Apple is set to open its first retail store in The Netherlands tomorrow, and it looks gorgeous. Located in the historic Hirsch building, the museum-like store features ornate, regal architecture and a beautiful glass staircase.

Photographer Thomas Schlijper has posted several images from inside the new Amsterdam store.

The Champs-Élysées in Paris is the Mecca of shopping in France. Its swanky shops, cinemas, and cafés, ooze with exuberant fashions that appear far more sophisticated than any European counterpart. It’s the perfect place for a Mega-Apple Store, and if rumors are to be believed, Apple may be planning to move in pretty soon.

Many pundits have made the argument that the iPad’s days in the business and corporate world will be numbered once Microsoft releases Windows 8 and Windows on ARM (WOA) tablets later this year. The biggest rationale behind this argument is that corporate IT departments will feel much more comfortable deploying and managing Windows devices and that they will already have the skills, tools,  and resources needed to setup, secure, and roll out Windows-powered iPad competitors.

That argument lost a lot of credibility this week when Microsoft acknowledged that WOA tablets cannot be managed like other Windows variants including Windows 8 on PCs and x86 tablets or PCs running Windows 7, Vista, or XP. This makes the iPad much more suited for business than Windows on ARM devices.

iPad 3 talk has reached a fever pitch leading up to Apple’s announcement on Wednesday, but have we all been calling the device by the wrong name? Some people seem to think so.

Apple could very well call the third-generation iPad the “iPad HD.” The device is expected to sport a super hi-res Retina display and feature faster internals. It certainly wouldn’t be out of place for Apple to change it up and break the traditional naming convention, or would it?

Germany has become quite the hotbed for patent lawsuits lately as it’s been in the spotlight for the Apple vs Motorola Mobility legal battle. As the legal war rages on, a new ruling has found that Motorola did indeed violate Apple’s EU Patent No. EP2059868 on a “portable electronic device for photo management”. The patent in question basically fixes over scrolling by bouncing the user back a bit once they’ve zoomed in too far, and even though this patent is software specific, it may have repercussions on Motorola’s hardware if they don’t come up with a fix quickly.

Unlike most computers, the iPad isn’t designed to be a multi-user device. iOS doesn’t support multiple user accounts or profiles – that essentially means one set of device and application settings along with a personal collection of information like notes, email, browser bookmarks, and stored passwords for different online services. Sharing a device with that much personal data makes it easy for someone to snoop while using another person’s iPhone or iPad or on an iPad that is commonly shared between multiple users.

Passtouch is a web browser for the iPad that’s designed to offer at least some multi-user capabilities as well as to secure web-based information like bookmarks, cookies, and stored passwords. It doesn’t offer whole-device accounts or profiles but it does offer some extra security for devices that are regularly shared.

Joshua Topolsky of The Verge has done a video comparison between the Windows 8 consumer preview that Microsoft launched at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and Apple’s iPad 2. The 10-minute video goes through the basic features and UIs of both platforms.

Gestures seem to be a big deal in Windows 8, and the “live tiles” concept is a refreshingly different take on interface design. It’s important to remember that this version of Windows 8 is not ready for prime time, so don’t expect the same level of polish that’s currently found in iOS 5.

We’ve heard whispers of Apple launching a streaming video service in the iTunes Store before, and now a new report from The New York Post claims that the company is “pushing ahead” to get such a service off the ground by Christmas.

According to the report, Apple “point man” Eddy Cue has been in talks with leading content providers to negotiate distribution deals for what will presumably pave the way for the mystical iTV.

Can’t find that file you just downloaded?
Keyboard shortcuts are for power users, right? Well, not ONLY them. Even relative newcomers to OS X tend to know about Command-C (Copy), Command-X (Cut), and Command-V (Paste). They might even know how to open the Applications Folder (Command-Shift-A) or the Utilities Folder (Command-Shift-U). But This one was new, even to me, a relatively seasoned user of Mac OS X. Popping open the Downloads folder from the Finder is simple, with a Command-Option-L. Be sure to thank us later. (Update: Or thank the ever vigilant folks in the comments for their good catch – we’re nothing if not responsive.)

No one likes to be throttled — just ask Shep Smith — so when AT&T started sending throttling warnings to “unlimited” customers they considered to be the “Top 5%” data hogs, outrage and confusion ensued. After multiple complaints and an online petition, AT&T was forced to clarify their throttling policy and what it means to be in the “Top 5%.”

In case you haven’t heard, Google made a few changes to their privacy policy that has some people up in arms. No matter who you are, or what OS you use, chances are you use a Google product, so this news is concerning. Now we say Google made changes but the reality of it is, Google didn’t really change much of anything. They haven’t changed what data they collect or any of your privacy settings. Everything remains the way it has always been, aside from the fact that they can now share your data across their own services. That means if you’ve been searching luxury cars on Google and head into Youtube, you’ll probably see video suggestions for Mercedes-Benz. To me, it’s more personalization rather than a cause for concern.

