Brand: MacNews

Writing for ZD Interactive, Larry Dignan feels that Apple’s retail strategy is actually targeting the tourist. “Yeah you, the poor schmuck who’s browsing through boutiques with your wife in Soho … the gadget head who is lost in one of the largest malls in America … Apple wants you to visit its hip retail stores.”

Following the U.S. economic slowdown, research firm Dataquest is predicting semiconductor sales in the Asia-Pacific region — excluding Japan — will drop 10 percent this year to $51.4 billion. Global sales are expected to drop 16.7 percent.

A recent study shows that U.S. Internet growth has slowed, putting them in third place behind Sweden and Canada, according to News.com. The report also showed that South Korea and Singapore have grown faster than major European markets such as Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Researcher Gus Schattenberg said the results show the Internet is moving away from English-language and American-derived content.

Although not Mac compatible, Macintosh gamers may want to keep an eye on RealArcade, the new resource launched today by RealNetworks. The service combines content, services and the delivery network for online gamers.

ZDNet reviewers, John Morris & Josh Taylor, posted their thoughts today on Apple’s latest product release. While it’s obvious they didn’t like the original, saying, “it weighed something like 80 pounds, it was big yet it had a relatively small screen and a top resolution of 800 by 600 pixels, it came in all sorts of obnoxious colors, and lots of people disliked the big plastic handle,” they did heap praise on the new rev.