John Browett, CEO of Dixons Retail, whom Apple as its senior vice president of its retail operations in April, may be a poor choice to succeed Apple's former SVP Ron Johnson if customer service, clean stores, and great products are still priorities for the company. Numerous readers have let Ars know that they feel Dixons' stores are messy, staffed with clueless salespeople, and sell low-quality goods. Because of this, some consumers worry that the new hire may be a harbinger of bad things to come for Apple's otherwise highly respected retail stores.

Apple CEO Tim Cook praised Browett for his commitment to customer service in a statement earlier today. "We are thrilled to have him join our team and bring his incredible retail experience to Apple," Cook said. Dixons' website the company has "become a bit customer obsessed lately."

But that seems to go against the description given to us by several readers about the customer service at Dixons stores—branded Curry's and PC World in the UK—which they described as "shite" and "the epitome of appalling service."

Apple early Tuesday morning that it has found a replacement for Ron Johnson, the former senior vice president of retail that started Apple's successful foray in to brick and mortar sales in 2001. John Browett, former CEO of European electronics retailer Dixons Retail, will become Apple's new SVP of retail beginning in April.

Johnson was originally hired from Target in 2000 to jumpstart Apple's retail initiative. Though highly criticized at the time, Apple's retail strategy has been credited with helping bring the company from struggling computer maker ten years ago to a $108 billion a year consumer electronics giant. Among other strategies, Johnson was the man behind Apple's Genius Bar concept, the service program, and the "EasyPay" self-checkout system.

Johnson to become CEO of department store JC Penny, which left Apple for the last seven months. But Apple has now apparently found what it was looking for in Browett, who had also served as CEO of Tesco.com before working for Dixons.

"Our retail stores are all about customer service, and John shares that commitment like no one else we've met," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "We are thrilled to have him join our team and bring his incredible retail experience to Apple."

Developer Matt Gemmell, a native of Scotland, sees the partnership in a slightly different light. Gemmell suggested Apple chose Browett for his ostensible penchant for premium priced products, noting that Dixons is a company "that agrees cables should cost a minimum of $30."

Apple has issued another update to its video editing software Final Cut Pro X, which the company describes as "significant" despite the relatively minor version number bump (v.10.0.3). The three major features that Apple is touting as part of this update are multicam editing capabilities, advanced chroma keying, and improved XML support for "a richer interchange with third party apps and plug-ins that support the fast growing Final Cut Pro X ecosystem." The update is free to all current users through the Mac App Store.

Apple says FCPX's new multicam feature can automatically sync video via audio waveforms, time and date, or timecodes in order to create a clip with up to 64 video angles. The multicam clips can include mixed formats (if that's your thing), different frame sizes, and even different frame rates. As for the chroma key improvements, Apple says that the new advanced controls include color sampling, edge adjustment, and light wrap.

Apple released two AirPort-related software updates Monday afternoon. is a new, Lion-only version of the software to set up and configure Apple's base stations. An updated adds compatibility with iCloud-based accounts for connecting to home computers using Back to My Mac.

AirPort Utility 6.0 adopts the graphical interface used in the of AirPort Utility. Your AirPort devices are displayed in a graphical hierarchy, with a dot signaling if the device is working (green) or not (yellow or red). A badge indicates if there are warning or error messages. Clicking a device in the setup brings up a pop-over tab with information about the device, as well as buttons to edit the settings. When applicable, It will also allow you to install firmware updates or configure a new device.

The AirPort Extreme at the heart of our home network indicated that it needed a firmware update. That firmware, AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6.1, is available now. The update applies to all 802.11n capable Airport Extreme, AirPort Express, or Time Capsule base stations. In addition to fixing an unnamed "issue with wireless performance," the update also allows users to remotely access Time Capsule or AirPort Disk volumes using an iCloud account and the Back to My Mac feature. According to Ars contributor Glenn Fleishman, Back to My Mac access would no longer work once MobileMe accounts were switched to iCloud.

AirPort Utility 6.0 is available via software update for Lion users running 10.7.2. Your AirPort base station's firmware can still be updated with AirPort Utility 5.5.3 or later running on Snow Leopard or Lion, or AirPort Utility on iOS.

