At least some anecdotes from AT&T subscribers have shown that its throttling practices for unlimited data plan users have started to take effect at low levels. John Cozen claimed to have seen the throttling take effect with as little as 2.1GB of data used in the month, or just over the pre-increase 2GB tiered plan's cap. He escalated complaints about the issue to levels where he could confirm the throttling wasn't a mistake....
| Read more »AMD in conversations at the end of the week wouldn't discount the possibility of making ARM-based processors. When pressed by Wired, CTO and former Apple executive Mark Papermaster made the unusual non-denial that "the answer is not no." The company's long-term plans were aiming for a modular chip design that could drop in ARM or another architecture without losing Radeon graphics or other AMD-specific touches....
| Read more »There had been some interesting claims last year that Apple had been actively testing an ARM (A5) based MacBook Air. The ARM processor is the same one that is used in the iPhone and iPad. An ARM-based MacBook Air, however, would raise a number of questions about what kind of device it might actually be. Would it run OS X, or iOS? Would it be closer to a Mac or an iOS device? One of the main advantages of using an ARM processor would be a reduction in power-requirements, but with a corresponding drop in computing power. Using ARM, however, would abandon binary compatibility with existing Mac OS X applications.
CNet reports on a research note from...
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SpuriousLogic sends this excerpt from a BBC article detailing the suspension of a sales ban on certain Apple products in Germany:
"Motorola Mobility had forced Apple to remove several iPad and iPhone models from its online store [yesterday] after enforcing a patent infringement court ruling delivered in December. An appeals court lifted the ban after Apple made a new license payment offer. However, Germany-based users may still face the loss of their push email iCloud service after a separate ruling. 'A suspension like this is available only against a bond, but Apple is almost drowning in cash and obviously won't have had a problem with obtaining and posting a bond.' ... A statement from Apple said: 'All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple's online store in Germany shortly.'"
...
CBS Sports:
This is your regular beer-league hockey game and the small rink gets filled with a rabid fan base complete with body paint, thundersticks and banners. The looks on the players’ faces is priceless.
This video will touch the hearts of every beer league player out there. It’s a shame it will only be shown in Canada during the game.
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In October, AT&T announced that they would start throttling data usage amongst mobile Unlimited Data Plan users. While AT&T no longer offers an Unlimited Data plan to new customers, many of the original iPhone purchasers are still grandfathered into that plan. Those iPhone users have been able to retain these Unlimited plans, even though AT&T has since moved to a tiered data plan structure.
When AT&T announced their plan to start throttling users, the company said that they would only be throttling the top 5% of users. Early reports of affected users had pointed to 10GB-12GB per month users as the initially...
| Read more »CNET:
Apple’s A5 processor includes noise-reduction circuitry licensed from a start-up called Audience, and a chip analyst believes that fact resolves an iPhone 4S mystery and explains why the iPhone 4 lacks the Siri voice-control system.
Audience revealed details of its Apple partnership in January, when it filed paperwork for an initial public offering (IPO) of stock. Teardown work from iFixit and Chipworks revealed a dedicated Audience chip in the iPhone 4, but the iPhone 4S integrates Audience’s “EarSmart” technology directly into the A5 processor, the company’s S-1 filing said.
The explanation make sense even as it disappoints those of us with the iPhone 4 who were hoping to get Siri retroactive on our phones.
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After a couple of issues with some software updates, Apple has made some quiet revisions to address the problems.
The first was a Snow Leopard security update which inadvertently caused problems with Apple's PowerPC emulation layer Rosetta. Macworld notes that Apple has since released Security Update 2012-001, version 1.1 for Snow Leopard. The new version seems to fix the PowerPC crashing issues described with the original update.
Meanwhile, the crashing/CUI errors with 10.7.3 Delta updater has also been addressed by Apple....
| Read more »The ongoing patent spat between Motorola and Apple has reached an interesting crossroads. Just recently a German court granted an injunction against sales of many of Apple's 3G-bearing products, including older model iPhones and the iPad. That injunction held for less than a day, however, pending further review of Motorola's claims against Apple. Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents found new information that suggests Motorola has offered to end the patent dispute and license its wireless patents to Apple -- in exchange for 2.25 percent of Apple's sales. It's unclear whether this is a percentage of all Apple revenues or, more likely,...
| Read more »Once a week, we gather together to recap the best stories published on Macworld over the past seven days. This week, those include software updates from Apple--and the problems that go along with them--tips on using your Mac more efficiently, and plenty more.
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iTunes:
Trouble is brewing in Westeros. For the inhabitants of this world, control of the Iron Throne holds the lure of great power. But in a land where seasons can last a lifetime, winter is coming…and beyond the Great Wall that protects them, a forgotten evil has returned.
If you are a fan of the “Game of Thrones” series, these free behind the scenes videos might tide you over until the show comes back to HBO in April.
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This week, we wrapped up our coverage of the 2012 Macworld|iWorld conference in San Francisco just as Apple issued an update to Final Cut Pro X and gave the AirPort Utility an iOS makeover. Additionally, Tim Cook offered some strong words in response to doubts about Apple's attitude toward worker conditions in China, Neil Young recounted stories about Steve Jobs working towards higher-quality music downloads, and more. Need a recap? You're in the right place.
Rethinking iPhone UI and getting things done with Clear to-do app: Realmac is set to launch an iPhone to-do list app in a few weeks that breaks list making and maintaining down to the barest essentials, eschewing some common...
| Read more »Bob Borchers used to be an iPhone product marketing engineer for Apple. Part of the team that brought the first iPhone to market in 2007, he's now a venture capitalist with Opus Capital. Borchers recently gave a talk to students at a California school talking about the thought processes that were involved in the iPhone's development. Borchers says that Steve Jobs didn't have a specific device in mind, but instead gave the team a mission: create a phone that people would love so much that they'd never leave the house without it. Borchers believes that Apple has been so wildly successful with the iPhone because the company focused on fundamentals -- breaking the rules, but in an exceptionally well manner; paying attention to details; and making people focus on the relationship they have with their device. Jobs wanted the phone to be revolutionary...
| Read more »Apple has temporarily solved problems with the CUI bug in the Mac OS X 10.7.3 update by changing the download users get. Anyone who checks Software Update, along with seeking the usual download, now gets the combo update to Lion (1.3GB, link may not work) instead. The full installer is known to work properly at the expense of a much larger file size....
| Read more »It's nearly Valentine's Day, and what better way to show you care than by helping to protect a beloved iPhone?
| Read more »Haven't heard of AnyPlay? That's not surprising. It's a small initiative slowly being introduced by Comcast into select cable markets. With it, you can watch live television over your home network on your iPad. So if your spouse is hogging the HDTV during your CW night, you can watch Supernatural using your local Wi-Fi. (Cablevision and Time Warner have similar apps on the App Store now.) AnyPlay consists of two parts: there's the standalone box ($10 one-time charge) and the iPad software, which is built into Comcast's existing XFINITY TV app. To get them to work together, you must sign into the app with your Comcast credentials and enable AnyPlay using the app's settings. On the hardware side...
| Read more »Android users were on the top of the list with 87% of their owners admitting they have used their smartphones while sitting on the throne. 84% of the BlackBerry users admit to doing it (smartphone use in the bathroom) and iPhone users checked in at 77%.
| Read more »What do you get when you have patents of money and piles of money? Apple versus the world in patent fights, Microsoft paying for iPads in schools, and lots of iPhones. That, and Mac OS Ken’s Ken Ray with plenty of opinions.
iMovie vs Avid Studio
iMore:
Avid Studio may be iMovie’s newest competitor for video editing on the iPad, but it’s not a fair competition. Avid Studio is the clear winner. iMovie doesn’t offer any significant features that Avid does not, but Avid can do much more than iMovie. Since they both cost $4.99, it’s almost a no-brainer.
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Undisputed fact I just made up: The more time we spend online, the dumber and more myopic we get.
