NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim has reversed his earlier prediction that Apple would add a Retina resolution to its iPad mini at some point before 2014.  ...

Market analysis firm IDC has released its latest figures on smartphone share in China, and reports that Apple has achieved a nine percent share of the estimated 78 million smartphones sold in China during the first three months of 2013, a rise of 117 percent year-over year. While all of the top vendors did well, Apple -- led by its entry-level iPhone 4 -- grew at an annual rate of 211 percent. Another survey firm, Canalys, gave Apple an eight percent share but also ranked it in fifth place among manufacturers, about double the prevailing view on the company's marketshare in China.... ...

Noodlesoft's Hazel is a file organization tool for Mac OS X that uses a set of customizable rules to automatically move and sort your information. It can be set to automatically move your new music or movies to your Music and Movies folders, or sort files by name, email address, the website they came from, and much more. For people who'd rather keep working than sort files it can be a great time saving tool for keeping your desktop and downloads folder clear.

Today Hazel released version 3.1, which adds a powerful new date matching feature to the software. The feature allows you to search the contents of a document for text formatted as a date, so if you need to quickly find a digital copy of an insurance report from June 19, 2013 you simply need to set Hazel to look for that date. Hazel knows to look for different kinds of date formatting, converting slashes to dashes when the moment needs it.

You can see video of...

Apple on Wednesday added some new bands to its iTunes Festival, which takes place in London, England this coming September.

The top 10 most commonly used words contained in default iPhone hotspot passwords, ordered by relative frequency.

Kurtz, et al.

If you use your iPhone's mobile hotspot feature, make sure you override the automatic password it offers to secure your connections. Otherwise, a team of researchers can crack it in less than half a minute by exploiting recently discovered weaknesses.

It turns out Apple's iOS picks from such a small pool of passwords by default that the researchers—who are from the computer science department of the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, Germany—need just 24 seconds to run through all the possible combinations. The time required assumes they're using four AMD Radeon HD 7970 graphics cards to cycle through an optimized list of possible...

A map plotting the location and device platform of over a quarter billion mobile tweets show predominate use of iPhones in affluent areas and Android in poor regions, with scant representation of Blackberry outside of major cities and its strongholds in Africa, Central America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.  ...

Very sad, he was a great

∞ Read this on The Loop

How do Mac pros feel about the Mac Pro? As strongly as Apple apparently feels about Linked In? And Steve Jobs thought his work would be lost and forgotten. The remainders for Wednesday, June 19, 2013 will spin you right round, baby, right round.

New Mac Pro reaction: Video pros speak about GPU and storage concerns (Macworld UK)

Who better to ask about the new Mac Pro than professional Mac users? That’s right, they do still exist, and their reactions are mixed. Some worry about all the expansion options being external, while others look forward to the opportunities for new Thunderbolt accessories. Others just want to spin it around and around and around and around—whoa, I’m dizzy.

Apple testing deep LinkedIn integration for iOS 7 (9to5Mac)

...

IDC has ranked Apple the fifth largest smartphone vendor in China, assigning it a 9 percent share of the 78 million smartphones sold in Q1. While the market grew by 117 percent, Apple's sales of the entry level iPhone 4 grew by 211 percent, the firm noted.  ...

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). Prices are subject to change.

Deals from Dealnews

• StackSocial: [Mac Software] The Name Your Own Price Double Down Mac Bundle for $4
• MacUpdate Promo: [Mac Software] Flavours for Mac downloads for $10
• REI: [Notebook Carrying Case] Merrell Travel All 15" Laptop Bag for $74 + free shipping
• ...

Looking to gain ground on Apple's iPhone and devices running Android, Microsoft was reportedly close to purchasing Finnish phone maker Nokia's device business, with discussions going on as recently as this month.  ...

From 9to5Toys.com:

A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites or are so popular that they don’t even last 24 hours.  We know you can’t be at your computer every second, so we’re going to roundup the best deals each day to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want. Be sure to follow 9to5Toys.com so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook

Today’s Featured deals:

...

Summer's almost here (Friday!), which means that many TUAW readers are either on vacation or starting to think about getting away while the weather's nice. Today, Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd and I will talk about how we use technology in our travels to keep us connected, make traveling easier, and help us capture memories of those trips.

To join in to watch the live feed and participate in the chat, just click here. You'll join us on the AOL On Network. If you can't watch the entire show today, come back to this page within 24 hours to see the video or visit http://tuaw.com/tuawtvlive to see the latest show. Past shows are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel.

TUAW TV Live: Travel talk with Steve and Doc originally appeared on...

