The California based company states their showroom and website are a go for an early June launch. “It’s exciting. We are trying to stay as close to Apple as we can with our products,” Rashantha De Silva, Quo founder, told CNET News. “We are trying to mimic things as much as we can. I’m hoping that Apple sees the value in what we are doing.”

Something tells me they won’t and Quo will be another in a long line of litigants with a looming court date with Apple. But… on the other hand, this constant barrage of would be OS X original equipment manufacturers might eventually wear Apple down, or more specifically wear down Apple’s board of directors. Never mind the Hackintosh community for a moment, the legitimate (or would be legitimate) companies already lined up and all but begging Apple to license OS X to them would certainly boost the company’s bottom line by a considerable amount.

Or is Steve Job’s so powerful (I know redundant question) that he can convince the shareholders that companies like Dell, Gateway and alike really don’t want OS X on their machines, keep in mind those companies alone could theoretically double OS X installations almost overnight. But before the “what about the millions of drivers they’d have to write” cadre blows a gasket, there’s really a simple solution to that.

Apple could pick a few specific, high-profile partners to work with and they could in turn release OSx86 variants in a staggered, orderly manner. Apple wouldn’t have to try and launch day one with driver support for every PC variant ever made, that would be suicide. Over time however,  a few years perhaps they could have thousands (no not millions) of OSx86 options on the market versus the handful of hardware platforms available today. Think about it, instead of that Dell netbook running Vista commercial that runs during prime time it could just as easily be for a netbook running Apple OS X.

I actually think the benefits would be twofold for Apple, not only would they increase their OEM installations they’d increase their developer network as well, those new developers could benefit Apple’s existing hardware with a broader range of OS X compatible applications. Lastly, never say never, there was a time Apple was and I quote” Never, ever going to use Intel chips”. Times change, how much is the question.

RussianMac is the latest company to release a Mac clone and test Apple’s resolve to stop companies from selling its operating system. On its Web site, RussianMac says that a full version of Mac OS X Leopard comes pre-installed on its computers. The company also confirms that the operating system is able to receive automatic system updates from Apple once installed.

Ethical judgments aside It’s interesting to see another Mac clone manufacturer pop-up, can we expect other to wade in and check the water? Again without passing judgment either way as to the legitimacy of selling non-Apple PC’s running OS X it does raise a serious question.

Wouldn’t Apple stand to profit by selling their own universal X86 version of OS X?  Of course that’s for Apple to decide themselves but if I’m a Apple shareholder that’s a question I want answered. Has that possibility been explored (I’m sure it has) and if the decision was made not to move forward on it, why?

B.Greenway

1. It’s small.

The Mac Mini lives up to it’s name. It’s compact and it’s form factor integrates easily with most home theater setups. If you think that having a mini tower sitting on the floor next to your entertainment stand is 733t then there is a reasonable chance you’re not a huge fan of OS X anyway.

2. It’s not ugly.

Let’s face it… Apple has some kick <bleep> designs and the Mini shows it. It’s clean lines and understated brushed metal finish look very much at home parked underneath your fancy new flat panel set. This is in sharp contrast to almost every other PC maker’s beige/black/silver box offerings.

3. It’s quiet.

Listen… Do you hear that? Nope, me nether – I don’t hear a peep out of my Mini in my home theater rack. Compare it to my Xbox 360′s “this is what a small turbine engine sounds like” noise level the Mini is a godsend.

4. It’s not really cheaper.

Admittedly the Psystar box seems like a good deal at $399. Now add $155 for OS X, $50 for Firewire and $90 for wireless networking… Maybe not such a hot deal after all. (To it’s credit the Psystar does have the Mini beat in the Memory and disk areas though.) Oh, and by the way you can’t use Software Update on the Psystar box – how much is that worth to you?

5. It’s a Mac

You don’t have to drink the kool-aid to recognize that there is just something about a Mac that makes it different. It’s not just the software, the hardware, the design or the innovation… It’s a Mac!

In summary I can’t say that I would give the Psystar a second look as a home theater PC. In fact as a FrankenMac builder I can also say I really wouldn’t consider a Psystar for any use at all.

Matt Brinkhoff

Both products work similarly, and perform a simple function. The Iogear 4 Port Switch includes a single button on the front for cycling through input sources. You can also change ports with the included remote control; it allows you to choose inputs directly (by pressing the input number) or by using Up and Down buttons. Blue lights across the face of the box indicate which port is currently active. It’s not easy to distinguish, say, light 2 from light 3 at a glance in a dark room, but at least your TV’s picture provides a hint.

