TweetFollow Us on Twitter

MacTech News

10:53
WWDC keynote to take place Monday, June 10

Apple today said the keynote address for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference will occur on Monday, June 10, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, reports "All Things D" (http://tinyurl.com/oqp7syh). However, the speakers haven't been announced.

Apple will hold WWDC 2013 June 10-14 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. At the five-day conference, developers from around the world will learn about the future of iOS and OS X.

WWDC will also feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by over 1,000 Apple engineers, hands-on labs to help developers integrate new technologies, as well as the Apple Design Awards, a showcase of the most outstanding apps available through the Mac App Store and Apple App Store. For more info go to developer.apple.com/wwdc .

| Read more »
07:53
Security expert: Mac users too lax in security measures

A report from Norman Shark’s security analyst team entitled Operation Hangover details a cyber campaign that is believed to be gathering information from national security targets and private sector companies mostly based in Pakistan, but also in the UK and United States. The Operation Hangover campaign is reliant on previously identified vulnerabilities in popular software (such as Word) and browsers (including Java).

If left unaddressed Operation Hangover will purportedly cause "lasting damage" to UK businesses. What's more, the failure of Mac users to recognize that there may be a threat to their systems, Kaspersky security expert David Emm told "Macworld UK."

| Read more »
07:46
Ireland: we didn't give Apple any special tax treatment

Remarking on a U.S. Senate investigation that claims Apple avoided taxes on tens of billions of dollars by holding significant profits in three Irish subsidiaries, Ireland’s Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the country did not work out special corporate tax rate of only 2% with Apple as rumored, according to "All Things D" (http://tinyurl.com/q52z832).

"I do not want to be the whipping boy for some misunderstanding in a hearing in the U.S. Congress," Noonan said during a parliamentary committee meeting on Wednesday.

In other words, if Apple was able to markedly reduce its tax bill in the U.S. and the rest of the world, "it was because of a gap between different tax jurisdictions, not some magic deal with Ireland," notes "All Things D."

"Maybe there was a magician, but the magician wasn’t living down in Cork,” Noonan said. "Because [Apple] is not tax resident in Ireland, [it is] not...

| Read more »
04:55
WaterField Designs debuts leather Finn wallet

WaterField Designs has unveiled its new fine leather Finn wallet. It costs US$29.90 and is available at http://tinyurl.com/qamsm6e .

The naturally deer-tanned leather Finn comes in six color choices and two sizes: a compact version for cash and cards and a slightly longer version sized to also fit an iPhone 5 or similar-sized smartphone. The Finn is designed to fit into men's pants pockets without causing "wallet bulge."

Self-locking zippers secure all contents. Two interior side pockets organize cash, cards, ID and receipts.

| Read more »
04:25
ChronoSync for Mac OS X updated to version 4.3.8

Econ Technologies has updated ChronoSync to version 4.3.8, which contains several new features and fixes. ChronoSync is the automated synchronization and backup application for Mac OS X that can synchronize, backup, and create bootable backups.

Version 4.3.8 changes the logic that tests to confirm an SMB volume is still mounted to improve compatibility with certain NAS devices.

All existing ChronoSync users update for free. For new users the cost is US$40. A demo is available for download from the Econ Technologies web site (http://www.econtechnologies.com).

| Read more »
04:03
TrendNet ships AC1200 dual band wireless router

TrendNet has shipped the AC1200 Dual Band Wireless Router (model TEW-811DRU), which is designed to easily handle multiple HD streams in a busy connected home. It costs US$157.99

It generates an ultra-high performance 867 Mbps Wireless AC network and a 300 Mbps Wireless N network to connect mobile devices and computers to the Internet, according to Zak Wood, director of marketing at TrendNet. Beamforming technology boosts connectivity by directing the strongest signal to the location of each connected device.

You can plug in a USB flash or network attached storage drive to share HD videos and music across the network. Gigabit ports on the back of the router maintain high speed wired connections. You can create a secure isolated guest network for guest Internet access. Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) connects other WPS supported wireless adapters at the touch of a button. For more info go to www.trendnet.com ....

| Read more »
May 22
The Omni Group releases OmniPresence

The Omni Group has released OmniPresence, a new way for users to sync documents. This completes the effort to bring full synchronization to each of the Omni Group’s five applications.

OmniPresence syncs everything within a folder between many devices using a standard web server. Because of the way OmniPresence was designed, customers also have the advantage of being able to keep all data under their own control, says says Ken Case, CEO of the Omni Group. This is sometimes a necessity for confidential data within companies, he adds.

The Omni Group today also released a free and open-source framework for iOS developers to add support for OmniPresence to any document-based application on the iPad or iPhone. OmniPresence is a free download for the latest version of OS X, and is built into each of the Omni Group’s document-based apps on the iPad: OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner and OmniGraphSketcher.

These apps join OmniFocus and OmniPlan, bringing syncing to the Omni...

| Read more »
May 22
Data Rescue 3 named 'Best Mac Hard Drive Recovery Software'

Prosoft Engineering's Data Rescue 3 has been named "The Best Mac Hard Drive Recovery Software" by the review site TopTenReviews. It was rated number one out of the other seven recovery programs.  

Data Rescue 3 scored a perfect 10, meeting all the criteria in the review at 100%. The utility was launched in 2002 and has continued to be the most-awarded Mac hard drive recovery software on the Mac market.

Data Rescue 3 works even when your hard drive fails to mount or boot. It's available for purchase at www.prosofteng.com for US$99.

| Read more »
May 22
Apple: Samsung's Galaxy S4 infringes on five patents

Apple wants to add the new Galaxy S4 to an ongoing case involving Apple and Samsung being heard in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, San Jose Division, according to a new filing with that court, reports "Macworld" (http://tinyurl.com/p4fww6e)

"Apple obtained the Galaxy S4 on April 27 and immediately began its infringement analysis, including Samsungs customizations of the Android Jelly Bean platform, covering the eight asserted patents," Apple stated in the filing, adding that it tested S4's sold by AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. "That analysis revealed that the Galaxy S4 infringes five of Apples asserted patents in the same ways as Samsungs already accused products," it added.

This is all part of the ongoing, global legal battle. Apple and Samsung have filed more than 30 lawsuits against each other across four continents. For example, Apple alleges that Samsung copied...

| Read more »
May 22
Oscar Winner Tom Rolf to headline the London SuperMeet

The Creative Pro Group Network have announced that the London SuperMeet will return to the Great Hall at the Kensington Conference and Event Centre in London, England on Friday, June 28.

This SuperMeet follows the success of the recent Las Vegas SuperMeet held in April during NAB Show 2013. Tickets are on sale now. Oscar winning film editor Tom Rolf is set to headline. Doors to the SuperMeet will open at about 17:00 with the SuperMeet Digital Showcase.

Rolf is perhaps best known for editing Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" (for which he received a British Film Academy nomination). He was awarded an Academy Award for Best Film Editing for Philip Kaufman's "The Right Stuff." In addition to ACE Eddie nominations for "The Horse Whisperer" and "The Right Stuff," Rolf also received the ACE Eddie Award in 1984 for his work on "WarGames" and a Career Achievement Award from ACE.

The final agenda will not be announced until shortly before the event date; however there...

| Read more »
May 22
EPI unveils three extended resolution displays

Philips Monitors's brand licensing partner, EPI, has announced three new extended resolution Philips displays that offer multiple simultaneous inputs, allowing users to see more and do more on one screen.

The US$799 P-Line 27-inch Quad HD Monitor (272P4QPJKEB) is designed for professionals who require a display with image definition and greater content density within the conventional 16:9 screen shape. The $699 P-line 29-inch UltraWide Monitor (298P4QJEB) is also aimed at the professional user, but provides an expanded UltraWide 21:9 screen space with an ergonomically adjustable stand .

Bringing movie-watching and gaming to the next level, the Philips Brilliance 29-inch $599 UltraWide Monitor (298X4QJAB) also provides an UltraWide panoramic view and brilliant colors but is designed specifically for the home user, according to the folks at EPI.

Both of the P-Line professional displays are available through CDW and other resellers, the leading provider of...

| Read more »
May 22
Autodesk Announces Smoke 2013 Extension 1

Autodesk ha announced Autodesk Smoke 2013 Extension 1 professional video editing software, which is due to ship May 29. The upgrade will feature enhancements to help improve functionality, add flexibility and increase speed.

The Smoke 2013 Extension 1 release will introduce support for Blackmagic video IO devices: DeckLink (PCIe video boards); UltraStudio (Thunderbolt boxes) and the Intensity product line. Other new features and improvements include:
Trim View and new dynamic trimming tools for faster editing

° Support for SonyRAW footage from Sony F5 and F55 cameras;

° Improved conform workflow with Apple Final Cut Pro X allows more accurate translation of speed changes and ability to conform ARRI Alexa ProRes files;

° Improved feedback mechanisms to help editors better track background processes, monitor renders and identify errors;

° Improved performance in MediaHub when navigating large data sets;

° Improved 3D compositing...

| Read more »
May 22
CheckBook Pro for Mac OS X now supports iCloud syncing

Splasm Software has updated CheckBook Pro (http://www.splasm.com/checkbook/), its personal finance manager for the Mac, to version 2.5. You can now sync accounts with iCloud on Mac OS X Mountain Lion and sync accounts with others on a local network.

Version 2.5 offers full Retina display support. It's also "sandboxed" for the Mac App Store on OS X Lion and Mountain Lion.

This update is free for all licensed users. Fully functional free trials for CheckBook 2.5 and CheckBook Pro 2.5 allow unlicensed users to create 100 entries per account. Both applications have special pricing for a limited time from Splasm Software. CheckBook is available for US$11.99 USD (regularly $14.99), and CheckBook Pro is on sale for $19.99 (regularly $24.99).

| Read more »
May 22
JAK streaming USB gadget ready for iOS devices

bCODA, a manufacturer of wireless accessories and devices, has announced the availability of its new smartphone app for the JAK streaming USB product. The free app is used in conjunction with the JAK to wirelessly stream content from a smartphone or tablet to an audio/video system, PC or a mobile entertainment system via Wi-Fi.

The JAK multi-share, streaming USB is a portable content streaming device for smartphones and tablets. The JAK works with any USB 3.0-enabled host device and is backwards compatible with older USB versions. With its plug and play interface, the app is available for free from the Google Play or iTunes stores.

