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11:23

EA server compromised in effort to steal Apple IDs

Hackers have targeted Electronic Arts (EA), the company behind Titanfall, FIFA 14 and Battlefield 4, to try and steal your Apple ID and credit card details by hacking into an EA server and hosting a phishing site, according to NetCraft, a security company.

In a blog post (http://tinyurl.com/obuv3l4), NetCraft says compromised server is used by two websites in the ea.com domain, and is ordinarily used to host a calendar based on WebCalendar 1.2.0. (Newer versions of the calendar application have fixed the loopholes.) The phishing site attempts to trick a victim into submitting his Apple ID and password.

It then presents a second form which asks the victim to verify his full name, card number, expiration date, verification code, date of birth, phone number, mother's maiden name, plus other details that would be useful to a fraudster. After submitting these details, the victim is redirected to...

09:15

Kinivo announces WID380 Wireless Enhanced USB Adapter

Kinivo has announced the WID380 Wireless Enhanced USB Adapter, an all-in-one solution for enhancing existing Wi-Fi capabilities or adding the freedom of wireless Internet to your desktop or later laptop models.

It adds dimension, increases speed, improves signal strength and heightens overall wireless Internet performance, establishing a more reliable network between your Internet router and laptop or desktop, according to Kinivio's Andy Karuza. He adds that it provides your signal a boost with speeds up to 300 Mbps.

The WID380 connects by plugging directly into your laptop or desktop’s USB port. Or it can be placed up to three feet away with the included extension cable.

It's available at an introductory price of $19.99 at Amazon.com. Go to www.kinivio.com for more info.

05:58

Braveland is new turn-based strategy game for Mac OS X

Tortuga Team has introduced Braveland 1.0, a turn-based game title for Mac OS X. It's inspired by old-school strategies with a hexagonal battlefield.

Here's how the game is described: "You start as a humble warrior's son whose village was cruelly raided by bandits and use your wits and skill to become a commander of your own army. Braveland features 50 battles that will test your tactical skill, 26 unit types to populate the battlefield, intense boss fights, character development, and more."

Braveland requires Mac OS X 10.6.6 or higher. It's available for US$4.99 at the Mac App Store in the Games category. Go to http://www.tortugateam.com/ for more info.

05:54

Speech Timer 2.0 for Mac OS X and iOS released

Basil Salad Software has announced Speech Timer 2.0, an update of the free oration timekeeper software for Mac, iDevices, and Android devices. The upgrade includes native support for the Mac and iPad in addition to the iPhone.

Speech Timer is designed to help public speaking enthusiasts orchestrate their regular chapter meetings and send out timer's reports to all participants. It features large colored time indicators, a numerical timer display and graphical progress bar. This second major release of Speech Timer

Speech Timer 2.0 is available for download from the Mac App Store and iTunes App Store. Go to http://basilsadad.com for more info.

05:54

Mobile Traffic to hit 200 exabytes in 2019

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) collect large amounts of data from their network, but the use of the data collected is what really counts. MNOs main use of collecting subscriber and network data is to be able to produce valuable insights on customer experience, customer behavior and network performance. But there is so much more operators can do to make accurate business decisions that generate more revenue, fight competition, and build on customer quality of experience (QoE), according to ABI Research (http://www.abiresearch.com).

Research analyst Sabir Rafiq comments: "MNOs and Communication Service Providers (CSPs) are actively looking into Big data and analytical solutions. They need tools that can impact their businesses and find new ways to reduce costs, improve efficiency of the networks, increase and generate new revenue streams, and increase QoE."

He adds: "Big data analytics are no...

04:46

Print Window for Mac OS X updated to version 5.0

Searchware Solutions has revved Print Window, its window printing utility for Mac OS X, to version 5.0. It's now a fully Cocoa-based application.

Version 5.0 also sports a new user interface and faster performance. A drop window has been added so file listings can be initiated via drag and drop. It also adds the ability to save multiple file listing settings.

Print Window 5.0 is available in two versions through Searchware Solutions online (http://www.printwindowapp.com). The standard edition is free. The advanced edition, which provides more features, is US$20 for a single-user license. Upgrade pricing is available. Volume licensing is available as well. Users that purchased a license to Print Window Advanced Edition, version 4, in the last 30 days will automatically receive a free upgrade to version 5.

04:35

App Delete for Mac OS X gets revamped user interface, more

Reggie Ashworth has released AppDelete 4.1.2, an update to his application deletion utility for Mac OS X.

Via drag and drop, AppDelete will uninstall anything along with all of the associated items. Version 4.1.2 sports a new user interface and revised workflow. It's also optimized for Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks.

AppDelete 4.1.2 costs US$7.99 for a single user license. Upgrades from Version 2/AppDelete Lite are $3.99 (USD). A full-featured demo is available. Go to http://www.reggieashworth.com/appdelete for more info.

Mar 18

Autodesk announces 2015 3D animation software

Autodesk has unveiled the 2015 versions of its ]3D animations tools: Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, MotionBuilder, Mudbox, Softimage, and the newest addition to the lineup, Maya LT, a 3D animation and modeling tool for professional indie game makers. Autodesk also announced the availability of the 2015 Entertainment Creation Suite for 3D animation and visual effects.

According to Chris Bradshaw, senior vice president, Media & Entertainment at Autodesk, highlights of the 2015 releases are:

° Autodesk Maya 2015 software adds new capabilities to the toolset such as the new Bifrost procedural effects platform which provides an extensible, artist-friendly workflow for complex simulation and rendering tasks, initially applied to near photorealistic liquids; XGen Arbitrary Primitive Generator for the easy creation of richly detailed geometry such as hair, fur, and foliage; Geodesic Voxel Binding method for skinning characters; ShaderFX, a new node-based visual interface for...

Mar 18

FileMaker releases 'FileMaker Training Series: Advanced for...

FileMaker has announced the availability of "FileMaker Training Series: Advanced for FileMaker 13." It completes the company’s official self-paced training curriculum for the recently announced FileMaker 13 platform.

In January, the company unveiled the free "FileMaker Training Series: Basics," available on iBooks and in PDF format. "FileMaker Training Series: Advanced for FileMaker 13" provides in-depth coverage of development practices and techniques to help customers master the essentials of FileMaker 13 solution development. The training series is mainly for intermediate to advanced FileMaker developers, but it will also be useful to anyone who creates solutions and for those developers preparing to become a FileMaker 13 Certified Developer, according to the folks at FileMaker.

"FileMaker Training Series: Advanced for FileMaker 13" is offered in ebook format for use on iPads. Other available formats include a printed book with an accompanying DVD and an...

Mar 18

CalDigit Thunderbolt Station gets added functionality

CalDigit says its CalDigit Thunderbolt Station now has extra functionality. It can now fully charge iOS devices such as iPads and iPhones.

What's more, the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station is now fully capable of powering the Apple SuperDrive CD drive. The majority of other Thunderbolt expansion docks aren't capable of powering this device, says Kosta Panagos of CalDigit. Customers who have already purchased the Thunderbolt Station can add this functionality by installing the driver update for OS X 10.9.2 from the CalDigit website.

The CalDigit Thunderbolt Station is available to purchase now from the CalDigit Online Store (www.caldigit.com) and CalDigit Resellers worldwide. Pricing for the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station is US$199.

Mar 18

UK court grants Samsung's delay appeal

A UK court decision over whether European patents owned by Samsung are valid and have been infringed by Apple has been delayed until other proceedings before the European Patent Office have been concluded, reports "The Register" (http://tinyurl.com/ofkew2h).

