...But this one's not a game.

"The Sword of Oz", the first of a planned trilogy of "The Dark Witches of Oz," has been transformed into an epic fantasy adventure interactive ebook for the PC, DS, PSP, PS3, Wii, and the iPod. Yes, the iPod. The story is based on the classic "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum.

"The Sword of Oz" is set before before the wicked witches overthrew the old king of Oz and prior to the arrival of Dorothy and Toto. Instead, it's Dorothy's future grandfather Arthur Gale who is wearing the ruby slippers, so to speak.

Gale is the character through which this new chapter in OzÂ?s history is experienced. "The Sword of Oz" is a multi-branching adventure and readers can pick which adventures Arthur will take on. The different paths through the narrative vary widely but also closely connected so events not directly experienced by a reader in one sitting still affect those in the adventure they choose to experience.

"The Sword of Oz", written by best selling fantasy novel author Darren Reid ,will be available exclusively at NextGenBooks. NextGenBooks is a new website where PC and console (Wii, DS, PS3, and PSP) users can access Darren ReidÂ?s free ebook library. The Sword of Oz interactive ebook will be released on January 19. Hopefully, it will create a generation of interactive e-bookworms.

For more info on "The Sword of Oz", Darren Reid, and NextGenBooks, please click on the "Read" link below.

MicrosoftÂ?s Macintosh Business Unit unveiled details about Office 2008 productivity tools for Mac, which will ship in the second half of 2007. Office 2008 for Mac, which runs natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based machines, shares some technologies with Office 2007 for Windows. The productivity suite provides compatibility between different versions and will use the Office Open XML Formats for saving and opening files in either platform.

Other Office 2008 for Mac features include:

• Publishing Layout View for creating layout-rich documents in Word
• Ledger Sheets that enables Excel to handle financial management tasks including budgets, invoices, and registers without making complex formulas
• My Day for tracking daily priorities and tasks regardless if application without launching OfficeÂ?s Entourage personal information manager

Price of Office 2008 for Mac will be revealed by Microsoft later.

Rumors have been circulating that Apple is about to revamp its line of Cinema Displays in a big way. One rumor claims the next-gen screens will sport HDMI. HDMI 1.3 is fast becoming an ubiquitous feature on many consumer electronic products. It is expected to dominate CES 2007 via next-gen disc players, upconverting DVD players, A/V receivers and TVs. The buzz on HDMI is that if you ain't got it, you're obsolete - so it is not so far fetched for Apple to adopt this shiny new thing. But then again that's just our take on it.

The other rumor claims Apple is upsizing its Cinema Displays. The grapevine talks say the company is getting rid of the 23-inch models and replacing them with 24-inch models. In addition, murmurs of a model larger than 30 inches have also been heard.

Many moons ago, VMware was rumored to be cooking a virtualization solution for OS X. Now we know the rumor is true because the company just released its Fusion Beta version.

Fusion allows Intel-based Macs to run x86 operating systems (Windows, Linux, NetWare, and Solaris) in virtual machines at the same time as Mac OS X. Simply put, the app allows traditional PC applications to run on Mac.

Fusion Beta version includes the following features:

• Create and run a wide variety of 32- and 64-bit x86 operating systems on OS X without rebooting
• Simultaneously run PC applications next to OS X applications
• On any Mac with dual-core processors, multiple CPUs can be assigned to virtual machine to gain additional performance for CPU-intensive workloads.
• Access physical devices from the virtual machine: read and burn CDs and DVDs, and use USB 2.0 devices like video cameras, iPods, printers, and disks at full speed
• Devices that do not have drivers for OS X will work in a virtual machine
• Drag and drop files and folders between OS X and virtual machines to easily share data between the two environments

To test drive Fusion Beta version, you need to fill up a registration at the VMware website. You can click the link below to go to the company's site.

Apple's upcoming phone, which is not the "iPhone", won't be the "iMobile," either. Despite the rumor that seem to grow bigger by the daytime minute, "iMobile" is already taken. According to Apple Gazette, there are eight trademarks for the name Â?iMobileÂ? - not one belongs to Apple.

Apple Gazette thinks Apple's new shiny device might veer away from "iBranding" and go for "MacPhone" or "MacMobile" which sounds a bit MacFunny to us. Whatever Apple's phone's name will be, the guessing name game is still on until next month when the company formally announces its official name.

We think its safe to say Electronic Arts is hellbent on dominating the game scene on the 5th-gen iPod. EA already has three all-time fave titles for Apple's gaming iPod: Tetris, EA Mini Golf, and EA Mahjong. Now you can add EA Sudoku and Royal Solitaire to the list.

EA Sudoku is the Japanese multi-level number game that combines easy-to-use controls, graphics and animations, and a Zen garden scenery. The game also includes Â?RandomÂ? mode for amorphic puzzles, and Â?ChaosÂ? mode for completely wild challenges.

Royal Solitaire is a suite of ten solitaire games that include Peaks, Pyramid, Beleaguered Castle, Aces Up, Yukon, FreeCell, Golf, Scorpion, Canfield, and Klondike.

EA's Sudoku and Royal Solitaire can now be downloaded from the iTunes Store for US$ 4.99 each.