Hacker Noah Litvin set out to combat that observable phenomenon with DailyPag.es, an app that wo...
| Read more »As noted yesterday, many of the users who updated their OS X 10.6 systems with Apple's most recent security patches found themselves unable to run PowerPC legacy apps via the Rosetta compatibility layer. Today a new version of that update (Security Update 2012-001 v1.1) is now available, and it should resolve the issues. The latest build removes the patch to the ImageIO code that was included in the original version; this, apparently, was the cause of the breakage. 10.6.8 users can download the new version from Apple's site or via Software Update. [via MacDailyNews]...
| Read more »Newly uncovered documents from Apple's opposition to a Motorola attempt to silence its requests have uncovered Motorola's demands for a 3G patent license. In explaining why it needed to get details of Qualcomm's patent deal with Motorola, Apple mentioned that Motorola had wanted a 2.25 percent royalty on Apple product sales as its attempt at a FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) patent licensing offer. Florian Mueller, who unearthed the details, saw it as likely an excessive rate given that Apple wouldn't only be licensing from Motorola and that it coul...
| Read more »Apple’s latest Mac OS X 10.7.3 release is a pain for some users due to its bugs surrounding CUI issues and the crashing of applications. Apple has already been investigating the issues with test groups, and it has apparently decided that the best thing to do at this point is remove the standard 10.7.3 update from its servers and provide users with the ability to only download the combined installation. This combo installer is not riddled with the CUI and app crashing errors as explained in our report from yesterday. Read on for all of the details:
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Apple removed its online...
| Read more »We spent a lot of time at the D: Dive Into Media conference talking about the way entertainment gets distributed. But it was also important to talk about the way it gets created. App-maker Khush’s pitch is that it lets everyone become an entertainer, via its music apps that let even the most tone-deaf mumblers create a song.
Here, co-founders Prerna Gupta and Parag Chordia show off some of their creations, including Songify Live, a new app that will let you make music in real time with an iPhone, even if you’re a tone-deaf mumbler like myself.
I do sort of wish we’d kept audio warrior Neil Young onstage just a few minutes longer, so we could have captured his reaction to all of this:
[...
You may be familiar with the iPad’s split keyboard, introduced along with the roll out of the iOS 5. The wonderful keyboard has some more hidden features...
| Read more »Recently uncovered court documents from Motorola's legal complaints against Apple have revealed that the handset maker is seeking 2.25 percent of Apple's sales of wireless devices in exchange for a patent license covering its standard-essential intellectual property.
| Read more »As a Member of the European Parliament, I very much welcome the increased attention the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has received in the past weeks. It has taken a while for massive outcry to emerge, but we are seeing protest voices getting louder and louder.
| Read more »Our own Matt Neuburg has received the good news that Steve Job left him £4 million in his will. Perhaps Matt will invite the entire TidBITS staff to live with him on his private island. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »iTunes Match subscribers late Friday reported a problem with iTunes Match playback failing. Anyone on a desktop, whether Mac or Windows, couldn't play cloud-stored songs unless they were already matched with the iTunes Store. The problems didn't appear to be limited to particular app or OS revisions, and iOS users could still access the service....
| Read more »Last week the European Union has officially signed the controversial “anti-piracy” trade agreement ACTA. This brings ACTA a step closer to passing, but individual EU Member States and the European Parliament still have to ratify ACTA later this year. But this may not happen.
| Read more »Apple has removed from the App Store a number of copycat applications that closely mimicked the titles of successful games after they provoked a public outcry from developers over the issue.
| Read more »Two applications from Google to the FCC, one asking to test a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled "entertainment device" from December and other seeking to set up a residential gateway using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth from earlier this month may indicate that Google is planning to deploy or at least support future 802.11ac networks and devices, which would dramatically increase transmission speeds for HD video and other data throughout a local network....
| Read more »Apple has released a new version of its Security Update for Snow Leopard which fixes the Rosetta bugs caused by the first release.
| Read more »Apple has quietly added its "Genius" suggestion technology to Apple TVs, offering recommendations on other shows viewers might enjoy based on their past rentals or purchases. The option is selected via a new menu item that can be chosen by users. The new feature was added to most connected current-generation Apple TV units silently overnight, and mirrors a similar feature that has been a part of the iTunes application for years....
| Read more »Facebook may run mobile ads before its IPO takes effect. Its S-1 filing revealed that one of the companyís revenue soft spots was in the level of income generated from mobile devices. With mobile devices rapidly becoming one of the most common ways of connecting to Facebook and the Internet for users, the company looks to be moving quickly to address the perceived weakness....
| Read more »As it gears up for a high-profile initial public offering, Facebook has managed to lure Rebecca Van Dyck, Apple's former senior director of worldwide marketing and advertising, away from Levi's to serve as its head of global marketing.
| Read more »A problem with the previous 2012-001 Security Update posted for users of Snow Leopard (client and server) that caused Rosetta-based apps to misbehave or fail entirely has been corrected, and the company is pushing a "v1.1" edition of the update through its Software Update servers (support web page not yet updated). Over the next 24 hours, users who installed the previous security patch for 10.6.8 systems should see the update available....
| Read more »Apple updated the latest Snow Leopard security update, 2012-001, to version 1.1. While the company didn't spell out what changed, many users who installed the previous version of the update had encountered problems with the Rosetta technology used to run PowerPC-based apps.
| Read more »John Browett masqueraded as an ordinary salesman, The Daily reveals its subscriber numbers, and a former Apple product manager unveils the not-so-secret secrets of the iPhone's development.
| Read more »I met up with the guys behind iBackflip while at Macworld, and was impressed with their passion for design. Their first iBackflip was a pretty straightforward flip-down arm sling for the iPad. Using Velcro, it offered a basic black design and minimal extras. The new iBackflip Somersault, now available for pre-order, is a thoroughly updated version. At $99, I got to see one of the final versions, fresh from their factory. The Somersault's main feature is the ability to position the iPad in front of you while being securely fastened to your body via an ample sling. The flip-down panel securing the iPad is no longer Velcro, it is a sturdy YKK zipper now, and the iPad is more securely fastened in its own pocket. In addition to an iPad, the Somersault has room for an 11" MacBook Air, pockets for your headphones, ID, etc. and several loops on the shoulder strap. This is made of durable...
| Read more »Apple released iBooks 2.0.1 for the iPhone and iPad on Friday to address a problem where some iBooks textbooks failed to open.
Users who have been recommended to get a certain game but are not totally clear on the name of the app are the target market of "copycat" games that have similar names and borrow gameplay and other elements from more successful apps, hoping to cash in on brand confusion, TechCrunch reports. Titles like "Plants Vs. Zombie" and "Tiny Birds" are "fast fakes" of real apps. Apple is again removing such apps from the App Store, highlighting an ongoing problem....
| Read more »Smartphones passed up PCs for the first time last year, with Apple leading that industry while iPad accounted for most of the growth among computers, alongside moderate sales of notebooks, nearly flat sales of desktops, and a sharp decrease in netbooks.
| Read more »Apple released Security Update 2012-001 version 1.1 late on Friday for Snow Leopard users. The new version of security update replaces the one Apple released on Wednesday, and the cryptic release notes only state that it is “recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X,” although it seems likely it actually fixes odd errors some Snow Leopard users were experiencing after installing the version.
Yahoo has launched an app filtering tool to its search engine. Yahoo's main page now gives a user a tab for Apps as well as the traditional Web, Images, Video, Local and More. With it, users can get app only search results and filter them for either iOS or Android apps....
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bonch writes "After drawing criticism over iBooks Author's licensing language, Apple has modified it in a software update to make clear that Apple is claiming rights to the .ibook format itself and not the content therein: '[The license restriction] does not apply to the content of such works when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format.' In other words, the content may be sold on competing book stores as long as it is not packaged using iBooks Author."
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Some iTunes Match users are encountering difficulties when attempting to download songs they have previously uploaded to iTunes Match. Matched songs appear unaffected for most users. Threads on both the MacRumors Forums and the Apple Support Communities detail the issues.
