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Briefly: Mac OS X 10.4.2, Thursday\'s iPod event, Apple stores

Mac OS X 10.4.2 to improve widget memory management

Apple this week distributed at least two new pre-release builds of Mac OS X 10.4.2 Update, according to reports already present on the Internet. Build 8C46 reportedly made its way to developers on Thursday evening, while a prior build was said to have been distributed internally.

It\'s believed that development of the Tiger system update continues to approach an official release, albeit at a much slower pace than once projected.

According to reports, the latest build of the system includes two minor improvements: one to Dashboard\'s widget memory management and the other to iChat video conferencing reliability.

Apple holds iPod media event at sea

The France-based iPod and music media event, once believed to be the setting for new product introductions, took place this Thursday on a body of water in the heart of Paris.

The majority of the Apple France management team attended the event, set on a boat decorated with iPod balloons and other music-related propaganda, according to MacBidouille.

\"News network were present, and it was quite diversified, not restricted to computer-dedicated news networks,\" the publication wrote in its report on the festivities. \"Many of us were considering at the end that this meeting was originally the occasion to introduce a new product, such as the iPhone or something else, but for an unknown reason postponed to another date.\"

The latest Apple Retail news

According to ifoAppleStore, Apple is officially hiring for two new Japan stores set to open later this year in Sendai and Fukuoka.

The grand opening of the Apple\'s Bluewater, U.K. store is slated for this Saturday, July 9th, while the much expanded Apple Store Westchester (the first of its size in a shopping mall) is rumored to open next Saturday, July 16th, along with a new store Northbrook Court, Ill.