Originally posted by E2EK1EL Apple inks 10-year deal on ‘World’s biggest’ Grand Central Apple Store
Tech giant Apple has inked a 10-year deal with the MTA to open its largest store in the world in Grand Central Terminal.
The 23,000-square-foot store will take up Grand Central’s north and northeast balconies, displacing Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant, according to MTA documents.
Apple will initially pay rent of $800,000 a year, nearly half a million more than Metrazur paid.
The deal is expected to fly through the MTA finance committee on Monday and the agency’s board of directors Wednesday for a final OK. At the end of the decade lease, the rent will move to more than $1M annually. Apple will also pay to refurbish the space.
It is seriously entertaining watching Apple outdo itself time and time again. Putting a half acre plus store in one of the World’s iconic train terminals is putting Apple without peer in either electronics or retail.
YAY... means there will be some WiFi in Grand Central.
malek
heheheh
E2EK1EL
Great footage, looks almost real but almost is not enough for us.
RobSt*r
quote:
Originally posted by malek
heheheh
Wow, Thats some serious balls to try and start a shop like that! Whos makin all the ipads and phones and macs that are counterfit? That looks pretty legit!
E2EK1EL
quote:
Originally posted by RobSt*r
Wow, Thats some serious balls to try and start a shop like that! Whos makin all the ipads and phones and macs that are counterfit? That looks pretty legit!
Products are real, the store is not.
Intangible
Lovin' IOS5, been using the beta for just over a week. Although I don't find any of the new features groundbreaking.... FINALLY wireless sync :)
E2EK1EL
Before - Too bad the camera didn't pick up all the dust under there ... it's like a rug.
After
E2EK1EL
quote:
Originally posted by Intangible
Lovin' IOS5, been using the beta for just over a week. Although I don't find any of the new features groundbreaking.... FINALLY wireless sync :)
I've had Wifi / Bluetooth syncing on my Palm Treo since 2005, Wifi syncing isn't too exciting for me, I find everything else "groundbreaking" and w/ the iCloud service ... everything is seeming'less right now.
E2EK1EL
RIM to lay off 2,000 employees, reorganize management
Research In Motion will lay off 2,000 of its employees, or about 10% of its total workforce, as part of a cost optimization program. “The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long term success of the company and it follows an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone,” the company said in a statement. The BlackBerry maker is also reorganizing several of its top management positions. RIM’s company statement does not mention any changes to the Co-CEO and Co-Chairman roles held by Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. RIM recently lost several executives, including the Vice President of digital marketing and media and the BlackBerry PlayBook senior product manager, to competitors including Samsung. Read on for the full press release.
Research In Motion Provides Management Update and Details On Cost Optimization Program
Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today provided an update on changes in responsibilities amongst the company’s senior management team, as well as additional details about the cost optimization program announced on June 16th. The changes described below are intended to create greater alignment of the organization and to streamline RIM’s operations in order to better position the company for future growth and profitability.
Senior Management Update
Thorsten Heins is taking on the expanded role of COO, Product and Sales. All product engineering functions, including both hardware and software teams, are being consolidated under Thorsten’s direction. This consolidation of product engineering functions is expected to both produce greater efficiencies and help to accelerate new product introductions in the future.
After more than ten years of success overseeing sales and country operations for RIM in various regions including North America, Asia Pacific and EMEA most recently, Patrick Spence is taking on the role of Managing Director, Global Sales and Regional Marketing. Patrick will report to Thorsten Heins and will work with Thorsten to tightly couple the execution of product development and regional business operations around the world, enable faster local execution tailored to local market needs and support the needs of RIM’s valued operator and distribution partners.
Robin Bienfait is maintaining her responsibilities as CIO, including BlackBerry Operations, Customer Service and Corporate IT functions, and also taking on responsibility for the Enterprise Business Unit focused on delivering outstanding customer service and extending RIM’s leadership in the enterprise sector.
David Yach, in his role as CTO, Software, will focus on current and future software platforms, as well as the surrounding developer and application ecosystem.
Jim Rowan is taking on the expanded role of COO, Operations and will continue to be responsible for manufacturing, global supply chain and repair services. As part of the streamlining effort and drive towards greater operational efficiencies, he will also now oversee the Organizational Development and Facilities Management functions.
Brian Bidulka, RIM’s CFO, is working together with Jim Rowan in overseeing the Cost Optimization Program which is currently underway.
Cost Optimization Program
In addition to the management changes outlined above, RIM today provided further details on its cost optimization program, which is focused on eliminating redundancies and reallocating resources to focus on areas that offer the highest growth opportunities and alignment with RIM’s strategic objectives. The workforce reduction is believed to be a prudent and necessary step for the long term success of the company and it follows an extended period of rapid growth within the company whereby the workforce had nearly quadrupled in the last five years alone.
As part of this broad effort, RIM is reducing its global workforce across all functions by approximately 2,000 employees. RIM intends to notify impacted employees in North America and certain other countries this week. The remainder of the global workforce reductions will occur at a later date subject to local laws and regulations. All impacted employees will receive severance packages and outplacement support.
The size of this workforce reduction is in line with the preliminary estimate that was factored into RIM’s full year financial guidance on June 16, 2011. Following the completion of the workforce reduction, RIM’s global workforce is expected to be approximately 17,000 people. Additional information about the financial impact of this workforce reduction and other operating expense reductions will be communicated when the company reports Q2 results on September 15, 2011. As explained on June 16, 2011, any one-time charges associated with the cost optimization program are not included in RIM’s Q2 and full year outlook, but will be identified and disclosed on September 15, 2011.
GGM
Glad to see RIM is actually doing something about their recent decline instead of just making excuses as was common previously. I wonder what the #s are in terms of Canadian layoffs and abroad...
E2EK1EL
E2EK1EL
Images of official Facebook for iPad app leaked
Images of Facebook’s unannounced iPad application have been leaked by TechCrunch. Reportedly, the official application has been hidden inside the iPhone app all along. We’re impressed by what we see in the leaked photos so far; there is clearly a robust gallery feature and the news feed is rich with profile photos and status updates. TechCrunch‘s MG Siegler, who has already tested the application, says that it offers an “HTML5-rich experience” and that Facebook for iPad is a vast improvement over the mobile Web interface currently available. Facebook for iPad is expected to launch soon but an exact release date is still unknown. At least we now know the social network didn’t just skip out on one completely. Read on for two more images and check the read link for a full gallery