I keep getting the "error = -2114" and "Please check that the connection to the network is active and try again." It then moves to the next download and most times is succsesful. I am getting this error in the last few hours and to about 10-20% of my downloads.The Verge confirms that the issue occurs in both iTunes 10.5.2 and 10...
| Read more »Metrics from ad tracking agencies has hinted that Samsung's TV ad campaign has lost momentum. YouGov BrandIndex has posted updated ad effectiveness tracking that suggests the buzz, or conversation around the brands, has leveled off. Its score has climbed since October, from 18 to 26, but Apple has also grown in the same space of time to get a comfortable lead at 34....
| Read more »A silent update to the backend has introduced Genius recommendations for movies and TV shows to the Apple TV. No user action is required to access the new feature, as it's not part of a device firmware update. Instead, Apple has updated its own servers to send this information to the Apple TV from its iTunes Store equivalent. Based on AppleInsider's screenshots of the updated Apple TV UI, this feature appears essentially identical to the Genius recommendation features already present in iTunes on the Mac and iOS devices. With access to your library and purchase history, the Apple TV can now recommend TV or movie content based on what you've watched before.Apple TV now offers Genius recommendations for movies, TV shows originally appeared on...
| Read more »If you want to pass like Tom Brady from the comfort of your living room chair, then you should grab a copy of NFL Flick Quarterback for the iPhone. The app is a flick-style passing game that lets you take on the role of an NFL quarterback. The game isn't a full-fledged football simulation like Madden 2012, but a passing game as its name suggests. Even though it focuses on only one aspect of the gridiron game, NFL Flick Quarterback is a lot of fun. You star as a quarterback of your favorite team and get to choose your jersey number. Your goal is to complete passes to receivers down field. Sounds easy until you throw in a defender or two who'll try to deflect your pass. You throw the pass by flicking the ball out of the quarterback's hand. The faster and straighter you flick the ball, the harder and straighter your pass will be. Once the pass is in the air, you can swipe left or right to nudge the...
| Read more »After meeting with Apple chief executive Tim Cook and chief financial officer Peter Openheimer, Citi analysts noted a strong iPad outlook leaving little likelihood of an ARM-based MacBook Air, vast growth potential in China, an indistinct future role for Apple TV, and the strength and importance of iCloud....
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PC World:
Super Bowl XLVI kicks off on February 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, and no matter where you’ll be that Sunday, you have plenty of ways to stream the big game to your PC, tablet, or smartphone so you can watch the Giants and the Patriots struggle for supremacy on your preferred device.
Best to test out your streaming options beforehand in case your provider or country doesn’t allow you easy access. Even better, go to your local pub and watch it with friends and strangers!
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Apple's newest handset returns to the company's Chinese online store following a brief stoppage of sales due to overwhelming demand that led to scalpers and violence, though wait times for orders can range from overnight to weeks.
| Read more »Creative has introduced a pair of noise-canceling headphones. The HN-900 integrates an in-line microphone with the over-the-ear headset. The Aurvana X-Fi 2 is a pure headphone, but supports a multi-dimensional surround-sound effect....
| Read more »Seamus Blackley is one of the co-creators of Microsoft's original Xbox console, and he put together a really interesting team of old-school Atari game developers recently to make mobile games. Blackley's new company is called Innovative Leisure, and while the website isn't anything more than a groovy logo, the devs he's got on board make for a pretty impressive list: Ed Rotberg (who made Battlezone), Owen Rubin (Space Duel), Rich Adam (who worked on Missile Command), Ed Logg (the creator of Astroids and Centipede), Dennis Koble (who programmed Shooting Gallery), Bruce Merrit (creator of Black Widow) and Tim Skelly (who is also an old school game dev, though not with Atari). The company is completely...
| Read more »Microsoft took a symbolic blow Friday after its Windows Phone Developer Experience lead Brandon Watson confirmed he was leaving for Amazon. The often outspoken advocate of WP7 told ZDNet he would now direct the Kindle Cross Platform team, which develops the e-reading app both for Windows Phone as well as for Android, iOS, and competing platforms. He explained it as a virtue of a tempting offer, but whether it was the work itself, the pay, or both wasn't apparent....
| Read more »AppleInsider:
Apple has added its Genius recommendation system from iTunes to Apple TV, offering to suggest titles related to previous purchases.
Sounds like a good update.
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Where can you get new feet for a MacBook system, and what can you do when Mail's toolbar suddenly disappears? Here we answer these and other questions from MacFixIt readers.
| Read more »Customers are annoying. You have to figure out what they want and then figure out how to avoid angering every one else in the process. Mozilla gets its funding from a competitor so they can give away something for free — that competes with, wait for it… the competitor. Publishers try to make money, please the customers and avoid upsetting the authors. Amazon found a tiny opening with the Kindle Fire — and, maybe, waits for the Apple shoe to drop. Apple may have to navigate some tricky HDTV seas. Microsoft buys a product that’s generally distributed for free, then tries to avoid upsetting its partners as it deploys it. And poor Siri has a hard time just delivering a Scotish sandwich. Times are tough.
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| Read more »Apple has added its Genius recommendation system from iTunes to Apple TV, offering to suggest titles related to previous purchases.
| Read more »The Oatmeal is a very funny web site, skewering all aspects of life, tech and otherwise.
In (dubious) honor of the upcoming Valentine’s Day, The Oatmeal serves up a selection of cards that, after some sober reflection, you should think very hard about your relationship before you buy/send these.
“If I were trapped in a blizzard…”
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Want to shoot panoramas? With your iPhone? You’re in luck! This week in Free on iTunes Vern Seward takes a look at three free apps that will get you shooting pans like a pro. PanoStitcher, PanoMinute, and TourWrist.
Apple CEO Tim Cook spent part of a recent Apple town hall meeting touting his company’s charitable donations, according to a report from The Verge. If true, it marks a new direction for the world’s wealthiest technology company, where previous Apple CEO Steve Jobs either didn’t bother with many corporate or didn’t bother talking about it.
Learn more about the Final Cut Pro X trial with these frequently asked questions.
| Read more »It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.Daily Update for February 3, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | ...
| Read more »Several Apple TV users have reported a new addition to the menus of their devices, with the new option bringing Genius recommendations for movies and TV shows in their libraries. Curiously, early reports noted that rather than carrying a correct menu title, the movie option carried the name "ATV.Menu.MOVIE.GeniusItem", suggesting that the new feature may have appeared prematurely. Apple seems to have fixed the issue, however, with the menu option now showing properly as "Genius".
Improperly-displayed (left, via @cthielen) and properly-displayed Genius option for Movies on Apple TV
Despite the strange display of the menu option, the feature does appear to have been functional since its initial appearance yesterday, with users being able to access Genius recommendations for their content.
Genius movie recommendations...
| Read more »StudioProper has released a new iPad stand designed for in-car use. The Wallee Headrest can be attached to any car seat and positioned either on the back of a headrest or in a central position between the front seats. Support is also offered for holding the device in both portrait and landscape orientations. The Wallee Headrest can be purchased through StudioProper's online store for $40 with free shipping around the world....
| Read more »What? No egg shape? If you want to fine-tune a shape in Office for Mac 2011, or even create a different shape altogether, you can edit its points.
For example, turn a circle into an egg shape. Or rearrange the points in a freeform shape that you created with the drawing tool.
To see the points on the shape, right-click (or hold down CONTROL and click) the shape, and then click Edit Points. Then drag a point wherever you want.
Tips Zoom in 200% or 400% for more precision. To move the object with finer control, hold down COMMAND and press any arrow key.
For more information about changing shapes, read the following Office for Mac Help topic:...
Apple updated iBooks Author to version 1.0.1 on Friday afternoon, the only change being an update to the software's controversial end user license agreement. The updated EULA now specifically only applies distribution restrictions to the interactive .ibooks format files generated by the app.
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| Read more »Apple on Friday updated the end user license agreement for iBooks Author, clarifying the restrictions on where the program's output may be sold.
| Read more »A Canalys wrap-up of 2011 smartphone share painted an overall picture that kept Apple and Google in front, but also provided clearer pictures of Windows Phone. Android was just short of an absolute majority at 48.8 percent, while the iPhone held 19.1 percent. Nokia's Symbian and RIM's BlackBerry still held on to the double digits at 16.4 percent and 10.5 percent each....
| Read more »Apple changed the wording on the iBooks Author end user license agreement (EULA), clarifying the company’s restrictions on what can be done with content created with the software. The clarification specifies that Apple is restricting what can be done with the company’s proprietary .ibooks files, and is not claiming the content.
Apple just updated its End User License Agreement for the iBooks Author application, and the changes clearly outline the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company only requires .iBooks formatted products created in iBooks Author to sell through the iBookstore.
With that said, Apple aims to sell the packaged format without claiming the content nor restricting where else authors can distribute the content.
iBooks Author released alongside iBooks Textbook last month and controversy immediately brewed over its terms and conditions,...
