Amid the recession and layoffs, there are some glimpses of employment hope and opportunities to help you make informed decisions on what technology to spend money.
Sony Electronics and Comcast announced Sunday that they have partnered to open a unique retail experience in Philadelphia. The store is named Sony Style Comcast Labs and will serve as a place where consumers can learn about emerging technologies and experience new digital devices.
The co-branded retail store and technology lab, which opened to the public March 16, showcases the latest innovative products and services from both companies and previews future Comcast technology, products, and services.
A Sony Style retail store
(Credit: Gizdomo)Examples of future technologies that Comcast unveiled to Philadelphia consumers for the first time include "The Future of High-Speed Internet" and "The Future of Home Phone Service."
The former offers the experience of Internet surfing and downloading at 100Mbps, about 20 times faster than regular existing cable connection. To put this in perspective, at this speed you can use up Comcast's 250GB ration in about 40 hours.
The latter, on the other hand, shows of what you can do with the future enhanced cordless telephones. Obviously, they can do a lot more than just place calls; they also handle e-mails, IM, text messaging, and access to Yellow Pages.
As for Sony, the new Sony Style Comcast Labs feature the best of Sony's electronics. Sony's current showcase includes Bravia HD LCD televisions, Vaio PCs, dSLR and Cyber-shot digital cameras, Handycam camcorders, and PSP and PlayStation 3 game consoles. Emerging technologies such as organic light-emitting diode TVs are also shown.
Comcast will also showcase all of its products and services from voice to video and Internet, and it will demonstrate how they work together seamlessly for the consumer.
The Sony Style Comcast Labs is located at the base of the Comcast Center in Philadelphia.
We had really hoped to confirm recent blog reports that a massive Apple Computer store going up in midtown Manhattan, which some have referred to as "Apple mecca," will be the company's first retail outlet open 24 hours a day.
But, alas, an Apple spokesman said the company isn't ready to confirm, deny or make any official announcements about the store, so we can only offer our observations, and point to what others have written.
The store--which will reportedly be 25,000 square feet--is located in the underground retail plaza of the General Motors Building on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 59th streets, according to a February Think Secret report. Our photographer confirmed Friday that construction is well underway on a cube-shaped above-ground entrance to the building.
By all accounts, the store is supposed to open sometime in late May, and might also be the first store to feature an iPod Bar.
We were particularly struck by the San Francisco Chronicle Culture Blog's observation that the "mecca's" above-ground entrance "bears an uncanny resemblance to the big black Ka'bah (AKA: The House O' Abraham) to whence all Islamic pilgrims take their grueling mandatory hajj."
Makes sense, the blog adds, "because it shall be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and hence shall be the place New Yorkers shall take a holy pilgrimage whenever they crave a new iPod Nano at 4:00 am or when they desperately need to have the Mac geeks at the Genius Bar instruct them on how to purge all the gay teen chat transcripts and German fetish porn from their iBooks before their Senate confirmation hearings."
For what it's worth, we did find Apple job postings for the Midtown store, and no mention of 24-7 work.
- prev
- 1
- next
