Joining AT&T stores nationwide for the iPhone 3G launch, Apple retail stores in the US will open for business at 8am on July 11, according to information posted on Apple’s website. In addition to AT&T’s 1800 retail locations,  American early birds will have nearly 200 Apple Stores available for their early morning shopping pleasure.

The stores began receiving 3G in-store displays today, according to Gizmodo, which also has a nice gallery of display photos. In-store demo units of the new phone are due in stores tomorrow and store employees have been instructed to download apps from the App Store on the morning of July 11th, according to a post at MacRumors.

Photo via Fortune

My AT&T account tells me I’ll be eligible for a hardware upgrade on August 16th. I’ll probably wait at least until then to pick up a new iPhone 3G. And something tells me I won’t be disappointed.

Then again, I don’t have a sustainability agenda to push, as do a quintet of twenty-somethings calling themselves alternatively TheWhoFarm and Waiting for Apples, who began queuing up in front of the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan on Friday. The group is going for the Guinness Book of World’s Records entry for “longest time waiting in line to buy something,” according to Fortune, and hopes to persuade the next President of the United States to transform the White House’s 17-acre lawn into an organic farm.

It’s not clear what effect the group’s affinity for Apple may have on the company’s efforts to gain acceptance with Enterprise users.

In 2004 and 2005, Arben Kryeziu caused a stir as the “developer” behind Mac emulation software called CherryOS. Marketed at the time by Hawaii-based video-streaming company Maui X-Stream, the software supposedly allowed users to install and run versions of Mac OS X on Pentium processor-based Windows PCs. It was advertised as being able to reach emulation speeds up to 80% of the system’s total processor speed.

The problem with CherryOS was that it was largely a re-packaged iteration of the Power PC emulator PearPC, software that had been previously released under GPL and used primarily to run Mac OS X on x86 machines. As a commercial product, CherryOS violated GPL licensing terms by reusing PearPC code and also raised questions regarding the legality of commercial software developed and marketed specifically for the purpose of running Mac OS on the x86 architecture, since Apple’s license agreement specifically states that the operating system may only be installed on Apple-labeled computers. CherryOS eventually disappeared in the spring of 2005 under a storm of vaporware criticism.

Thanks to a Cult of Mac tipster, we’ve learned that Kryeziu is back in business as the the chief architect and senior strategist for another Hawaii-based company, Bump Networks, whose main product is iRAPP (interactive remote application), which claims to allow users to view and fully interact with a remote or local Mac from a Windows PC. The software is being marketed on a website called CodeRebel and is also available as a Networking & Security download from the Apple website. No word yet on the code under the iRAPP hood.

~ Thanks Sharon.

I had the great fortune to attend an early screening of WALL*E, Pixar’s latest feature film, on Tuesday night. And, like just about every Pixar movie ever, it’s absolutely phenomenal. As much as I love Apple, I have to admit that the output of Steve’s other company is a lot more consistently excellent. Even more wonderfully, WALL*E is filled with references to Apple. It’s a fun bonus in an already great film.

Lots of people have remarked that Apple Design Chief Jonathan Ive was involved in designing EVE, the sleek, white, glossy robot that WALL*E falls in love with. As much as she resembles an older iPod, however, the cleverest thing about EVE is that she appears to have no seams in her surface, though they appear when she lifts her arms. There’s even one scene (pictured) where WALL*E tries to find her hand while it’s in locked position, and he struggles to find the gaps — an obvious reference to the notoriously difficult-to-open iPod or iPhone.

But the Apple references run deeper. Every morning, WALL*E opens up a solar array in order to charge himself up for the workday to come. Hilariously, as soon as he reaches 100 percent power, the classic Mac booting chime goes off. And it’s definitely the older sound — it’s quite tinny. I’d bet they taped it off of a Quadra rather than a current Mac.

One last Apple reference: WALL*E’s favorite way to unwind is to watch an old VHS tape of the Barbra Streisand movie Hello Dolly (it’s OK; it is actually totally weird, if in a sweet way). But that tape then plays through a circa 2006 video iPod, which WALL*E then magnifies with an enormous lens into a projection screen.

WALL*E: Come for the love, stay for the Apple in-jokes. What could be better than that?

Pictures via About.com

Photo by John Pettit

Software retailer MacHeist, well-known among software buyers for its bundle deals, says it is offering Parallels for the “lowest price ever,” at $49 or $39 for previous MacHeist customers.

Parallels Desktop software for Mac is a Mac System Utility that allows users to run Windows and Linux side by side on Mac OS X without rebooting.

