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Apple Begins Hiring for First Swedish Retail Store

Wednesday February 22, 2012 1:53 pm PST by Eric Slivka
Even as Apple is preparing to open its first Dutch retail store in Amsterdam on March 3, the company is moving closer to expanding its international reach even further as it has updated its Swedish jobs site with new postings for the complete range of retail positions.


We noted last November that Apple had filed a business registration certificate for Apple Retail Sweden, offering support to rumors that Apple was looking to open a retail store in Stockholm.

While the new listings do not specify Stockholm as the location for the forthcoming store, Stockholm's metropolitan area is easily the largest in Sweden and with previous rumors having cited Stockholm as the focus of Apple's interest, it seems likely that this is the intended market.
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Apple Confirms March 3 Opening for Amsterdam Retail Store

Wednesday February 22, 2012 6:18 am PST by Eric Slivka
Following reports yesterday that Apple would open its first Dutch retail store in Amsterdam on March 3, the company has confirmed that date today with emails to customers and a new dedicated store page on its website.


The new store will open at 10:00 AM on Saturday, March 3, with press reportedly having been invited to a preview event two days earlier. With the opening, the Netherlands will become the twelfth country to host at least one Apple retail store.
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Apple's First Dutch Retail Store Reportedly Set for March 3 Opening

Tuesday February 21, 2012 6:41 am PST by Eric Slivka
After one false alert claiming a February 18 opening for Apple's new Amsterdam retail store, the company's first in the Netherlands, One More Thing now reports [Google translation] that the grand opening is apparently set for March 3.


Glass staircase at Apple's Amsterdam retail store

The sources of the information are said to be "numerous and come from different angles", making One More Thing very confident in the opening date. Dutch media has reportedly also been notified to pencil in March 1 as a date for a media preview of the new store. The opening of the Amsterdam store will bring Apple's count of countries with retail stores to 13, with the company counting China and Hong Kong as separate markets.
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Apple Working to Update and Simplify iTunes Store and App Store in 2012?

Monday February 20, 2012 12:04 pm PST by Eric Slivka
9to5Mac reports that Apple is working on an overhaul of its iTunes Store and App Store marketplaces, seeking to simplify the user experience while also increasing interactivity and discoverability. The revamped stores are reportedly planned to launch later this year.

The new design is said to be even simpler and more user-friendly than the current design. Apple is working on ways to enhance the speed and efficiency of finding new content, such as songs, videos, and applications. The cornerstone element of Apple’s new iTunes Store is interactivity. As Apple vaguely explained to a number of music labels and entertainment partners, Apple is looking to make the iTunes Store a much more engaging experience.

According to the report, the focus is currently on the desktop iTunes Store and App Store experience as managed through the iTunes application, although it is unclear whether the revamped stores will come alongside a major revision to the application itself. And along with the revamped desktop experience, Apple will also be working to refresh the interface on iOS, although those changes may come somewhat after the changes on the desktop side.
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Apple Removes X11 in OS X Mountain Lion, Shifts Support to Open Source XQuartz

Friday February 17, 2012 8:27 am PST by Eric Slivka
As noticed by several users running the developer preview version of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, Apple is no longer including its X11 application for running software through the X Window System interface. A popular option for scientists and others seeking to run specialized UNIX software both on local machines and across networks, X11 has been available on OS X for a number of years and has been included as a default install since Mac OS X Leopard.


The X Window System has an extensive open source history, with development on the Mac side being handled under the XQuartz project. Apple's X11 application has been based on this effort, although as with many open source projects bundled for use in commercial software, X11 has generally been somewhat behind the latest XQuartz releases. The current version of X11 is 2.6.3, while XQuartz is currently available in version 2.7.0.

With Mountain Lion, Apple seems to eliminating its dedicated support for the X11 application, instead redirecting users to the open source XQuartz project, which it will continue to support.
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OS X Mountain Lion Drops Support for Many 2006-2008 Macs with Integrated Graphics

Thursday February 16, 2012 11:25 am PST by Eric Slivka
Cult of Mac points to a report from French site MacGeneration highlighting the system requirements for OS X Mountain Lion. Among those Macs currently compatible with OS X Lion, those with lower-end Intel GMA X3100 or GMA 950 integrated graphics will not be able to upgrade to Mountain Lion:

- Any Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook from late 2007 – late 2008 (Model Numbers: MB061*/B, MB062*/B, MB063*/B, MB402*/A MB403*/A MB404*/A, MB402*/B)

- The Mid-2007 Mac mini (Model Numbers: MB138*/A, MB139*/A)

- Late 2006 polycarbonate iMac (Model Number: MA710xx/A)

- The original early 2008 MacBook Air (Model Number: MB003LL/A)

Users of those older systems may still receive a few of Mountain Lion's enhancements such as with Apple's Safari 5.2 for Lion, but the vast majority of improvements will require a new machine with higher specs.

