Managing Editor (www.maned.com) has released MEI Portico 2.5, the latest in the Adobe development partner's lineup of solutions for publishers.
MEI Portico lets publishers create custom branded user interfaces for their mobile and tablet apps. The new version of MEI's custom storefront software lets app publishers present content items other than traditional folios in their apps.
| Read more »As most of us need -- or at least want -- faster Macs, Macware's updated MacTuneUp (now up to version 7.0) can provide speed boosts for our current machines.
The software discovers and fixes problems, restores hard disk space, maximizes Internet performance, securely erases files and folders, removes unwanted apps, guts unnecessary language files, makes Macs boot faster, and more. Features of version 7.0 include:
° More in-depth and faster scanning of your Mac;
° Removal of unnecessary language files that come preloaded and take up hard drive space;
In a set of court filings made public on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice calls Apple out for being a facilitator in the supposed collusion with major publishers to fix e-book prices, while the Cupertino company denies the allegations, instead saying it drafted separate consumer-friendly agreements with each. ...
| Read more »Reuters is reporting that Apple has responded to the Justice Department's accusations that the company colluded with publishers to increase e-book pricing, saying that it negotiated with the publishers separately and reached different agreements with each.But Apple said the publishers had decided, independent of Apple, to eliminate discounts on wholesale book prices of e-books, to sell lucrative hardcover books first to bookstores in a practice called windowing and to take other measures to push Amazon to raise prices.In a court filing dated April 26 but released on Tuesday, Apple said it had approached publishers to create an online bookstore that would eventually become the iBookstore and had demanded a 30...
| Read more »
Adobe Flash Player is a cross-platform, browser-based application runtime that provides uncompromised viewing of expressive applications, content, and videos across browsers and operating systems.
Version 11.8.800.50:
Yes, Google plans to launch a subscription music service this week, via its Google Play store.
And yes, Google still plans to launch a separate subscription music service, later this year, via its YouTube site.
Make sense? Of course not.
It makes lots of sense for both YouTube and Play, which was built for Google’s Android devices, to sell music subscriptions.
YouTube is the world’s biggest free music service, which could make it a fantastic funnel for a Spotify-like paid offering,...
| Read more »Josh Constine, writing for AOL/TechCrunch:
Facebook didn’t realize just how important widgets, docks, and app
folders were to Android users, and that leaving them out of Home
was a huge mistake. That’s because some of the Facebookers who
built and tested Home normally carry iPhones, I’ve confirmed. Lack
of “droidfooding” has left Facebook scrambling to add these
features, whose absence have led Home to just 1 million downloads
since launching a month ago. […]
The lack of droidfooders didn’t have serious consequences until
Home, Facebook’s new “apperating system”. It replaces the lock
screen, homescreen, and app launcher of compatible Android phones
with a Facebook-centric experience. It offers Cover Feed, a big,
beautiful way to browser the news feed the second you bring your
phone out of sleep. It’s missing the ability to build real-time...
One of the problems with giving people advice is that certain topics are so... personal. Our previous experiences, current technology and outside pressures inevitably corral us into a particular line of thinking or acting. So it is with the debate over paper vs. software solutions. Personally, I've found a mix of both to be handy. A quick poll of the TUAW crew indicates a similar divide: Some of us use paper almost to the exclusion of software, whereas some of us went digital once we found enough apps to deliver us from dead trees. Most of us use a blend of both, however. In this week's productivity tip, I want to discuss when you might want to use paper or an app, and some specific apps and resources for both.
Paper (and whiteboards, etc.)
The thing about paper is that you have to write on it. That seems simplistic, but for some that's actually a big deal. I happen to learn by doing something, and I...
| Read more »colinneagle sends this quote from an article at NetworkWorld: "I run a very nifty desktop utility called Rainmeter on my PC that I heartily recommend to anyone who wants to keep an eye on their system. One of its main features is it has skins that can monitor your system activity. Thanks to my numerous meters, I see all CPU, disk, memory and network activity in real time. the C: drive meter. It is a circle split down the middle, with the right half lighting up to indicate a read and the left half lighting up for write activity. The C: drive was flashing a fair amount of activity considering I had nothing loaded save Outlook and Word, plus a few background apps. At the time, I didn't have a Rainmeter skin that lists the top processes by CPU and memory. So instead, I went into the Task Manager, and under Performance selected the Resource Monitor. Under the Processes tab, the culprit showed its face immediately: AppleMobileDeviceService.exe. It was consuming a ridiculous amount of...
| Read more »Hedge-fund billionaire Daniel Loeb’s campaign to pressure Sony Corp. into spinning off its entertainment arm is the latest tremor to ripple through Japan’s electronics industry, already reeling from unprecedented losses stemming from its lost standing in the technology world.
After a miserable past few years, marked by the rise of Samsung Electronics Co. and the dominance of Apple Inc., Japan’s once-powerful electronics manufacturers are grappling with outside investors and fed-up creditors looking to break the cozy and insular bonds that were once a hallmark of the country’s corporate sector.
Read the rest of this post on the original site »
| Read more »Internet search giant Google is said to be preparing a launch of a subscription-based music streaming service akin to existing offerings like Spotify, with the announcement possibly coming as soon as this week at the company's Google I/O Developers Conference. ...
| Read more »There’s a popular myth that Apple’s iPad and other tablets are simply media-consumption devices, unsuitable for productivity applications. That’s just not so, and this week I tested a variety of office suites for the iPad for mini-reviews of their capabilities. In fact, I wrote and edited this entire column on an iPad using the most popular paid iPad app, the $10 Pages word processor by Apple.
[ See post to watch video ]
Not every productivity task is optimally done on tablet software, of course. Writing a plain text document like this one isn’t the same as creating a large, nuanced spreadsheet. For complex documents, I still recommend using a PC or Mac.
And then there’s the problem with typing on a tablet’s virtual keyboard. If you’re going to use your iPad for longer documents, I suggest using a Bluetooth keyboard. I used a physical keyboard to write this, though I usually am fine with the on-screen one.
Despite these caveats, iPads and other tablets...
| Read more »How much is an hour with Apple CEO Tim Cook worth? Roughly a 2013 Lamborghini Aventador judging by the final results from a CharityBuzz charity auction. That auction closed Tuesday at US$610,000, tying CharityBuzz's previous record for the above-mentioned super car.
My birthday was last week on May 6, and Firaxis must have heard about that because in recent weeks they've released not one but two great turn-based strategy games. First, Haunted Hollow was released as a great, original free-to-play title, and now the legendary Sid Meier (of Civilization and Pirates) has released a game called Ace Patrol, available as a free download on iOS.
Ace Patrol is excellent -- it's a turn-based dogfighting game, where you manuver pilots in WWII around a battlefield, climbing, diving, and swooping around into position all while trying to accomplish certain goals or take out the other side. Progression in the game is marked by "maneuvers," so pilots who have leveled up have access to more and advanced moves. Weapons fire for free, but you've got to line up closely to...
| Read more »Switching resolutions on a Retina MacBook Pro usually requires going through System Preferences, but an app called QuickRes is designed to mitigate that annoying process.
QuickRes puts an icon in your Mac’s menu bar that allows you to quickly jump between a variety of preset display resolutions, even beyond supported by Apple, all the way up to 3840×2400. QuickRes can also enable HiDPI mode on non-Retina Macs, effectively doubling the resolution and giving a clearer (albeit bigger) picture.
To switch resolutions, you can right-click the app’s menu bar icon to select which display you want to change (if you have more than one), then select a resolution from a list of presets. You can also setup anywhere from two...
| Read more »Investment bank Piper Jaffray on Tuesday announced the results in its new iPhone resale value index, finding that Apple's iPhone depreciates at a rate less than half that of corresponding Android devices from Samsung. ...
| Read more »According to "sources familiar with the company," Google is planning to debut a new subscription music service sometime during the Google I/O conference. Reports have surfaced that Google has signed licensing deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, the three largest record labels in the world in preperations to launch the music offering.... ...
| Read more »Games publisher EA is planning to bring the Frostbite engine to iOS and Android, according to the company's website. "One of our most exciting current projects is called Frostbite Go, a mobile division empowering EA game developers with Frostbite's proven excellent workflows and features to bring true Frostbite experiences to all major mobile platforms," the site's History page reads. Switching over to the This is Frostbite page, EA mentions "diverse targets from XBOX360 and PlayStation 4 to iOS and Android."... ...
| Read more »Apple has released a minor update for iMovie, the video editor included as part of its iLife suite. Version 9.0.9 copes with a trio of issues, mainly a glitch which can prevent iMovie from detecting connected video cameras. It also deals with general instability, and compatibility problems when importing iOS iMovie projects. The app is a 1.36GB download.... ...
| Read more »Finger Tied is an iPad app that arrived late last year. It's put together by developer Owen Goss, and he says that a lot of users have asked him to create an iPhone version of the app, but given that it's a game that uses the iPad's big screen for lots of finger-swiping space, he didn't want to make it until he was sure he could do it justice.
Apparently he found a way, because he's delivering the iPhone version next week, with a game called Finger Tied, Jr. There's a short post up on his blog talking about the game, and as you can see from the picture above, it's more compact than the full iPad title. But that could be fun anyway.
Finger Tied, Jr. is due out next week, May 23. Stay tuned for a full look at the app sometime after that.
...
| Read more »Google is set to announce a new music subscription service tomorrow at its annual Google I/O conference, reports The Verge, having finalized deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment., and Warner Music Group.
The service is said to be a direct Spotify competitor, offering up songs on demand that can be streamed to a computer or mobile device for a set monthly fee.
Though Google has had an existing music service since 2011, it operates in a manner that is similar to iTunes, allowing users to purchase individual songs and albums. It also has a "locker" that lets users store digital entertainment collections.
