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Forums: iOS Remote App features and more

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:40:00 GMT

Yesterday in the MacNN forums, Mac Elite "abbaZaba" started a thread discussing a few new features they believed would be beneficial to add to the iOS Remote app. Senior User "RobOnTheCape" is looking for suggestions for good tripods to use when taking HDR pictures with an iPhone....

Apple deals: five MBAs for $1,099 or less

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:39:00 GMT

At Apple's online store, take advantage of low prices on refurbished MacBook Air models. Save $300 on the 13.3-inch MacBook Air with a 1.7GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage, now $1,099. For $1,059 is the refurbished 11.6-inch MacBook Air with a 1.8GHz Intel dual-core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage....

DealNN: $25 off Mac mini

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:36:00 GMT

Newegg.com is celebrating Memorial Day with price cuts on a wide selection of items. Included in that list is the Mac mini which retails for $799. Until the 27th, use coupon code 'MEMRDAY22' at checkout to drop the price to $774. That earns it the title of lowest price by $4. The Mac mini features a 2.3GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive along with HDMI port, built-in speaker and support for iPhone headset with speaker. A one-year warranty on parts and labor is included from Apple....

Broadcom 802.11AC chipset spotted, may be used in new Macs

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:00:00 GMT

A new Broadcom chipset spotted on a Chinese website may be a component of future Mac updates, bringing 802.11AC (known as "Gigabit Wi-Fi") and Bluetooth 4.0 to new models on a single chipset. Not only will the chip handle all wireless communication for future Mac models, but the new chip appears -- at first glance -- to be backward compatible with similar parts in recent models, opening up the possibility of aftermarket upgrades....

Briefly: Vudu iOS content downloading, RE:Match for Nuke and Fusion

Tue, 21 May 2013 16:46:00 GMT

Vudu has launched an update for its iOS video player that adds support for downloading movies for offline viewing. Previously, users were required to stream all of their content from within the app, however, now they may select to download any content at various qualities for offline use. Other changes include closed captioning support for the iPhone, a simplified Player, and numerous bug fixes. VUDU Player is a free Universal app that can be downloaded from the App Store....

iPhone Apps: Tumblr, TextExpander, AfterLight

Tue, 21 May 2013 15:02:00 GMT

NPD: pre-paid smartphones rising, now one-third of US sales

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:42:00 GMT

Sales of prepaid smartphones in the US consumer market have risen dramatically, doubling in the last year and "continuing a string of more than 12 quarters of triple-digit sales increases" according to a new report from market analysts NPD. Prepaid phones -- defined as either premium smartphones such as the iPhone bought outright to avoid a contract or low-end smartphones aimed at lower-income consumers -- increased 11 percent in year-over-year in the first quarter of 2013....

AT&T waiving overage charges for Oklahoma City tornado victims

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:15:00 GMT

In the aftermath of the devastating tornado that cut a path of destruction through Oklahoma City on Monday, wireless carrier AT&T announced that overage charges would be suspended for the area until June 30 as part of an effort to assist victims, many of whom lost everything. Due to high call volumes as friends and family check on their loved ones, the company said it would add additional resources to relieve cell congestion....

New Adelaide Apple Store to open on May 25

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:45:00 GMT

Apple is preparing to open a new Apple Store in Adelaide, Australia on May 25 at 10AM. The Rundle Place outlet will not only be Apple's first in Adelaide, but also by extension the first in the state of South Australia, which is otherwise sparsely populated. The company has 19 other stores in the country, most of which are in New South Wales or Victoria....

Google killing Google Checkout, migrating some to Google Wallet

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:28:00 GMT

Today, Google made it known to its array of merchants that it is discontinuing the Google Checkout functionality, and migrating some existing users to Google Wallet. In a blog post announcing the move, Google called the Wallet product "a platform that enables merchants to meet the demands of a multi-screen world where consumers shop in-stores, at their desks and on their mobile devices." Users have six months to find an alternative solution, if not migrated automatically....

