In case you haven't launched Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 in the past few days, there's an update for the office suite that became available on May 7.

The 14.3.4 update of Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 is considered to be a "critical" update, and includes a number of fixes. Most of the fixes appear to be for Outlook for Mac and PowerPoint for Mac, although there is one issue with saving files to SkyDrive and SharePoint in Microsoft Word for Mac that has been fixed as well.

Microsoft also took the opportunity to let those who read the knowledge base article about the update know that Office for Mac 2011 is now available as a subscription offering as part of Office 365.

Owners of Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 can either wait for the update to show up and annoy them when they're trying to get some work...

The US Patent and Trademark Office has issued a preliminary rejection of some claims in an Apple patent, Method and apparatus for providing translucent images on a computer display, says FOSS Patents. Claims 29-30 and 33-35 have been rejected. The USPTO says that aspects of the patent were obvious or anticipated in light of another patent, Method and apparatus for displaying simulated keyboards on touch-sensitive displays, as well as prior art....  ...

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 May 10, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 May 2013 15:15:00 EST. Please see our...

Your mum might like this for Mother’s Day.

Per TmoNews, wireless carrier T-Mobile has begun highlighting Apple’s newest smartphone to push the trade-in program that it’s had running since April 12. That program allows new and existing qualified customers to trade in an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, with the resulting trade-in value wiping out the purchase price for the iPhone 5.

The deal — good for both GSM and CDMA iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S units — requires that the device be able to power on, have no cracks in its screen, and bear no liquid damage or other physical damage.

T-Mobile will be running iPhone 5-specific advertising...

I don't have an interactive R2-D2 in my life. Welcome to my first world problems, but there is at least a first world solution: the Star Wars R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid. This is a roughly foot-tall robotic replica of R2-D2 that not only moves, it responds to (a limited range of) vocal commands. It will activate a light, alert you to movement, and play Princess Leia's recorded message. Oh, and it makes all those awesome R2-D2 noises that continue to delight us almost 40 years after Star Wars was released. This has been around for a while, but if you haven't seen it check it out (there are a lot of videos on YouTube). It's priced at $199, but Amazon is offering it for $175.85 to Prime members right now.

Fuckin’ magnets, how do they work?

Now that Google Glass is being widely tested and written about, reactions are all over the map -- as they should be. That's a good sign for a new technology: our inability to come to consensus on the technical and social aspects at first. But in the long term, the technology always settles out.

The Reset Print System routine in OS X performs a number of adjustments to the print service's files and configurations to restore factory default settings, but these steps can be manually performed or can even be undone, if needed.

Popular free messaging app LINE was forced to remove one of its key sticker features today, eliminating the ability for its users to purchase and send sticker sets as gifts to friends.

Stickers are an important monetary source for LINE, notes The Next Web, bringing in $17 million last quarter, which represented 30% of the company's total revenue. Stickers can be sent in chat messages and represent different characters and emotions. The stickers, which are bought in sets, can also be gifted to friends for their own use. A set of stickers generally costs $1.99 and includes 40 different sticker options.

We received a request directly from Apple who operates the AppStore, that this sticker gifting function will have to...

The decryption on your iPhone is apparently secure enough that law enforcement agencies are waiting in line to have Apple "crack" the lock and provide data to be used as evidence.

According to a report by CNET, Apple has the ability to decrypt seized iPhones and has created a waiting list to handle requests. At one point last summer, the wait was over 7 weeks long and one ATF agent reported that it took his request at least four months to be processed. The ATF had tried to decrypt the iPhone 4S of a Kentucky man accused of distributing crack cocaine and became so frustrated that it contacted Apple for assistance. That's where the wait started...

For those who are concerned about how secure their personal information is on an iOS device, the fact that the devices can't be cracked by Federal agents is good news. No one is sure exactly how Apple can decrypt the...

If outdoor adventures are in your future this summer, enter to win a Bracketron Sport Case with Mount Strap from MacNN and keep that iPhone, iPod or other electronic device safe from the elements.    

...

PDF Expert has updated with the ability to cut and past your document annotations … Office2 HD now lets users hide and unhide presentation slides. Packing Pro 9.0 (pictured) lets users filter their travel lists track every item in every single bag you carry.

Marvin, an ebook reader for iPad, offers advanced reading tools over other ebook readers, but its Achilles heel is faithful rendering of more-complex book layouts.

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.

This week at Apple's online store save on refurbished iMacs starting as low as $1,099 for the 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.7GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. For $1,269, after a $230 price drop, is the refurbished 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.9GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive....   ...

