Oscar Mayer’s ‘Wienerdrone’ is the most 4th of July thing ever

Move over, burrito drones. Oscar Mayer has something that’s much more appropriate for the summer months, especially the 4th of July. Yep, the company has a hot dog-carrying drone, or as it’s officially named, the Wienerdrone.

Revealed earlier this week, the UAV offers aerial delivery of encased meat products, but it can only carry one hot dog at a time. That makes it much less efficient than its Wienerfleet stablemates like the Wiener Rover and the also newly-announced Wienercycle that has a sidecar to keep its cargo warm.

Of course, the Wienerdrone does offer “remote location delivery,” according to Oscar Mayer. It can also fly at altitudes over 1,000 feet. As you might expect, the company says this is indeed the “first unmanned hot dog-carrying aircraft,” but here’s to hoping version 2.0 carries enough cargo to at least satisfying the craving of a normal-sized human. For now, watch the drone drop a wiener in the video below. Mmm, wieners.

Source: Oscar Mayer (BusinessWire)

Your drone may soon have to ID itself to officials while it’s in the sky

Why it matters to you

If you fly your drone sensibly, the proposed technology should never affect you, but law enforcement could find it useful for tackling rogue flights.

The proliferation of consumer and commercial drones in the last few years has unfortunately mirrored a rise in incidents of the flying machines going places they shouldn’t. Think airports, prisons, and events where large amounts of people are gathered.

With these potentially dangerous flight incursions in mind, the authorities are seeking an effective method to identify drones and their owners remotely before deciding whether to attempt a takedown using other equipment, a maneuver which itself can prove risky, especially if there are large crowds in the vicinity.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently wrapped up the first of several specialist  meetings focusing on the issue of drone ID and tracking solutions, with input from  more than 70 companies and organizations linked to the drone industry or with an interest in its development.

The Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Identification and Tracking Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) includes the likes of the New York Police Department, the Air Line Pilots Association, drone giant DJI, chip maker Qualcomm, and Amazon, which has spent the last few years developing its Prime Air delivery drone.

DJI, for one, has already been exploring a system that can allow law enforcement officers on the ground to ID a drone in the air. Proposed in March, DJI’s “electronic identification framework” would cause a drone to transmit its location and registration number using radio equipment that’s already built in to many drones and could be easily adopted by other manufacturers. DJI said that while anyone with the proper receiver would be able to obtain the transmissions from the drone, only law enforcement officials would have the ability to identify the owner via a database.

“DJI understands that accountability is a key part of responsible drone use, and we have outlined a proposal that balances the privacy of drone operators with the legitimate concerns authorities have about some drone operations,” DJI’s Brendan Schulman said at the time. “This is another example of how the UAS industry is innovating solutions to emerging concerns, and we look forward to working with other stakeholders on how to implement the best possible system.”

Of course, for a system that identifies drones in flight to work effectively, all of the flying machines would need to be registered. That’s an issue right now, as a federal court in June dismissed a registration rule for non-commercial drones, a rule introduced by the government in December, 2015. But as Recode points out, the registration rule may not be dead and buried as legislation aimed at restoring it is currently moving through Congress.

If and when everyone has to get their drone registered, the plan to enable law enforcement to ID drones from a distance using special equipment can move forward with a greater prospect of it becoming a reality.

Twitter to serve up live-stream tennis goodies for Wimbledon fans

Why it matters to you

If you’re a tennis fan looking for some original Wimbledon video content this month, then Twitter can help.

As Wimbledon prepares to serve up its first on-court action of the year — as well as multiple helpings of the traditional strawberries and cream — Twitter, too, will be joining in the fun by offering tennis fans lots of live-streamed goodies from the event.

In the latest of a string of moves aimed at ramping up its live video output, the social media company has inked a deal with Wimbledon’s All England Club to live-stream behind-the-scenes footage from the world famous tournament, as well as news, interviews, and match highlights. Sadly, though, there’ll be no live coverage of the matches, which start on July 3, so you’ll have to head elsewhere to watch the on-court antics of your favorite tennis stars.

