ATL the Official Distributor of Apple Product in Jamaica as of July 2013

“With the increasing demand for the latest computer and consumer electronics we expect that the addition of the Apple products will enhance our portfolio in this category. Overall, computers and consumer electronics account for 20 per cent of ATL's overall business and project that Apple will form a significant part of this product grouping”

Comments by General Manager of ATL and assistant deputy chairman of ATL Group, Ian Neita in the Sunday Gleaner date Sunday July 7^th, 2013

Great news for fans of Apple and ATL (Appliance Traders Limited) Jamaica, the appliance outfit owned by Gordon “Butch” Stewart and his son Adam Stewart.

ATL Jamaica is not only selling Alternative Energy products in direct competition with JPS Co (Jamaica Public Service company) E-Store and everybody else as stated in my blog article entitled “ATL goes into Alternative Energy at the same time JPSCo goes into Retail of Energy Saving Gear - ATL Elite The Gransmaster in a burgeoning Alternative Energy Field in Jamaica”.

They’ve also branched out into something else: Apple products as stated in the article “ATL sells Apple”, published Tuesday, July 02, 2013 4:03 PM, The Jamaica Observer and “ATL to sell Apple products”, Published Sunday July 7, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner.

ATL Jamaica is now the sole Authorized Retailer of Apple products in Jamaica and is able to use their Logo and Trademarks in advertisements as well as in the setup of a Store. The Apple products are supplied to ATL Jamaica on contract via a contractor named Tech Medic and can be viewed as a section on ATL Jamaica’s Website!

So we have ATL Jamaica APPLE Stores – Now what?

ATL Jamaica now has to live up to the very high standards of Apple in terms of not only their displays of Apple products but also servicing provided to repair their products.

No details of the deal from General Manager of ATL Jamaica and Assistant Deputy Chairman of ATL Jamaica Group, Ian Neita, save to say, quote:  “Apple holds their authorised dealers to very high standards, as is known worldwide. We are expected to conform to brand guidelines in product displays, etc. ensuring that the consumer is able to interact with and experience the product fully. As the premier custodians of international brands in Jamaica we are confident that our representation of this renowned brand will be compliant to their high standards”.

Hopefully this means that when the latest Apple iPhone, the much rumoured Apple iPhone 5S which is said to be packing a much improved camera as stated in the article “An iPhone 5S with better camera? Bring it” by published June 22, 2013 4:21 PM PDT Brooke Crothers, CNET News comes on the scene.

Telecom Provider LIME may be partnering with ATL Jamaica to launch the product at its Mobay, Kingston and Ocho Rios Stores. Not sure if this means that Apple products in Jamaica will be cheaper.

My disenchantment with Apple – All about the Benjamins or Innovation in their DNA

To be honest I’ve stopped writing about the Apple iPhone refreshes, the last article being on the cusp of the launch of the Apple iPhone 5 as stated in my blog article entitled “Apple iPhone 5 Event heralds 4G LTE and 4-inch Screen - New iPod and iMac Refresh possible as Apple becomes Lawless”. Much of what I expected didn’t materialized.

Worse, Apple pulled a fast one be debuting the Apple iPad 4 in October some 7 month after the launch of the Apple iPad 3 as noted in “Why did Apple launch the iPad 4 now?”, published October 24, 2012 6:12 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News , possibly in a bid to make sure it’s yearly refresh cycles occur in the same Fourth Quarter of the Year.

This is what upset me greatly; Apple thinking about the Benjamins instead of innovation. Which was understandable as under Apple CEO Tim Cook, the company Stock Values was falling, mainly due to a lack of performance in the other products and the saturation of the smartphone market as stated in the article “Apple Loop: Cook To Be Judged On Stock Price, PRISM Prompts Privacy Talk, Steve Jobs On Being Obsolete”, published  6/22/2013 @ 1:05AM Connie Guglielmo, Forbes Magazine.

CEO Tim Cook comes into his own: What’s cooking in the Apple Frying Pan

CEO Tim Cook’s developing his own style as well, now 2 years on in his job as CEO. He sees innovation as part of Apple’s culture, not the function of an iconic Steve jobs and tries to nurture this idea in his staff.

And now there is tantalizing clues that a few new products are really in the pipeline as noted in “Tim Cook's New Innovation Strategy For Apple, Right On Time”, published 7/02/2013 @ 8:08AM by Haydn Shaughnessy,  Forbes Magazine, namely:

1.      Apple iPhone 5S

2.      Apple iWatch

3.      Apple iRadio

4.      Apple iOS 7

5.      Apple iPhone Lite

6.      Apple TV Set

This was the Apple TV Set as described in my blog article entitled “Apple Television Set, a docking cradle for the Apple iTV - Super 8 A Gift for Christmas”.