Samsung shows 4.99, 10.1 and 13.3-inch displays exceeding retina spec

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:21:00 GMT

Samsung Display announced today that it is showcasing several mobile to extra-large-sized display prototypes at the Society for Information Display's Display Week. These include a Full HD 1920×1080 mobile AMOLED 4.99-inch display with the world's broadest color gamut, a 10.1-inch 2560 x 1600 LCD for tablets, and a 13.3-inch 3200 x 1800 LCD for notebooks....

Senators Levin, McCain accuse Apple of exploiting offshore tax havens

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:11:00 GMT

In the wake of Apple's published testimony, US Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and John McCain (R-AZ) have released their own joint statement on the work of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "Apple Inc. has used a complex web of offshore entities -- including three foreign subsidiaries the company claims are not tax resident in any nation -- to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. income taxes," Levin's office writes....

Facebook Share Dialog for iOS ready; Chromium Mac gets app launcher

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:29:00 GMT

Facebook has brought a native Share Dialog for iOS out of beta via an updated SDK, v3.5.1. The change means that third-party iOS 6 apps will be able to share activity to Facebook without always requiring a login first. People should also be able to tag friends from within those apps....

Yahoo debuts new Flickr; 1TB of storage space, new Android app

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:26:00 GMT

Speaking at tonight's Yahoo press event in New York City, Marissa Mayer and Yahoo's Mobile Engineering Senior Vice President and Flickr product manager Adam Cahan revealed the new Flickr and accompanying new Android app, offering users 1TB of photo storage in a "very metro" user interface....

1.5-inch OLED screens being tested for Apple smartwatch, rumor says

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:16:00 GMT

Apple is testing 1.5-inch OLED touchscreens for use in its upcoming smartwatch, claims Taiwanese publication the Economic Daily News. Apple is in fact said to have tried 1.8-inch screens, but judged that they were too big. The 1.5-inch panels are reportedly being manufactured by Taiwan's RiTdisplay, and use one-glass-solution touch sensors, which should allow Apple to keep the watch thin....

Apple India offers promotions on entire iPhone line to boost adoption

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:49:00 GMT

Apple is making some moves to make its iPhone line more affordable in India. Deals sponsored by Apple with partners include credit card rebates, trade-in discounts, subsidies, and modified payment plans. As a result of the plans, analysts expect "significant growth" in the region....

AT&T to restore pre-loaded video chat network access by end of year

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:57:00 GMT

AT&T has made a statement regarding the future of video chat applications on its LTE network. According to the telecom company, all "pre-loaded video chat apps" will be available for all of its wireless customers "regardless of data plan or device" by the end of the year. The move is a turnaround from previous decisions by the company to prohibit use of FaceTime and now Google Hangouts chat on mostly grandfathered unlimited data plans....

Apple publishes official testimony ahead of Cook Senate appearance

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:55:00 GMT

A day ahead of CEO Tim Cook's planned appearance in front of the US Senate, Apple has published its official testimony (PDF) for the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. In the document, the company lobbies for corporate tax reform, specifically arguing that the government should be "revenue neutral, eliminate all corporate tax expenditures, lower corporate income tax rates; and implement a reasonable tax on foreign earnings that allows free movement of capital back to the US." Apple has roughly $100 billion in overseas cash, which it has refused to repatriate unless it can pay l...

NPD: US Mac sales flat compared to last year

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:40:00 GMT

A new report from market analysts NPD Group indicates that US Mac sales for the month of April were about even with the same month last year, which some analysts see as a positive sign for Apple. However, NPD's data -- which is normally considered reasonably accurate -- only covers US sales, meaning the higher percentage of Mac sales overseas is making meaningful predictions difficult....

Briefly: SwitchEasy cocoon for 13-inch rMBP, Gustav Line released

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:53:00 GMT

SwitchEasy is now offering a a version of its cocoon laptop case designed for the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. Built form a polycarbonate material, the cocoon is offered in four different colors, black, white, grey and yellow, and features a textured finish for improved grip. The case provides protection to the entire exterior of the laptop and comes with four rubber feet to keep the laptop from sliding around on a desk. The cocoon can be purchased through SwitchEasy's online store for $50....