Twitter’s content comes courtesy of The Wimbledon Channel, which broadcasts daily from 9 a.m. local time until the close of play for the entirety of the two-week event, and will be available to Twitter’s “logged-in and logged-out audience” (in other words, anyone with an internet connection) around the world.

Twitter COO Anthony Noto said the content will “provide fans on Twitter access to coverage from around the grounds from Wimbledon 2017, while following the conversation all on one screen.”

Meanwhile, Mick Desmond of The All England Club said his team is “pleased to be evolving the offering from last year’s initial live-stream test, which was the first premium live video collaboration on Twitter.”

Since that tie-up a year ago, Twitter has sought to build out its live-streaming offerings in its ongoing struggle to win new users and and boost ad revenue, competing with the likes of Facebook and Amazon for content. In May, for example, Twitter announced a stack of new live video offerings for its service via fresh partnerships with media outlets such as Bloomberg, BuzzFeed News, the PGA Tour, MLB, The Players’ Tribune, and Live Nation.

The “hundreds of hours” of original content will bring users exclusive, live, and original programming as the platform works toward its goal of becoming “the first place to see what’s happening.”

But the competition is tough. Social networking giant Facebook, for one, has been steadily building its roster of live video offerings, while Amazon recently snapped up Thursday Night Football rights for next season, nabbing the content from Twitter in a deal with the NFL thought to be worth around $50 million, $40 million more than Twitter paid for the same coverage last season.

It’s official: Galaxy Note 7 is coming back as the Galaxy Note Fan Edition on July 7

Samsung will kick off sales of the Galaxy Note Fan Edition in South Korea on July 7.

Samsung said earlier this year that it will introduce a refurbished variant of the Galaxy Note 7, and we now have more details on the device. The phone is called the Galaxy Note Fan Edition, and it will go on sale in South Korea on July 7.

Samsung is planning to sell just 400,000 units of the device in its home market, with a retail price of 699,000 won ($611). That’s 40% less than what the Note 7 retailed for last year. Samsung says that the Galaxy Note Fan Edition is made of “unopened” and “unused” Note 7 parts, with the company reusing the components from the Note 7 to minimize “environmental impact” from having to dispose of 3.5 million devices.

The design of the phone is identical to last year’s flagship with a few tweaks — there’s no Samsung branding up front, but there’s a Galaxy Note Fan Edition logo at the back. The phone now has a 3200mAh battery, and Samsung says it put the battery through its new 8-point battery safety check to make sure it doesn’t overheat.

Like the Note 7, the Galaxy Note Fan Edition is IP68 dust and water resistant, and the S Pen is also back. The phone is available in the same color variants as the Note 7 — Blue Coral, Gold Platinum, Silver Titanium, and Black Onyx.

The rest of the hardware is likely unchanged from the Note 7, but as of now, there’s no mention of the exact specifications. What we do know is that the Galaxy Note Fan Edition offers the same software experience as the Galaxy S8 and S8+, including a few Bixby features like Bixby Home and Bixby Reminders. Thankfully, there isn’t a dedicated hardware button to invoke Bixby.

Right now, there’s no mention of whether the Galaxy Note Fan Edition will be sold in other territories. Would you be interested in picking up the phone if it launched in your country?

Galaxy Note Fan Edition is official, hopefully won’t catch on fire

Refreshed Note 7 lands July 7 in Korea, with a smaller battery.

The months of rumors around what Samsung might do with a glut of unused Galaxy Note 7s following last year’s recall have today culminated in the unveiling of the Galaxy Note 7 Fan Edition. Effectively a Note 7 with a smaller 3,200mAh battery, the Note 7 FE will go on sale in South Korea on July 7 for 699,600 won, which is around $611 U.S.

Samsung describes the Note FE has an eco-friendly project which makes use of “unused, unopened” Note 7 parts. So these aren’t, strictly speaking, refurbished Note 7s, as was rumored earlier in the year. It’s unclear what will become of the million or so devices which were used and then recalled. One possibility, outside of those devices going straight to landfill, is that “refurbished” Note FE units might appear later.