Update: At least one developer tells us he has been able to install Mountain Lion on a Late 2006 iMac and MacBook Pro without problems. So, the developer builds do not seem to enforce these restrictions.

Update 2: Systems using ATI's Radeon X1600 graphics will also be incompatible with OS X Mountain Lion.
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Apple Seeds Safari 5.2 for OS X Lion to Developers

Thursday February 16, 2012 11:00 am PST by Eric Slivka
Alongside the OS X Mountain Lion developer preview released today, Apple has also pushed out Safari 5.2 for Lion to developers. The update brings a number of new features that will be included with Safari in OS X Mountain Lion later this year.


Among the new additions are a unified address/search bar, new persistent Reader icon that is blue when available and grey when inactive, and new URL styling to highlight the domain the page is on while deemphasizing other aspects of the URL.


Apple has not said when it plans to release Safari 5.2 for OS X Lion to the public, but it will presumably do so alongside OS X Mountain Lion in "late summer". Apple just recently began seeding Safari 5.1.4 to developers, and the company will likely continue with the 5.1.x line on Lion until the Mountain Lion launch.
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OS X Mountain Lion to Be True Mac App Store Exclusive

Thursday February 16, 2012 8:01 am PST by Eric Slivka
While OS X Lion was initially announced as an exclusive Mac App Store release, Apple did backtrack slightly before launch with a decision to offer a $69 USB thumb drive to assist users without access to broadband connections.

As reported by Pocket-lint, Apple has decided to end that experiment with OS X Mountain Lion, making the forthcoming release a true Mac App Store exclusive.

Apple has confirmed to Pocket-lint though that its concerns weren't justified with customers not remotely interested in the USB drive offering:

"It was an interesting test, but it turns out the App Store was just fine for getting the new OS."

OS X Mountain Lion is scheduled for a public launch in "late summer", with pricing yet to be announced.
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Apple Releases Xcode 4.3, Now Offered as App Instead of Installer

Thursday February 16, 2012 6:35 am PST by Eric Slivka
Apple today released Xcode 4.3 [Mac App Store], making a number of improvements to the software. Among the notable changes, Xcode is now offered directly as an app. It had previously been offered as an installer package, and the move simplifies the installation and update process.

What's New in Version 4.3

Xcode is now distributed as an application, rather than as an installer. This change enables Xcode to be updated directly from the Mac App Store.

- Includes SDKs for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and iOS 5
- New code signing workflow supports signing OS X apps with Developer ID
- Adds installation of command-line tools to the Downloads preference pane
- Open Developer Tool menu launches Instruments, File Merge, and other tools
- ARC migration tool converts both retain/release and garbage collected code
- Additional bug fixes and stability improvements

Xcode is a free download, but users must be registered members of Apple's iOS or Mac Developer Program in order to submit apps created with Xcode to the respective App Stores.
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Page 2: NVIDIA Presentation Slide Seems to Show a MacBook Air / Pro Hybrid

Wednesday February 15, 2012 12:47 am PST by Arnold Kim
Hardware.info points to a presentation slide from NVIDIA showing the range of products the company's graphics chips power. The tagline reads,"From Super Phones to Super Computers". The site also noted a strange looking Mac notebook in the middle of the lineup.


The notebook seems to carry characteristics from both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro line.

The lower part of the body has a tapered rather than squared off shape like the original MacBook Air. Meanwhile, the screen has the black border of the MacBook Pro line. The MacBook Airs have all had silver borders on their screens ever since their release. NVIDIA also doesn't power any of Apple's Mac laptops at the moment, but is rumored to be powering the next generation MacBook Pros.

Still, we wouldn't read too much into the photo. NVIDIA did power the 2008 MacBook Air which did carry a similar look to the bottom shell with the tapered edges. Our best guess is that the photo is of the 2008 MacBook Air that has been manipulated to include the darkened screen border.

We frequently see ads and slides that seem to depict an upcoming device, though it's rare that they ever amount to anything more than creative artist renditions.

Update: As a number of commenters have noted, NVIDIA has been using this slide for quite some time and the desktop wallpaper on the machine is from Mac OS X Leopard.
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Apple Switching Back to NVIDIA Graphics for Upcoming Mac Pro Update?

