Take a deep breath after reading that headline, no we didn"t make it up.
Microsoft plans to open its second retail store in California on June 24, the same day Apple launches its iPhone 4 device. As if that wasn"t enough co-incidence for you, the new store will be four shops away from Apple"s own store in Fashion Valley Mall, San Diego. Queues are expected for both stores and you can rest assured that Microsoft will try and tease shoppers into their new store with promises of free Zune HDs and software, they did this at previous store launches.
Microsoft"s San Diego store will be the fourth, joining the first two locations in Scottsdale, Arizona and Mission Viejo, California and recently opened Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree, Colorado. Microsoft is also planning to open a fifth store in the Seattle area. The Microsoft Store"s offer all of the Microsoft products found through online retailers and inside major retail chains, including keyboards and mice, Windows 7, Xbox360 and many more products. Apple currently has 222 stores in the United States alone, and 287 total stores worldwide, including 27 in the UK and 14 in Canada.
Joe Wilcox of BetaNews points out that this could end up in fanboy vs fanboy. We"ve seen this before when an iPad owner demonstrating his new gadget outside a Microsoft store, was ushered away by a Microsoft store employee and mall security. The question is, which queue will be longer on June 24 and will you be there as Mac or PC?
Image Credit: BetaNews.com