The new Note is right up to date with the Galaxy S8’s software.

Aside from a safer, non-incendiary battery which has passed Samsung’s eight-step battery testing procedure, the Note FE bears refreshed branding on its outer chassis — an important point of contrast with the explosive model, particularly for air travelers. And it’s right up to date with the latest Android Nougat-based features from the Galaxy S8 — alongside everything you remember from the Note 7’s software last year. (And Bixby, Samsung’s mixed bag of an AI platform, if you care about that.)

There’s also a heart on the box, underscoring Samsung’s effort to push this as a product for fans of the Note series.

Today’s announcement sees the Note FE launching on July 7 in black, coral blue, gold and silver in Korea. Samsung says sales in other countries will be decided at a later date, however the company has already ruled out a U.S. launch for the device.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

• Galaxy Note 7 fires, recall and cancellation: Everything you need to know
• Survey results: Samsung users stay loyal after Note 7 recall
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
• The latest Galaxy Note 7 news
• Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!

Watch the Faraday Future FF91 set a Pikes Peak record

Despite a technical problem, the FF91 made it to the top. As Faraday Future continues to develop its FF91 luxury EV, the company has been putting the car through rigorous dynamic testing. The biggest challenge so far has been to tackle the 2017 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The FF91 took on the Colorado mountain in the Exhibition Class. It set a record for the fastest production EV up the hill, with a time of 11:25.082.

The word “production” is used pretty loosely here, as the car that raced to the clouds is a 1,050-horsepower beta prototype, and the FF91 hasn’t gone into commercial production yet. Driver and principal engineer Robin Shute said the car had some safety modifications, as well as smaller wheels and tires. The car experienced a “small technical difficulty” during the climb, wherein Shute had to “stop the car and cycle it to continue.” You can see that take place at about 10:45 in the video.

Despite the problem, Faraday Future was able to beat the previous record, set by Go Puck’s Tesla Model S in 2016, by more than 20 seconds.

“My goal was to push the FF91 beyond what we thought she could do,” Shute said. “We were able to identify key battery-pack relay and system seal issues that will directly result in improvements in the production process. That’s what makes this a successful event for Faraday Future.”

Faraday Future is still continuing its video series about the development of the FF91 leading up to the Pikes Peak race, so we can expect more official video from the event to come from the automotive startup in the near future. You can see the company’s latest video here.

Related Video:

OnePlus 5 vs. Xiaomi Mi 6: Good just doesn’t cut it anymore

The OnePlus 5 is good, but the Mi 6 is better.

It’s getting harder to justify spending over $700 on a phone — even on a device as good as the Galaxy S8 — when there are alternatives like the OnePlus 5 available that offer 90% of the features for under $500. Then there’s the Xiaomi Mi 6, which manages to undercut the OnePlus 5 while offering similar specs.

Both OnePlus and Xiaomi stepped up this year, introducing dual cameras, sleeker designs, and build quality that’s on par with the best that Samsung and LG have to offer. If you’re in the market for a $500 phone that offers top-notch internals and great value for money, read on.

Hardware

I wasn’t a fan of the Mi 5 last year. The device wasn’t quite as good as the OnePlus 3, but this time around, it’s a much more even contest. That’s all down to Xiaomi sorting out the issues from last year — simply put, the Mi 6 is Xiaomi’s best handset to date. The hardware is stunning to behold, and the software has picked up much-needed polish.

Both phones look similar from the front — there’s a fingerprint sensor below the display, curved 3D glass on all edges, and a single speaker at the bottom. Move to the back and you’ll start noticing the differences. The camera sensor on the OnePlus 5 juts out slightly from the chassis, and the casing around the sensor already picked up a few nicks in the ten days I’ve used the phone. Thankfully, the camera sensor on the Mi 6 sits flush with the body of the phone, but the device has its own issues — mainly a propensity to slide off surfaces. The glass back is extremely slippery, and more than once I came into a room to see the Mi 6 lying on the floor.