Original Photo: Brian Smith/Corbis Outline, Modifications: Leigh McMullen

UPDATE: I certainly got my facts messed up on this one. CP+B was not behind the “Get a Mac” commercials. There was a paragraph in the middle of page one referencing them in the Fast Company article, and I mistakenly interpreted this as an attribution to CP+B.

So to Alex and everyone at CP+B sorry for the mis-characterization.

To our faithful readers: Sorry for not checking facts more closely.

Alex Bogusky, the creative genius behind Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign, has switched sides in the brand war between Apple and Microsoft.

According to a Junecover story in Fast Company, Bogusky is going to work for Microsoft.

His marketing firm, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, once credited the power of Macintosh computers to it’s ability to compete against bigger companies.

Newly relocated to Boulder, Co., Bogusky sat with FC’s reporter to discuss how CP+B intends to instill some “cool” in the Borg.

While The Cult can certainly appreciate the allure of the intellectual and creative challenge this endeavor presents to Bogusky and his firm, we have to wonder if CP+B isn’t also trying to corporatize it’s own image a bid to collect more blue-chip clients.

Leaving us to wonder: is $300 million of Bill’s dollars worth your soul, Alex?

You can read all about it in Fast Company on newsstands this month, or online here.

While it’s taken as writ that we cultists tend to be creative types, a recent study from the Fuqua school of business at Duke University seems to indicate that simply seeing an Apple logo makes you more creative.

The researchers conducted a number of experiments, one of which was showing the logos for fractions of a second to create a subliminal impression, and in all cases those who’d seen the Apple logo scored higher on standardized creativity tests than those who’d seen the IBM logo or no logos at all.

Keith Sawyer in his Creativity and Innovation blog has got a great write up on the paper if you don’t feel like sorting through all the academic stuff in the published paper (I managed to get through 5 whole pages before turning to Keith’s excellent article).

UPDATE: Microsoft says this was their attempt to make the worst internal video ever. MMM…yeah. Interesting spin…

I’ve been wrapping up an all-intensive project at work lately, but I have to break my silence for this: “Rocking Our Sales” by Bruce ServicePack and the Vista Street Band. I don’t really know where to begin. I guess I will just say this. I have no idea if Apple makes lame Bruce Springsteen parody music videos to inspire its channel sales teams, but if it does, I have to assume that it uses better lyrics than “Talk up our Microsoft Application Virtualization…See what’s on employee’s laptops with AIS and MDOP!”

EPIC FAIL, MS! And if anyone is actually inspired to sell more Vista based on this, really think about switching your job. I mean, damn.

Via Daring Fireball

Filed Under: FutureWatch

What I’m going to say will likely disturb some folks, particularly in light of the fact that iTunes just became the #1 music retailer in the world this month. But work with me a little.

The online music revolution has not occurred, yet.

That’s it. No wild speculation, or tin-foil hat accusations, (and yet your characteristic sensationalism remains –ed)

That is the whole of the thing. While other industries have seen often dramatic effects on their business as a result of the internet, the music business is much like it was when my dad had a music store 20 years ago. Consumers still shop, they buy records, or singles they’re interested in. In short, online music has not been changed by the internet (save for the piracy aspect), it remains the same “Buy and Consume” metaphor it has always been.

In the spirit of disrupting future software patents by publishing prior art, after the break we’ll discuss in detail exactly how Apple could change all that.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a long time now since Jeff Goldblum was the face and voice of Apple, but YouTube user notatypewriter provides a remixed blast from the past that reminds why the past is the past. Taking a holiday ad from 1999, the video and audio was slowed down about 30 percent, resulting in the ultimate Apple pitch man: Hammered Jeff Goldblum! “I’d say…Internet?” Genius.

Via Macenstein

YouTube - Apple Ad - Drunk Jeff Goldblum

Tags: goldblum, apple, advertising

Even though it was announced a month ago that “American Idol” had made the iPhone its official phone, and we all know that “Idol” is the most crassly commercial TV show in the history of the galaxy, I don’t think anyone was prepared for the abomination that aired midway through last night’s episode.

After “returning” from an ad break, host Ryan Seacrest reached into the audience to pull an iPhone from the hands of a female “audience member.” He then used the iPhone to visit the “Idol” website, text in a vote for a contestant, and show how easy it is to use the WiFi iTunes Store to download content “directly to your device.” I threw up in my mouth during the segment - A LOT.

