Apple News: 2014 at 10:22AM

Apple today confirmed on its website that it will be opening its second retail store in Turkey this Saturday, October 25. The store will be located in Istanbul's Akasya Shopping Mall, and follows the opening of the Zorlu Center Apple Store earlier this year which saw an appearance by Apple's manager of retail stores Steve Cano.

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Photos of the new location shared by Apple Toolbox earlier this month revealed that the store will be on one of the mall's middle floors. Apple's Zorlu Center store was noted for carrying a unique design when it opened this past April, as the company touted its cubic design with a glass ceiling and glass sides. The Zorlu Center store also uses more glass than any previous Apple Store and contains special glass materials that allow the sunlight in the open area of the mall to shine through.

Apple's new store in Istanbul's Akasya Shopping Mall opens at 10:00 AM local time on October 25. Apple revealed during its Q4 2014 conference call yesterday that it will open 25 new stores in 2015, with the majority of those stores being opened outside of the U.S.

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Posted in 2014 at 10:22AM, October 21

Apple has received one out of the two regulatory licenses it needs to sell the iPhone 6 in China, reports state-run news agency Xinhua (via Reuters ). The handset is currently being reviewed by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which also examined the the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c before its launch in China last year. According to the news agency, Apple now needs a critical network access license before it can begin selling the device.

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The news follows a report yesterday which stated that the launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China may be pushed back to 2015 due to the need for regulatory licenses. Currently, it is unclear as to whether Apple will secure the licenses in time for a late 2014 launch, although talks are said to be ongoing. A delayed launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China would hinder Apple's presence in the country, which has been expanding rapidly throughout the past few years.

Apple began iPhone sales on China Mobile last year, which is the country's biggest wireless service provider and the last major carrier in the region to partner with the company. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated in January that he was "incredibly optimistic" about partnering with the carrier, stating that it would allow the company to sell the iPhone in 3,000 more locations and advertise to its over 760 million customers.