Wal-Mart Offering New 16GB Wi-Fi iPad 2 for $299 [iOS Blog]

Walmart is offering the iPad 2 for $299 in-store or online, a savings of $100. The discount applies to new 16GB Wi-Fi models in black or white and, according to CNET, the sale will run for thirty days.

The iPad 2 was first released in 2011 but Apple has continued to sell it for a discounted price as many educational and business customers have opted for the cheaper full-screen iPad, and it is the only iPad that Apple sells that has the legacy thirty-pin connector.

The original-generation iPad mini has been available for the $299 price as well since the Retina model was introduced back in October. It has the same processor and a smaller screen than the iPad 2, though with an identical resolution.

Apple Repurchases $14 Billion in Shares in 2 Weeks, Company Open to Large Acquisitions

Apple has repurchased $14 billion of its own stock in the two weeks following its first quarter earnings call on January 27th, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal spoke to Apple CEO Tim Cook who said that Apple wanted to be “aggressive” and “opportunistic” with its repurchases after Apple’s share price dropped 8 percent the day after the results were reported.

With the latest purchases, Mr. Cook said Apple had bought back more than $40 billion of its shares over the past 12 months, which Mr. Cook said was a record for any company over a similar span.

“It means that we are betting on Apple. It means that we are really confident on what we are doing and what we plan to do,” said Mr. Cook, speaking in a conference room at the company’s corporate headquarters here. “We’re not just saying that. We’re showing that with our actions.”

He went on to say that the company would share “updates” to its buyback program in March or April, roughly a year after it more than doubled its capital return program to $100 billion. Apple has bought back $40 billion in shares over the past 12 months.

Cook said that though Apple has not made any large acquisitions, it is open to making a big purchase if it made financial sense: “We have no problem spending ten figures for the right company, for the right fit that’s in the best interest of Apple in the long-term. None. Zero.”

As of its earnings call last month, Apple had $158.8 billion in cash, with $34.4 billion located in the United States. It’s likely that the repurchase was done entirely with Apple’s domestic cash.

Flagship San Francisco Apple Store Approved by Planning Commission

The City of San Francisco today approved Apple’s plans to build a new retail store in the city’s famous Union Square, taking over the former Levi’s building at the corner of Post and Stockton streets.

According to an Apple representative presenting the company’s plans to the city’s planning commission, the flagship store will be “more iconic” than the well-known Fifth Avenue glass cube retail store in New York City, reported IFOAppleStore‘s Gary Allen after attending the meeting.

Renderings of the location shared earlier this week depict the new store with two massive 44-foot tall sliding glass panels that allow the building to be exposed to the street.

Apple originally filed plans to move its existing Stockton Street store to the prime Post Street location back in May of 2013, but the company was forced to revise its initial building plans after critics objected to the removal of the historical Ruth Asawa fountain and the installation of an 80-foot wide wall along a key pedestrian and transit corridor.

Revised plans for the site were filed in August, and Apple pledged to move the fountain to a nearby location, add an eight-foot wide window, and move the glass wall of the store back by four feet.

The commission has now accepted Apple’s second proposal with one small caveat — the company will need to offer improved accessibility options for the store’s upper floor. Earlier today, the San Francisco Historic Preservation Commission also approved a permit for the project, giving Apple a green light to move on with the store’s construction.

Apple Seeds OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 Build 13C53 to Developers [Mac Blog]

Apple today seeded build 13C53 of OS X 10.9.2 to developers, marking the fifth beta iteration of 10.9.2. The release comes a week after the fourth OS X 10.9.2 beta, build 13C48, and over a month after the first OS X 10.9.2 beta.

The update is available to registered developers through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store as well as through the Mac Dev Center.

Apple continues to ask developers to focus on mail, messages, graphics drivers, VoiceOver, VPN, and SMB2. Earlier betas of OS X 10.9.2 began allowing Mac users to block people on iMessage and FaceTime, as can be done in iOS 7, and also introduced FaceTime Audio.