Apple is another step closer to rolling out OS X Mavericks now that the GM version of the Mac operating system is available to developers. The company gave access to the near final version of the operating system to developers Thursday night, and unless major last minute bugs are found, the update will likely be publicly available in the next couple weeks.

The Mac Observer Spin:
Back up your Macs, make sure the apps you rely on are Mavericks-compatible, and get ready. OS X 10.9 is coming soon.

Forget iPhoto—Loom wants to be the place where you store and organize your images. After a few months in private beta, Loom has opened to the public with a new mobile interface for iOS 7 and support for Raw files.

Our earlier hands-on with the photo sharing service details most of its delights, but in short: Loom provides you with a central repository for your images that you can access from anywhere, upload to from any of your devices, and sort and organize with albums and sub-albums.

Loom offers a Web view, Mac app, and iOS app; it’s the iOS app that’s seen the biggest update, improving the interface for iOS 7 and adding new enlarged thumbnails for sub-albums. Also included are upload improvements, new controls for editing and deleting albums (including the upload of albums created on your...

You won’t attend MacTech Conference because of these opportunities, but if you’re on the fence about going to the conference for IT professionals and developers, the chance to test-drive a Tesla Model S and sit in Captain Picard’s chair on the restored bridge of the USS Enterprise-D might influence your decision.

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.

Fascinating.

According to a memo from HBO CEO Richard Plepler, COO Eric Kessler will be departing the premium cable channel.

“After careful consideration we have decided that the COO position does not best serve the most effective management process at HBO,” wrote Plepler, without giving more info.

It’s not clear if Kessler has another job lined up — Hulu calling? — from the memo.

Among other things, Kessler is the guy behind the famous, “It’s Not TV. It’s HBO.” marketing motto. He had been at HBO for 27 years.

At the Time Warner-owned HBO — whose hits include “Game of Thrones” and “Boardwalk Empire” — Kessler was important to mapping out its digital strategy amidst the changes to the cable-TV cash cow business, while also dealing with pretty impressive assaults from new rivals like Netflix and Amazon.

Here’s the unusually nice departure memo from Plepler, about an unusually...

A new SRLabs video demonstrates one possible method of getting around both Touch ID and Activation Lock on a stolen iPhone 5s. The video points out that while Apple lets users locate and/or remotely wipe a device using the Find My iPhone app, a 5s can be set to Airplane Mode without unlocking if lockscreen access to Control Center is left enabled. Since Find My iPhone can only perform a wipe if a device is connected to the Internet, that may give a thief enough time to lift and mold a fingerprint to bypass TouchID, and begin hijacking Apple, Google, and other online accounts....
 ...

Nokia and Google are rumored to be working on their own smart watch devices for release in the near future, while a representative from Samsung has reportedly admitted that his company's latest offering in that field could use some improvement.
  ...

Samsung Mobile has announced the US-wide launch of its media centre platform, HomeSync. Consumers can use their Galaxy smartphone or tablet to control entertainment choices on their TV, as well as upload and download mobile content using its 1TB secure storage. Originally unveiled in February, the $300 device is set to be available across the US beginning October 6, 2013....
  ...

Citigroup is learning the hard way that leaking unpublished research on iPhone production numbers to institutional investors ahead of other investors is wrong. The company has been fined US$30 million for sending that data to SAC Capital, T. Rowe Price, Citadel and GLC Partners ahead of official publication that would have been available to all investors.

All of the investment firms except GLC Partners used information gathered by Citigroup analyst Kevin Chang to sell off AAPL shares before the news hit the rest of the market. The day Chang's research was made public on December 14, 2012, Apple's share price fell 5.2 percent so the three institutional investors who acted on his research early saved themselves millions.

The fine was levied in a consent order from the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, William Galvin, who noted "It seems that the...

Cupertino's flagship iPhone 5s was the best-selling smartphone for all four major U.S. carriers ??AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-mobile ??while the new iPhone 5c followed closely behind, according to new tracking data.
  ...

NuMac has announced an optical disc burning solution for Apple's upcoming Mac Pro. The NMBDR6x supports the reading and writing of Blu-ray discs, DVDs, and CDs.

It stands less than two inches tall from top to bottom, and features a round, low-profile aluminum enclosure designed to sit beneath the Mac Pro. The slot load design has no tray to get in the way or break off. Both Power and data are sent via the single USB cable.

read more

Apple CEO Tim Cook has issued an email memo to employees on the eve of the second anniversary of Steve Jobs' death, reports say. "Team," it begins. "Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of Steveís death. I hope everyone will reflect on what he meant to all of us and to the world. Steve was an amazing human being and left the world a better place. I think of him often and find enormous strength in memories of his friendship, vision and leadership....
  ...

Susan Bennett, an Atlanta-area voice actress, has revealed herself as the original voice of Siri. Though Apple won’t confirm Bennett as the voice, CNN reports, “Professionals who know her voice, have worked with her and represent her legally say she is Siri. And an audio-forensics expert with 30 years…

One area that's been quietly changed in iOS 7 is the keyboard. As pointed out by TechHive, there are new characters and useful shortcuts that'll make your typing time a little bit easier.

