Report: Apple to target small businesses with new technical support service

By Aemon Malone Published February 28, 2011

Apple over the weekend began prepping its retail store employees for the launch of a new enterprise service plan geared towards small businesses, according to AppleInsider. Joint Venture, as it’s being called, will offer small businesses a customized version of its Genius support system.

Customers who purchase a Mac for their business will be offered the service for a $500 annual fee. Up to five Apple systems will be covered under the plan, with more able to be added for an additional annual fee of $99.

Recommended Videos

While details of the service have yet to be made official, here’s a quick rundown of what the Joint Venture package is expected to include:

Priority Genius bar support at Apple retail stores
Access to Apple’s corporate technical support lines
15-inch Macbook Pro “loaners” — with iWork and Microsoft pre-installed — when repairs take longer than 24-hours
A personal data transfer service
Group training sessions (up to three per year and limited to eight people per session)

Apple will reportedly unveil Joint Venture on March 2 — the same day of anticipated iPad 2 unveiling — with the tag line: “Get Setup. Get Trained. Keep Running.” Apple is expected continue to offer its AppleCare and One to One plans in addition to Joint Venture.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Computing

Perplexity AI: how to use the ‘answer engine’ that’s taking on Google

Talking with Perplexity chatbot on Nothing Phone 2a.

Offering a unique take on web search, Perplexity has been a hit among its users (and a bane to its sources) since its debut last year. It's certainly become one of the most popular new AI tools to check out, perhaps second only to ChatGPT itself, which it's powered by.

Here's how the generative AI "answer engine" works and how to get started on using it.
What is Perplexity AI?
Perplexity AI Digital Trends

Computing

This HP Chromebook is just $199 at Best Buy in last minute Cyber Week sales

The HP Chromebook.

Despite Black Friday and Cyber Monday being behind us, there are still some great Chromebook deals going on right now. That means you can buy an HP 15.6-inch Chromebook at Best Buy for 50% off. The basic but good looking Chromebook normally costs $399, but right now, you can save $200 and snag it for $199. Perfect for typing up documents while on the move or browsing the web, it’s good for any student on a tight budget. Here’s why you might want it.

Why you should buy the HP 15.6-inch Chromebook
HP makes some of the best Chromebooks around, and while the HP 15.6-inch Chromebook in question here isn’t exactly high-end, it’s well-designed and sturdily built. The specs are predictably low-end, but it does the job with ChromeOS working well with minimal hardware. There’s an Intel N200 CPU with 8GB of memory and 64GB of eMMC storage. Basic stuff, sure, but just what’s needed at this price point. Read up on the differences between a Chromebook and laptop and you’ll soon see what we mean and why this level of hardware will be just fine.

Computing

ChatGPT explores ads as it works toward 1 billion users

A person typing on a laptop that is showing the ChatGPT generative AI website.

More users and more profit -- that's the aim for ChatGPT going into 2025.

ChatGPT has broken into the top 10 websites on the internet according to some statistics, and a new report says it's pursuing the lofty 1 billion user milestone in the coming year. The company plans to do this primarily by investing in its own data centers, in addition to deploying several advertising strategies, according to the Financial Times.