The Court of Appeal granted Samsung's application for a stay of the UK proceedings until the EPO [European Patent Office] decides whether the South Korean mobile device manufacturer can amend the claims of its patents. Samsung said it had applied to amend the claims of its patents before the EPO to take account of judgments issued in a number of countries in which Samsung and Apple are in dispute over the patents, which include Germany and France. However, Apple said Samsung should be forced to choose between pursuing its appeal against a previous High Court ruling in their dispute or continuing with its application to amend the patent claims...

Mar 18

Apple replaces iPad 2 with $399 iPad with Retina display

Apple has announced that the iPad with Retina display replaces iPad 2 as the most affordable 9.7-inch iPad at US$399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $529 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.

The fourth generation iPad features an 9.7-inch Retina display, the Apple-designed A6X chip, Wi-Fi, a 5MP iSight camera which also captures 1080p HD video, a FaceTime HD camera, support for LTE carriers worldwide, and up to 10 hours of battery life. It comes with iOS 7, of course.

Mar 18

Khronos releases OpenGL ES 3.1 specification

The Khronos Group has released the OpenGL ES 3.1 specification, bringing functionality enhancements to the industry-leading, royalty-free 3D graphics API [application programming interface] that is used on nearly all of the world’s mobile devices.

OpenGL ES 3.1 provides access to graphics processing unit (GPU) functionality with portability across diverse mobile and embedded operating systems and platforms. The full specification and reference materials are available for immediate download at http://www.khronos.org/registry/gles/.

Mar 18

Franchise Hockey Manager for Mac OS X revved to version 1.62

OOTP Developments has launched Franchise Hockey Manager version 1.62, a major update to the customizable hockey management game for Mac OS X and Windows.

The new version offers: revamped training, scouting, and staff/personnel systems; four new leagues: two starts for the current season, one with Opening Night rosters and one with post-trading deadline rosters; and more.

FHM costs US$39.99. Go to http://tinyurl.com/m22xm75 for more info.

Mar 17

Boot Camp in 2013 Mac Pros doesn't support Windows 7

Apple's Mac Pro only supports installations of Windows 8 or later with Boot Camp, according to an updated Apple Support document that lists versions of Windows compatible with the 2013 Mac Pro.

Boot Camp is software included with Mac OS X that lets you run compatible versions of Windows on an Intel-based Mac. The 2013 Mac Pro is the first Mac that does not include support for Windows 7 with Boot Camp 5. Read more at http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5634 .

Mar 17

Apple adds ACC Sports Channel to the Apple TV line-up

As noted by AppleInsider.com, Apple has added an ACC [Atlantic Coast Conference] Sports Channel to the Apple TV line-up. It offers game highlights and feature programming related to NCAA March Madness.

The new channel features access to "Campus Insiders," a digital college sports network, as well as the ability to view "Most Recent" content, and a "Search" pane. Content can also be viewed based on schools in the conference, while a list of "Must See Moments" from the ACC are also available through the application.

Mar 17

Microsoft has announced OneNote for Mac

Microsoft has announced OneNote for Mac. It's the first Mac version of the tool to jot down your ideas, capture your collection of web clippings and research, plan your trips and events, check your to-dos and shopping lists and share your notes with friends and co-workers.

OneNote for Mac is compatible with Mac OSX 10.9 and above. You can download it for free from the Mac App Store. You can also visit http://www.onenote.com to access all the different OneNote apps including a few OneNote services available that are designed to enhance your web capturing experience on OneNote for Mac.

For example, along with a Mac version, Microsoft is releasing a OneNote clipper browser plug-in for Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer that allows users to save clippings from webpages. This feature is being extended to third-party apps via a new cloud API [application programming interface] that provides...

Mar 17

Version 6.8.6 of Cocktail (Mountain Lion Edition) served up

Maintain has released Cocktail 6.8.5 (Mountain Lion Edition), the latest maintenance update for users running OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. This version adds ability to change OS X's notification banner duration.

It also contains improvements on the "Delete localization files" procedure and addresses compatibility issues with Opera Next. Cocktail is a general purpose utility for OS X that lets users clean, repair and optimize their Mac.

Cocktail 6.8.5 (Mountain Lion Edition) requires OS X Mountain Lion or OS X Mountain Lion Server (10.8). Cocktail (Lion Edition) for OS X 10.7, Cocktail (Snow Leopard Edition) for OS X 10.6 and Cocktail (Leopard Edition) for OS X 10.5 are available for download from the Maintain website.

Cocktail costs US$19 for a single user license and is available for purchase from the Maintain website (http://maintain.se/cocktail).

Mar 14

Transcend releases memory modules for the new Mac Pro

Transcend Information, Inc. has launched 16GB and 32GB DDR3 Registered DIMM (RDIMM) modules aimed at maximizing memory in Apple's Mac Pro 2013 systems.

With four user-upgradeable memory slots available, Transcend’s latest high-performance DDR3 RDIMMs can boost Mac Pro 2013 Intel Xeon E5 3.5GHz 6-Core, 3.0GHz 8-Core, and 2.7GHz 12-Core models to 64GB, 96GB, and even 128GB total memory capacity. Angus Wu, director of Research and Development at Transcend, says the RDIMMs guarantee 100% compatibility with the new Mac Pro, requiring little effort to install in the easy access design and push-up release system of the Mac Pro.

Go to http://tinyurl.com/ldwapg7 for more info.

Mar 14

Security researchers hack Safari and, well, all other browsers

Security researchers demonstrated zero-day exploits against Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Adobe Flash Player during the second day of the Pwn2Own hacking competition Thursday, racking up total prizes of $450,000, reports "PC World" (http://tinyurl.com/kvshedy).

For Safari, the team used two different exploit vectors. One vulnerability was a heap overflow in WebKit that enabled arbitrary code execution. The team then used this opening to use another exploit to bypass the application sandbox and run code as if it was user privileged.

A team from French vulnerability research firm Vupen hacked Google Chrome by exploiting a use-after-free vulnerability that affects both the WebKit and Blink rendering engines. The researchers then successfully bypassed Chrome’s sandbox protection to execute arbitrary code on the underlying system. On Wednesday, the...

MacTech Blog

Mar 19

External disk market recovers from slump

Worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenues increased year over year by 2.4%, totaling $6.9 billion, during the fourth quarter of 2013 (4Q13), according to the IDC research group (http://www.idc.com).

For the quarter, the total (internal plus external) disk storage systems market generated $8.8 billion in revenue, representing a 1.3% increase from the prior year's fourth quarter and a sequential increase of 17.2% compared to the seasonally lower 3Q13. Total disk storage systems capacity shipped surpassed 10.2 exabytes, growing 26.2% year over year.

"The disk storage systems market was able to break free of recent headwinds due to traditional year-end budget flushes, improved economic sentiment, and a strong desire to address long-standing storage infrastructure inefficiencies," says Eric Sheppard, research director, IDC Storage. "Industry stakeholders able to capitalize the most on this demand...

Mar 18

Workstation, pro GPU markets head upward in Q4'13

2013 proved to be a good year for the tandem markets for workstations and professional GPUs, reports technology and market research firm, Jon Peddie Research (www.jonpeddie.com). In the fourth quarter, the market continued onward and upward, holding on to the substantial gains of the previous two quarters, closing out a healthy 2013.

Worldwide, the industry shipped approximately 971.6 thousand workstations in the fourth quarter of 2013, essentially flat (-0.2%) from Q3'13 and up 4.0% from the same quarter the year prior. That figure nearly eclipsed the record 1.0 million units the market set back in 2011. Given the quarter was sequentially flat, but exhibited respectable year-over-year (YoY) growth rate (4.0%), the leading workstation and graphics research firm labeled Q4'13 as another positive quarter in the market's steady, albeit unhurried, journey forward.

With growth coming in at a modest but...

Mar 17

139.1 million consumer Wi-Fi access points shipped in...

