside or not, though we're inclined to suspect they were. [Image credit] [Via The Escapist]
Line Walk, AT&T Store Union Square
Click To Play See the line at NYC's Union Square AT&T store as of 4:30 pm.