The Mi 6 is also prone to smudges. Use it for more than two minutes and you’ll notice a network of fingerprints all over the back of the device. If you care about the phone looking pristine, you’ll need to carry a microfiber cloth around. Finally, the Mi 6 has picked up a lot of micro-scratches — both at the back and front of the device. If you’re interested in the Mi 6, a better option would be to spring for the ceramic edition.

The OnePlus 5 doesn’t slip off tables, but at the same time its design isn’t as evocative as the Mi 6.

However, as an overall package, the Mi 6 is definitely a step in the right direction. The Mi 5 and Mi 5s had uninspiring designs, but the glass back on the Mi 6 gives it a much more upmarket feel. Furthermore, the regular black version is more resilient than I thought — it survived a lot of tumbles without taking any damage. But after looking at all the scratches, it’s easy to recommend the hardened ceramic model.

The OnePlus 5 doesn’t have any of these issues, but at the same time its design isn’t as evocative as the Mi 6. The metal back and the antenna lines at the top and bottom of the device give it a clean look, but it isn’t particularly exciting. OnePlus stuck to a safe design choice, and while there’s nothing wrong with its design, I prefer the Mi 6.

While both phones have fingerprint sensors at the front, the Mi 6 is the only one to offer Qualcomm’s Sense ID. The tech uses ultrasound to create a 3D map of all the ridges and grooves on your finger, leading to a more detailed fingerprint. One advantage with Sense ID is that it registers your fingerprint even if your fingers are wet. In real-world usage, both sensors were just as fast at authentication.

Xiaomi alluded to splash resistance during the Mi 6 keynote, but the phone doesn’t carry an IP rating. While OnePlus didn’t mention anything about water resistance for the OnePlus 5, its CEO claimed that the device has a certain degree of water resistance. That said, it’s best not to take either device to the pool.

Both the OnePlus 5 and Mi 6 are evenly matched in terms of internal hardware. I’m using the 6GB variant of the OnePlus 5, which offers 64GB storage. The particular Mi 6 model I’m testing also has 6GB of RAM, but it has double the storage at 128GB. Both phones are powered by the Snapdragon 835, and while last year’s Mi 5 had an underclocked CPU, that isn’t the case this time around. The “big” Kryo 280 cores doing the bulk of the legwork are clocked at 2.45GHz on both models.

The OnePlus 5 is unmatched when it comes to day-to-day performance.

Although there isn’t much to differentiate both devices when it comes to specs, as far as the day-to-day performance goes, the OnePlus 5 is in an altogether different league. Apps launch instantaneously, and the phone didn’t slow down even once. OnePlus mentioned that it sped up the animations on OxygenOS to achieve this effect, and after using the phone for ten days, I cannot wait for other manufacturers to follow suit. The only other phone I’ve used that was as fluid as the OnePlus 5 was the Pixel XL.

The Mi 6 is no slouch, but it just isn’t as fluid as OnePlus’ offering. There’s an infinitesimal delay when launching an app on MIUI 8 that just isn’t present on the OnePlus 5. The touch response on the OnePlus 5 is also fantastic, and it’s only when you switch back to another device that you notice the difference. Talking about performance, both phones offer Full HD panels, but the Optic AMOLED display on the OnePlus 5 wins out when it comes to color saturation and contrast levels. The LCD panel on the Mi 6 is one of the best in the market today, but it doesn’t quite match up to the AMOLED display on the OnePlus 5.

The main difference between the two devices when it comes to the hardware is the 3.5mm jack — the OnePlus 5 has one, the Mi 6 does not. Xiaomi’s justification in getting rid of it was so it could offer a larger battery and make the device splash resistant. Xiaomi includes a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter in the box, and if you’ve made the switch to wireless audio, the omission of the headphone jack isn’t going to bother you a whole lot. But if you primarily listen to music using a wired headset, then the OnePlus 5 is a better choice.