The worldwide Wi-Fi customer premises equipment market including access points, routers and gateways shipments surpassed 139.1 million in 2013. 802.11ac access point adoption is starting to gain market share, representing 8% of the total consumer access point market in 2013, according to ABI Research (http://www.abiresearch.com).

More device manufacturers started to ship 802.11ac products in 2013; the majority of them provide dual-band access to support existing 802.11n devices.

"Although 802.11n devices hold the largest market share of the consumer Wi-Fi device shipments in 2013, 802.11n share of shipments is likely to start declining in 2014 as 802.11ac device adoption continues to grow. 802.11ac devices are expected to represent 45% of consumer Wi-Fi equipment shipments at the end of 2014," says Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst, ABI Research.

In the enterprise Wi-Fi market, 13.2...

Mar 14

Survey: demand for cloud professional services on the...

Technology Business Research Inc.’s "Cloud Professional Services Customer Report" shows demand for cloud professional services continues to escalate, with more than 74% of enterprise clients, compared to 59% in 2011, purchasing or considering purchasing cloud computing services engaged with a cloud professional services vendor for assistance.

Recently, clients’ professional services demands shifted, with a need for assistance in system integration and implementation taking the lead. TBR surveyed 900 end users of cloud professional services across North America, Europe and Asia to map vendor opportunity and customer and competitor landscapes for the report, which is one of three customer-facing research initiatives in TBR’s cloud customer portfolio, says TBRI Senior Analyst Ramunas Svarcas.

With a growing number of customers investing in cloud services, the demand for cloud professional services is on the rise. TBR estimates cloud professional services revenue...

Mar 13

Nearly 30% of U.S. broadband users watch video on...

The Parks Associates research group (www.parksassociates.com) has released mobile industry research showing roughly 29% of U.S. broadband users watch video on a mobile phone monthly, with the average user watching 1.7 hours of video on a mobile phone each week.

"Since 2008, revenues from voice services for the top-four U.S. mobile network operators (MNOs) have declined 6%, while data revenues have grown 129%," says Harry Wang, director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. "Mobile data revenues will be key to offsetting stagnant growth in voice revenues. Most major MNOs worldwide are transitioning or have already adopted tiered or shared usage-based data plans, and they will continue to experiment with pricing models to optimize the revenue-generation potential of mobile data access."

Parks Associates mobile research shows:

° The number of people in North America who...

Mar 12

Advanced Content Recommendations to reach 75% of US...

Consumer exposure to advanced recommendations engines will grow to reach 75% of Pay TV households on multiscreen services and 55% on set-top boxes within North America by 2018, up from 20% and 10% in 2013, respectively, according to ABI Research (http://www.abiresearch.com).

This significant growth is driven by today’s highly competitive viewer landscape for Pay TV and OTT operators, says the research group. At the core of this are search, recommendation and discovery technologies that rely heavily on rich metadata as well as user analysis and learning.

"TiVo’s acquisition of recommendation specialist Digitalsmiths is indicative of the tight relationship between guides, metadata, and recommendations," says ABI Research Practice Drector Sam Rosen. "We expect further consolidation moving forward as recommendations move from a wish-list item to a must-have in today’s competitive environment....

Mar 11

LTE data share plan of the market grows by 150%

According to ABI Research’s "Mobile Internet Pricing Q1-2014 Market Data," more than 55% of the cheapest country tariff plans are 4G compared to just 22% a year ago. This has been driven by the aggressive deployment of LTE networks and a wider choice of consumer-centric LTE smartphones.

"However, we found that the average cost of mobile Internet tariff plans across the cheapest 20 markets increased by 8.24% between Q1-2013 and Q1-2014," comments Marina Lu, research associate at ABI Research (http://www.abiresearch.com). "While 55% of the 20 cheapest country plans were 4G, 4G tariff plans were only marginally more expensive than 3G tariff plans. One year ago, the 4G data pricing was around 20% higher than 3G for the equivalent data-plan. Competition is forcing the mobile operators to pare down the prices of even their 4G tariffs."

The current 4G service adopters are bigger spenders than their...

Mar 10

Garter identifies upcoming mobile technologies,...

Organizations wishing to unlock the full potential of mobility must master a wide range of technologies and skills, many of which are unfamiliar to IT staff, according to Nick Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at the Gartner research group (www.gartner.com). He lists the top 10 mobile technologies and capabilities that organizations must master in 2015 and 2016. as follows:

° Most organizations will need application development tools to support a "3 x 3" future — three key platforms (Android, iOS and Windows) and three application architectures (native, hybrid and mobile Web). Tool selection will be a complex balancing act, trading off many technical and nontechnical issues (such as productivity versus vendor stability), and most large organizations will need a portfolio of several tools to deliver to the architectures and platforms they require.

° HTML5 won't be a simple panacea for mobile...

Mar 07

Secure IC apps will create new revenue opportunity

Emerging IC applications, outside of the traditional card form-factors are set to make up an increasing proportion of the secure IC market landscape, accounting for 11% of total shipments in 2013, increasing to 24% in 2018, says ABI Research (http://www.abiresearch.com).

The primary use cases for ICs outside of card based applications include authentication ICs for anti-counterfeiting and brand protection, use within luxury goods, ICT, CE devices and accessories, pharmaceutical and IT consumables, covering products and components, embedded secure elements for NFC enabled devices and TPMs. Combined it is these emerging applications which will present annual IC revenues in excess of US$2.9 billion in 2018, according to ABI Research.

The threat from counterfeit goods is on the increase and IC technology is seen as a hardware solution to guarantee product/component authenticity, protecting brands...

Mar 06

GPU market up; Intel and Nvidia are winners in Q4

Jon Peddie Research (JPR), a research and consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, has announced estimated graphics chip shipments and suppliers’ market share for 2013 4Q. The quarter was the second quarter in a row to show a gain in shipments, up 1.6% quarter-to-quarter, and up 2% compared to the same quarter last year.

AMD’s overall unit shipments decreased 10.4%, quarter-to-quarter, Intel’s total shipments increased 5.1% from last quarter, and Nvidia’s increased 3.4%. The attach rate of GPUs to PCs [personal computers] for the quarter was 137% and 34% of PCs had discrete GPUs that means 66% of the PCs are using embedded graphics. The overall PC market increased 1.8% quarter-to-quarter, but declined 8.5% year-to-year.

The popularity of tablets and the persistent economic slowness are the most often mentioned reasons for the decline in the PC market, according to JPR (www.jonpeddie.com). The one...

Reviews and Kool Tools

Recommended Reading: 'The Book of F#'

With the unofficial slogan "solving complex problems with simple code," the F# programming language is designed to make functional programming accessible to legions of developers. "The Book of F#" (http://tinyurl.com/... Read more »

Kool Tools: Voila 3.7.1 for Mac OS X

Global Delight (http://www.globaldelight.com/) recently revved Voila — its image capturing, annotating and sharing tool for Mac OS X — to version 3.7.1, which improves Retina display capturing and makes a fine tool even... Read more »

Kool Tools: CleanApp for Mac OS X

Synium Software's CleanApp is one of those apps that should be included with Mac OS X. It removes unwanted software and all related files (log files, plists, caches, plug-ins, language packages, etc.). Windows comes... Read more »

Kool Tools: Mineral Database app for Mac OS X

Mineral Database is a Mac OS X app from Tasa Graphics Arts that provides a reference for students, educators, professionals, or anyone interested in minerals. You can search for minerals by selecting physical... Read more »

News Scanner

Wednesday March 19

18:29

Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, COSMOS, Ted, lots of...

The Loop

Big, big fan of Seth MacFarlane. He is one talented individual. Some favorite questions in the post.

