MacRumors

Customers at Apple Stores around the country are running into problems attempting to pick up ordered merchandise and make purchases, as Apple's retail stores appear to be experiencing a system-wide outage that is preventing the store from making some sales.

We have received quite a few tips from readers and additional complaints on Twitter indicate that the issue is widespread and affecting quite a few Apple customers. Part of the outage includes Personal Pickup, which means people have been unable to collect ordered Retina iPad minis in stores.

The issue has been ongoing for at nearly two hours now, and according to one customer, an Apple employee claimed that every Apple store in the country was down. At some stores, however, Apple employees are able to make standard sales by hand writing receipts.

It is unclear what the issue is, but Apple is likely working to bring its point of sale system back online as soon as possible.

Update 12:20 PM: One user who had reported the issue to MacRumors has followed up to say that he has received a call from his Apple retail store notifying him that systems are back up and running.

When Apple launched its new iWork updates at its October iPad-centric event, it also officially debuted iWork for iCloud, which is a browser-based version of its Pages, Numbers, and Keynote productivity software. Files edited in iWork for iCloud are designed to sync with the Mac and iOS versions of Apple's iWork software.

During the event, Apple showed off some impressive real-time collaboration features within the software, allowing multiple users to work on a document simultaneously and share changes easily.

As noted by 9to5Mac, iWork for iCloud today gained some new features to enhance its collaboration tools, including a list that displays all users currently editing a project, plus the ability to toggle on "cursors and selections" for each person to see changes in real time.

The apps have also received new folders to make file organization simpler, printing can be done directly from the Tools menu, and it is now possible to skip slides within Keynote during playback.

The iWork for iCloud software is available to all users for free, and it can be accessed through Apple's iCloud.com website. Collaboration through the software is simple and can be initiated through sending a simple link to another user.

Apple today released iOS 7.0.4 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, a minor update that includes a number of improvements and bug fixes for the operating system. According to Apple, the update repairs a bug that could cause FaceTime calls to fail for some users.

Bug fixes and improvements, including a fix for an issue that causes FaceTime calls to fail for some users.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Apple has also released iOS 6.1.5 for the fourth generation iPod touch, which fixes the same FaceTime issue. A new version 6.0.2 of the Apple TV software is also available, although it is unclear what has been changed.

iOS 7.0.4 comes just over three weeks after the release of iOS 7.0.3, which added support for iCloud Keychain and fixed accelerometer issues. iOS 7.0.4 can be downloaded via the software update tool in the settings menu on iOS devices.

Apple has released newly updated versions of the iOS iBooks and iTunes U apps, bringing a clean look and feel to the app and getting rid of the wooden bookshelf look that has been a hallmark of the app since it was released.

Other than the new design, the apps do not appear to have gained any new features.

What's New in iBooks Version 3.2

iBooks has been updated with a beautiful new design for iOS 7.

What's New in iTunes U Version 1.4

This version of iTunes U has been updated for iOS 7 with an all-new look and feel.

iBooks and iTunes U are free downloads for the iPhone and iPad. [Direct Links: iBooks, iTunes U]

Despite numerous accolades for his role in creating a long line of iconic products at Apple, Jonathan Ive is a famously publicity-shy figure whose most visible contributions to Apple's high-profile product launches typically come in the form of his participation in brief videos highlighting the design of the company's latest devices.

But Ive's reserved nature hasn't stopped former Wired.com managing editor and current Cult of Mac editor and publisher Leander Kahney from taking on the task of covering Ive's life in a new biography entitled Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products launching today.

The biography draws on interviews with a number of former classmates, teachers, co-workers, and other acquaintances of Ive, while also making extensive reference to previously-published quotes from Ive and others stretching back over the past several decades. The book begins with coverage of Ive's upbringing and schooling, including an overview of his father's role in making design technology an integral part of the UK school curriculum and discussion of how Jony was already being regarded as an excellent design student by the age of 16 or 17.

From Ive's days studying design at Newcastle Polytechnic on a rare sponsorship from leading London design firm Roberts Weaver Group (RWG) to his time working at RWG after graduation and eventually joining with friends at the young design firm Tangerine Design, the book offers a good background on Ive sprinkled with discussion of some of his projects and quotes from those he worked with.