Apple has pushed out an update to iBooks Author, the company's recently-launched publishing tool. The sole change in v1.0.1 is a new end-user agreement, clarifying a controversial portion of the document which initially suggested that any material produced with the software could only be sold through the iBookstore if it was sold at all. "If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a 'Work'), you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate...
| Read more »If you've ever corresponded with Apple Support (or any major customer support outlet, really), you might have seen that little notice at the bottom of the email that says any conversation included "may be privileged and may contain confidential information." Most of the time, that's just a weak move to try and cover up any issues that customer support may cause. But in Apple's case, they sometimes try to take it seriously. David Bowles is a blogger who had an issue with his Thunderbolt display warranty, and when he corresponded with Apple about it, he posted it on the Go Inside magazine website. Just a little while after that, however, he received an email from Apple's tech support notifying him that they'd seen the "confidential" information posted online, and telling him that he should take it all down, under threat of "further action" (whatever that may be). After discussion with a support...
| Read more »Disinformation:
Host Adam Savage of Mythbusters tells how Visa, Mastercard, and Discover had the Discovery Channel put the kibosh on an episode that would have revealed just how “trackable and hackable” the RFID chips found in many credit cards are. It’s a telling example of how corporate advertisers serve as the gatekeepers of mainstream media/entertainment.
The video with the story has Mythbusters host (and fellow Mac user!) Adam Savage explaining how their investigation was shut down by The Discovery Channel.
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The latest edition of iLounge Weekly, our weekly newsletter covering all things iLounge, will be arriving in subscribers’ inboxes Monday morning. iLounge Weekly is a summary of the week’s best news, reviews, and feature articles we’ve published, and it also features giveaways and accessory discount offers from various companies. There’s…
| Read more »This week 10.7.3 was released, and MacNN forum goers were quick to start discussing this latest update to the Mac operating system. Yesterday Moderator OreoCookie started a thread looking for some advice on what kind of Solid State Drive to get for their MacBook Pro, click here to read more....
| Read more »Apple is quite comfy selling high end smartphones at a solid profit, and feels no need to venture deeper into the low end of the smartphone market, according to Citigroup analyst Richard Gardner. The analyst met with Apple executives and released his thoughts on that meeting in a research note to clients.
At Apple's online store today save on refurbished iPods, iMacs and more. The 8GB iPod nano in green, pink, yellow, blue, silver or black is available for $99 after a $30 price cut. For $119, after a $30 price cut, is the 16GB iPod nano in pink, silver, black or blue. A $120 price cut can be found on the refurb. 64GB iPod touch, now only $249....
| Read more »Crittercism has conducted a rare study of app stability that implied iOS apps might crash more than Android versions, although raising questions. Covering the top three quarters of popular apps downloaded in the first half of December, it found that iOS apps were slightly if noticeably more likely to crash. The relative gap diminished as researchers delved into less popular titles, although the sheer number of apps that crashed went up....
| Read more »FileVault 2 is a feature of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion that provides a way to encrypt a full disk drive so that it can only be used by those who know a password ... until now, that is. Passware, a company that makes forensic software used to recover lost passwords or open encrypted files to police and others, has announced that their Passware Kit Forensic 11.4 software (US$995) can extract the keys to FileVault 2 in an average of 40 minutes. Password was able to recover data from FileVault 2 encrypted drives regardless of the length and complexity of passwords. Fortunately for Mac users, however, not only does the cracking require a relatively expensive piece of software, but it also requires that certain conditions be in place for the software to be able to extract the FileVault keys. The Mac must be powered on and logged in; in other words, the FileVault keys must be in memory for Passware Kit Forensic to extract them. Passware can't extract...
| Read more »FX Photo Studio PRO... One Application - unlimited creativity with your pictures on Mac. FX Photo Studio PRO has everything you need to make photography exceptional.
Whether you are a professional photographer or just a hobbyist, FX Photo Studio PRO will take you to a brand new level of photo creativity on the Mac.EffectsCombine and layer any of the 172 effects to create the perfect looking image. A completely customizable interface allows you to preview each effect, compare original and resulting images, label...
| Read more »Motorola has won a pair of injunctions against Apple in Germany, one against certain iPhones and iPads, and another against push email in iCloud. But the bigger question is whether this means war between Apple and Google at last.
| Read more »Security Update 2012-001 for Mac OS X 10.6.8 can cause crashes, printing problems, and other issues with Rosetta applications; you can attempt to restore support with a patch created by a group of sysadmins at a Nebraska high school.
| Read more »Apple has reopened online sales of the iPhone 4S on the Chinese mainland, says China Daily. The option actually became available again on Wednesday local time, but customers wanting to buy a 4S may still be waiting for weeks. The Chinese storefront mentions an expected delivery date of "February," while a phone sales staffer tells the Daily that "If you pay today, you might get the items tomorrow, and no later than March 2." Orders are restricted to two devices per person....
| Read more »The Next Web:
Apple has updated its iBooks Author app in order to clarify the language of its End User License Agreement. The changes to the EULA clarify that Apple does indeed intend the packaged product to be sold on the iBookstore only, but also makes it clear that it does not lay claim to the content that you use to create the book, nor does it try to limit what you can do with that content elsewhere.
Clarifying what intelligent people already knew.
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A couple weeks after introducing its new iBooks Author app, Apple has clarified legal language about what happens to the books users create with the software. Apple continues to insist that users can only sell electronic books in the iBook format via its iTunes store. But it makes it clear that the content of those books can be sold in any other format, without Apple’s approval.
| Read more »Apple has reached new heights in unit sales and revenues, but its remarkable profitability in doing so has inhaled three quarters of the oxygen in the room.
| Read more »We were so beguiled by AD's bamboo-bound smartphone that we had to track down the designer to get some hands-on time with these
| Read more »Apple attempted to head off a minor controversy surrounding iBooks Author by clarifying that it does not claim ownership of the content authors write, restricting only sales of its .ibooks format.
| Read more »Following Apple's release of iBooks Author last month to support creation of iBooks Textbooks, significant controversy arose regarding the software's licensing, which specified that the output from the software could only be sold via the iBookstore and not any other marketplace.
Some confusion had resulted from Apple's language, with some believing that Apple was claiming rights to all content used in the production of the iBooks Textbooks, perhaps attempting to exclude books from being published in any other form.
Apple has now addressed the issue by releasing an update to iBooks Author that includes a modified licensing agreement to clarify that Apple claims rights only to the .ibooks document format itself, with authors being free to distribute their content in non-.ibooks formats however they...
| Read more »The Super Bowl is just around the corner which means it's time to get ready for the big game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Rather than our usual five apps, I couldn't contain myself and, instead, put together five categories of apps that'll set you up nicely for food, football and fun this coming Sunday. Official NFL and Team Apps if you want to learn more about the Patriots's offense and the Giants's defense, then you should download each team's iOS app. The Giants have a free app for the iPhone, while the Patriots have chosen to go iPad-only with a magazine-style app. The Patriots Football Daily app has a free 7-day trial followed by a paid subscription. The NFL...
| Read more »Apple managed to have an injunction against online sales of certain models of the iPhone and iPad in Germany suspended. But it wasn’t quite so lucky with a second injunction against iCloud push email notifications.
This morning, a Mannheim Regional Court granted an injunction against Apple’s implementation of push email in iCloud and its predecessor, MobileMe. Sought by Motorola Mobility, which claims Apple has infringed its European patent on a “multiple pager status synchronization system and method,” the injunction could force Apple to deactivate push email in iCloud in Germany,...