Whoever came up with the idea for iPod and the Mac-Window hybrid ought to get a Christmas bonus the size of Rhode Island! Gene Munster, an analyst at Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray says Apple's Mac sales could reach 9 million in 2007. Okay, that's still a distant third to PC pushers HP and Dell. But ain't no chump change, either.

Munster credits the iPod for converting more consumers into Apple People "halo effect". If this halo effect keeps going on, the iPod may soon be canonized by the Vatican. The other thing going for Apple is its new line of Intel-powered Macs. Munster says Apple's Boot Camp software - the killer app that run Microsoft's Windows on the Mac - isn't hurting sales of its notebooks and desktops.

If the 9 million units (which is admittedly only guesswork based on market trends) fails to impress you, let us show you some very cold, very hard facts. Apple's fourth-quarter sales for its Mac line is already at 1.61 million. That's 1.61 million Macs sold within three months. If you're the stocks-betting type, we say put your money where Munster's mouth is - it's almost as sure as a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

After a ho-hum year, things may be looking up for Mac gamers in 2007. With Apple's transition to Intel-base system completed, more Apple people may soon get into the gaming scene as much as PC people. The list of games set for release next year certainly looks promising

Prey
Already available for the PC and the Xbox 360, Prey is first shooter featuring a Cherokee garage mechanic turned warrior when aliens drop by to invade Earth. The modern day Native American is forced to awaken spiritual powers from his long-forgotten birthright to save his girlfriend and the rest of us. The Xbox 260 version sold over 2 million copies in its first two months so Prey for Mac ships with a built-in reputation for being a good buy. Prey will be out in January 2007 according to it publisher Aspyr Media.

Star Wars: Empire at War
Another Aspyr offering, Star Wars: Empire at War is a real-time strategy game set the period immediately before the events that took place in the first "Star Wars movie, A New Hope." The game features X-Wings, AT-ATs, Star Destroyers and the other on-screen vehicles you've always wanted to ride. Star Wars: Empire at War will take you to the steamy jungle planet Dagobah, Yavin 4 and the now classic Tatooine.

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
Blizzard Entertainment's expansion pack for the Mac and Windows is set to ship mid-January. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade adds a new continent for high-level characters, new monsters and stinkier dungeons, new items, new playable races, and more stuff to make more MMORPG addicts out of gamers.

DEFCON
Ambrosia Software's future release for Mac is is an online, competitive, multiplayer strategy game based on the cheerful theme of global thermonuclear war. Inspired by the cult-classic Wargames, DEFCON recreates the tension, paranoia and suspicion of the Cold War era. Players assume the role of a General hidden deep within an underground bunker. The mission: exterminate the enemy's civilian population and disable the enemy's ability to retaliate. To succeed, players must form fast, tactical alliances. But beware, the same allies may turn into treacherous and deadly rivals. It's politics with radiation.

Heroes of Might and Magic V
The Mac port of the PC game by Freeverse Software, Heroes of Might and Magic V  features a deep, scalable turn-based battle system for challenging tactical combat. That plus the option of a brand new Active Battle System for faster play. Players can select from more than 200 skills, 170 creature abilities and 40 spells to build up heroes and armies. The game is set in a new, darker, heroic fantasy universe with six unique factions and more than 80 different creatures. And yes, it  is designed to be highly addictive.

These is just a tip-of-the-iceberg glance at what the 2007 Mac game scene will be. From where we stand we think 2007 will be the Year of the MacGames.

Nokia's re-entry into the video game scene made quite a splash among QJ readers. So we're pretty sure this rumor will receive the red carpet welcome treatment from Apple people and iPeople all over the world.

A few months ago Steve Jobs announced more gaming capabilities for the next-gen iPod which leads us to this month's hot speculations. Jesse Tortora, an analyst for Prudential, believes Apple is ripe enuff to jump into the video game market "considering it has hired video game designers."

We bet that quote launched a thousand woot! woot! from Apple fans. Oh, but there's more shiny, juicy, bite-sized quotes from Tortota.

"We think the videogame market represents a distinct possibility for Apple, especially considering that it recently announced the availability of videogames for its iPod through its iTunes store," he said. "The game console device could be morphed out of some combination of the MacMini and iTV, while the handheld player could be developed as an enhancement for a future version of the widescreen iPod."

Okay, these are just Tortora's predictions. But unlike the crystal ball-gazing soothsayers, Tortora has been looking at market trends and strategy so this rumor isn't that impossible. In fact, it's very probable. And it's going to be really interesting once Jobs makes an official announcement.

Recently we posted the release of Parallels Desktop for Mac build 3036 Beta. The amazing software allows Apple users to run Windows side by side with Mac OS X in a secure, isolated, virtual machine. Since its release, word-of-mouth buzz says the app is quite a killer. Video blogger Michael Verdi took Parallel Desktop for a test drive and it's safe to say he is now a fan calling it "super cool."

Using a MacBook Pro 2GHz core duo, system 10.4.8 with 2GB RAM, Verdi launched Parallels with several other programs including one that recorded the screencast. In the screencast Verdi demos Firefox and IE, Notepad, and copying from Windows to Mac and vice versa. Watch the screencast and see for yourself.

By the way if you haven't downloaded Parallels, you can do so right here. But remember this is just a beta version. Do not install it into the production environment and it is highly recommended to make a backup of your virtual machines before trying it out.

Download: [Parallels Desktop Screencast]