Currently Walmart.com has the 16GB iPad mini with Wi-Fi for the rollback price of $299. That's $30 less than the MSRP and the lowest price available on this iPad brand new anywhere. In fact, it costs the same for a refurbished model from Apple's online store. The iPad mini features 16GB of storage space, Wi-Fi, A5 chip, FaceTime camera with 1080p HD video recording, and it comes with iOS 6 pre-installed. A one year warranty on parts and labor is included from Apple....   ...

Reaching for any way to regain share lost to Apple and other competitors, Nokia on Friday revealed a new version of its flagship Lumia handset, redesigned and exclusive to Verizon, capping off a week in which it also looked to tackle the low end of the smartphone market with $99 phones.  ...

Apple is receiving so many requests from police agencies looking to decrypt seized iPhones that the company has started a waiting list, CNET reports. In an example exposed by court documents, the ATF is said to have wanted to break through the encryption of an iPhone 4S owned by a Kentucky man accused of distributing crack cocaine. The agency "contacted Apple to obtain assistance in unlocking the device," according to US District Judge Karen Caldwell, but was "placed on a waiting list by the company."...  ...

Iridient Developer (was RAW Developer) is a powerful image conversion application designed specifically for OS X. Iridient Developer gives advanced photographers total control over every aspect of their digital camera's output, yet still provides easy drag and drop conversion convenience and access to basic adjustments for the casual user. Iridient developer supports RAW files from over 400 digital camera models.

Version 2.1:

New features:

• Complete noise reduction overhaul! Three all new, state of the art, noise reduction methods plus auto level adjustment based on image ISO and other parameters.
• New RAW channel mixer monochrome (B&W) conversion method which allows direct access to RAW color data direct from demosaic without any color processing.
• Support for black point compensation added to color management options....

Apple is inundated with so many requests from law enforcement agencies to decrypt seized iPhones that officials must endure a waiting list before their case is handled.   ...

Have a Mac equipped with Thunderbolt? Then head on over to your friendly neighborhood Mac App Store this morning, click on Updates and get yourself a nice firmware update.

Firmware update v1.2 for Thunderbolt "provides stability fixes for Thunderbolt and Target Disk Mode" and requires a machine restart. If the update hasn't made it to the Mac App Store yet, you can also download it from the Apple Support Pages.

Apple issues stability fix firmware update v1.2 for Thunderbolt originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

...

T-Mobile is continuing to tout the recent arrival of Apple's iPhone on its network, and this weekend will see the "UNcarrier" offering the iPhone 5 for no money down with a valid trade-in.  ...

Join Hero Academy, the award-winning turn-based strategy game for the Mac.

Create a team of fearless heroes, then wield your powerful magic and weaponry on the battlefield. Play with your friends, or set up a game with random opponents. Will your tactics and strategies prevail?

Bold challenges, exciting gameplay

• Enjoy rich, colorful graphics
• Experience dynamic new battlefields in every match
• Get social by integrating with Facebook and Twitter

OS X 10.7 or later

Download Now

Those magnets in every iPad that allow the Smart Cover and Smart Case to attach securely have the ability to accidentally shut off implanted heart defibrillators if the iPad happens to be lying on the patient's chest. According to a Bloomberg news report yesterday, that discovery was made by Gianna Chien, a 14-year-old high school freshman who presented the results of her science fair project to doctors at a meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver yesterday.

Well, to be fair, Chien probably just read the iPad user guide, where the warning is plainly written:

iPad has magnets along the left edge of the device and on the right side of the front glass, which may interfere with pacemakers, defibrillators, or other medical...

Apple has created a 'waiting list' for law enforcement requests to unlock seized iOS devices, according to a report from CNET.

The article notes a case in Kentucky where the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was the lead agency, and investigators contacted Apple for assistance after they were unable to locate any law enforcement agency in the country with the forensic capabilities to unlock an iPhone crucial to the case.

The agency contacted Apple but was told by a representative in Apple's litigation group that there would be a seven-week delay.
The ATF's Maynard said in an affidavit for the Kentucky case that Apple "has the capabilities to bypass the security software" and "download the contents of the phone to an external memory device." Chang, the Apple legal specialist, told him that "once the Apple analyst bypasses...

ESPN wants you watching streaming video, even if they have to pick up part of the check…

Per the Wall Street Journal and AppleInsider, cable sports network ESPN has expressed interest in potentially subsidizing those data plans to allow users to stream video without worrying about overage fees.

ESPN has allegedly had discussions with at...

Apple is extending its two-step verification option for Apple IDs to a wider range of countries, users say. When the feature first launched in late March, it was restricted to the US, UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Now though people in Canada, Argentina, and Pakistan are reporting getting the feature, and other countries may be following suit....  ...