USA Today reviewer Edward C. Baig describes his experience using the first Multi-Touch digital textbooks published for the iBooks 2 for iPad app, noting that they are “engaging in ways that were simply not possible with the textbooks I grew up with.” Baig likes the portability, updatability, and low pricing of iBooks 2 digital textbooks and touts specific features like instant search, highlighting, bookmarking, and interactive graphics. Writes Baig, “It’s better to see an animated tour of the genome in E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth than just to read about it. ”
| Read more »The NFL has released three official iOS apps for this year’s Super Bowl XLVI. Super Bowl XLVI Official NFL Game Program (free) for iPad has been updated for this year’s event packing over 400MB of exclusive NFL video and other multimedia content plus additional interactive content chronicling the Giants’…
| Read more »iLounge is pleased to announce the iBattz Mojo Power Card Giveaway. In our Giveaway of the Month for February, iLounge and iBattz are giving away one of ten iBattz Mojo Removable Power Card battery packs. To enter, simply fill out and submit the form on the giveaway page—the…
| Read more »The news just keeps getting better for Apple in the mobile phone business. Just yesterday, IDC reported that the company is in third place in terms of worldwide mobile phone sales. Today, Asymco analyst Horace Dediu announced that with a relatively small piece of the pie (IDC said 6 percent of market, Dediu says 8.7 percent), Apple is pulling in a whopping 75 percent of profits in the industry. Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 2.0 notes in an analysis of Dediu's numbers that out of the top eight manufacturers, only five are showing meaningful profits. Samsung has about a 16 percent profit share, while "Nokia, Research in Motion, and HTC are just...
| Read more »A new report from start-up company Crittercism claims that iOS apps are crashing at a greater rate than most popular Android apps.
| Read more »Readdle has released Remarks, a new note-taking and PDF annotating app for the iPad. Remarks provides the ability to create text notes and freehand sketches that are saved as PDF files that can be easily viewed, printed and edited on the desktop or shared via e-mail. In addition, Remarks provides…
| Read more »Apple has released a minor maintenance update to iBooks, addressing an issue where iBooks textbooks may not open under certain circumstances. An update to iBooks Author has also been released on the Mac App Store expressly to provide an updated version of the End User License Agreement. The original iBooks…
| Read more »An incremental release for iBooks Author has been released with changes to the program's EULA. The update is 143.50 MB, which seems pretty hefty for a EULA change. The change is an important one though, clarifying that Apple has rights over the format a book is in, not the content. If someone wants to charge a fee for an .ibooks formatted file, that document can only be sold or distributed through Apple, and that work will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple. The restriction does not include works distributed in non-.ibooks formats (such as the Kindle), as TUAW's Erica Sadun previously discussed.iBooks Author 1.01 out with updated EULA originally appeared on...
| Read more »Apple’s Airport Utility, version 6.0 introduces a graphical look that mimics that of the iPad version. But it also loses some functionality compared to the 5.x version.
The makers of the popular (and quite violent) Doom and Quake franchises have brought their newest mutant-slaughtering game to the Mac. Rage: Campaign Edition, from Id Software, debuted Thursday on the Mac App Store.
| Read more »Though you might be tempted to ditch your office fax machine, you probably have to send out at least a few faxes every year. Luckily, a number of services can help, even if you don't have a fax machine connected to an old telephone line.
| Read more »A student from Middlesex University has designed a smartphone made from bamboo, which he plans to release in the UK and Europe later this year.
| Read more »asymco's Horace Dediu has released his latest calculations of revenue and profits in the global mobile phone industry, finding that Apple has increased its share of the top vendors' profits to 75%. Samsung followed in second place with 16% of industry profits while no other vendor accounted for more than 4% of profits.Apple reached 75% of profit share, nearly 40% of revenue share and 9% of units share.
Apple and Samsung combined for about 91% of profits with RIM third at 3.7%, HTC fourth at 3.0% and Nokia last at 1.8% of a $15 billion total for the quarter.Dediu's analysis covers eight top mobile phone vendors: Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Research in Motion, HTC, LG, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson. While the numbers do not include a few major players such as China's ZTE for which public numbers are not available, his analysis does provide a relatively solid picture of the...
| Read more »A handful of new tips have hinted that the US government's custom Android work is going beyond just military use. After soldiers, federal agencies and contractors would get the devices, CNN heard. The platform would be locked down enough only to store the documents at first, but it could be cleared send them over the cellular network in a matter of a "few months" if the sources were right....
| Read more »Former Apple employee Bob Borchers:
“What’s interesting is that the challenge Steve laid out for us when we created the iPhone wasn’t to make a touch-screen device that would play apps and do all of this stuff,” Borchers told students. “His [charge] was simple. He wanted to create the first phone that people would fall in love with. That’s what he told us.”
And that is why Apple is so successful.
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In a stunning release, the mysterious hacker organization “Anonymous” has published audio of an international coordination conference call between the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the British Scotland Yard, revealing officers’ secret communications on investigations into the group’s recent exploits.
| Read more »Several OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard users are reporting that Power PC-coded apps no longer work after applying Security Update 2012-001. The Apple support boards are full of stories about Rosetta apps crashing when any command is selected from the menu bar. Complaints seem heaviest from those running older versions of Microsoft Office, Quicken, FileMaker and Photoshop. Some users have recommended unofficial workarounds for the problem (attempt at your own risk), and it isn't known if Apple will fix the issue. Rosetta was deep-sixed in Lion, but was working fine in Snow Leopard until the security update was issued on Wednesday. Rosetta was introduced in...
| Read more »You wouldn’t think we’d have to write articles defending “proper” spelling, but after a recent Wired article arguing against standardized spelling, Lee Simmons, a copy editor at Wired, has penned a lovely rebuttal. Simmons points out that while textisms may be acceptable in texts and tweets, they have no place in professional writing where standardized spelling aids communication and enhances clarity. Well said! Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »Apple is likely uninterested in building a MacBook Air with an ARM-based processor, says Citigroup's Richard Gardner. The analyst met with Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer at the company's Cupertino campus on Thursday, when among other things Cook repeated a view that iOS expansion will eventually result in tablets outselling conventional PCs. "We have wondered whether Apple might offer an ARM-based version of the MacBook Air at some point; we walked away from this meeting with the impression that Apple feels iPad satisfies -- or will soon satisfy -- th...
| Read more »The Deal Brothers found a deal on the refurbished MacBook Pro 2.2GHz quad-core Intel i7 for $1,699. This system was originally released in February of 2011, and it ships for free.
The group known as Anonymous listened in on a call between the bureau, Scotland Yard and other foreign police agencies about their joint investigation of the group and its allies.
| Read more »These cutting-edge HDTVs would be great for watching the Super Bowl, except they're not out yet.
| Read more »This is pretty crazy: Anonymous, as part of their regular "Fuck FBI Friday" release, leaked a 16 minute phone call between the FBI and their counterparts in the UK.
| Read more »It almost goes without saying that some sort of office productivity suite is required for a new Mac system, and while some might gravitate to Microsoft Office there are others available that can perform quite similarly.
| Read more »Foursquare product head Alex Rainert disclosed in a quick interview Friday that the app would be getting automatic check-ins over time. He explained to Business Insider that the team had wanted people to check in simply by going to a location but that it was matter of "technical restraints" and design. The Radar feature for iOS 5 users was a step in that direction, according to Rainert....
| Read more »Apple, which has spent the past day pulling older models of the iPhone and iPad inventory from the shelves of its online store in Germany, is now restoring them.
Apple has pulled several iPad and iPhone models from its German online store after Motorola Mobility enforced a patent injunction against its rival, reports the "BBC" (http://macte.ch/7GmXq). Now in a statement given to "AllThingsD" (http://macte.ch/TVRgM), Apple confirmed that the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and 3G/UMTS-based iPads should be returning to the shelves of its German online store in a matter of hours.
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Motorola scored a victory against Apple today when it won a permanent injunction against the company's iCloud and MobileMe push email service. According to FOSS Patents, the injunction is "preliminarily enforceable," which means Motorola can enforce the ruling right away by posting a 100 million euro bond. Posting a bond and enforcing this ruling is risky, though. If Apple appeals and wins, then Motorola will be liable for damages from enforcing this injunction early. If enforced, Apple must disable the push email portion of its iCloud and MobileMe service. Customers in Germany affected by this injunction will have to turn off push email and configure their mail clients to pull down emails periodically. This permanent injunction resulted from a complaint filed by Motorola in April 2011. Apple has...
| Read more »Readdle has launched Remarks, a new note-taking app for the iPad. The application lets users share notes with collaborators or view the documents as PDFs on their home computer.
| Read more »A potentially major rumor has Nokia accelerating the death of Symbian as a smartphone platform. The company has officially planned for a transition through 2013, but the Register heard only one new model, a sequel to the N8, was still in the works. Existing owners would get the Belle update, but every other project on the OS had supposedly been cancelled....
| Read more »When late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs assembled his first iPhone development team, he wasn't focused on conceiving a device that would run all sorts of apps and media but instead laid out a simple mission to his team: to create the first phone people would love so much, they'd never leave the house without it....
| Read more »Like you and millions of others, I find myself trapped inside notification hell. Emails, notifications, tweets, text and instant Messages, Facebook Alerts -- are part of our over-notified self. Here is a video that does a great job of capturing this notification hell we live in.
| Read more »Today's deals from DealNN include price breaks on iPads, external hard drives, and more. Apple.com is currently offering sales on a wide range of refurbished iPads, one of which is the refurb. 64GB iPad 2 that includes both Wi-Fi and 3G support, HD video recording, dual-core A5 processing chip, and FaceTime support with two cameras. Currently featured at DealNN, this iPad 2 has now dropped to only $729, and delivers savings of up to $100....
| Read more »If you want to switch to a different backup drive, use this article to learn how to transfer your existing Time Machine backups to the new backup drive, and then use it for regular Time Machine backups.
| Read more »Learn how to create and deploy a recovery key for use with FileVault 2 in order to recover encrypted data after a lost user password, in this advanced article.
| Read more »Aptonic has released a v2.0 update for its flagship OS X utility, Dropzone. The app speeds up a number of file copying and transfer operations by letting users simply drag a file to a menu item, and then to a target destination. Some options include apps, local folders, email, FTP servers, and Flickr....
| Read more »Last week we told you about a new online lottery system for reservations that Apple setup for iPhone 4S sales through its Hong Kong stores to combat scalpers after it was forced to suspend sales of the device in various locations throughout Mainland China. Unfortunately, until this week, Apple’s online store for China has been out of stock since the overwhelming launch.