XtremeMac’s Xtreme HD is unique in that it’s the same size, shape, and overall design as an Apple TV, so you can stack the latter on top of the former for a neater AV cabinet. Easy-to-read lighted numbers on the front of the box indicate the active input. Like the Iogear switch, the Xtreme HD includes a remote control with numbered buttons for each port; on the other hand, it doesn’t provide Up/Down buttons. It too includes a button on the front (labeled “Source”) for switching input sources.

With many HD sets having at most 2 HDMI inputs more is always better. Both of the switches in the review are over $100 though… Too bad they didn’t include some of the nifty cheap switches at Monoprice.

Matt Brinkhoff

According to this new information we received, the Mac mini will see a dramatic change in its form factor, with a design that is ‘less than half the size’ of the current offering. The mini will also see modest speed increases, with significantly larger storage.

This seems a bit excessively rumour-y to me but hey, they have “reliable sources” so there must be something to it right? At least some of the peeps over at the MacRumours forums seem to think so. I’ve been inside my Mini(s) a few too many times to recount and I’m not sure they could shrink the thing that much without taking something out that differentiates the Mini from the AppleTV (like oh, I dunno – the optical drive maybe???)

Matt Brinkhoff

I ran across this over at Gizmodo but on the off chance anyone missed it the first go-round, I thought it was interesting enough to share again. In a nutshell Touchpad.app allows you to use your iPhone or iPod touch as a touchpad to control a networked windows/linux or mac computer.

I’d love to try this out but as I don’t have a iPhone or iPod touch; I’ll just have to live vicariously through you, in comments, below, go ahead, I won’t bite. btw be sure not to miss the “detailed mac instructions“

B.Greenway

Here are some of the specs:

Intel processor
40GB hard drive for storing content locally
Up to 50 hours of videos3, 9000 songs4, 25,000 pictures5, or a combination of each
HDMI (video and audio)
Component video
TOSLINK optical audio
Analog RCA stereo audio
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
USB 2.0 (for service and diagnostics)
802.11n wireless networking*(compatible with 802.11a/b/g)
Built-in IR receiver (works with included Apple Remote)

Video formats supported: H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): 640 by 480, 30 fps, LC version of Baseline Profile; 320 by 240, 30 fps, Baseline profile up to Level 1.3; 1280 by 720, 24 fps, Progressive Main Profile. MPEG-4: 640 by 480, 30 fps, Simple Profile. Audio formats supported: AAC (16 to 320 Kbps); protected AAC (from iTunes store); MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps); MP3 VBR; Apple Lossless; AIFF; WAV.

But what good are specs without user reviews! Oh Apple what would I have to do to receive an Apple TV for evaluation purposes? I draw the line at washing cars.

B.Greenway

As utterly cool as the iPhone is I’m actually more impressed at the breadth of products announced today, the iPhone extends Apple’s reach from the desktop to everyday devices like cell phones, while AppleTV may very well bridge the gap between traditional home theater PC’s and stand-alone consumer electronic devices.

Kudos to Apple for continuing to innovate and refine existing products or should I say redefine existing products. The one thing I didn’t catch from the keynote is whether Apple plans to up the resolution of their video files to match AppleTV’s 720p maximum resolution, either way the hardware is in place, let’s just hope the media catches up.

B.Greenway

One feature that’s nice to see in any TV/DVR add-on for the mini is hardware acceleration and I’m happy to report that it’s present in the TVMax. However keep in mind the TVMax is analog off-air and cable only, no HDTV support here.

Key Features:

Watch, pause, rewind and skip forward Live TV, time-shift on your Mac.

Record and edit your favorite shows with our built in EPG (Electronic Program Guide).

One click Apple iPod (writes directly to iTunes) or Sony PSP export.

Hardware compression to MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX

Convert VHS and Hi8 tapes to DVD, TVMax doubles as a video converter.

TVMax comes bundled with EyeTV 2.0 and will retail for $249.

TVMax product page.

B.Greenway

The RF remote for FrontRow uses you guessed it RF (radio frequency) instead of infra-red, making it much more forgiving in systems where a direct line if sight to the base unit isn’t an option.

The remote features a 9 button design that allows you to control Front Row, adjust volume, eject a DVD/CD, put the Mac to sleep and wake it up.

B.Greenway