Psystar have either one (or both) of these two things on their side: Some supporters (other companies) or LOTS of money.  I would think the first option.

Apple has a history of being very intimidating as far as law goes.  They are like black holes - nothing can defeat them.  But here’s a little company taking on this black hole - and its doing f**king well.

Psystar alleges that by virtue of Apple’s leveraging of copyrights in the context of Apple’s EULA, spurious litigation via the DMCA, and various other anti- and unfair competitive conduct, there is no viable alternative to the purchase and use of Apple-Labeled Computer Hardware Systems for users who wish to use the Mac OS, for a prospective buyer of the Mac OS, or for a user of an older version of the Mac OS.

I’m not sure if I want Apple to be forced to offer their OS to other hardware vendors - the main reason OS X is so stable is the fact that it is streamlined around it’s own hardware (hey, if you want to see this in action, try building a hackintosh with a retail OS X DVD - you will find things like network cards, sound cards etc wont even be recognized).  Also, there is a sense of pride in owning a Mac, the hardware just goes with OS X, and you feel “special,” not like one of the ordinary users of a Windows PC.

Steve Jobs

The recent news surrounding Steve Job’s current health has drawn a buzz around the blogging world. Gizmodo was the first to notice how much thinner Steve looked as he entered the stage at WWDC 2008. Recently, Fortune from CNNMoney.com has an interesting take on who could potentially be the next CEO for Apple. The article breaks down the position and responsibilities for each Senior Executive. From Tim Cook, to Jonathon Ive. According to the article, Tim Cook appears to be the most appropriate for the job although it is evident around the Internet that many believe the next CEO will be Jonathan Ive.

You can find the full artice here: After Steve Jobs: Apple’s new CEO

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In the days leading up to the 2008 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple has started making small changes to some of their international websites hinting at the imminent launch of the iPhone in Brazil, Canada and Mexico. In the HTML source code for Apple’s websites for Canada, Brazil, and Mexico, one reader found the following placeholder code:

This represents HTML code for an “iPhone” navigation tab wrapped in HTML comment tags so Web browsers will ignore it. When Apple removes the surrounding comment code, it will reveal an “iPhone” tab (see above) on these country’s webpages. iPhone navigation tabs only appear on country website with official iPhone support. At present, the iPhone has an official presence in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Ireland and Austria.

Rogers previously announced that they would be delivering the iPhone to Canadian customers while America Movil has announced iPhone support for Mexico and Brazil.

Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference kicks off on Monday, June 9th, 2008 where Apple is expected to launch the next generation (3G capable) iPhone.

The Canadian webpage apparently has had this code since August 2007, as first noted by Gene Rayburn, though the Mexico and Brazil changes may be new.

Thanks, MacRumours

It’s a widely accepted notion by now that Monday’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote is going to be iPhone-centric. Whether that entails more on the iPhone 2.0 software, the forthcoming App Store for native iPhone apps, or an entirely new iPhone itself is anybody’s guess. But it’s not exactly going out on a limb to say that Steve Jobs is going to spend a lot of time detailing Apple’s iPhone plans to developers on Monday.

But Mac OS X could also be in the mix—specifically, a new version of the operating system. That’s the rumor currently being floated—at The Unofficial Apple Weblog and Infinite Loop anyway—that developers will also receive an early seed of OS X 10.6, which is rumored to be code-named Snow Leopard.

With the caveat that examining any rumor of this nature first requires a visit to the folks at Morton to restock your grains-of-salt supply, the thinking goes that 10.6 will be an Intel-only release, that it will have no major new features, and that it will be focused on improvements in speed, stability, and security. And oh yeah, OS X 10.6 will be released as soon as January 2009’s Macworld Expo, a mere 15 months or so after the release of OS X 10.5.

So how to react to such possibilities? As a consumer, my first thought was along the lines of “so tell me why I should buy this thing? It wouldn’t have any new features at all, and it wouldn’t run on my PowerBook G4?” Then it dawned on me…maybe I wouldn’t have to buy it.

Instead, what if Apple distributes 10.6—assuming there is a 10.6, as described above—as a free update to anyone running 10.5 on an Intel-powered Mac? Sure, we’ve become trained to expect a $129 upgrade fee with each major change in OS X’s version number. But this wouldn’t mark the first time the company released a major OS X update for free: OS X 10.1 was a free update, too, for all those who dove in with 10.0.

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Apple during the first quarter of 2008 rode the booming smartphone market to sales of more than 1.7 million iPhones, good enough to make it the No. 3 manufacturer of multi-function handsets worldwide, according to a report released Friday by market research firm Gartner.

The Cupertino-based electronics maker ended the quarter with a 5.3 percent share of the global smartphone market, behind Nokia and Research In Motion (RIM), whose sales of 14.58 million and 4.31 million smartphones garnered a 45.2 percent and 13.4 percent share, respectively.

In the US, Apple faired even better by claiming the No. 2 spot overall with a 20 percent share of the market. The iPhone maker, however, remains a distant second to RIM, which maintained its No. 1 US ranking with a share totaling 42 percent.

Overall, Gartner said first quarter worldwide smartphone sales to end users grew 29 percent compared to the same period in 2007, reaching 32.2 million units. The firm added the smartphones accounted for 11 percent of the global mobile device market.

In Europe, Middle East, and Africa, sales of the integrated devices totaled 11.7 million units, a 38.7 percent increase from the first quarter of 2007. Meanwhile, the blistering North American smartphone market saw sales skyrocket by more than 106 percent to 7.3 million units.

“Despite economic concerns, the smartphone market continued to expand in the United States, driven by heavy advertising and strong marketing promotions as more devices reached mass market price points,” said Hugues De La Vergne, principal analyst for mobile terminals research at Gartner. “North American operators are giving these devices strong support, as they provide higher average revenue per unit.”

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