Earlier this week at Apple's annual developer's conference, the brand made a point to play up its American roots, announcing that the newest operating system would be named Maverick, after a popular surf spot in California, while showcasing the new MacBook Pro, which is assembled in the US. 

Keeping with the 'roots' theme, the brand launched its new ad campaign that plays on traditional brand themes and underscores Apple’s design philosophy, emphasized by the “Designed By Apple in California” tag that appears on almost every product. "We spend a lot of time on a few great things until every idea we touch enhances each life it touches," says the ad. "We sign our work. You may rarely look at it, but you'll always feel it. This is our signature. And it means everything."Continue reading...

Apple's annual developer conference, WWDC, began as expected with a keynote from CEO Tim Cook that reflected upon the brand's hometown inspiration, as well as a thorough run-down of Apple's latest user statistics.

Notably, the afternoon event introduced a new operating system—Mavericks— for Mac, ending the company's cat-themed era. Brand executives also unveiled a new, cylindrical MacBook Pro, a MacBook Air with an 11-hour battery, and a near-complete overhaul of its iOS interface, introducing iOS 7. 

Top of mind, though, were the swirling rumors about a supposed music streaming service. Not long into the presentation, execs confirmed the new iTunes Radio service, which will be built into the music app.Continue reading...

Apple's new TV commercial, titled "Every Dimension," shows off its just-announced MacBook Pro with Retina display with a voiceover by actor Peter Coyote: "Introducing the radical new MacBook Pro. With breakthrough performance, stunning Retina display and an impossibly thin design, it's innovation in every dimension." Below, watch a video with design chief Sir Jony Ive and other Apple execs extolling the next-generation MacBook.Continue reading...

Before 7:00 AM (EST) this morning, popular Gawker Media tech blog Gizmodo posted a story: "Apple Store Down."

That was it. That was the whole "story." Gizmodo wasn't the only blog to post this development. Its competitor blog Engadget posted the story "Apple Store down globally, let the speculation begin." Geek.com, SlashGear, and Electronista were just a few other tech blogs that followed suit with the same news. Mashable's "Apple Store Down" announcement was retweeted nearly 900 times.

Within a few hours, the Apple Store was back up. The reason for the outage was a refresh of Apple's Appeture software suite. Of course, as one reader correctly noted: "In case this wasn't obvious to people – a web page and online store doesn't have to be shut down to update it." Continue reading...

Look what brand decided to grace Black Friday with its presence? Apple.

Oh to be a brand as strong as Apple with no need to drag down your image by joining the deep-discounting Black Friday tradition. This year, Apple's in-store discount offers include knocking $101 off $1,200 Macbook Pros, $41 off the $500 64G iPod Touch and $21 off the $230 Apple TV, amongst others. Are these great deals? No.

How do tech shoppers feel about this? Predictably:

This is the most sorry excuse for a Black Friday sale I've ever seen. At first I saw this as a missed opportunity on Apple's part. But now it seems more like a glaring slap in the face to anyone who ever thought about buying an Apple product today...

Apple products are available at big box retailers for less. For example, Target offered 32G iPod Touches for $30 less than Apple's online store.

As usual, this is a shrewd branding move on Apple's part. Those who are entry level Apple users will seek out the brands at big box discount prices. Brand-loyal Apple aficionados who shop at the Apple Store? The brand already knows they are hooked. Every dealer knows, only the first hit is free.

For all Black Friday Live! posts go to the Black Friday Live! tag.