Apple Store

When your iPod battery dies, it's time to get a new iPod. Never a popular strategy for Apple, the company is moving to avoid the backlash of potential battery failures with its self-described "magical" tablet device.

Apple has issued what appears to be a guarantee replacement policy that could help it instill consumer confidence in the pricey iPad. If the iPad's battery doesn't last as long as the device itself, Apple will send you a new device. So instead of replacing the failing battery, Apple will replace the iPad itself.

You have to wonder whether there were any women in the room when the marketing geniuses at Apple decided to call the company's new gadget the "iPad." The jokes about feminine hygiene products have been flying since last week's debut.

"Will women send their husbands to the Apple store to buy iPads?" went one joke on Twitter. And a "MadTV" comedy sketch from several years ago about an electronic sanitary napkin called the iPad went viral on YouTube.

So how did the company come up with the product name? And how could Apple have set itself up for such obvious punch lines?

You have to wonder whether there were any women in the room when the marketing geniuses at Apple decided to call the company's new gadget the "iPad." The jokes about feminine hygiene products have been flying since last week's debut.

"Will women send their husbands to the Apple store to buy iPads?" went one joke on Twitter. And a "MadTV" comedy sketch from several years ago about an electronic sanitary napkin called the iPad went viral on YouTube.

So how did the company come up with the product name? And how could Apple have set itself up for such obvious punch lines?

It was not so long ago that the spread of the mobile phone sent waves of fear through the reserved world of fine watchmaking. The practicality of a portable phone that doubled as an accurate digital timekeeper made the necessity for a wristwatch vanish almost overnight.

But now, with the popularity of the iPhone and its myriad applications, the watch industry finally has been able to embrace a product that once was considered the biggest threat to its survival.

Microsoft is allegedly stealing Apple Store employees right out from under CEO Steve Jobs' nose. Reports are circulating about Microsoft targeting Apple Store retail managers and sales staff to man its Microsoft Stores.

IT Blogwatch broke the story, which cites anonymous tipsters. Anonymous or not, the story is spreading like wildfire and drawing varied reactions from industry watchers and Apple loyalists. But the poaching may not be Apple's only problem.

Apple's new speedy iPhone 3GS will soon be in the hands of owners who pre-ordered the device just one week after it debuted at the Worldwide Developers Conference. People with orders through the Apple Store have received an e-mail that their device has been shipped, AppleInsider says.

"My 32GB black iPhone that I ordered the second I could on the Apple iPhone store has officially shipped," said DiscoNomad, a forum member of AppleInsider. "I found out this morning via an e-mail, which included a tracking number."

With the Jerry Seinfeld era behind it, Microsoft is moving ahead with a new Windows advertising strategy that aims at Apple's Achilles' heel: Higher prices. The commercial appears to be the first in a series called Laptop Hunters, and it puts Microsoft on the offense instead of the defense.

Microsoft's just-released Windows commercial taps into the price-conscious, recession-driven consumer mind-set by following a woman on a mission to find a laptop that's fast and has a comfortable keyboard and a 17-inch screen -- for $1,000 or less.

Apple has made good on Vice President Philip Schiller's promise at Macworld to release iLife 'O9 this month. Beginning Tuesday, all new Macs will have an upgraded version of iLife '09 with iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand. The software suite is for Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later.

For those who already have a Mac, Apple is making iLife available through the online Apple Store, in its retail stores, and through authorized resellers.

iLife is one of the main reasons customers purchase a Mac over any other personal computer, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said when iLife '09 was announced.

Apple has updated its MacBook under the radar with a new graphics chip without changing the laptop's $999 price tag.

Until now, the MacBook has been offered in a white polycarbonate shell with an older graphics processor. With the change, the white MacBook has a Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics processor that makes it operate more like the aluminum MacBooks that cost $1,300, according to the Apple Store.

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and now CyberMonday. Launched several years ago by shop.org, an organization that promotes online retailers, CyberMonday features special sales and free shipping to complement the discounts in brick-and-mortar retailers on Friday.