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Microsoft retail store opening in AZ copies freely from Apple Stores
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Retail, Found Footage

The day is Thursday, October 22nd. You're in Scottsdale, Arizona, and you walk into a brand new store being opened by a multinational corporation that produces technology products, including popular operating systems for computers and mobile phones, music/media players, and 'cloud' email and storage services for consumers.

As you walk into the store, employees in brightly-colored t-shirts cheer and applaud. The store is spacious, with large wooden tables placed far enough apart that the opening-day crowd, standing on a hardwood floor, isn't packed into the place. At the back of the store is an "Answer Bar," where you can ask questions about the operating system on your computer.

No, Apple didn't open a new Apple Store in Scottsdale on the 22nd. Instead, this was the opening of the first Microsoft Store. As expected, the stores draw heavily on the highly successful Apple Store concept; the stores are opening near Apple Stores, the former real estate chief for Apple (George Blankenship) was hired to consult on location and placement of the stores, and Microsoft has even attempted to hire away Apple Store managers to run their retail outlets.

The personal shoppers are a blatant rip-off of Apple's Concierge concept, and Personal Training is an echo of Apple's One-to-One training. The Microsoft Store website has similarities to the pages for individual Apple Stores, down to a scrolling list of in-store classes and events (the list for the Scottsdale store is empty at this time).

It's fascinating to see that Microsoft has decided to copycat the Apple Store concept, but it remains to be seen if the execution will be as successful for Microsoft as it has been for Apple.

[via MacRumors]
TUAW Microsoft retail store opening in AZ copies freely from Apple Stores originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple Store - Apple - Microsoft - Retailing - Unofficial Apple Weblog
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Kindle software coming to Mac OS X
Filed under: Multimedia, Odds and ends
Fast Company is reporting that there is a Kindle reader application coming for the Mac. At the Windows 7 launch this week, Microsoft said there is a Windows version of the e-reader on the way, prompting a promise from Amazon that a Mac version was coming as well.

Amazon hasn't released sales figures for the hardware-based Kindle reader, but under pressure from Sony and the new Barnes and Noble 'nook,' Amazon is working hard to increase the share of Kindle users. That means not restricting e-book reading to an Amazon device, but opening up the software to run on more platforms.

Kindle already has a clever e-book reader for the iPhone and iPod touch, and it allows standalone use, or synchronization with a Kindle so you can stop reading on one device and then pick up on the same page on the other.

There's no estimated shipping date for the Mac Kindle software, and we can't forget that if Apple delivers a tablet computer it could put Amazon into direct competition with Apple.

This is bound to be fun to watch.

TUAW Kindle software coming to Mac OS X originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - iPhone - Mac OS X - Microsoft - IpodTouch
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Orange to start UK iPhone sales on November 10
Filed under: iPhone
The wait for a new carrier for the iPhone in the UK appears to be nearly over. The Times Online out of the UK says Orange will add Apple's thrice-super phone to its stable on November 10, one day after O2's exclusivity for the device ends.

Orange announced in late September that it would be carrying the iPhone, though it only said then that it would have the phone later in the year. At least 200,000 people may want to circle the date on their calendars, since at least that many have reportedly pre-registered to buy the phone on the new carrier, despite not knowing how much the phone will cost nor how much the monthly plans will run them.

November 10 may be a bittersweet day for Vodafone. While it has announced its own deal to sell the iPhone in the UK starting in 2010, pent up demand from people who want the device but don't want O2 as a carrier may be lost to the new Orange option. Vodafone reports interim results on November 10, though it'll likely face as many questions about the phone it doesn't yet have as it will about its own numbers.

O2 will still carry the iPhone, though it's also got its mind on the Palm Pre, which it began offering as a UK-exclusive last week.

[via TimesOnline]
TUAW Orange to start UK iPhone sales on November 10 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - Apple - Palm Pre - Vodafone - UK
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Destroy the Death Star from the comfort of your iPhone
Filed under: Gaming, iPhone, iPod touch

Wanna blow up the Death Star? There's an app for that! At least there should be soon.

StarWars.com has word of the upcoming iPhone and iPod Touch game "Star Wars: Trench Run," letting players do the cool stuff Luke Skywalker did in Episode IV (minus the whining), namely: blow up the Death Star.

Developers say "Trench Run" uses simple motion controls, relying on a player's command of the iPhone's accelerometer to avoid walls, other ships, gun turrets, and inexplicable solid beams laid across the trench (video). Manage all of that and they can take their shot at the Death Star's exhaust port and send the Empire reeling. Why did they never cover that port, anyway (YouTube)? If blowing up a space station the size of a small moon isn't a player's cup of tea, they can engage in dogfights with TIE fighters over the Death Star instead.

The game's pitch promises music, sound effects, and clips from the movie for immersive gameplay, varying degrees of difficulty (from Easy to Jedi), and Leader Boards to let pilots see how they rank with other would-be Jedi from around the world.

As exciting as blowing up the Death Star may be, the game screams for in-app purchases. Can pilots buy "Battle of Hoth" expansions down the road? And fly against the second Death Star? Can we?!? I mean... can they?!? Please?

Until then, "Star Wars: Trench Run" has a price set of $4.99. No word on when the game will hit the App Store but it needs to happen soon. The Death Star must be stopped!

[via starwars.com]
TUAW Destroy the Death Star from the comfort of your iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: iPhone - App Store - iPod Touch - Apple - Death Star
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Inside the new 27-inch iMac
Filed under: Hardware, Hacks, iMac

You know by now that once Apple announces a new piece of hardware, it's only a matter of time before someone gets their hands on one only to rip it up and tear every little piece out to see what's in there. And that's exactly what iFixit did with the brand new iMac -- most of us would kill to get one and keep it, and they got one and killed it (Update: Apparently they didn't kill it -- they ended up putting it all back together again). But at least we can learn from their destruction: the LCD panel is the same horizontal resolution as the 30" Cinema display, and the screen itself weighs 11 lbs. The hard drive sits right in the center of the machine, right behind the screen. And there's probably more heat dissipation methods in there than you'd expect: six temp sensors, three fans, two heat sinks, and even a partridge in a pear tree. We're not sure how that last one helps.

Overall, it's a beauty. And the last twist is probably the most interesting -- other than showing off your Mac-itude and lighting the area behind your screen, the Apple logo is apparently wrapped with an Airport antenna. Because the whole thing is encased in aluminum, that's the only place to get a signal, and so that's where they stuck it. Now when people complain that you're just being trendy by showing off the Apple logo, you can tell them you're actually just trying to help out the Wi-Fi reception.

[via Engadget]
TUAW Inside the new 27-inch iMac originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sponsored Topics: Apple - IMac - TUAW - Unofficial Apple Weblog - Macintosh
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