According to sources, Apple will open stores within Target locations around the U.S.
By doing so, Apple can cheaply expand into smaller metro areas.
If accurate, Apple will open Apple-branded stores in 25 of the larger Targets at points during this year.
Of course, the launch will be a small test, as Target has 1752 stores in the U.S. Apple has 359 of its own stores around the world, including 245 in the U.S. Apple currently has a similar setup in 600 Best Buy stores. Some of the stores even have Apple Solution Consultants and are dubbed “Apple Shops.”
Apple had previous retail relationships with Circuit City, Office Max and Sears until a decade ago, when they began opening their own retail stores. The Best Buy deal is relatively new.
Target has long sold Apple products, starting with the iPod in 2002.
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According to analysis from Ancestry.com founder Paul Allen, Google’s Google+ social network will hit 20 million users by this weekend.
Allen says the 10 million mark was hit Tuesday afternoon, and the overall user base has increased 350 percent in the last 6 days.
Using “surname-based analysis,” Allen used U.S. Census Bureau data about last name popularity and compared it to Google Plus users with the same last name. The researcher used similar tactics for the international markets.
RWW explains that “Allen used a sample of 100 to 200 surnames to estimate the total percentage of the U.S. population who has signed up for Google Plus. He then used that number and a calculated ratio of U.S. to non-U.S. users (one U.S. user for every 2.12 non-U.S. users) to generate his worldwide estimates.”
On July 4th, the model had user count at 1.7 million, and by July 9th that had jumped to 4.5 million.
Google+ is available to all Gmail users, and on Android. An iOS app is awaiting Apple approval.
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Apple has stepped up to the plate and will put some of its $60 billion in cash to work defending app developers being attacked by “patent troll” company Lodsys.
In May, Lodsys began sending letters to app developers demanding a 0.575 percent cut of all revenue, due to the fact that they own a patent relating to in-app purchases.
Apple has now filed a motion to intervene on behalf of the developers, which may have not had the resources for a court battle. Apple has also filed a counterclaim against Lodsys, saying itself and all developers can use the tech.