You'll see these changes in apps that are updated for iOS 7, and the changes can be subtle. The Twitter app, for example, now inserts both the @ and # symbols so you can easily message someone or write a hashtag. There are also a handful of hidden characters that are accessible by holding down a key on the keyboard. The one I use the most is the "...", which is available by long-holding the period key.

You can check out a longer list of shortcuts in the TechHive article.

iOS 7's keyboard secrets originally...

The original US voice for Apple's Siri has been identified as an Atlanta woman, Susan Bennett, according to CNN. Bennett says that she only discovered her voice was being used by Apple when a friend emailed her and asked if it was her voice in an iPhone commercial; not owning the latest iPhone at the time, she had to visit the Apple website to confirm the fact. She explains that the samples used were actually recorded in July 2005, over six years before Apple would announce its first incarnation of Siri, for the iPhone 4S. A different version of Siri existed earlier as an independent app, b...
 ...

While the company gave attendees of the Tokyo Game Show a sneak peek of its new PlayStation app coming to iOS devices alongside the release of the PlayStation 4 later this year, Sony has now provided more details on its blog with some high quality screenshots of the app (of the Android version, at least).

As noted by President of Sony’s Worldwide Studios Shuhei...

DragThing is the original dock designed to tidy up your Mac desktop. It puts all your documents, folders, and applications just a single click away. Highly flexible, it allows multiple docks, each customised to suit your exact needs.

It stores frequently-used clippings such as text and pictures, and lets you easily paste them into other applications with just a click.

DragThing also allows you to define a wide variety of hot keys. These hot keys can open items in docks, control various other aspects of DragThing and even control the visibility of and switching between other applications running on your Mac.

DragThing can also provide you with a Trash on your desktop, play sounds in response to actions like ejecting a CD, and a lot more besides.

Supported languages: English, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

Version 5.9.12d5:

• This is a pre-release...

In Time magazine's assessment of over 1,000 notebooks on the market, Apple came out shining by making a sweep of the top three overall notebooks segments for 2013. Ben Taylor writes: "Maybe you’re a tech geek, ...

Mac developers have now offer volume purchases for their titles on the Mac App Store. The company shared the news with developers on Thursday, and also said they can offer special discounts for educational institutions, too.

The Mac Observer Spin:
It's great to see Apple bringing volume discount options to the Mac App Store. Now they need to get on top of upgrade pricing and demo apps.

With the second anniversary of Steve Jobs' death coming tomorrow, Apple CEO Tim Cook has sent a brief email to company employees reflecting on Jobs and the impact he continues to have on Cook and the company. The full email has been posted by 9to5Mac.Team-

Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of Steve’s death. I hope everyone will reflect on what he meant to all of us and to the world. Steve was an amazing human being and left the world a better place.

I think of him often and find enormous strength in memories of his friendship, vision and leadership. He left behind a company that only he could have built and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. We will continue to honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to the work he loved so much. There is...

On the eve of the second anniversary of the passing of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Apple CEO Tim Cook has reflected on the moment in a company-wide email. A source has provided a copy:

Team-

Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of Steve’s death. I hope everyone will reflect on what he meant to all of us and to the world. Steve was an amazing human being and left the world a better place.I think of him often and find enormous strength in memories of his friendship, vision and leadership. He left behind a company that only he could have built and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. We will continue to honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to the work he loved so much. There is no higher tribute to his memory. I know that he would be proud of all of you.

Best,

Tim

Last year, Apple honored Jobs with a tribute video...

For those paranoid spy folks out there, SRLabs has pointed out an additional security weakness which could help an attacker use the fingerprint hack to access an iPhone 5s.

The fingerprint hack takes time: around half an hour of actual work, plus drying time. Provided you notice your phone has gone before the thief gains access, you can simply remotely lock or wipe the phone. But with Airplane Mode accessible from the control center on the lockscreen, a thief can simply enable this to prevent the phone being wiped while they are dealing with the fingerprint … 

Once a thief has used a spoofed fingerprint to gain access, they could use the Apple ID...

Thoughtful read. Important issue.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Account information, including user names and encrypted credit card numbers, were stolen from Adobe servers by hackers, potentially exposing information for 2.9 million user accounts. Adobe revealed the security breach on Thursday, and has already started notifying customers who may now have compromised credit cards

The Mac Observer Spin:
Since Creative Cloud is a subscription-based service, Adobe needs to keep credit card information on file for customers that use its apps including Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. The company has been dealing with outspoken resistance to moving to a subscription model for its applications, and incidents where credit card numbers are stolen from its servers won't instill a sense of confidence in users that already don't like the Creative Cloud idea.

...

Direct remake. In Columbia. Wild.

The explosive success of Breaking Bad was bound to generate some copycats shows, but Spanish language media company Univision took it a step further, decided to cut out all those pesky middlemen (I think they’re called “writers”), and do a direct Spanish language remake. The Univision version will be set in Colombia and called Metástasis, the term for the spread of cancer- I assume “breaking bad” doesn’t really translate. The project seems intent on keeping every iconographic piece of the show they can, down to “Walter Blanco” (yes, really) in his famous white briefs. They even named his wife “Cielo Blanco”- “Cielo” being Spanish for “sky.”

