Photos: Telstra launches T.Life concept store

"my [place]" offers customers the ability to bring in their favourite toy for a one-on-one tutorial with Telstra staff, who will help for up to 30 mins.

The store contains a series of "Customer Experience Centres" which act as self-serve catalogues for Telstra products. The large LCD screens featured a slick, attractive and easy to use interface, when they actually worked.

The displays in the store are arranged according to customer needs, be they business, entertainment or practicality. Featured here is "organise [me]" or the business section, which focuses on products that improve productivity. The phones featured were all live, including the ability to make calls.

One of the phones on display, the Samsung SGH-A811; you can see in this image the phone is live.

Telstra's latest handset, the Hiptop. Pitched specifically at the teen and early 20s market, the Hiptop is the baby brother of the BlackBerry. As such, it is designed around SMS and multimedia messaging.

Originally designed by manufacturer Danger, the Hiptop has been available for some time in the US, sold as the T-Mobile sidekick.

A series of large LCD screens on the ground floor are used to promote Foxtel, seen here featuring John Howard, in case you haven't seen enough of him in recent weeks.

The ground floor features an impressive wall of wraparound LCD screens. Great for watching anything that involves corners.

The "Auditorium" is a new space where the public can come and participate in workshops designed to teach about technology and Telstra products. You can see here that the auditorium seats 40 people, with a large projection screen absent from the shot at the front.

Workshops are expected to run three times a day, and will be pitched at different audiences, from the beginner to the super tech savvy. Customers can book at the T.Life store, on Telstra's Web site or just turn up.

The store also features private meeting rooms for business customers to discuss their needs with Telstra sales staff.

Another products display, "[my] home office" pitched at users seeking to combine productivity with practicality.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

A "Customer Experience Centre". Here you can see the initial options that greet you when using the centres.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

Here you can see a row of "Customer Experience Centres", which allow customers to profile Telstra products. There are many available in the store so it is unlikely you will have to wait for one.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

Customers can grab a quick snack or coffee at the café located on level 1.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

The "connect [me]" section focuses around devices and services that connect customers to the Internet and share that connection around the home.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

Here is a display designed to promote Foxtel and home entertainment options that can be combined with Telstra products. There were a number of display devices not for sale in the store, such as an Xbox 360 and PlayStation Portable.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

A Telstra Bigpond modem on display.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

One of the laptops on display in the store, used to demonstrate Telstra Bigpond's 3G wireless data cards.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

One of the more unusual items on display in the business section, the Telstra T-Pad facilitates credit card transactions when connected to a suitable mobile handset.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

As you can see the store is large and slick. The total floor area is 852 square metres, and Telstra was keen to make the store as spacious as possible. The escalators you can see on the left of the image were "the quickest installation in Australia" according to Telstra, which is perhaps why at the time of the tour they weren't working.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

The store is located at 400 George Street, on the corner of George and King on the bottom level of the Telstra building. This is the view from the store entrance on King Street.

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia

Expected to debut in 2008 across the road is the first Apple Store in the southern hemisphere. Roh Singh, Telstra's National Sales Manager welcomed the competition and even encouraged Optus to follow suit!

Credit: Luke Anderson/ZDNet Australia