Pricing information on the new service has yet to be released, but...
| Read more »Ive is making the point that whilst embellishments (like skeuomorphic design elements) can be perceived as clutter, that’s not the core problem. The actual issue is that such designs focus on analogy rather than essence: a paper book itself, rather than the novel inside.
This is a great article from Matt Gemmell.
| Read more »Apple released iMovie 9.0.9 for Mac on Tuesday. The update improves support for importing projects from iMovie for iOS. It also includes a bug fix and unspecified stability improvements.
A new feature released Tuesday from children’s app maker Kidaptive lets parents track the progress of what their children are learning inside the company’s first story and game application.
Leo’s Pad has been out for a year, releasing short story and game content it calls “appisodes.” The new parental layer shows a control panel broken out by child, and breaks down which areas children are struggling with and what new things they’ve learned. It also gives tips on how to increase color recognition, for example, and cites research for each recommendation.
Kidaptive Leo’s Pad
The company’s founders have a varied background in comic book writing, education and 3D animation, which helped create an app that children’s-application watchers say sets it apart.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment,...
| Read more »Nektar announced on Tuesday that it is shipping the Panorama P1, a compact USB control surface for Cubase, Nuendo, and Reason. This pretty little thing has 66 real-time controls, a TFT color display, and it was designed specifically for the three music creation applications above. If you're using ReWire, you can switch back and forth between the apps and the P1 will switch between Mixer, Instrument, and Transporter mode as needed. Pretty cool! It's priced at US$349.99/€289.99/£244.99, and it's available now.
With this review, I think that we're just about through the Spring 2013 crop of iPad Bluetooth keyboard folio cases, and it appears that I've saved the best for last. The ClamCase Pro for iPad (US$169, currently available for $20 off with coupon code SPRING20) was a pleasant surprise, providing the best keyboard I've ever used on an iPad along with some of the best protection to be found on any of the new keyboard folios.
Design
The ClamCase Pro is designed to look like a little laptop computer. The area around the keyboard is solid aluminum, and the keyboard itself uses black keys with white lettering. The top and bottom of the case are encased in white polycarbonate, which lends a very clean look and provides excellent protection. The iPad is held securely into place with two barely visible clips on either side of the device, and that design makes it simple to remove the iPad when necessary.
... | Read more »It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.
You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.
No Flash? Click here to listen.
Daily Update for May 14, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 14 May 2013 17:45:00 EST. Please see our...
| Read more »Malware targeting mobile devices is rapidly growing in both the number of variants found in the wild and in their complexity and sophistication, but the only platform being actively targeted is Google's Android, which researchers now say is resembling Windows on the desktop PC. ...
| Read more »Adding items to the Finder sidebar and Dock in OS X is one more thing that shortcuts can make a bit easier.
| Read more »As noted over at NeoGAF, EA has recently updated its website for the popular Frostbite engine to list details regarding a new version of the development platform for mobile devices dubbed “Frostbite Go”. While there aren’t many details, the page confirms that EA has plans to bring the engine to both iOS and Android, something that was previously rumored based off job listings for Frostbite.
One of our most exciting current projects is called Frostbite Go, a mobile division empowering EA game developers with Frostbite’s proven excellent workflows and features to bring true Frostbite experiences to all major mobile platforms.
Runtime in Frostbite supports a highly scalable model in order to appeal to the diverse array of platforms available on today’s market. Efficiency in both our runtime memory and runtime performance are both key factors to enabling...
| Read more »Absolute Software has introduced Computrace Mobile Theft Management (MTM) an iOS loss management and theft recovery solution. Currently, the service is limited to iPad and iPad mini in K-12 education. Computrace MTM goes beyond the built-in iOS features to initiate rapid response service and start the investigation process to obtain evidence for police, all leading to physical recovery.
A minor update for iMovie has been released. Version 9.0.9 fixes issues where iMovie didn't recognize when video cameras were connected to the computer, adds improved compatibility with iMovie for iOS projects, and includes the usual stability improvements.
The update is currently available for download in the App Store.
iMovie update 9.0.9 released originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 14 May 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
A Florida woman, Debra Hilton, has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple on behalf of iPhone 4 owners, says GigaOM. The case alleges that Apple knew about a flex cable defect that was causing problems with the phone's power button, but stayed quiet to sell phones without fixing the issue. A lawyer for Hilton points to threads on Apple's support forums, as well as a repair video on YouTube claiming that the issue is prevalent with the 4.... ...
| Read more »Breathe in energy and positivity. Breathe out distractions and bad feelings. Envision a calm place and let yourself go there.
Who are you kidding? You’re probably racing to or from work along with hundreds of other people and the anxiety level you feel is indescribably high. You may want to try to meditate or center yourself in stressful situations like these, but never actually remember to do it.
[ See post to watch video ]
This week, I tested two sensors that might help: the $99 HeartMath Inner Balance Sensor for iOS and $119 Tinké by Zensorium. Each device plugs into Apple’s iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, and digitally monitors heart rate and breathing patterns, offering on-screen coaching to get you into a calmer zone.
While a traditional heart monitor often just spits out a number, both the HeartMath Inner Balance and Tinké provide feedback as you use them. People who meditate regularly but don’t know whether or not their heart and breathing are...
| Read more »D-Link today announced its new line of AC routers -- the Wireless AC1750 Router (DIR-868L), Wireless AC1200 Router (DIR-860L), Wireless AC1000 Router (DIR-820L) and Wireless AC750 Router (DIR-810L) -- are now available. D-Link's family of AC routers are equipped with Dual Band technology enabling users to perform simple networking activities on the 2.4GHz band, and offload more demanding activities to the cleaner, more robust 5GHZ band. The routers are also backward compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n devices for enhanced connectivity. Prices range from $80 to $170, depending on model.... ...
| Read more »Square today unveiled the Square Stand, the company's latest effort to become an even more entrenched player in the mobile-payments market.
The Square Stand is essentially an elegant stand with an embedded card reader for the iPad, which when running Square Register, offers a compelling alternative to traditional cash registers. You might also notice that the device bears an ever so slight resemblance to Apple's iMac.
"Local business owners take as a given that they need an ugly, slow, expensive, and complicated point of sale system cluttering their counter," Square co-founder Jack Dorsey, said in a press release. "Square Stand is elegant, fast, affordable, and easy to use. Whether you're selling cupcakes, cardigans, or cappuccinos, running your business with Square has never been easier."
As pictured above...
| Read more »According to version numbers, Firefox can now legally purchase an alcoholic beverage…
On Friday, Mozilla.org released version 21.0.1 of its Firefox web browser. The new version, a 40.2 megabyte download via MacUpdate, adds the following fixes and changes:
- The Social API now supports multiple providers.
- Enhanced three-state UI for Do Not Track (DNT).
- Firefox will suggest how to improve your application startup time if needed.
- Preliminary implementation of Firefox Health Report.
- Ability to restore removed thumbnails on New Tab Page.
- CSS -moz-user-select:none selection changed to improve compatibility with -webkit-user-select:none (bug 816298).
-...
| Read more »
Apple iMovie makes it easy to turn your home videos into your all-time favorite films. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll watch them over and over again. And you'll share them with everyone.
Version 9.0.9:
OS X 10.7.4 or later
Download Now
A Florida woman last week lodged a class action lawsuit complaint against Apple reagrding an issue with the iPhone 4's power button, saying the company continued sales of the handset despite knowing of the problem. ...
| Read more »Sure, kids can play with an iPad to learn how to program, but what about robots? Play-i is a start up company seeking to develop affordable (under US$100), programmable robots as an educational tool for children. Normally this would sound like the plot of a bad 90s sci-fi movie of the week, but the development team behind the Play-i have impressive resumés.
CEO Vikas Gupta, a former head of consumer payments at Google, is joined by Saurabh Gupta, a former head of the iPod software team, and Mikal Greaves of Frog Design. The team also features Imran Kahn, a former head of marketing at Eloan Symantec.
The group is still a bit shy about providing specifics about the robots they're designing, but...
| Read more »A charity auction for a coffee meetup with Apple CEO Tim Cook has come to a close. The initial goal of the auction, supporting the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, was to raise roughly $50,000. By the time bidding closed today however, the final bid was valued at $610,000.... ...
| Read more »ABC has relaunched its ABC Player app as Watch ABC, which now streams live programming in limited markets. Currently, live streaming of ABC programming is only available in the New York City and Philadelphia areas. The app is currently available…
| Read more »We've talked before about how the iPhone can do a lot of things for you, but can it serve as a scope on a tactical rifle? That's the idea behind the Inteliscope, a new accessory that connects your iPhone to an actual tactical firearm. You just clip your iPhone 5 (or 4S or iPod touch) to the accessory, connect that to your rifle, and you've got a heads-up scope that allows for custom crosshairs, video recording, a built-in compass and GPS, a timer, and a few more handy functions.
The idea is pretty ingenious -- it seems like using the iPhone's camera would offset the view, but maybe the accessory actually uses mirror to line up your shot. At any rate, the Inteliscope and its associated app will be available in June of this year, with each model costing $69.99. You can...
| Read more »The 40-year-old co-founder of the world’s No. 1 Internet search engine said that doctors have been unable to identify a cause for the “very rare” nerve problems affecting his vocal cords, but that he has been making progress in his recovery and is “fully able to do all I need to at home and at work,” he wrote on his Google+ page on Tuesday.
I hope he gets better soon.
| Read more »Apple has run a server-side update to Siri, changing how the service responds to long commands, notes iLounge. If Siri judges that a request is too long, it will now reply with a quote from either William Strunk or Thomas Jefferson, in either case praising brevity of language. It's not clear exactly when the update was made, but it appears to have happened during the last week and a half.... ...
| Read more »That auction for coffee with Tim Cook we showed you last month wrapped up today, and it looks like the Apple CEO severely underestimated his value.