∞ Read this on The Loop

A new report out of Kolkata India today states that "Apple may soon be slugging it out in the trenches with Samsung and other smartphone rivals as India country head Maneesh Dhir and telecom business chief Sanjay Kaul seek a rapid increase in the pace of growth in India, a market that it has neglected until recently."

If you haven't checked out the new iOS 7 photo filters yet, you really should. They're a fast and easy way to apply attractive filters to your images without having to use any third-party apps. Here's the neat thing, though—you can remove them from the pictures you take (or switch them around) even after you've applied them, and we're gonna tell you how.

Save 20% on QuickBooks Pro for Mac today through this special discount link

QuickBooks Pro 2013 helps you manage your business easily and efficiently. Organize your finances all in one place, track money going in and out of your business, and spot areas where you can save.

• Built for Mac OS - Looks and works like you'd expect
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Version 15.0.0 R01:

• First public release of version 15.
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This week's All Things Appy takes a look at the five best, free geo-oriented apps for the iOS platform. To keep your costs down, we're concentrating on those tracking apps that don't require additional hardware, like sensors. Not all mobile Apple hardware products have GPS satellite location, which many of these apps require for best results. The iPod is one of those. Also, be aware that GPS chips use an enormous amount of battery power, so expect to see degraded battery life the longer you run these apps.

QNAP Systems has launched five business-class, SAS-enabled Turbo NAS models, including TS-EC1679U-SAS-RP and TS-EC1279U-SAS-RP which support both SAS and SATA 6Gbps hard drives, and the 2.5-inch high-density SS-EC2479U-SAS-RP, SS-EC1879U-SAS-RP and SS-EC1279U-SAS-RP.

read more

Feral Interactive says SEGA Superstars Tennis for the Mac will be released on Oct. 17. Developed by Sumo Digital Ltd., published by SEGA for consoles and inspired by two decades of SEGA history, SEGA Superstars Tennis sees 16 fan-favorite characters serving up extreme arcade tennis.

read more

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) predicts the number of type-1 or type-2 smartphone virtualization activations will grow 20 fold by 2018, exceeding 8 million devices. Worldwide, activation rates will exceed 114% YoY [year-over-year] with North America and Western Europe seeing the greatest number of smartphone activations. The Asia-Pacific region will see the largest growth increasing nearly 50 fold by 2018, or 165% CAGR [compound annual growth rate] growth YoY.

read more

Voice actress Susan Bennett has come forward to CNN as the original voice of Siri. While neither Apple or Nuance would offer confirmation, her claim has been verified by colleagues and an audio-forensics expert. Bennett’s speciality is interactive voice response (IVR), the technology behind automated phone systems. She was hired by ScanSoft in 2005 for an IVR project. ScanSoft later merged with Nuance, which is reported to be the source of Siri’s voice technology.

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.

In July we reported that Apple to make a huge shift to IGZO displays in 2014. Korean Sources stated at that time that Apple had decided to expand the application of IGZO display to future MacBooks. Today Sharp made an announcement that IGZO displays are ready for notebooks.

Electronic accessories company Booq has released its latest Complete Protection Kit for the new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s. The Complete Protection Kit offers iPhone users a four-part system to reinforce the phone's structural integrity -- featuring a tempered glass screen protector, a thin snap case, microfiber cleaning cloth, and two adhesive home button covers. The scratch-resistant coating provides lightweight protection intended to be permanent and replace the need for a case. Available in clear and black, booq's Complete Protection Kit is priced at $35....
 ...

Ongoing tracking by analytics company Mixpanel has revealed that iOS 7 has been adopted by fully two-thirds of the entire active iOS userbase, just two weeks after its initial release. The overhauled revamp for Apple's mobile devices, having delivered a fresh new look and substantive under-the-hood improvements and changes, become the most widely-used OS version within three days its debut....
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Following today's release of OS X Mavericks Build 13A958 for members of the company's AppleSeed testing program, Apple has now posted the build for all registered Mac developers, referring to it as the "GM" (Golden Master) version that will be released to the public.

Apple is reportedly targeting a late October launch for Mavericks, with the company starting to train AppleCare staff on the upcoming operating system this week. Sources have indicated that training must be completed by October 11.

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
•...

Best Buy has announced on its website that it is giving a $50 gift card to anyone who purchases an iPhone 5c with a two-year contract. The offer is good between now and close of business on Monday, October 7th and available only in-store or with in-store pickup.

Both the 16 GB and 32 GB models in any color are valid for the $50 gift card offer. It's also important to note that the $50 gift card can not be used to pay for part of the iPhone, and is only valid towards future purchases. It's rare to see significant promos like this so early in an iPhone's release cycle, so if you're in the market for a 5c, now's the time to snap it up from Best Buy.

Best Buy offering $50 gift cards with iPhone 5c purchase originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on...

Samsung's courtroom and marketing shenanigans have Bryan all fired up this week, Carl Icahn wants Apple to buy back more of its stock, and Apple has boat loads of cash to the tune of 10 percent of the non-financial corporate cash stash. Jeff and Bryan also take a look at what purchasing Cue means for Apple and Siri, and they both spend far too much time fighting with technology.

Apple has seeded what could possibly be the Gold Master build of OS X Mavericks to AppleSeed members. The build, labeled "Build 13A598," comes two weeks after the last developer preview of Apple's next Mac operating system. However, this time Apple has conspicuously left off the "developer preview" nomenclature, suggesting that this could be the final build of OS X Mavericks.