Apple still king of retail, new study finds

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:44:00 GMT

A new study from Asymco analyst Horace Dediu finds that Apple is continuing to outpace the rest of the retail industry in sales per customer, sales per store and sales per square foot -- more than double the income of the second-place finisher Tiffany & Co and three times the third-place entry, Lululemon Athletica. In addition to retaining the crown of retailers, Dediu found revenues had increased from a year ago....

Apps: AppDelete, Duplicate Annihilator, OnyX

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:32:00 GMT

Turkey's Erdogan visits Microsoft, Apple, Google

Mon, 20 May 2013 16:28:00 GMT

The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been touring Silicon Valley companies this week, on the heels of a similar tour by Turkish President Abdullah Gül last month. Both men received VIP tours of facilities at Microsoft and Google, and met privately with officials from Apple. All three companies are hoping to land a contract to supply the country with at least 10.6 million tablets for the country's students....

Yahoo confirms Tumblr acquisition, Tumblr to remain independent

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:23:00 GMT

Yahoo has confirmed it has bought Tumblr, in a deal noted yesterday to be in the region of $1.1 billion. The search company has already moved its company blog over to the blogging platform, and despite CEO Marissa Mayer saying "We promise not to screw it up," there is reportedly a large jump in the number of users moving from Tumblr to Wordpress....

Rumor: fifth-gen iPad to enter full-scale production in July

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:45:00 GMT

A report in the Taiwanese trade paper DigiTimes -- which has a mixed track record of accuracy -- claims that Apple will begin large-scale production of the fifth-generation iPad in July, with a possible launch in September. The new model is said to be significantly thinner than the previous full-size model, which was unveiled last September. The report also claims the unit will be a third lighter than the current model....

Kodak unveils new Mac-oriented scanner model

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:47:00 GMT

Kodak, continuing its journey back from bankruptcy, has introduced a ScanMate i940 scanner specifically aimed at Apple users for the North American and European market. In addition to featuring increase image accuracy and precision capture, the unit now comes bundled with NewSoft software for Macs, including Presto Pagemanager 9 for scanning images and doing OCR on the scanner as well as Presto BizCard Xpress business card-scanning software....

Teen killed during attempted iPad theft; two men arrested

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:40:00 GMT

Two men have been arrested and charged with open murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in the death of 15-year-old Marcos Arenas in Las Vegas last week. Jacob Dismont, 18, and Michael Solid, 21, were charged Saturday over the incident. According to police, the two attempted to steal an iPad away from the youth but he refused to let go of it, resulting in his being dragged and run over by the two men....

Review: MaxUpgrades MaxConnect Optical Bay for Mac Pro 2006-2008

Mon, 20 May 2013 03:01:00 GMT

Nobody outside of Cupertino's privileged bunch knows the future of the Mac Pro line for sure. Despite Apple's reluctance to tell us what the line holds, there are a large number of machines in service all getting a bit long in the tooth, relatively speaking. As production Mac Pros have been replaced with new iMacs and even the Mac mini, IT departments are looking for creative ways to repurpose some of the older machines to preserve dwindling budgets and continued expansion of needs. Regardless of generation, the Mac Pro makes an excellent server for the home or business, limited only by the dr...

Reviews: MaxUpgrades MaxConnect for 2006-2008 Mac Pro

Mon, 20 May 2013 03:00:00 GMT

Mini review: Samsung Galaxy S4 with Exynos 5 Octa SoC

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:17:00 GMT

We have already published our full review of the Galaxy S4 for the US, which ships with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor. In some international markets, the Galaxy S4 ships with Samsung's own Exynos 5 Octa, an eight-core chip that uses ARM's big.LITTLE architecture. We have been using one for the past week, putting it through its paces, although our focus here is to see whether US customers are missing out on any performance....