After implementing the new reservation policies on Tuesday, and in Beijing on Wednesday, Apple has now resumed online sales of the device with shipments arriving to customers no later than March 2,...
Apple will be able to sell its iPad 2 with 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4 via its online store in Germany after all, thanks to a temporary extension courtesy of a German court. As noted by the BBC, an appeals court lifted the ban on certain iOS devices just after Apple was forced to remove them from its German online store earlier on Friday. Still, not all is going Apple's way, as a Mannheim Regional Court also ruled on Friday that Apple had infringed upon a patent owned by Motorola that allows devices to sync e-mail across devices wirelessly, which may spell out changes for iCloud users in Germany.
...
| Read more »Dear Aunt TUAW, I would like to run Mac OS X 10.6.7 off a RAM disk, for better performance/security while browsing the World Wide Web (I don't want to save the image with all those gnarly cookie crumbs to disk). I understand that a family living down the street from me is able to run Linux from a RAM disk -- can you help me out? Your loving niece, Emily Dear Emily, Auntie immediately consulted with Unkie Mike after receiving your letter. He responded as follows: Running OS X off a RAM disk isn't supported (and hasn't been on the Mac for a long, long time -- since Mac OS 9, in fact). Linux is a different beast. You can run a browser in private or 'incognito' mode if you're concerned about security, or use a virtualization tool like Parallels or VMware to run a virtual Mac on your Mac. However, to run 10.6.7 virtualized you'd need the server version (expensive). You can get most of the...
| Read more »Just hours after word began to spread that Apple was forced to pull most of its 3G devices from its German online store following an injunction awarded to Motorola, the iPhone maker successfully had the ruling suspended and has recommenced sales.
| Read more »ActiveState has released a new version of the Komodo integrated development environment. We tested its newly added support for Node.js debugging and code completion.
| Read more »According to a recent study conducted by Sharaholic, Pinterest drove more referral traffic to sites in January than Google+, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn and MySpace all combined. Keep in mind, Sharaholic only has access to data from websites that have the Sharaholic application installed.
| Read more »Earlier today, Apple was forced to remove the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (not the iPhone 4S), and all 3G iPads from its online store in Germany. This injunction was short-lived as Apple appealed and the German court suspended the ban. The company told Slashgear, "Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago." It also confirmed that "All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple's online store in Germany shortly." According to FOSS Patents, the original removal was the...
| Read more »Motorola's German ban against Apple was short-lived Friday after the court suspended the ban following an appeal. Apple in a statement hours later told SlashGear that it would have iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and 3G iPads back on Germany's online Apple Store soon. The iOS device builder reiterated the point of view behind the appeal, which contended that Motorola was violating policies around licensing patents on FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory) terms....
| Read more »John Paczkowski:
A German court has suspended an injunction that prevented Apple from selling or distributing online certain devices believed to infringe certain Motorola Mobility patents.
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The separate Security Update 2012-001 download for Snow Leopard users is breaking apps that depend on Rosetta, according to complaints. Rosetta allows PowerPC-based apps to operate within Snow Leopard. Programs such as Eudora 6, Acrobat Pro 7, Quicken 2007, and Office 2004 will reportedly crash, freeze, or exhibit other unexpected behavior, such as failing to print documents....
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As part of the Mac OS X 10.7.3 update released earlier this week, Security Update 2012-001 [release notes] for Snow Leopard broke compatibility with several Rosetta Power PC programs. The issue, as described on Tidbits, MacInTouch and on Apple Support Communities threads (here, here and here), causes some third-party programs to crash unexpectedly under Snow Leopard. This includes popular applications such as Quicken, Filemaker 7, Adobe Photoshop and...
Update: 8PM ET: Apple has updated the store and all 3G devices are again available.
Just this morning Apple was dealt a patent blow by a German court that ruled Apple’s 3G products outside of the iPhone 4S were in violation of Motorola patents. The “Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory” (FRAND) nature of the patents means Apple should be able to purchase licensing rights to those patents at market rates (i.e. what Nokia, Samsung, and others pay). According to Apple, Motorola has not offered those types of terms.
Fast forward to a few minutes ago: Apple stated the 3G devices in question would be back on sale “shortly”…
Slashgear...
That was fast.
Apple, which has spent the past day pulling older model iPhone and iPad inventory from the shelves of its online store in Germany, is now scrambling to restore it. This morning, a court temporarily suspended an injunction that prevented Apple from selling or distributing iOS devices believed to infringe certain Motorola Mobility patents.
In a statement given to AllThingsD, Apple confirmed that the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and 3G/UMTS-based iPads should be returning to the shelves of its German online store in a matter of hours.
“All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple’s online store in Germany shortly,” an Apple spokeswoman told AllThingsD. “Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry...
Apple stepped up its legal campaign against Samsung by expanding its Australian lawsuit to include 278 new claims which cover 22 patents and ten devices. The original suit, filed last year, targeted only the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which Apple claimed violated less than five of its patents. Samsung lead barrister Neil Young spoke to The Australian, and said Apple "enormously" expanded its legal claim against Samsung. He confirmed the Korean company was given "days notice" of this expanded claim and may need until mid-May to prepare properly for its defense. Last December 2011, the case took a turn in favor of Samsung when a judge overturned Apple's injunction banning the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 tablet. Samsung was able to obtain this...
| Read more »In what’s turning out to be a day dominated by new of Apple and Motorola’s patent fight, Apple has managed to get an injunction suspended that had blocked the sale of the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2 with 3G support in Germany. Apple pulled the devices from its online store in Germany earlier in the day to comply with the injunction.
While the odd "CUI Error" experienced by some users after upgrading to OS X 10.7.3 earlier this week has garnered a fair amount of attention, it appears that a security update released for Mac OS X Snow Leopard at the same time is also causing major issues for users who rely on older PowerPC applications that run under Apple's Rosetta framework.
Security Update 2012-001 was released alongside OS X 10.7.3 on Wednesday in order to bring some of the security fixes found in OS X 10.7.3 to users still running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. But as noted in several discussions at Apple's forums (1, 2,...
| Read more »That is MG Siegler’s response to news that RIM Offering Free PlayBook Tablets to Woo Android Developers.
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From 9to5Toys.com:
MacMall is offering 9to5 readers an additional 3% off of their already lowest prices on Mac Minis and iMacs this month yielding the lowest prices you’ll find anywhere (by as much as $50) with free shipping via this link. The 3% is deducted at checkout and MacMall doesn’t charge tax in most states.
All discounts, including higher end models listed below:
//
| Read more »Flos is now offering its new D’E-Light lamp for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Designed by Philippe Starck and made from chrome-plated aluminum, the lamp features a striking design, a 2700K flat panel LED light capable of producing 299 Lumens, and a top-mounted dock capable of recharging an iPhone,…
| Read more »I finally upgraded to Lion on my work computer and bid farewell to the wonderful Hyperspaces application. I used all 16 spaces and was loathe to make the jump to Mission Control.
After upgrading many apps were not respecting being assigned to specific desktops or to all desktops. At first I tried unassigning them in the Dock and reassigning them to their previous desktop or all desktops, but it didn't work.
Here is the solution I found:
Apparently setting it to 'None' does not clear the previous assignment.
[crarko adds: I haven't tested this one.]
...
| Read more »To get the Photo Stream working on my MacBook I found out that I had to BUY an upgrade for an application that I don't want: iPhoto.