Other signs that this could be the final build include that there are no known issues with it, and of course, the fact that Apple has stated that OS X Mavericks will launch this fall. AppleSeed members can get the non-"developer preview" build by running Software Update on their Mac. If you notice any changes with this build, feel free to drop us a line.

Apple gives AppleSeed members new OS X 10.9 build, drops "Developer Preview"...

Retailer Best Buy has announced that it is holding a weekend sale (beginning today) that includes a $50 store gift card with any iPhone 5c purchase, effectively reducing the price of the already-discounted iPhone 5 successor to as little as $49 up front with a two-year carrier contract, or $499 off-contract for the 16GB model. The offer requires in-store pickup or walk-in purchase at the company's retail locations, and the gift card can't be used towards the iPhone 5c purchase....
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In an email to developers on Thursday, Apple announced that it will soon include Mac apps in its Volume Purchase Program, allowing businesses and educational institutions to buy multiple copies of an app at a discounted rate.
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If you are in the USA and trying to buy an iPhone 5s, head over to http://iphone-check.herokuapp.com/, enter your zip code, cellphone carrier and pick a color, and then it will show you availability at Apple Stores "near you."

I used the site to find a Verizon, 16 GB, Space Gray iPhone 5s in my area. I placed an order for in-store pickup, and about two hours later I was walking out of the Apple Store with a new iPhone.

Two caveats: First, "near you" is a relative term. The site seems to always show 20 Apple Stores, but some of them might be quite a distance from you. For me, the last store on the list was about 350 miles (and nearly a six-hour drive) away. Each result is linked to an Apple Retail Store, so if you aren't sure where it is, click on it to get the address. Second, availability can change fast. My local Apple Retail Store said that they were only filling orders through...

TUAW looked at NextGuide more than a year ago, at which time it was a website and iPad app that alerted TV fans about movies and TV programs they might want to see. It was kind of a super TV Guide, but more personal. The free app has now come to the iPhone, and features push notifications in addition to emails (you can choose to get both or none). In the latest iOS 7-enabled app, NextGuide is deeply integrated with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Instant Video and the iTunes Movie Store.

For example, if you are looking for movies starring actor Gregory Peck, the guide will find showings of his films on the streaming services, over-the-air TV, or on cable or satellite. You can get a reminder that a movie is coming up, or you can choose to watch Peck films on any streaming services you have. For example, if I click on Netflix, the app switches to my Netflix app, and starts playing the movie....

Adobe has notified users through a post on its company blog that has been hacked, detecting a number of "sophisticated attacks" on its network that accessed Adobe products' source code as well as some user account information for roughly three million users. The company says that credit and debit card numbers stolen in the attack were encrypted, and that it believes any decrypted payment information was not copied or removed....
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Helping to cement Sony's embrace of iOS as an ally rather than a competitor, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida has offered some additional details of the official PlayStation app that is scheduled to launch alongside the PlayStation 4 console when it launched in November.

The app appears to offer much of the same functionality that gamers can access via their PS3 or PS Vita consoles currently, including trophy information, friend status and the PlayStation Store. Users can send and receive both text and voice messages, purchase games and other content, and receive invites from PS4 users.

The new app will also be used as a "second screen" for certain titles, allowing additional input and various bonus features. One example Yoshida used was that in the game Knack, users can create items on the tablet and then push them into the main game...

Apple has informed Mac developers that it is preparing to launch the ability for educational institutions and developers to purchase apps from the Mac App Store in volume for a discount.

This is a big deal.

∞ Read this on The Loop

When Apple announced iOS 7, it made a big deal about how good the operating system would be for educators looking to manage iPads in their classroom. There's a whole page set up making that claim. But a new report from AllThingsD shows that while iOS 7 has some great tools for educators, its initial installation may be opening up some security flaws.

Several school districts have discovered installing iOS 7 accidentally removed the supervision profiles administrators have placed on district-provided iPads. These profiles allowed the schools to put content blocks, web filters and app blocks on the iPads to ensure they were used for purely educational activities.

In a memo from the Manituou...

In addition to the iTunes 11.1.1 and OS X 10.8.5 updates, Apple has updated its iAd Producer application. iAd Producer allows Mac users to create ads for deployment via the iAd Network inside of App Store applications. Most notable in today’s update, Apple has now opened up the ability to create ads for display inside of iTunes Radio.

This release contains a number of enhancements and fixes, including:
● Support for creating iTunes Radio ads for iOS devices.
● Simplified, more flexible interface for iAd Blueprints projects.
● Support for creating iAd Blueprints projects that support multiple languages.
● Improved action support in Quick Preview.
● Improved search results in Code Documentation.
● Live asset...

Our investigation currently indicates that the attackers accessed Adobe customer IDs and encrypted passwords on our systems. We also believe the attackers removed from our systems certain information relating to 2.9 million Adobe customers, including customer names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and other information relating to customer orders.