'Crazy ant' invading Texas, destroying electronics

Sat, 18 May 2013 22:58:00 GMT

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have discovered that the US fire ant population is being pushed out by "tawny crazy ants," with an affinity to the interior of electronic devices. The ants are capable of nesting in nearly any container, and as they travel, they disrupt other ant populations....

MacUpdate Weekend Sale:

Sat, 18 May 2013 03:59:00 GMT

This weekend MacUpdate has slashed prices on Painter 12 and Painter Lite. <a href="https://deals.macupdate.com/deal/14292/5274">Painter 12</a> retails for $429, but has been reduced by 54% to $199. <a href="https://deals.macupdate.com/deal/14296/5274">Painter Lite</a> has seen a 58% price cut from $69 to $29. Hurry, because these deals are only available until May 19th 2013.

MetroPCS bows out of Net Neutrality lawsuit against FCC

Sat, 18 May 2013 01:26:00 GMT

In a court motion filed earlier today, MetroPCS is dropping its net neutrality opposition lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission. The company filed a motion for voluntary dismissal, leaving Verizon to willingly fight the decree and US government on its own....

Mozilla delays plans to block third-party tracking cookies in Firefox

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:48:00 GMT

Mozilla is delaying plans to start blocking third-party tracking cookies in Firefox by default, according to an announcement. The company states that more work is needed for the anti-tracking feature. "The idea is that if you have not visited a site (including the one to which you are navigating currently) and it wants to put a cookie on your computer, the site is likely not one you have heard of or have any relationship with," explains Mozilla's Brendan Eich. "But this is only likely, not always true."...

Yahoo schedules press event for May 20, topic 'something special'

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:52:00 GMT

Yahoo is holding a "product-related" event on May 20. The New York City event will see CEO Marissa Mayer speaking on an undisclosed topic for about an hour at 5PM EST, which the company calls in an mass email "something special."...

Amazon axes Zombieland, Browsers TV pilots; picks up two others

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:32:00 GMT

Amazon has cancelled two television pilots, after poor screenings. The television version of Zombieland will not be made into a series by the internet retailer, nor will Bebe Neuwirth's musical comedy Browsers about interns at a Huffington Post-esque website. Amazon has picked up John Goodman's Washington DC satire Alpha House, and Silicon Valley sitcom Betas....

Apple pulls Bang With Friends app after little over one week

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:37:00 GMT

Apple has removed a well-publicized iPhone hookup app from the App Store after just one week of it going live, Valleywag notes. Bang With Friends, still accessible via Android and the web, lets people indicate if they'd like to have sex with a Facebook friend. Notifications are sent out only if the feeling is mutual. Since launching in January, the service has already accumulated about 1 million users....

Stitcher for iOS gets Car Mode, other upgrades

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:51:00 GMT

Podcast and radio streaming service Stitcher has released an important update of its iOS app, v5.3.0. The major addition is a selectable Car Mode for the iPhone, which brings up a simplified interface. The mode works in both portrait and landscape views....

Study: tablets, smartphones rule mobile gaming; handhelds wane

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:05:00 GMT

A report by market analysts App Annie and IDC continue to show that mobile devices such as the iPhone or the Nexus 7 control a clear majority of mobile gaming interest and dollars spent on purchases, with portable handhelds fading rapidly. The first quarter of 2013 saw another milestone achieved for the Android platform, with it seeing more downloads and consumer spending on games than iOS for the first time....

MacBook Air stock beginning to evaporate ahead of WWDC

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:33:00 GMT

Third-party vendors are starting to run out of stock of the 13-inch MacBook Air, says AppleInsider. Amazon, B&H, MacConnection, and MacMall are all out of a common configuration, a system with a 1.8GHz processor and a 256GB SSD. Another reseller, J&R, is saying that it only has the configuration at retail stores. Best Buy continues to have some units....

'iRadio' announcement may miss WWDC, say sources

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:03:00 GMT

Apple's mired negotiations with the music industry may prevent it from announcing an "iRadio" service at WWDC on June 10th, industry sources tell The Verge. The people note that Apple is having trouble not just with Sony/ATV, but also BMG. At the same time they suggest there's still a lot of "market momentum" behind iRadio, and that major players such as Universal want to see it launch as soon as possible....

