"..Can somebody please restart him?..." hahaha. OK. That made us chuckle.

 Apple’s .Mac service may see a significant upgrade, with new features set for introduction beside the launch of iPhone Software 2.0 in June.

Multiple reports this week have claimed Apple’s preparing to introduce ‘push’ email support to its subscription service, but it appears there’s even more improvement planned.

Among other new features, .Mac users can perhaps look forward to full over the air synching of calendars, contacts and email; .Mac synching on Windows and more.

These features will raise the bar and versatility of Apple’s sometimes criticised subscription-only service, while enabling .Mac users to enjoy similar features to those offered through Microsoft Exchange.

 Ten years ago this week Apple introduced the product which single-handedly helped the company rebound back into the ascendancy, the iMac.

We thought it worth a repeat of then Apple iCEO Steve Job’s introduction of the new $1299 system, which offered a 233MHz G3 processor, 32MB of memory, a 4GB drive, USB and a CD-ROM drive (and built-in modem). Critics at the time slammed the system’s lack of a floppy drive, but ten years on and the iMac is still here. The floppy drive is not.

Happy birthday, iMac.

Looks like the iPhone is truly going Global.  Today Vodaphone let the cat out of the bag:

Vodafone Group  said Tuesday that it's signed an agreement with Apple Inc.  to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets. Starting later in 2008 Vodafone will offer the iPhone in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey.

Vodafone would be an additional carrier slated for both Australia (Telstra, Optus?) and Italy (TIM).

With the failed attempt by Microsoft to buy Yahoo! as a backdrop, the importance of having some cash on hand is becoming more important in the technology world.  With that in mind, the San Francisco Chronicle today does a piece on how Apple's $19 Billion dollar cash pile is climbing, while Microsoft is falling and currently at $26 billion.   The balance was more than $64 billion less than four years ago.

What is all of Apple's money for? 

According to Net Apps, the Safari browser is blowing up on the Windows platform... to the tune of three times its last month of total of marketshare.  No doubt in large part due to (un)equal parts coming out of beta, the great reviews and Apple's somewhat questionable strategy of slipping the application into the iTunes software update.

When you are playing on Microsoft's field, you have to play by Microsoft's rules....or when in Rome?

Thanks to P.E.D./ Apple 2.0 for the look

According to SAI, Apple is buying some more commercial real estate space in Manhattan.  This is commercial space, not retail space.  The purchase will be in the realm of 10,000 to 15,000 square feet and will be in the midtown area near the 5th Avenue flagship store, according to the article.  

Apple currently has about 10,000 square feet of commercial space in the Citigroup building in Manhattan, which is the most expensive piece of real estate that they rent.  The space is used for sales teams and systems engineers to meet with clients and congregate...among other mundane corporate work.

So what is Apple doing with the new space?  Most likely they are just looking for better digs at better prices.  Perhaps something that would be more inviting to prospective enterprise customers?

Apple also uses the SoHo store downtown for some corporate training and events. 

 Just another re-run, but still kind of fun, here's the mighty Kermit speaking up for Mac, enjoy..

 China may be blocking .Mac sites from being accessed by internet users in the country, though iDisks, iWeb site updates and other functions are working fine.

Access to .Mac sites has reported to be unavailable to internet users in Beijing, Shenzen, Hunan, Hangzhou and Zhuhai, and most reports agree that its user-made websites that are suffering from the blockage.

MacFixIt cites multiple reports to this effect, while Apple’s .Mac discussion pages also carry complaints to this effect. “Any page beginning with Web.mac.com is blocked,” the report explains. Email and other features of Apple’s subscription-based service is working fine, the report claims.