retail stores

Apple is pulling out of the Macworld Conference & Expo and several other conferences, stirring debate about whether that is a good move for Apple and the hundreds of third-party vendors who participate each year.

The announcement not to participate after the January conference and to pull CEO Steve Jobs as the keynote speaker comes after two very successful years. Macworld 2007 set a record for attendance, and Macworld 2008 topped it.

Rolling back prices is what Wal-Mart does best, but will the super retailer roll back prices for Apple's iPhone as part of its Operation Main Street promise to cut costs for Christmas?

Holiday shopping for hot items at a bargain price took on a new form this week as rumors flew on the Web about a 4GB iPhone to be available at Wal-Mart for $99. That phone was initially to be rolled out at a $399 price tag.

The Storm is coming Nov. 21. Verizon Wireless announced that Research in Motion's "clickable" touchscreen BlackBerry Storm will be available online and at its retail stores on that date for $199.99 after a rebate.

The $50 rebate will require a two-year commitment. The Storm has been generating a significant amount of media buzz -- and, according to Verizon, customer interest -- because of unique features that Verizon and RIM hope will provide some shelter against Apple's popular iPhone 3G.

'Tactile Click Response'

Dell Inc. and office-supply vendor Staples Inc. are working together to offer free recycling for Dell computers, printers and other products.

Under the partnership announced Wednesday, people can drop off any amount of Dell-branded PCs, monitors, keyboards, printers, mice and other accessories at any of Staples' 1,500 U.S. stores for recycling, without having to make a purchase.

Framingham, Mass.-based Staples started selling Dell computers last year as part of Dell's expansion from made-to-order sales on the Web into retail stores.

In a last-ditch effort to keep operating, consumer-electronics giant Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy protection in both the United States and Canada.

Just days after the Richmond, Va.-based company announced it would close 155 of its 770 retail stores and cut 20 percent of it U.S. workforce, Circuit City on Monday said it has faced significant financial challenges and needs to file for Chapter 11 protection in the United States, while seeking protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in Canada.

Apple's MacBook laptop, the company's low-end portable computer aimed at average consumers, isn't just any old product. It's the best-selling Macintosh in history at a time when Mac sales are growing much faster than sales of PCs in the United States overall. And, according to the sales-research organization NPD Group, the midrange model of the MacBook has been the single best-selling laptop of any brand in U.S. retail stores for the past five months.

The reliance of restaurant chains and retail stores on outside companies to handle credit-card processing and other information-technology functions is partly to blame for a rash of consumer data breaches over the last few years, according to data sleuths at Verizon Communications Inc.

Even a chain with thousands of restaurants might have only 100 employees in information technology, so it uses outside vendors for many IT functions, said Bryan Sartin, director of the investigative response team at Verizon Business.

Microsoft has confirmed it will release the first pre-beta version of Windows 7 to developers next month. Windows 7 is the next major version of the Windows client operating system.

Developers will get their first look at an alpha version of the operating system at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in October. Microsoft plans to demonstrate its progress on Windows 7 at the annual event. But the operating system itself won't debut in retail stores until 2010.

Owners of MP3 players and microSD-enabled phones will soon be able to listen to their favorite tunes without Digital Rights Management issues, passwords, or even an Internet connection.

SanDisk, together with Sony, Universal and Warner Bros., has developed microSD cards called slotMusic cards with "more stuff in less space." The new cards will allow users to listen to preloaded music, videos and images from Sony, Universal, Warner Bros. and EMI.

Federal prosecutors won a guilty plea Thursday from one of 11 men who made up a ring that was charged last month with the largest data theft case in history, involving tens of millions of customers of retailers, including TJX Cos. of Framingham, Mass., and BJ's Wholesale Club of Natick, Mass.

Separately the government also said it has evidence the group breached the security of many more businesses than previously disclosed.