∞ Read this on The Loop

18:00

So, this exists

TUAW

I can almost hear the possibilities flying through your heads when you look at the image above. What exactly are we looking at here? It seems to be some sort of metal iPad stand... but what's with the toilet paper? Is it some sort of a joke? There's...

17:46

Rainbow PUSH Coalition targets tech firms for better...

MacNN

A new campaign spearheaded by Reverend Jesse Jackson's PUSH coalition has sent letters to "iconic" tech firms -- including Apple, Facebook, HP, Google and others -- aimed at raising awareness of the lack of racial diversity at the top tiers of management. There are, Jackson notes in the letter, no African-Americans currently sitting on the boards of any Silicon Valley firms, and very few women or minorities reach the upper executive ranks....
...

17:11

Burger King to take e-wallet purchasing nationwide...

AppleInsider

Fast food giant Burger King will roll out a mobile app in April that will let users pay for food at more than 7,000 locations in the U.S., expanding on the company's BK Crown Card program already available on Apple's iOS.

16:27

Briefly: OS X reminder warning, Burger King test...

MacNN

In an unusual move, Apple is sending out "critical security update" reminders to users running OS X 10.9.x if they haven't yet updated to 10.9.2, which fixes an SSL/VPN vulnerability. The reminder, which can appear as a notification on the user's desktop or as an update in Software Update (handled through the Mac App Store), emphasizes the importance of the 10.9.2 update, which also brought new features and other improvements on board. Apple may choose to similarly warn iOS 7 users who haven't updated yet, even though adoption has -- as is typical for both platforms -- been strong....
...

16:00

Flappy Bird is coming back eventually, here's...

TUAW

On February 9 of this year Dong Nguyen, the creator of Flappy Bird, took his insanely addictive bird flapping game off of the iOS store citing concerns that players were too addicted to the title. A flood of imitators quickly took its place, leaving...

15:51

The real story behind Franklin W. Dixon, the...

The Loop

I’ve always been a voracious reader. When I was a kid, I spent a good amount of time reading every single Hardy Boys book I could get my hands on.

This piece on the true nature of Franklin W. Dixon, whose name was on the cover of every one of these books, was crushing. Not just because Mr. Dixon was a complete fiction, but because of the appalling treatment of the people who actually did write these books.

There have been moments, as an adult, when I’ve thought about rereading one of the books, perhaps The Tower Treasure, which was the very first one. But after reading the linked article, not so much.

... | Read more »

15:35

Resize Image Lets You Scale Images Quickly on iPhone

Mac Observer

Resize Image is a handy little free app for your iPhone. It's exactly what it says on the tin, you can scale images down from their current size, either by file size or by pixel measurement. Bonus: You get to determine what those pre-set sizes are, so if you need something particular just adjust the preferences. As noted in an iTunes review, this is great because you don't have to send full size iPhone photos over iMessage/MMS. Second, this is fab for those working with a blog platform or other web service where you want to send a smaller version of your picture from your phone instead of having to email it to yourself for further jiggery-pokery on your computer. It's ad-supported, but the US$1.99 IAP removes them if you prefer. [Via TUAW]

15:30

Still one of the best games you can play on an...

TUAW

Let us not forget the iPod games that paved the way for true apps. These gems killed many productive hours in offices around the world.

[Photo credit: Huasonic]...

15:30

In China, new iOS product launches drive older...

AppleInsider

In most countries, when Apple releases a new iPhone model the handset quickly becomes a hot-seller as older models fall by the wayside. The opposite is true in China, according to fresh data from research firm Mixpanel.

15:12

Winners of the 2014 Sony world photography awards

The Loop

As you’d expect, these are some great pictures. But the national winner, the first one on the page, just blows me away. It looks like a painting. Incredible capture.

∞ Read this on The Loop

15:00

The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for March 19, 2014

TUAW

It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some 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...

14:58

Fake Tor client in App Store said to be laced with...

MacNN

A Tor client on the App Store, Tor Browser, is actually a fake app saturated with adware and spyware, according to complaints. The app is said to have been reported to Apple in December; at one point the company suggested that the app's creator, Ronen, would be allowed to respond, but no news has emerged since, and the app remains on sale for 99 cents....
...

14:58

Epic Games offers Unreal Engine 4 access for $19...

MacNN

Epic Games is updating the way it charges for access to its game technology, by offering Unreal Engine 4 for a monthly fee. Instead of making an arrangement to pay potentially millions of dollars for the engine's use in a game, Epic is instead providing it for a subscription of $19 per month, as well as a five-percent cut of royalties from gross revenues....
...

14:58

Fake Tor client in App Store said to be laced with...

MacNN

A Tor client on the App Store, Tor Browser, is actually a fake app saturated with adware and spyware, according to complaints. The app is said to have been reported to Apple in December; at one point the company suggested that the app's creator, Ronen, would be allowed to respond, but no news has emerged since, and the app remains on sale for $1....
...

13:55

TUAW TV Live Pre-Macworld/iWorld Episode

TUAW

The TUAW-logoed Aloha shirts are packed, we're getting the giveaways boxed up, and we're making plans for the annual Apple lovefest known as Macworld/iWorld. TUAW will be wandering about the show floor, hitting the parties, and bringing you all the...

13:30

letZi for iOS is a unique group photo viewer

TUAW

I remember the old days when a group of us would pass around paper photo prints to oooh and aaah over. The digital age has replaced that quaint ritual for many of us, because we zip photos around by email, MMS or a variety of social services.

Now...

13:26

The anonymous cattiness of Secret

The Loop

Interesting writeup on the industry’s reaction to Secret. Personally, I feel like I need to wash my eyeballs after reading some of these posts. Anonymous posting brings out the worst in people. And maybe that’s why they found it so easy to raise $8.6 million.

∞ Read this on The Loop

13:26

iOS 7.1 breaking Personal Hotspot on unsupported...

MacNN

iOS 7.1 appears engineered to block people from using the iPhone's Personal Hotspot (tethering) feature on carriers without official support, complaints on Apple's support forums indicate. Previously it was possible to manually edit APN settings to connect to any carrier. Since that editing is gone, though, tethering has been limited to the smaller number of carriers that officially offer Personal Hotspot....
...

13:15

Class action status for Google email privacy suit...

MacNN

US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, CA has handed a partial victory to Google in a privacy suit against the search engine. In a Tuesday decision, the judge rued that a handful of lawsuits the company is facing may not be combined into a class action suit, as the suits lack sufficient commonality. Based on the ruling, the myriad of filers must be heard individually or in smaller groups, escalating costs to the complainants....
...

13:09

Eddy Cue says Steve Jobs pen story in Haunted Empire...

The Loop

Benjamin Mayo (from 9to5Mac): I am slightly obsessed with the anecdote about Jobs throwing a pen in your face. Is the story true?

Eddy Cue: No it’s not.

‘Nuff said.

∞ Read this on The Loop

13:00

Apple touted as most valuable billion dollar brand...

TUAW

Apple is currently the most valuable billion dollar brand in the United States, this according to a recent report published by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

According to the chart above, which was compiled by Brand Finance, Apple's brand...

Rumor Scanner

Wednesday March 19

13:37

Future iPhones May Offer More Realistic Lighting and Shado...

MacRumors

Apple's graphics partner for iOS devices, Imagination Technologies, has announced a new version of its PowerVR graphics architecture that includes ray-tracing capabilities. Apple currently uses the PowerVR G6430 graphics package from Imagination in its latest A7 chip that powers the iPhone 5s, iPad Air, and Retina iPad mini, so Imagination's new technology is likely of interest to Apple.

Offering more realistic lighting and shadows, the new GPU design known as "Wizard" marks a significant leap forward by bringing ray tracing to mobile devices.For the better part of the last eight years, we have been busy developing unique hardware and software technologies to radically lower the cost and dramatically increase the efficiency and performance of ray tracing.

