Apple has been meticulously planning the launch of Apple Watch, with advertising in full swing, getting print ads in top magazines, integrating fitness blog page by top model Christy Turlington Burns and also giving third-party app developers access to the hardware much before the launch.

Unlike the iPhone that launched without the App Store, the Apple Watch just like the iPad will launch with many third-party apps available on launch day. Apple has been showcasing apps like Target, American Airlines, Instagram, Twitter, ESPN and many more.

YouVersion the developers of The Bible app for iOS earlier today announced the availability of The Bible app for the Apple Watch. The app will be available when the Apple Watch ships.

The Bible app for Apple Watch includes features from its iOS app specifically reimagined for the watch. The app will bring Verse of the Day, Friends Notifications, Trending Verses and Your Verse Images, Bookmarks, and Highlights.

The developers state that their mission with the app is to simply, “help you engage with the Bible.”

Because we’re convinced that when you spend time with the Bible, either reading or listening, and then carefully reflect on what it’s saying to you, God’s Spirit will do something inside of you. His words will change you, make you into a new person. Ultimately, His words will draw you closer to Him.

Seven years ago when the App Store for the iPhone was launched YouVersion’s Bible app was amongst the first 200 apps approved for the launch day. Just like the iPhone version, the Apple Watch version will also be available on launch day.

Have you pre-ordered the Apple Watch yet? Share the model you’ve ordered in the comments section below.

Apple has announced that Burberry CEO, Angela Ahrendts, will join the company as senior vice president of retail and online stores. The new position has been created for Ahrendts who will report directly to CEO Tim Cook.

Burberry and Apple had recently partnered together to capture Spring / Summer 2014 runway show using the new iPhone 5s. Burberry showcased beautiful photos and slo-mo videos that were captured using only the new iPhone 5s. Both companies share the same passion for design and conveying a sense of emotion attached to its products.

After the departure of Ron Johnson, Apple struggled to fill the position of the next retail head. Cook later hired John Browett who was then the CEO of Dixons. However, in less than a year he was fired as he didn’t seem to fit in the Apple culture.

Burberry is an iconic British brand known for its luxurious fashion products. A quick look at their online stores suggest that the high end luxury brand believes in simplicity, innovation in product design and engaging customers in digital marketing.

Disciplined execution, constant evolution and balance across channels, regions and products underpin the management of the business.

Innovative product design, digital marketing initiatives and dynamic retail strategies drive consistent performance.

Ahrendts will join Apple next year, in spring. Prior to Burberry, she worked for Liz Claiborne Inc. as executive vice president and earlier in her career she served as president of Donna Karan International.

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, commented, “She shares our values and our focus on innovation, and she places the same strong emphasis as we do on the customer experience. She has shown herself to be an extraordinary leader throughout her career and has a proven track record.”

Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer at Burberry will replace Ahrendts. It will be interesting to see how Ahrendts takes over Apple’s online and physical retail stores as the new head in 2014.

According to a report from O Globo, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reduced the price of the iPhone in Brazil by a substantial amount, lowering them down to over 25%. The Cupertino company lowered the price of the 8 GB iPhone 4 to R$ 1099 (US$544) from R$ 1499 (US$741) and also dropped the 16 GB iPhone 4S from R$ 1999 (US$989) to R$ 1699 (US$840).

In Brazil, AAPL does give customers the option for 12 month financing, however, if a customer pays up front, they will be awarded a bonus 10% discount, lowering the price of the iPhone even more. After bringing some of Foxconn’s operations to Brazil, and lowering the company’s overall costs, the price of the iPhone is likely reflecting the change. It is unclear however, if the the new price reduction will affect the iPhone 5 as it is not sold in Brazil’s online store.

In the US, the 8GB iPhone 4 is available unsubsidized for $450 before taxes, which could easily bring it up to over $500. Even so, it appears that with the 15% discounts, Brazilians are still paying a higher amount for unlocked iPhones, as opposed to their US counterparts. Apple has begun hiring for employees at its retail locations in Brazil, ensuring that customers in the country recieve the same experience as all others do around the world. It remains unclear if the price reductions will reflect in other markets around the world.

{Via MacRumors}

Apple’s iPhone 5 is becoming more available online and in its retail stores, as the supply for the product catches up to the initial demand. The iPhone 5’s shipping estimate on the Online Store dropped to one week today, only a few days after dropping to two weeks. The new shipping estimate is going live in North America and in many parts of Asia, although there are some regions still showing two week estimates.

It is only a matter of time before those regions also reflect the change and customers are able to receive their devices a week earlier than before. Apple continues to ramp up production of the iPhone 5 as the holiday season kicks into full gear, and demand for the product may once again increase.

Apple plans to bring the iPhone to over 100 countries by the end of the year and must regulate the shipping estimate to under a week in certain regions, in order to make sure that they have enough devices to sell online and in stores.