Tim Cook and Charitybuzz hoped to raise $50,000 for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, but the final price for an hour long cup of coffee with Mr. Cook ultimately reached $610,000 just before bids closed today.
//
The winning bidder currently remains anonymous, and the auction permits two people to attend the meeting with the CEO, but we imagine we may soon learn the identity of the mysterious “a********s” with all the publicity around the auction.
The offer expires one year from today, and the meeting...
| Read more »Siri is already well known for her wit and willingness to joke, but a recent server-side update has given Apple's digital assistant the ability to tell users they should be more into the whole brevity thing. ...
| Read more »Boutique sound system manufacturer Geneva has announced the new Model S Wireless Bluetooth streaming speaker set. The new Model S Wireless offers completely re-engineered components than the original Model S, higher-grade electronics, better speaker, drivers and the convenience of wireless connectivity.... ...
| Read more »A charity auction for an hour's worth of coffee talk with Tim Cook closed on Tuesday, as the winning bid reached a lofty $610,000 for the one-on-one time with the Apple executive. ...
| Read more »In a court filing on Monday, Apple extended its ongoing litigation struggle with Samsung, adding the company’s recently released Galaxy S4 to the list of devices Apple says infringe on its patented designs.
| Read more »New research data from Gartner states that sales of Mobile Phones in all regions except Asia/Pacific declined in the First Quarter of 2013. The new Gartner statistics show us that Apple's iOS operating system remained in the number two spot in Q1 2013 but dropped 4.3% from the same quarter last year.
| Read more »Nearly three years after the device first launched, GigaOm points us to a recently filed class action lawsuit that claims Apple’s iPhone 4 has a defective power button. The lawsuit claims that a defective flex cable typically causes the on/off switch to fail shortly after the device’s one year warranty has expired. It also claimsApple is aware of the problem, which is costing users around $149 to fix off of warranty.
Apple of course still sells the iPhone 4 through a number of carrier partners as its low end, $0 down iPhone option.
According to the lawsuit, “thousands of iPhone 4 users have suffered” from the issue that Apple allegedly knew existed before manufacturing and selling the device. The problem has never received a lot of mainstream media coverage or a response from Apple, but the lawsuit notes...
| Read more »Limelight is a new way to browse and organize your movie library. Become a movie critic and share your library with friends for only 99¢.
This is a cool looking app.
| Read more »The CharityBuzz auction for coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook has just ended, with a final bid driving the price up to $610,000. Previously, the auction had stagnated at $605,000, where it remained until 30 minutes before the bidding closed.
The $610,000 bid was placed by a newcomer to the auction who had not previously bid before, known only as "a********s." While CharityBuzz will not release the name of the high bidder, it is possible that the winner will come forward to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the auction.
Currently, the money that the Tim Cook auction has brought in is more than twice as much as the total of the current high bids on the other 118 auctions that are supporting the RFK...
| Read more »Groupon has launched a new point-of-sale app for the iPad, Breadcrumb POS. Unlike Breadcrumb Pro, which is oriented at larger, more established retailers, POS is aimed at small businesses. It nevertheless offers features such as tipping, kitchen tickets, custom items and menus, multiple tax rates and discounts, and support for a cash drawer and multiple printers.... ...
| Read more »Original release date: May 14, 2013
Systems Affected
Overview
Select Microsoft software products contain multiple vulnerabilities. Microsoft has released updates to address these vulnerabilities.
Description
The Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for May 2013 describes multiple vulnerabilities in Microsoft software. Microsoft has released updates to address these vulnerabilities.
Impact
A remote, unauthenticated attacker could execute arbitrary code, cause a denial of service, or gain unauthorized access to your files or system.
Solution
Apply Updates
Microsoft has provided updates for these vulnerabilities in the...
| Read more »Sometimes it's cool to live in the future. Take Philips Hue, an energy saving lightbulb that can be controlled by your iPhone or iPad. If you're coming home at night with an arm full of groceries and didn't leave the lights on, you can turn them on before you get into the house. They allow you too control the color, power, and brightness of your lighting, from anywhere in the world. Now with the latest update to their iOS app Philips has brought geofencing support to their already brainy smart bulb.
The geofencing feature allows you to activate a scene in your room automatically when you arrive at a location, without having to do it manually each time. Come in from a long day at work and have your house know you've come home by greeting you an illuminated living room. The alarm settings have also been improved, so whether you're using the alarm to make it look like someone's home when you're away or simply to wake up, you're in...
| Read more »This week in the MacNN Forums, Mac Elite "asxless" started a discussion about ways to travel "Mac-less" using only iOS devices while road-tripping this summer. Yesterday Professional Poster "mindwaves" was looking for a reason why their Retina MacBook Pro was shutting down while in sleep mode.... ...
| Read more »Currently Apple's online store has a vast selection of refurbished iMac models. The 21.5-inch iMac, with a 2.5GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, has seen a price cut of $220, bringing the cost down to $979. A $310 discount is offered on the 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.7GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, now $1,189.... ...
| Read more »A Florida woman is seeking more than US$5 million from Apple on behalf of thousands of iPhone owners who allegedly bought phones with defective power buttons that would not lock or turn off, reports "GigaOm" (http://tinyurl.com/cweh8dv).
| Read more »This week MacMall.com has reduced the price of the 13.3-inch MacBook Air from $1,399 down to $1,319 with free shipping. That $79 discount makes this the lowest price we have seen by about $30. This MacBook Pro features a 1.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage along with Intel HD Graphics, built-in FaceTime camera with 720p resolution, and it comes with Mountain Lion pre-installed. A one year warranty is included from Apple.... ...
| Read more »The video of International Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield performing a tailored version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" as a farewell to the ISS which has recently gone viral was created using an iPad. Hadfield, who has become a sensation in his native Canada and worldwide for his social media presence and earlier musical efforts, will be recording an entire album of songs based on the mission, and was the first person to record an earlier song while in orbit. Hadfield employed Garageband and other apps to help make the video.... ...
| Read more »Philips has introduced a downloadable update for its Hue lighting system. Version 1.1 brings several location-based features, referred to as "geofencing," that enable multicolor Hue bulbs to be automatically turned on or off or change color when residents approach or leave their home, without requiring preprogrammed scheduling.... ...
| Read more »A Florida woman has launched a class action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of knowingly and willingly selling the iPhone 4 with a faulty power button. Debra Hilton filed the suit in the U.S. District Court of Northern California in San Jose, and she's seeking US$5 million on behalf of iPhone owners.
The Mac Observer Spin:
It's easy to be cynical about class actions launched at Apple, but there do seem to be a lot of people concerned about this issue.
From 9to5Toys.com:
Last month we were tipped to some clues in the latest OS X 10.8.4 beta which indicated that Apple is ramping up to release new Macs and accessories sporting the next generation wireless technology, 802.11ac. It’s entirely possible that we could see these Macs introduced as early as next month at Apple’s WWDC. If you’re planning to upgrade your Mac, you’re going to need an AC compatible router to take advantage of this new wireless technology. Below are four new options for you to consider when making the...
| Read more »Tuesday saw the launch of a new version of broadcaster ABC's iOS app, one that for the first time will allow users in select markets to watch live television from a U.S. broadcaster. ...
| Read more »1Password ($18), AgileBits’ password manager and secure wallet app, has been updated to version 4.2. The update includes a number of improvements to 1Browser, the app’s built-in web browser, including use of a strong password generator. It’s now possible to share items through Messages or email. Search has also…
| Read more »Apple's voice interaction system Siri has been updated, this time specifically to ask users to keep it short. Siri's system doesn't deal well with longer user queries, so if you happen to ask something that's just too long for Siri to deal with, she'll interrupt you, giving you a quote from a famous person, and then asking you to rephrase the question, shorter or in fewer words. Siri herself doesn't have the authority to change your speech patterns, apparently, so she's recruited legendary wordsmiths like William Strunk and Thomas Jefferson to make her point more clearly.
Ironically, the quotes used aren't very short at all, which makes the whole process go even longer. But at least Siri is telling you the problem with what you tried to ask her, rather than just using a generic, "Sorry, Mike, I didn't get that." If a user is sending a query that's just too...
| Read more »
Firefox is a Web browser that empowers you to accomplish your online activities faster, more safely, and more efficiently than any other browser, period. Built with Tab browsing, popup blocking and a number of other seamless innovations, Firefox stands out ahead.
Version 21.0:
Pinterest is rolling out a big update to its mobile apps today that brings a number of highly requested features to both the iPhone and iPad. Some of the more notable updates include notifications and push notifications for comments and mentions, the ability to @mention friends from within the app, and improved search that provides suggestions as you type.
The updated app will also now let users invite friends to group boards.
A full list of what’s new in Pinterest 2.4 for iOS is below:
What’s New in Version 2.4
- Send a pin to someone and we’ll seal it with love (iPhone & iPod only)
- Get push notifications so you never miss a beat
- Search…and you shall receive suggestions
- Invite friends to pin with you on group boards
- Pin from more places — now...
Just when you think that Apple has decided to totally ignore iWork, along comes news that the company has added job postings for a number of positions on the iWork team.
The last official release of the iWork suite -- Pages, Numbers, and Keynote -- is telling: the name of the suite is still iWork '09. About the only major changes to any of the apps over the past few years has been to make them available on the Mac App Store and to add compatibility with iCloud.