This work culminates at GDC...

11:17

Flappy Bird to Return to the App Store

MacRumors

Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen has plans to return his hit game to the App Store, according to several interactions the app developer has had with fans. In a recent tweet discovered by Gawker, a fan asked Nguyen if he would return Flappy Bird to the App Store, and he answered "Yes. But not soon."

A second fan ran into Nguyen at the Game Developers Conference currently taking place in San Francisco, and also received confirmation that Nguyen will re-launch Flappy Bird.

Creator of Flappy Bird found and he told me he is going to repost it to the App Store!!! pic.twitter.com/odmKbWaTw8

— Todd Moore (@toddmoore) March 19, 2014Nguyen first hinted that he might reintroduce Flappy Bird during an interview with...

10:25

iOS 7.1 Causing Issues With Personal Hotspots

MacRumors

Introduced earlier this month, iOS 7.1 appears to be causing issues with personal hotspots for quite a few iPhone users around the world. Following the update, some users appear to be unable to save APN settings for personal hotspots, which have vanished following the update from iOS 7.0.6 to iOS 7.1.

While information can be entered into the APN fields of the Cellular Data Settings menu, the values do not save, and attempting to establish a tethered connection results in an error message. Apple's Support Communities currently features a 15-page thread on the issue that was started shortly after iOS 7.1 was released, with many users reporting the same problems with tethering.

Apple's support staff appears to be confused by the root cause of the issue, with several customer service representatives suggesting the...

09:47

Apple Sued for Over $1.7 Billion in new Copyright Infringe...

Patently Apple

Roland Chambers from South Carolina has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Apple, Amazon and CD Baby over 12 original pieces of copyrighted sound recordings and two pieces of original artwork for the album cover. Chambers is looking for Apple to pay the larger amount. In total, the plaintiff is seeking an insane amount of over 5.2 billion dollars. I...

07:46

Apple Projected to Set New March Quarter Record with 42 Mi...

MacRumors

Apple appears poised to continue its string of setting new year-over-year records for quarterly iPhone sales, based on new data from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. According to Huberty's "AlphaWise" smartphone tracker, Apple is on track to ship 42 million iPhones during the January-March quarter, topping the March quarter record of 37.4 million iPhones set last year.

Morgan Stanley's AlphaWise tracker follows Google Trends data, and the firm touts that it has been more accurate than analyst consensus in recent quarters. Analyst consensus and Morgan Stanley's own supply chain estimates have been pegging Apple's iPhone shipments for the quarter at 38 million units, but demand numbers appear likely to push that number up.

The strong demand appears in nearly all geographical regions, with U.S. carrier and retailer promotions in...

07:29

Rev. Jesse Jackson Pushes Apple and other Leading Tech Com...

Patently Apple

Writing to Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Hewlett Packard, Google and other iconic Silicon Valley technology companies, Rev. Jackson said, “Technology is supposed to be about inclusion, but sadly, patterns of exclusion remains the ...

06:21

Apple's Brand Value Higher than the Cost of the Apoll...

Patently Apple

In February Patently Apple reported on Brand Finance Global's Top US 500 companies list. Today a new chart from Infographics champions the fact that we already know; that Apple is the number one brand in the US. The loud and colorful Infographic chart tells us that Apple's Brand Value ...

04:34

Apple Named Most Valuable Billion Dollar Brand in America

MacRumors

Apple has been named the most valuable billion-dollar company in the United States by brand identity firm Brand Finance, reports the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

The standing was revealed in a new rankings report done by the firm which listed the top 50 billion-dollar brand names in the U.S., as Apple's $104.6 billion valuation was ahead of other technology companies including Google, Microsoft and Verizon which were valued at $68.6 billion, $62.8 billion, and $53.5 billion, respectively.

Throughout the past year, a number of other sources have also regarded Apple to be among the world's most valuable companies, with brand identity firm Interbrand ...

Tuesday March 18

15:32

Google's Android Wear Developer Preview Launched Toda...

Patently Apple

We reported on March tenth that Google planned to release a software development kit based on Android for makers of wearable devices, such as smartwatches. Google plans to release their own smartwatch manufactured by LG Electronics this June. Today, Google followed through on that promise with their new developer preview.

13:05

Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls New 'Haunted Empire' Bo...

MacRumors

Yesterday, we highlighted Haunted Empire, a new book from former Wall Street Journal reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane examining the transition Apple has undergone with the death of Steve Jobs. While the book includes a few interesting tidbits, our view was that Kane had selected anecdotes to support a predetermined conclusion that Apple is in decline.

With the book debuting today, Apple CEO Tim Cook has taken the unusual step of issuing a statement about the book, calling it "nonsense", according to CNBC. Cook's statement reads:This nonsense belongs with some of the other books I've read about Apple. It fails to capture Apple, Steve, or anyone else in the company. Apple has over 85,000 employees that come to work each day to do their...

11:45

Next Version of iTunes Restores Local Contact and Calendar...

MacRumors

Apple today seeded a new version of 10.9.3 to employees, reports 9to5Mac, but more importantly, the company also launched a new iTunes 11.1.6 beta, which includes an important syncing feature that has been missing since the launch of Mavericks.

According to the release notes, iTunes 11.1.6 "restores the ability to sync contacts and calendar information to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from your Mac running OS X 10.9.3."

When iOS 7 and Mavericks were introduced back in September, Apple removed local syncing in favor of cloud syncing, allowing users to sync calendars, contacts, bookmarks, and notes only via iCloud. Many users were unhappy with the feature removal and their inability to sync information to their iOS devices using their Macs.

Apple's Support...

09:34

Google Launches 'Android Wear' Project for Weara...

MacRumors

As promised, Google today announced its "Android Wear" project, which is designed to bring Android to wearable devices. To begin with, Android Wear will be focused on watches that will come in a range of styles from several different manufacturers.

Most of us are rarely without our smartphones in hand. These powerful supercomputers keep us connected to the world and the people we love. But we're only at the beginning; we've barely scratched the surface of what's possible with mobile technology. That's why we’re so excited about wearables—they understand the context of the world around you, and you can interact with them simply and efficiently, with just a glance or a spoken word.Android Wear for watches is designed to offer several functions over basic time telling. The app will provide...

09:11

Apple Quietly Ramping up iPhone 6 Display Orders

Patently Apple

The news just keeps sneaking out of Apple's supply chain about the ramp up for iPhone 6 displays. We reported earlier today that Pegatron is opening up new factory space and recruiting workers to meet orders for the iPhone 6. Production is to start early next quarter – way ahead of the traditional ramp up to September launches of the iPhone. Now another supplier is shifting gears quickly to jump on production of the displays for iPhone 6. What's the urgency?

08:15

8 GB iPhone 5c Intended to Boost Mid-Tier Markets Where LT...

MacRumors

With today's launch of a new 8 GB iPhone 5c, much discussion has been centered around the observation that the new model is available in only a handful of countries: the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and China. In a statement to Re/code, Apple reveals that its strategy is to offer a lower-cost option that is compatible with LTE networks in countries where those networks are seeing rapid growth.“The mid-tier iPhone segment is growing year-over-year and the 8GB model provides a more affordable option for markets where LTE is becoming more established,” an Apple representative told Re/code. The iPhone 5c, unlike the iPhone 4s, which is also still sold, supports LTE networks.
The...

06:53

Apple Granted 38 Patents Today Covering the iTunes Video R...

Patently Apple

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 38 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover Apple's video rental system for iTunes, a remote camera system that could double as an entry level security system and a series of technically important patents that Apple may be able to tap into in for future patent infringement cases. Apple was also granted four design patents today covering ...