{Via MacRumors}

Apple Inc. (AAPL) has officially begun its sales for the holiday season, introducing this year’s Holiday Gift guide. AAPL creates a Holiday Guide every year, and rounds up a list of products and accessories from both Apple and other companies that would make good gifts for the holidays.

The company updated its online store with the new 2012 Holiday Gift Guide, putting the iPad mini at the top of the list under “iPad Gifts”, likely because of its lower cost, which would be perfect for parents looking to spend less this holiday season. Other products in the holiday gift guide include the iPhone 5, iPod touch, iPod nano, full-size iPad, Apple TV, and MacBook Air.

All of these products were upgraded at different times in the year, the first time in over 2 years that all of the company’s product were refreshed with a new model, including the full sized iPads record two refreshes in one year. Apple is just beginning to introduce deals for the holiday season, as the company will also reduced prices for its lineup for Black Friday on November 23rd.

Last year, Apple offered $101 off of all of its Mac products, except the Mac mini, as well as $41-$61 off on the iPad, over $21 off of the iPod touch, and $11 off of the iPod nano.

Apple will likely do the same price discounts for this year’s lineup, but may not include the iPad mini as part of the iPad discounts because of its lower than average cost.

{Via MacRumors}

Last August, Apple launched a buyback program for old iPhones, iPads and Macs and partnered with its long term recycling partner PowerON. The program offers users an Apple gift card for the value of the device, which can be used at any of the company’s retail locations as well as the online store.

The Cupertino company also gives users the options to recycle the device without any charge or compensation if they choose. On Wednesday, ahead of iPhone 5 release date, Apple updated their Reuse and Recycling page to include the iPhone 4S, offering up to $345 for the device. A slightly used black iPhone 4S would receive about $280 in the form of a check.

According to AppleInsider’s report, the addition of the iPhone 4S comes only weeks before Apple is expected to announce the release date of the next generation iPhone 5 on September 12th and release on the 21st. Although the online prices for the recycled devices are estimates, most device owners are receiving more than the initial $200 the put in for the 4S. PowerON also recycles newer PCs for Apple Gift Cards through its recycling program.

If you’ve been waiting to upgrade to the sixth gen iPhone then this recycling program is a great option to get a good deal on your used iPhone. Apple’s all-new iPhone expected to launch in the coming month.

Early last week, Apple Inc. (AAPL) shipment estimate for the Retina MacBook Pro improved to 1-2 weeks. On Thursday, the estimate continued to show improvement, moving up to less than a week, with AAPL’s online store estimating that the 2.3 Ghz and 2.6 Ghz configurations of Retina MacBook Pro will be shipping within 5-7 days.

As noted by AppleInsider, alongside the updated ship times, Apple has also gone ahead to allow users to configure the Retina MacBook Pro to add 512- or 768-gigabyte SSDs to the base model, 2.3 Ghz quad-core i7 Intel Processor. These latest shipping estimates are a result of Apple increasing manufacturing of the MacBook Pros and catching up with the initial demand for the product. During Apple’s Q3 earnings call, CEO Tim Cook estimated that Apple would catch up with the backlog of of demand in August, and has done exactly that.

Apple’s Retina MacBook Pro brings the company’s revolutionary Retina Display, introduced with the iPhone 4 to the MacBook line. Apple in the past has been successful in improving shipping time with many of its new launched products, including the iPhone 4S and the new iPad, which experienced extreme demand during the first weeks of release.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) introduced their new Retina MacBook Pro during the company’s annual WWDC conference and since then has begun shipping the new device to all of its retail stores, as well as making it available for purchase online. About a week ago, the shipping estimate for the Retina MacBook Pro improved to 2-3 weeks. Since then, the shipping estimate has improved to 1-2 weeks.

This is typically the amount of time an in-demand product takes to ship after being on sale for several weeks. Apple’s other products, such as the iPhone 4S, and iPad also carried a similar shipping estimate upon release. This recent improvement to 1-2 weeks originally occurred in the Asia-Pacific market but is also spreading to other markets around the world, including the US, Europe, and Africa. The shipping estimates were at 3-4 weeks roughly 36 hours after the initial introduction.

Shipping estimates continue to improve around the world as Apple continues to increase manufacturing and output and the initial burst in demand slows a bit. In a few weeks, it is likely that the shipping estimate will improve to a week or less on both the online stores and in Apple’s brick and mortar stores, with the online store giving users the option to customize the Retina MacBook Pro with better specs.

During Apple’s Q3 earnings call Apple CEO Tim Cook estimated that the company would be able to catchup the huge backlog of demand sometime in August.