Briefly: Moshi Lightning Cables, Gangstar Rio and N.O.V.A 3 now free

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:44:00 GMT

Moshi has released its new line of Lightning cables for Apple's latest iOS devices. Encased in aluminum, the 3.2 foot cables are fully certified for use with the iPhone 5, iPod touch (5th gen), iPod nano (7th gen), iPad (4th gen) and iPad mini. Moshi's USB Cable with Lightning is sold online in two color variants, black and white, for $20....

MacNN forums: Retina MBP shuts down while sleeping

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:13:00 GMT

This week in the MacNN forums, one Professional Poster was trying to get to the bottom of a problem they had with their Retina MBP shutting down while in sleep mode, a solution has yet to be found. Fresh-Faced Recruit "frozentundra" is wondering when Apple will update the Mac Pro line....

Apple deals: 15.4-inch MacBook Pros from $1,489

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:12:00 GMT

A vast selection of refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro models are available at Apple's Online Store. The 15.4-inch MBP with a 2.3GHz Intel quad-core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive has been reduced to $1,489, a savings of $310. A $420 price cut is offered on the 15.4-inch Retina MBP with 2.3GHz quad-core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 750GB hard drive, now $1,679....

DealNN: $200 off 12-Core Mac Pro, more

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:05:00 GMT

Currently JR.com has the Mac Pro for the reduced price of $3,599.99, that's $199.01 off the list price of $3,799 and the lowest price we have seen on this Mac model, brand new, anywhere. Free shipping is included and sales tax applies for residents of New York and California. The Mac Pro features a 2.4GHz 12-Core Xeon processor, 12GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. A one year warranty on parts and labor is included from Apple....

Apple devices officially OK'd for secure government networks

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:00:00 GMT

Apple's iPhones, iPads and other devices running iOS 6 or higher are officially cleared for use on the US government's secure networks, the Department of Defence announced on Friday. The final approval, which we first reported on in March, also grants Samsung Android devices that are running the Korean company's Knox security lockdown, as well as BlackBerry devices running BB10 the ability to be used on secure networks. The move is expected to further hurt BlackBerry, as it faces competition in the military space for the first time....

iPhone Apps: Plants v. Zombies, Walking Dead, Sonic the Hedgehog

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:44:00 GMT

Corning introduces Lotus XT Glass, aimed at high-res displays

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:31:00 GMT

The maker of the Gorilla Glass used in iPhones and other mobile devices has unveiled its latest fusion-made, resilient glass for high-resolution displays. Corning, which is also continuing its Gorilla Glass line with a third version this year, officially introduced a "second-generation glass substrate" called Lotus XT Glass. The new variant features many of the properties of some of Corning's other products while being easier and cheaper to manufacture -- a fact that may persuade tech companies to use it in figure products....

Air Force estimates savings of $5.7M per year due to iPad use

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:18:00 GMT

A move by the US Air Force last year to replace maps, charts, logs and other paperwork contained in a kit with iPads is expected to save more than $50 million over next 10 years. The 18,000 deployed iPads form an "electronic flight bag" that can hold flight manuals, weather and navigation charts and volumes of technical and procedural information -- eliminating the need for the 30- to 40-pound flight bag pilots used to have to carry with them, resulting in savings ranging from fuel costs to printing costs to even reducing pilot back injuries....

UK: Tablets now outselling both notebooks and desktop PCs combined

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 GMT

A report from market analysts IDC looking at market conditions in the United Kingdom says that in the first quarter of 2013, tablet shipments outpaced the combined desktop and notebook PC for the first time. A total of 2.8 million tablets were shipped in Q1, outpacing the 2.3 million PC units (which include Macs alongside Windows desktops and laptops) by a half-million units -- a rise of 188 percent year-over-year. While the report is limited to the UK, the results likely foreshadow future trends elsewhere....