Looking for a solution I found that iPhoto stores its pictures in a specific location and the Photo Stream is updated even if iPhoto is not running. The goal was to create a script that copies all of the images from many sub-directories into a single folder.
As there are many people who know a lot more about OSX I would welcome improvements and feedback. Some areas to look at:
Here's the script:
tell application "Finder"
set this_folder to "Macintosh HD:Users:duittenb:Library:Appl ...
...
| Read more »The encryption keys for Apple's FileVault 2 full-disk encryption used with OS X Lion can be recovered in under an hour, according to security researchers, as long as the computer is on, running, and locally accessible.
| Read more »Apple hasn’t jumped onboard with wireless NFC credit card payment support with the iPhone yet, but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t planning on adding the feature in future models. Today TMO readers are talking about how Apple could implement NFC and credit card payment support with the iPhone and how Siri voice control could fit into those plans, too.
Sister Sledge has filed a lawsuit Thursday against Warner Music Group. The San Francisco complaint caught by the Hollywood Reporter accused Warner of cheating the "We Are Family" singers of revenue on iTunes, Amazon MP3, and other stores through purportedly deceptive terms. By counting a download as a one-time sale rather than a license, Warner was taking the group down from a 25 percent cut to much less....
| Read more »How about a bit of humor on a Friday. Personally, I like the “drunken radiator.” [...]
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Apple's FileVault disk encryption can be circumvented in less than an hour, according to a computer forensics firm, reports "The Register" (http://macte.ch/pGMcM). Technology from Passware can purportedly capture the content of a Mac machine's memory, via Firewire interfaces, before extracting encryption keys.
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HP is among the many companies embracing 3D technology, and its 2311gt monitor aims to make the technology an affordable upgrade. The 23-inch monitor works as a standard 2D display, or as a 3D panel when combined with passive 3D glasses. In our full review, we will see how the companyís passive 3D technology stacks up against pricier active-shutter tech.
Design ......
| Read more »Reuters:
Japan’s Panasonic Corp warned of a record annual $10.2 billion net loss, joining beleaguered rivals Sony and Sharp in a sea of red ink as they struggle to fix their broken TV businesses and show they have not lost their way.
I think it’s clear they have lost their way.
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6 Wunderkinder has released an iPhone app for Wunderkit, its new cloud-based project management service. Wunderkit is designed to help users organize their tasks and projects collaboratively with friends, family and colleagues by providing a social layer. The iPhone and iPod touch application supports all of the main features of…
| Read more »Apple has pulled several iPad and iPhone models from its German online store after Motorola Mobility enforced a patent injunction against its rival, reports the "BBC" (http://macte.ch/7GmXq).
The move follows a December ruling that Apple had failed to license one of Motorola's wireless intellectual properties. iPhone users in Germany may also face the loss of their push email iCloud service after a separate patent victory by Motorola, notes the "BBC." Apple has said it will appeal.
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Update: Apple had these videos taken offline. We will make an effort to see if they exist somewhere else. Help us out in the comments if you find them.
Former Apple marketing executive Bob Borchers, who was part of the original iPhone team and helped lead the Nike+iPod partnership and third-party iPod integration with car manufacturers, recently gave a talk at a school in California to discuss his experiences at Apple (part 2 below). In case you are unfamiliar, you might remember Borchers from several “guided tour” videos for iPhone and other Apple products a few years back. He has also been a source for many of the interesting stories coming from Adam Lashinsky’s new book “Inside Apple.”
At the starting of his talk to students, Borchers...
Apple has widened its claims against Samsung in its ongoing patent battle with the company it was revealed in the NSW Federal Court in Australia, reports "The Australian IT" (http://macte.ch/0XsKN).
Samsung lead barrister Neil Young SC said Apple had "enormously" expanded its patent bid which initially involved three patents of features in the Korean company's Galaxy Tab 10.1, the article adds. The lawsuit now encompasses 278 claims across 22 patents that cover 10 Samsung devices.
Dave Caolo and I were chatting this morning about iBooks and spelling. "It's not my daughter's favorite subject," he said, "and I'm looking for a way to make it more appealing to her." He asked if there could there be any way to incorporate spelling quizzes into iBooks via Author. The answer is, unfortunately, not clearly yes. That's because iBooks Author assumes that all interaction will be by multiple choice. That means you can create interactions to choose from common misspellings and from homonyms, but can't solicit freeform text entry. That gives rise to the kind of interaction you see below. The shortcomings are apparent. For example, you cannot define any item that isn't tied to a specific location (so you can't create a pool of misspellings without destinations). If the reader switches the order of the two misspelled words (here Tale and Flour) those are...
| Read more »Apple will at last reopen its main Pasadena retail location on Saturday at 10AM, the company has announced. The store has been out of commission since April, when it closed for remodeling. A nearby temporary outlet has been serving the public since then....
| Read more »The third edition of iPod and iTunes Portable Genius, penned by iLounge Applications Editor Jesse Hollington, is now available. Weighing in at 384 pages, the book includes a number of useful how-tos, tips, full-color screenshots, and other information for iPod and iTunes users. The third edition contains a variety of…
| Read more »The Mannheim Regional Court in Germany ruled on Friday that the push email service in iCloud and MobileMe infringes on Motorola Mobility patents and awarded the company an injunction blocking Apple from using the feature, as well as blocking any devices that take advantage of the feature. Assuming Motorola chooses to act on the injunction, Apple would have to stop offering push email service through iCloud and MobileMe in Germany.
In recent weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time considering the thought process that has engendered some of the worst managerial decisions of the past year or so. Observing RIM’s spiralling failures, for instance, it’s difficult to discern precisely what has been driving such spectacularly flawed products, announcements, and marketing choices. Even on a much lower end of the scale, amidst the countless gimmicky iPhone accessories on display at Macworld, the bright booths and out-of-place “booth babes” all seem to ask the simple question: “why?” [...]
| Read more »Why the House spectrum bill should be ditched: Q&A with Reed Hundt
| Read more »The EU's Article 29 Working Party, which represents data protection rules, has sent a letter (PDF) unsuccessfully trying to persuade Google to temporarily stop implementing its unified privacy policy. Under concerns that the changes may affect much of Europe, the coalition of national and continental regulators wanted a "pause" so that there wasn't any confusion over privacy rights, according to chairman Jacob Kohnstamm. The Article 29 group also said Google would need to talk to France's data regulator CNIL as its main contact for questions....
| Read more »Bloomberg reports that Apple has removed all non-iPhone 4S devices with 3G technology from its German online store following a win by Motorola in the ongoing patent dispute between the two companies. The devices, which include the 3G iPad 2, iPhone 4, and iPhone 3GS, remain available from Apple's physical stores and other resellers in the country.
iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS removed from Apple's German online store
The removal is related to enforcement of a December injunction focused on a Motorola patent on 3G GPRS technology.“While some iPad and iPhone models are not available through Apple’s online store in Germany right now, customers should have no problem finding them at one of our retail stores or an...
| Read more »"This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it." HAL; 2001: A Space Odyssey Editor's note: this is a longer version of ReadWriteWeb Editor-in-chief Richard MacManus' article for the SAY Media newsletter. The newsletter is delivered weekly and features SAY Media's take on media, culture, venn diagrams and the occasional Kubrick homage. You can sign up for it here. Over half of all devices at this year's CES, the world's largest consumer electronics trade show, were Internet connected. Nearly 60% of those were non-traditional computing devices such as TVs, cars, refrigerator
| Read more »Apple has stopped selling the iPhone 3G and iPhone 4 through its online store in Germany following a ruling that the company is violating wireless communication patents owned by Motorola. Apple’s online store also stopped sales of the iPad 2 with 3G support.
Optimal Layout is a great utility that fundamentally alters the way that I interact with my Mac. In short, it gives me the ability to use my keyboard to quickly change between windows. That might sound like what you're been doing with ⌘ + Tab, but there are a few important differences. The first is that you can choose not only which app you are switching to, but also which window in that app. Optimal Layout can even switch you to specific browser tabs in Safari or Google Chrome. You can use the mouse with Optimal Layout, but it works especially well for those who prefer the keyboard. Type ⌘ + Option/Alt + F and it will bring up a list of available windows. Start typing and it will match window names. When you find the one you want, simply press Return. This is especially great if you are on a Mac with a small screen or working in multiple full-screen apps, because you can switch between them without using...
| Read more »Avid has released its first video editing application for the iPad -- Avid Studio, available immediately at the Apple App Store. The company says it's the first iPad app for video editing to offer frame-by-frame editing accuracy and access to all kinds of media.
