Anyway Apple have now opened 6 stores in England which is pretty cool, I always used to wonder what you were meant to do when you Mac has a problem over here. Its not like you can just pop down to your Apple store (as I was once advised by some guy in America) and get it fixed. Funnily enough, I still doubt it would be as simple as that over here

Well finally I got to see the nearest Apple store to me which has recently opened in the Trafford Centre (when I say recently I mean since the last time I went because I haven’t been there for quite a while). Let me give you a little intro to the Trafford Centre, or ‘TC’ as the regulars might call it. It is basically a big shopping centre with lots of shops, I think that the correct word is a ‘Hypermarket’ but that just sounds sad, and they’d call it a ‘Mall’ in America. It’s one of the biggest in England, again thats just a guess, I know that people do come from different cities to see it so yeah it probably is. It is often being changed, mainly added to. There was a new John Lewis added at the end of last year and at the moment they’re extending the eating quarters even further. I’ve been going there pretty much since it opened in ‘98.

Well this Apple store is quite nice, it has only one floor and it is relatively small, I’m guessing it was previously a small shoe shop of some kind. Anyway it has the very simplistic layout that most Apple stores have, and I think that is what makes them stand out. Before this shop opened I used to go to John Lewis to check out the Macs because they have been selling them probably since the first iPods. The thing I didn’t like about going there was that they were always a little behind on the latest. For example, last time I went, which was only about a month ago, there was no sign of any Intel Chip Macs and the ones that they had were at least a year old. One thing you can be quite sure of is that the official Apple stores will have the latest that they can achieve. Another thing that bugged me about non-Apple retailers is that usually the people working there haven’t got a clue about Macs. Sometimes its just amusing to watch them try and sell a Mac to a customer – and they always do try selling the Macs because frankly, they’re more expensive. Let me put it this way, I’ve had to interrupt just to make sure the customer gets the right information!

I think that the ‘Genius Bar’ is an interesting idea, but the name is really sad, no offence Apple! It sounds really geeky and again, I have some reservations as to how ‘genius’ these guys really are. I guess its safe to assume that they know more then your average guy about macs because really, people in there haven’t got a clue. What I like about that place is that they aren’t too cheapskate to only have a few products on display. They had some 20+ iPod’s and iPod nanos out there and there were loads of different Mac’s also available for use. Again I find it frustrating when other shops have the Macs behind glass, or on some annoying screensaver that ‘apparently’ (yes – Command+Q(+Esc) usually works) can’t be switched off. At these stores they have them all there ready to use, and they’re fully loaded with apps, music and pictures all at your disposal. I had a nice play around on a Dual G5 with a 30″ screen, yes that was nice. I opened up Photoshop and had a play around (yes I was the one who filled the screen with a nice ‘w0rd’). They also have a section at the back with ipod/mac accessories (overpriced of course) and some other additional items like printers, scanners etc.

The Apple website details some other things which sound pretty impressive. There is a whole timetable of events that the shop’s supposedly do, mainly workshops which are important to introduce people to the computer side of Apple.

In conclusion to my random article about an Apple store, I think that it is very positive step for Apple to open up stores in this country. They are certainly a success, people are attracted to new things and Mac’s are definitely new to quite a percentage of the population. I myself am not so amazed with them having used them since I was a child but I still see that the Apple market is opening up to a much wider target audience. I think it will still be some time before they are fully successful in competing with the PC market, but this has taken them at least a step ahead in that journey.

Digg this

Act 1.

Mainly the new iMac which has 3 new features; Thinner, Built in iSight camera and ‘Front Row’. Other things it has include this new app called ‘PhotoBooth’ which takes your pictures using the iSight camera and can use them for your iChat display picture or your account picture. It has a remote control to use with Front Row and now ships with a ‘Mighty Mouse’ (about time!). Of course the tech specs are also much better, and it%u2019s priced at the same price. They even managed to reduce the price of the 20″ models (they obviously want you to buy them instead because they’re even thinner then the 17″ ones).

Act 2.

iPods have 75% of the mp3 player market. Steve Jobs talks about the releasing of the iPod nano, claiming to have shipped over 1Million iPod Nanos in the first 17 days. The new white iPod has been announced, and Steve Job’s words:

“Yes, it does video”.“Yes, it does video”. Steve Jobs

It has a 2.5″ display 320×240 pixels, 260,000 colours, support for h.263 QT decoding at 30fps and MPEG4 at 30fps, and it now has TV out too! These things just keep getting better, with 30gb and 60gb models. The 30gb is 31% thinner with 50% more storage and the 60gb is 12% thinner then the predecessor 20gb. And they’re making a black one, yey! The 30gb is £219 and the 60gb is £299.

Act 3.

200 Million copies have been distributed by Apple; it also has an 82% legal music market share. This one you wouldn’t guess. iTunes 6. Already?

New features ->
1. Gifting, gift someone a song, album, playlist and point 4.
2. Customer reviews, can kinda guess what they are!
3. ‘Just for you’, personalised recommendations (beta with feedback).
4. Video, buy music videos with iTunes
They have over 2,000 videos at the moment with previews. $1.99 each, dunno in £. Also with short pixar films. 320×240, size of about 6 songs and governed under FairPlay (yak).
5. You can also buy TV shows; Lost, That’s so Raven, desperate housewives and some others. (at this point Steve Jobs makes a mistake by saying lets take a look at it on the ‘iMac’ instead of the ‘iPod’. thats a bit random but its funny. They can be bought the day after the air on TV (in the US), and apparently its never been done before! Again in 320×24o which isn’t that good.

If you don’t buy music off iTunes, there isn’t really much you can do with iTunes 6! In fact I haven’t seen an advantage of it over iTunes 5 apart from that.