Judge Paul S. Grewal has upheld Apple’s request that Google reveal its search methodology for collecting Android documentation for the iPhone maker’s upcoming patent infringement trial against Samsung, reports the "Wall Street Cheat Sheet" (http://tinyurl.com/c6qhjvg)

read more

Since we’ve posted our exclusive details on what Apple and Jony Ive has in store for iOS 7, there have been a ton of great concepts popping up that take into account the company’s new “very flat” approach to redesigning the OS. The first concept, above, comes to us from Simplyzesty.com’s  art director Philip Joyce who has imagined a flat iOS including a new look for Siri and the lock screen, a customizable home screen, and redesigned icons that all take the “flat” approach to heart.

Another new concept for iOS 7 was posted today by apfelpage.de, below, that shows off a flat look for shortcuts, a new...

A user at Stack Exchange asked an interesting question recently : how can you open a new Finder window in the same folder as the frontmost window? When you open a new Finder window (Command-N in the Finder), it opens to the folder you've set in the Finder's General preferences. There may be some situations when you want to duplicate the current window, such as when you're moving files around among sub-folders in a specific folder.



Another reader, Lauri Ranta, posted a simple AppleScript, that you can use together with a keyboard shortcut, to do just this. When you run the script, it creates a new window at the same location as the frontmost window. Here's the script:
tell application "Finder"
try
target of...

Apple has released Thunderbolt Firmware Update 1.2 (http://tinyurl.com/ctyjsoe). It provides stability fixes for Thunderbolt and Target Disk Mode.

It's a 1.22MB download and requires Mac OS X 10.8.3 or higher. When your computer restarts a gray screen will appear with a status bar to indicate the progress of the update. Don't disturb or shut off the power on your computer during this update. Note: Your computer must be plugged into AC power for the update to install.

Adobe is considering doing a "photographer's bundle or photography cloud solution" to cater to one of its key markets, the company said in a blog post earlier this week. Under original plans announced on Monday, getting access to the next version of Photoshop, Photoshop CC, will normally cost at least $20 per month. People wanting the companion app Lightroom will still be able to buy a permanent license for that software, but getting access to both Photoshop and Lightroom -- as well as other apps a photographer might want -- could potentially be expensive.... ...

In 1953, Vancouver was aglow with nearly 19,000 neon lights. Today, only a few dozen of those historic signs remain. Those interested in the city's glowing, buzzing past should check out The Visible City, an iPhone app from the Museum of Vancouver.

This free app offers informative, colorful walking tours (available in English and French) through parts of the Canadian city, making clever use of narration and augmented reality to highlight what once was.

There are two tours on the app, and each one is approximately 30 minutes in length. The first explores Granville Street, the city's long-time entertainment district. It's 1.4 km in length and features eight signs. To gets tarted, stand at the designated starting point, which is The Yale...

There's good and bad news to be found in the latest statistical breakdown of "smart mobile device" shipments by independent analyst firm Canalys who notes that in Q1 2013, 308.7 million mobile devices were shipped. The analysis considered smart mobile devices to consist of notebooks, tablets and smartphones. Apple, Samsung and Microsoft were the big winners.  ...

Update:  Mexico, Germany Netherlands, Russia, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Portugal, Italy & Poland too. Let us know in the comments if the feature is now available in your country.

Apple appears to have recently started rolling out its new two-step verification feature for Apple IDs to users in additional countries. When Apple first launched the service in late March, it was initially only available to users in  U.S., UK, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Today we’ve confirmed that Canadian users now have access to the feature, while we’ve also received tips from users in Argentina & Pakistan signalling that the feature is beginning to roll out in other countries as well. 

//

Apple has yet to update its FAQ for two-step verification but does note that additional countries...

When rumors circulated earlier this year that Apple was mulling a bid to acquire social navigation app outfit Waze, the company quickly and aggressively quashed them. Within 24 hours of the rumors hitting the news cycle, a handful of “sources close to the situation” stories popped up debunking them — including one from the outlet that published the original report.

Now with Facebook in advanced discussions to buy Waze for a reportedly heady price tag, Apple’s rumored interest in the company is...

With iPhone owners restricted by capped data plans on the largest U.S. carriers, cable sports network ESPN has expressed interest in potentially subsidizing those data plans to allow users to stream video without worrying about overage fees.  ...

For a long time, Wizards of the Coast would not release anything official on iOS, even though the biggest collectible card game -- Magic: The Gathering -- seemed perfect for Apple's touchscreen platforms. Then, last year, we finally got Magic 2013 on the iPad, and now Wizards of the Coast is preparing Magic 2014. When update is be released in about a month, it will offer lots of new features and content to the iPad and Android.

That second platform may not matter much to us here at TUAW, but it's a sign that Wizards is continuing to rethink its mobile strategy. The company kindly showed us the latest version of Magic: The Gathering running on the iPad this week, and it's very impressive. Itl runs faster than ever, and while the campaign is similar (you undertake a series of singleplayer challenges, or can take on other players in multiplayer), Magic 2014 has a definite emphasis on...