Paul Thurrott:

Faced with mounting criticism, Microsoft today quickly reversed course on some of the more draconian aspects of its coming Xbox One entertainment console. The firm will no longer require an always-on Internet connection and using and sharing games will work just as it does today on the Xbox 360.

That’s good news.

∞ Read this on The Loop

The iTunes video store is a strange market to track. Most of Apple's attention and press these days is going to the App Store, and obviously iTunes wouldn't exist without the music store. But the video store, where you can buy and rent movies and TV shows, is sort of the quiet third pillar of Apple's digital retail service. And Horace Dediu of Asymco has posted that it's doing big numbers indeed. After Apple announced new numbers for both TV show and movie downloads (1 billion and 380 million), Dediu crunched the numbers, and determined that the rate of spending on iTunes video is about $1.75 billion per year.

That's sizable for sure, though as you can see in Dediu's chart above, video still only makes up a small piece of the amount of money traveling through the various iTunes stores. Dediu also says the picture of what users are spending on iTunes is becoming more clear. He estimates that...

Microsoft Corp. was recently in advanced discussions with Nokia Corp. about a purchase of the Finnish company’s device business, according to people familiar with the matter, in a marriage that could have reshaped the mobile-phone industry.

The talks have faltered, they said. One person said talks took place as recently as this month but aren’t likely to be revived.

The two sides made significant progress on a plan that would stitch the U.S. software giant with a mobile-phone pioneer. Both companies have struggled of late, as each has tried to adapt to a world in which consumers prefer smartphones built by Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

I doubt this merger would have any significant impact on Apple or Samsung. It may help Nokia and Microsoft shake things up, but there’s already a lot at stake in the mobile market, so if they aren’t working closely already there’s little chance they ever will.

...

Apple has begun seeding the first beta of OS X 10.8.5 to developers. The initial release is listed as build 12F9, and like v10.8.4 concentrates on bugfixes instead of new features. Developers are asked to test graphics, Wi-Fi, PDF viewing, and wake-from-sleep functions....   ...

Less than one month after debuting OS X 10.8.4, Apple on Wednesday seeded the first OS X 10.8.5 Mountain Lion beta build to developers, with the latest maintenance update possibly looking to stabilize the operating system ahead of an OS X 10.9 Mavericks launch this fall.  ...

A Texas company, Bluebonnet Telecommunications, is suing Apple for patent infringement in relation to call forwarding technology. Specifically Bluebonnet says that the iPhone 4S and 5 violate US Patent No. 5,485,511, a patent that previously belonged to Siemens Rolm Communications but was picked up by Bluebonnet in June 1996. The patent describes a phone communicating with a central switch to generate a list of options, which are then displayed for the phone's user....  ...

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Subscribe via RSS

Daily Update for June 19, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our...

Feedly is a service that's risen in popularity recently for the most part because the much-loved RSS service Google Reader is coming to close on July 1, but the company is definitely doing its best to make a space for itself as something more than just an alternative. Today, Feedly released the Feedly Cloud, which not only creates a standalone web-based RSS reader app, but also hooks all of your feeds into the cloud, which developers can then hook their own APIs into for various purposes. Just like Google Reader's API, the idea is to allow Feedly's work to power other readers, and in fact the service is connecting into IFTTT right away at launch, and opening up other options for future apps and tools.

This also means that Feedly is...

Just last week I was bemoaning the fact that neither Parallels nor VMWare Fusion provided an easy way for a developer to create a virtual machine (VM) for testing of OS X Mavericks, so I ended up installing the new Mac operating system on a separate partition. Today Parallels released an update to Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac that not only allows the update of existing OS X VMs to OS X Mavericks, but also allows Mavericks to be a host machine for Parallels.

If there's a downside, it's that you still can't install OS X Mavericks on a blank VM; instead, you'll have to install a previous version of OS X on a virtual machine, then acquire the installer from the Apple Developer Center and upgrade the VM. The update can be applied to an existing install of...

Despite slightly late adoption of the 802.11g standard, which had more to do with the hardware refresh product cycle than anything else, Apple has been on the forefront of wireless home networking. From the first failure-prone Airport base station with an Orinoco Gold PCMCIA card to the newest equipment with custom chipsets built for Apple, Cupertino has seen the value of Internet access not tethered by a cord. The latest effort is the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule 802.11ac model, which brings some advances to the line. Join us with this first look at the new networking peripheral from Appl... ...

Apple is the target of yet another patent lawsuit, as a Texas-based telecommunications firm is suing the iPhone maker over the call forwarding feature built into the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5.  ...

Lytro, the company behind the light-field camera system by the same name, has launched an iPhone and iPod touch application. The app connects to the Lytro Camera via a WiFi connection to allow Lytro camera users to easily sync photos from the camera to the iOS device.

Using the technologies in an iOS device, users, via the app,...

