Apple rumoured to be planning something special for 10th retail anniversary

Rumours are flying that Apple is planning some kind of surprise for the 10th anniversary of the opening of its first retail store.

According to several reports, Apple has been holding staff meetings in the stores and has been imposing non-disclosure agreements on employees.

There has been talk of blackout curtains going up in shop windows, and rumours of everything from the launch of the iPhone 5 or OS X Lion, to the return of Steve Jobs to public view for a special announcement.

We are not going to add to the speculation but, in our experience, a new product is unlikely. New hardware and software is traditionally announced by senior staff at special events. The company also isn't known for making too big a deal about birthdays, and for messing up when it does.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is proceeding on schedule for the first week of June, so expect any new products to be detailed there.

What we suspect is some kind of sale or discount in the stores, or possibly the addition of a near field communications system to allow customers to pay for Apple purchases with the company's hardware.

Apple, as ever, isn't talking to the press about this, and it's entirely possible that the company will be doing nothing special.

Apple loves to get people excited about forthcoming events, and actively encourages some rumours. Whether the kerfuffle is a genuine event, or just marketing shenanigans, we will find out by the weekend.