Mac ‘clone’ firm offers Blu-ray burning
Psystar, the firm behind the Mac clones at the heart of an ongoing legal battle with Apple, is to add Blu-ray burning capabilities to its machines – a feature not available in genuine Macs. The firm is also launching a notebook based on the Mac operating system.
We’ve covered the Psystar-Apple battle on numerous occasions. To recap, Apple is suing the firm for producing machines which run the Leopard operating system despite not having a license to do so. In return, Psystar is making a legal claim that Apple’s control over its operating system is an illegal use of a monopoly.
Psystar has now announced that its take on the Mac will be getting Blu-ray burning facilities. While that’s mainly a case of adding a function that could appeal to consumers, it also acts as a cheeky dig at Apple, which recently decided not to include Blu-ray in its new range of MacBooks.
The big catch is that the Psystar machines will only have the ability to burn Blu-ray discs rather than play them. At this stage, that’s not exactly a killer feature: it’s an extra option for backing up entire machines, but the world of video downloads (legal and otherwise) isn’t exactly full of content which won’t fit on a standard DVD.
Given that Apple didn’t think it worth the hassle (and perhaps the cost) of licensing Blu-ray, it’s questionable whether Psystar will get much value for money for its own deal.
Still, it’s clear Psystar has no intention of giving up its battle to capture would-be Apple customers. The firm has also confirmed it will be working on a notebook computer to add to its mock-Mac range. At the moment Psystar will only say the machine is in the works and will be “competitively priced”.
Applying Psystar’s business model to a notebook will likely be much more of a challenge given that most portable computers tend to be produced and assembled in one process rather than built from separate components. But the news certainly suggests Psystar isn’t letting Apple’s legal threats affect its business plans.
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October 29th, 2008
Great!!!!Mac OSX for everyone