I’m sure many of you have been waiting for Canon’s replacement to their highly praised and super popular pro DSLR, the 5D Mark II. Friends, your wait ends tonight.

First things first: Pentax calls this “the smallest, lightest interchangeable lens camera in the world,” and they’re dead right. This camera is small. You thought your micro four-thirds camera was small, but it’s huge compared to the Pentax Q. It’s hard to appreciate just how small it is, until you put it next to something else that’s really small. Like an iPhone.

As you can see, the Q sits neatly atop the iPhone’s screen, not even touching the edges of its case. It’s tiny.

Another year, another title. Fortune announced their list of the world’s most admired companies this morning, and Apple swept away the competition for the fifth year in a row. Each year Fortune surveys the business community to find out which company has the best reputation in the eyes of their peers. Apple has ranked at the top of Fortune’s annual list for the last five years which ties them with General Electric for the number of most appearances in the top spot.

The latest ruling to come out of the ridiculous patent game comes in favor of Apple and awards them an injunction on Motorola Android products found to infringe on an Apple patent regarding scrolling behavior in the photo gallery application. What does this ruling actually mean for German users? Nothing really. Motorola will simply push an update to change the scrolling behavior and that will be the end of that. Will German Motorola users notice the change? Most likely not. So what was the point? The same point of everything that involves lawyers — money.

It’s hard enough to get to that elusive “Inbox Zero” when your email program just won’t help you out. It either has too much or tries to keep you dwelling in email purgatory when you could — and should — be spending your time on better things. Things that don’t qualify as busy-work, but as actual work.

Well…this Cult of Mac Deals offer is going to be your saving grace. That’s because we’re offering an awesome minimalist email application for the Mac, Sparrow, for only $6 for a limited time!

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — This year I decided to cover the Mobile World Congress without a computer. Or at least, without my MacBook. I live in Barcelona, so I knocked out a couple of posts on my iMac when I was at home, but on the show floor and in the press lounge I relied solely on my iPad. And amazingly, it was up to the task. There are some annoyances, but with a combination of perseverance (or just stubbornness) and the right apps, I got a pretty easy system going.

Camera Awesome is a new all-singing, all-dancing photo app on the iOS Store this week. But just how awesome is it?

Brought to you by photo sharing site SmugMug, the first noticeable thing about this app is the price: it’s free. There are no adverts inside it, you’ll be pleased to hear. But there are quite a lot of extras that can only be unlocked with in-app purchases.

When Apple sent out its press invitations for the iPad 3 announcement next week, many sites (us included) proposed that the upcoming device wouldn’t have a Home button. Such a conclusion was drawn from the fact that the invitation image didn’t show a Home button on the photographed iPad.

A new set of leaked parts reveal that Apple’s upcoming tablet does indeed possess a Home button. You all can rest easy now.

Remember the “I’m a Mac” campaign where Justin Long served as a super cool, hip looking youngster representing the Mac brand, while John Hodgman was a frumpy looking PC? A lot of PC users complained that they were being misrepresented and stereotyped based on their operating system of choice, but a new study reveals that Apple users really are more fashion-forward and style-conscious than PC users.

BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2012 — When we shuffle from meeting to product demo to boozy party it’s easy to forget what a weird place the yearly Mobile World Congress is. Tens of thousands of attendees flood Barcelona’s hotels and commandeer its taxis, while companies from tiny to huge spend a fortune to sell and promote their wares.

As Ferris Bueller might say, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it. Here’s a quick look at the best, worst and weirdest of this year’s show.

Apple’s stock price has soared to astronomical heights over the last 18 months. Yesterday Apple stock closed at another record high and the company become more valuable than the GDP of Poland. But how high can Apple’s stock keep climbing? Well according to Apple’s co-Founder, Steve Wozniak, Apple stock will continue to soar for quite sometime.

The Grix is a cool new $5 pixel editor for iOS, with wide appeal for serious pixel artists and anyone looking for a creative way of killing a dull moment.

Popular web reading platform Readability has launched its official iOS in the App Store. iPhone and iPad uses can download the free app to access their Readability accounts and read optimized web pages on the go.

Originally previewed several days ago, the native iOS app gives you a beautifully formatted view of the articles you save on the web to read later.

The most secure way of password protecting your online life is to create a random strong password, one now one can ever guess. The problem, of course, is that you won’t be able to guess it, either. Or remember it. Luckily, we’ve found a nice solution to this problem: Password Gorilla, freeware that will help us all keep track of our passwords.