Cult of Mac

You can never be rich enough or thin enough, and you can never have enough storage.

I’ve been playing with Iomega’s brand new StorCenter ix2-200, a 4TB network-attached storage/home server that totally kicks NAS!

Not only is it a nice big target for Time Machine backups, it’s also an iTunes server and a Bittorrent machine. It plays nice with the Mac, and is dead easy to set up and use.

Full review after the jump.

Image: David Hobby, Strobist.com

I am a “Fashionable Photographer”, meaning I own a ridiculously expensive camera, that I barely know how to use, and possess a virtually limitless budget for gear which are little more than fashion accessories to my lifestyle.

Yet despite this I am not the sort of dude that is likely to lay down one hundred and forty bucks on a set of DVD that I could just watch for free on account of a friend loaning them to me.

And yet I did, and I’ll tell you why, after the jump.

Here’s a video of the opening of Microsoft’s first retail store in Scottsdale, Ariz. As the video proves, Microsoft’s business plan is to shamelessly copy Apple, right down to the whooping and high-five ritual when the store first opens. If you blur your eyes slightly, you’re inside an Apple store. From the wood floors and tables to the staffs’ brightly-colored tshirts. Shameless.

In case you missed it first time around, here’s our totally unbiased review of Windows 7.

There’s nothing new under the sun – particularly solar chargers. We’ve written about flexible solar chargers, solar chargers built into speakers and solar chargers shaped like trees. Now comes i.Tech and their SolarCharger 906.

This is your lucky day if you are looking for a good deal on either an iMac, MacBook or the previous version of a Mac mini. We have multiple offers on iMacs, ranging from 24″ 2.66GHz to 24″ 3.066GHz. Also, today’s deals include a couple 13″ MacBooks. If you aren’t looking for the latest mini desktops, Apple has a deal on a previous version of the system.

For details on these and other bargains (like the Boynq iCube II), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

A cheap shot, I know, but this is a real picture of the crowd that turned up last night at Fry’s in Renton, Washington, to be among the first to buy Microsoft’s new operating system. Renton is a town just outside Seattle, where Microsoft is headquartered. Photo by the AP.

For comparison, hit the jump for a pic of the line for Apple’s Snow Lepoard in San Francisco earlier this year.

[Nokia Complaint]

The demo gods shone on Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer this morning as he showed off Windows 7 to the Today Show’s Matt Lauer.  

The demo went with nary a hitch, even though he didn’t really “demo” any features — he just talked about how Windows 7 is “faster,” “cleaner” and “snappier.” The Sony touchscreen machine does look pretty cool though.  

He isn’t afraid that the iPhone will soon make PCs obsolete, he told Lauer, because people want different-sized screens for different tasks. And he’s not jealous of Apple’s cool image because nine out of 10 PCs sold in the U.S. run Windows.  

Windows 7 goes on sale today. Watch the video below.

Via Methodshop.

iPhones comprised nearly three out of every four new cell phones activated with 3G and a QWERTY keyboard, according to AT&T’s quarterly statement. The carrier said it activated 3.2 million iPhones during the quarter – up from 2.4 million iPhones last spring.

Overall, AT&T added 4.3 million “integrated devices” during the quarter out of a total of 81.6 million cell phone customers the carrier now claims. Although rival Verizon has yet to announce officially, the new AT&T numbers appear to narrow the gap to a 6.1 million advantage for Verizon. Verizon has recently launched an advertising salvo against the iPhone, promoting its Android 2.0-based ‘Droid’ expected to be introduced in early November.

Apple’s exclusive U.S. carrier also announced nearly 40 percent of those new iPhone customers are also new to AT&T, an increase from 33 percent reported earlier this year.

Talk is swirling around a 2008 Apple patent that could point to an ad-supported version of Mac OS X. The patent, credited to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, would permit embedding “one or more” ads in an operating system in exchange for goods or services.

“The presentation of the advertisement(s) can be made as part of an approach where the user obtains a good or service, such as an operating system, for free or at reduced cost,” Apple explained in the application.

When you actually get around to printing out the photos taken on your iPhone you can slide them into this handmade frame from Italy, which can go vertical or horizontal.
Made out of wood, so no one will try to swipe your pic, thinking it’s your phone.

It costs €15 ($22 circa) at phoneart.

The mystery object in Monday’s contest was a close-up of Apple Pro Speakers that CoM’s Lonnie Lazar snapped at a friend’s house where they’re part of a G4 iMac setup — for their size, he notes, “they actually sound great.”

Winner named after the jump.

If you’re a Douglas Adams fan, there’s a point fairly early on during iPhone ownership where you realise that you’re holding in your hands the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which is a nugget of information that hits you suddenly, rather like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon, wrapped around a large gold brick. Naysayers might disagree, but Apple’s handheld enables access to a mind-boggling array of information, via a friendly interface, even if it doesn’t have the words ‘don’t panic’ inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.

It therefore only seems fitting that the Hitchhiker’s Guide books are finding a happy home on Apple’s device, the latest of which is Eoin Colfer’s sixth Hitchhiker’s Guide novel, And Another Thing... In the US App Store, the novel is available in extended form, bundling the digital and audio versions, video clips, “bits of brilliance from the first five books”, and a bunch of other extras (App Store link).

Mindy Stockfield, VP of Marketing & Digital Media for Hyperion Books and Stephen Saiz, Director, Marketing for Digital Publishing, Disney Interactive Studios, gave us the low-down on the thinking behind the interactive version, and Eoin Colfer added his thoughts on getting the guide on your iPhone.