Battery life

The OnePlus 5 has a 3300mAh battery, and although the Mi 6 is smaller, Xiaomi managed to cram a larger 3350mAh battery into its chassis. Combine that with the aggressive memory management of MIUI 8, and the Mi 6 takes the lead when it comes to battery life. The OnePlus 5 manages to last a day, but you can easily get a day and a half’s worth of usage out of the Mi 6.

When it comes to charging the devices, however, the OnePlus 5 has an ace up its sleeve with Dash Charge. The tech — which is based on OPPO’s VOOC fast charging protocol — is amazing, delivering up to a 60% charge in just 30 minutes. The Mi 6 also has fast charging, but it’s not on the same level as the OnePlus 5.

Software

While the hardware is largely similar on both phones, the same cannot be said for the software. In fact, the software experience couldn’t be more different. OxygenOS 4.5 builds on a base of Android 7.1.1 Nougat by adding a few additional features, but the overall interface is close to that of stock Android. There’s a Pixel-style launcher that’s accessible with a vertical swipe, and a shelf takes up the left-most home screen, giving you quick access to your frequently used apps and contacts.

OnePlus also offers a variety of gestures, and the one I particularly like is one that lets you quickly take a screenshot with a three-finger swipe down motion anywhere on the screen. There’s also double tap to wake the screen, gestures for controlling music playback, and configurable gestures that you can use to launch an app.

If you like stock Android, the OnePlus 5 is a much better choice.

You can switch between three themes — Default, Light, and Dark, with the latter two options allowing you to switch up the accent colors throughout the interface. There’s also a new Reading Mode, which optimizes the screen’s color temperature for reading text. You can manually toggle the mode, or configure it to launch automatically for a particular app. OxygenOS also offers a blue light filter and an ambient display mode. Overall, OnePlus has done a magnificent job with OxygenOS — it manages to offer enough customizability while at the same time creating an unencumbered software experience.

Meanwhile, the latest version of MIUI 8 (based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat) is just as heavy as earlier iterations. Xiaomi has managed to work out the bugs from last year, and while the Mi 6 is much more fluid than its predecessors, it just doesn’t provide the same uncluttered experience as the OnePlus 5. There is a market for MIUI — the custom skin has over 200 million users — but as the interface is designed primarily for a Chinese audience, there are a few features that don’t translate well in Western markets.

For instance, the camera app tries to guess your gender and age when you’re trying to take a selfie. Then there’s the lack of a traditional app drawer. The former is just plain weird, and the latter can be fixed with a third-party launcher like Nova, but you’ll have to put in a lot of effort to get MIUI tailored to your liking.

If you’re one to tinker with every facet of the user interface, then there’s plenty to like in MIUI 8. Xiaomi offers a ton of customization options, and there are hundreds of themes available through which you can completely alter the look of the interface. There’s also the ability to run two instances of the same app simultaneously, the gallery has a powerful video editor, and you can use the Mi 6 at work by creating a secondary profile.

Camera

Like the rest of the internal hardware, the OnePlus 5 and Mi 6 sport similar dual camera setups in that the secondary sensor is used as a telephoto lens. However, there are key differences when it comes to the implementation — the Mi 6 has dual 12MP cameras, whereas the OnePlus 5 has a primary 16MP camera and a secondary 20MP camera. Furthermore, the primary camera on the Mi 6 has larger 1.25-micron pixels, with the OnePlus 5 featuring a sensor with 1.12-micron pixels.

The Mi 6 offers 2x optical zoom, and while the OnePlus 5 also hits 2x “lossless” zoom, it isn’t all down to the sensor. The 20MP sensor goes up to 1.6x optical zoom, and the other 0.4x is achieved through “multiframe technology.” Finally, the Mi 6 offers OIS on the primary camera, a feature that’s missing entirely from the OnePlus 5.

2x zoom: OnePlus 5 on the left, Mi 6 on the right.

