MacBook Pro really was PC World's fastest tested laptop... until the Phantom-X

So there's a bit of grumbling on the internets that PC World, like, totally sold out and lied about the MacBook Pro being the fastest Vista laptop they ever tested (presumably just so they could get mentioned in that new Apple commercial, right?) shortly before the staff went cow tipping and passed out drunk in a public park. The reality is PC World apparently hadn't tested a laptop faster than the MacBook Pro at the time, and it wasn't until weeks later they tested the Eurocom D900C Phantom-X, which handily bested Apple's lappie by a broad margin. At least that's what PC World's editor Harry McCracken told us, but then again we did hear he recently got an Apple tat and is planning a hostile takeover of Macworld magazine in '08.

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Apple Store 14th Street press review

We got a chance to preview the new Manhattan Apple Store this morning before the official unveiling tomorrow at 6PM. The store is nicely situated on W. 14th St. and 9th Ave., and while Apple did its best to blend into the existing early 20th century architecture, it's still a hard one to miss. The store itself is lacking the glass elevator of its 5th Ave. counterpart, but makes up for it with an epic three story glass staircase. It's the second-largest Apple Store in the US, with a full floor dedicated to service -- the genius bar can handle about 30 customers per hour. There are 175 employees total, and the store will be open until midnight every day of the week. We asked Ron Johnson, Apple's Senior VP of Retail, about how the growth of Apple into kiosks at other retail establishments such as Best Buy is impacting Apple Retail, and he responded that there's "plenty of room" for both, since Apple just had its best quarter ever in Mac sales and at Apple Stores simultaneously. He did say the ratio of new stores is going to move a bit more in the international direction, since there's a lot of room to grow there. We also asked about Genius Bar wait times, and he assured us that it's something Apple monitors constantly and continues to add staff to address.

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Wii demand skyrocketing, still

While Nintendo having trouble meeting demand for the Wii is hardly news, it looks like those supply problems now have the company reconsidering its advertising plans, with some ads in the U.K. apparently already pulled. According to Marketing Week, Nintendo says that's being done in order to "take a responsible stance this Christmas and not fuel demand." In their place, Nintendo will reportedly be running more ads for the DS, which it seemingly has no trouble cranking out (the Wii ads will then return in full force in early 2008). No word if the advertising drawback will also extend to North America, but it certainly seems like there's enough shortages to go around.

Another accessory: Remote Nunchuck

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Google Docs usage continues to rise

Google Docs and Spreadsheets has hit a bit of a growth curve since June. About 1.6 million people used the Web-based service in October, compared to 635,000 in June, according to Compete. That is a nice jump, but 1.6 million is still a marginal number compared to the desktop productivity apps (on just about every PC) that it is trying to replace. But, hey, it is still early days.


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Jobs to deliver Opening Keynote in MacWorld 2008

In a shocking turn of events, IDG World Expo officially announced today that Steve Jobs will in fact headline next year's MacWorld San Francisco conference, with his opening keynote address set to go down at 9:00AM sharp on January 15th. Exactly what that keynote will entail remains a mystery, of course, although we've certainly heard plenty of rumblings on the matter. Whatever it is El-Jobso has in store, you can be sure we'll have by-the-minute coverage of it, so mark your calenders and watch this space, or not.

via Engadget
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iPhone Applications from Google

We heard a rumor that Google was going to launch a new interface for users accessing the site via an iPhone in the next few days. But an anonymous tip let us know it actually launched without any warning or announcement this evening.

If you visit Google.com from an iPhone, you now get a menu of services to choose from - home (search box), Gmail, Calendar, Reader and More (docs, sms, goog-411, news, photos, blogger and notebook). It’s basically all of the core Google services, accessible from a single easy to use menu.

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Live Documents = Online Version of Office 2007??

Live Documents, the startup founded by Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia that said it was going to war with Microsoft with its online Office suite wasn’t kidding, with screenshots showing that the service is a nearly perfect clone of Microsoft Office.

Digital Inspiration was the first to find screenshots of the yet to be released Microsoft Office killer, and if it wasn’t for the Live Documents bar at the top of each shot you’d swear you were looking at Office 2007; soo much so that I’m at least a little bit skeptical on the scoop; I’m not saying that they are not real, but it wouldn’t be hard to mock up shots like this.

Presuming the shots are real the question then becomes whether the service is legal. Other sites have previously suggested (not in this case) that layouts can not be copyrighted, but I’m sure once Microsoft sees a complete clone of their Office package they’ll be wanting to test this theory in Court.

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