One of the great things that comes with Apple steadily biting off and swallowing little mouthfuls of the PC market is that we get our very own gadgets. Like the regular stuff, but better — Apple-ized for our computing pleasure. Take the The FreeAgent Go Pro for Mac: a portable hard drive that looks as though it was designed by Apple’s own Jonny Ive.

Full review after the jump.

Apple’s stock reached it’s all time high today, leaping just over the $208 mark. The rally caused investors to dance in the aisles over the company’s astonishing rise to a Wall Street darling. This is the same company that most people doubted would even survive, back in the late 90s.

“I’ve made over $1,500 in two days… Thank you aapl”, said @jherrdog on Twitter.

The happiest investors were those AAPL veterans who bought the stock at its all-time low — around $12 in 1997. Several were also celebrating their good fortune on Twitter.

“Oh, look! Time for my quarterly brag about buying a bucket of AAPL in 1997. Translation: Suck it, Ballmer,” said @guywithabike (Tyson) on Twitter.

Investors like Tyson  have seen their AAPL shares grow to about 70-times their inital value. In the last decade, the stock has split twice and risen almost 200x in value.

That means $1,000 invested in Apple stock in 1997 is worth around $70,000 now. And $10,000 — the kind of sum that professional investors typically put into company stock — is worth a cool $700,000 — almost enough money to buy a house in posh Palo Alto where Steve Jobs lives.

And for those wondering how much Steve Jobs made, thanks to his 5.4 mil shares of AAPL and 138 mil shares of Disney (DIS), he made more than $90 million today. On paper, of course.

Anyone notice that the Apple Store in Tokyo’s Ginza district looks like the new iMac?

Here’s another view, courtesy of of Google Street View.

Thanks Nobi.

A day after Apple’s big announcements come the discounts. First on the list is the 24-inch 2.66GHz iMacs. We also have three more iMac bargains. Our top trio also features Apple’s new Bluetooth Magic Mouse and updates of the Time Capsule and Airport Extreme. Along the way we also include Apple’s new remote, plus a 90% off deal on iPhone cases.

For details on these and other Mac bargains, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

Europe is “not doing justice to the nano,” Apple’s general manager and vice president for the region told a British newspaper Tuesday. The comment came as Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said “customers love the iPod nano.”

“We believe it [the market] is not doing justice to the [iPod] nano, where for £115 ($190) you’ve got 8GB plus a camera,” Pascal Cagni told the Guardian newspaper.

“Our job is to better carry the message. We need to express it better so that people get convinced of what we do,” Cagni said.

UPDATE: Microsoft has canceled the legal threat. I just got an email directly from DtecNet, the anti-piracy company working with Microsoft, saying they have formally withdrawn the notice. There was no explanation why — or why it was issued it in the first place. “After careful review, we sent the below retraction notice below to your ISP,” DtecNet said. “We apologize for any inconvenience.” The problem is that without an explanation of why CoM was targeted, I don’t know what the best response is. It looks like DtecNet made a mistake with us, but the DMCA is a draconian law and easily abused. How many other sites and ISPs have complied to bogus notices like this?

On Tuesday morning, Microsoft sent a DMCA takedown notice to our Web host concerning a post we published back in January about loading the Windows 7 beta on a MacBook.

The DMCA notice demanded we remove the post because it allegedly makes Windows 7 available for “copying through downloading.” (The full text of the notice is after the jump).

Trouble is, we have no idea what Microsoft is talking about. We presumed the post may contain a link to a pirated copy of Windows 7. But the only download link is to Microsoft’s official Windows 7 beta. Surely Microsoft isn’t trying to remove all links to its beta a few days before the final product goes on sale on October 22?

Apple has updated the list of products it considers “vintage” or “obsolete”  and will no longer provide service, parts or documentation for as of next month.

The Cupertino crew defines “vintage” as products discontinued over five but less than seven years ago.  (One notable exception: California residents can still get service and parts from Apple Service Providers in the state).
Obsolete products are any product discontinued over seven years ago, no exceptions.

Hit the jump for the complete list of the walking dead, updated from the last list published in February.

New and updated iMacs, as well as Mac minis could turnaround sagging Apple desktop sales, providing a “tailwind” heading into the all-important December quarter, Wall Street analysts told investors. Desktop sales were down 16 percent during the quarter ended September 30, the Cupertino, Calif. company announced Tuesday.

In a note to investors, Piper Jaffray senior research analyst Gene Munster said the new iMacs is helping desktop sales reverse course. “The headwind that existed in the Sept. quarter due to aging Mac desktops has now been turned into a tailwind for Mac units in the December quarter.

Condé Nast announced that it will launch a digital version of men’s mag GQ on November 18 in tandem with the print issue.

The digital version available on iTunes will cost $2.99, half of the newsstand price, and there’s no word on whether snail mail subscribers get a discount. Condé says digital GQ be a perfect clone of the dead tree GQ, right down to the ads.

The beat goes on in the emerging battle between Internet giant Google and Apple. The latest volley comes in the form of a report claiming the Mountain View, Calif. company is preparing an iTunes rival possibly called “Google Audio.”

Google has spent the “last several weeks securing content for the launch of the service from the major music labels,” claims TechCrunch, citing several unnamed sources.

Philip Dow, the developer behind Journler, has announced that work on the app is at an end. While he will continue to provide support for users, there will be no new releases.

In a brutally honest and open blog post, Philip spells out precisely what brought an end to Journler – its own success.