Apple Bitch covered the latest job listing for a software QA engineer to "work on the next generation of Desktop, Mobile and Web application/services," focusing on bug detection, isolation, and reporting in the iWork suite. MacRumors notes that a number of other jobs are open on the...
| Read more »Networking company Sandvine has released a new report that breaks down North American iTunes traffic on fixed networks, examining how iTunes customers are using the service. Surprisingly, the largest portion of iTunes traffic is not generated from streaming, but from the App Store.
Direct App Store downloads account for 38.1% of total iTunes traffic, while 36.15% of traffic comes from iTunes streaming, which includes movie and song previews, along with iTunes Match.
With iTunes Match, customers can stream music and video purchases to both mobile devices and Apple TVs. Apple's streaming traffic may increase in the coming months with the introduction of iRadio, the company's rumored streaming radio service.
Media downloads, which are non application purchases such as music,...
| Read more »Sandvox is for Mac users who want to create a professional looking website quickly and easily. With Sandvox, you don't need to be a Web genius to build a stylish, feature-rich, standards-compliant website that's functional and user friendly. Sandvox's drag and drop interface lets you watch your website take shape and come to life as you build it. And, once finished, you can upload your site to your favorite host.
Whether you're a new website creator or a seasoned professional, you can make use of Sandvox to build the website of your dreams. New users can build a professional looking website in minutes and professional users can build an advanced, multimedia-rich site in no time at all.
Version 2.8:
Nokia on Tuesday revealed the next chapter in its comeback effort, showing off the Lumia 925: a Windows Phone that marks a shift by the company toward a new design aesthetic with lightweight components. ...
| Read more »Back in In October 2010, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill that made California the first state in the nation to create a live donor registry for kidney transplants. The bill also required California drivers to decide whether they want to be organ donors when they renew their driver licenses. According to one supporter, this second measure alone should double the number of organ transplants available in California. This was a project that Apple's late Co-Founder and CEO Steve Jobs pushed hard to get done. The registry created by that bill opened today.
| Read more »Data sent from iTunes represents 1.9 percent of North American Internet traffic every night, a share beyond all other competing digital storefronts, but also well behind the bandwidth served up by Netflix. ...
| Read more »It's crazy. The watch pocket in a pair of jeans is an anachronism dating back to 1902 when it first appeared. Although, famously, Steve Jobs did once pull an iPod nano out of the watch pocket of his jeans. (Here's the YouTube video where he does that at about 1m56s.)
Anyway, nothing much has changed with jeans in over a hundred years. And because many guys prefer to carry their smartphone in a jeans pocket, getting that smartphone out, quickly and easily, when needed can be a problem. I/O Denim, a Kickstarter project, has the solution, Their new jeans, 100 percent cotton from North Carolina, premium denim (hence the price), feature a special pocket on the left-hand side, in between the knee and the hip along the seam. The pocket is big enough to handle any of the iPhones with a slim case and also most Android devices. For now, men's cut only and limited sizes.
Problem solved. Very cool indeed.
...
| Read more »Miracles do happen. BlackBerry today announced that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will be available on iOS and Android this summer as a free download.
On the BlackBerry blog, BlackBerry employee Donny Halliwell stated that availability is dependent on approval by the Apple App Store and Google Play. BBM for iOS is huge, considering the number of people that use the system: over 51 million daily active users who use BBM an average of 1.5 hours per day, sending over 10 billion messages per day.
Rumors about an iOS version of BBM first started floating around in earnest in March of 2011, but this is the first word from BlackBerry that the app will actually appear.
BBM for iOS should feature the ability to do multi-person chats,...
| Read more »As previously reported, US TV network ABC has now launched an updated version of its ABC Player app, now known as Watch ABC. Version 3.0 of the app (free) now offers users in New York City and Philadelphia the ability to view a live stream of programming, making it the first network iOS app to do so. Plans are underway to bring the service to at least six further markets where ABC owns local stations directly over the summer, with Hearst-owned stations in another 13 markets gaining the live stream option later this year.... ...
| Read more »BlackBerry announced during their conference today that their BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), their mobile social network is coming to Android and iOS in the coming months. BlackBerry has more than 60 million monthly active customers, with more than 51 million people using BBM an average of 90 minutes per day. The service sends and receives more than 10 billion messages each day, which is nearly double what other mobile messaging apps produce. BlackBerry states that "iOS and Android users would be able to add their contacts through ...
| Read more »Creaceed has released the next major version of its Prizmo iOS app, complete with an all new user interface and support for PDF files. Version 2.0 is now a Universal app, working on both the iPhone and iPad, and offers iCloud integration for automatically syncing documents between multiple devices. The document scanner has also been improved with automatic frame detection when taking images, as well as enhanced tools for better corner positioning when cropping. Other new features includes 30 new OCR languages, voice guidance for positioning documents within the camera's line of sight, and mult... ...
| Read more »BlackBerry will be expanding access to its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service to new platforms this summer, in a move that has surfaced in rumors a number of times in the past. Users of iOS and Android devices will be able to download a free app for their device in order to use the service, with the core BBM functionality initially available and other aspects expected later in the year.... ...
| Read more »Mobile payment processor Square on Tuesday revealed a new hardware accessory for Apple's iPad: the Square Stand, which turns the popular tablet into a register capable of accepting credit card payments. ...
| Read more »Last week, after Adobe announced its move to a subscription-based cloud plan, our own Kelly Hodgkins asked me to look at software alternatives for some Creative Suite apps.
We know that none of these apps provide a full replacement for Photoshop or Illustrator. What she asked me to do was to spend time, hands on, to get a sense of what kind of options were out there.
For Photoshop, I looked primarily at Pixelmator (US$14.99 "sale" price, but it's been on "sale" since Nov 2012) and Acorn 4 ($29.99), with a glance at the donationware GNU Image Manipulation Program, GIMP.
I quickly discovered that GIMP is not in the same class as Pixelmator or Acorn. Both Pixelmator and Acorn have...
| Read more »The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 35 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover two multitouch related patents. The second patent covers a movable trackpad like those associated with the iPod Classic and the Apple TV remote. The first granted patent that we cover today is for yet another major multitouch patent covering contact tracking and an identification module for touch sensing.
| Read more »Apple has quietly given Siri the ability to answer user responses with quotes, citing famous passages from notable people like William Strunk and Thomas Jefferson. First noticed by iLounge, the quotes are used when Siri is asked a question that is excessively long, tactfully reminding the user of the value of brevity.
When Siri is given a request that is too lengthy, she will now respond with one of several different quotes that suggest that the user shorten the question. For example, one quote from Thomas Jefferson reads, "The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."
Siri has a range of different quotes in her repertoire, including one from the 1970's television show MASH.
It is unknown when the change to Siri was implemented, but a Reddit...
| Read more »D-Link is shipping a new line of AC Routers with the availability of the Wireless AC1750 Router (DIR-868L), Wireless AC1200 Router (DIR-860L), Wireless AC1000 Router (DIR-820L) and Wireless AC750 Router (DIR-810L). They have street prices of US$169.99, $149.99, $119.99 and $79.99, respectively.
| Read more »Blackberry has announced that its BBM messaging service will be released as a free iOS app this summer, complete with support for iOS 6 and above. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said the release of BBM on other platforms is a “statement of confidence,” and noted that the free app is…
| Read more »Rumors that Apple was going to incorporate a fingerprint sensor in the home button of the next iPhone still have no evidence to support them behind Apple's acquisition of Authentec in 2012. A new rumor has thus appeared, saying that Apple plans to do away with the physical push-style home button entirely in the next iPhone release, replacing it with a capacitive touch area that would perform the same functions. The new "button" will be covered in sapphire glass to prevent scratches.... ...
| Read more »Internet payment company Square has announced a new accessory that turns your iPad into a high-tech cash register, complete with built-in credit-card swiper and a slew of point-of-sale accessories.
Aimed squarely—if you’ll pardon the pun—at small businesses, the $299 Square Stand allows you to connect an iPad to a secure card-swiping machine; it’s designed to work alongside the company’s free Register app. This, in turn, combines a credit-card-processing facility with a powerful point-of-sale system that can be used to maintain inventory and charge customers, essentially working like a souped-up version of a traditional cash register.
The Stand also features a hub that can be used to connect external accessories to the system, including a receipt printer, cash drawer, and barcode scanner. The current version works with an iPad 2 or a...
| Read more »On Sunday we noted that Disney’s ABC apps for iOS devices would this week begin live streaming TV to users in New York and Philadelphia. It’s the first time a major broadcaster is offering a live TV experience in its iOS apps and today the...
| Read more »In a quiet server-side update, Apple has given Siri the ability to respond to requests with quotes, notably to suggest that the user is being too long-winded. When asking the assistant a question — presumably one that Apple’s servers find too long or difficult to parse — Siri responds with…
| Read more »Hang your iPad on an exercise bike, a microphone, a camera tripod, in your garage, or under your car while you work on it. Where is up to you. How is built into the Monkey Kit.
There are apps that teach kids the basics of programming.
And then there are robots that get the job done.
At least, that’s the vision of a group of four tech entrepreneurs who late last year formed a company with the purpose of creating educational robots for kids.
The Bay Area-based company, called Play-i, is still in the early stages of building out its bots and determining their form and functionality.
Vikas Gupta, Play-i’s founder and CEO, says the robots will be targeted at children aged 5 to 8, and will most likely work in conjunction with tablets. Using a tablet or other mobile device running compatible software, the child will be able to program his or her robot to perform certain actions.
Gupta says the company is aiming to keep the price point low — very low. Unlike the...
| Read more »Remember what Realmac Software did for to-do lists with its best-seller Clear? In one stroke, the company grabbed the attention of millions of iPhone users with a gesture-driven app that was easy, understandable, and colorful. Today Realmac teased us with a glimpse of Analog for iPhone, a slimmed-down version of the popular OS X app for adding beautiful photo effects to images.
