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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Apple_dings_Psystar_for_2_67m_round_two_heads_to_Florida’; It looks like the first phase of the Apple / Psystar Mac cloning saga is winding towards a conclusion, as the two sides have just filed to wrap up their case with the California court that ruled decisively in favor of Apple last month. As you probably expect, Apple hasn’t ceded much ground here: Psystar’s agreed to be deemed liable for illegally copying OS X Leopard, bypassing the OS X kernel encryption in violation of the DMCA, and breaching Apple’s EULA, all to the tune of $2,675,050. In return, Apple’s dropping its various trademark and unfair competition claims, and has promised to hold off on collecting any cash until the various appeals have run their course. Now, considering Apple and Psystar are currently engaged in pretty much the exact same case in Florida over Snow Leopard, we’d say that this agreement isn’t much more than a way for both sides to save money and move on to that fight: Apple’s already won the bulk of its case against Psystar in California, and spending money to litigate trademark claims we thought were weak when we first read them doesn’t really buy Steve any leverage he doesn’t already have, while Psystar probably needs to scrimp all the coin it can.

There’s one other little wrinkle here, and that’s exactly what Apple’s eventually going to be able to prevent Psystar from doing. It’s certain that the California court will bar Psystar from preloading machines with Leopard, but Psystar’s arguing that its new Rebel EFI software shouldn’t be covered by any decision, since it wasn’t part of the case. That’s an interesting argument and definitely worth some consideration — but it’s got some holes in it since Psystar’s now admitted that it’s liable for contributory and induced copyright infringement and violating the DMCA. As we’ve said before, Psystar’s essentially doing with Rebel EFI what Grokster got smacked by the Supreme Court for doing in 2005: it’s trying to build a business around the knowing copyright infringement of customers, and that usually doesn’t fly. We’ll see what happens — and Florida awaits.

Apple dings Psystar for $2.67m, round two heads to Florida originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve certainly seen plenty of hackintoshes in our time, but Will Urbina’s OS Xbox Pro is also one of the cleanest casemods we’ve ever seen. Built so that Will can run Final Cut Pro for his job as a video editor, the machine is based on an EFI-X hackintosh dongle, and inside it sports an 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550s paired with an NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT card, 8GB of RAM, an 16GB SSD, and four traditional hard drives: one each to boot Windows 7 and OS X, and two 500GB 7,200rpm drives in a RAID0 array for video editing. Will says his total parts cost was under $1,500 for a system that matches a $4,500 Mac Pro, but that obviously doesn’t include the value of his time — which, judging by the totally captivating build video, should be plenty expensive. Check it below.

Continue reading OS Xbox Pro casemod build video is mesmerizing

OS Xbox Pro casemod build video is mesmerizing originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Vaio X, aside from being thin and light, is notoriously difficult to mod — simply put, there’s not much room in there to play around! Besides, when you’ve spent well over a grand for a machine, you’re not necessarily going to be gung-ho about digging in with your soldering gun. Still, when InsanelyMac forum member Asama was struck by inspiration (in the form of a Vaio P OS X image) he followed his heart — and, much to the world’s amusement, it installed on the Vaio X with few complications. Sure, it wasn’t a flawless operation: the WiFi card is unsupported (as you probably guessed) but, that said, this is definitely an item of note for all the Hackintosh freaks in attendance. Indeed we’re looking forward to seeing Psystar get sued over a similar hack at some future junction. Get a closer look after the break.

Continue reading Sony VAIO X ultraportable gets the Hackintosh treatment

Sony VAIO X ultraportable gets the Hackintosh treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No bonus points for calling this one, but it looks like Atom support has returned to Mac OS X 10.6.2 — less than two weeks after it was unceremoniously removed to the dismay of hackintoshers. Of course, this new “fix” doesn’t come courtesy of Apple, and it does take the art of hackintoshing to some risky new levels. Developed by a member of the InsanelyMac forum, the hack is actually a full-on replacement kernel for OS X, which means it will require a good bit of fine tuning to get installed, and some considerable faith in the developer on your part. It does seem like quite a few trailblazers are happy with it, however, so hit up the links below if you’re ready to take the plunge.

Mac OS X 10.6.2 hacked to allow Atom support originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, well. Apple’s won its copyright infringement claim against would-be Mac cloner Psystar in California. Anyone surprised? As we’ve been saying all along, the key argument wasn’t the OS X EULA or Psystar’s failed monopoly claims, but pure, simple copyright infringement, since Psystar was illegally copying, modifying, and distributing Apple’s code. Psystar was also dinged for circumventing Apple’s kernel encryption in violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, but that’s just another nail in the coffin, really. There’s still some legal fireworks to come, as Apple’s various other claims like breach of contract, trademark infringement, and unfair competition weren’t addressed in this ruling, but those are all secondary issues now — and we’d expect this decision to have quite an impact on the other case currently ongoing in Florida. We’ve broken down the highlights after the break, hit up the read link for the PDF and follow along.

[Via Groklaw]

Continue reading Apple wins copyright infringement case against Psystar in California

Filed under: Software

Apple wins copyright infringement case against Psystar in California originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, so we’re reading this puff piece in the Miami New Times about would-be Mac cloner Psystar, and while we’re somewhat willing to dismiss author Tim Elfrink’s various mischaracterizations of the law and what Psystar is actually doing as just laziness and / or ignorance, there’s a quote here from Psystar founder Rudy Pedraza that simply leaps off the page:

Rudy scoffs at the idea he borrowed from the Hackintosh scene. “The first thing you have to do is unlearn everything you’ve read online about how to make this work,” Rudy says, “because it’s all wrong.”

Really? Because we think there’s a very large, very active hacking community out there that would disagree with you, Rudy.

P.S.- A full list of every other mistake in this piece after the break.

[Thanks, Chris]

Continue reading Psystar founders claim they cracked OS X, hackintosh scene is ‘all wrong’

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Psystar founders claim they cracked OS X, hackintosh scene is ‘all wrong’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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