It's easy to envy the Swiss, what with the fine chocolate and the neutrality and such. Now, another reason to long for the refined air of the Alps: the Swiss version of the Apple Store website is indicating availability on the supercharged 802.11n version of the Airport Express, as yet unnannounced in the US of A (translation here). With the domestic Apple Store showing 1-2 week ship times for the AE, we might well expect to see the new device next week, possibly on, I dunno, Tuesday.An Apple-branded 802.11n router that supports AirTunes and printer sharing, all for $99? Sounds good to me. Hopefully, not too good to be true.
(Just noticing that Apple's press photo of the AE, reproduced here, shows it plugged into the top outlet -- blocking the lower socket completely. Aesthetics over functionality, anyone?)
Update 11:30 pm ET: Looks like someone got threatened with a Swiss Army knife, as the Swiss store has been normalized back to the current model of the Airport Express. You can see the translated page screenshot, as it was a few hours ago, after the break.
Thanks Thomas and James!
[via MacGeneration / Macrumors]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-15-2008 @ 8:36PM
Anik said...
Or, they could have photographed the airport covering both outlets so as to make the image usable in countries with dissimilar outlet shapes - which is also why the plug portion itself fits in that lovely little swappable module.
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3-16-2008 @ 12:43AM
matt said...
Also, remarking about the photo's outlet-blocking at all is pretty dumb. If you need the bottom outlet open, just plug it in upside-down like every other Apple charger ever made. Problem solved.
The number of complete non-issues reported as "problems" here is staggering. The current model works the exact same way--in order to "notice" this, you'd have to have never seen an Airport Express before.
3-16-2008 @ 1:31AM
Cycomachead said...
matt: There's no problem you can plug it into the 2nd outlet, but in many countries and the US (if you use a ground plug) you can put then in upside down. Also you can't put the plug in the adaptor upside down.
3-16-2008 @ 4:40PM
matt said...
Cycomachead:
The US adapter is a two-pin unpolarized plug. It fits in either direction, as do all other Apple products. You can plug the AE into the top outlet with the body of the device ABOVE the socket with absolutely no problem.
In other countries where this will not work, you can use the bottom outlet, the side outlet, an extension cable, or any other system you choose. It is not depicted this way in the photo for obvious reasons already stated--namely, internationalization of the photo.
3-15-2008 @ 8:51PM
Kai said...
Probably it needs to be plugged in two outlets :D
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3-15-2008 @ 8:52PM
Collin said...
Good call, Anik! Before reading your comment, my guess was alignment/composition in the photo.
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3-15-2008 @ 8:55PM
PA said...
Chocolat Frey?
Try Sprüngli:
http://www.spruengli.ch/
Or Teuscher instead:
http://www.teuscher.com/
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3-15-2008 @ 8:58PM
matt said...
"... play music from the iTunes via your wireless network on your stereo or your pregnant."
gotta love google translator
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3-15-2008 @ 9:30PM
mentalsticks said...
[Incredibly OT - personal Pavlov reaction to mention of Switzerland]
I can also think of some reasons why I do NOT envy the Swiss. An election poster that leaves very little to the imagination: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marooned/1242636651/
Just saying. Forget it.
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3-15-2008 @ 9:32PM
David Chartier said...
Damn, with 802.11n I was hoping Apple would introduce iTunes video streaming in addition to audio. Guess that'll remain the domain of the TV for the foreseeable future.
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3-15-2008 @ 9:39PM
Galley said...
I'll be glad when all of my devices are 802.11n, but for now, my AirPort Express, MacBook and PS3 are slowing down my network. With the Express being upgraded, and the latest Macs supporting 802.11n, that only leaves the PS3, and I don't see it being upgraded anytime soon. :-(
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3-16-2008 @ 12:39AM
david said...
is there no way you could wire it? that would keep your wireless free to run at full n'ness.
3-15-2008 @ 10:43PM
A Martin said...
They're just not showing the right side of the Airport Express that offers two grounded outlets similar to this: http://catalog.belkin.com/images/product/BZ103050-TVL/Lifestyle_BZ103050-TVL_01.jpg
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3-15-2008 @ 11:19PM
Big John said...
Other than useless conjecture, how about some actual evidence to back that up?
3-15-2008 @ 11:25PM
A Martin said...
It was a joke ... geez ... lol Can you imagine how ugly that would look if it was actually done like that? No way Apple would design it that imbalanced.
3-15-2008 @ 11:42PM
neko said...
Hmmm, i don't see where you found the information about the Airport Express beeing able to do 802.11n??????
I checked the swiss store, there's only 802.11g mentioned.
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3-16-2008 @ 12:12AM
Steve Martin said...
Why is there an image of an outdated AirPort Extreme on the page? Hoax or are the Swedish behind the times? I am just sayin' is all...
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3-16-2008 @ 4:02AM
Dino Casino said...
Sweden? Please keep us innocent Swedes out of this! :)
The article mentions the Swiss Apple web site (=Switzerland). Pretty far from Sweden, and this mix up has been made millions of times. Cheers!
3-17-2008 @ 12:07AM
daba said...
@Dino
Is that some kind of insult??? Swiss people are guilty???
The rest is true though.
3-16-2008 @ 12:40AM
DistortedLoop said...
I figured this was imminent. I was going to pick up an Airport Express the other day to add some airtunes speakers in the garage, and neither the Apple Store, nor the local Best Buy had Airport Express units in stock. Considering two days earlier the Apple Store had about 50 of them on the shelf, it seemed odd to be out of stock in so short a time.
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