As a special launch promotion, Avid Studio for iPad is being offered for US$4.99.
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Mac OS X 10.7.3 is here.
Now it’s time to sort out the bugs.
Per 9to5Mac, a number of users are reportedly suffering from an odd application crash bug. Affected people will see apps crash often, with the unusual twist of error messages that feature the word “CUI” stamped over them. A source claims that the company has already sent out an email to a v10.7.3 test group, asking them if they’ve run into the problem and requesting bug reports if so.
Some workarounds exist (which are cataloged here...
If iOS 5′s iMessages app is giving you fits, Tim Cook is here to tell you why. Per The Loop, reports of iOS 5 iMessages being sent to the wrong recipient are the result of a misconfigured phone, not an issue with the operating system or Apple’s cloud services, the company indicated.
The report notes that a situation where messages from an Apple Store employee were being directed to another user’s iPhone were the result of the employee failing to follow directions while troubleshooting the customer’s device.
The employee installed his personal SIM card in the customer’s phone, linking the device to his Apple ID account in a way that resulted in his subsequent iMessages, including photos, being...
Late Thursday, version 5.5.0.2340 of the Skype VoIP application was released as a public beta). The new version, a 23.2 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:
- Improved video call stability and improvements to the calling interface.
Skype 5.5.0.2340 is available for free and requires Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later to install and run.
If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know.
Motorola Mobility has won a second patent ruling against Apple in Germany, even as the latter has been forced to remove some iPhone and iPad models from its online store thanks to the prior ruling. Bloomberg reports that the Mannheim Regional Court found that Apple infringed upon a Motorola…
| Read more »Jawbone's plans for a bigger Bluetooth speaker were given away late Thursday after an FCC filing showed a new device. Just called the Big Jambox, the diagramming hints that it might represent a literal upsizing of the brick-shaped audio device. Not much is hinted at in directly by the filing besides the inclusion of Bluetooth....
| Read more »For power users, the Terminal is indispensable. It can help you figure out permissions problems, change settings that you couldn’t otherwise, and tinker with all kinds of invisible goodies, even if you’re not a powerful sysadmin who uses it to administer hundreds of machines. In this article, Melissa Holt will show you her favorite ways to make using the program an easier, more pleasant experience.
Jumsoft has introduced Book Pallete 1.0, a themes application developed specifically for iBooks Author on the Mac. It requires Mac OS X 10.7.2 or later, costs US$2.99 and is available worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store in the Graphics & Design category.
Book Palette app contains 10 templates that bring plenty of options to Mac users who wish to publish their own e-books. All templates contain the full range of standard section and page layouts provided in the iBooks Author app, including covers, chapter pages, text pages, tables of contents, glossary pages, and more.
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Bethesda Softworks, in partnership with Aspyr Media, says RAGE: Campaign Edition is now available for the Mac worldwide.
This new shooter from id Software has been published for the Mac by Aspyr.. The game can be digitally downloaded in English, French or German now via Apple's Mac App Store, Aspyr's own digital store GameAgent.com, and through other supporting Mac digital retailers.
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Apple has removed all 3G/UMTS-capable iPad and iPhone models from its German online store in response to an injunction based on a wireless standard FRAND patent owned by Motorola Mobility.
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Avid is well-known for its chops as a maker of professional video editing suites, but on Thursday it grabbed some notice in consumer circles with a new offering for Apple's iPad 2. Avid Studio, available from Apple's App Store for a limited time at $4.99, brings a solid set of video editing tools to the iPad. For instance, clips can be quickly arranged along a storyboard. Frames can be precisely trimmed in the app's timeline. Cuts can be made on the fly with the software's razor tool.
Two of the things that enchanted me most at Macworld | iWorld 2012 was the Jot stylus and a preview of Readdle's Remarks app. I've spent the past week looking at different note-taking apps to use with my new Jot Pro while waiting for Remarks to come out. The preview held not one, not two, but three TUAW writers enthralled as the Readdle folks showed it off. Does it live up to the hype? It really does. I have two specific tasks for any note-taking app for the iPad - it should handle the hand drafts I do of comic strips, and it should handle a PDF workflow I've developed for my day job. In both areas, it excelled. In handwriting mode, Remarks edges out Note Taker HD in responsiveness when it comes to using a...
| Read more »Tunewear has released the US$99.95 Security Locker for iPad 2. The iPad 2 can be worn around the neck for in-store, or for back-office applications.
The Security Locker can be secured to desk or table to prevent the iPad 2 from disappearing when used for in-store demos, trade show booth presentations and even school exhibits. The clear polycarbonate hard case is designed with a security lock and wire features. It's built to both prevent theft of iPad 2 and protect it from dirt and scratches.
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David Meyer: The anti-counterfeiting trade agreement could criminalise internet users globally. But it hasn't been ratified yet …
| Read more »A beautifully-crafted table encapsulates electronics and robotics, allowing images to be magically sculpted in a layer of sand.
| Read more »This is a change for a government agency. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) had nineteen different email systems and over 25,000 email addresses they wanted to consolidate under one system to cut costs. Surprisingly, they didn’t spend millions of dollars on a study or a consulting firm to do the move.
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Update: It appears that the ban has been lifted already
Apple lost its first significant patent battle today as it was forced to take 3G iPads and iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4′s off its virtual Apple Store shelves in Germany today.
The Mannheim Regional Court found Apple infringed a patent used to synchronize e-mail accounts. The ruling also allows Motorola Mobility to ask Apple for information about past sales and holds Apple liable for damages, Presiding Judge Andreas Voss said in delivering the ruling.
“The court has come to the conclusion that the wording of the patent does cover...
Macgamestore (http://www.macgamestore.com) has released Jewel Quest: The Sapphire Dragon Collector's Edition, the sixth game in the Jewel Quest series by iWin. It costs US$13.99 and requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher.
Here's how the game is described; "Jewel Quest: The Sapphire Dragon Collector's Edition leads you through 200 brand new jewel boards as you unearth ancient wonders and discover the secret behind the elusive Sapphire Dragon. While piloting his Cessna in a Himalayan snowstorm, Raj crash-lands on a frozen mountain, thus kicking off the adventure.
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Breaking: a faction of Anonymous has released an MP3 recording of an FBI conference call which took place on January 17th.
| Read more »NuOxygen Game Publishing has released Umotion 2D (http://macte.ch/ZFHth), a new 2D animation tool for Macintosh and Windows systems. A demo version is available.
Using this tool you can create 2D animations and export them directly into Unity, Umotion 2D comes with tutorial videos and a short user guide.
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Noise Industries has added Idustrial Revolution's XEffects Tech Transitions to its repertoire of products for FxFactory 3. The new visual effects package, made exclusively for Final Cut Pro X, lets editors add transitions to projects without layers, key framing, or complex mattes.
Tech Transitions offers 28 transition effects, all with adjustable settings. Effects can be slipped, lengthened, shortened and cut and pasted like any other transition.
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German iCloud users may soon be denied access to one of iCloud's most important features, as Motorola has won a permanent injunction against Apple's data pushing services and devices from the country's Mannheim Regional Court.
| Read more »Apricorn's (http://www.apricorn.com) Aegis Netdock -- Mac Edition is making me rethink some future purchases. It actually has me considering a MacBook Air as my main Mac.
As for the Apple US$79 SuperDrive, forget it. The Aegis Netdock blows it away.
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I almost didn't bother telling you all about this, because the circumstances around this release really rub the wrong way. But for gamers who've been waiting to play id games' latest, Rage, on the Mac, the Campaign Edition of the title is now available on the Mac App Store, for US$39.99. The Campaign Edition includes all of the extra equipment from the original Anarchy Edition of the game, along with a whole bunch of extra missions and content to play. If you've wanted to play Rage on the Mac, this is it. So why am I so annoyed by this release? Because it's a port of the game, done by Aspyr Media. I don't have anything personally against Aspyr, but why has it taken us this long to get this game ported over to the Mac? Why can't we run the game natively? id games made a big show of the title...
| Read more »I always enjoy the annual article "Mac/Life" on products Apple should/could develop. In their latest feature, I was particularly intrigued by the iDesk.
The iDesk is a conceptual re-imagining of the desk. Not the Mac OS X Desktop, but an actual, physical desktop.
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