∞ Read this on The Loop

After being on sale for only two weeks, Apple's iPhone 5c is getting a promotional price cut from Best Buy, with the big box electronics retailer handing out $50 store gift cards to put toward the handset's $99 retail cost.
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Best Buy has noted on its website that between today (Thursday) and October 7th (next Monday), it will be offering $50 gift cards with iPhone 5c purchases. The offer is exclusive to purchases within Best Buy’s physical retail stores via on-location purchases or the in-store pickup option. The gift card will not be applicable to the iPhone 5c purchase, but can be used for future transactions at Best Buy. If you return the iPhone 5c, you must also return the gift card, according to Best Buy. Best Buy is currently not running any promotions for the (still constrained) iPhone 5s.

...

Information has started to surface about Judge James F. Holderman's effective upholding of Judge James Robart's standards-essential patent approach. Patent holding company Innovatio IP Ventures has been awarded a very small fraction of what it was seeking, and is entitled to a per-unit royalty of $0.0956 "for each Wi-Fi chip used or sold by the Manufacturers in the United States, subject to the terms of the patents, the applicable statute of limitations, and a finding of infringement" for a license to use any one of its 19 standards-essential Wi-Fi patents....
 ...

Adobe on Thursday confirmed that malicious parties had compromised its networks and potentially gleaned credit card and other personal information from the accounts of nearly three million users.
  ...

Apple has released OS X Mountain Lion and iTunes updates.

OS X 10.8.5 Supplemental Update 1.0 fixes a glitch that prevented some applications from recognizing the FaceTime HD camera on the 2013 MacBook Air. It also fixes some problems with OS X's sleep mode and some USB Bluetooth adapters not working.

iTunes 11.1.1 improves stability and fixes problems with iTunes Extras not displaying correctly and deleted podcasts. You can obtain the updates via the Software Updates component of the Mac OS X Systems Preferences app.

The highly rated stealth puzzler Stealth Inc will eventually break free of its current console and PC shackles and find its way to iOS, reports Pocket Gamer. The game -- which was originally titled Stealth Bastard before that name raised too many red flags -- tasks you with guiding an adorable clone through a series of deadly puzzles.

Developer Jonathan Biddle notes that while he has the game up and running on iOS, it's become a bit of a tedious process to ensure that each level works with all the available screen resolutions that iOS affords. "The different screen resolutions and aspect ratios have meant creating three different versions of each of the game's 80 levels -- iPad, widescreen iPhone and 4:3 iPhone. Testing the iOS version of the game now means playing it through three times every time the levels are changed."

Biddle also mentioned that the lowest...

Bare Bones Software has released Yojimbo 4.0.1, an update of the information organizer for Mac OS X, and Yojimbo for iPad 1.1, the companion app for taking Yojimbo 4 content anywhere using an Apple tablet.

Yojimbo 4.0.1 and Yojimbo for iPad 1.1 are both maintenance updates that include fixes for specific reported issues. The iPad update also includes enhancements and refinements in iOS 7.

read more

Motrr has announced pre-order availability of the Galileo Bluetooth and Galileo 30-pin for the iPhone. Galileo, an iOS-controlled robotic platform, will go on sale next month.

With applications in areas of photography, cinematography, social networking, video conferencing, baby monitoring, remote learning, and more, Galileo gives iOS devices "endless" possibilities of remote-controlled motion, says Jasper Eisenberg, marketing manager at Motrr. Using Galileo, your iPhone, and the Sphere app you can capture spherical panoramas.

read more

As anticipated, Apple has released a Supplemental Update for OS X 10.8.5. The patch fixes a bug that prevented some apps from recognizing the FaceTime HD camera on the 2013 MacBook Air, plus two issues related to OS X's sleep mode: one would cause external drives to be ejected after a Mac went to sleep, while another silenced HDMI audio after waking. The update also copes with some USB Bluetooth adapters not functioning....
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Zepp Labs, which specializes in motion capture technology and mobile sports applications, has created what it says is the world’s first multi-sport sensor and the first three apps on the new Zepp Sports Platform: Zepp Baseball, Zepp Golf and Zepp Tennis.

read more

Scroll down to see the list.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Today seems to be the day for delayed Kickstarter projects to announce that they're finally going to ship. Earlier it was the Narrative Clip (neé Memoto), now the long-delayed Motrr Galileo robotic iPhone platform is available for pre-order at 10 percent off list price at US$149.95 and will ship next month.

The device caught the attention of the iOS community last year when the remote control mount was first outed on Kickstarter. Galileo can pan and tilt a full 360° at speeds of up to 200° per second. An app will provide controls for the mount, or a web browser can be used from anywhere to aim your iPhone.

There will be two different versions of Galileo; one that has a 30-pin connector and another equipped with Bluetooth. Both can be mounted on a standard tripod, can work to charge your iPhone or iPod touch and have...

Citi has signed a consent order with the Massachusetts Secretary of State agreeing to pay $30 million after its analysts leaked information on Apple's iPhone supply chain to a number of big clients, including SAC Capital Advisors.
   ...

The personal assistant app and service Cue has been bought up, and while Apple hasn't offered an official confirmation it's the company that dropped between US$40 million and $60 million on the deal, word on the street is that's exactly what happened. If so, Cue's assets will give Apple a strong boost in the digital assistant game and give Google's Now technology a run for its money.