From there, the book naturally carries on to cover Ive's recruitment to Apple, the evolution of the Industrial Design group, and more well-known topics such as the multitude of groundbreaking products for which his team has been responsible, including the original iMac that kicked off a "string of hits" for the Mac lineup, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad.

Near the end, Kahney's biography touches on the corporate shakeup at Apple late last year that saw iOS chief Scott Forstall ousted and Ive given responsibility for the Human Interface aspects of software to go along with his hardware design role.

Overall, Kahney's book does a solid job of pulling together various tidbits of information, anecdotes, and quotes from Ive himself to highlight Ive's life, career and outlook on design. In the absence of cooperation from Ive and Apple, the book provides the best look yet at a designer whose work is seen and used by millions of people around the world.

Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products is available now through a variety of outlets including Amazon and Apple's iBooks Store.

Another unofficial web tracker for checking the availability of Retina iPad mini models at Apple's U.S. retail locations has surfaced, providing help to those attempting to purchase the supply-constrained device. Obscurely hosted on marine life conservation website Seaturtle.org, the website offers a grid view of inventory checks of each Retina iPad Mini model for every Apple Retail Store in the United States, displaying a green, red, or white box for availability, unavailability, or non-checked information, respectively.

For model/location combinations that have not recently been checked, users are able to click on the cell content to update the data and check nearby stores. Users can also register for email notifications when specific models become available for pickup at their local stores. Apple launched its Personal Pickup option for the Retina iPad mini earlier this week, with stores seeing quick sellouts of many models. Walk-in sales of the device will apparently not be offered until supplies improve.

Last week, Apple shut down tracking website Apple-Tracker.com, which was dedicated to monitoring in-store pickup availability of iPhone 5s and iPad Air models, citing a terms of use violation, and a similar fate will likely befall this new tracker as it continues to gain attention.

Apple and Samsung entered a new damages retrial this week, to determine the amount of money that Samsung must pay for copying key iPhone features and design elements.

During opening statements, Apple asked for $379 million in damages, while Samsung suggested it should only pay $52 million. "Apple is simply asking for much more money than it's entitled to," said Samsung attorney William Price (via CNET).

According to Apple attorney Harold McElhinny, Apple's figure is based on lost profits of $114 million, Samsung's profits of $231 million, and royalties of $35 million.

Apple estimates it would have sold 360,000 devices if Samsung hadn't released infringing rivals. He noted that Samsung sold 10.7 million infringing devices, generating $3.5 billion in revenue.

"In a fair fight, that money should have gone to Apple," McElhinny said.

Last year, Samsung was ordered to pay Apple a total of $1.05 billion after a jury found the South Korean company guilty of willfully violating multiple Apple patents. Back in March, Judge Lucy Koh struck $450 million from the $1 billion awarded to Samsung after deciding the jury may have miscalculated the damages due to a misunderstanding of patent issues.

The retrial, which is ongoing, may see Apple call witnesses like marketing chief Phil Schiller and former senior vice president of iOS software Scott Forstall, who was ousted from the company in late 2012. It appears the retrial may ultimately benefit Samsung, as Apple's $379 million request is significantly lower than the nullified $450 million award, though Samsung is also responsible for the $600 million that was not struck from the first jury decision.

One day after the surprise launch of the Retina iPad mini, small amounts of stock of the cellular-capable models of the device have begun trickling into Apple's U.S. retail stores. The company has been offering Personal Pickup of online orders since yesterday, but until now that service has been limited to Wi-Fi models.

Model selection is currently very limited and many stores have yet to show any available cellular models, but availability should improve over time as Apple delivers more stock to its stores.

While Apple retail stores in several other countries did have stocks of the cellular-capable Retina iPad mini at launch yesterday, the company's U.S. stores did not have any available. Online orders for the Retina iPad mini through Apple's U.S. store launched with 1-3 day shipping estimates on 16 and 32 GB Wi-Fi models, with larger-capacity Wi-Fi and all cellular models showing 5-10 day shipping. A number of customers who placed orders for Wi-Fi models have already seen their orders shipping directly from China, with delivery scheduled for early next week.