Waze, the social mapping and traffic service that Apple once recommended as a potential alternative to its own iOS Maps solution, is reportedly in talks with Facebook about a possible acquisition by the networking giant.   ...

Bloomberg just can’t help trashing Apple, no matter how hysterical or wrong-minded it is.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Houdah Software (http://www.houdah.com/) has updated HoudahGeo, a geocoding solution for the Mac, to version 3.4. The new version can load track logs from QR codes created by the gps4cam iPhone application, can now infer camera clock settings when given the exact time a photo was taken and more.

HoudahGeo costs US$29 for a single-user license for new users. Version 2.8 is a free update for registered users. HoudahGeo requires Mac OS X 10.6 or higher.

Attachment Tamer gives you control over attachment handling in Apple Mail. It fixes the most annoying Apple Mail flaws, ensures compatibility with other email software, and allows you to set up how attachments are displayed and sent.

Attachment Tamer can:

• Display (and print) images, PDFs, audio, and video as icons with an optional file size limit and exceptions;
• Send messages compatible with Microsoft Outlook, Exchange, and other software, preventing the superfluous "ATT0001" attachments;
• Send images as regular attachments, making it easier for the recipient to manipulate the image files;
• Send images embedded in HTML layout and safely, mix embedded images with other attachments;
• Display full attachment names regardless of length instead of truncated names;
• Prevent unwanted image resizing or set a default size for automatic image resizing.

Attachment Tamer is a free update for all...

Other World Computing's OWC Envoy Pro EX is one of the slickest solid state drive solutions around. Designed for high performance storage and/or backup, it's powerful and portable -- small enough, in fact, to fit into a coat pocket, backpack, or briefcase.

Inside the Envoy Pro EX is a SandForce Driven OWC Aura Pro 6G SSD that offers real world sustained reads up to 436MB/s and writes up to 429MB/s. The USB 3.0 interface can bus-power the drive so an AC power adapter isn’t required.

read more

Reinvented Software (http://reinventedsoftware.com/) has announced Together 3.0 for Mac OS X. The new version adds thumbnails, tab expose, stationery, history, autosave and versions, along with improved favorites, previews and Shelf, all wrapped up in a smart new design. Also, exclusive to the Mac App Store version, Together 3 can now sync libraries with iCloud.

read more

In its latest report, industry research firm Canalys is reporting on what it calls "worldwide smart mobile device shipments" for the first quarter of the year -- a term that includes smartphones, notebooks and tablets. Of the 308.7 million devices that fall under one of those categories that shipping in Q1, around 60 percent were said to be Android devices, reflecting the platform's strength in smartphones -- the fastest-growing area of mobile electronics. Apple's iOS placed second again, despite a dominant presence in tablets.... ...

Addresses stability issues with using Target Disk Mode (Free, 1.22 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.

Of the many contentious and complex legal battles Apple has had to fight, some are easier to sort out than others. In a New York courtroom on Wednesday, Judge Denise Cote -- who is also handling the complicated battle between Apple and the Department of Justice over e-book pricing -- made short work of a trademark dispute between Apple and a small-press publisher of sci-fi and horror novels. At issue was Black Towers' line of "ibooks" it obtained in the purchase of a smaller rival, and Apple's "iBooks" trademark.... ...

A U.S. district court judge on Wednesday handed down a summary pro-Apple judgement in a case involving the "iBooks" trademark, denying plaintiff Black Tower Press its request for injunctive relief and corresponding damages.  ...

At the High End 2013 conference in Munich, Germany. electronic gadget company iRiver announced the launch of the second model from the Astell & Kern line of Mastering Quality Sound (MQS) portable players, the AK120. Astell & Kern was first launched in 2012 as the high-end brand of iRiver with the first MQS portable player. The AK120 was developed for professional users and audiophiles who demand the very best sound available....  ...

Apple may have hit another snag in its alleged plan to launch an "iRadio" service in the near future, according to an unconfirmed report from London's Financial Times. The forthcoming service, should negotiations get completed, would allegedly see iTunes offering a streaming music service that leveraged its enormous statistical and purchasing information from users to serve curated songs they would be likely to enjoy from artists they have bought before or would probably like. Sony, according to sources, is still holding out.... ...

If you have a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac—lucky you!—it’s time to back up your data and set a little bit of time aside to download and run Thunderbolt Firmware Update v1.2, released by Apple on Thursday.

According to Apple, the update is a stability fix for Thunderbolt and Target Disk Mode. The update is a scant 1.2MB in size and requires OS X 10.8.3 or later.

If you have a Mac laptop, be sure to plug it in before you run the update. During the installation, your Mac will restart and the screen will go gray with a status indication bar.