Realmac says the app will launch later this month, and no price was disclosed. It appears, though, that Realmac's thoughtful approach at user interface design brings one-handed effects and sharing to the iPhone. We'll have a full review when Analog for iPhone is launched in the App Store.
Realmac Software's sneak preview of Analog for iPhone originally...
| Read more »BlackBerry will be extending its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch this summer, finally bringing its popular messaging service to Apple's mobile platform. When BBM for iOS ships it will mark the first time BlackBerry will have offered its messaging service outside of its own devices.
The Mac Observer Spin:
This is a smart move for BlackBerry that should've happened long ago.
BlackBerry has announced that it will bring its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) platform to iOS this summer. BBM was one of the first proprietary mobile messaging services -- not unlike Apple's iMessage service -- and remains hugely popular.
The company reports that BBM has 60 million monthly active users and that BBM users send 10 billion messages per day. In January, Apple claimed iMessage users were sending 2 billion messages per day.
Moreover, there are a number of popular so-called 'over-the-top' messaging services including WhatsApp and...
| Read more »Square announced a new product called Square Stand for vendors using Square Register for iPad to process payments.
Square Stand features the familiar credit card reader that made Square so popular with smartphone and tablet owners. The stand looks to replace traditional POS cash registers by mounting an iPad in a stylish case that resembles Apple’s iMac desktop computers.
//
Square can already replace your cash register with its...
| Read more »BlackBerry's BBM messaging service will go cross-platform this summer, when official BBM applications will launch on iOS and Android. ...
| Read more »Late last year, Philips launched its "Hue" lighting system, offering sets of wireless-enabled LED lightbulbs that allow users to remotely control their lighting, including adjusting to a rainbow of colors, from an iOS app. Hue has been exclusively sold through Apple's online and retail stores, and Philips has been working hard to both bring more features to the system and to open it up to developers to build even more functionality.
Philips today announced the "next phase" of Hue with a...
| Read more »There’s a fair bit of news coming out of Blackberry’s BlackBerry Live 2013 keynote this morning — the unveiling of the new Q5 Qwerty phone and the first point release update of BlackBerry 10 for the Z10. But the biggest news of all concerned BlackBerry’s plans for its popular messaging platform, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM). At long last, the company is taking the service cross-platform.
Come summer, BlackBerry will release BBM as a standalone app. Initially, it will be targeted at Apple’s iOS 6 and Android Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0) and above, and will provide a basic feature set. But CEO Thorsten Heins says the company intends to flesh it out further in the months that follow.
“We’re committed to making the BBM experience on...
| Read more »BusyCal is an award-winning desktop calendar that combines personal productivity features for individuals with powerful calendar sharing capabilities for families and workgroups.
BusyCal's unique features include a non-modal Info Panel for easier data entry; To Dos that display in the calendar and auto-forward until completed; repeating To Dos; customizable calendar views including a List view and scrolling Month and Week views; adjustable font styles and sizes, live weather feeds, moon phases, graphics, sticky notes and more.
BusyCal allows families and workgroups to share calendars with MobileMe, Google Calendar, iCal Server, and other CalDAV Servers. You can even share calendars with other BusyCal users on a local area network without the need of a server. And BusyCal syncs with iCal, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and other apps and devices that sync with MobileMe or Sync Services.
Features:
In a court filing on Monday, Apple extended its ongoing litigation struggle with Samsung, adding the company's recently released Galaxy S4 to the list of devices Apple says infringe on its patented designs. ...
| Read more »Although BlackBerry has been rumored to bring its BBM messaging platform to iOS and other devices before, today the company has made things official announcing at its event that support for both iOS and Android will be arriving in the coming months. The service, which BlackBerry says currently has about 60 million monthly active users, will come to devices running iOS 6 and Android 4.0 or above when it’s launched as a free app sometime this summer in the App Store and Google Play.
The company said that it would be bringing messaging and groups functionality to new platforms first but also has plans to introduce voice features, screen sharing, and its just announced ”social engagement platform” dubbed ‘Channels’ in future releases. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said the company is “committed to making the BBM experience on other platforms as fully featured” as possible.
//
While features...
| Read more »If you are looking for a way to get more out of your MacBook or MacBook Pro, consider a solid-state drive (SSD). SSDs offer faster data read and write speeds, fast file transfers, speedier boot times and will save you some battery life. In the past, SSDs were considered somewhat pricey upgrades and out of reach for many users. Today, prices are dropping and quality drives can be had for a song through retailers like Amazon and OWC.
Today I will show you how to install an SSD, specifically the Samsung 840 series into a June 2012 MacBook Pro. The proceedure in this tutorial video will work for any SATA-based Mac...
| Read more »Apple has told the US District Court in California hearing motions for the upcoming second patent-infringement trial against Samsung that it intends to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing device. In order to do so, the iPhone maker will have to drop one of its previously-listed infringing devices from the list, such as the Galaxy S III, S II, Note or Nexus (among other possible models). Judge Lucy Koh is attempting to keep both companies down to a minimum number of patent claims and infringing devices.... ...
| Read more »Apple informed U.S. Federal Court Judge Lucy Koh late on Monday that it wants to add the Galaxy S4 smartphone to its patent infringement case against Samsung. With a 22 product limit imposed on each company by the Judge, however, that means Apple will have to drop one of the devices it has already targeted in its complaint.
The Mac Observer Spin:
The Galaxy S4 is Samsung's newest big thing in the smartphone world, so it isn't a surprise that Apple wants to add it to this patent infringement case. Of course, Samsung would like to see the S4 left off the list, but it's pretty likely the company won't get what it wants.
You can’t knock healthy competition.
Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Google announced that it will be upgrading its complimentary Google Drive storage space from 5 GB to 15 GB.
Google says the changes will be rolling out over the next several weeks to all customers. All that space is shared, so if you are just using Google Drive Photo (for example), that 15 GB is shared with any other Google services that require storage.
With this move, Google has unified its storage system, a similar concept to the Apple pool of iCloud storage, although at this point Apple does not count image storage in Photo Stream...
| Read more »With jAlbum, you can create gorgeous custom photo galleries for the Web without writing a line of code!
Beginner-friendly, with pro results
Simply drag and drop photos into groups, choose a design from hundreds of beautiful album skins, and you're done!
Share the memories
Effortlessly upload your album to your website. If you don't have one, select one of jAlbum's affordable storage plans.
Photo galleries for everyone
jAlbum is the perfect photo-sharing tool for bloggers, small business, social groups, and families.
Version 11.2.4:
News and Updates
Cult of Mac points to a report [Google translation] from Taiwanese site TechNews claiming that Apple will be including a sapphire-covered capacitive home button on the iPhone 5S in order to accommodate the fingerprint sensor rumored to be coming as a differentiating feature for the device.Apple is expected to do away with the traditional physical home button, which has long been one of the most unreliable components on iOS devices. It’s thought that using sapphire crystal, which has a hardness second only to diamond, will prevent the button from getting scratched and ruining the fingerprint sensor. [...]
They...
| Read more »A Stack Exchange user asked a question a while back: is it possible to turn off the swipe gesture in Chrome that goes back or forward a page? If you're not familiar with this gesture - which works in most browsers on OS X - you use a two-finger swipe to the right to go back to the previous page you've viewed, and a swipe in the opposite direction to go forward again. But this use found it got in the way.
Fortunately, another user found a Terminal command that turns this feature off. Run this in Terminal, then relaunch Chrome for it to take effect:
defaults write com.google.Chrome.plist AppleEnableSwipeNavigateWithScrolls -bool FALSE
If you wish to reactivate it, run this command:
defaults write com.google.Chrome.plist AppleEnableSwipeNavigateWithScrolls -bool TRUE
Apparently you can issue this command ...
Philips today launched a big update to the Hue app that provides users with control over their network connected Philips Hue lighting system which the company began selling exclusively through Apple Stores last year. Version 1.1 of the app adds a ton of new features including Geofencing to trigger scenes when you leave or return home, recurring schedules for functions such as alarms, a new synchronous scenes, and much more.
One of the big announcements accompanying the launch of the updated app is a new IFTTT (If This Then That) channel for Hue. IFTTT is a service that allows online applications to talk to one another by letting users set up actions for one app that are triggered by another. For example, with the Hue channel, users can have “access to any...
| Read more »It’s a rumor, so it kinda sorta has to be true…
Per Cult of Mac, the next-gen iPhone 5S handset could come with a sapphire crystal capacitive touch home button that incorporates a new fingerprint sensor, according to supply chain sources in Taiwan and TechNews.tw.
Apple is expected to do away with the traditional physical home button, which has long been one of the most unreliable components on iOS devices. It’s thought that...
| Read more »While Apple increased its iPhone sales year over year, its share of the global smartphone market shrank to 18.2 percent in the first quarter, according to data from Gartner. ...
| Read more »Apple wants to add Galaxy S4 to a second patent case against Samsung, reports "FOSS Patents" (http://tinyurl.com/dyavkwk).
Narrowing will occur in several steps until the spring 2014 trial, the article adds. Ultimately, by February 6, 2014, the parties will have to limit their asserted patents claims to five (per side) and their accused products to ten (per side). The purpose of the responses Apple and Samsung submitted yesterday was to identify 22 accused products per side, notes "FOSS Patents."
| Read more »Adds two new designs geared toward image galleries, plus adds support for optimizing Web site images for Retina displays. ($79.99 new, free update, 37.8 MB)
Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »There may be new life for iWork on the horizon.
Per AppleBitch, a handful of recently discovered job listings suggest a possible next-generation iWork software suite may soon see release, with the latest postings asking for specialists in quality assurance, one of the final steps in software building.