Then Apple’s much anticipated WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) came along and made some revelations, making hope spring anew again of innovative new products aside from the Apple iPhone.

Apple iWatch – Time is on Apple’s Side

First there was the possibility of the Apple iWatch and the Apple iRadio as stated in my blog article entitled “Apple iWatch and Apple iRadio coming in the Second Quarter of 2013 - Battery life innovations needed to power the Evil Dead for Apple iCloud Streaming”.

Which meant Apple was going into Wearable Computing and Streaming Radio, possibly reviving the Apple iPod line as well. 

Samsung and a motley crue of competitors consisting of Google, LG and Microsoft all caught wind of this low hanging Wearable Computing fruit and are now in hot pursuit of Apple’s alledged iWatch as noted in my blog article entitled “Samsung’s apparently into Wristwatches along with Google and LG as smartwatch-smartphone Tango Catches Fire”.

Now news has surfaced Since early July 2013 that Apple has filed for the name iWatch in Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, Turkey and Russia to name a few.

A strong indication that Apple’s got an iWatch (I’m calling it that from now on!) “Cook”-ing in the oven as stated in the article “Apple extends iWatch trademark filings to more countries”, published July 2, 2013 5:07 AM PDT by Lance Whitney, CNET News and “So The iWatch Is Coming After All (Maybe)”, published 7/01/2013 @ 4:34AM by Haydn Shaughnessy, Forbes Magazine.

iRadio and iOS7 – WWDC Debutants with great Expectations

We didn’t have long to wait to hear news of the iRadio.

Apple brought that to life at Apple’s WWDC, with the name morphing into Apple iTunes Radio after Apple completed final negotiations to get the service up and running as stated in the article “Meet iTunes Radio, Apple's long-awaited streaming-music service”, published June 10, 2013 11:50 AM PDT by Paul Sloan, CNET News.

iOS 7 which came out at WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) as stated in “iOS 7 beta 3 brings bug fixes, other improvements”, published July 8, 2013 12:16 PM PDT by Desiree Everts DeNunzio, CNET News was more eye-candy than innovation, offering little more than a new interface that seemed to take its cues from Google Android.

Apple iPhone Lite and Apple Television Set – The Conjuring to spook the Established Order

With the Apple iPhone Lite and the Apple Television Set being little more than rumours, little is known of these products.

The Apple iPhone Lite appears to be a plastic, multi-coloured watered down version of the Apple iPhone aimed mainly at Developing world Markets as detailed in the article “'Apple iPhone Lite' pictured in two versions -- report”, published July 19, 2013 5:16 AM PDT by Don Reisinger, CNET News, if rumours are to be believed.

The Apple Television Set is expected sometime in 2014 in a variety of sizes and will be a 4K HDTV based on the gathered rumours in the article “Apple HDTV rumor roundup”, published April 8, 2013 4:14 PM PDT by Josh Lowensohn, CNET News.

Apple Mac Pro – 2 Fast 2 Furious pleases the Pro Apple Crowd

A surprise product that made its debut at Apple’s WWDC was a much improved Apple Mac Pro, amazingly sporting the exact specs I’d predicted in my blog article entitled “Fiber Optic Thunderbolt Cables are coming by the Third Quarter of 2013 – Apple Mac's to finally get upgraded as Optical Computer now closer to practicality”.

Its unusual Central Heatsink Cooling design caught my eye.

It’s the perfect system to do high end Animation as explained in my blog article entitled “Animation after KingstOOn - How to get free Video Editing Tools to breath life into you Animation Project”.  

The a video on the assembly process indicates that is was assembled in the US of A, not China!

ATL Apple Stores – The Observer’s Fashion Night Out just Got interesting

So that’s what seems to be what bubbling in Apple innovation workshop, all slated it seems either for a Christmas debut or in the first Quarter of 2014 as in the case of the Apple Television set. Prices are still a bit fuzzy and are a mystery until Apple announces on their webpage.

With our own Apple Stores here in Jamaica to support Telecom Provider LIME, hopefully as these products come to light, they’ll win up here in Jamaica at the same time as well instead of months later. No webpage required to order anymore!

Apple’s Cupertino Kids surprised me yet again with innovative products that have the Apple Fanboys Drooling, if now wetting themselves with anticipation of The Jamaica Observer Fashion Nigh Out. Jamaica can now share in the innovation with Apple’s Despicable Me 2 (2013).

Here’s the link:

Apple Products on ATL Jamaica’s website