A fourteen-year-old has discovered that the tiny magnets inside the iPad can inadvertently shut off pacemakers if the device is left on the chest, such as might happen if the user falls asleep with the iPad lying on them.

Apple builds magnets into every iPad it sells for use with its Smart Cover accessory.

Gianna Chien made the discovery as part of a science fair project that didn't win first place, but she will be presenting her findings to 8,000 doctors at a meeting of the Heart Rhythm Society in Denver, reports Bloomberg.
The research offers a valuable warning for people with implanted defibrillators, which deliver an electric shock to restart a stopped heart, said John Day, head of heart-rhythm services at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, and chairman of the panel that...

Google on Thursday was ordered to acquiesce to Apple's request for information regarding what methods the search giant is using to sift through internal documents related to Android, with the resulting data being part of a second U.S. patent infringement suit against Samsung.  ...

The developers of Hike, an instant message app, have launched a brilliant promotion, offering US$100,000 in additional prizes to the winner of Apple's 50 billionth app download contest if the winning app is Hike.

Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Google will unveil a next-generation Nexus 7 tablet in partnership with Asus at the search giant's upcoming Google I/O conference, looking to steal some of Apple's thunder as a next-generation iPad mini is rumored to be delayed.  ...

A U.S. magistrate judge has granted Apple’s request for an order forcing Google to reveal the search terms it’s using to compile the Android documentation Apple has requested as part of the discovery process in the company’s second patent infringement case against Samsung.

Google had argued that Apple was overstepping its bounds by demanding such information from a third party to the case, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal disagreed. He ordered Google to comply with Apple’s request, gave the company two days to do so, and tweaked the search behemoth for complaining that the request was burdensome in the first place.

Said Grewal, “The court cannot...

Apple won a lawsuit on Wednesday over the use of the term “iBooks” as Black Tower Press, which sued Apple in 2011, was ruled not to have exclusive rights to the term. Black Tower Press, a small publisher, owned the “ibooks” mark, but never obtained a registered trademark. U.S. District…

In April of this year we posted a report titled "Apple Electro-Optical Connector Patents Surface that may Point to "Lightning's" Road Map," which was Apple's most up to date patent on their new lightning connector technology. Today, two older 2011 Lightning related patents surfaced as continuation patents which basically means that in all likelihood Apple simply updated their 2011 patent claims and no more. However ...

With spring in full force and summer right around the corner, it's hard not to think about getting outside for some biking, hiking and water sports -- and keeping an iPhone or iPod safe while on these adventures is essential. Bracketron has come up with a great water-resistant protective case with a strap that can be used to securely attach the device to a bike or anywhere else. MacNN has one of these handy cases to give away; read on to learn more about this case and find out how to enter to win....  ...

Apple released Thunderbolt Firmware Update v1.2, an update that, "provides stability fixes for Thunderbolt and Target Disk Mode." The update is for Macs equipped with Thunderbolt, Apple's next generation I/O interface.

Thursday saw Apple increasing promotion for the forthcoming 50 billion download on its App Store, publicizing the approaching mark with a prime spot on the company's homepage.  ...

Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead is rooting for a BlackBerry comeback. In his view, the Android-iOS duopoly that Google and Apple have established is begging for disruption, and BlackBerry is potentially one company to provide it.

“We think that there is an important place for BlackBerry,” Mead told attendees of the Jefferies 2013 Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference this week. “Three to four operating systems is good for the industry and good for us,” he concluded, noting that Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS is another good candidate.

No disputing that; more diversity in the smartphone market would also benefit consumers. Trouble is, consumers seem pretty happy with the current duopoly. According to recent research from Canaccord Genuity, Apple and Android juggernaut...

Apple's ongoing efforts to bring a radio service to iPhone and iPad owners has apparently hit another snag, as negotiations with Sony have dragged on.   ...

Popular image editing app Pixelmator has released version 2.2., which brings slew of new features to the already powerful program. The update comes with an expanded collection of shapes and tools to manipulate them, enhanced gradient palettes, and a new paint selection tool among the more than 100 new features. The Text as Shape feature in particular looks like it will be a lot of fun to play with.

At $14.99, Pixelmator is a steal of a design tool for people who can't justify dropping hundreds of dollars a year to rent a Photoshop license. We'll have a comprehensive review of Pixelmator 2.2 and its new features up later this month. In the meantime we've included a few videos from Pixelmator explaining a few of the new features.

Pixelmator 2.2 available with over 100 new features and improvements originally appeared...

