Apple Store Exeter

This morning Macworld.co.uk reported that Apple Inc has officially confirmed it is now recruiting staff for an Exeter retail store, which it plans to open in the redeveloped Princesshay area of the city.

For Devonian Mac Users, such as myself, starved of Cupertino consumer glamour, this is the news we've longed for! Lets hope that there's plenty of those most-coveted swag bags - from iPods to MacBooks - on opening day!

I'd better begin writing my job application!

ReBoot

Militarist overtones aside. Today Apple announced the immediate availability of Boot Camp (Public Beta name subject to change) for Intel-based Macs.

Officially, Mac Users will be able to natively run a purchased copy of Windows XP (unsupported by Apple) alongside Mac OS X 10.4.6 (and above).

This natural extension of X11 is, perhaps, the missing piece from Apple's switching strategy and silences the third-party hacks (however good). Windows customers no longer have to consider abandoning their investment overnight, and a panacea for developers migrating from Redmond to Cupertino or wishing to support both commercial platforms in a timely fashion.

Mac gamers now have access to an unimaginable wealth of Windows-only games. What effect, if any, will this have on publishers such as Aspyr or MacPlay? Let the discourse begin.

On the strength of this release, all eyes are on WWDC 2006 and the first official glimpse of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Maybe Vista's in for a mauling?

Bobbing for apples

Apple's announcement of a video iPod, iTunes 6 (including obligatory QuickTime update) and Front Row Media Experience was almost too much to digest in one evening. And the closer content ties between Cupertino and the Magic Kingdom, hint at possible merger* plans! At the very least Pixar should continue to leverage Disney's considerable marketing might coupled with vertical integration. In return Disney secures lucrative brands and artistic talent.

Churlish comment alert! In its present form I can't see myself downloading video from iTunes 6. Whilst the image quality surpasses HDTV, it scales poorly (see UMD) and there's no approved way to burn videos in iDVD. Toast 7 is crippled (due to contractual reasons). So, no legal means for me (or any UK viewers for that matter) to watch the new series of Lost (USA only) or Battlestar Galactica (the best sci-fi/tech noir series since Babylon 5, which is unavailable at present). A year from now things could be very, very different! As Master Yoda would say "Patience!"

The decision to use an existing form factor - a slimmer G5 iMac - meant that Apple's media centre proposition is in stores before the holiday season and the computer company can establish a beachhead into an overcrowded market that includes TiVo and Microsoft. Personally, I would suggest that power users wait for the 'star dust' to settle and snatch the first of the Intel-powered machines next year! A portable Mac mini Front Row Media Experience is alluring in the extreme.

It is arguable that Apple is now the custodian of the Capitalist media industry and if they can't get digital distribution of television programs and movies right then no one can!

Never one to be deterred by bleeding-edge technology. I've tested QuickTime Pro's new Movie to iPod (320x240) export option. Here's hoping a 60GB video iPod (in black) is in my stocking this year!

[*A merger between Apple and Disney has been the subject of Wall Street water-cooler conversations since 1997.]

Friday The 13th

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

The Xbox 360 enclosure has been pasted together from Xeroxed copies of Jonathan Ive's iPod and Power Mac G5 R&D sketches at Cupertino. To paraphrase Francis Ford Coppola - "Always steal from the best". Regarding the new Xbox 'ice grille' livery, Mr Ive may wish to consult with Intellectual Property lawyers! The snap on lifestyle fascia is intended to integrate into the living room coupled to always connected broadband (euphamism for cash register). To my shame this machine is terribly tempting, but PS3 is coming.



SUBWAY® opens in Exeter today. Wave bye to the nearby McDonalds Drive-Thru.

Google is considering integration between Blogger and Gmail. I await this development with bated breath!

Proper Crimbo

Santa's little software helpers are ever industrious at this time of year! Aspyr's Brad Oliver is beta testing a new patch for Jedi Academy (1.01c). This will improve online game play and finesse the dynamic glow of lightsabers in the Mac port. Dark Forces is my favorite Star Wars licensed game and there's a new mod for Jedi Academy based on the classic FPS.

Those fine folks at Cupertino may be releasing Mac OS X 10.3.7 as soon as tonight. A revised version of OpenGL with updated ATI and nVIDIA graphics drivers is just one of the new attractions!

And Aaron Giles (of JPEGView fame) continues to rewrite the Sega System 16 driver for a future release of MAME.

Time to prepare a DVD-ROM archive for 2004.