Apple Store Trafford Centre Update

ifoAppleStore reports: "The future Trafford Centre (UK) store is shaping up, coincident with recruiting efforts. Based on the timing of both parallel lines of activity, expect an early November grand opening for the store."

Steve Jobs Interview

Steve Jobs once again appeared at the "D: All Things Digital" conference in May. Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher were asking the questions. The interview is being released in 10 parts:
Part One - No Video for the iPod
Part Two - Customers Are Not That Stupid

Bill Gates: Lost for words

Watch what happens when the inventor of the CTRL+ALT+DEL key combination credits Bill Gates with making it famous...

Look who's back...

Teddy Ruxpin, that's who! No more audio cassettes, Teddy has gone all digital. But he stills looks the same. Quite unsettling when his mouth starts to move...
Order yours now to arrive in time for "the holidays" for about £40...

Predictions - not bad

I correctly predicted Tuesday's launch of the new iBook and Mac mini range. Got it a bit wrong though - no new widescreen form-factor iBooks (they'll probably come with the switch to Intel), and keyboards and mice are still add-ons for the Mac mini. The 3 new configurations of the Mac mini mean that the most popular build-to-order options can be bought off-the-shelf (great for those of us who need their technology now now NOW!). I was right about 512Mb RAM across both ranges too.

Widescreen iBooks and updated Mac minis tomorrow?

Marvbloke predicts new form-factor iBooks with widescreen displays and new configurations of the Mac mini will be released tomorrow. Tuesday is widely regarded as the most likely day of the week for Apple releases. Availability times on the US Apple Store have gone up to 7 days for both products leading to speculation that the release is imminent. I'd like to see the Apple keyboard and mouse being included as standard with the Mac mini (making it BYOD instead of BYOKDM) and Airport Extreme as standard would also be nice. 512Mb RAM should really be included as standard too.

Email links now available

So you're reading Marvbloke one day, when you suddenly think "I know someone who would really like that article". Well, we've added an "Email Post" link at the end of each article. Enjoy - let me know what you think of this feature.

Marvbloke finally appears on Google!

I don't know what's changed (although it could be my more regular comments on engadget), but Marvbloke finally appears correctly in Google! Not only that, but you can now search the marvbloke archives using the Google box to the right. It is a great day in the history of Marvbloke.com!

Slingbox - 'Placeshifting' your TV experience

Slingbox is a $249 set-top box that takes your TV signal and redistributes it over your home internet. The idea being that you can watch your TV/Sky+/Tivo/DVD player in a different place on any internet-connected laptop/PC. So you could sit in the garden watching Coronation Street, or sit in a hotel in Austria watching Animal Hospital. Whatever you like. And there are no subscription fees - you just pay for the box. Even Walt Mossberg likes it.

The link above is for an interview with Blake Krikorian, the CEO of Sling Media. Here are some very important extracts:

What about a Mac version?
We don’t have any announcement yet. We intend to release it in the next few months. Sometimes working with Apple involves getting our Slingstream technology to fully work on a Mac, which means we might need some cooperation from the company that holds the keys to that. That company is not necessarily the easiest to partner with. But it’s great to see the demand from the consumers, because that gives us a lot more ammunition when we approach them. So I actually love the Mac guys complaining and pounding on it, so I urge them to keep it up.

Will you be bringing the Slingbox out in the UK market soon?
Yes. We’ll probably have it by the end of the year. We’re soliciting feedback from consumers to determine how we want to roll out in that market.
We made our first delivery to a UK customer last week. We had a guy in a forum who was dying for it, and he got some NTSC-to-PAL converter and figured it out. Our VP of operations was flying through Heathrow, so I had him bring a unit and he met the dude in Heathrow and the guy’s going crazy on it. We’ll have a PAL version in the third quarter. We might just sell it online at first.

Can't wait!

Get a FREE iPod! Really? Or just a con?

I realise that many different sites reckon they can get you a free iPod. But the people behind this offer (GratisNetworks) were the first and the best to do these referral-based free offers (which are now available in the UK). Even the BBC recommends them. Please use this link to join the offer so I get the credit required. You don't have to stay with the offer you select (although you should read the conditions carefully). Once I refer enough people, I get a free iPod! Really! But they must all use the above link. If you get 5 of your friends to do the same, you too can have a free iPod!

500 million song promotion over

The Apple promo is over. Although the main winner was from the US, the winners list shows that 17 people from the UK won an iPod mini and 50-song card each!

Combination lock...for your drink

You know you want one...
(except they're not for sale yet)

Two-way Street: Moving Music Off the iPod

A very useful article from PlayList magazine.

Bluewater Apple Store opens on Saturday

The third UK Apple Store opens on Saturday at the Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent. Bit far away for Marvbloke to travel to...

Sgt. Peppers Live Performance

If you enjoyed Paul McCartney and U2 performing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at Live 8 in London, then make sure to use the link above to buy the download now!

24 meg broadband in the UK!

Be sure to register your details with Be Unlimited for their upcoming 24Mbps broadband service. It uses the latest ADSL2+ technology to finally match the Koreans in consumer broadband speeds. Probably rolling out in London first, but doesn't hurt to get on the waiting list...

Use GarageBand to record Podcasts

Apple have published some excellent tips on creating Podcasts using GarageBand. Dead easy (of course).