Peapod Labs’ just-released Bugsy’s Math Quest ($3) stars the company’s long-time mascot, Bugsy the hamster, who walks through 2-D side-scrolling levels, facing animals and monsters every few seconds. To get past most opponents, you need to tap once or twice on the bottom-of-screen keypad to enter digits that solve…

Satellite Safari is a realtime, visual guide to hundreds of satellites in orbit.  This universal iOS app will tell when they pass overhead and where they are right now.  You can follow along in orbit, with the satellite, see what it looks like, look at the ground track or watch it pass overhead from your location on the ground.  It's also the official app for the Kickstarter SkyCube mission.

Sonnet today introduced a significant upgrade of its popular xMac mini Server, a Thunderbolt-to-PCI Express expansion system and 1U rackmount enclosure for a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac mini with a Thunderbolt port. The updated xMac mini Server now supports a double-width PCIe card's daughter card and includes BNC connector mounting holes on the enclosure's rear panel. In addition, the length of the xMac mini Server is now just 15.8 inches, optimizing it for a wider range of popular mobile racks, carts, and rack bags....  ...

A surprising report out of Asia this afternoon emphatically states that Sharp, the leading company in the small & medium-sized LCD panel market, is starkly changing its supply strategy. After inviting investments from Samsung, the Japan-based company is strengthening its cooperation with Samsung. According to the industry on May 8, Sharp stopped the production of LCD panels for iPad as of January this year and started supplying Samsung with small & medium-sized IGZO panels instead.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Elite Edition is a game that features an electrifying combination of turn-based tactics, global strategy and sophisticated role-playing. XCOM: Enemy Unknown - Elite Edition puts you in charge of XCOM, a top-secret military organization responsible for defending Earth from a devastating alien invasion.Take command on the battlefield while you simultaneously develop XCOM’s headquarters, train and equip its forces and negotiate with national governments. As civilian attacks and abductions work to create worldwide panic, you must outsmart and overpower your mysterious enemies before government funding for XCOM dries up completely.Key features:

• A beautifully realized re-imagining of the groundbreaking classic X-COM: UFO Defense.
• Command XCOM’s soldiers in tense turn-based battles where each decision could be the difference between game-changing gains or devastating losses for humanity.
• Expand the...

Adobe has used its Max conference this week to reveal that the company is making its first foray into creative hardware, with Project Mighty and Project Napoleon—a digital pen and ruler for iOS devices (see above). Still in the experiment stage, there’s no word yet about when we should expect to see Mighty and Napoleon hit the shelves, but we got our hands on working prototypes of the devices to try them out and take some photos of them in action.

Project Mighty is a cloud-connected stylus pen that currently works with unreleased Adobe apps that have been designed specifically for the hardware.

Adobe has chosen a twisted, three sided design for Mighty, which we found was brilliantly comfortable to hold and gave us precise control over the movement of the pen while we were drawing. The prototype we tested had a soft, rubberised tip, but Senior Experience Design Lead at Adobe, Geoff Dowd, told us that the company has been experimenting with different tip types,...

As has been widely reported and according to sources we have confirmed it with, Facebook is indeed in serious talks to buy Waze for $1 billion, the social traffic application that helps drivers navigate the road with crowdsourced traffic information.

While no deal has been struck as yet, these sources said, the discussions are advanced and closely resemble the social networking giant’s lightning-fast purchase of Instagram a year ago.

The similarities do not stop there. The price is the same and is a mix of cash and stock, said sources. In addition, as Facebook has done with Instagram, Waze will be allowed to operate relatively independently within the company if the deal is struck.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently praised...

Sonnet has introduced an upgrade of its xMac mini Server, a Thunderbolt-to-PCI Express (PCIe) expansion system and 1U rackmount enclosure for a Mac mini with a Thunderbolt port.

The xMac mini Server accommodates one full-length, full-height PCIe card and one half-length, half-height (low-profile) card. The updated xMac mini Server now supports a double-width PCIe card's daughter card and includes BNC connector mounting holes on the enclosure's rear panel. In addition, the length of the xMac mini Server is now just 15.8 inches.

read more

After receiving a recent major update to the keyboard-driven launcher, version 2.0.3 squashes a heaping helping of bugs. (Free, £15 for Powerpack, 2.8 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.

Goal Zero has released the US$399.95 Sherpa 50 Solar Recharging Kit for tablets and laptops. It can purportedly extend the life of a laptop by two hours or a tablet by 15 hours.

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AT&T has launched a new pre-paid wireless mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) named Aio Wireless. The carrier will operate on AT&T's network, but is only available in Houston, Orlando and Tampa at the present time.

Four plans will be available from Aio Wireless. For phones, the Aio Basic plan offers 250 MB of data for $35 - $40 per month, 2 GB of data for $55, and 7 GB of data for $70 a month. Each plan also offers unlimited text and calls. Aio also offers a tablet plan at $15/month for 250 MB. One caveat: although the phones operate on AT&T's nationwide network, 4G data is capped at 4 Mbps, so don't expect to get the same fast LTE service you expect from AT&T.