You can create playlists for music and videos, sync the playlist to JAK and stream to a big-screen product. The JAK can be connected to as many as 20 other devices for continuous streaming with no loss in audio or video quality, and no need for extra cables or time to transfer files, according to Hugh Park, president of bCODA USA. The JAK...

| Read more »
May 22
KeyCue 6.5 teaches Sibelius shortcuts

Ergonis Software has announced KeyCue 6.5, an update to the cheat sheet for learning and remembering keyboard shortcuts. It includes shortcut descriptions for the popular music notation software Sibelius. The descriptions can be imported in KeyCue to reveal 272 hidden keyboard shortcuts in Sibelius.

With KeyCue, whenever the command key is kept pressed for a while, the software displays a table with all keyboard shortcuts available in the currently active application, systemwide hotkeys, as well as key combinations for triggering macros in Keyboard Maestro, QuicKeys and iKeys.

KeyCue requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or newer and is fully compatible with OS X Mountain Lion. The upgrade to version 6.5 is free for anyone who owns a valid license for KeyCue 6. Upgrade paths are available for owners of older licenses. For information about purchases, including enterprise licenses, volume discounts, and upgrade pricing offers, go to the Ergonis Software web site (...

| Read more »
May 22
Avenza releases Geographic Imager 4.2 for Photoshop

Avenza Systems -- producers of MAPublisher and MAPublisher LabelPro cartographic software for Adobe Illustrator as well as MAPdataUSA, MAPdataCanada and MAPdataWorld royalty-free GIS data sets -- has released Geographic Imager 4.2, which adds support for new formats.

This includes writing to the DEM TIFF format that saves raw DEM values and exporting web tiles to Google Maps or Microsoft Bing Maps format. In addition, there are a number of new features and enhancements.

This release also is also available at the Geographic Imager Basic license level which provides support for the geospatial framework in Adobe Photoshop as well as limited import and export abilities at an introductory price level. Also new in this release is the addition of the Georeference feature with the Geographic Imager Basic license.

Geographic Imager 4.2 is and free to all Geographic Imager Maintenance Program members and at US$319 for non-maintenance upgrades. New fixed licenses start...

| Read more »
May 21
No one 'laid a glove' on Tim Cook at his Senate grilling

No one laid a glove on Apple CEO Tim Cook, not even the subcommittee's "hostile chairman," in his appearance before the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to explain the company's offshore tax practices, according to "CNNMoney" (http://tinyurl.com/lbfvd5x).

Cook's testimony was "calm and precise," and "the senators, for their part, were mostly respectful -- and on occasion fawning," the article adds.

"Claire McCaskill (Dem., Mo.) couldn't say often enough how much she loved Apple," notes "CNNMoney. "Ron Johnson (Rep., Wisc.) praised the company's tax minimization strategies as shareholder friendly. Rob Portman (Rep., Ohio) only wanted to talk about his tax reform proposals. Rand Paul (Rep., Ken.) thought the committee owed Apple an apology. John McCain (Rep., Ariz.), after a bout of tax dodging rhetoric, wanted to know why his iPhone was constantly updating its apps."

...

| Read more »
May 21
Native Instruments introduces Abbey Road 50s Drummer

Native Instruments has introduced Abbey Road 50s Drummer, a new Kontakt instrument featuring the sound of two classic drum kits from the 1950s.

The kits provide the distinctive drum sound of the era. Recorded with both state-of-the-art and period equipment at Abbey Road Studios in London, 50s Drummer also includes a groove library, mixer presets, and a new set of brush articulations, delivering the authentic feel of rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country, and jazz from the 1950s.

Abbey Road 50s Drummer is available at the NI Online Shop for US$99. For more info go to http://tinyurl.com/mg2byeu .

| Read more »
May 21
I.R.I.S. releases IRISScan Book 3, Executive

I.R.I.S. has released the IRIScan Book 3 and IRIScan Book 3 Executive. These portable scanning solutions are battery‐powered, enabling mobile users to easily capture paper documents, receipts, photos and more without the use of a computer.
 
The IRIScan Book 3 and IRIScan Book 3 Executive scan directly to an included MicroSD card in black/white or color with 300, 600 and 900 dpi scanning resolutions. No driver installation is required; simply connect the scanner with the included USB cable or insert the MicroSD card into the computer.

The IRIScan Book 3 is powered by 3 AAA batteries and comes with Readiris Pro 12 to convert the paper documents, PDFs or image files into editable and searchable digital text. 

IRIScan Book 3 Executive is Wi-Fi compatible and, by using the IRIScan Book app, users can send PDFs or JPEGs to the cloud, smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop. The IRIScan Book app can be downloaded for free for both iOS and Android devices.

...

| Read more »
May 21
RE:Vision Effects releases RE:Match for Nuke and Fusion

RE:Vision Effects has released RE:Match for The Foundry's Nuke and eyeon Fusion. It addresses common problems on multicam and stereo shoots.

RE:Match is a set of plug-ins to match one view of video or film to another so that it looks as if it was shot with the same camera and settings. The software assumes that both image sequences are taken roughly at the same location, but perhaps were not shot at the same time or from the same point-of-view.

For general multicam shoots RE:Match matches, as best it can, one sequence's overall color appearance to match that of another. For stereo pairs, RE:Match can further refine the overall color match by taking into account that the two views are captured at the same time with a relatively small distance between the views.

In addition, RE:Match is also able to propagate color changes into areas that are present in only one view. RE:Match can also make other details, such as reflections, specular highlights, and lens...

| Read more »

MacTech Blog

May 23
Enterprise Mobile content management subscribers to...

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) predicts subscribers of enterprise mobile content management (MCM) solutions will grow at double-digit rates to over 110 million by 2018. Smartphone subscribers of MCM will grow at a modest 12% YoY [year-over-year] whereas corporate-liable tablet subscribers will grow 21% over the next five years, according to the research group.

North America and Western Europe are the largest subscribing markets;.Asia Pacific will stay in the number three position throughout the forecast period but grow nearly twice as fast as the regional leaders.

"As the Bring-Your-Own-Device phenomenon becomes more widely accepted within enterprises, more corporate content is being placed in the cloud using consumer-grade storage solutions. As such, more corporate content is susceptible to leakage and theft, placing a higher need on mobile content security and protection," says Jason McNicol,...

| Read more »
May 22
App revenues to exceed $20 billion in North America in...

Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) estimates that mobile app revenues in the U.S. and Canada will reach nearly US$22 billion in 2017, fueled mainly by in-app purchases and in-app advertising revenues.

"Tablet owners show a greater tendency than smartphone users to make in-app purchases, with more than 20% having upgraded from a free to a paid version of an app," said Harry Wang, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. "The mobile app market has entered a new, more mature stage where companies need to employ precise segmentation and deployment strategies in order to generate consumer interest and realize successful monetization."

Apps are also increasingly becoming embedded in real world objects - with companies such as Johnson Controls wiring commercial buildings, or Samsung launching Android-controlled fridges, adds Steve Willmott, CEO of 3scale. "his shift begins to...

| Read more »
May 21
More than one in two people will be covered by LTE-FDD...

LTE-capable networks will continue to mushroom around the globe through 2018. In particular, frequency-division duplex (FDD) networks will see their population coverage expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33% between 2012 and 2018 to hit 57%, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Time-division duplex (TDD) networks will gain ground at a more rapid rate of 43% during this period but will only reach 52% population coverage due to fewer licensed markets currently, according to the research group. This overall picture is consistent with the contracts awarded to vendors thus far this year. Slightly more than half of the contracts concluded are related to LTE-FDD.

"However, LTE-TDD will start to close the gap," says Ying Kang Tan, research associate at ABI Research. "Dual-mode device chipsets supporting both variants as well as converged FDD/TDD network solutions are already...

| Read more »
May 21
2020: 30 billion-plus devices will wirelessly connect...

ABI Research's (www.abiresearch.com) latest data on the Internet of Everything (IoE) shows that there are more than 10 billion wirelessly connected devices in the market today; with over 30 billion devices expected by 2020.

"The emergence of standardized ultra-low power wireless technologies is one of the main enablers of the IoE, with semiconductor vendors and standards bodies at the forefront of the market push, helping to bring the IoE into reality," says Peter Cooney, practice director. "The year 2013 is seen by many as the year of the Internet of Everything, but it will still be many years until it reaches its full potential. The next five years will be pivotal in its growth and establishment as a tangible concept to the consumer.”

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Cellular, RFID, and many other wireless technologies are all important to drive Internet of Everything growth. The long term expansion of...

| Read more »
May 20
‘Long data’ to drive workforce analytics

Organizations across the globe are searching for ways to capture the power of “Big Data” to unlock workforce insights. Unfortunately, many organizations get lost in the fog of big data analysis. The latest release of Mercer Analytics (www.mercer.com) addresses this challenge by leveraging the power of Long Data to unlock insights into an organization’s most valuable asset: its talent.

Long Data, a term coined by mathematician and network scientist Samuel Arbesman, is described as "data sets that have massive historical sweep." In terms of workforce analytics, Big Data provides deep analysis typically focused on a point in time, while Long Data provides insights from stories that have unfolded over time. Thoughtful analysis of Long Data therefore allows organizations to identify, segment and analyze data as part of an ongoing process to drive meaningful results, according to Mercer Analytics. It can also mitigate the...

| Read more »
May 17
Virtualization, 4G distributed networks to up-end DPI...

4G networks are launching fast and moving to a flat and distributed hierarchy. Dictated by performance needs, data management is moving closer to the network edge, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

This evolution of the network from a centralized data center to a distributed architecture, can be thought of as a "data center without walls," according to the research group. The historical paradigm for mobile networks is the hierarchical and centralized core network.

The advent of 3G and 4G mobile broadband greatly increases the data traffic to the IP Network and Internet point of presence, says ABI Research. This gives rise to the specialist DPI and Optimization firms, such as Allot and Sandvine, who prosper with high performance, purpose built custom hardware that sits in the data stream for inspection and management.

The major infrastructure vendors, such as...

| Read more »
May 16
Chief Executive Magazine announces best, worst states...

For the ninth year in a row, CEOs rate Texas as the #1 state in which to do business, according to Chief Executive Magazine's annual Best & Worst States Survey.

Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Indiana also made the top five. The states rated worst for business are California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

The Best & Worst States Survey measures the sentiments of CEOs on a range of issues, including regulations, tax policies, workforce quality, educational resources, quality of living and infrastructure. For the 2013 survey, 736 CEOs from across the country evaluated the states between Jan. 16 and Feb. 14, 2013. Ohio was the biggest gainer in this year's survey, rising 13 spots from #35 to #22. \

CEOs say California's poor ranking is the result of a perceived hostility to business, high state taxes and onerous regulations, all of which drive investment, companies and jobs to other states. According to the California...

| Read more »
May 14
Global semiconductor sales outpacing last year

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, says worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US$23.48 billion for the month of March 2013, an increase of 1.1% from the previous month when sales were $23.23 billion.