R. E. Warner:

Second, I have great respect for Neven Mrgan as a designer. He’s an accomplished artisan and not to be trifled with. However, his post on how the design of iOS 7 icons is “wrong” is misguided and I feel the need to address why I think that is, because I often see designers get caught by this particular hobgoblin of consistency—that a design just “feels” right to them without offering any rational justification.

It’s interesting watching designers hammer this stuff out.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Reflow for Mac (US$19) and iOS ($5.99) is a tool that makes composition and practice of music easier. A few weeks ago you may have seen TUAW's Editor-in-Chief, Victor Agreda, Jr., interview Sébastien Bourgeois, creator of Reflow, in our Origin Stories series. The interview spiked my curiosity about the app, so I took a closer look.

While there are some great music notation apps out there for Mac (Tabular) and iOS (Weezic), what caught my attention about Reflow is that it...

This guy is good.

Online and brick-and-mortar book retailer Barnes & Noble shot a massive hole through the Department of Justice's ebook price fixing case against Apple on Tuesday. When Theresa Horner, B&N's Vice President of Digital Content, took the stand she told the court her company was already negotiating agency pricing deals with publishers before Apple was on the scene in hopes of killing the profit losses it was suffering at the hands of Amazon.com. That doesn't sound like testimony that helps the DOJ case at all.

In my earliest school years, the Apple IIgs was cutting edge, because it could run Number Munchers like nobody’s business. But just to remind me how very, very advanced in age I am, Apple said on Wednesday that the Los Angeles School Board of Education had given its approval to deploy iPads to students across the district, beginning this fall.

The deal, worth $30 million, will see an iPad distributed to every student on 47 campuses for the coming school year—and that’s just the beginning. Jaime Aquino, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Deputy Superintendent of Instruction, said that the goal is to provide every child with a device by 2014. The iPad was chosen because a review board that included students and teachers gave it top marks; it was also rated best in quality as well as being...

Last week during WWDC, I sat down with Neil Ticktin of MacTech and we interviewed a bunch of developers about their thoughts on what Apple announced. We'll be rolling out those videos as quickly as we can, but Neil and I also spent some time discussing among ourselves what we thought about iOS 7, Mavericks, and the new Mac Pro.

TUAW and MacTech discuss WWDC announcements originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | ...

The default generated passwords protecting the mobile hotspot feature of Apple's iPhones and iPads are weak and flawed, according to a group of German researchers claiming to be able to crack iOS Personal Hotspot keys in less than a minute.  ...

The man in the unenviable position of being deeply involved with Apple's ongoing patent infringement litigation with a number of companies has left Apple. AppleInsider reports that Boris Teksler, formerly Apple's head of Patent Licensing & Strategy, has taken a new job as president of the Technology Group at Technicolor.

Teksler testified on behalf of Apple in its US patent infringement suit with Samsung last year, revealing that he warned Steve Jobs and Tim Cook in 2010 that a number of Apple patents might have been infringed upon by Samsung. Teksler outlined the potential infringements to the Apple execs in a presentation showing that "rubber-banding," gesture heuristics, and e-mail threading were all appearing on Samsung products.

As a result of Teksler's presentation, Jobs and Cook met with Samsung executives in an attempt to reach a licensing...

The second-largest school system in the U.S., the L.A. Unified School District, has awarded Apple with a $30 million contract to provide iPads to every student it serves [updated with comment from Apple].   ...

Find something beautiful. Point your phone at it. A color palette appears… in Illustrator, on your desktop. And on the web. And shared with your friends. And on all your other devices.

We’re really proud of Kuler, the new app for iOS designed for capturing, sharing, and finding inspiring color themes. It’s always connected to the Creative Cloud, and it’s free. Get it now from Adobe.

Parallels announced an update to Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac today that introduces experimental support for OS X Mavericks. That means developers with access to Mavericks will be able to run Parallels Desktop 8 on the OS and also install the OS X 10.9 preview in a virtual machine.

The company has an article available to walk devs through getting Desktop 8 for Mac running on Mavericks and another outlining best practices for installing it as a virtual machine. While you can’t yet install Mavericks into a blank virtual machine, you will be able to update an existing OS X install to the developer preview. Those error messages some users were getting when attempting to run Mavericks on Parallels Desktop 8 should...

I am the worst singer in the world. I know this, but I still went on stage to sing at The Beard Bash last week at WWDC. If you really want to punish your ears, press play. I’d recommend moving on though.

Apple Inc. won a $30-million contract Tuesday from the L.A. Unified School District, paving the way for the company to provide every student with an iPad in the nation’s second-largest school system.