The Mac Observer Spin:
Apple clearly wants to make sure it has the tools in its arsenal to compete with the likes of Google as our personal digital assistant. Google Now offers some very compelling features, so it's great to see Apple -- assuming Apple is the company that bought Cue -- stepping up to keep the competition hot.

Apple has seeded a new release of OS X Mavericks to members of the AppleSeed beta testing program, a little more than two weeks after the release of the eighth Developer Preview. DP 8 had a version number of 13A584, while today's release is build 13A598.

Separately, 9to5Mac reports that this build may be a GM candidate, according to AppleSeed members, while other sources have said the final release build will be several versions newer. The OS was reportedly nearly ready for release a few weeks ago, but was pushed back because of "critical bugs".
Since being announced at WWDC, OS X Mavericks is said to have picked up a few minor unannounced features. Namely, the Messages and FaceTime applications have received the ability to block phone numbers and Apple IDs from sending the Mavericks user messages and/or FaceTime calls. This addition brings parity to iOS 7 and...

Apple on Thursday notified members of its AppleSeed program that a new build OS X 10.9 Mavericks was available for download, but this time the messages contained no mention of "Developer Preview," prompting some to speculate that work on the next-generation Mac operating system is nearing completion.
  ...

Apple is closing in on finishing up work on OS X Mavericks ahead of its public launch, according to a source familiar with the new operating system’s development. This source says that the operating system will reach Golden Master status internally by the end of this week or early next week, and it will be labeled as a build number in the high 13A590s or low 13A600s. This will be a slight increase over the current developer build that is version 13A584. Earlier today, Apple seeded OS X Mavericks build 13A598 to members of its AppleSeed program, but it is unclear if that new version will ever reach developers.

AppleSeed members believe that this build is a GM candidate, but a source says that Apple is already internally seeding newer builds. The source has also corroborated our...

Hold on for this shocker: Samsung's outside counsel provided Samsung executives, internal attorneys, and even external attorneys working on other cases with details of a highly confidential licensing agreement between Apple and Nokia despite a court order not to do so. Better yet, Samsung then further shared those details, on several occasions, with more than 50 internal employees. Bryan Chaffin is fit to be tied.

It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring exclusive TUAW Deals, a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked iOS and OS X selections.

TUAW's Daily Deals

Mobile is the future of technology and apps are the driving force of the mobile economy. Those who can build and design apps will be the most sought after talent.

So, if you've ever had a killer idea for an iPhone app, then the iOS Foundations bundle is a fantastic opportunity to learn the one-two punch of iOS app programing without having to spend thousands of dollars on a traditional education.

With this video bundle you'll be able to dream up your apps, start your own business, or simply start a new hobby that could turn into something bigger than you've ever expected.

Save 65% on iOS Foundations Video Course Bundle at...

After opening iOS Simulator in iOS 7 64-bit, attempting to switch to iOS 6 is unsuccessful. iOS Simulator remains in iOS 7 64-bit.

The first time a user attempts to sign in or upload to the iAd Server, iAd Producer will quit unexpectedly. Subsequent attempts to Sign In or Upload should work.

Classic Dungeons and Dragons adventure game Baldur's Gate II is coming to OS X and Windows. Baldurís Gate II: Enhanced Edition combines both Baldurís Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Baldurís Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, and four characters each with their own epic quest and agenda. In addition to the main expansion, the new version of the game features multiplayer options, enhanced graphics, and The Black Pits 2: Gladiators of Thay for high-level adventuring. Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition will be available for OS X and Windows on November 15, and preorders have commenced for $25. An iOS and Andr...
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The iPhone 5s' motion-sensing functions can be substantially inaccurate in some cases, tests reveal. Gyroscope readings, for instance, can be a few degrees off what's reported by an iPhone 5 or a spirit level. The compass in a sample 5s was between 8 and 10 degrees off an iPhone 5, and worse, the iOS Compass app is allegedly prone to freezing or wildly inaccurate readings on a 5s, both problems that may force users to kill the app and restart it. Either device may fail to show the same magnetic north as a real compass. The 5s' accelerometer is meanwhile said to display more latent motion,...
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While it previously announced plans to bring advertising to its mobile app sometime this year, Instagram officially announced today that it will be rolling out both photo and video ads from select brands in the coming months. The company said that the ads will begin showing up for users in the US initially and feature “a small number of beautiful, high-quality photos and videos from a handful of brands that are already great members of the Instagram community.”

Our aim is to make any advertisements you see feel as natural to Instagram as the photos and videos many of you already enjoy from your favorite brands. After all, our team doesn’t just build Instagram, we use it each and every day. We want these ads to be enjoyable and creative in much the same way you see engaging, high-quality ads when you flip through your favorite magazine.

Instagram noted in its announcement that it will...

Just when you thought it was safe to stop talking about Apple acquisitions! As reported by AppleInsider and TechCrunch, Cupertino has snapped up another company: the folks behind personal assistant app Cue.

Cue, which began its life as a startup called Greplin, was a service (with an attendant iOS app) that operated as a personal assistant, drawing information from a variety of social networking accounts like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. This allowed users to search through the various information streams without having to log into each service individually.

It’s not hard to see what the appeal might be for Apple. The company’s invested time and energy in...

