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Scottsdale and Mission Viejo work begins

Microsoft has started building its first retail stores in the US Scottsdale Arizona and Mission Viejo, California.

The two Microsoft retail stores will be the first of a promised many as the company tries to emulate Apple’s success with the Apple Store.

Although the picture from the company’s official twitter account doesn’t give any information as to what the stores will be like on the inside, it does show that the company will be pushing its brands.

Logos show Windows 7, bing, Office, Xbox 360 and Zune decorating the hording suggesting the inside could have zones areas to showcase Microsoft products.

Last month a senior Microsoft executive has revealed that, in a somewhat confrontational move, those shops will be near existing Apple Stores, with the first premises to open in the States in autumn.

Related links:

• News – Microsoft to target Apple Stores for new shop locations

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Biz Microsoft Apple shopping

Microsoft starts work on Windows retail stores originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:44:21 +0100

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COMMENT: Why, what who where?

When we’re not bringing you the latest news on the world of technology and gadgets we are giving it to other people.

TechVi is a daily US technology show talking to the experts that matter on the hot topic of the day hosted by Randall Bennett. Today we were on with Cnet’s Tom Merrit talking Twitter downtime and the buzz word du jour – DDoS.

Was it a conspiracy theory? What did you do while you could tell people what you were eating? Do you care?

On a lighter note, do you want to see more of these? Hit the comments to tell us yay or nay.

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VIDEO: Twitter goes down we talk with TechVi originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:05:32 +0100

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Get ready to start eating

Like pancakes? Fancy eating 200 of them in an hour? Thought you did. Well that’s what the ChefStack promises pancake fans unable to make it to their local diner or ihop.

Called the ChefStack, the machine, which is the size of a microwave oven and is easily operated without supervision, promises to cook “hot, fresh pancakes in a matter of seconds,” reads the blurb on the company’s website before going on to say that: “97% fat free pancakes emerge at a rate of up to 200 per hour.” Yikes.

The $3500 automated commercial pancake cooker isn’t probably designed for your home kitchen (man vs food anyone?), but it does, once loaded with pre-filled bags of batter, get to work to create a production line even Mr Ford would be proud of.

The best bit? That neat pile at the end ready to serve your hunger.

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Related links:

• Link – Chefstack

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Home And Kitchen Kitchen gadgets Gadgets Chefstack Pancakes

ChefStack lets you say yes to 200 pancakes an hour originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:20:20 +0100

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HTC Mega and Whitestone make an appearance

Another week another HTC handset leak, this time courtesy of wmexperts who claim to have the skinny on two yet announced windows phone, the HTC Mega and US carrier Verizon’s version of the diamond 2.

The new HTC Mega model, complete with supposed picture, will come with a Qualcomm 7225@ 528 MHz chip, 256MB ROM/256MB RAM, 2.8-inch QVGA (240×320), GSM/GPRS Edge/HSDPA, and 3-megapixel fixed-focus camera, as well as GPS.

As usual no word on release, pricing or anything else for that matter, however the site does suggest that it will probably be aimed at the low-end of the market when it eventually does arrive.

As for the Verizon Diamond 2, the handset, which is expected to launch in September will offer a twist on the Touch Diamond 2, very much like the operator has done with the Snap model that it tweaked to release as the Ozone.

Pictures show the Whitestone as it is being referred to as having a faux diamond encrusted frame and a slightly different button layout under a touchscreen.

We will keep you posted.

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Phones Mobile phones HTC HTC mega HTC Whitestone Windows Mobile Windows Phone Rumours

New HTC handsets leaked originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:07:51 +0100

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Applications are for boring people aren’t they?

Android users are a bunch of boring workaholics if results from a new survey are anything to go by.

According to app store analytics company Distimo following some basic surveying the top apps available for both Android and iPhone. Android users are workers, iPhone users are gamers.

In what could be described as a rudimentary test, the company studied the top 15 applications purchased for the iPhone and found nine of them were games. In comparison not one game made it into the top 15 titles available for the Android platform.

This pattern continued when comparing the most popular free applications for the two operating systems

A third of the iPhone’s most popular downloads where games while games didn’t even feature in the Android free chart.

Apple’s adverts for the iPod touch focus on games celebrating the device as the “funnest” iPod yet, however the company’s iPhone adverts focus on productivity and utility applications.

Android has yet to do any specific advertising with the operators currently stocking Android handsets unsure where to place the handset.

Do you play games on your HTC handset? If so what?

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Phones Mobile phone apps iPhone Android HTC Apple Gaming

Games are most iPhone apps, study finds originally appeared on Pocket-lint on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:52:45 +0100

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