Global sales for March 2013 were 0.9% higher than the March 2012 total of $23.28 billion, and total sales through the first quarter of 2013 were 0.9% higher than sales from the first quarter of 2012. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.  

"Through the first quarter of 2013, the global semiconductor industry has seen modest but consistent growth compared to last year," says Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association (www.semiconductors.org). "Sales have increased across most end product categories, with memory showing the strongest growth. With recent...

| Read more »
May 13
Top 10 mobile carriers generate US$202 billion in...

Worldwide service revenue, year-on-year (YoY) for 4Q-2012 grew 2.8% to US$240.5 billion, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Western Europe and Africa’s mobile operator actually demonstrated a contraction in service revenue YoY of 8.2% and 6.9%, respectively, according to the research group. Middle East, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific are still showing reasonably robust rates of growth of 7% to 11%. Eastern Europe and North America, however, are only barely keeping their service revenue growth in positive territory.

"As the underlying lift from accumulating subscribers has matured, carriers are starting to cast around for additional revenue streams that don’t just boost revenues but also profitability," says Jake Saunders, vice president for core forecasting at ABI Research. "There is still tremendous income to be generated from mobile services; the Top 10 Mobile Carriers...

| Read more »
May 10
Cloud points towards a single consumer security...

By Michela Menting Senior Analyst, ABI Research

The growth of cloud-based offerings for mobile devices and PCs is leading to the convergence of a single security product. A number of vendors are in fact moving towards this strategy: development of cloud and mobile functionalities for future integration into one multi-device offering.

The PC security software market for consumers is mature. Currently, many include mobile protection. However as threats evolve, security products incorporating more comprehensive features are increasingly being sold under the broader umbrella term of Internet Security Software, rather than just anti-virus. Added features include: Social Network Protection, Parental Control, Privacy Protection, ID Theft Protection, Online Banking & Payment Protection, Password Manager, Data Encryption, Backup Platform, Rescue/Safe Reboot, Remote Access, USB/Removable Media Protection, Antitheft, GPS/Location Tracking, Restore, Remote...

| Read more »

Reviews and Kool Tools

Kool Tools: Sonnet xMac mini Server
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... Read more »
Kool Tools: Powerocks Tarot for the iPhone
Powerocks says its US$34.99 Tarot is the world’s thinnest portable power bank. It’s designed to fit in a wallet, pocket, or small purse to provide an emergency charge for smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.... Read more »
Kool Tools: NewTech miniStack MAX
Newer Technology's miniStack MAX, is now available in DVD/CD only read/write optical drive models for computer users that don’t require the Blu-ray functionality of other miniStack MAX models. As the only four-in-one... Read more »
Kool Tools: SMS Log, Call Log, Fliq for Mac
Today our Kool Tools includes three products/services that all work together: SMS Log for Mac, Call Log for Mac and Fliq for Mac. The SMS Log application for Mac OS X (10.7 and higher) from Mark/Space (http://www.... Read more »

News Scanner

Thursday May 23

16:00
Turn your photos into a comic book with Halftone 2
TUAW

We looked at the original Halftone app for iOS a couple of years ago and were impressed. The app has been completely rewritten and is more touch oriented , supporting vector graphics for smooth insertion of picture elements.

Halftone 2, which is iPad-only and was released today, lets you import pictures and create a real comic book look by adding bubbles, banners and other bold graphic elements to your photos. The app also embeds an image editor, so your photos can be filtered to have a more graphic look. There are also tools for fixing blemishes, and the usual contrast, saturation and brightness sliders. Halftone 2 also adds the ability to work with multiple picture frames, rather than just one image.

I didn't get too fancy with my image creation, but I could see the possibilities....

| Read more »
15:30
Amazon's MacBook Air stock dwindles
TUAW

Last week TUAW reported on the diminishing numbers of MacBook Airs available from third-party retailers like Best Buy. Now the source of that information, AppleInsider, is reporting that Amazon is completely sold out of the 11.6-inch low-end MacBook Air (1.7 GHz Intel Core i5, 64 GB storage) with other models showing that they're "n/a".

AppleInsider points out that Amazon's listing for the entry-level 11.6-inch model is "consistent with a discontinued item on Amazon, with no indication that stock will be replenished. In contrast, the online retailer typically portrays a simple stockout with availability advertised for '1-2 months'."

Stock of many MacBook Air configurations is limited at other retailers, including Best Buy, MacMall, J&R, and...

| Read more »
15:00
Box acquires Folders, in what sounds like the least...
TUAW

Filesharing service Box has acquired the technology behind a French app called Folders, which is also centered on browsing and sharing files on the iPhone. Terms of the acquisition weren't revealed, but Box said that Folders would be a big influence on the next few iterations of the filesharing software. The company also noted that its iPhone and iPad apps will be "cleaner, faster and more beautiful throughout 2013."

Folders is still available as a 99-cent download right now, but presumably that app will be abandoned or replaced as Box integrates it into the main offering. Box boasts more than 15 million users at 150,000 businesses, and those numbers are growing all the time. If the folks at Box can find a way to team up with Staples and...

| Read more »
14:54
Apple: Samsung shirked FRAND obligations, filed suit...
AppleInsider

Samsung abused its rights as a standard-essential patent holder, Apple said Wednesday, by filing a complaint with the International Trade Commission before even trying to come to an agreement with the Cupertino company over licensing terms.  ...

| Read more »
14:31
gMusic app unofficially brings Google’s new “All...
9 to 5 Mac

When Google unveiled its brand new $9.99/month “All Access” Google Play music streaming service earlier this month at its I/O keynote, we quickly learned that the service would not be coming to iOS initially. Google didn’t get into why, but today developers of the popular gMusic iOS app has unofficially brought support for the service to iPhone and iPad.

The app previously acted as client for songs stored in your Google Music library, but with an update to version 6.0 today the All Access subscriotion service is now officially available to iOS users. The changelog on iTunes also lists the ability to “Create/play Radio Stations” and “Search, listen, and add music to your library from inside the app.”

As for why Google didn’t make it’s own All Access app for iOS, we’ve heard from sources close to the situation that Google wants to...

| Read more »
14:30
Study: Mobile gamers download five titles a month,...
TUAW

A new study released by Applifier says that word of mouth is still the number one way mobile game players find the games they like. That doesn't necessarily mean in-person discussion about mobile games, however, though 36% of users did report that hearing from a friend or family member was a major source of games, and 25% of users said actually seeing a friend or family member play a game was one way they found out about their favorites. 43% of users, however, say reading user reviews was the main way they found what they liked to play.

Video is another big game pusher -- 70% of users polled by Applifier say that they watched online video about mobile games in the last week, and 45% of users said that watching the video had them downloading that same game right away.

Most mobile game players, according to Applifier, download up to five mobile games a month, which...

| Read more »
14:10
Jon Stewart on Tim Cook's Less-Than-Taxing...
AllThingsD

Apple CEO Tim Cook’s appearance before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations earlier this week to defend Apple’s tax practices was a largely uneventful affair, particularly given the issues at hand.

While the subcommittee panel described Apple on paper as an “egregious offender” that has “sought the Holy Grail of tax avoidance,” it took a very different tone while meeting in person with Cook. “So nice to meet you. I have an iPad,” Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R.-N.H., said while greeting the Apple CEO — a cordial, but fawning, welcome surpassed only by that of her counterpart, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. who said simply: “I love Apple . …I love Apple.”

All of this was great fodder for Jon Stewart and The Daily Show team. As Stewart quipped during last night’s broadcast, “Who are those people...

| Read more »
14:00
Evernote introduces reminders to Mac, iOS apps
TUAW

One of the reasons that I've never been a super-user of Evernote is that while it's a great place to save your notes, scans, and other materials, it's never had the ability to simply let you know when you need to get something done. Instead, it has always relied on another app to give you a heads-up that you need to work on something. Today, Evernote released updates for the Mac and iOS clients that introduce a build-in reminder function.

In a beautiful writeup of the feature over at MacStories.net, Federico Viticci details his experiences testing the reminders capability prior to release, saying that "reminders are a good addition that fit well with Evernote's focus on remembering everything through a unified, polished interface."

As Viticci notes, this update doesn't add the level of reminder functionality that you'll find in Due or OmniFocus. Instead, the...

| Read more »
13:51
1Password 4 for Mac beta signups are now open
9 to 5 Mac

Do you love me as much as I love you? You do? Then why not sign up to help Beta test my great new version 4 for Mac

agilebits.com/beta_signups/n…

—
  (@1Password) May 23, 2013

1Password has just announced the private beta for the overhauled version of their Mac client. Users interested in testing the new update can sign up through the 1Password beta page.

1Password 4 for iOS (see our review...

| Read more »
13:50
Pioneer debuts third generation AppRadio in-dash...
MacNN

Pioneer Electronics has deployed two new smartphone connectivity options for the car with two versions of its next generation AppRadio 3 smartphone connected in-dash receiver -- the SPH-DA210 and the SPH-DA110. Both AppRadio 3 models feature compatibility with MirrorLink enabled smartphones in addition to the current AppRadio compatibility with both iOS and select Android smartphones. ...  ...

| Read more »
13:30
Twitter #Music adds new chart features
TUAW

When Twitter launched its music discover service Twitter #Music last month the service had a lot going for it. Spotify and Rdio support for streaming full songs, music discovery based on what was trending at the moment, and the #NowPlaying feature that shows what your friends are listening to added a lot to the service. But it had one major flaw: It lacked specificity. It lacked Charts that allowed you to see the top artists in genres, that you cared about. And now, that problem has been fixed.

Twitter has added genre charts to its Twitter #Music app in the hopes of helping you better find the music you're looking for. Currently there are fifteen charts to browse; ten genre stations (alternative, country, dance, metal, pop, etc) and 5 specialty stations (superstars, popular, emerging, unearthed, and hunted).