For 2012, the long-lived Macworld Expo to "Macworld|iWorld" and began billing the conference as the "ultimate iFan event." The annual show, which has been running continuously for the last 27 years, has had a bit of a rocky transition since Apple that it would no longer attend. Though the show no longer features Apple keynote presentations and some of the larger vendors like Microsoft and Adobe haven't had a significant show floor presence for a few years now, the event still somehow manages to get consumers lined up around the block to see new products or apps, talk to product managers and developers in person, or attend a series of events that cater to Apple fans of all stripes.

At the last Apple-attended Macworld in 2009, the floor actually covered two of the three expo halls at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Since Apple left, the show floor has shrunk down to just cover Moscone West. That has made it easier for the press to cover the show's myriad booths without feeling overwhelmed, but it also means that some of the larger vendors have shied away, and companies have much smaller booths than they might have in the past.

A former Apple engineer and a few entrepreneurs leveraged Kickstarter funding to produce a clever new MacBook Air docking solution called , which we were able to check out at this year's Macworld|iWorld conference The extremely compact dock adds extra ports to your MacBook Air and makes moving from desktop to mobile configuration as simple as sliding a lever. The good news is the first version of the device is shipping soon, but unfortunately it does have limitations when used with Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Airs.

Apple designed the MacBook Air to be a highly mobile notebook. Unless you have a Thunderbolt-equipped model and Apple's, however, using a MacBook Air as a convertible desktop still requires plugging and unplugging two, three, or even four cables and adapters. InfiniWing's LandingZone offers a solution that quickly converts a MacBook Air to use with an external monitor, wired Ethernet connection, and up to 4 USB 2.0 ports.

If managing your to-do lists is taking up more time and effort than you spend actually getting things done, a new iPhone app coming from developer Phill Ryu, designer David Lanham, and publisher Realmac Software might be the perfect solution. Tossing most iPhone UI conventions out the window along with any religious adherence to GTD principles, the upcoming is designed to eliminate the friction and complexity of adhering to systems like GTD and be as easy to use as a paper list. We were able to meet up with the team at the 2012 Macworld|iWorld to check out the offerings.

Clear has no standard navigation bar at the top or tab bar at the bottom—common iPhone UI elements. Instead, the app is stripped down to the bare minimum, with a rectangular strip for each list item. Pull the list down from the top to add another item. Swipe right to mark the item completed. Swipe left to delete the item from your list. Pinch to access a list of lists—you could keep a shopping list, a list of errands, and a list of projects, for example.

In the last week, Apple announced that it had yet another record quarter, a dedicated Ars reader reviewed Lion Server for home use, and we went hands-on with iBooks 2. But wait, there's more! We also discussed some of the objections to Apple's iBooks Author EULA, whether it makes sense for the Apple TV to gain DVR capabilities, and more. Need to catch up? You've come to the right place.

: Apple bills OS X Lion Server as a product for "everyone"—but one of our readers finds it not quite ready for general geek usage.

: Before Steve Jobs passed away, he met with Lytro to discuss integrating its light field capture technology into Apple products. Such a thing could potentially supercharge a future iPhone's camera and make focusing a task for its ARM-based processor.

Hewlett Packard is showing off a range of new printers at Macworld|iWorld 2012, largely aimed at the home office and small-to-medium business segments. However, a new feature of its latest printer models is what really caught our eye on the show floor. HP's Wireless Direct makes it possible to print documents and images from an iOS device via AirPrint without even knowing the name or password of the local wireless network.

All of HP's printers now include the company's ePrint feature, which enables options like wireless printing, sending documents to print via e-mail from anywhere in the world, and directly accessing documents in the cloud. These ePrint capabilities also enable support for Apple's AirPrint standard, according to Marketing Manager Annamaria Pardini, which lets iPhones and iPads to print to a networked printer without any setup, configuration, or driver installation.

Users who rely on the desktop version of OmniPlan but wish to manage complicated projects and workflows on-the-go will soon be able to pinch and swipe their way to Gantt chart nirvana. According to Omni Group CEO Ken Case, project management app will make its way to the iPad, perhaps as soon as the second quarter of this year. Case was on hand at the Macworld|iWorld 2012 conference in San Francisco to give Ars a sneak peak at an early build of the mobile version, as well as fill us in on the company's plans for the next year or so.

, he told us about the company's plans to update OmniPlan on Mac OS X to version 2.0. That version included a major overhaul to the backend engine, which improved cloud syncing abilities and offered integration with the GTD-based task manager . OmniPlan for the iPad will use the same engine, making it possible for multiple users to update project plans simultaneously. Those changes can be reviewed, approved, or rejected using the iPad just as on the desktop.