I don’t know, can association with Ryan Seacrest make the iPhone less appealing? It’ll take a little while for the taint to wash away, so far as I’m concerned. I’ll post the clip if and when it turns up…

Read the rest of this entry »

Nineteen-year-old Mac enthusiast Cameron Kerr has made a spot-on parody of the HP Hands ad campaign to detail his own life. Though he doesn’t mention it in the actual spot, he did put together a clever how-to which reveals that a Mac can make it so easy to create a visually stimulating ode to HP computers.

A shame. Of course, the only thing wrong with today’s HP laptops is that they ship with Windows, so maybe the celebrity endorsers of the famous campaign just aren’t telling us something.

Via Winandmac.

Philip Barnes has uploaded a handful of vintage Apple print ads from the late 1970s and early ’80s. He’s got the “Welcome, IBM. Seriously.” spot, as well as the amazing commercial above, which makes the argument that A is for Apple, and therefore, you should use one. Sink your teeth into finances! Do you see that 16-color bar chart on that TV! It’s dope!

Though it’s actually a slightly older commercial, I was struck during the Super Bowl pre-game today by Dell’s ad for the XPS-One, the Austin PC-maker’s all-in-one iMac competitor. The commercial is nothing but 30 seconds of vanilla PC box destruction. Exploding. Getting hit with wrecking balls. And then the (semi) attractive XPS One pops out. The tagline: “Dell - now available in beautiful.” I was so shocked that I rewound it and watched it again. Does Dell hate itself this much?

While Dell, HP, and Gateway’s increasing focus on industrial design (only 15 years after Apple and IBM) has made some serious progress toward getting ugly beige boxes off of the desks of America, it’s disturbing to me how much Dell’s approach to design is an attack on itself. Those weren’t just generic PCs - they represented the former soul of the Dell corporation. And while the former Dell corporation made bland, bottom-feeding PCs, at least the company’s point of view on what a computer should be. Now, its designs evoke where Apple and Sony were about four years ago. Is it not possible to make more attractive computers without trashing yourself?

In this regard, Apple will never be in trouble. With Steve Jobs in charge, the company’s identity is rock solid, as its perspective on what technology should be. Every Apple shareholder is thankful for that.

Apple has launched another of its ingenious “Get a Mac” banner ads on the New York Times front page. As Mac and PC chat in a sidebar, a seemingly unrelated ad up above becomes a topic of discussion and then manipulation.

Pretty brilliant — PC “correcting” a “typo” in a Wall Street Journal review so it says “Leopard is better and faster than Vista - NOT!” Nicely done. And now to correct the rest of the Internet, indeed.

The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia

Via TUAW

Tags: advertisingapple internet getamac

Great new “Get a Mac” spot from Apple last night showcasing the Mac OS X Leopard back-up utility Time Machine. A dozen Justin Longs as Mac — I don’t know whether to cheer or run screaming. Highly effective explanation of the technology, though. And it’s nice to see the campaign get kindler and gentler again after the Vista-attack ads.

Via TUAW

How could this have failed? The Apple Lisa is the computer for Type A personalities who go to work at dawn with their dogs via bike and then continually stare at the same spreadsheet for a half-hour. Sign me up!

YouTube - Kevin Costner in Apple ad

Via SFist

Blogged with Flock

Tags: lisa, apple, costner, advertising

One good opening deserves another, so Apple is just about ready to match its new San Francisco store in the Marina with a new shop in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village big props to Apple’s creatives for a logo that’s so darn Big Apple. Beautiful work, guys.

David Sebastian Buus took the photo while on a bike ride.

doctormac: New Apple Store in NYC / Dec. 7.

Via Digg.

Blogged with Flock

Tags: apple, retail, nyc, greenwich

Mark Richardson of Ragus Media has created the cheery, oddly sentient iMac choir commercial concept that Apple hasn’t bothered to. It’s fun, but man, do I ever hate the music. Think Apple will buy it and put it in production like the CSS ad?

Via Gizmodo

Apple just refreshed its third concurrent ad campaign today with three new “Get a Mac” ads, a few of which aired during NFL action on Sunday. Two of the ads, “Podium” (seen above) and “PR Lady” make a particular point of ripping on the fact that many people have downgraded their computers from Vista to XP because they’re so frustrated with it. I enjoy “Podium” a lot, but my favorite is still “PR Lady,” which features a PR liaison who steps in to make PC’s self-defeating comments sound positive:

PC: I hired a PR person, you know, to smooth things over that whole Vista problem.
PR Lady: By “problem,” he means, “Some early adopters have faced some MINOR challenges.”

It’s really cute.