The genre charts are self-explanatory, and don't worry folk fans you're...

| Read more »
13:28
Rumor: Apple to vastly expand color options with...
AppleInsider

Both Apple's next-generation flagship iPhone and the company's anticipated low-cost iPhone will come in an array of colors well beyond the current black and white options, a new rumor claims.  ...

| Read more »
13:25
Daily Deals for May 23, 2012
TUAW

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

  • Other World Computing: [Computer Accessories] OWC 2012 Featured Move 'em Out Sale: RAM, accessories, HDDs, more
  • MacMall: [Apple Computers] MacMall Memorial Day Sale: Up to $1,099 off Macs, iPads, and more
  • Dell Home: [Hard Drives] Hard Drives at Dell Outlet Home: 25% off, deals from $53 + $8 s&h
    • ...
| Read more »
13:23
Apple cites FRAND ruling to ITC, calls Samsung...
MacNN

Apple has wasted no time filing with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) regarding the landmark ruling from May 22 enjoining a standards essential patent holder from enforcing a potential ITC-ordered sales embargo. Apple's filing with the court summarizes Judge White's decision, and calls Samsung's conduct "even more egregious" than that of the cited case's patent holder....  ...

| Read more »
13:15
Daily Update for May 23, 2013
TUAW

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 May 23, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 15:15:00 EST. Please see our...

| Read more »
13:08
Apple's fifth-gen iPad rumored to debut after...
AppleInsider

The next full-size iPad from Apple will launch toward the end of 2013, after Apple's next iPhone, and the new tablet will gain a rear-facing microphone much like the iPhone 5, a new report claims.  ...

| Read more »
13:06
iAd gets Media Ratings Council aaccreditation
MacNN

The Media Ratings Council has awarded full accreditation to Apple's iAd, the first mobile ad platform to achieve that status, says Advertising Age. The accreditation reflects iAd's compliance with standards set by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Mobile Marketing Association. That includes accurate reporting of data such as taps, visits, views, impressions, conversations, and average time spent....  ...

| Read more »
13:00
NYT Columnist Joe Nocera laughably calls Tim Cook a...
TUAW

As we reported previously, Tim Cook and two other Apple executives appeared before Congress earlier this week to discuss Apple's tax practices. The focus of the hearing centered on how Apple manages to keep the bulk of its foreign earned cash overseas and what might be done to incentivize Apple to bring that cash back to the U.S.

In an op-ed piece in the New York Times today, columnist Joe Nocera misconstrues the events which took place at the hearing and proceeds to characterize Tim Cook as a liar who, according to Nocera, learned how to create a 'reality distortion field' from Steve Jobs.

I'm not sure if Nocera watched the entire hearing, but I did, and many of his characterizations of the events which took place are skewed at best, if not downright false.

Let's dive in.

Nocera writes:

On Tuesday, despite the overwhelming evidence presented...

| Read more »
12:59
Verizon Cloud service now available on iOS devices
9 to 5 Mac




After announcing that it would be rolling out a new Verizon Cloud service to iOS and Android users back in April, the carrier provided an update today informing us that the service is now available to iOS devices and additional Android users. The app, available...

| Read more »
12:59
Rumor: Cheaper iPhone is being tested in a plethora...
9 to 5 Mac


Credit: Ferry Passchier

Japanese Blog Macotakara purports to have some interesting details on the plastic ‘low cost’ iPhone Apple is expected to release later this year. The site says that runs of colors Navy, Gold Orange, White and Gray are in one run of the device and  White, Pink, Green, Blue and Yellow-orange are in another. There is no black model according to the report.

Theoretically these models will be tested in small numbers and some might not make the cut, if the report is to be believed.

Their source also indicates that the cheaper iPhone will be produced 1,000 units for field test from June, and will be produced during July-September for shipping. If you want to see what these colors might look like head over to...

| Read more »
12:58
Kiloo Touts 175 Million Downloads for Subway Surfers
AllThingsD

Danish mobile games company Kiloo’s most popular app, the runner game Subway Surfers, has racked up 175 million downloads since it launched one year ago. In that time, the game has been played 5.5 billion times, the company said in a press release today. Subway Surfers is often used as a reference point among free-to-play game developers seeking to monetize their games with in-app purchases. Kiloo’s IAP store has kept the game in the top 50 of Apple’s “top grossing” charts for the past nine months.

| Read more »
12:52
Microsoft caught lying about tablet size in...
AppleInsider

In an attempt to draw interest away from Apple's iPad, Microsoft has set up a tablet comparison page that falsely presents the iPad as having a smaller screen than a Windows tablet with less screen area.  ...

| Read more »

Rumor Scanner

Thursday May 23

13:18
New Colors Rumored for iPhone 5S and Lower-Cost iPhone, Du...
MacRumors

Macotakara has released a report with new details on a number of upcoming products, including the rumored low cost iPhone, the iPhone 5S, and the iPad 5. Citing information from several different sources, the site suggests that the low cost iPhone may ship in a number of different colors and that it will begin trial production soon.

Color choices for the low cost iPhone remain murky, as the site has heard rumors from two different sources. The first source said that the low cost iPhone will come in colors that include navy, gold orange, white, and gray, while a second source named white, pink, green, blue, and yellow orange as the available colors. A common theme, however, is that the low cost iPhone will not include a black option.

Rendering of low cost iPhone in multiple colors...

| Read more »
13:16
While Apple & Google App Stores Reign Supreme, Microso...
Patently Apple

New research surfacing today highlights the size of the task facing the vendors eager to become the 'third ecosystem' in mobility. Apps have become fundamental to how consumers use, personalize and engage with their mobile devices and connected services. While the iOS and Android duopoly is firmly in place when it comes to App availability at their respective App Stores, Microsoft and BlackBerry are feverishly battling it out to gain that third spot in the App Store market.

| Read more »
11:47
Apple Invents New Touch Pad Electrode Design & Diamond...
Patently Apple

Last week we learned about Apple inventing an all-new touch sensor panel that would support larger displays like those found on a MacBook Air or Pro. Today, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals yet another major touch related invention relating to an all-new touch pad electrode design which is to reduce the effects of noise and thermal drift and to provide users with more precision in their interaction with a touch display. Another invention covered in our report covers an amorphous diamond-like carbon coating for increasing the thermal conductivity of the structural frames of any Apple mobile device that is battery-powered. We close out our report by covering a new camera patent and providing you with a list of continuation, provisional and divisional patents that were published today that may interest some.

| Read more »
09:54
Apple Confirms WWDC Keynote Presentation Will Be Monday Ju...
MacRumors

In an unsurprising announcement, Apple has confirmed that the keynote address for the Worldwide Developers Conference will be at the Moscone Center on June 10, the first day of the conference.

The company did not disclose any speakers or agenda, but Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to take the stage with other Apple executives to present new versions of both OS X and the iOS operating systems.

Prior WWDC keynotes have started at 10 AM Pacific time.

Tickets for the 2013 WWDC sold out in two minutes this year, an all-time record for the event.

Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories
• Evernote Adds Reminders to Mac and iOS Apps in Update
•...

| Read more »
08:59
Thanks to Apple, Samsung Opens New Patent Business in Wash...
Patently Apple

Yesterday we reported that Apple had found proof of patent infringement deep inside Samsung's source code, and today we find out that little trickster Samsung is now opening a new company in Washington called Intellectual Keystone Technology (IKIT). The new company is being set up ....

| Read more »
07:38
Apple's Tight Control Over Components Keeping iPhone...
MacRumors

MarketWatch takes a look at the state of the repair industry for the iPhone 5, noting that costs for display replacements remain very high eight months after the device's launch in the United States. The report points to Apple's tight control over components as being the major contributor to high costs, even as the device's new design makes it simpler to replace the display than on previous models.There is a tight control on iPhone 5 components in the market, [repair firm iCracked founder AJ] Forsythe says. “Market forces determine the price,” he says. “Apple sells about 300,000 iPhones a day and, as the repair market grows, prices will get lower.”

“Apple controls everything from the manufacturing to the gear for the iPhone 5,” says Jeff Haynes, editor at deal site TechBargains.com. As the iPhone 5 is larger than the 4, the cost for replacement parts rises, he says.The display is...

| Read more »
07:33
Foxconn Reveals New Carbon Nanotube Display Technology
Patently Apple

Some of the major mobile device players in the market have been seeking replacements for indium tin oxide (ITO) used in today's touch panels in the hopes of resolving technological issues and related costs. Hon Hai's Foxconn subsidiary who makes most of Apple's devices including the iPhone and iPad has recently acquired new carbon nanotube (CNT) technology from ...

| Read more »
05:56
Apple's Intelligent Orientation-Based Audio Coming to...
Patently Apple

On May 23, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals an all-new intelligent audio system that is coming to future iDevices that will be based on a device's orientation rather than depending on its fixed speakers. Depending on the way the user is holding their iDevice and which content they're enjoying, Apple's new audio processing router will ensure that the very best audio output configuration is chosen using its intelligent audio mapping system.

| Read more »
03:49
Apple Reveals New Two-Way "Airplay" Interactivit...
Patently Apple

On May 23, 2013, the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that reveals Apple's next generation of "Airplay" that will be able to operation in a two-way manner that is also interactive. Apple also hints that the separate devices of an Apple TV and a Television could be combined into a single device, an Internet-enabled television.

| Read more »

Wednesday May 22

15:24
Apple's Smart Watch May Not Launch Until Late 2014, U...
MacRumors

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has on a number of occasions offered accurate information about Apple's product plans, issued a new research report this week outlining his expectations for Apple's rumored smart watch device, informally dubbed "iWatch". Despite some expectations that the device could launch later this year, Kuo believes that both hardware and software issues will result in the iWatch making its debut in the second half of 2014.Apple may not have adequate resources to develop an iWatch version of iOS because it may require big changes to iPhone and iPad iOS this year. In addition, wearable device components aren’t mature. For these reasons, we think mass production of the iWatch is more likely to begin in 2H14, not 2H13 as the market speculates.Sony SmartWatch (left) and Pebble e-paper watch (right)
On the hardware front, Kuo projects that the iWatch will use a 1.5-2.0 inch display and unsurprisingly believes that Apple will draw on the iPod nano when...

| Read more »
13:59
Corning Pits Gorilla Glass 3 Against Sapphire, Plans Refle...
MacRumors

Following Apple's adoption of sapphire crystal as a strong and durable covering for the rear cameras on the iPhone 5 and fifth-generation iPod touch late last year, rumors of expanded uses for the material have gained some traction. Back in March, we covered a report suggesting that sapphire could see wider adoption as coverings for displays on mobile devices, and just last week a sketchy rumor claimed that Apple is planning to use a sapphire-covered capacitive home button with integrated fingerprint sensor for the iPhone 5S.