The Board of Education voted 6 to 0 on Tuesday to approve the contract after hearing senior staff laud Apple’s product as both the best in quality and the least expensive option that met the district’s specifications.

This is great news for students.

∞ Read this on The Loop

A new listing for a rare Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh has appeared on eBay. Recognized as the first major design project for Jonathan Ive, the TAM was introduced as a limited production in the spring of 1997. Only 12,000 machines were ever produced, and 399 of those were kept by apple to be used as spare parts. The system comes in all of its original packaging and includes all of the accessories that came with the system when it was shipped. Biding will remain open until June 23 with shipping limited to locations with the United States.... ...

Cinema camera manufacturer Red has started shipping its 4K media player. Users of the Red User forum have started to receive their pre-orders of the Redray Player, which Red bills as a comprehensive media source for owners of Ultra HD televisions that is capable of playing back native 4K video, upscaled HD video, and the company's own 4K .Red file format....  ...

Apple announced today that HBO GO and WatchESPN are now available on the Apple TV. Eddy Cue, Apple senior vice president of Internet Software and Services said that "HBO GO and WatchESPN are some of the most popular iOS apps and are sure to be huge hits on Apple TV."

The two new content providers are joined by Sky News, Crunchyroll, and Qello. Sky News on Apple TV will deliver 24/7 news to viewers in the US, UK and Ireland. Crunchyroll is a Japanese Anime and Asian media provider, and will let subscribers view the latest HD shows one hour after airing in Japan.

Qello is an on-demand streaming service for HD concerts and music documentaries, and offers free or paid subscriptions. Both Qello and Crunchyroll will be available for subscription on Apple TV. The full press release from Apple is included below.

Show full PR...

The intellectual property expert who has served as Apple's head of Patent Licensing & Strategy, and who played a key role in its patent infringement suit against Samsung, has departed the company.   ...

Apple has issued a v5.3 update for second- and third-generation Apple TVs. The new firmware adds support for several video services, most notably HBO Go, WatchESPN, and Sky News. Also included are Crunchyroll, which concentrates on anime and other Asian content, and Qello, which hosts concerts and music documentaries....  ...

From 9to5Google:

Following Google’s announcement that its RSS Reader product would be retired on July 1st, apps like Feedly that relied on the Google Reader backend announced big plans to help itself and other apps through the transition. Feedly has been preparing its move to its own “feedly cloud” back end since the announcement, and earlier this month transitioned its own iOS client to the platform. Today, Feedly is officially launching the new back end and API, as well as a brand new web interface and the first apps to integrate the feedly cloud platform:

As of today, feedly cloud is now live, providing a fast and scalable infrastructure that serves as the backbone to feedly, as well as a number of connected applications. Feedly cloud is open today to all users visiting...

Aurich Lawson

Apple has issued a press release this morning announcing that both HBO Go and WatchESPN are now available on Apple TVs. This is welcome news to customers who have cable or satellite subscriptions and can use the applications; for everyone else, the news means very little.

"HBO GO and WatchESPN are some of the most popular iOS apps and are sure to be huge hits on Apple TV," the press release quotes Apple VP Eddy Cue as saying.

The Apple TV applications will function in the same way as their iOS counterparts already do. For HBO Go, existing HBO customers can enter their subscriber information and watch HBO content (like Game of Thrones or True Blood); those without cable or satellite can continue to not watch HBO content, despite the blindingly obvious opportunity HBO has to take additional revenue out of the growing...

Leaked schematics -- allegedly drawn by Apple, and now in the hands of a major accessory maker -- show the dimensions of the iPhone 5S and an "iPhone Lite/Light," according to AppleInsider. The 5S appears to maintain roughly the same design as its predecessor, but with a pill-shaped flash on the back that may fit dual LEDs. The iPhone Light plans match recent rumors and case production surrounding a low-cost iPhone. That includes details like a thicker body, and rounded edges....  ...

Accessory makers are already making cases for Apple’s new iPhones based on leaked “design plans believed to have originated at Apple,” according to a new report. The schematics show an iPhone 5S that closely resembles the iPhone 5. The other phone, referred to in the report as “iPhone Light,” shows…

Apple today released Apple TV Software Update 5.3, the latest update for its second- and third-generation set-top boxes. The latest update adds support for HBO GO, ESPN, Sky News, Qello, and Crunchyroll for users in specific regions such as the United States. …

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Apple has just pushed out a massive update to its $95 set-top box that brings the much anticipated HBO GO and WatchESPN channels to the platform. According to the Apple press release, users will be able to watch content from HBO and ESPN directly from their Apple TV without the need for a direct cable subscription though “HBO GO on Apple TV requires a subscription to HBO through participating television providers” (thanks mom and dad!). HBO GO on Apple TV ...