Tuesday February 14, 2012 10:26 am PST by Eric Slivka
M.I.C gadget reports that it has received information from sources indicating that Apple is "close to finally updating" its aging Mac Pro line. As we detailed in a report last month, the window for a potential Mac Pro update is approaching as Intel prepares to launch its Sandy Bridge E Xeon processors and AMD is pushing out its new "Tahiti" family of graphics cards.

But M.I.C gadget reports that Apple may be planning to switch back to NVIDIA for its stock graphics options in the next Mac Pro instead of sticking AMD as on the current models. The move, which would line up with a rumored similar shift for the MacBook Pro, could open the door to improved performance on a number of applications such as those from Adobe that embrace NVIDIA's CUDA architecture.

Nvidia has their “Kepler” platform due out around the same time as Intel is making their changes, and our sources within the company indicate that they have chosen to have Nvidia lead the charge so to speak on the graphics front. This is good for all our compatriots who want to use the special graphics engine in Adobe products, as it supports Nvidia only, or for those who wish to do CUDA based programs as well, again only supported by Nvidia.

The report cites "rumblings" that Apple may be targeting a Mac Pro update "near the end of quarter three", although that timeframe may be subject to change. The report's definition of "end of quarter three" is a bit unclear, as that would equate to September as measured by calendar quarters or June as measured by Apple's fiscal calendar. But with Intel pushing out Sandy Bridge E chips in "spring" and NVIDIA reportedly launching Kepler in April, Apple would likely be able to follow fairly closely on the heels of those releases with a Mac Pro update if it elects to do so.

But curiously, the report also claims that Apple will be looking to jump directly to Ivy Bridge, Intel's successor processor family to Sandy Bridge, for the revised Mac Pro. Intel's Sandy Bridge E processors have seen significant delays but are now close to shipping, and it is unclear how Apple's Mac Pro plans would line up with any Ivy Bridge server chip plans from Intel.

Unfortunately, M.I.C gadget does not have a terribly accurate record on hardware rumors, particularly on the Mac Pro front where last year the site was one of those sources claiming that Apple would issue a mid-year Mac Pro update using a custom processor from Intel. So while a switch to NVIDIA for graphics cards in the next Mac Pro may make sense given the timeline for availability on NVIDIA's Kepler lineup, we hesitate to place too much faith in this report's claims for the time being.
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Apple's Architectural Contributions Examined in New Magazine

Tuesday February 14, 2012 7:29 am PST by Eric Slivka
CLOG, a new quarterly architecture magazine, has opted to cover Apple in its just-published February 2012 issue. The magazine offers nearly 150 pages of stories and images about Apple and architecture, with coverage ranging from Steve Jobs' boyhood Eichler home to the company's forthcoming "spaceship campus" to Apple's network of over 350 retail stores around the world.

With one of the largest American office projects in history underway in Cupertino, CLOG : APPLE introduces the first comprehensive discussion of Apple’s architecture.

CLOG : APPLE showcases over 50 international contributors, including architects, designers, cartoonists, comedians, engineers and other industry leaders. Highlights include an examination of Steve Jobs’s Eichler-designed childhood home; the evolution of Apple’s store designs; its leading role in innovative glass engineering; the symbolism and urban implications of the new Cupertino headquarters design; reactions to Apple Campus 2 by notable architects and critics; and an interview with one of Apple Computer’s original three founders, Ronald Wayne.

The issue is a collection of brief essays, photos, illustrations, and other materials examining Apple from an architectural perspective. Among the features:

- An interview with Apple's third founder, Ron Wayne, addressing a number of topics including Wayne's design of the original Apple logo, Jobs' ambitions in his early days, and Wayne's thoughts on Apple's design and engineering work.

- A humor piece from Colbert Report writer Frank Lesser in which he examines what it would be like if Apple had to purchase a retail store design from a company like itself. In a letter from the fictional architecture firm responding to Apple's request for proposal for a store at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Lesser promotes store features drawn from Apple's own mystique, including a staircase known as "FeetTime", rubberized covers to product the store's glass panels, and an Apple Store Care extended warranty program.

- A visual size comparison of Apple's planned "spaceship campus" in Cupertino to a number of landmarks around the world.


- An illustrative view of Apple's prototype store facade and how that facade is modified at certain locations to respond to site-specific constraints to provide a customized and yet still-familiar look for most of its stores.

- Two pieces from ifoAppleStore's Gary Allen discussing the evolution of Apple's retail store designs and using the 4th Street retail store in Berkeley, California as an example of the company's attention to detail.

- A number of redacted response letters from people and companies who refused to comment for the CLOG issue, primarily due to confidentiality agreements with Apple.

CLOG : APPLE is available from a handful of bookstores, or directly from the magazine's site at a price of $15 plus shipping ($5 U.S. and $10 international).
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