Amid these discussions of the potential of sapphire, Corning has published a feature outlining why its latest Gorilla Glass 3 is in...

| Read more »
12:21
Apple Finds "Proof of Infringement" in Samsung...
Patently Apple

Apple informed the court last week that it intended to amend its infringement contentions in the second California patent litigation with Samsung to target the latest Galaxy S4. Yesterday, Apple followed through on their intentions and filed its motion against Samsung Electronics (Korea), Samsung Electronics (America) and Samsung Telecommunications America with the court in San Jose California. Apple's motion lists a series of specific patents allegedly infringed by Samsung's S4 as well as ...

| Read more »
10:29
Apple Details Five Patents Violated by Samsung Galaxy S4 a...
MacRumors

Last week Apple told the U.S. District Court in California that it planned to add the Samsung Galaxy S4 to its patent lawsuit already underway against Samsung. As promised, Apple today filed a motion (via Foss Patents) that details five different patents that the S4 allegedly infringes on.

The filing includes two Siri-related patents violated by Google Now, Google's robust voice activated search assistant. Patents '604 and '959 cover a "universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system."

The...

| Read more »
06:24
Apple Updates Look of Online Store With More Feature Image...
MacRumors

Apple today rolled out some updates to its online store, not only posting new features advertising Father's Day gift purchases but also introducing a new, cleaner look for the store. While the main page of the online store had previously consisted of a main center column with product promotions flanked by sidebars with additional links, the new look brings an all-feature design focusing more on product images.

Previously, the left sidebar had offered quick access to accessory categories for Apple's various product lines, as well as links to the company's refurbished and clearance stores. Shoppers looking for accessories must now drill down through the product categories along the top "shop" navigation bar to reach the various accessories, while links to the refurbished and clearance stores are listed at the bottom of the page.

A similar situation exists for the former right sidebar, which offered links to Apple's other stores...

| Read more »

Tuesday May 21

12:49
Stats Show that e-Books are Still a Tough Sell in North Am...
Patently Apple

A new and interesting e-book trend has emerged showing that e-books are still not the preferred choice for books in Canada. While the Canadian market for ebooks remains steady, the reality is that they've already plateaued. The stats show that paperback books comprised 58% of all purchases in 2012. Hardcover made up 24% and ebooks came in at a miserable15%. And within that dismal figure, Apple's iPad ...

| Read more »
12:29
Excerpts of Apple Executives' Senate Committee Testim...
MacRumors

Three Apple executives, CEO Tim Cook, CFO Peter Oppenheimer, and head of tax operations Phillip A. Bullock, appeared in front of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation earlier today, testifying about Apple's tax policies.

MacRumors has a rough transcript of the hearing, while the full event is viewable on C-SPAN. The full hearing was quite long, but here are some selected excerpts from our transcript.

At the beginning of the hearing, Senators are allowed to make whatever opening statements they wish. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) gave a spirited defense of Apple, saying he was "offended" by the hearing.
"Tell me a politician who is up here and doesn't try to minimize his taxes… Tell me what Apple has done is illegal. I am offended...

| Read more »
11:53
Apple to Expand Social Network Integration in iOS 7 with S...
MacRumors

Apple has been making efforts to offer deep social network integration in its mobile operating system, first offering Twitter integration in iOS 5 and then Facebook integration in iOS 6. Apple will expand its social network integration even further with iOS 7, reports 9to5Mac, including support for both photo sharing site Flickr and video sharing site Vimeo.

As with Facebook and Twitter integration, Vimeo and Flickr integration will allow users to be able to sign in to the social networks in the Settings menu. Those one-time sign-in credentials will be usable across iOS, providing comprehensive sharing options and easy integration with other downloaded apps.With Flickr integration, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch customers will have the ability to share photos stored and/or taken on their...

| Read more »
11:11
Microsoft Unveils Xbox One, an All-In-One Entertainment Sy...
MacRumors

Microsoft today released details on its next generation console at an event hosted at its Redmond campus in Washington. Called the Xbox One, the new console is designed to be the ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system with a heavy focus on both gaming and interactive television watching.

The Xbox One recognizes individual users and presents a customized home screen filled with content like TV and movies, games, and music, along with a new Trending section that displays friend activity and a live TV system.

Xbox One utilizes voice commands, motion control via the Kinect, and a new feature called Instant Switching to allow Xbox users to switch from gaming to TV to other types of entertainment with quick commands that work as fast as swapping channels on the TV. Home screen sharing, called Snap Mode, allows users to display multiple items on the television screen. The Xbox One's comprehensive voice commands,...

| Read more »
09:42
Apple Still Tops in Cellphone Customer Satisfaction, but L...
MacRumors

The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) has today released its annual rankings of customer satisfaction for mobile phones in the United States. While Apple had the highest customer satisfaction index score for the second year in a row, its score has fallen slightly while competitors like Motorola Mobility, Nokia, and Samsung have all gained in score.

Apple is still at the top of the list when it comes to smartphone satisfaction, but this year's ranking of 81 (out of 100) is two percent below its 2012 ranking of 83. Motorola phones came in second after Apple, hitting a ranking of 77 after a 5% gain year over year.

Nokia remained high on the list with a 1% gain giving it a score of 76, and Samsung experienced the most growth at 7%, bringing it to a score of 76. HTC and LG both saw drops in...

| Read more »
08:10
Photos of Likely 802.11ac 'Gigabit Wi-Fi' Card F...
MacRumors

Tonymacx86 points (via 9to5Mac) to recently discovered photos of a Broadcom BCM94360CD Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card that supports the 802.11ac "Gigabit Wi-Fi" standard rumored to be coming to Apple's Mac lineup later this year. While the photos were posted to Chinese site VR-Zone in early March, they are only just now being noticed by those following Apple rumors.

While the reports suggest that the new card is intended for the next-generation MacBook Pro or MacBook Air models rumored...

| Read more »

Documentation Scanner

Thursday May 23

10:44
Notes from “Security: Locking Down OS X Without...
AFP548

These are some resources from my Security session at PSU MacAdmins 2013:

Slides - PSU MacAdmins 2013 Security

Web resources:

Managing OS X – Payload Free Package template

Matt’s Mac Blog - Making use of the /etc/authorization file in Lion / 10.7.x

Scripts:

View the code on Gist.

View the code on Gist.

View the code on Gist.

About Samuel Keeley...

| Read more »
07:30
Put Mac to sleep with Drafts on iOS
Mac OS X Hin...

Agile Tortoise's Drafts is a nifty tool for writing texts and doing things with them on an iOS device. I use it mostly for the more comfortable writing environment, and send texts as emails or tweets, but there's an entire sub-culture that's been hacking Drafts to do many things. (Check out the Drafts actions directory.)



David Sparks posted an interesting use of Drafts (credited to Milosz Bolechowski; I couldn't find the original on his site), together with noodlesoft's Hazel - a tool that automates tasks on your Mac - to put a Mac to sleep. In essence, Hazel looks for a file named "MB sleep" in a the Drafts folder in his Dropbox folder; when it finds that file, it puts the...

| Read more »

Wednesday May 22

13:22
About the security content of QuickTime 7.7.4
Apple - All...

Learn about the security content of QuickTime 7.7.4.

| Read more »
07:30
Use Flickr as a cloud drive
Mac OS X Hin...

Flickr has announced that all users will now have 1 TB of storage for free. With that much space, surely it would be interesting to figure out how to use Flickr as a cloud drive.



Ricardo Tomasi has done just that with Filr, a command-line tool that turns Flickr into a storage repository. This solution isn't ideal, since it's only available for now from the command line, and has only been tested with certain types of files (images), and only on files of up to 15 MB. But it's worth highlighting, and I'm sure others will come up with better solutions very soon.

| Read more »

Tuesday May 21

08:51
OS X Server: Configuring clients to use SSL for Open...
Apple - All...

This article explains how to configure an Open Directory server and OS X client to use SSL encryption for Open Directory binding.

| Read more »
08:46
Xsan: Compatibility of Fibre Channel storage devices
Apple - All...

This article lists the Fibre Channel storage hardware compatible with Xsan and OS X.

| Read more »
07:30
Quick way to get artwork from currently playing...
Mac OS X Hin...

iTunes makes it easy to retrieve the artwork from the currently playing song. Just drag & drop the artwork displayed in the iTunes LCD (the bar at the top of the iTunes window, showing artwork, progress bar, etc.) or the MiniPlayer to the Finder, or to any other application that you can drag images to. You'll get a graphic file of the current artwork.

| Read more »
03:49
Deployment: A Pedagogical Manifest(o)
AFP548

Last Fall, a discussion arose on the MacEnterprise list about deployment terminology, with the term “thin imaging” coming in as the winner for variety of (conflicting) definitions. (You can read the thread from the beginning or jump on when the discussion turns to terminology.) I was starting to prepare my session for MacIT 2013 at the time and it made me think more deeply about how we talk about what we do. Much of our deployment terminology is anchored in the past by relating everything to “imaging.” That is a useful point of reference for those transitioning to more modern methods, but I would argue that we have reached the level of maturity in our MacAdmin...

| Read more »

Monday May 20

14:59
TA13-141A: Washington, DC Radio Station Web Site...
US-CERT Aler...

Original release date: May 20, 2013 | Last revised: May 21, 2013
Systems Affected

  • Microsoft Windows systems running Adobe Reader, Acrobat, or Oracle Java

Overview

On May 16, 2013, US-CERT was notified that both www.federalnewsradio[.]com and www.wtop[.]com had been compromised to redirect Internet Explorer users to an exploit kit. As of May 17, 2013, US-CERT analysis confirms that no malicious code remains on either site.

Description

The compromised websites were modified to contain a hidden iframe referencing a JavaScript file on a dynamic-DNS host. The file returned from this site was identified as the Fiesta Exploit Kit. The exploit kit script uses one of several known vulnerabilities to attempt to download an executable:

| Read more »
13:05
iTunes: About the "A secure network connection...
Apple - All...

If you are unable to sign in or purchase content from the iTunes Store, you may see the following alert:
"iTunes could not connect to the iTunes Store. A secure network connection could not be established.
Make sure SSL 3.0 or TLS 1.0 is enabled in the Internet Options control panel, then try again."

| Read more »
12:48
MacBook Air (Late 2010): Installing Windows 7 drivers
Apple - All...

Learn how to install Windows 7 drivers on your MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010) or MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2010) computer.

| Read more »
11:49
Xsan: Compatibility of SAN clients with Xsan and...
Apple - All...

