If I’m in an Apple Store, I have two modes: A) touch everything, time-killing mode, which means I’ll be at the big tables tapping away at some iPads, or B) quick dongle search mode, which means I’ll be in the weird “Other” section looking stressed. Apple is reportedly making changes to the no man’s land section of the store where my dongles are located, and apparently it’s because the company needs to introduce the world to its new line of HomePod products. This is yet another rumor from Bloomberg rumor mill Mark Gurman, who informs me that the section or sections in question (usually the outer edge along the back walls) are called Avenues. iPhones are center stage and would never be relegated to the avenues. Beats headphones and Apple TVs are in Avenues, as are the odd third-party product: historically things like car vent mounts for iPhones and limited-edition Play-Doh sets, though the formal “Avenues” label apparently only applies to newer stores. Gurman says large-scale changes are coming to Avenues, and the change signals the arrival of long-rumored Siri-powered HomePod products. “B-but HomePod products are already on the streets,” I hear you say. Yes, but the new Avenues are supposed to feature a home hub with a screen, which deserves special consideration. The rumored hub in question is expected to run a mobile-style operating system on a 7-inch screen and interact with your smart home appliances and other IoT devices, such as your doorbell camera. You can also have personalized interactions with different family members activated by facial recognition, if you’re into that sort of thing. According to Gurman, “current store designs are not particularly suitable for presenting a product of this type.” So if you’re headed to the Apple Store to buy a dongle or some Play-Doh, or even if you’re there to spend some serious cash on a MacBook Pro, the new Home Hub products on display in the Avenues area will presumably catch your eye. Apple will want to present these in the form of an introductory, interactive marketing experience. After all, if you don’t even know what something is, how can you want to buy it?