While some of the listings date back to the end of March, the most recent ad for “SW QA iWork” hit Apple’s job portal only two days ago.
At present, there are eight iWork-related positions on the “Jobs at Apple” webpage, three of which deal with quality assurance or...
| Read more »Aereo is bringing its streaming broadcast service to Atlanta, Georgia, on June 17th the company announced today.
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The company has been making the headlines with its controversial methods for delivering its service.
Check out the full list of cities where Aereo plans to launch this year.
You can read the company’s press release below for all the details:
Aereo Sets Launch Date for Atlanta
Atlanta Will Be the Third City to Launch Aereo’s Groundbreaking Technology
More Than 5.3 Million Atlanta Metropolitan-Area Consumers Will Have Access to Aereo’s Innovative Antenna Technology to Watch Live...
| Read more »Just weeks after the launch of Samsung's latest Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone, FOSS Patents reports that Apple is seeking to add the device to a patent lawsuit already underway against Samsung in the United States.
Judge Lucy Koh has already ordered Apple and Samsung to narrow their case, which is expected to go to trial in March 2014. Each side will ultimately be required to limit their cases to ten targeted devices, although the current stage is seeing the companies pare their lists to 22 devices each.The filings reveal a major new disagreement: Apple has analyzed the Galaxy S4, Samsung's new top-selling product, and "has concluded that it is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing...
| Read more »FOSS Patents reports that Apple is seeking to add Samsung's latest flagship device -- the Galaxy S4 -- to its second California case against Samsung, currently scheduled to begin in March of 2014.
Back in April, Judge Lucy Koh instructed both Apple and Samsung that they have until February 6, 2014 to limit the number of accused products to 10 per side. Until then, Apple will have some work to do as the company currently accuses 22 Samsung products of patent infringement.
What's more, now that Apple has gotten its hands on the Galaxy S4, it wants to add that product to the litigation as well.
The purpose of the responses Apple and Samsung submitted yesterday was to identify 22 accused products per side. The filings reveal a major new disagreement: Apple has analyzed the Galaxy S4, Samsung's new top-selling product, and "has concluded that it is an infringing device and...
| Read more »The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 35 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover three granted patents covering technologies found in iMovie and/or Final Cut Pro.
| Read more »
Adobe Reader allows users to view PDF documents. You may not know what a PDF file is, but you've probably come across one at some point. PDF files are used by companies and even the IRS to distribute documentation and other pieces of information about their products, and Adobe Acrobat Reader is the essential interpreter. Acrobat integrates directly with your Web browser, so if you come across a PDF document on the Web,you can view it directly from within your Netscape or Internet Explorer browser window. Acrobat also makes printing much more practical, by guaranteeing that the printout will look exactly like it does on your screen.
Version 11.0.03:
OS X 10.6.4 or later
Download Now
Expeditions: Conquistador, a tactical role-playing game, will be available for Mac, PC, Mac and Linux systems on Steam on May 30. It will also be available on GOG.com, Gamersgate and several other platforms.
Penclic has released the Bluetooth B2 Mouse, it's available at Amazon.com for US$89.95. It's Mac and PC compatible.
The Bluetooth B2 Mouse wirelessly connects to your computer. It sports five click buttons with a scroll wheel and laser pointer. The mouse operates without the use of a mouse pad.
According to the folks at Penclic, the Bluetooth B2 Mouse -- available only in white -- will run two months on one charge with its rechargeable battery. It has a wireless reach of up to 16 feet.
| Read more »Sharp, a key supplier of components that go into iPads and iPhones, lost $5.4 billion last year, prompting the Japanese display maker to increase its reliance on Apple's top rival, Samsung, in order to survive. ...
| Read more »EditShare has released the Field 2, its next-generation portable shared storage solution with integrated asset management.
The turnkey platform includes file ingest, advanced project sharing/bin locking, and archiving capabilities in an all-in-one, high-performance and rugged chassis. Designed for on-location shoots, ENG trucks and remote offices, the new Field 2 is durable, light and compact and meets airline carry-on regulations.
| Read more »Adobe Acrobat allows users to communicate and collaborate more effectively and securely. Unify a wide range of content in a single organized PDF Portfolio. Collaborate through electronic document reviews. Create and manage dynamic forms. And help protect sensitive information.
Version 11.0.03:
OS X 10.6.8 or later
Download Now
Apple rumours have become almost beyond parody, an industry in themselves with websites, twitterfeeds and columns inches dedicated to digging them up and dishing them out. Charlotte Henry thinks that may be behind some of Apple's rushed products, and Apple fans, media and bloggers are to blame.
A job listing from Apple describing the need for a mechanical engineer with a wide knowledge of materials and manufacturing processes -- and some specific experience in skills required for dealing with the bulk-metallic glass alloy known as Liquidmetal -- has fuelled speculation that Apple's investment in the technology may be finally bearing more fruit. The technology is already used for specialized parts such as the SIM card ejector pin in older iPhone models, but very little has been seen of it thus far.... ...
| Read more »Adds support for OAuth 2.0 authorization and Google’s new CalDAV API for Google Calendar. ($29.99 new, free update, 9.4 MB)
Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »In its ongoing second major patent trial against Samsung, Apple yesterday filed a statement with the US District Court in California claiming that after examining the recently released Galaxy S4 it has “concluded that it is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4″ to its long list of 22 infringing products. Apple is hoping Judge Lucy Koh allows the S4 to be added, but in line with the court’s request to reduce the number of infringing devices ahead of a trial scheduled for spring 2014, Apple has also agreed to remove without prejudice one of the other 22 infringing devices from Samsung it currently has listed.
Apple’s current list of infringing Samsung products include Admire, Captivate Glide, Conquer 4G, Dart, Exhibit II 4G, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Player 4.0, Galaxy Player 5.0, Galaxy Rugby...
| Read more »The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 35 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we first cover Apple's granted patent which discusses how acoustic transducers could one day be configured to accept acoustic commands that consist of tapping, scratching and other interactions with a surface of an iPad, iPhone or MacBook Pro. Our report concludes with a list of the remaining patents that were granted to Apple today.
| Read more »Here’s the thing, I’m wrong most of the time. I’ve long held fast that I do my best work after midnight. I’ve long felt that caffeine and sugar would keep me going deep into the night when I really hit my stride. I’ve also maintained that nicotine helped me stay focused because it gave me an excuse to get up and walk away from my computer for a little while and made me more social. Walking away from my computer to grab a smoke seemed like the perfect amount of exearcise too. Finally, I figured if I didn’t eat for 48 hours that it was no big deal.
That lifestyle worked for me for a long time. It kept me focused on work and learning. I bought into the notion that your brain gets imprinted a certain way when you learn things all hopped up on caffeine and nicotine. So I believed that I had to maintain.
I was wrong (don’t worry, I still believe in Jarmusch, despite how Ghost Dog turned out). Which is nothing new mind you. But this is a deeper, more long-term wrong. One...
| Read more »Analog Camera for iPhone by Realmac Software
From the wonderful folks who brought you Clear for iPhone and...
| Read more »A few weeks ago we reported on an online auction where the winner will have a unique opportunity to sit down for coffee with Tim Cook over at Apple's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop.
Since the auction began about three weeks ago, the bids reached unprecedented levels rather quickly. As it stands now, the winning bid checks in at $605,000. To put that into context, the highest bid previously received by Charitybuzz was $255,000 for the chance to shadow Bill Clinton for a day.
If you have a few hundred thousand dollars to spare and would relish the opportunity to sit down with one of the more powerful CEOs on the planet, you better act fast. The auction is scheduled to close on Tuesday afternoon, at approximately 4 PM Eastern Standard Time.
Notably, 20% of the winning bid will go to Charitybuzz while the rest will be donated to the...
| Read more »In a discussion of where Apple needs to take iOS 7, WWDC, and the App Store, TidBITS Contributing Editor and iOS programming book author Matt Neuburg contributes his exhausting mix of detailed analysis and irrepressible ranting to Chuck Joiner’s MacVoices podcast, along with John Brayton of Golden Hill Software.
Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »Daft Punk's long awaited new album, Random Access Memories, isn't due for release until May 21, but anyone in the United States can stream all of the tracks now for free through iTunes. Unlike the usual 90 second previews for trackson other albums, you can listen to complete songs as often as you want, although you can't download any yet. Random Access Memories is available for pre-order at the iTunes Store and is priced at US$11.99.
Reader John has a hard disk gone bad and needs to recover some files off it before he moves on to a newer, more reliable disk. With that, though, he's having trouble deciding which data recovery software to use, in part because there are no good reviews of any options out there.
The fingerprint sensing home button rumored to be on Apple's next iPhone will be a capacitive touch-sensitive button covered by scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass, a new report claims. ...
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With iGoogle scheduled to be axed in November, orphans of that offering will be looking at alternatives like uStart, Protopage, Netvibes and Myfav.es. While those alternatives will meet the needs of many iGoogle users set adrift by the search company, some souls may want to create their own homepage substitutes for the versatile portal. Since the whole idea behind iGoogle is to avoid the hassle of creating homepages, it might seem a bit incongruous to suggest doing so as an alternative to it.
Bits&Coffee has released BatchPhoto 3.7, an update of its all-in-one photo manipulation program for Mac and PC that lets photographers, web designers, business people, and families enhance photos. To use you select a group of photographs, and, with a single operation edit, resize, convert, watermark, and rename every image in the group.
| Read more »Fitbit's Flex is a first-of-its-kind, activity tracking wristband that syncs wirelessly on-the-go via Bluetooth 4.0 to select iOS and Android devices.
| Read more »Following hot on the heels of the Sony SBH20 Bluetooth earphones, the company has also revealed a more upmarket variant, the SBH50. The new headset is notable for including a small OLED display into its remote with app extensions available through Google Play. The extensions allow users to browse their call log, read text notifications and messages on the display without needs to pull out a smartphone.... ...
| Read more »Reggie Ashworth (www.reggieashworth.com) has announced AppDelete 3.2.9, a new version of his application deletion utility. The upgrade has been optimized for Mac OS X 10.7, supports new languages and more.
| Read more »The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, says worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US$23.48 billion for the month of March 2013, an increase of 1.1% from the previous month when sales were $23.23 billion.