Aio Wireless carries a number of smartphones, but Apple fans will be happy to hear that they can purchase the iPhone 5 for $649 (without subsidy, of course) or the iPhone 4S for $...

At three times the size of the U.S. market, China has become one of the most important battlegrounds in the smartphone industry, and Apple's iPhone is now the fifth-largest smartphone seller in the country.   ...

Updates Batch Converter to handle all Windows Media files and ALAC-encoded CAF files. ($32 new, free update, 11.5 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.

Adobe’s unveiling of its latest updates to Creative Cloud earlier this week came with the announcement it will only support Creative Cloud members for future updates, effectively dropping support for customers of its boxed CS6 suite and below apart from security updates and some bug fixes. Adobe has since taken to its Photoshop blog to respond to some of the questions regarding its new CC branded suite of apps and specifically the $20/per month Photoshop users will be forced to pay if they don’t want a full Creative Cloud membership.

While clarifying that single-app memberships for Photoshop will allow users to purchase Lightroom with a perpetual software license separately, the post explained it’s currently...

The developer of Pixelmator has released an important v2.2 update for the image-editing software. Codenamed Blueberry, the update makes several enhancements to the app's shape tools, for instance adding "smart" controls that rapidly adjust outlines. The Shape Style palette has new Fill, Stroke Style, Shadow, and Inner Shadow options, and the Custom Shapes palette now includes dozens of preset objects....  ...

Earlier this week, Google, along with a host of other companies, sought permission to file an amicus curiae brief to support Samsung's efforts to oppose Apple's own efforts to secure injunctions against a number of accused Samsung devices.

Amicus curiae -- which literally means 'friend of the court' --- are briefs filed by third parties whose interests may be affected by the outcome of a particular case. More specifically, it's a way for a party to inform the court that its decision will have an impact that reaches out far beyond the two parties litigating the case in question.

That said, Apple's isn't exactly keen on Google trying to help out Samsung in this regard. In a recently filed motion, Apple argues that Google's vested interest in this particular case is so substantial that it should be precluded from participating in the amicus curiae brief.

The lead party on...

Thursday saw the launch of a new prepaid wireless carrier as Aio, a subsidiary of AT&T, went live offering Apple's iPhone 5 and service for $55 per month.   ...

AT&T has announced the launch of Aio Wireless, a new prepaid cellular brand. Aio Wireless offers a number of devices under no-contract plans, including the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPhone 4. The iPhone 5 is being sold for $650. It is available with the Aio Smart plan,…

Apple today increased its promotion for the upcoming milestone of 50 billion downloads from the App Store, an event the company is marking with a contest in which the person who downloads the 50 billionth app will receives a $10,000 iTunes Store gift card while the next 50 downloaders will receive $500 gift cards each.

The milestone is now being promoted as the main feature on Apple's front page, with an animated counter being accompanied by a rotating series of iPad mini app photos with associated facts to put the "50 billion" number in perspective:

- "With 50 billion steps, you could walk around the earth more than 800 times." [Solar Walk]

- "With 50 billion bricks, you could build 12 Great Walls of China." [...

Cloud Mate’s developers have been so hard at work since our review a month ago that it deserves another visit. It now shows you all your iCloud-based documents even on your iPhone!

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.

Working with Open Directory can be a great experience…until it isn’t.  When your database goes up in flames (or perhaps if), it can be frustrating and maddening.  Charles Edge has an article posted on what to do when your OD database decides to spontaneously corrupt itself.

About Nate Walck

Nate is a Macintosh Systems Engineer at Tamman Technologies, Inc in Philadelphia, PA. He is runs afp548.com along with Sam Keeley and is one of the founding members of the ##osx-server IRC channel on freenode.net. He loves being involved in the Mac Admin community and using Open Source projects whenever possible, especially Munki, The Luggage and Puppet.

Mail |...

AT&T has officially launched Aio Wireless, an awaited MVNO carrier offering cheaper prepaid plans. Aio is offering Basic, Smart, and Pro tiers for phones, all of which including unlimited calling and texting. Basic costs between $35 and $40, and includes 250MB of data. Smart costs $55 per month for 2GB, and the $70 Pro plan ups the data cap to 7GB. Once a cap is exceeded, Aio begins throttling speeds. A special $15 tablet plan provides 250MB of data....  ...

Update: Netflix clarified in a post on its blog that the new auto-play features have rolled out only for the iPad app.

Netflix has updated its iOS app today with new features that brings movie recommendations and a new auto-play feature for TV shows, among other improvements, to iPhone and iPad.

