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Distributor of Mac-only digital download games, Mac Game Store, released its latest four-game bundle promotion, the Aspyr Greatest Hits Bundle. A compilation of Aspyr Media's most popular releases, such as Civilization V, BioShock Infinite, Borderlands 2, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Microsoft has released an update to its Bing app for iPad that contains a number of tweaks and improvements to the search app. The update, bringing Bing for iPad to version 2.0, introduces a cleaner, simpler user interface to match Apple's "flatter" iOS 7 aesthetic. It also includes the ability to save Bing's colorful daily images for use as a wallpaper on one's device.
Late on Friday, Apple changed its website home page with a picture honoring former South Africa President Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday at the age of 95. The move comes after CEO Tim Cook posted a tweet quoting Mandela, who was revered worldwide for his political suffrage and leadership of the anti-apartheid movement that eventually overthrew the government and replaced it with a truly representational democracy, of which Mandela himself was the first leader.
Online trade-in site Gazelle has reported that iPad trade-ins for cash jumped 175 percent over normal on the weekend of Black Friday, a certain indicator that Apple CEO Tim Cook's prediction that it would be an "iPad Christmas" is likely to come true. The Apple tablet, which continues to dominate the category three and a half years after its introduction, has also topped holiday wish list compilations and has seen some constrained supplies of the two latest models, particularly the Retina iPad mini.
Again this holiday season, Apple has indicated it will be offering its retail and other workers steep discounts on selected accessories, in addition to a modest break on the price of iTunes Gift Cards. The company annually changes up its holiday-season offers to employees, but usually reveals price breaks on certain store items on top of the normal discount employees routinely receive on hardware and software purchases. Discounts can be as high as 65 percent off the retail price on third-party items sold at Apple Stores.
In a new editorial that could have been written by Apple's legal team in a candid moment, the Wall Street Journal rakes Apple e-book trial judge over the coals for both recent and previous missteps, from "essentially [ruling] before hearing the evidence" to appointing a personal friend with no experience in antitrust issues (and requiring an $1,000-per-hour assistant) as an inquisitor who believes his job is to "investigate Apple all over again" in an unconstitutional manner.
Citing a need for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to "get the enabling technology right," new chairman Tom Wheeler has delayed a spectrum auction. The auction pays television broadcasters for unused spectrum left unused after the shift to digital television. The FCC will then auction off the reclaimed spectrum to wireless carriers to expand wireless networks.
Social media giant Facebook isn't generally known for its Apple technology use, but a new report suggests that it may have thousands of Mac minis in its data centers. According to ex-Apple engineer and current Facebook employee Christian Legnitto, the Facebook data centers in Prineville, OR and Forest City, NC both have "racks and racks" loaded with the diminutive computer performing "hundreds of thousands of tests every couple of hours" on iOS software in development.
A number of Apple's online stores have begun selling 4K monitors made by Sharp, it was revealed on Friday. A 32-inch version of Sharp's PN-K321 monitor showed up at Apple's UK online store recently, retailing for £3,499. The move likely signals the impending availability of Apple's new, redesigned Mac Pro.
Google has redesigned the Android and iOS versions of its News web app with a variety of improvements. The look of the app has been cleaned up to make it easier to read and track different stories, and it can now be customized with light or dark themes, adjustable font sizes, and/or bigger story cards that include more content. Navigation has been streamlined by funneling access to every section, including customized ones, through a News icon in the top left; Google Feedback can be reached through a menu in the upper right.
This week in the MacNN forums, one Grizzled Veteran was looking for answers after they discovered that they were having problems with the Reminders program. A solution to this problem has yet to be found. "How does one overcome an Apple ID issue?" asks Junior Member "porrid" after they discovered that they are unable to sign into their account.
At Apple's online store today, save on refurbished desktop models like the iMac and Mac Pro. The 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.7GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive has been cut by $250 down to $1,049. A $270 discount lowers the cost of the 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.9GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 1TB hard drive down to $1,229.
This week, retailers across the net slashed prices for Cyber Monday week. Currently, HP.com is offering the 17-inch HP Envy with Leap Motion for $1,440, which is already $100 off the list price of $1.540 -- and until December 8, take advantage of a $500 discount with coupon code 'NB17TLM' that drops the price further to $1,040, beating the next lowest price by $540. This computer features a built-in Leap Motion hands-free control, Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, 2TB of storage and has Windows 8 pre-installed.
The world's biggest cellphone carrier, China Mobile, says it is still discussing an iPhone deal with Apple, according to a Reuters report. "We are still negotiating with Apple, but for now we have nothing new to announce," comments Mobile spokeswoman Rainie Lei. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal claimed that a deal had been signed, supporting rumors that Mobile might start selling iPhones as soon as December 18th.
