retail

Apple Asked Standards Body to Set Rules for Essential Patents

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SAN FRANCISCO—Apple Inc. has asked a telecommunications standards body to set basic principles governing how member companies license their patents, an increasingly contentious topic for rivals in the smartphone industry.

In a letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Apple said the telecommunications industry lacks consistent licensing schemes for the many patents necessary to make mobile devices, and offered suggestions for setting appropriate royalty rates that all members would follow.

Many mobile technology companies, such as Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., hold patents that became part of industrywide standards. Standards bodies often require the patent holders to offer to license their patents to any company on a basis known as Frand, or fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory. Questions about such commitments have arisen amid a flurry of patent suits between rivals in the mobile-device market.

Blue Bottle Aims to Blend Slow Coffee, Fast Growth

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In an era of fast-food cappuccinos and drive-through coffee shops, Blue Bottle Coffee Co. is banking on slowing things down to help itself grow.

Since the Oakland-based coffee company’s founding in 2002, its revenue has jumped an average of about 50% annually to between $15 million and $20 million last year, according to James Freeman, founder and chief executive. As the company continues to expand—with plans to enter Manhattan in the next month of so—Blue Bottle could have more than 200 employees by the end of this year, up from about 70 two years ago.

Apple’s Hottest New Product Can Be Thrown in the Wash

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When thousands of fans line up for Apple Inc.’s opening of its Grand Central Terminal store Friday, many won’t be queuing to ogle iPads.

They’ll be there for the T-shirts.

Since Apple opened its first stores in 2001, it has handed out tees sporting the new store’s name to the first 1,000 or so people through the door.

It is a ritual that is part of a cult around Apple’s T-shirts. Some fans on Friday will be seeking to add another store-opening shirt to collections they’ve assembled as if they were rare baseball cards.

Hopes Dim for a Haight Street Lift

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When Whole Foods Market Inc. opened a store in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury early this year, many locals and community leaders hoped it would help improve a grungy corner of their famous neighborhood. Nearly a year later, they’re still waiting.

Since the upscale market opened in February across from a section of Golden Gate Park known as Alvord Lake, known for attracting drug dealers and homeless people, crime within a 500-foot radius of the store has shot up, according to the San Francisco Police Department. At the same time, Whole Foods hasn’t lifted the overall neighborhood’s business prospects, sales-tax receipts data from the San Francisco Comptroller’s Office show.

Steve Jobs Memorial Held

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Apple plans to close some of its retail stores for at least an hour Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the matter, a gesture that coincides with the company‘s planned celebration of co-founder Steve Jobs‘s life at its headquarters.

Retail employees were informed that a private company event was scheduled and that the retail stores will temporarily close during that time, according to two people who work for Apple but aren‘t authorized to speak on its behalf. One of the employees said the event would last for up to three hours.

Losing $207 a Pop, H-P Brings Back Its iPad Rival

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The TouchPad is dead. Long live the TouchPad.

Hewlett-Packard Co. said it will temporarily resume manufacturing of its ill-fated tablet computer just 11 days after killing its iPad rival as part of a sweeping corporate overhaul.

The resurrection of the TouchPad follows a spike in demand after H-P, desperate to clear out unsold inventory that had piled up at retailers, slashed the price of the low-end model from $399 to $99.

Sony Revamps Retail Stores

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Aiming to take a bite out of Apple Inc., Sony Corp. is revamping its retail stores, integrating the Japanese electronics behemoth’s sprawling product line into a sleek and fresh new look.

On April 1, Sony opened a self-branded store, in the high-end Westfield Century City Mall in Los Angeles. The store, with hardwood floors and sleek lighting fixtures, echoes Apple’s airy retail concept.

Sony’s Los Angeles store is the first in a series that is expected to replace the company’s existing chain of retail shops, called Sony Style. The Tokyo-based company hopes the renewed retail presence will reinvigorate enthusiasm for products, like its Vaio laptops and Walkman music players, both of which have been lapped by Apple’s competing devices.

Apple’s Retail Secret: Full Service Stores

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Steve Jobs turned Apple Inc. into the world’s most valuable technology company with high-tech products like the iPad and iPhone. But one anchor of Apple’s success is surprisingly low tech: its chain of brick-and-mortar retail stores.

A look at confidential training manuals, a recording of a store meeting and interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees reveal some of Apple’s store secrets. They include: intensive control of how employees interact with customers, scripted training for on-site tech support and consideration of every store detail down to the pre-loaded photos and music on demo devices.

Apple to Sell Tech Support for Small Businesses

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Apple Inc. is preparing to offer a package of services aimed at small- and mid-sized business that includes expanded support for company computer systems, part of the electronics maker’s efforts to appeal to users beyond its core consumer base.

Apple Wednesday will unveil “Joint Venture,” a $499-a-year service contract that gives companies using Apple’s computers, smartphones and tablets priority treatment for technical support, training programs and repairs, according to two Apple employees. The employees asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak about the initiative publicly.

3-D TVs Get Cheaper, as Makers Hope to Spur Buyers

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Three-dimensional televisions are getting another “D“ — discount.

Just a year ago, many 3-D TVs cost $1,000 more than regular sets. But during the recently ended holiday season, the gap halved and is set to shrink further.

Now, television makers, many of which had hoped 3-D would boost sales, are sandwiching the technology into their premium televisions while accepting a smaller premium for it. Like thinner displays, energy efficiency and high-definition, 3-D is becoming a “me-too“ feature.

“Prices for 3-D TVs will definitely go down this year,“ Skott Ahn, chief technology officer and president of LG Electronics Inc., said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Mr. Ahn said LG would cut the premium it charges for 3-D TVs by 20% this year and build the technology into all of its new models by 2012.

The muted expectations for 3-D television mark a U-turn from last year‘s enthusiastic embrace of the technology. Television makers rushed to bring the third dimension into living rooms after witnessing the success of the movie “Avatar.“ Walt Disney Co.‘s ESPN unit launched sports broadcasts in 3-D. Even Gucci Group N.V. designed stylish eyeglasses for 3-D viewers, hoping to cash in on the expected popularity of the televisions.