When using 2x zoom, the OnePlus 5 camera tends to overblow colors, with the end result looking unnatural. The Mi 6 does a much better job, producing images with accurate colors and a decent amount of detail.

Portrait Mode: OnePlus 5 on the left, Mi 6 on the right.

Portrait Mode is a hit-and-miss affair on the OnePlus 5. You’ll need to shoot a few images to come up with one that’s passable, and even then the camera tends to blur out the edges. The Mi 6 fares slightly better in this regard — the camera manages to blur out the background uniformly.

OnePlus 5 on the left, Mi 6 on the right.

Overall, it’s easy to see that the OnePlus 5’s camera isn’t quite there yet. Colors tend to be overblown, and there’s a lot of noise in scenes with low or artificial lighting — the lack of OIS clearly makes a huge difference. The company has rolled out two updates this week alone, but there’s a lot of work to be done in terms of image processing before the phone can hold its own in this segment. The Mi 6 certainly has the edge (for now), but it’ll be interesting to see what sort of updates OnePlus rolls out over the coming weeks and months to improve the camera experience.

Which should you buy? Your call

At the end of the day, both the OnePlus 5 and Mi 6 are excellent devices. They raise the bar for affordable flagships, and offer great value for money. Internally, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between either device.

The Mi 6 has a slender edge when it comes to the design, and the 5.15-inch display certainly makes the device better for one-handed use. However, lack of a 3.5mm jack is a major downside. The Mi 6 also wins out on the camera front, but OnePlus is steadily rolling out updates to fix the camera issues on the OnePlus 5.

In terms of the software experience, it all comes down to your preference — if you like tinkering with the user interface to tailor it to your exact needs, then you’ll love the customizability of the Mi 6. But if you want an uncluttered interface that mimics stock Android with a few useful tweaks, then you’ll be better served by the OnePlus 5.

See at OnePlus

The Mi 6 can be bought for as low as $410, but availability is a significant drawback. The phone is limited to China, so your only option is to order via third-party sites like GearBest, which provide their own warranty. You’ll end up saving some money in the process, but you won’t be able to walk into a store and get a new unit if you face any issues with the hardware.

See at GearBest

Scientists create ride-hailing tech that hides your travel data

When you use a ride-hailing app, you tell the company where you are and where you’re going. That’s all well and good if those firms truly will never use your data, but some of them don’t exactly have a stellar reputation when it comes to privacy. That’s why a team of scientists from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have developed a new ride-hailing technology that encrypts your travel data and hides them from the app’s developers themselves. They didn’t even patent their technology in case Uber or any of its rivals are interested in adopting it.

The researchers call their software ORide for “Oblivious Ride,” because the only people who can see the details of your transaction are you and the driver you choose. When you fire it up, it receives encrypted data of your location and of the drivers near where you are. After you choose a driver, ORide will send him your info and vice versa. The only data the ride-hailing firm will see are the distance travelled and the cost of the ride in order to calculate its cut of the fare.

A technology like ORide will prevent ride-hailing companies from creating anything that violates users’ privacy like Uber’s God View, the firm’s infamous application that employees could use to look up customer info. It first came to light after Uber’s New York general manager playfully revealed to a Buzzfeed reporter that he’s been tracking her journey. After the New York Attorney General’s office looked into the issue, Uber was required to purge users’ identifiable info as well as to limit access to the app. But that’s not all the company did: according to a more recent report by The Information, Uber also ran a program called “Hell” that spied on its drivers who were also working for Lyft.

Team member Jean-Pierre Hubaux says ORide works pretty much like any other ride-hailing app. You can still use your credit card to pay, because its “protocol was designed not to provide complete anonymity, but to make it very hard to track the passengers’ and the drivers’ movements.” Its encryption also only “adds just a few milliseconds to the search time” and doesn’t impact the experience. However, any company that chooses to adopt it will have to tweak it a bit. Based on the team’s tests using public data on New York taxis, ORide doesn’t necessarily find the closest driver. Fixing that can cut down on wait times.