Global sales for March 2013 were 0.9% higher than the March 2012 total of $23.28 billion, and total sales through the first quarter of 2013 were 0.9% higher than sales from the first quarter of 2012. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.
| Read more »The $30 Innotraveler Universal Car Mount attaches to the inside of your car’s windshield, letting you mount your iPhone for easy access—say, for GPS guidance—while you’re on the road.
| Read more »For the last three years, Netflix has accounted for a third of the Internet traffic zipping into North American homes every night.
But Web video competitors like Amazon, HBO and Hulu all say they’re seeing significant growth. So is anyone cutting into Netflix’s lead?
Not really, says Sandvine, the broadband service company that tracks Internet usage.
A Sandvine report out this morning pegs Netflix’s share of prime time “downstream” traffic delivered over “fixed networks” — that is, wires and pipes — at 32.3 percent. That’s just a hair down from...
| Read more »The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 35 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover two of Apple's patents relating to waterproofing iDevices. A waterproofing test was recently conducted ...
| Read more »The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday issued Apple a patent for an audio-based input system in which various noises made on a laptop's chassis are translated into actions, basically turning the computer into one large input device. ...
| Read more »Apple on Tuesday was granted a utility patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office covering the glass-on-metal trackpad seen across the company's laptop lineup, with the award coming almost four months after the design rights were garnered for the same invention. ...
| Read more »Late yesterday, the Nikkei reported that some 20 global companies including Electronics, NTT, Qualcomm, Ericson, China Mobile and Samsung have agreed to jointly develop a new Wi-Fi technology that is ten times faster than the current standard.
| Read more »We've mentioned before that we are far from a paperless society. For now, at least, there are tasks that require a piece of paper for confirmation, proof of purchase, or a litany of other needs. Laser printers have existed since the first practical commercial model in 1984, and have since been known as one of the best products for high-quality text and printing at a consumer or business price point. One name present in printing for decades at this point is Brother -- the lineage grew this year with the LED Brother HL-3170CDW color printer with duplexer. Electronista has been living with one fo... ...
| Read more »A major software update for Philips' Hue app brings an enhanced user experience to the multi-colored connected LED lighting system, granting owners location-based control of bulb settings, support for the "If This Then That" Internet automation service, and recurring "calendarized" scheduling. ...
| Read more »We've mentioned before that we are far from a paperless society. For now, at least, there are tasks that require a piece of paper for confirmation, proof of purchase, or a litany of other needs. Laser printers have existed since the first practical commercial model in 1984 and have been known for excellent text quality. One name present in printing for years at this point is Brother -- the lineage ...... ...
| Read more »A brief posting on the Google Fiber blog has noted the addition of a new locality to Google Fiber. Gladstone, Missouri has voted to allow Google to expand its network to the suburb of Kansas City. The new locality is Google's fifth announcement in a handful of weeks regarding expansion of its gigabit Internet service.... ...
| Read more »A brief posting on the Google Fiber blog has noted the addition of a new locality to Google Fiber. Gladstone, Missouri has voted to allow Google to expand its network to the city, a suburb of Kansas City. The new locality is Google's fifth announcement in a handful of weeks regarding expansion of its gigabit Internet service.... ...
| Read more »E-on Software has released LumenRT 4.1 Studio, an update of one of the developer's 3D modeling tools LumenRT meshes 3D models into realistic natural or urban environments, for instance adding people, plants, animals, and/or car traffic. The v4.1 patch introduces new animated water materials, ranging in scale from ponds to oceans.... ...
| Read more »Foursaken Media's Heroes and Castles has been updated yet again, with lots of new content to play. The game, which allows you to level up a hero by defending a town and its various resources against an army of invading minions, has been popular for Foursaken already, and the team told me during GDC that they were planning on adding plenty of extras to the game this year. They've reached version 3.0 now, and the latest update adds three new heroes: an Assassin, a Barbarian, and a Druid, each with their own abilities and weapons.
There's also a brand new campaign for the game that must be unlocked to play, with new maps to fight over, and new allied units to join you in battle. You can upgrade buildings and units even further, the graphics now boast real-time shadows, and the game's performance has been upgraded overall. Finally, there are new...
| Read more »Several recent Apple job listings may hint that the company is on the verge of updating both the OS X and iOS editions of iWork, reports say. Some of the listings date back as far as March; one of them, though, was posted on May 11, and specifically calls for an iWork QA tester, which could mean Apple is in the last phases of development. Another opening, dating back to May 7, asks for a "HiDP Image Specialist," tasked with bringing iWork visual designs to Retina displays.... ...
| Read more »Facebook today updated its iOS app to version 6.1. Overall, the update is rather minor but it does add some welcome enhancements to the way photos are handled within the app.
Under the previous version of the Facebook app, users were only able to comment, like or tag a photo. With the new update, however, users can now make a photo their profile picture with a single tap. Even more exciting is that users can now share photos they stumble across on their own timeline or on the timeline of friends. Other additions to the update include improved places editing when checking in on the iPhone and faster loading of events.
Here's a quick run through.
Here's how photos showed up in the previous version of Facebook.
Not much you can do here, aside from like, comment or tag.
But with Facebook 6.1 up and running, here's how photos now appear.
When you select the three dots...
| Read more »Four years ago, we set out with a goal to bring great typography to
the web. Now, we’re taking the next step in our evolution: desktop fonts
and web fonts together in a single Typekit subscription.
On June 17, we’ll be making 175 beautiful font families from the Typekit
library available for desktop use. You’ll be able to sync them to your
computer and use them in all your applications for web mockups, print
design, word processing, and more.
Want a sneak peek? Ben made a screencast showing how it works. Let
us know what you think!
top/
| Read more »The next entry in our seemingly endless parade of new iPad keyboard cases is the Belkin Ultimate Keyboard Case for iPad (US$129.99). This case, which works with the second- through fourth-generation iPads, has some new features that make it attractive as a full-time companion for your tablet.
Design
Like the the recently-reviewed iPad Keyboard Folios from Logitech, the Ultimate Keyboard Case is designed for full-time use on your iPad, protecting the back of the device while providing a flip-out keyboard for easy data entry.
The keyboard in this case is backed with a nicely-designed aluminum shell, and uses black keys with white lettering. The iPad cover is kind of an odd affair -- it's made of what feels like hard polyurethane around the sides, but the "hinge" that connects it to the keyboard and...
| Read more »Ceton Corp has announced the new InfiniTV 6 product line of CableCARD multi-tuner devices for Media Center PCs. InfiniTV 6 is available in two models, which each incorporate six QAM tuners and require only a single CableCARD. InfiniTV 6 ETH is a powerful Ethernet-based network tuner that plugs into a router or wired home network. InfiniTV 6 PCIe connects to a PC via a PCI-E slot for configurations where all six tuners are available on a single PC.... ...
| Read more »After just over a month of sputtering sales, and a subsequent price drop to $0.99, AT&T will reportedly discontinue the HTC First, otherwise known as the "HTC Facebook Phone." ...
| Read more »While the Origin Stories series has typically focused on products, in the coming weeks we're going to focus a bit more on the people and personalities behind the products. In this episode I spoke to Saul Mora of Magical Panda during the MacTech Conference in 2012 to learn about how he got started in iOS development.
Origin Stories: Saul Mora, developer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 13 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source | Permalink | ...
| Read more »Shocked, we say. Shocked. We are utterly shocked*. Sales of the HTC First—the so-called "Facebook Phone—have reportedly been so bad that AT&T is ready to kill it. The device was announced on April 4th, but according to BGR, AT&T has sold just 15,000 units and is ready to pull the plug.
Apple has been beefing up its iWork team since early February, and has posted several new job listings in recent weeks.
The latest job posting, which was added this morning, seeks a software QA engineer. As noted by Apple Bitch (via AppleInsider) the position specifies that the engineer will work on "the next generation of Desktop, Mobile, and Web application/services."
Apple is currently hiring a number of employees for its iWork team, including...
| Read more »GungHo Entertainment is a game publisher based in Japan, and the company has just released some really wild financial numbers. According to the latest numbers, GungHo made $118 million this past April alone, most of it from one game: Puzzle and Dragons, currently available on iOS. Puzzle and Dragons is pulling in so much money (from audiences in both Japan and around the world) that GungHo says it's making $3.75 million a day. In Japan alone, Puzzle and Dragons is claiming 13 million players -- which is over 10% of the population there.
That is a phenomenal success story, and it gives GungHo a higher market cap than even the legendary game publisher Nintendo. As a result, the company's stock has skyrocketed, and it's even challenging current megapublisher...
| Read more »Amazon has released a native version of Cloud Player for Windows. Previously, Cloud Player was only accessible through mobile and web apps. Amazon says it also working on native Mac software, but no release date is available.... ...
| Read more »Although Samsung is the world's biggest manufacturer of smartphones, televisions and supplier of chips and flat-screens, Samsung continues to pay outsiders billions of dollars in return for using patents in semiconductors, displays and other software. Samsung wants to have first access to cheaper home grown ideas and solutions in the future and in order to get their hands on this new technology Samsung has set up the new "Samsung Future Technology Foundation."
| Read more »The wait is over. Random Access Memories, Daft Punk's first proper album* since 2005's Human After All, is now streaming in its entirety over at iTunes. It features guest spots and contributions from Chilly Gonzales, Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams, Julian Casablancas, and others. While the album doesn't officially hit stores until May 21, its leak earlier today most likely brought about this early stream.
