There’s nothing like an approaching holiday season to focus the minds of consumer giants as they endeavor to dream up a myriad of ways to help ease the greenbacks ever so gently from your bank account to theirs.
Google has its Winter Wonderlabs, Microsoft’s hopped onto eBay, Intel’s putting up some pop-up stores, and Apple this week rolled out its brand new shopping app for the iPad.
The Apple Store for iPad app, which is currently available only for US-based iPad owners, comes almost three years (three!) after the iPhone version. Of course, you can use the iPhone version on the iPad, but the new offering has been built from scratch to take full advantage of the larger display.
This means plenty of beautifully bright, crisp, and pin-sharp images, with the app’s developers incorporating pinch gestures enabling you to zoom, browse, and compare Apple’s slew of products, along with a wide variety of third-party offerings.
‘Now trending’
An interesting feature not found on the iPhone version is the ‘now trending’ page where you can find out what other users of the app are buying, sharing, and reviewing, possibly serving to provide shoppers with a bit of inspiration on the various ways they can splash the cash.
As with the iPhone app, you can of course make purchases and arrange to pick them up at your nearest brick-and-mortar Apple store or have them delivered to your home.
You can also use the free app to locate your closest Apple store, with information on opening hours and product availability provided. Genius Bar reservations can be made, too, and it’s also possible to sign up for workshops and events.
A feature possibly meant for real die-hard Apple fans allows you to explore the tech giant’s stores around the world and mark ones you like as favorites.
With Apple’s physical stores likely to be heaving to bursting point in the run up to Christmas, its new Apple Store for iPad app could prove to be just the ticket for shoppers reluctant to take on the shambling masses in order to purchase a new iPod Touch loop.
Apple’s free app is available for all iPads running iOS 7 or above.
[Apple Store for iPad app]
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