The OS X 10.8.5 Supplemental Update is recommended for all users running OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5. This update:

• Resolves an issue that may prevent certain applications from using the FaceTime HD camera on mid-2013 MacBook Air systems.
• Fixes an issues that may cause external drives to be ejected after the computers goes to sleep.
• Addresses an issue that may prevent HDMI audio from working after waking from sleep.
• Fixes an issue that may prevent certain USB Bluetooth adapters from working.

OS X 10.8.5 or later

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The result is a collection of more than 150,000 photos, some 3,500 of which Mr. Zufi displays on a website and more than 650 of which he has curated into a new 326-page coffee-table-sized book. “Iconic: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation,” is self-published and available at www.iconicbook.com.

I’m very proud to say that along with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, I also contributed a foreword for this book. It is truly an amazing publication. You can also watch a video interview with Zufi on WSJ.

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MacBook Pro Retina SMC Update resolves a rare issue where users may experience slow frame rates when playing graphics-intensive games on the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It also includes bug fixes for Power Nap, wake from sleep and fan control.

Version 1.2:

• This update is recommended for 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (late 2012) models, and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (mid 2012) models.
• This update addresses rare issues where the battery unexpectedly stops functioning or the system hangs when the battery charge reaches less than one percent.





• OS X 10.7.5 or later



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Exif data is the partially hidden part of a photo file that most people don't think about when they upload a photo to a service like Dropbox or send a photo to a friend. This EXIF data includes the camera model you are using, basic settings of the camera when the picture was taken, the photo resolution and, if your camera has GPS, the location where the photo was taken.

Depending on your perspective, the addition of location data to your photos can be a blessing or a curse. On the one hand, this EXIF data allows you to identify long-lost photos based on the time and location they were taken. You may have forgotten when and where a photo was snapped, but the file remembers for you. On the other hand, there is a downside to tagging a photo with its GPS coordinates as the simple sharing of a photo with a friend on a social network could reveal the location of your kid's favorite playground. We don't need...

Apple seems to have acquired Cue, a former personal assistant application for the iPhone. TechCrunch says that the purchase price was in the realm of $40 million, and AppleInsider initially reported the rumor this morning. Cue’s service shut down yesterday, leading to the acquisition chatter. The company gave its “sincerest thanks” to users, but did not provide detail behind the closure…

The application was sort of a mixture of iOS 7′s Notification Center “Today”...

Apple's iPhone line is known for its build quality and reliability, but a recent examination appears to show that the sensors in at least some models of the iPhone 5s are noticeably miscalibrated.
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Online retailing giant Amazon is putting the finishing touches on a set-top box that may be on the company's virtual shelves in time for Christmas, according to a new report.
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Nike has scheduled a Tuesday, October 15th media event in New York City to discuss “the future of the digital world and physical activity.” Besides that, the company has been light on official details about what will be announced. However, we’ve been hearing about an upcoming Nike fitness/digital-related event for the past few weeks, and we are expecting a successor the popular Nike FuelBand fitness device to be announced. The event was originally planned for November, but perhaps the upcoming announcements from competitor Fitbit put pressure on Nike to move up its timeline…

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Our sister site Engadget has a nice scoop this morning -- Google is testing a native iOS Google Music app internally at this time, and they'll launch that app for public consumption later this month. The app will highlight Google's Play Music All Access streaming service.

Engadget notes that users in more than 19 countries can sign up for the Standard and All Access music services for offline or streaming access. The iOS app will apparently echo the feature set of the Android app, which offers custom radio and smart recommendation features.

The All Access service has a US$9.99 monthly subscription fee associated with it, and there's a 30-day free trial as well as a non-subscription version of the service. The image at the top of this post shows the Android app running on both smartphone and tablet, and is not meant to represent...

Sega’s The Cave ($5) is an adventure game from Double Fine Productions and Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert. The Cave was previously released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U, just now making its iOS debut. Players explore a sprawling cave using a team. Users pick three explorers…

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.

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Daily Update for October 3, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 03 Oct 2013 13:45:00 EST. Please see our...

Now that Apple has introduced their new fingerprint scanner technology on the iPhone 5S as Touch ID, does it really surprise anyone that that a wave of new Android phones are racing to market in 2014 to copy this smartphone feature? Well, it shouldn't and according to a new report by USA Today, the president of the FIDO Alliance has stated that consumers "will be able to choose from the latest Android models that will come equipped with a biometric sensor capable of letting him swipe his fingerprint to access a wide range of his online accounts," over the next six months.

An anonymous reader writes "U.S. courts have strict rules in place governing the treatment of confidential business information. The most sensitive information is labeled 'highly confidential — attorneys' eyes only', meaning that only a company's outside lawyers are allowed to see it. The Apple-Nokia patent settlement contract and deals Apple struck with others (Ericsson, Sharp, Philips) were such highly confidential business information. But a Samsung executive allegedly boasted in a patent licensing negotiation with Nokia a few months ago about knowing all the terms of the Apple-Nokia deal because the Korean company's lawyers had provided it to their client, against the rules. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California now wants to find out more before deciding on sanctions against Samsung and its law firm, Quinn Emanuel."

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iPhone 5s devices appear to be reporting inaccurate information through the compass and inclinometer apps, reports Gizmodo and Cult of Mac.