Learn which versions of StorNext can be used in the same SAN with Xsan controllers, and which versions of Xsan can be used in the same SAN with StorNext controllers.

| Read more »
07:30
Control iTunes AirPlay streaming with AppleScript
Mac OS X Hin...

iTunes 11.0.3 provides AppleScript support for controlling AirPlay devices. Below is a basic script that illustrates how AirPlay devices can be selected and applied using some of the new iTunes AppleScript classes and properties:

tell application "iTunes"
set apDevices to (get every AirPlay device whose available is true)
if apDevices is {} then display dialog "No Airplay devices available." buttons {"Cancel"}
set apNames to (get name of every AirPlay device whose available is true)
set selAirplayDevices to (get name of every AirPlay device whose selected is true)
set chosenNames to choose from list apNames default items selAirplayDevices with prompt "Select Airplay device:" with multiple selections allowed
if chosenNames is false then return
set apChoices to {}
repeat with i from 1 to length of ...

| Read more »

Saturday May 18

06:00
Receipts & Bills of Material in 10.8
krypted

When installing a package OS X makes a list of what it installs in /Library/Receipts/InstallHistory.plist. The dictionaries show each package installed, along with the installation date, the name displayed during installation, the version of the package being installed, the identifier of the package and the process name used to install the package. This information, along with the file name of the actual package is stored in corresponding property lists in /private/var/db/receipts. Each bill of material is also stored there, in .bom file.

The lsbom command is used to see a list of objects installed by the package. You can also see the options such as the permissions assigned to files by the package as they’re installed. For example, that Twitter app from the app store; to see what it installs:

lsbom /private/var/db/receipts/com.twitter.twitter-mac.bom

This package is installed by the Mac App Store. When run, packages installed by the Mac App Store should only...

| Read more »

Friday May 17

11:52
Printing to an AirPort Extreme / Express Base...
Apple - All...

Learn about printing to an AirPort Extreme / Express Base Station or Time Capsule from Microsoft Windows XP.

| Read more »
07:30
Save disk space by deleting copies of Mail...
Mac OS X Hin...

By default, Mail will keep file attachments that you've opened or viewed in your ~/Library/Mail Downloads folder, until you delete the associated email. You can save disk space by making the following switch:



In Mail's preferences, go to General, then set Remove unedited downloads to When Mail Quits. This does not remove the attachment from your email, just from your local cache of Mail Downloads.



On one machine I've got, I reclaimed nearly half a gigabyte after using the system for only a few months! I can't wait to see how much I get back on a system I've been using for 5 years!



[kirkmc adds: I find it odd that Mail keeps these attachments after you view them, since they're still in the emails. This is only an issue, however, if you save emails with attachments; if you delete them, then the default setting deletes the cached files as well.]

| Read more »
06:00
Who Needs Root When You Can Have Simple Finder
krypted

Here’s the thing: I’m not very good with computers. So to keep me from hurting myself too badly, I need the simplest interface available that allows me to run multiple applications. But most of the command keys shouldn’t work in this interface and I should only have Finder, file and Help menus..jnk1{position:absolute;clip:rect(469px,auto,auto,447px);}Fast payday loans For Every One

Luckily for my poor MacBook Airs, Apple thought of people like me when they wrote the Finder and invented something called Simple Finder which makes OS X even simpler than it is by default to use. To enable Simple Finder, just go to Parental controls, enable controls for a user and then check the box for Simple Finder. Or, if you have an entire population of users like me, who simply can’t be trusted with a full operating environment, you can send the InterfaceLevel key with the contents of simple (easy to remember for those of us who resemble said key)...

| Read more »

Thursday May 16

12:59
Xsan 3: Invisible "__defragtmp" files are...
Apple - All...

When defragmenting a file with snfsdefrag, an invisible "__defragtmp" file may be created which cannot be deleted.
This issue may occur when the following are true:

The defragmented file's name contains precomposed Unicode characters, such as letters with diacritical marks (an accent, grave, or umlaut).
snfsdefrag is run by root.
snfsdefrag is run when the current working directory is on an Xsan volume, or snfsdefrag's recursive option (-r) is used.

| Read more »
10:22
About the security content of iTunes 11.0.3
Apple - All...

Learn about the security content of iTunes 11.0.3.

| Read more »
07:30
Fix for missing "Assign to..." Mission...
Mac OS X Hin...

Having originally upgraded to 10.8 from 10.7, all of my applications' desktop assignments in (now) Mission Control were already set. I recently decided to wipe and install a fresh copy of OS X 10.8.3, and discovered that, for many of my apps, the option to "Assign to..." particular desktops or to all desktops was missing. After roaming through forum after forum I finally found a workaround for this bug.



Thankfully it's relatively simple. If you right-click on the Dock icon of a running application and you find that the "Assign to..." option is missing from the "Options" sub-menu (and of course you have multiple desktops setup in Mission Control first), if you launch the application from LaunchPad, the option to assign the application to a particular desktop will a) magically appear, and b) continue to use that assigned space regardless of how it is launched in the future.



Hope this is helpful. I spent a few good afternoons trying to...

| Read more »
06:00
Minnebar Presentations Available On YouTube
krypted

I was supposed to give a presentation at MinneBar a few weeks ago, but I ended up having to be out of town. I was pretty bummed as I really wanted to see a few of the presentations. But, lucky me, MinneBar has actually started posting presentations to YouTube. Woohoo, they’re available at http://www.youtube.com/user/MinneStarMedia. .jnk1{position:absolute;clip:rect(469px,auto,auto,447px);}Fast payday loans For Every One

The one I think I was most interested in seeing is available right here, and I can embed it into my own site and watch it from here.

I will try and make the next one to do the presentation I’d planned on giving. This is a community I am very supportive of and love contributing to (although the next time someone uses “serial entrepreneur” as their job title I might not be able to suppress the eye roll + flutter combination – sry).Similar...

| Read more »

Wednesday May 15

12:24
Recovering a forgotten iTunes Store account name
Apple - All...

You can easily recover your iTunes Store account name if you have forgotten it.

| Read more »

Documentation Scanner

Thursday May 23

10:44
Notes from “Security: Locking Down OS X Without...
AFP548

These are some resources from my Security session at PSU MacAdmins 2013:

Slides - PSU MacAdmins 2013 Security

Web resources:

Managing OS X – Payload Free Package template

Matt’s Mac Blog - Making use of the /etc/authorization file in Lion / 10.7.x

Scripts:

View the code on Gist.

View the code on Gist.

View the code on Gist.

About Samuel Keeley...

| Read more »
07:30
Put Mac to sleep with Drafts on iOS
Mac OS X Hin...

Agile Tortoise's Drafts is a nifty tool for writing texts and doing things with them on an iOS device. I use it mostly for the more comfortable writing environment, and send texts as emails or tweets, but there's an entire sub-culture that's been hacking Drafts to do many things. (Check out the Drafts actions directory.)



David Sparks posted an interesting use of Drafts (credited to Milosz Bolechowski; I couldn't find the original on his site), together with noodlesoft's Hazel - a tool that automates tasks on your Mac - to put a Mac to sleep. In essence, Hazel looks for a file named "MB sleep" in a the Drafts folder in his Dropbox folder; when it finds that file, it puts the...

| Read more »

Wednesday May 22

13:22
About the security content of QuickTime 7.7.4
Apple - All...

Learn about the security content of QuickTime 7.7.4.

| Read more »
07:30
Use Flickr as a cloud drive
Mac OS X Hin...

Flickr has announced that all users will now have 1 TB of storage for free. With that much space, surely it would be interesting to figure out how to use Flickr as a cloud drive.



Ricardo Tomasi has done just that with Filr, a command-line tool that turns Flickr into a storage repository. This solution isn't ideal, since it's only available for now from the command line, and has only been tested with certain types of files (images), and only on files of up to 15 MB. But it's worth highlighting, and I'm sure others will come up with better solutions very soon.

| Read more »

Tuesday May 21

08:51
OS X Server: Configuring clients to use SSL for Open...
Apple - All...

This article explains how to configure an Open Directory server and OS X client to use SSL encryption for Open Directory binding.

| Read more »
08:46
Xsan: Compatibility of Fibre Channel storage devices
Apple - All...

This article lists the Fibre Channel storage hardware compatible with Xsan and OS X.

| Read more »
07:30
Quick way to get artwork from currently playing...
Mac OS X Hin...

iTunes makes it easy to retrieve the artwork from the currently playing song. Just drag & drop the artwork displayed in the iTunes LCD (the bar at the top of the iTunes window, showing artwork, progress bar, etc.) or the MiniPlayer to the Finder, or to any other application that you can drag images to. You'll get a graphic file of the current artwork.

| Read more »
03:49
Deployment: A Pedagogical Manifest(o)
AFP548

Last Fall, a discussion arose on the MacEnterprise list about deployment terminology, with the term “thin imaging” coming in as the winner for variety of (conflicting) definitions. (You can read the thread from the beginning or jump on when the discussion turns to terminology.) I was starting to prepare my session for MacIT 2013 at the time and it made me think more deeply about how we talk about what we do. Much of our deployment terminology is anchored in the past by relating everything to “imaging.” That is a useful point of reference for those transitioning to more modern methods, but I would argue that we have reached the level of maturity in our MacAdmin...

| Read more »

Monday May 20

14:59
TA13-141A: Washington, DC Radio Station Web Site...
US-CERT Aler...

Original release date: May 20, 2013 | Last revised: May 21, 2013
Systems Affected

  • Microsoft Windows systems running Adobe Reader, Acrobat, or Oracle Java

Overview

On May 16, 2013, US-CERT was notified that both www.federalnewsradio[.]com and www.wtop[.]com had been compromised to redirect Internet Explorer users to an exploit kit. As of May 17, 2013, US-CERT analysis confirms that no malicious code remains on either site.

Description

The compromised websites were modified to contain a hidden iframe referencing a JavaScript file on a dynamic-DNS host. The file returned from this site was identified as the Fiesta Exploit Kit. The exploit kit script uses one of several known vulnerabilities to attempt to download an executable:

| Read more »
13:05
iTunes: About the "A secure network connection...
Apple - All...

If you are unable to sign in or purchase content from the iTunes Store, you may see the following alert:
"iTunes could not connect to the iTunes Store. A secure network connection could not be established.
Make sure SSL 3.0 or TLS 1.0 is enabled in the Internet Options control panel, then try again."

| Read more »
12:48
MacBook Air (Late 2010): Installing Windows 7 drivers
Apple - All...