{via MacRumors}

This allows Apple to not only gain more worldwide revenue, but it allows them to gain a bigger base of developers that can now develop and sell their applications in their own country. Although Apple has been focusing mainly on the United States as well as Asia, the company is now reaching out to other nations, including a few in Africa and parts of South America. The full list of countries that recently received the App Store is as follows:

Albania, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Fiji, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.

By adding in these new countries, Apple is offering their over 600,000 applications, 200,000 tailored for the iPad to millions of new customers, who will likely push the Cupertino company’s 30 billion downloads to a far greater success.

{via AppleInsider}

Earlier this month, Apple launched the new iPad in over 30 new countries and is now looking to continue to add to its list of countries. Apple is bringing the new iPad to Guam and the Philippines on May 29. Apple did not make an official announcement for the addition of the two countries and instead silently updated its Where to Buy page, allowing users to select their country of purchase.

Under Guam and the Philippines, a message indicates that it will be released there on May 29. Asia is one of Apple’s new emerging markets and is a large part of Apple’s quarterly revenue, with new Retail Stores opening in China, Japan, and Authorized Resellers in other countries.

The new iPad, in Guam and the Philippines will be available via Authorized Resellers as well as Apple’s Online Store and the cell carrier in the region, Global Telecom. The new iPad launched earlier this year, in March and has sold over 30 million units, and continues to sell as the most popular tablet computer in the market.

{via AppleInsider}

The iPad 3rd generation was unveiled last week, and Pre-Orders for the popular device are already sold out. Apple has experienced heavy demand for its iPad 3 launch and has pushed back the shipping date to 2-3 weeks. The launch day for the third generation iPad has been set by Apple for March 16th, where customers will be allowed to line up in retail stores across the country.

Customers who have pre-ordered their new tablet are expected to receive their new iPads on that same day. With respect to shipping time, customers who order now would have to wait for two to three weeks to account for high demand and shipping delays.

Other stores around the world are also reporting delays in shipment, including the Canadian online store, and the Australian and Singapore stores with ship dates of 2-3 weeks. Apple’s European launches including France, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK and Asian countries such as Japan are all shipping with an estimate of 2-3 weeks for new iPad orders.

Apple is planning to launch the iPad in 25 more countries by March 25th but may have to push back that date in order to accommodate the high demand and slip in shipping time for the new device.

Apple has posted a new page on their website, counting down to a total of 25 billion App Store downloads since its introduction in 2008 with iOS 2. The user who downloads the 25 billionth app or who submits an entry form during that time will win a $10,000 Apple Gift Card which can be applied to any of Apple’s online media, including the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store.

As of today, nearly 25 billion apps have been downloaded worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. So we want to say thanks. Download the 25 billionth app, and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card. Just visit the App Store and download your best app yet.

The winner must download the app after the 24,999,999,999th app download or submit the form, whichever comes first and will later be announced on the web page if they are the winner. Apple has done such promotions in the past, including ten billion App Store downloads taking place just over a year ago and another one for ten billion iTunes Music Store downloads, as well as one billion song and app marks and at the 100 million song milestone.

Apple changed the prize to a $10,000 gift card last year after giving away big time prizes including Macbook Pros, iPhones, and iPod Touches in the past. Apple’s countdowns have gained much attention over the past few years and have become a part of Apple’s massive success with their online stores and online sales. The 25 Billion App countdown is expected to end early tomorrow, with App downloads about 500,000 away from 25 Billion.

Last night the Apple online store went down for some maintenance, and when it came back up, the white iPhone 4 that the company has been promising since last June had vanished. The device’s SKU was removed from Apple’s database, and images on Apple’s website that previously showed the white device had been changed to show a black one instead.

Apple has been experiencing issues with manufacturing the device that has delayed – and possibly cancelled – its launch. Speculation has put the delays down to problems with the white paint, light leakage and even camera issues, but the Cupertino company is yet to give an official reason as to why the white iPhone 4 still hasn’t launched.

The removal of the white handset’s SKU from Apple’s database doesn’t necessarily mean that the company has ruled the device out altogether – it could be updating its system with a new SKU – but the eradication of the white iPhone 4 images on Apple’s website doesn’t look too promising.

Apple’s senior vice president Phil Schiller announced in a message on Twitter in mid-March that the white device would be available this spring. However, it seems Schiller may have been a tad too optimistic.

I personally believe that the white iPhone 4 will be the device that we never had the pleasure of meeting. I believe Apple has removed all evidence of the device from its website as a subtle sign to inform would-be white iPhone 4 owners that it has given up on trying to deliver the device, and that they too should give up and purchase the black device instead.

Of course, it could be a sign that there will be an iPhone 5 this summer after all. If Apple was to release the white iPhone 4 this spring and announce a fifth generation device just months later, there’s going to be a large number of unhappy customers with a device just months old that’s already a last-generation iPhone. To prevent this upset, Apple may have decided its best to just rule out the device and hope that people forget it ever existed when the new device is announced in June.