The Apple flagship store is located at 367 George Street. Apple is confident that their expansion plans in Australia will bear fruit and they have even decided to follow suit with three other stores in the continent. The second will be build in the vicinity of Sydney’s Chatswood area while the third will open its doors somewhere in Melbourne. Both will be unveiled come the Christmas holidays.

One additional store will be based in Stonnington where the store will be one of the many tenants in the Fun Factory building. This building is touted to undergo a redevelopment program where $200 million will be spend to uplift its image amongst city dwellers in Melbourne. This fourth Apple store will be made more opulent and larger than the rest.

The front part of the GrooveToons consists of a pair of googly eyes that instantly makes the device resemble a frog. The exterior’s material has a metal-like sheen to it. When your iPod is on the charging slot, reach around it and you will find the Snooze button. Tapping it will afford you several more minutes of shut-eye. The on/off button is hidden at the back, as are the line-in ports and speakers.

However, one setback concerning the GrooveToons is that you do not get to see what time is really is without checking your iPod Nano. The clock face on the GrooveToons is just for display and while it looks pretty neat, it simply won’t function at all. Otherwise the speakers offer excellent sound despite its miniscule size. Speaking of size, the GrooveToons will fit nicely on your side table or computer desk without taking up much space. It was just released in mid-June 2008 so grab yours from Cygnett at $59 today!

To avoid any untoward incidences and unwelcome bugs, Apple has made it clear to developers that they are to look at the overall software from all angles. Apple has even provided a list of main components that specifically need to be attended to. Developers are expected to remedy or make these applications better. These applications include iLife whereby compatibility is to be enhanced, networking, printing, Airport as well as other run of the mill applications like iChat, iCal and Mail.

As a final note, PowerBook users who anticipate the arrival of Apple’s latest data synchronization app, MobileMe, will need to download the latest Mac OS X 10.5.4.

With this integration, the ITC One is more than an entertainment cabinet. It also cleverly hides the Apple TV, iPod charging station and other paraphernalia. That’s not all, if you get tired of watching TV via your new Apple TV, you can duke it out with your friends over multiplayer matches using the XBOX 360. You can also play all the Mario Brothers games you ever wanted via the Nintendo Wii system provided by the ITC One. As if that is not enough, users can watch Blu-Ray movies using the incorporated Blu-Ray Disc drive. Other amazing hardware included are the AMX NetLinx control system, the IcePower D-Class amplifiers that will provide cutting edge sound effects, a Bryston pre-amp processor, a video processor manufactured by Vidikron, an anti-noise and anti-vibration system as well as Transparent Cable power conditioning. Cabling and cable harness is naturally attached too.

Apple TV users with a deep pocket willing to shell out $25,000 for this beauty can obtain it from SE2 Labs.

Fisheye Hemi boasts of correctional properties that will rectify lens distortion caused in hemispheric fisheye images hence the name Fisheye Hemi(sphere). For starters this plug-in is great for lomography enthusiasts who love taking fisheye pictures but dislike the fact that faces of people they love are distorted beyond proportions. Their bodies also appear disfigured. However, Aperture’s Fisheye Hemi will amend this by straightening the vertical lines within each photo. This application does not change an image’s resolution but instead it will work beautifully to display the ideal composition in the best framing capabilities. Fisheye Hemi boast to offer these properties better than other conventional programs with de-warping features.

Almost all cameras and those with fisheye lens will be supported by the Fisheye Hemi. Owners with a lens and camera combo horizontally covering 180 degrees over the environment can take advantage of Fisheye Hemi 1 (Circle). Likewise, those with equipment covering 180 degrees diagonally will need to use Fisheye Hemi 2 (Full Frame).

As an upgrade, MobileMe users will enjoy double the storage space compared to .Mac’s mere 10GB. Data synchronization will be naturally effortless and intuitive. For example, any email sent to your MobileMe account can be read via your iPhone. Images captured using your mobile phone will be instantly uploaded to MobileMe, allowing you to edit and share them.

Sounds interesting? Why not try out the new MobileMe at the official Apple website. Head on to www.apple.com/au/mobileme and apply to try the service free of charge for two months before making the commitment and signing on to the new MobileMe. To take full advantage of MobileMe, you have to pay _ annually.

For one, HP has announced their latest offering, the Voodoo Envy which will beat the MacBook Air in terms of thinness by a mere 0.06 inches. In an unexpected twist of events, HP utilized the SP7700 and SP7500 Intel Processors which can be found in all MacBook Air models. These processors have been formulated to cater only for Apple’s hardware needs. Dell has also jumped into the lightweight mini notebook bandwagon by releasing its E Slim laptop. The 12.1 inch affair is approximately 0.8 inches thick, 0.1 inches shy of a MacBook Air’s thinness but its price tag makes a lot of difference. Consumers can choose between the 1.3 GHZ or 1.6 GHZ Atom CPU and decide between a 8GB Flash storage or a superior 40GB HDD storage. WiMax support is also included and while the final retail price has not been confirmed yet Dell promised that it will definitely be much lower than a MacBook Air’s.

One unique selling point of the Crystal Air Jacket lies in the fact that it features a re-designed back cover that aims to give better durability to the iPod Touch. An anti-glare face protector also comes included, as is a Dock Connector port cover. Consumers are free to select either matte or glossy Crystal Air Jackets to safeguard their iPod Touch from physical harm.

Sold at $30, the Crystal Air Jacket is a good bargain as the back shell is astoundingly 0.7mm thin. The Sleep/Wake button will not be covered and thus, your iPod Touch will not be a burden with the unnecessary plastic shell covering.

O2 has also made it clear to Apple that it would require iPhone 3G’s customers to sign up for O2 call plans on the spot. However, one major drawback is brought up by the Apple store employees. They claim that it is too much hassle to check customers’ credit background in order to enable them to purchase an O2 iPhone 3G. Retail staff also has little experience in assisting customers with the registration process especially if it concerns subscription contracts. O2 promised to alleviate their problems by seeking out the ideal means for all parties to benefit.

Those who do not want to be tied down to a long term contract can instead opt for O2’s prepaid iPhones. These can be found in O2 and Carphone retail lots as well as all Apple stores nationwide. However, customers have to shell out approximately £350 for an unsubsidized iPhone 3G.

The soon to be released Snow Leopard OS also allows users to upgrade their Address Book, or more fondly known as Address Book Exchange Preview as a result of the recent Microsoft partnership. Microsoft has a similar data sync program called Microsoft Exchange.

Users who are anxious about what other changes that will be implemented will have to wait until the Snow Leopard’s official launch come 2009.