Version 4.1 of the Netflix app now includes and auto-play feature for TV shows that will automatically start the next episode of a season after the last episode ends, a feature that Netflix has included in its apps on other devices. Another new feature displays movie suggestions with three of the best recommendations based on your viewing habits directly after watching a movie....

Samsung is at it again. Within a new patent application published by the US Patent Office today, Samsung is found presenting some new user interface ideas for their touch display devices covering page turning effects and a new screen-unlock feature. Yet one of their so-called new ideas is one "borrowed" from Apple.

It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked selections that include some sweet deals on iOS and OS X software (all prices are USD).

Deals from Dealnews

• StackSocial: [Mac Software] Ondesoft Audiobook Converter for Mac downloads for free
• Other World Computing: [Computer Accessories] OWC 2012 Featured Move 'em Out Sale: RAM, accessories, HDDs, more
• eBay: [Battery Chargers & Accessories] 12,000mAh USB External Battery Pack for $16 + free shipping
• ...

Apple continues to gradually expand the number of cities that support its 3D Flyover feature in iOS Maps, with Paris being the latest addition.   ...

After years of living in an area with no cell service, but a very active radio tower, I grew accustomed to talking with my husband using a ham radio instead of text messaging. Now that cell coverage has improved, we no longer use our ham radios and have switched to the iPhone. To recapture that walkie-talkie style of communication, we recently started using the Zello+ Walkie Talkie app.

Zello+ is an instant, radio-style communication app that uses your mobile broadband connection to exchange short audio messages. The app lets you talk one-on-one to a single person or in a channel with a group of people. It requires a Zello account that is available for free.

After you setup your account in the Zello app, you can add Zello contacts and start talking. The app has a large red button in the center of the screen that is very easy to locate and press. You don't even have to look at your phone as the button is the dominant element in the...

Aio Wireless, a new prepaid cellular brand from AT&T, today announced that it has launched operations in Houston, Orlando, and Tampa, with additional cities coming over the next year. The brand offers customers access to increasingly popular prepaid cellular services alongside popular devices including the iPhone."We talked with no-annual-contract customers and created our service around what they want. They want simple, easy plan choices with unlimited offers; first-class service at affordable prices; great devices; nationwide voice and data coverage; and no annual contracts. Today's wireless customers don't want to compromise," said Jennifer Van Buskirk , president of Aio Wireless. "We are set up to win...

After a long absence from the bleeding edge of the high-end earphone market, Shure has just debuted a four-driver canalphone model: the SE846 Quad Driver Earphones ($1000). Using 10 laser-cut, laser-welded stainless steel plates, Shure boasts that the SE846 earphones offer a true subwoofer experience through a revolutionary low-pass…

Quick Look uses WebKit to render SVG (scalable vector graphics) flies, and Safari has a bug that mis-renders any isolated horizontal or vertical line segment making it useless. Most SVG graphics programs like Inkscape or Illustrator are very slow to launch. Fortunately Firefox works correctly and opens SVG files instantly. So if you need to view SVG files, you can drag them into a Firefox window, or onto the Firefox icon in the Dock, to view them.



[kirkmc adds: I tried opening some SVG files in both Safari and Firefox, but didn't find any that had isolated horizontal or vertical lines, so I haven't seen how this issues displays. YMMV.]

Apple retook its spot as China's fifth largest smartphone vendor in the first quarter, as the country's market grew to triple the size of the U.S.'s, reports "PCWorld" (http://tinyurl.com/cjj9xhj)

Apple had an 8% share of the smartphone market, while Samsung continued to lead all vendors with a 20%share, according to research firm Canalys. Trailing behind Samsung were Yulong Computer Telecommunication Scientific, Huawei, and Lenovo.

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As we reported last week, AT&T today launched its new pre-paid wireless MVNO called Aio Wireless with the iPhone 5 on offer, front and center. Currently, the service is only available in Houston, Orlando and Tampa but it is expected to roll out nationally over the coming months.

The company will offer 4 plans: Aio Basic, Smart and Pro phone plans at $35-40 for 250MB, $55 for 2GB and $70/month for 7GB data respectively. Each plan will shift to lower speed data after data is used up and also offers unlimited calls and text on AT&T’s network. They will also offer a tablet plan that starts at $15/month for 250MB.

The MVNO will carry Android, Windows and Apple smartphones including iPhone 4S for $499...

Apple-and-sundry news site The Loop is expanding beyond your Web browser into a digital magazine available through Apple's Newsstand for the iPhone and iPad. The Loop Magazine expands on what's available through the website with longer form articles and will include content that's unique just to the magazine. Jim Dalrymple, the man behind The Loop and life support system for The Beard, said The Loop Magazine will publish twice a month and cost US$1.99 a month. You can check it out for free for seven days, so head on over to Newsstand and download a copy.