malmo
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Apple to open first Swedish retail store
A visit to a mall in Sweden by Swedish site IDG.se has confirmed (by the familiar black covering and the Apple logo) that there is indeed a new store opening up near Stockholm. The Täby Spectrum shopping center will host that country's first Apple Store, starting on September 15. Apple's been laying the groundwork in Sweden for a while now, filing a business registration certificate last November, and hiring for the store earlier this year. But the company is now getting closer than ever to actually selling items in the store. And there are more stores on the way: Apple is also planning to open stores in the Harbour Street district of Stockholm, as well as in a brand new mall location near the southwestern city of Malmö. We've heard a lot in the past about how quickly Apple trying to expand in China, but that's not the only foreign land Apple is aiming to open up for business. [via MacRumors]
RIM buys TAT, BlackBerry UI in danger of becoming awesome
This is not a joke, in fact it's quite official. Research In Motion has just confirmed the acquisition of Swedish UI design company TAT, which will soon be "bringing their talent to the BlackBerry PlayBook and smartphone platforms." You'll be familiar with TAT as the team that helped polish the original Android interface on the T-Mobile G1 as well as from more recent UI design projects -- the important thing is that these guys have shown they know what they're doing. We have to admit, pairing the rock solid foundation of the QNX-built PlayBook OS with some top-level spit-shine from a company specializing in exactly that has us legitimately excited. Who knows, maybe we'll even see a BlackBerry with a user interface that someone other than a BBMer could love. [Thanks, Rasmus]
Star Vault reveals Mortal Online beta and pre-order details, launch info
Another competitor in the hardcore PvP niche in MMOs may give Darkfall Online a run for their money: Mortal Online from Sweden-based developer Star Vault. The game is presently in closed beta and is about to get its first test of the release build. The real news here is that Mortal Online has announced its open beta and release schedules. Pre-orders for Mortal Online will begin on June 29th via the official site, and the actual launch (with monthly subscriptions) is slated for Q4 2009. Anyone who pre-orders the game "in any of the formats available" will have access to all of the beta phases remaining until the title launches. The catch, however, is that the pre-orders are limited to 10,000 people.
Video: 3D Eye Tracking from TAT, the guys behind the T-Mobile G1 UI
Ever notice the word "Malmo" emblazoned across the face of Android's analog clock widget? That's a subtle nod to the city where the Swedish design team called TAT (The Astonishing Tribe) is headquartered -- a group of nerds responsible for finessing the look and feel of the T-Mobile G1's user interface including such innovations as the window shade menu and 9-point visual key-lock. In fact, TAT's software prowess can be seen on the Samsung Instinct, S60 handsets from Nokia, and a variety of devices from Motorola and Sony Ericsson. So when TAT releases a new "3Deyetracking UI" concept that lets you see behind on-screen objects, well, you can bet that the entire cellphone industry is paying attention. Check the video after the break.Read -- TAT's industry influence
8bit musicians announce world tour
Former cellmates Nullsleep and Bitshifter have announced plans to embark on a world tour, blasting their blend of bleeps, bloops, and blizzasts from Boston to Brussels and back again. If you're not an 8-bit believer yet, nothing will win you over except trying it out for yourself. To that end, here are links (1, 2, 3, 4) to some MP3s these torturers of Gameboys, Famicoms and other old-school video game consoles have kindly provided for downloading. If you like what you hear, check the tour page and maybe even drop a few dollars in the donation bucket to help make it happen.