06:26

Apple Announces iPad 4 Relaunch, Confirms 8 GB iPhone 5c L...

MacRumors

After the fourth-generation iPad reappeared on Apple's online storefront earlier today, the company has issued a press release confirming the return of the device to the company's product lineup. The iPad with Retina Display will replace the iPad 2 as the company's affordable full-sized tablet option. “Now for $399 customers can get iPad with a stunning 9.7-inch Retina display, fast A6X chip, and 5MP iSight camera, offering a dramatic upgrade in power, performance and value compared to the iPad 2 it replaces,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The iPad line sets the gold-standard in mobile computing and all iPads have access to the largest and best ecosystem...

03:48

Apple Wins Patent for a Surprisingly Futuristic Version of...

Patently Apple

The US Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 38 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover a powerful new invention that has come out of the blue. It could apply to a future version of Siri that is designed to work with distributed sensors that a user could place throughout their home, Office or beyond. It's an advanced ...

02:15

Microsoft Releases Free OneNote for Macs, to release Offic...

Patently Apple

Microsoft Corp has released a version of its OneNote note-taking software for Macs, is planning to release a new Office suite for the iPad next Thursday and Pegatron prepares for the iPhone 6 early.

01:55

Apple Launches 8 GB iPhone 5c, Relaunches 16 GB iPad 4

MacRumors

As indicated by multiple reports yesterday, Apple has officially launched an 8 GB version of the iPhone 5c and relaunched a 16 GB version of the previously-discontinued fourth-generation iPad. The 8 GB iPhone 5c is currently being sold in Apple's European Online Stores for £429 unlocked in all of the existing color options, where it is £40 cheaper than the 16 GB model and is expected to become available in the U.S. later today. The 16 GB iPad 4 is available worldwide and retails in Apple's U.S. Online Store for $399, while customers may also purchase a cellular version for $130 more at $529.

The relaunch of the 16 GB iPad 4 has resulted in Apple discontinuing the three-year-old iPad 2,...

Monday March 17

21:02

Apple's Manufacturing Partner Starts Preparing for iP...

MacRumors

Apple supplier Pegatron is expected to start production on the iPhone 6 in the second quarter of this year at its new Kunshan, China plant, reports the Commercial Times [Google Translate].

The new factory, along with a hiring push, is part of an effort by Pegatron to meet orders to manufacture the new phone. In early January, it was reported that Pegatron was expected to win a new contract to manufacture half of the iPhone 6's supplies. Previously, Pegatron was responsible for assembling the iPad mini and iPhone 5c, while Apple's main supplier, Foxconn,...

Documentation Scanner

Wednesday March 19

07:00

10.9: Encrypt/Password-Protect a PDF in Preview

Mac OS X Hin...

With the latest versions of Preview.app (since OS X v10.8, I believe) which save versions of files rather than the old standard Save dialogues, it took me a while to figure out how to Save As... and encrypt a PDF file with a password.

While clicking on the File menu, press the Option key, which causes the Duplicate menu item to become Save As... instead. Then you'll see the familiar Save As.. sheet with the Encrypt checkbox. Enabling this allows you to set a password for the PDF file.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described. This may be common knowledge, but serves as another example of why it's often helpful to explore the modifier keys in an application before getting too frustrated.]

Tuesday March 18

10:12

Virtualize OS X using vSphere on Mac hardware

AFP548

On my blog, I have written a 3 page blogpost about virtualizing OS X using vSphere on Mac hardware.

In the blogpost I try to answer the below questions:

What is required to virtualize OS X?
Which hardware is supported, and which hardware works?
How to license OS X in a virtual environment?
What are best practices for running OS X in a virtual environment?
How to safely deploy OS X from a template?
How to backup OS X in a virtual environment?

Check out the blogpost here: Virtualize OS X using vSphere on Mac hardware

About Mads Fog Albrechtslund

Former Apple Expert turned Virtualization Consultant. Now passionate about both Apple technology and VMware virtualization. Working for Businessmann A/S in Denmark....

06:46

About the OS X Server v3.1 Update

Apple - All...

Learn about changes included in the OS X Server v3.1 Update.

06:43

About Apple Remote Desktop 3.7.2

Apple - All...

Learn about Apple Remote Desktop 3.7.2.

Monday March 17

19:47

Sydney (Australia) Mac Admins March 2014 Meet Up

AFP548

To All Sydney Mac Admins,

Our 3rd Meeting of the year is scheduled for the 26th of March.

We have a booking at 6pm for the Fulton Room at Hart’s Pub, Corner of Essex & Gloucester St, The Rocks.

This months agenda:
6:00-6:30pm – Drinks and Introductions.
6:30-7:30pm – Main presentation: “Six quick wins that you can implement in an afternoon to make managing your macs easier”. The idea is to present in 5-15 minutes a mud map on how to implement a solution that can be done in an afternoon that makes your job and your users jobs easier. We have a few ideas, but welcome further submissions, even on the night.
7:30-8:00pm – What is bugging you this week? A chance to share issues that you are facing in your environment and get help from your fellow admins. Also an opportunity to share issues that you have solved that may help others.
8:00pm – informal discussion.

If you can’t make next Wednesday, we are planning on meeting monthly on...

08:00

Export vector drawings from Keynote to a PNG with...

Mac OS X Hin...

Instead of buying expensive vector drawing software, Keynote can be used as a simple but great vector drawing tool. The problem is you can only export entire slides as images from the File menu and there will be a white background. There is no obvious way of exporting just the vector art to an image file. Fortunately there is a solution. Use the following method to extract just your vector art creation to a .png file with alpha transparency.

Create a vector-based drawing.
Drag and select the entire vector drawing you are going to export.
Choose Edit » Copy from the menus.
Open Preview.app.
In Preview choose File » New from Clipboard.
The vector drawing will then appear with a transparent background, ready to be exported as a PNG.

[crarko adds: It seems like a quick, cheap way to go the job. Probably not for all situations.]

Saturday March 15

22:14

Resize Hyper-V .vhdx To Minimum Size

krypted

A really neat new feature in 2012R2 is that Hyper-V can resize a running virtual machine (.vhdx) to the smallest possible size, while the virtual machine is running. To do so, use Get-VM in PowerShell. Here, we’ll use the -Path option to define the location of our vhdx, the -ToMinimumSize option to indicate that we’d like to shrink it down as low as we can go and -AsJob so it runs in the background:

Resize-VHD –Path D:\myVM.vhdx –ToMinimumSize -AsJob

Friday March 14

18:20

Hyper-V: Convert .vhd Files to .vhdx

krypted

The vhdx format provides support for 2 terabyte drives, can difference dynamic disks faster and provides more options for sector sizes. When upgrading into Server 2012, you can migrate your vhd files to vhdx files using Hyper-V Manager. To do so:

Open Hyper-V Manager
Click on the Action pane from the Action menu
Click Edit Disk…
At the Edit Virtual Disk Wizard click Next
Provide the name of the location for the vhf file
Click Next at the Location pane
Click Convert at the Choose Action pane
Click Next
Click the vhdx format at the Choose Disk Format
Click Next until the wizard is complete

You can also use the convert-vhd powershell cmdlet to covert these vhd files. It’s an easy powershell command to use. Simply specify the source as your first positional parameter and the target as the second, as follows.

convert-vhd V:\myvm.vhd V:\myvm.vhdx

The fact that you...

07:00

Display iTunes artwork in Growl notifications

Mac OS X Hin...

OS X and Growl notifications are AppleScriptable and great for displaying user-defined text, but not so hot for user-defined images. OS X can only display the sending application's icon, and Growl no longer accepts raw iTunes artwork image data or regular image files.