Thats all i’ve watched up too, they are so long…!

Apple are releasing things left right and centre. They really have caught both the media – and the general publics attention with their range of MP3 players – starting with the 1st generation of iPods. Well today I got an email when I got home from Tibault, apologising that he couldn’t write any articles today but that I should write about this:

 Take everything you love about iPod and shrink it. Now shrink it again. With 2GB (500 songs) and 4GB (1,000 songs) models starting at $199, the pencil-thin iPod nano packs the entire iPod experience into an impossibly small design. So small, it will take your music places you never dreamed of.

Apple’s iPod Nano site | Special Release video | iTunes 5

Its funny, y’know – how many times Apple have released an item under the name iPod. That word is word renouned – it’s used in films, music, television, at least 80% of the world know what an iPod is or have heard of one. I’m happy that Apple did well on their iPod range, my brother has one and he’s happy with it – however I know many people who buy iPods and put like 100 songs on it, totally defeating the point and need for one, so it can be argued that they are also used as a fashion accessory. Whatever the reason you have one, iPods are certainly a symbol of not only MP3 players – nor Apple, but the whole Music industry!

 Lets just see how long the ‘iPod’ name lasts…

This iPod nano has replaced the iPod mini on the iPod shelf, they must have realised that no one who wanted less then a 20gb – wanted a 6gb either. So they made a few wise descisions. Firstly they knocked out that ugly iPod mini shape and colour. Secondly they installed a decent colour screen which is no longer expensive due to the increase of them around the market. Thirdly they made the nano have 2gb and 4gb capacities instead of the previous capacities of 4 and 6. Another major improvement of course, is the size of the thing – and the fact that it is now based on Flash memory, the near futures vesatile memory source.

Good look to Apple with their latest release – and good luck for buyers! Thanks tibo for the link.

 APPLE is preparing to bring its combined iPod and mobile phone to Britain in the next few weeks in conjunction with mobile operator O2, The Times has learnt.

The iPod mobile, manufactured with Motorola, will allow owners to buy music while on the move, enhancing the power of the iconic device.

Apple is expected to unveil the new technology in the United States in partnership with Cingular Wireless next week. A British launch is expected shortly after, with the new devices available in time for the Christmas shopping season.

 :arrow: Times Online

Messenger for Mac 5.0 makes it easy to take advantage of the full power of instant messaging. Messenger for Mac offers two types of communication services- a personal account and a corporate account. A personal account works with the MSN® Messenger service on the Microsoft Passport Network. Contacts that you add to your personal account will include friends and family members. A corporate account uses the Microsoft Office Live Communications Server service and can include contacts who use other instant messaging services, such as AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo Messenger, and iChat users who are signed in with AOL accounts.

Get it here!

I’m currently testing this on my G4. Its a shame that M$ never cared about Mac users enough to even put any effort into their products for the Mac OS and therefore resorting in MSN Users switching to alternatives such as iChat and other mainstream IM applications.

Update: Okay i’ve tried it out on my G4 (OSX 10.4.2) where i’m writing this from and can officially say that there is NOTHING good about this version. They only difference is the skin and the fact that you can use display pictures. There aren’t even new emoticons, no new features at all. It totally sucks i’m ultimately dissapointed. Apparently this is the last release from Microsoft so someone with great programming skills on the mac should take the initiative to make a decent client for MSN messenger.

 Update 00.07GMT

I was having a look on mess.be:

 First ever Microsoft Messenger for Mac patch

dwergs says:

We’re writing history today with the release of the first patch for Messenger for Mac… EVER! Our own Mac-expert, timothy, has manipulated one of the files in order to remove the personal/cooperate tab bar from the contact list window. Carefully follow the instructions on the download page to successfully apply the visual change. May this be the first of many Messenger for Mac 5.0 tweaks and addons! >> Download the Messenger for Mac 5.0 Patch.

 Screenshot:

"People have tried modding their iPods using wood before, but it took the genius of ZapWizard to create the Real Wood iPod. Hand carved from a solid piece of African hardwood to a thickness of just 2mm, the end result has to be seen to be believed. Wood grain is the new Apple White!

I’m not gonna lie – I was dead impressed when I saw this, I just wondered if the click wheel actually worked! To see more view the following:

Bi-Tech

Just follow the link and be amazed.

° Original, French article
° Bit-tech.net, English translation

ELIZABETH the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, and Defender of the Faith, has bought a nice looking and reassuringly expensive iPod.

Article Here

 lol okay thats all a bit random but it does just show how a simple MP3 player has made such an effect on the world. If you read the rest of the article you will see that ‘The Inquirer’ do not seem to be very keen on the Queen, at least by the fact that she doesn’t like the way her head is on the currency in the UK!

Really quite amusing  

According to CNET News, Apple will ditch IBM’s line of PowerPC processors in favor of Intel microprocessors. "Apple plans to move lower-end computers such as the Mac Mini to Intel chips in mid-2006 and higher-end models such as the Power Mac in mid-2007," asserts CNET. The announcement is expected to be made this Monday during Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs’ Worldwide Development Conference (WWDC) keynote speech.

Update Saturday, June 4, 5pm MST: The Wall Street Journal (registration required) claims to have confirmation of CNET’s report:

"CNET on Friday reported that Apple would announce the transition plan June 6… An industry executive familiar with the matter, contacted Saturday, verified that schedule."
Update Sunday, June 5, 5am MST: Further claims of confirmation come from The Inquirer. Only one more day to go… 

Well i’m kinda shocked and stuff, prettey annoyed that its happening though it does proove to Mac users some of whom are so big headed that they aren’t all that!

Want to find someone to cry to? 1232 replies were posted to this spymac thread titled: Hell has frozen over. Remember peeps, its all just business!