The compass appears to be off by 8-10 degrees, while the inclinometer is consistently incorrect by 2 degrees on level services.

iPhone 5s and level, courtesy GizmodoYou see a pretty dramatic illustration of the difference between the iPhone 5S internal inclinometer readings and a real measurement of inclination. A simple Stanley spirit level tells the whole story: The iPhone 5S level readout in the iOS 7 compass software read 2-3 degrees off in our tests, while other users are reporting that the level is off by as many as 4-6 degrees. We...

All SD and no AirPlay make Netflix a dull app. Well those days are over, my friends, as Netflix released an updated version of its iOS app that brings both HD streaming and AirPlay support to anyone with an iOS 7 device. (You have upgraded to iOS 7, haven’t you?)

If Netflix offers HD streaming of a TV show or movie—you’ll see a little ‘HD’ box in the upper-right corner if it does—you can now enjoy that higher-quality streaming on an iOS device. This should come as particularly welcome news to those with Retina iPads.

HD and AirPlay, oh my!

The other big change is AirPlay support. In the past you could enable AirPlay Mirroring on your iOS device to send Netflix video to your Apple TV. The latest update adds true AirPlay support, with which you can start playing Orange is the New Black, tap the AirPlay icon, and choose an Apple TV to stream to. That also means...

From Florian Mueller’s patent blog:

Three months ago I saw a filing by Nokia that related to some discussions with Samsung considered so secretive that it wanted even the very title of a document to be sealed. It was clear that Nokia and Samsung were talking about something that also related somehow to the 2011 Nokia-Apple settlement, about the terms of which nothing was known except that Apple described it, at a very high level, as “merely a ‘provisional license’ for a limited ‘standstill’ period”. One could figure that Nokia and Samsung wouldn’t talk about some other patent agreement without talking about some sort of patent deal between them — a license or an outright purchase.

On Wednesday evening local time, Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, whose writing style is well-liked by various patent litigation watchers including me, entered an order that finally sheds light on this. The order...

AgileBits

AgileBits today released 1Password 4 on the Mac App Store, a major upgrade to one of the best-known password management applications.

The application has a new design and various features aimed at making it easier to use, such as a menu bar utility. It also brings back Wi-Fi Sync, which lets users sync password data from a Mac to an iOS device without storing their encrypted keychain in Dropbox or iCloud.

AgileBits described security improvements including a new keychain design with 256-bit AES encryption keys and data integrity checks that increase resistance to tampering....

The countdown has started and the new Apple "spaceship" campus in Cupertino, Calif., is one step closer to launch. Last night, the Cupertino Planning Commission approved Apple's plans for the campus. Tuesday evening, the company provided a slick video presentation to the commission and the public featuring lead architect Norman Foster and others who have had leading roles in the design of the circular structure.

On October 15, the Cupertino city council will put the new campus to a vote, with a final vote expected on November 19. The project has grown in scope since first being announced by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2011, growing from initially housing 6,000 employees to the current 14,000 employees. The campus is expected to cost close to US$5 billion at completion, much of that going into premium construction materials including six square...

Yojimbo empowers Mac users to manage, effortlessly and securely, the onslaught of information encountered every day at work and at home, even across multiple computers. Yojimbo stores different data types: text notes, passwords, Web bookmarks, product serial numbers, PDFs, and Web archives.

Data input into Yojimbo follows familiar Mac user interface gestures such as copy-and-paste, drag-and-drop, a Quick Input Panel, or PDF Services from the Print menu. Searching and retrieval are instantaneous, using either Yojimbo's built-in search, or the Spotlight search system in OS X.

Note: Yojimbo 4.0 is a free upgrade for those that purchased Yojimbo 3.x after June 14, 2013.

Version 4.0.1:

This release consists entirely of fixes for reported issues, and contains no new features.

• Made an adjustment to the sync prefs pane so that...

Google is reportedly preparing to launch a native iOS app for its Google Music service, unnamed sources have told Engadget. iPhone and iPad users are currently forced to listen via a web-based app, however a native player would presumable enable offline playback and other features....
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A report from Korea’s ETNews has outlined a series of claims pointing to dramatic shifts in display technologies for Apple devices. Over the next year, the report says that Apple is expected to redefine its screens for iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. Here are the reported display trends:

• iPhones will move to screens larger than 5-inches
• iPads will be diversified into entry-level and premium models depending on display size. This report reiterates claims of a 12.9/13-inch model
• iPad mini will gain a higher-resolution display next year
• OLED displays will be integrated into Apple products, including Apple’s upcoming “iWatch”
• More power-efficient LED displays for MacBooks
• Further, the report claims that Apple will...

When a new Apple Store is planned and construction begins, there's usually a notice on ifoAppleStore -- the web's go-to site for Apple Store information -- and lots of speculation about when the new retail outlet will open. Well, even ifoAppleStore was surprised by an announcement of a new Apple Store to be located in The Shops at Nanuet about 20 miles north of Manhattan.

The announcement was made public this morning on the Facebook page for the mall, with a note saying that, "The newest store to join the amazing lineup at The Shops at Nanuet needs no introduction," and featuring an Apple logo.

The mall has been undergoing extensive redevelopment, and has a grand re-opening set for between October 10-13. It's expected that the new Apple Store will open on the first day of that event.

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