$499 Mac a Hoax?

So yesterday I wrote about a company that got a bunch of press because it was offering a $499 piece of hardware that would run Mac OS X.

I found it strange that on their store they weren't taking any order because they "couldn't process credit cards." So I went to the "contact" page and looked up their address on Google Maps. It looks like a residential neighborhood (address: 10475 NW 28th St,Doral, FL 33172)... but if you look on Zillow - there is nothing at that address.

Hmmmmm....

Maybe they're better at PR than they are at building hardware? Is it a hoax? Or worse, a fraud?

Another fishy thing - they don't take any phone orders - only orders on their website. The domain is registered to a guy (not the company itself) with the same phone numbers as on the "corporate" site - but the address is different (address: 3401 SW 104 CT, Miami, FL 33165). Again, it's an address that is based in a residential neighborhood. The domain was registered in 2000, though.

Now I was curious. So, since the name on the contact page was "PsyStar Corporation" - my next stop was the Secretary of Corporations for the State of Florida. I put in their name - BINGO - yet ANOTHER residential address (10645 SW 112 ST, MIAMI FL 33176). Looks like Roldolfo Pedraza (same name as domain registration) formed the corporation in July of 2007 - and, at least initially, was the initial officer/director along with someone named Roberto Pedraza.

While I was doing a little more digging - I decided to check out the EFI v8 emulator - the little bit of software that made it possible to load the OS X software on non-Apple hardware possible. Um, turns out the author of the software is more than slightly pissed off that they're using it - as it turns out there is a strict "not for commercial use" that is being violated.

Hmmmmm.....

And, for the most curious thing about the whole sordid affair - Apple is still mum. They haven't sued anyone yet! I mean, it's been almost 3 days!

Maybe they can't find them either...