Growl's iTunes limitation can be overcome by converting an iTunes track's raw artwork image data into a TIFF file that can be read and passed to Growl:

tell application "iTunes" to set _rawData to raw data of artwork 1 of current track

set _startupDisk to (path to startup disk as text)

set _tempTiffFile to (open for access file (_star ...

Wednesday March 12

12:36

Force Remove Metadata Controllers in Xsan

krypted

When you use Xsan Admin to remove a metadata controller, all metadata controllers must be accessible to do so. In many an upgrade scenario this has turned out to be challenging. Therefore, you can remove a metadata controller using the configuration files. To do so, open /Library/Preferences/Xsan/fsnameservers.

In this file, you’ll see the IP address of all active metadata controllers that are used to manage any (or no) volumes as follows:

192.168.210.2
192.168.210.3
192.168.210.4

Remove the line with the IP address of the system you’ll be removing so it looks like the following, assuming you’re removing 192.168.210.2):

192.168.210.3
192.168.210.4

This needs to be repeated for all metadata controllers and clients. If you miss any clients, you’ll see a “fsnameservers incorrect” error in Xsan Admin for those clients. You can then edit the fsnameservers file for those clients or just remove them from the SAN and readd them back to...

07:00

iOS: Search text in Google through contextual menus

Mac OS X Hin...

Unlike with the Mac, in iOS there is no way to select text and search for it on Google in a new tab. There is, however, a workaround that brings about the same result on iOS.

Select text in Safari to bring up the context menu on iOS and then tap on Define. This brings up the dictionary panel for the selected text. If you've selected a word that is not in the dictionary, or multiple words or usually even if the word is in the dictionary, on the bottom right there is Search Web. Tapping that opens a new tab and searches for the selected text. This is equivalent to selecting text, copying, opening new tab, pasting the text in omnibar.

Things to note:

Even though the hint mentions Google, this uses the default search engine set in the Safari preferences so your preference is respected.
This is not specific to Safari. Any app that allows selection of text, and brings up the contextual menu will...

Tuesday March 11

09:13

Apple TV: How to change the language

Apple - All...

Learn how to change the language setting on your Apple TV if it is incorrect, or if you accidentally changed the language to one you don't understand.

07:00

Make Time Machine use a Local Volume as a Network...

Mac OS X Hin...

This procedure shows you how to prevent Time Machine from using all available free space on a local volume by backing up to a sparse disk image bundle stored on a shared folder on a local volume.

Time machine uses a feature of the HFS+ filesystem that was introduced in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) called 'directory hard links.' Like file hard links, a directory that is hard linked to another directory is not actually a distinct directory, but is instead a pointer to the original directory. Time Machine uses these directory hard links to reduce duplication and save space by making references to entire directory trees whose contained files have not been modified.
To properly copy or duplicate a Time Machine backup, these directory hard links must be preserved. Unfortunately, directory hard links are proprietary to Apple. Apple discourages their casual use by third party developers because, if used incorrectly, they could create recursive directory structures...

Monday March 10

16:43

Office for Mac blog is moving

Office for M...

The Office for Mac blog is moving. If you’d like to stay up to date on the latest updates and announcements, head over to the Office Blogs. You’ll still be able to access previous Office for Mac posts here, but as of today, no new posts will appear.

13:19

Hidden AirPlay feature in the AppleTV 6.1 (iOS 7.1)...

AFP548

Here’s one that will make educators and education network administrators realllllly happy. There’s a hidden gem in the AppleTV 6.1 update that was released today.

In addition to bonjour negotiation for AirPlay, iOS 7.1 devices will also look for AirPlay sources over bluetooth when doing it’s scan! This means you do NOT need bonjour to AirPlay.

Requirements:

1) Apple TV with version 6.1 (released 3/10/14)
2) iOS device with version 7.1 (released 3/10/14)
3) IP connectivity between the two devices

I tried a Mac with 10.9.2 and it didn’t see the AppleTV as an AirPlay source over bluetooth. That may be coming in a future update.

Make sure your AppleTV is updated to 6.1. You can see that this AppleTV is on an ethernet connection with a 10.10.X.X subnet IP Address. Also make sure bluetooth is ON on your AppleTV.

As you can see on my iOS device...

11:50

Understanding Home Sharing

Apple - All...

Home Sharing in iTunes lets you share your iTunes media libraries between up to five computers in your household. You can also use Home Sharing to play your iTunes content on your iOS devices and Apple TV (2nd generation) if they are connected to your home Wi-Fi network.

10:47

About the security content of Apple TV 6.1

Apple - All...

This document describes the security content of Apple TV 6.1.

10:42

About the security content of iOS 7.1

Apple - All...

This document describes the security content of iOS 7.1.

07:56

TA14-069A: Microsoft Ending Support for Windows XP...

US-CERT Aler...

Original release date: March 10, 2014
Systems Affected

Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3) Operating System
Microsoft Office 2003 Products

Overview

Microsoft is ending support for the Windows XP operating system and Office 2003 product line on April 8, 2014. [1] After this date, these products will no longer receive:

Security patches which help protect PCs from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software
Assisted technical support from Microsoft
Software and content updates

Description

All software products have a lifecycle. End of support refers to the date when Microsoft no longer provides automatic fixes, updates, or online technical assistance. [2] As of February 2014, nearly 30 percent of Internet-connected PCs still run Windows XP. [3]

Microsoft will send “End of Support” notifications to users of Windows XP who have elected to receive...

Friday March 7

15:58

Exploring Apple’s new Device Enrollment Program

AFP548

On February 26, 2014 Apple announced its new Device Enrollment Program (DEP). You can read about the features of the DEP here.

In a nutshell, for US customers who have purchased devices directly from Apple, you can:

1) Force enrollment with your MDM when device is set up (every time)
2) Wirelessly supervise a device
3) Disallow removal of MDM profile on supervised devices

Similar to activation lock, when a DEP enrolled device hits the Internet, it will only activate through your MDM server.

For instructions on how to set up DEP, see: here

TLDR; you need:

1) A new AppleID with two-step verification
2) Your Apple Customer Number
3) Authority in your company to agree to License Agreements

Setting...

13:09

We Love The AFP548 Podcast

318 Tech Jou...

12:33

That Time I Interviewed Andrina For An AFP548 Podcast

krypted

Hey, remember that time I interviewed Andrina in an AFP548 podcast? That was totally fun! We should do that again. Maybe I’ll pronounce toller right next time! #cloudwords

Technology Showcase

Sep 17

Video showcases iOS app built with Xojo

Xojo Inc., the company formerly known as Real Software, has posted a video of an iOS app that was built with Xojo. Xojo is an object-oriented, cross-platform software development tool that enables developers to create software for OS X, Windows, Linux, the web and mobile.

The video showcases all the native controls and gives an overview of Xojo's support for building iOS apps. Building native iOS apps with Xojo is the same as building a web or desktop app as you do today. You can view the video at http://tinyurl.com/nvexpk7 .

Developers can use the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of Xojo for free, and will only need to purchase a license once they want to build a distributable version of their application. Licenses are purchased per target platform, including Web, Desktop, Database, Console, and Xojo Pro, which is a bundle license that includes all deployment licenses plus an added...

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.

...

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.

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.

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.

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 (...

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...

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.

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.

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...

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Software Updates via MacUpdate

CrossOver 13.1.2 - Run Windows apps on y...

CrossOver can get your Windows productivity applications and PC games up and running on your Mac quickly and easily. CrossOver runs the Windows software that you need on Mac at home, in the office,... Read more

A Better Finder Rename 9.31 - File, phot...

