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iii 1 x 33;” The surreal There'sa Nothin 's ggg tale of a new spirit sexiert an 335 ' Las Vegas about cooking for ' holiday Leith Walk two
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BUY IT THIS FORTNIGHT
irst a eonl'esxion. I am writing this on a \lae. In the nut
0
room. another .\lae ix bux_\ dounloadine the telh I plan
to \xateh tonight. In the eupboard III the hall. a third ix
0 xer\ing_' \xebxites to the \xorld. When I pop to the shops the
lirxl thing I poeket is an il’od .\lini; l'or longer lotuue}s. a
I I C I n \enerable ll)( ill il’od ix the lust thing; I paek. l eould go on. at
some length. but sou get the idea: _\our eorrespondent ix a A A I I h hopeless .\lae addict.
S e aunc es like most lanx ol' .v\pple. though. lll\ sla\ iin dexotiou to the
the Shuffle brand ix inalehed b_\ a health) \L‘Clll-lt‘lslll. and when ;\pp|e
and Mac Mini, Jack ( H.) Ste\e .lobs presented his ke_\ note speeeh at .\lae\\orld earlier this month. he presented. “I”! t_\pieal inexsiaiue
Mottram IOOkS at l'er\our. the latest slllll} \xhite things to bu}: the latter the new t)\L‘l'\\llCllHL‘tl the loriner. and asks Whether l'ill'sl. lllk' ll’ittl Slllllllt'. 'l‘llL‘ sl/L‘ (ll (1 ptlekt'l Ul eheuing:
gum. this latest addition to the \\i|d|_\ xueeexslul line ol \ll’i
the CompanY’S pla_\ ers looks. at lirxl glauee. like a triumph ol marketing; in er famed user- \lllklilllL'L‘. ilillL‘ tlt‘\ lL‘t‘ lilL'ks tl
friendliness has l‘i'iw'l“ “imki'l‘f ” :::::“i’l‘l\l1';]'" l \L' L'L' \( ‘_'\. U gone astray. hands ol' the Apple l’R l' a ‘ ' . | ' ll; iiiitiis]hinlilessliii: ('hoilde is old hat. apparentl}. and \\ e should ‘gi\e ehanee a
L'llilllL'L'.. (H itL‘L‘Cpl [lltll
‘randoni is the Next ()rder‘.
'l'he .\lae Mini. too. eould easil} be taken l‘or a dud. like its ill-l'ated anteeedenl. the (i4 (’ube. l-‘or one thing. ' there's no monitor. and no ke_\board. In its standard eonligurations. the Mini laekx Airport and Bluetooth. the two essential \\ ireless eonuuunieatiiins standards. The basie spec is lacking too the measl} 350MB ol l{.'\.\l litted ax standard is plent) l‘or e\er_\da_\ use. but l'or editing: l‘ootage \sith i.\lo\'ie lll). eutting traeks \\lll1 (iarageliand 3 or liling a thousand snaps in il’hoto the applications bundled as il.il'e '05 with eaeh maehine. and a major selling point _\ou‘ll need to upgrade.
.\ closer look. llt)\\ e\ er. rexealx that the Shullle and Mini are both in line \\ ith Apple's eurrent strateg}. one that has seen the eonipan). dismissed as moribund b_\ inoxt until the launeh ol' the bubblegum i.\lae and. more iiuportantl). the il’od. turned the l‘oitunex ol the ('upeitino-based outlit around.
That strateg} is all about setting limits. lake the il’od as an
iPOD INFO e\aniple. ('oinpared \\ ith the Culllpcllllnll. it doesn’t do much.
. . . , , , The latest iRi\ er letx \ou reeord at near-('l) qualit} and listen Available from 3" 900d elecmcal retailers” For complete pnce 'nformatlon on meal??? to l5.\l radio l'or less eash than an il’od \\ ith the same storage check www.kelkoo.co.uk or www.pricerunner.co.uk, which usually have direct eapaeii}. Sure. it hardl} matches the il’od's liekable lorm
l‘aetor. and it takes hall an hour to work out how to play a song on the thing. but judged on l‘ealures alone. the iRiVer speCificatlonS and Apple pmdUCtS. “his the da}. .-\nd _\et eompeting MP3 pla}ers eoinbined can't hold a eandle to the il’od's 4.6m sales to date.
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links to the retailers. Also check www.apple.comluk for more information. technical