Learn how to install Windows 7 drivers on your MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010) or MacBook Air (13-inch, Late 2010) computer.

| Read more »
11:49
Xsan: Compatibility of SAN clients with Xsan and...
Apple - All...

Learn which versions of StorNext can be used in the same SAN with Xsan controllers, and which versions of Xsan can be used in the same SAN with StorNext controllers.

| Read more »
07:30
Control iTunes AirPlay streaming with AppleScript
Mac OS X Hin...

iTunes 11.0.3 provides AppleScript support for controlling AirPlay devices. Below is a basic script that illustrates how AirPlay devices can be selected and applied using some of the new iTunes AppleScript classes and properties:

tell application "iTunes"
set apDevices to (get every AirPlay device whose available is true)
if apDevices is {} then display dialog "No Airplay devices available." buttons {"Cancel"}
set apNames to (get name of every AirPlay device whose available is true)
set selAirplayDevices to (get name of every AirPlay device whose selected is true)
set chosenNames to choose from list apNames default items selAirplayDevices with prompt "Select Airplay device:" with multiple selections allowed
if chosenNames is false then return
set apChoices to {}
repeat with i from 1 to length of ...

| Read more »

Saturday May 18

06:00
Receipts & Bills of Material in 10.8
krypted

When installing a package OS X makes a list of what it installs in /Library/Receipts/InstallHistory.plist. The dictionaries show each package installed, along with the installation date, the name displayed during installation, the version of the package being installed, the identifier of the package and the process name used to install the package. This information, along with the file name of the actual package is stored in corresponding property lists in /private/var/db/receipts. Each bill of material is also stored there, in .bom file.

The lsbom command is used to see a list of objects installed by the package. You can also see the options such as the permissions assigned to files by the package as they’re installed. For example, that Twitter app from the app store; to see what it installs:

lsbom /private/var/db/receipts/com.twitter.twitter-mac.bom

This package is installed by the Mac App Store. When run, packages installed by the Mac App Store should only...

| Read more »

Friday May 17

11:52
Printing to an AirPort Extreme / Express Base...
Apple - All...

Learn about printing to an AirPort Extreme / Express Base Station or Time Capsule from Microsoft Windows XP.

| Read more »
07:30
Save disk space by deleting copies of Mail...
Mac OS X Hin...

By default, Mail will keep file attachments that you've opened or viewed in your ~/Library/Mail Downloads folder, until you delete the associated email. You can save disk space by making the following switch:



In Mail's preferences, go to General, then set Remove unedited downloads to When Mail Quits. This does not remove the attachment from your email, just from your local cache of Mail Downloads.



On one machine I've got, I reclaimed nearly half a gigabyte after using the system for only a few months! I can't wait to see how much I get back on a system I've been using for 5 years!



[kirkmc adds: I find it odd that Mail keeps these attachments after you view them, since they're still in the emails. This is only an issue, however, if you save emails with attachments; if you delete them, then the default setting deletes the cached files as well.]

| Read more »
06:00
Who Needs Root When You Can Have Simple Finder
krypted

Here’s the thing: I’m not very good with computers. So to keep me from hurting myself too badly, I need the simplest interface available that allows me to run multiple applications. But most of the command keys shouldn’t work in this interface and I should only have Finder, file and Help menus..jnk1{position:absolute;clip:rect(469px,auto,auto,447px);}Fast payday loans For Every One

Luckily for my poor MacBook Airs, Apple thought of people like me when they wrote the Finder and invented something called Simple Finder which makes OS X even simpler than it is by default to use. To enable Simple Finder, just go to Parental controls, enable controls for a user and then check the box for Simple Finder. Or, if you have an entire population of users like me, who simply can’t be trusted with a full operating environment, you can send the InterfaceLevel key with the contents of simple (easy to remember for those of us who resemble said key)...

| Read more »

Thursday May 16

12:59
Xsan 3: Invisible "__defragtmp" files are...
Apple - All...

When defragmenting a file with snfsdefrag, an invisible "__defragtmp" file may be created which cannot be deleted.
This issue may occur when the following are true:

The defragmented file's name contains precomposed Unicode characters, such as letters with diacritical marks (an accent, grave, or umlaut).
snfsdefrag is run by root.
snfsdefrag is run when the current working directory is on an Xsan volume, or snfsdefrag's recursive option (-r) is used.

| Read more »
10:22
About the security content of iTunes 11.0.3
Apple - All...

Learn about the security content of iTunes 11.0.3.

| Read more »
07:30
Fix for missing "Assign to..." Mission...
Mac OS X Hin...

Having originally upgraded to 10.8 from 10.7, all of my applications' desktop assignments in (now) Mission Control were already set. I recently decided to wipe and install a fresh copy of OS X 10.8.3, and discovered that, for many of my apps, the option to "Assign to..." particular desktops or to all desktops was missing. After roaming through forum after forum I finally found a workaround for this bug.



Thankfully it's relatively simple. If you right-click on the Dock icon of a running application and you find that the "Assign to..." option is missing from the "Options" sub-menu (and of course you have multiple desktops setup in Mission Control first), if you launch the application from LaunchPad, the option to assign the application to a particular desktop will a) magically appear, and b) continue to use that assigned space regardless of how it is launched in the future.



Hope this is helpful. I spent a few good afternoons trying to...

| Read more »
06:00
Minnebar Presentations Available On YouTube
krypted

I was supposed to give a presentation at MinneBar a few weeks ago, but I ended up having to be out of town. I was pretty bummed as I really wanted to see a few of the presentations. But, lucky me, MinneBar has actually started posting presentations to YouTube. Woohoo, they’re available at http://www.youtube.com/user/MinneStarMedia. .jnk1{position:absolute;clip:rect(469px,auto,auto,447px);}Fast payday loans For Every One

The one I think I was most interested in seeing is available right here, and I can embed it into my own site and watch it from here.

I will try and make the next one to do the presentation I’d planned on giving. This is a community I am very supportive of and love contributing to (although the next time someone uses “serial entrepreneur” as their job title I might not be able to suppress the eye roll + flutter combination – sry).Similar...

| Read more »

Wednesday May 15

12:24
Recovering a forgotten iTunes Store account name
Apple - All...

You can easily recover your iTunes Store account name if you have forgotten it.

| Read more »

Technology Showcase

Feb 14
A look at SkySafari for iOS, Mac OS X and 2012 DA14

This Friday, Feb. 15, a 180,000-ton asteroid with the thrilling name of "2012 DA14" will fly past the Earth. Don't worry, we're not talking a "Deep Impact" scenario. Which is good, right? And you can follow the asteroid using Apple devices.

The 50-meter space rock will come within 17,200 miles of earth -- that's closer than our orbiting geosynchronous communication satellites. Although we don't have to worry about a collision, the passage of 2012 DA14 is a record close approach to the Earth for an object of this size.

Southern Stars has released update to its SkySafari Plus and Pro apps for iOS, Mac OS X, and Android to let you track 2012 DA14. If you want to track the asteroid you'll want the updated apps. Why? Because the Earth's gravity affects the asteroid's orbit so severely, most desktop planetarium programs -- and all other mobile apps -- will completely fail to predict the asteroid's position correctly, says Southern Stars founder Tim DeBenedictis.

...

| Read more »
Jan 05
Fusion Drive now available on entry-level iMacs

Apple's Fusion Drive Apple is available as a build-to-order option for the 21.5-inch, 2.7GHz 21.5-inch iMac model. Previously, it was only offered for the high-end 21.5-inchers and the 27-inch iMac.

Apple says the Fusion Drive gives customers the performance of flash storage and the capacity of a hard drive. It combines 128GB of flash with a standard 1TB or 3TB hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages files to optimize read and write performance. Apple says the Fusion Drive adapts to the way you use your iMac and automatically moves the files and apps you use most often to flash storage to enable faster performance and quicker access.

| Read more »
May 02
Satechi Divoom iBase Dock Station available for iOS...

Satechi (http://www.Satechi.net) has released the Divoom iBase Dock Station for the iPod, iPhone or iPad. The US$44.99 device combines a speaker system and docking station.

The Satechi Divoom iBase Dock Station features four full range neodymium dynamic drivers and a 20.6 ounce speaker. Additionally, it has a vertical support to ensure the iOS device is secured in place. The Satechi Divoom iBase Dock Station is also compatible with other MP3 players via the 3.5mm line-in jack.

| Read more »
Dec 16
Appcelerator offers '4 Steps to creating a mobile...

Appcelerator has published a white paper on "4 Steps to creating a mobile development strategy."

"Companies now have a window of opportunity to think about how mobile can transform their business as radically as the web did," says AppCelerator. "By making mobile a part of their overall digital strategy, companies can transform their relationships with their customers in even greater ways than they did with the web."

The white paper tells you how this can be accomplished. Appcelerator (http://www.appcelerator.com/) is a company that helps web developers create mobile, tablet and desktop applications.

| Read more »
Sep 19
InterMapper publishes white papers on network...

InterMapper has published four white papers on network monitoring, mapping and alerting and InterMapper. You can find them all at
http://www.intermapper.com/resources/whitepapers.aspx .

The papers look at "Top 8 reasons SMBs need to monitor their networks," "top 8 considerations for selecting SMB network monitoring software," "10 steps to streamline the deployment of network monitoring software for SMBs," and "6 ways to calculate returns from your networking monitoring investment."

InterMapper is Mac OS X compatible network monitoring software. It uses SNMP to monitor the network infrastructure, and has probes for monitoring many kinds of servers, including web, mail, LDAP, FTP, etc. More information and a free 30-day demo are available at the product Web site (...

| Read more »
Aug 11
Video tour of new Data Rescue Center headquarters...

The Data Rescue Center, a a data recovery company founded in 2009 and a division of Prosoft Engineering, recently opened a new state-of-the-art headquarters in Livermore, California. You can get a video tour of it at http://www.thedatarescuecenter.com/company_background.html .

In June of 2010, the Data Rescue Center and Prosoft Engineering finalized the purchase of a building in Livermore near the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Work immediately began on the design and construction of the new recovery lab facility.

In late January of 2011, both The Data Rescue Center and Prosoft Engineering moved all operations to this new facility. It boasts a Class 2 UL-Listed Vault and extensive security features.

The ISO 5 / Class 100 Cleanroom exceeds all manufacturers specifications for cleanroom recovery environments, according to...

| Read more »
Mar 11
Video looks at 'Fixing Flat Color in Final Cut...

Future Media Concepts has posted a video on "Fixing Flat Color in Final Cut Pro." It teaches you how to make your colors "pop" in footage in Final Cut Pro. You can find it at
http://www.fmctraining.com/fmc.asp?w=blip_AYHdkS4C .