A Better Finder Rename is the most complete renaming solution available on the market today. That's why, since 1996, tens of thousands of hobbyists, professionals and businesses depend on A Better... Read more

iWatermark Pro 1.53 - Easily add waterma...

iWatermark Pro - The Essential Watermarking App for Professionals, Business and Personal Use. iWatermark, is the No. 1 and only watermarking tool available for all 4 platforms iPhone/iPad, Mac,... Read more

Firefox 28.0 - Fast, safe Web browser. (...

Firefox for Mac offers a fast, safe Web browsing experience. Browse quickly, securely, and effortlessly. With its industry-leading features, Firefox is the choice of Web development professionals... Read more

Web Snapper 3.3.3 - Capture entire Web p...

Web Snapper lets you capture Web pages exactly as they appear in your browser. You can send them to a file as images or vector-based, multi-page PDFs. It captures the whole Web page - eliminating... Read more

Pacifist 3.2.6 - Install individual file...

Pacifist opens up .pkg installer packages, .dmg disk images, .zip, .tar. tar.gz, .tar.bz2, .pax, and .xar archives and more, and lets you extract or install individual files out of them. This is... Read more

Thunderbird 24.4.0 - Email client from M...

As of July 2012, Thunderbird has transitioned to a new governance model, with new features being developed by the broader free software and open source community, and security fixes and improvements... Read more

AppDelete 4.1.2 - Delete your unwanted a...

AppDelete is an uninstaller for Macs that will remove not only applications but also widgets, preference panes, plugins, and screensavers along with their associated files. Without AppDelete these... Read more

Apple Remote Desktop 3.7.2 - Remotely co...

Apple Remote Desktop is the best way to manage the Mac computers on your network. Distribute software, provide real-time online help to end users, create detailed software and hardware reports, and... Read more

OneNote 15.0.1 - Digital notebook. (Free...

OneNote is your very own digital notebook. With OneNote, you can capture that flash of genius, that moment of inspiration, or that list of errands that’s too important to forget. Whether you’re at... Read more

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GDC 2014 – Mutants: Genetic Gladiators i...

GDC 2014 – Mutants: Genetic Gladiators is a Neat-Looking Monster Training Game Posted by Rob Rich on March 19th, 2014 [ permalink ] Mutants: Genetic Gladiators from Kobojo is a monster battl | Read more »

GDC 2014 – Ruzzle Adventure Will Favor S...

GDC 2014 – Ruzzle Adventure Will Favor Solo Play Posted by Rob Rich on March 19th, 2014 [ permalink ] The original Ruzzle was quite the cool little multiplayer word puzzle game. | Read more »

GDC 2014: Fingle Creators Game Oven Intr...

Dutch studio Game Oven loves to make games that bring people together, with Fingle, Bam Fu, and Friendstrap. Their next game is a lot more elegant, though: Bounden is made in collaboration with the Dutch National Ballet, and has two people holding... | Read more »

Flight Review

Flight Review By Jennifer Allen on March 19th, 2014 Our Rating: :: PRACTICAL FLIGHT DATAiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Making it stylish and easy to look at flight information, Flight is a handy tool... | Read more »

GDC 2014: 11 bit’s The War of Mine Will...

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GDC 2014 – Talisman: Digital Edition is...

GDC 2014 – Talisman: Digital Edition is Looking Mighty Awesome Posted by Rob Rich on March 19th, 2014 [ permalink ] Talisman: Prologue was a pretty great adaptation of GamesWorkshop’s rather popular board game, but many seemed to view it as... | Read more »

GDC 2014: Watch Us Dance Awkwardly to Ro...

Rolocule, creators of Motion Tennis, are back with another motion-based game meant to be played on TVs: Dance Party TV. By using an iPhone with AirPlay output on an Apple TV, up to four iPhones can mimic the displayed dance moves, a la Just Dance... | Read more »

GDC 2014 – Ravensberger Announces SmartP...

GDC 2014 – Ravensberger Announces SmartPlay, Microminds, and Ravensberger Puzzle Posted by Rob Rich on March 19th, 2014 [ permalink ] Ravensberger has been busy! | Read more »

GDC 2014 – Conquest of Champions is One...

GDC 2014 – Conquest of Champions is One Slick-Looking CCG Posted by Rob Rich on March 19th, 2014 [ permalink ] Conquest of Champions is a pretty sweet-looking CCG from Kihon, and it’s making its way to the iPad. | Read more »

Nova’s Dream Review

Nova’s Dream Review By Jennifer Allen on March 19th, 2014 Our Rating: :: ONE-TOUCH PHYSICSiPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad One-touch gameplay means this physics based game is easy to learn but tricky... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

iPevo Articulating Video Stand For iPhone And...

I’m a huge fan of iPevo products, several of which I use regularly. Truly versatile design and quality construction counts for a lot. Most of the time my iPad lives in an iPevo KA-01 “Origami” iPad... Read more

BibleOn Delivers a Fresh, Modern Approach to...

BibleOn from Noah Inventions is a game-changing app designed for an international audience that features a true rich study material experience, high quality, clutter-free text layout, design and... Read more

Apple Replaces iPad 2; Resuscitates iPad 4th...

As I suspected after my local Walmart recently dropped the price for the price-leader iPad 2 to Can$323, the old 2 was on the bubble, which Apple burst Tuesday with the re-release of the 4th-... Read more

Refurbished 16GB iPad minis available for $22...

Radio Shack has a select number of refurbished 1st generation 16GB WiFi iPad minis available for $229.99 on their online store. Choose free shipping or free ship-to-store. We expect these to sell out... Read more

Save $30 on iPad mini with Retina Display

Best But has WiFi iPad minis with Retina Displays on sale for $30 off MSRP on their online store for a limited time. Choose free shipping or free local store pickup. Discount is for online purchases... Read more

16GB iPad minis (refurbished) available for $...

Walmart has refurbished 1st generation 16GB iPad minis available on their online store for $249.99 including free shipping. Both black and white models are available. Read more

Refurbished iMacs in stock for up to $300 off...

The Apple Store has Apple Certified Refurbished 2013 iMacs available for up to $300 off the cost of new models. Apple’s one-year warranty is standard, and shipping is free. - 27″ 3.4GHz iMac – $1699... Read more

Apple replaces iPad 2 with iPad 4 starting at...

Apple has replaced their $399 iPad 2 with the 16GB iPad 4 (iPad with Retina Display), in Black or White, for $399 for the WiFi model and $529 for the WiFi + Cellular models. The iPad 4 includes a... Read more

Microsoft Releases Free OneNote Application F...

Microsoft’s OneNote Team has announced the first version of their OneNote app. for Mac, which is now available for for download from the Apple App Store. OneNote is your place to jot down your ideas... Read more

Microsoft Announces Surface 2 (AT&T 4G LT...

Microsoft’s Surface 2 is still reportedly a sluggish seller cpared with Apple’s iPad, but the company is persevering with the introduction of an additional model choice. Surface 2 is pitched as a... Read more

Jobs Board

*Apple* Retail - Manager - Holyoke - Apple I...

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

Senior Project Manager, *Apple* Online Supp...

**Job Summary** The Apple Online Support Planning and Project Management Office (PMO) team is looking for an experienced Senior Project Manager to lead key strategic Read more

*Apple* Solutions Consultant (ASC) - Apple (...

**Job Summary** The ASC is an Apple employee who serves as an Apple brand ambassador and influencer in a Reseller's store. The ASC's role is to grow Apple Read more

Sr. Software QA Engineer- *Apple* TV - Appl...

…is transforming the living room. **Key Qualifications** 3 years experience testing or supporting Apple products Strong proficiency in: Command line Unix Mac OS X or iOS Read more

Lead *Apple* Solutions Consultant - Apple (...

**Job Summary** The Lead ASC is an Apple employee who serves as the Apple business manager and influencer across a number of Reseller locations. The Lead ASC's role Read more

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