• Apple Planning Major Product Launch For 10th Retail Anniversary?

    // Gradly // Apple, blog, Featured, News, Rants & Raves, Rumors 1 Response

    Apple Stores in the United States will hold all-hands meetings Sunday, May 22nd. And given the preparations and secrecy, something big seems like it’s about to unveil in celebration of Apple’s ten year retail anniversary.

    Apple’s 10th retail anniversary is actually on Thursday, May 19th, but it seems Apple intends to celebrate it on Sunday, May 22nd instead, however, here is the latest update on the matter comes directly from the guys at BGR, who adds the following:

    • There’s an overnight shift planned for around 10-15 individuals at each Apple Store to work from late Saturday all the way through mid-Sunday.
    • During the overnight shift, it’s going to be required that employees lock cell phones in the main office. They will also have to sign an NDA with Apple.
    • There are a wide variety of roles, we’re told, for the overnight shift. This includes all visuals staff, a manager, a business team member, a few Genius team members, one back-of-house employee, and a few generic Apple specialists.
    • Apple stores have apparently already received hardware to install, and are expecting more hardware to come on Friday or Saturday. All materials that Apple stores have received have been instructed to be under lock and key until after close on Saturday night.
    • Apple employees will be putting up black curtains at all stores so that people walking outside cannot see inside.
    • Employees have had to download gigabytes of data from Apple corporate labeled, “training” in a password-protected zipped folder that won’t accessible to managers or anyone else until Saturday afternoon.
    • Lastly, all Apple retail stores have mandatory meetings on Sunday, May 22nd. Most meeting are scheduled for the morning, but there are evening meetings as well.

    The question is, what is Apple planning? What could May 22nd hold in store for us? A new product? New hardware?

    Update:

    A lot of unconfirmed yet rumors surfaced claiming that Apple is about to give its retail stores a “huge” update – something Apple is referring to as “Apple Store 2.0″ – which involves adding new “Startup Sessions,” interactive iPad signage, new sound systems and even a new Apple Store iOS app with augmented reality capabilities.

  • Microsoft and Nokia to Begin Acquisition Talks Next Week

    // Gradly // Acquisition, blog, Featured, Microsoft, News, Nokia, Rants & Raves, Rumors No Responses

    Nokia is set to begin discussing the possibility of an acquisition by Microsoft, according to industry insider Eldar Murtazin. The blogger, who has a proven track record of disseminating accurate intel, says negotiations will begin next week and the results will not immediately be made public. If the two giants do work out a sale, however, it could close before the end of 2011. It seems that the deal of selling Nokia to Microsoft is now on the table. Exactly one week ago Microsoft has acquired the Internet Telephony Skype for $8.5 Billion. Is Nokia coming the next?!

    Today Eldar Murtazin had this quip on his blog:

    Next week Nokia will start the negotiations about the sale of it’s phone unit to Microsoft. For now the results of the negotiations won’t be public, but the deal might close before the end of 2011. Both companies are in a big hurry.

    If this came from any other source, I probably would have dismissed it. But coming from a guy who broke the news about the first Nokia Windows Phone deal, weeks before it happened. I’m starting to wonder if this is really the beginning of the end of Nokia?

    Nokia PR team stepped in on this issue here in comments and on Twitter with a sort of denial:

    We normally don’t comment on rumours as you know, but we have to say that Eldar’s rumours are obviously getting less accurate with every passing moment.

    Eldar Murtazin went on to say:

    While casting some doubts – it actually does not sound like and outright denial. Something along the lines of “We are not in any negotiations about the sale of the company and do not have any plans to enter into one” – would have sounded more convincing. But I’m not sure if even that would help much at this point.

    All it takes, is a look back about how the original story about Nokia Windows phone deal unfolded, and how surprised people at all levels below the very top were. I bet that in January very few people at Nokia were aware that dropping Symbian and Meego, and going Windows Phone 100% was even an option.

  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon First Review Hit the Web

    // Gradly // blog, Featured, Movies, News, Poster, Reviews, Superheroes 1 Response

    Here is the first review for the upcoming action-packed flick Transformers: Dark of the Moon and it proves that the movie will have around 2.5 hours of excitement. The review written by Capone over at AICN, saying that this is the best Transformers movie yet. Be ware of possible spoilers for sure.

    Here’s some of what he had in his review:

    The first hour and a half of DARK OF THE MOON focuses primarily on story (with brief fight and chase sequences pepperd in), but it’s actually a cool story about the Autobots finding out that the technology that was supposed to save their race and planet has been sitting on the moon the entire time they’ve been on earth and nobody bothered to tell them; Optimus Prime is not amused.

    It was in the final hour of this TRANSFORMERS chapter that I simply forgot to breathe; there isn’t a spare second to do so. For a solid hour, Bay and his CGI-created robot buddies decimate Chicago. And I won’t lie: seeing it so realistically and utterly leveled was almost more than I could handle.

    The clever script manages to find new ways to place Transformers into world events.

    I have to admit, I’m genuinely surprised what a strong effort this film is, not just in terms of its scope, but also in its pacing, performances, and ideas. This one dares to go dark from time to time, and that helped me find the often-lacking component of many Bay films: emotion. You probably won’t shed any tears watching DARK OF THE MOON, but you will care when certain lives are lost or in peril. This one might actually rock you a little to your foundation; get excited about that. The summer keeps getting incrementally better from where I’m sitting.

    To read the full review click here.

  • Cars 2 New Theatrical Trailer

    // Gradly // blog, Movies, News, Pixar, Poster, Trailer, Wallpaper No Responses

    Disney have released the final theatrical trailer for Disney Pixar’s new movie, Cars 2, directed by John Lasseter and has a voice cast which includes Tony Shalhoub, John Ratzenberger, Owen Wilson, Cheech Marin, Larry The Cable Guy, Bonnie Hunt, Michael Caine and Michael Keaton.

    Official Synopsis:

    T Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2” when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret spy mission, Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. Adding to the fast-paced fun is a colorful new all-car cast that includes secret agents, menacing villains and international racing competitors.

    Cars arrives in theaters on June 24th