Future Media Concepts is a digital media training center representing the leading software manufacturers, including Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Avid, Boris FX, Digidesign, NewTek and Softimage. Headquartered in New York City, FMC now operates 5 additional digital media training facilities located in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Orlando and Chicago.

| Read more »
Oct 04
Video showcases Zco's services

Zco Corp. (http://www.zco.com) has posted an overview video for their technology showcase. You can view it here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzE89z-jexA .

Zco can help you build custom software, as well as market it. The company developsb oth industrial strength backend applications using .NET, PHP and Java as well as apps for all major mobile platforms, including the iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone 7, WebOS and Symbian.

Zco can also help you promote your products and services using search engine optimization and social media optimization techniques, HD video, stunning graphics, 3D animation and video effects, press releases, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Google, Yahoo and Bing.

| Read more »
Aug 26
Video looks at digital storytelling features of...

A new online video (http://www.memoryminer.com) shows some of the best ways for using MemoryMiner, a digital storytelling application for Mac OS X. Designed an an complement the iLife suite, the software is all about capturing and exploring your life memories.

MemoryMiner allows anyone to zero in on the stories depicted in their photos by linking them to each other based on people, places and time. While photos are used as the starting point, the goal is always uncovering the backstory.

With MemoryMiner, you can directly record audio or video to capture the backstory of a photo. You can attach documents, web URL's, or other media to add depth and context. Each photo becomes a frame in a storyboard that can be browsed by periods in a person's life, where people overlap, by place, by time, or any combination.

MemoryMiner requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher. It's Universal Binary so runs...

| Read more »
Jul 30
Ergonis posts video on using Typinator

Ergonis Software has posted a video (http://www.ergonis.com/products/typinator/movie.html) on Typinator (http://www.ergonis.com/products/typinator/), its tool for auto-typing text and auto-correcting typos system-wide across all Mac OS X applications.

With thousands of predefined corrections for common typos and misspelled words for US and British English, German and French, Typinator is not only just a typing assistant that speeds repetitive typing tasks, but also a system-wide auto-correction tool that automatically fixes typing errors and misspelled words. You just define an abbreviation along with its replacement text or picture. Whenever you type one of your abbreviations in any application, Typinator inserts the corresponding...

| Read more »
 
AAPL
$442.14
Apple Inc.
+0.79
MSFT
$34.15
Microsoft Corpora
-0.46
GOOG
$882.79
Google Inc.
-6.63

MacTech Search:
Community Search:

Software Updates via MacUpdate

Evernote 5.1.1 - Create searchable notes...
Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at anytime, from... Read more
SketchUp 13.0.3688 - Create 3D design co...
SketchUp is an easy-to-learn 3D modeling program that enables you to explore the world in 3D. With just a few simple tools, you can create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions,... Read more
GarageSale 6.6b10 - Create outstanding e...
GarageSale is a slick, full-featured client application for the eBay online auction system. Create and manage your auctions with ease With GarageSale, you can create, edit, track, and manage... Read more
Twitter 2.2.1 - Official Twitter client...
Twitter (was Tweetie) is a Twitter client with a variety of features. Important Note: As of January 2011, AteBit's Tweetie application has been acquired and renamed by Twitter. Version 1.2.8 of the... Read more
SteerMouse 4.1.6 - Powerful third-party...
SteerMouse is an advanced driver for USB and Bluetooth mice. It also supports Apple Mighty Mouse very well. SteerMouse can assign various functions to buttons that Apple's software does not allow,... Read more
Google Chrome 27.0.1453.93 - Modern and...
Google Chrome is a Web browser by Google, created to be a modern platform for Web pages and applications. It utilizes very fast loading of Web pages and has a V8 engine, which is a custom built... Read more
Labels & Addresses 1.6.5 - Powerful...
Labels & Addresses is a home and office tool for printing all sorts of labels, envelopes, inventory labels, and price tags. Merge-printing capability makes the program a great tool for holiday... Read more
Delicious Library 3.0.2 - Import, browse...
Delicious Library allows you to import, browse, and share all your books, movies, music, and video games with Delicious Library. Run your very own library from your home or office using our... Read more
KeyCue 6.5 - Displays all menu shortcut...
KeyCue helps you to use your OS X applications more effectively. Just hold down the Command key for a while - KeyCue comes to help and shows a table of all currently available keyboard shortcuts.... Read more
HoudahSpot 3.7.8 - Advanced front-end fo...
HoudahSpot is a flexible file-search tool based on Apple's powerful Spotlight engine. Keep frequently used files within reach Retrieve the files you didn't know you still had Don't waste time... Read more
 

See All

Evernote Update Keeps You Notified, Adds...
Evernote Update Keeps You Notified, Adds New Reminders Feature Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 23rd, 2013 [ permalink ] | Read more »
Clear Shakes Up A New Update: Email Your...
Clear Shakes Up A New Update: Email Your Lists Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 23rd, 2013 [ permalink ] iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad | Read more »
Regular Show: Best Park in the Universe...
Regular Show: Best Park in the Universe Review By Carter Dotson on May 23rd, 2013 Our Rating: :: SLACKERSUniversal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad This park has some good ideas, but a lot of work needs to go into it to make it... | Read more »
Angry Birds Space Launches You Into Spac...
Angry Birds Space Launches You Into Space For Free Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 23rd, 2013 [ permalink ] iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad | Read more »
Mailbox Shows Some Tablet Love, Gets Opt...
Mailbox Shows Some Tablet Love, Gets Optimized For iPad Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 23rd, 2013 [ permalink ] iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad | Read more »
Ayopa Games Offers Their Titles For Free...
Ayopa Games Offers Their Titles For Free This Memorial Day Weekend Posted by Andrew Stevens on May 23rd, 2013 [ permalink ] Ayopa Games is celebrating this Mem | Read more »
Greedy Grub Review
Greedy Grub Review By Rob Rich on May 23rd, 2013 Our Rating: :: A CUTE CRAWLUniversal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad Greedy Grub is certainly adorable, but it’s not particularly ground-breaking.   | Read more »
Finger Tied Jr Review
Finger Tied Jr Review By Jennifer Allen on May 23rd, 2013 Our Rating: :: FINGER TWISTING FUNiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Finger Tied brought Twister-style gaming to the iPad, and Jr does much the... | Read more »
Zynga’s Battlestone – Mobile Hack ‘n’ Sl...
Zynga’s Battlestone – Mobile Hack ‘n’ Slash Arcade Action Posted by Rob LeFebvre on May 23rd, 2013 [ permalink ] Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad | Read more »
Developer Spotlight: Infinite Dreams
With its latest title, Can Knockdown 3, recently earning a coveted Editor’s Choice award here, I took the time to learn a bit more about Polish game developer, Infinite Dreams. Who is Infinite Dreams? Based in the Southern Polish city of Gliwice,... | Read more »
See All

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Economic Conservatives Defend Apple’s Tax Strategy
Given Apple’s longtime reputation as the particular darling of the liberal lefty end of the spectrum, it’s been facinating to see mostly prominant conservatives rallying to the defense of Apple’s... Read more
Is Apple Losing Its “Cool” Cachet With The Popular...
SMH’s Steve Colquhoun notes that while Apple has again been rated as the world’s top brand this week, a leading social researcher warns the company and its products are losing touch with Generation Y... Read more
New Rugged Smartphone From…. Caterpillar?!
Bullitt Mobile Ltd., global licensee of Cat phones for Caterpillar Inc., has introduced the new Cat B15 smartphone in North America. The Cat B15 is designed to be the most progressive, durable and... Read more
Mac mini on sale for $25 off, free shipping, NY ta...
B&H Photo has the 2.5GHz Mac mini available for $574.98 including free shipping and NY sales tax only. Their price is $25 off MSRP. B&H will include free copies of Parallels Desktop and Bento... Read more
Updated iPad Price Trackers
We’ve updated our iPad Price Tracker and our iPad mini Price Tracker with the latest information on prices and availability from Apple and other resellers. Read more
Take $20 off with Apple refurbished iPod nanos
The Apple Store has Apple Certified Refurbished 16GB iPod nanos available for $129 including free shipping and Apple’s standard one-year warranty. That’s $20, or 13%, off the cost of new nanos. All... Read more
Apple TV (refurbished) available for $85, 14% off
The Apple Store has Apple Certified Refurbished 2012 Apple TVs available for $85 including free shipping. That’s $14 off the cost of new models. Apple’s one-year warranty is standard. Read more
27″ iMacs on sale for $100 off MSRP
Amazon has 27-inch iMacs on sale for $100 off MSRP: - 27″ 3.2GHz iMac: $1899.99 - 27″ 2.9GHz iMac: $1699.98 Shipping is free Read more
Platform Wars: Tablets Triumphant, But Don’t Write...
The Register’s Paul Kunert says it’s finally official – the epic battle of legendary Apple CEO Steve Jobs is finally won, now that he has toppled the PC platform from beyond the grave, in the UK, at... Read more
Apple Tops 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2013 Su...
MarketingWeek’s Lou Cooper reports that this years BrandZ ranking of the top 100 valuable global brands sees Apple maintain its reign as number one, ahead of Google and IBM in second and third and... Read more
 

Jobs Board

*Apple* Retail - Manager - Apple Inc. (...
Job Summary Keeping an Apple Store thriving requires a diverse set of leadership skills, and as a Manager, you’re a master of them all. In the store’s fast-paced, Read more
*Apple* Account Executive - CompuCom (U...
Apple Account Executive Job Location US-IL-Des Plaines Posted Date 3/27/2013 Req # 2013-4905 Apply/Socialize: * Apply Now! * Email this opportunity to a friend or Read more
*Apple* - Solution Architect - CompuCom...
Apple - Solution Architect Job Location US-TX-Dallas Posted Date 4/18/2013 Req # 2013-4932 Apply/Socialize: * Apply Now! * Email this opportunity to a friend or Read more
Mac/ *Apple* Specialist Needed - Enterp...
Mac/ Apple Specialist Needed - Enterprise iPad Deployment A prominent Robert Half client is seeking out a Mac/ Apple Specialist to assist with an iPad deployment Read more
Mac/ *Apple* Specialist Needed | Enterp...
Mac/ Apple Specialist Needed | Enterprise iPad Deployment A prominent Robert Half client is seeking out a Mac/ Apple Specialist to assist with an iPad deployment Read more

  • Generate a short URL for this page:



All contents are Copyright 1984-2011 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.