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Journalists Cover Microsoft, Using Macs

It’s not an easy time for Microsoft — with Steve Ballmer having to field questions about being “buffoons” and an “evil empire”  at the shareholder’s meeting (.doc) — so when they get together “the world’s most influential technology pundits and online writers” (nb: we weren’t invited) for Mobius to discuss super-secret mobile tech you’d think [...]

Guide To Black Friday Apple Bargains: Cheap MacBooks, iPods and Accessories Galore

Here’s a guide for finding the best bargains on Apple-related gear during the infamous Black Friday sales on November 27. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of gear from leaked photos of sales flyers and descriptions of sales.
The bargains include a 2.26 GHz MacBook + $150 gift card at Best Buy for $999.99 ; a 32GB [...]

Review: Voices Is Today’s Best Thing Ever, Grab It Now While It’s Cheap

New on the App Store is Voices from the clever folk at Tap Tap Tap. You can guess what it does.

Open it up, pick a silly voice. Helium is pretty silly. A microphone appears and the app even clears your throat for you (try it, you’ll see what I mean). Now speak your brains, and [...]

Review: Sony Walkman S540 Series Video MP3 Player

Press releases, you will hardly be surprised to hear, are rarely very interesting. But one arrived in my inbox a couple of weeks ago that made me double-take.
“Sony’s S Series Walkman,” it chattered, “is a serious challenger to the iPod Nano.” Gosh, really? Perhaps the Cult had better have a look at one, then, despite [...]

Open Tech Jumps into the Mac Clone Pool

opentech.pngWe were writing just last week that Apple’s lawsuit against Psystar could be the final stake in the heart of Mac clone computer makers. Some ideas are just too irresistible to die, we guess, because here comes a guy named Elijia Samaroo and his company, Open Tech, Inc waving a new red flag in the face of Apple’s legal department with the promise of an “open” computer that runs OS X.

Open Tech claims to be aware of the legal problems incurred by Psystar and intends to avoid them by not pre-loading its machines with OS X, the blatant violation of Apple’s licensing terms that should prove Psystar’s undoing. Open Tech says it plans to simply configure a system for the intended OS — Windows, OS X , Linux, Ubuntu — and provide a “do-it-yourself” kit that will help with whatever OS a customer buys separately.

Grab the popcorn and soda, and recall the ending of Basic Instinct.

About the author

Lonnie Lazar

Lonnie Lazar is a writer, musician, web designer attorney. He writes about Apple for Cult of Mac and Mac|Life, and about VoIP and telecommunications for Voxilla. Follow Lonnie on Twitter @LonnieLazar, join the Cult of Mac on Facebook, and find Lonnie's photos on Flickr.

Email the author | Read more posts by Lonnie Lazar.

4 comments

    Nice analogy at the end there. :) Also, that movie was HORRIBLE.

    Let’s see how well this turns out. This particular case might be on the winning side of things; they don’t actually do it for you, they just aid you in doing it yourself – so do they get to slide out from being held responsible for what you might or might not do? Hmm….

    I have a great idea, put your money it into a shoe box — saving it while your bank goes under — and put a big sign on the side stating “Just Like an iMac” – right…

    Yeah, I agree with the guy above. They might very well make it. They’re not modifying the code, reselling the OS, or anything, really. Just letting you have the freedom to install whatever OS you legally own (or pirated, I suppose) on your computer.

    /me gets popcorn

    But they are encouraging users to violate the EULA agreement. This is one of the legal filings against Psystar.

    I seriously doubt that the Apple lawyers will overlook this 2nd attempt to clone the Mac. It seems that if individual users do it, then Apple is overlooking the hackers (too many small fish). But when a company attempts this, then beware.

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