Often forgotten amid the endless array of leaderboards and global connectivity is the fact that games can, in fact, act as something more than simply a means of competition. While some critics remain adamant against video games being considered an art form, titles such as Blek make a strong case against their disbeliefs. Blek at its core is a simple puzzle game, providing players with a series of increasingly challenging levels to complete, yet thanks to the strong use of clean visuals and unadorned audio, stands out in the App Store as a must have.
Apple's ongoing patent infringement actions against Samsung have cost the iPhone maker more than $60 million in legal fees, it was revealed on Thursday. Reuters reported on a new legal filing from Apple that pointed to the total cost Apple has paid to its U.S.-based legal team in order to pursue litigation against the South Korean tech giant. The figure, while sizable, is dwarfed by the potential damages payout Apple may receive for its initial victories, which amount to roughly $900 million.
Apple's November sales may have grown by 19 to 20 percent month-over-month in November, according to an estimate by Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White. The figure is based on White's "Apple Barometer," which tracks the performance of Taiwanese suppliers known to depend on Apple as a major client. "With approximately 97% of the sales now accounted for in our Apple Barometer, we estimate sales in November rose by approximately 19-20% M/M and well above the November average of up 6% over the past eight years," the analyst writes in a new investor memo. "As such, we believe this November will prove to be the strongest in the history of our Apple Barometer."
Twelve South has announced that its portable sound system, BassJump, has received a MacBook software update for OS X Mavericks compatibility. BassJump offers users additional audio speakers for one's MacBook, powered by a USB cable.
Gaming hardware maker Razer is working on a Made for iPhone-certified controller, a leak hints. Images depict a case-style product similar to the Logitech PowerShell, allegedly codenamed the Kazuyo. An unusual aspect though is the Kazuyo's ability to tilt an iPhone or iPod up roughly 45 degrees, potentially giving players a better viewing angle.
AgileBits is today releasing v4.1 of 1Password for Mac, its flagship software for storing logins, credit card numbers, and other sensitive data. One major addition is an improved browser plugin, which will now let people use the auto-save function to update existing passwords, instead of just store new ones. Items can now also be tagged from the auto-save panel.
Apple is today deploying iBeacons at all 254 of its US retail stores, according to the Associated Press. At the Fifth Avenue store in New York City alone, the company has 20 iBeacons; some of these are reportedly just iPhones and iPads, but, like regular iBeacons, can communicate with a visitor's iPhone as they walk around the store. To receive notifications a person needs to have Bluetooth enabled, and the latest version of the Apple Store iPhone app, which must be allowed access to location data and push notifications.
Even though the carrier is undergoing a restructuring of ownership, Verizon Wireless has managed to improve its LTE network in a number of cities. The carrier has reportedly increased the amount of bandwidth available to customers, with some markets seeing Verizon tripling its LTE capacity, thanks to its earlier $3.9 billion wireless spectrum purchase.
At one of the best possible times, Apple's production of the iPhone 5s appears to be catching up with demand, allowing worldwide online Apple Stores to offer the highly-prized smartphone -- even in the prized gold color -- with a shipping estimate of just 1-3 days for all carriers and capacities, the first time this has happened since its debut in September. The 64-bit smartphone, which has seen delays so severe that on occasion Apple's website offered no specific timetable for delivery, is now much more widely available.
Apple's share of the smartphone market in the US continues to grow slowly, though chief rival Samsung is growing at a faster rate but still has a long way to go to catch up. Android sales combined continue to dominate, but have seen very slow or flat growth in recent months -- however, in the latest three-month ComScore MobiLens survey, the platform managed twice the growth rate of iOS. Windows Phone also gained share, with all three platforms benefitting from BlackBerry's continuing fall.
Assuming that the latest iPhones (and possibly iPads) debut in China and on China Mobile as expected on December 18, Apple will have just two weeks of sales there to record before the close of the company's fiscal Q1 for 2014. In a testament the sheer scale of both China's overall economy and China Mobile's subscriber base are, those few days might be enough to materially affect Apple's overall earnings for the period, says Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.
A new report posted by Apple itself on its iOS developer portal says that, less than three months after its debut, iOS 7 is now on 74 percent of all the company's mobile devices -- an astonishing adoption rate unrivalled in the industry. Users still on iOS 6 make up about 22 percent of the base, meaning 96 percent of iOS users are running OS versions no more than a year old. By comparison, only around half of Android users are on a 4.x version (first released in mid-2012), with only 1.1 percent on the latest iteration.
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