SaudiMac

Apple released the following updates:
AirPort Extreme Update 2008-002: improves the reliability of AirPort connections.
iLife Support 8.3: improves overall stability and addresses a number of other minor issues.
iPhoto 7.1.4: addresses general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues. Also adds new postcards themes.
iMovie 7.1.4: addresses general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues.
iWeb 2.0.4: addresses general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues.

Updates can reached from the Apple Software Updater or the Apple Support Downloads page.

Apple Computer Inc. will remove from its roll of authorized resellers Quezon City-based Ynzal Marketing Corp.—one of the largest Mac distributors in the Philippines—starting July 29. What caught my eyes for us Apple users in Saudi Arabia is this segment of the article:

Nonetheless, Apple said Ynzal committed warranty “irregularities” and unceremoniously stripped the company of its accreditation.

It would be interesting to see how will Apple react to local issues with the warranty.
You can read about it at Inquirer.net search for Forbidden fruit and this blog post. Ynzal’s press release can be found on their website. Special thanks to Mac OS Ken.

Egypt and Jordan, two of the 3 Arabic speaking countries to get an official iPhone release did not get their own iTunes App Store like Qatar.

This is a bit odd considering the fact that many other countries without the iPhone deal, like Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait were given an iTunes App Store page.

Thanks, Ahmad for the information about the Jordan App Store, or lack of.

Apple released the iPod Touch 2.0 upgrade which is available for $9.99. The update includes support for iPhone/iPod Touch Applications which can be obtained from the new App Store available on the device or from iTunes 7.7.
Then you will be able to buy the upgrade even from Saudi Arabia by changing the county in the iTunes Store (at the bottom of the iTunes Store page) and signing up with a new iTunes Store account. Apparently it is working the UAE.

Apple released the latest version of iTunes, which can be downloaded from Apple’s site or from the Software Updater. iTunes 7.7 includes support for the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch App Store. The update also added many other countries in the iTunes Store list including Saudi Arabia! Choosing Saudi Arabia will show you the App Store for the iPod Touch/iPhone.

That will probably mean the iPod Touch owners in Saudi Arabia will have access to the 2.0 version of the iPod Touch OS and hopefully soon the official iPhone release for Saudi Arabia.
Also on the country list: United Arab Emirates, Qatar (not the European Qatar ) and Kuwait. Also missing from the list: Bahrain and Oman.

Sorry for not noticing it earlier, thanks to Thamer for emailing me about it. Although he was making fun of Apple for that.

In the WWDC 2008 Keynote, the person who made that slide of the keynote somehow counted Qatar (an Asian country, obviously) . Someone would argue that Apple counts the Middle Eastern countries as part of their Europe distribution, but Jordan (another Asian Middle Eastern country) was not listen.

Via Gadgets Arabia.

This is an update to this story of an Apple user in Saudi Arabia who was frustrated with Apple’s distributors in Saudi Arabia for 2 years.
1. We at SaudiMac tried to contact Arab Computers (Apple’s authorized distributor in Saudi Arabia) as well as GlobalStore (An Apple Premium Reseller in Riyadh) and it’s been a month now and neither of those two companies responded to our emails regarding Mr. Talal’s MacBook Pro.
2. Talal told me today that he just received a call from Apple Executive Relations in response to his e-mails to Steve Jobs. She told him that his MacBook Pro will be replaced directly by Apple when he comes to Canada next month.

Talal also took the opportunity to raise his concerns regarding Apple IMC and how they are giving Apple a bad reputation. She assured him that Apple is aware of these concerns and they are working hard on a solution for IMCs.
We learned a few things from all that, first of all, if the local Apple Service Center offered bad service you can still raise the issues to Apple Inc directly and they will most likely respond to you. Also Apple Inc is aware of the issues with Apple IMC and hopefully they would consider launching “Apple Saudi Arabia” and directly sell Apple products.