Head over to iTunes to stream the album in one glorious 74-minute track. Don't worry, that's just the format of the stream. If you're not sold on Daft Punk or have been living presumably dance-free under a rock for a few years, we've included their delightful tune "Get Lucky" featuring Pharrell Williams for your listening pleasure below.
*Yes, they did the soundtrack for Tron: Legacy. No we don't count that as a proper album.
...
| Read more »When The Loop Magazine shipped last week, I had high hopes for delivering readers the best content available on Apple’s Newsstand. Unfortunately, the app shipped with a subscription bug that caused errors when trying to read the magazine on multiple devices.
In our efforts to fix the bug, we released an update over the weekend that actually made the situation worse.
Tonight, we released The Loop Magazine 1.0.2, which does fix the subscription bug once and for all. If you download the magazine on a second device, you just tap the “Restore” button and it will recognize your subscription and activate the magazine for that device.
In addition to the subscription bug, we also fixed App.net sharing, we added the ability to share selected text and fixed a crash on launch bug.
You deserved a better experience than what we delivered, and we expected more from ourselves....
| Read more »New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has sent letters to several smartphone makers asking them to explain what they're doing to deter thefts, Bloomberg reports. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung are said to have been contacted on May 10th. "I seek to understand why companies that can develop sophisticated handheld electronics, such as the products manufactured by Apple, cannot also create technology to render stolen devices inoperable and thereby eliminate the expanding black market on which they are sold," reads Schneiderman's letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook.... ...
| Read more »We were just talking about how Amazon is competing with Apple and other cloud services by offering 5 GB of storage for free. Now, that turns out to be old news, because today Google announced that free storage spanning several Google services like Gmail, Google+ and Google Drive is now going to come in the extra large economy size -- a whopping 15 GB.
Google says the changes will be rolling out over the next several weeks to all customers. All that space is shared, so if you are just using Google Drive Photo (for example), that 15 GB is shared with any other Google services that require storage. Still, 15 GB is a very competitive number since Apple and Amazon give you 5 GB with iCloud and Amazon Cloud Drive respectively, and...
| Read more »A handful of recently discovered job listings suggest a possible next-generation iWork software suite may soon see release, with the latest postings asking for specialists in quality assurance, one of the final steps in software building. ...
| Read more »Amazon today announced that it is launching a standalone desktop app for its Cloud Player cloud music service that was previously only available through a web app and mobile apps. The desktop app brings offline support and, like the service on other platforms, will offer its usual unlimited storage of songs purchased through Amazon plus 250 imported songs for free. Unfortunately, today’s roll out only includes an app for PC with Amazon promising Mac users “we’re working on a version just for you.”
//
Amazon just last week launched a new Cloud Drive Photos app for iPhone, while the company already has a Cloud Drive app for Mac and a Cloud Player iOS app for iPhone and iPad that earlier this month...
| Read more »It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.
You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.
No Flash? Click here to listen.
Daily Update for May 13, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 13 May 2013 17:15:00 EST. Please see our...
| Read more »Samsung announced on Monday that it has tested a technology the company is calling "5G" that can transmit data at up to 1Gbps, a speed that is up to ten times faster than today's LTE networks. The company said that it could weaponize commercialize the technology by 2020.
How can you type on an iPad? You could muddle along on the virtual keyboard; or you could carry a physical Bluetooth keyboard around with you. The TouchFire takes a middle course.
Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »Some bug fixes, improvements and a couple of new sharing services added to the new version.
| Read more »We've seen beer-pouring robots before, but MIT has recently put together a smartphone-controlled robot bartender, with three robot arms that can pour and mix up to 100 different alcoholic and non-alcoholic flavors. The Makr Shakr lets you order up a drink directly from your iPhone, and then it will make the drink and deliver it to you as requested.
The robot will be officially unveiled later this week at Google's I/O conference, and for now it's just an interesting robotics project, so it's unlikely you'll see your own robot bartender in a local watering hole any time soon (plus, who would you flirt with if there was a robot pouring you drinks?). But this is a fascinating idea -- it would save bars time and money to have a robot behind the counter, and the fact that nearly...
| Read more »If you are unable to successfully install the update or are experiencing problems after doing so, here are a couple of steps you can try.
| Read more »One of the most common frustrations among mobile phone owners is the feeling that you're paying way too much for services you're not using. Being locked in a contract that doesn't fit your needs just because it's all that offered is the pits. Zact, a new service from the Verizon-backed software company ItsOn, is looking to change that. Zact provides a flexible, changeable, data plan that empowers users to only pay for the services they actually use.
Along with customization of how many minutes and texts you pay for each month, users are offered an unprecedented amount of flexibility for data plans, down to forgoing traditional plans and just buying app-specific data. In addition the service credits back any money you paid for a plan that was bigger than you ended up needing. Families can connect an unlimited number of devices to a single plan. The service also including powerful parental controls, including curfews on service, app lock outs, and even contact restrictions....
| Read more »Popular login asset manager 1Password received a healthy update on Monday, bringing a number of new features to its built in "1Browser" Web browser, new sharing options and an advanced search tool. ...
| Read more »Two iOS apps, Twitterific and 1Password, have today received significant updates. Twitterific 5.2.2 adds support for bookmarking service Readability and image service Droplr. A number of smaller improvements have also been made, such as automatic flipping of the read/unread state of tweets as users scroll, and similar updating of indicators in timeline tabs. Yfrog images should appear in the in-app browser instead of the photo viewer.... ...
| Read more »The launch of the iPhone 5 on the T-Mobile USA network last month was greeted with a lot of fanfare and a new pricing structure -- customers could pick up a 16 GB iPhone 5 with a $99.99 down payment and then make 24 payments of $20 to purchase the phone outright. TmoNews reports that the down payment on all iPhone 5 models has been bumped up to $149.99, which raises the cost of the unlocked phone to $630.
That's not all that much less than the price of an unlocked iPhone 5 from Apple -- $650. Of course, there's no monthly payment option if you buy direct from Apple. Customers wanting to reduce the down payment on that T-Mo iPhone 5 should remember that...
| Read more »Triple Town is one of my favorite games on iOS over the past few years -- it's a puzzle game with a simple ruleset and a whole lot of complexity. The creators of that game, called Spry Fox, have announced a new title in development called Road Not Taken, and you can now see some concept art from it over on the official blog.
The game is sort of a roguelike, according to the developers, and as you can see above, it has some similarities to the grid-based Triple Town. But instead of building up a world, it's more about finding a path through the world, and avoiding or confronting various dangers on the way. As you can tell from the title, which refers to the famous Robert Frost poem, the game will offer various paths, and it seems like most of the strategy will come from choosing your own way.
Sounds interesting. Road Not...
| Read more »The Attorney General for the state of New York has asked Apple and other tech leaders to do more to stop smartphone thieves and, further, aid in the elimination of a growing black market for the stolen devices. ...
| Read more »The use of automatic repair routines on newer Mac Minis and iMacs may combine two separate drives into a Fusion drive. Fortunately, there's a way to get around that.
| Read more »As its promotion of the iPhone 5 comes to an end, U.S. wireless provider T-Mobile has raised the price of Apple's flagship handset to $149; and a pair of hackers claim to have found a way to increase the handset's data transmission speeds by using the carrier's latest over-the-air update. ...
| Read more »Sometimes all it takes is a moment of time and an open mind to change your opinion of someone. In a recent column at Forbes, Drew Hansen, a management expert specializing in hyper-growth startups, writes about Steve Jobs and how The Lost Interview movie changed his view on the Apple co-founder.
Hansen says he ignored Steve Jobs' advice on building a company and cautioned entrepreneurs not to model themselves after the Apple founder. This attitude changed after Hansen watched the Lost Interview and realized he and Jobs share many of the same thoughts on building successful teams within a company.
Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview is a 70-minute conversation between Steve Jobs and Robert Cringely that was held in 1995. It was recently turned into a movie and...
| Read more »Described by Sony as a culmination of its greatest technologies, the Xperia ZL is an attempt to bring the company's best offerings together in a single device. In many ways the ZL makes good on this goal, offering a superb display, solid camera, and sleek design. What's even more impressive is the compact frame that Sony was able to pack all of this into. Despite the inclusion of a five-inch full ...... ...
| Read more »1Password 4, the popular login manager for iPhone and iPad has been updated to version 4.2 today. The new version sports a bunch of new features and bug fixes, including the ability to search for items in your vault by their URL, improved sharing of vault items, and more. This update also features the fill animation that appeared in the desktop browser extension recently.
The update is available for free on the App Store...
| Read more »My thanks to World 1-2 for sponsoring The Loop. World 1-2 is a new videogames-inspired music album by Koopa Soundworks, directed and produced by Mohammed Taher. It hosts a number of famed superstars as well as rising indies, including Austin Wintory (of Journey), Akira Yamaoka (of Silent Hill), Manami Matsumae (of Mega Man), Chipzel (of Super Hexagon), and a lot others.
Get it on either Bandcamp or iTunes.
| Read more »The newest national carrier of the iPhone, T-Mobile, has ended a promotional "introductory price" period for the iPhone 5, raising the down payment from $99 to $149 for the 16GB model -- with similar $50 increases for the 32GB and 64GB models. Though it is still one of the cheapest ways to buy an iPhone 5 rather than buying a no-contract phone or going through a contract with one of the other carriers, the price difference with a T-Mobile plan is now down to about $20 less than buying the iPhone outright.... ...
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