As for why any company would choose to adopt the technology, Hubaux explained that ride-hailing “is a highly competitive market. He added that “confidentiality could be a selling point or a way to avoid a legal battle if a firm has to share the data it has access to with the secret services.”

Source: EPFL, ORide

YouTube on Android TV plays catch-up with new design, auto-play controls

Android TV didn’t get much attention back at Google I/O, but the platform hasn’t been forgotten. An update to the YouTube app on Android TV is rolling out now, bringing the interface on par with what’s been available on smart TVs for a while now. The app on my Panasonic Viera TV received the new look months ago, for example. The most notable change is a revamped interface that makes it more obvious which item is selected. It sounds like a snooze, but it’s actually a noticeable change that comes in handy. Video player and search UIs were also refreshed to make things a bit more user friendly.

There’s also a big change to how the Android TV YouTube app handles auto-play. Before, the next video started automatically, immediately following whatever you were watching. Now there’s a 5-second buffer, which means to you can choose something else from the recommended items or pause playback before the next video begins. If you’re part of the anti-auto-play contingent, this update allows you to disable the function entirely in the settings menu — just like you can in the YouTube mobile app.

If you don’t want to wait until the update arrives on your Android TV device, you can download the APK right here.

Via: 9to5Google

Source: Android Police

Apple’s First Retail Location in Taiwan Officially Opens to the Public

Apple officially opened up its first retail store in Taiwan at 11:00 a.m. local time on July 1. Located in Taiwan’s capital of Taipei, and called Apple Taipei 101, the store is situated on the ground floor and basement level of the Taipei 101 skyscraper. Apple Taipei 101 is another expansion of Apple’s next-generation retail plans and features the company’s latest store designs and principles, including various “Today at Apple” programs.

Similar to the opening of Apple Orchard Road in Singapore, Apple Taipei 101 is the first major Apple store in its country and has received much attention in the weeks leading up to its grand opening. Apple originally announced the store towards the beginning of June, and then confirmed its July 1 opening date last week.

Thanks to our team and all the customers who celebrated the opening of our first store in Taiwan today! https://t.co/Oj51WaBi2u

— Angela Ahrendts (@AngelaAhrendts) July 1, 2017

As it does for most store openings, Apple put up a barrier in front of the location with a thematic piece of art to get passersby excited about the grand opening. The new Taiwan location’s was a barricade of hand-cut fabric created by Taiwanese artist Yang Shih-Yi, depicting the Banyan tree, a traditional meeting place. Apple even made stickers of the design available on the App Store for iMessage.

Ahead of the opening, Apple noted that customers began lining up outside of the building Friday evening, and eventually “thousands” visited the store throughout its opening day on Saturday.

Crowds of customers started gathering overnight at Taipei 101 for the grand opening of Apple’s first store in Taiwan on Saturday. The curved, sliding glass doors opened at 11 a.m. as employees welcomed customers to come together, explore the store and get hands-on with Apple’s latest products.

Apple gave an update on the store earlier this week, showcasing a few images of The Forum at Apple Taipei 101 (where Today at Apple will be held), the rows of wooden tables to display products, drawers for iPhone and iPad accessories, and an outside shot of the Taipei 101 skyscraper, the fourth tallest skyscraper in the world. Described but not pictured, Apple Taipei 101 will also include The Boardroom, where the company will give hands-on training to entrepreneurs, developers and other business customers.

Apple began a world-wide expansion of Today at Apple in May, which launched alongside the company’s intention to make Apple store locations more of a meeting and gathering place than somewhere that’s singularly retail focused. At Apple Taipei 101, there will be 60 free Today at Apple sessions for visitors, where they can learn about photography, video, art, design, music, coding and more, all through different Apple devices.

When the company announced the new sessions would begin expanding worldwide, Apple senior vice president of retail, Angela Ahrendts, said that Today at Apple was catalyzed by Apple’s “desire to educate and inspire the communities we serve.”

Tags: Apple retail, Taiwan
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