3 hours ago | Posted in: Apple
Having just raised doubts about the fairness of the proposed settlement between Apple and a coalition of states' attorneys general and consumer groups over the alleged e-book "price fixing" scandal, US District Judge Denise Cote has apparently reconsidered the deal and given a tentative okay to the settlement, which would see Apple pay $450 million to resolve the civil claims, with a catch: Apple would only pay a total of $70 million if the case gets remanded on appeal, or nothing at all if Cote's guilty verdict is reversed.
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With the Beta release of Yosemite in the hands of a million Mac owners, and questions about that subsiding, the next big question in the MacNN forums is about the future of iOS 8. Forum-goers discuss the future of the Mac desktop in two different threads, one asking if a consumer Mac Pro might surface, and the other questioning the possibility of a Retina iMac.
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This week at Apple's online store, save big on refurbished Mac models starting as low as $719. The 11.6-inch MacBook Air with a 1.3GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of flash storage has been cut by $130 to $719. A $150 discount is offered on the refurbished 13.3-inch MacBook Air with a 1.3GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of flash storage.
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Adorama.com currently has the previous generation Retina 13.3-inch MacBook Pro on sale for $2,250. That' s $150 less than their regular price of $2,400, and $250 off the MSRP of $2,500. This MacBook Pro features a 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM and 1TB of flash storage. Included is a one-year warranty on parts and labor.
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6 hours ago | Posted in: industry, Apple
Beats Music head Ian Rogers will also take charge of iTunes Radio as a part of Apple's acquisition of Beats, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. The people add that having Rogers in charge of both units is intended to generate cohesion in Apple's streaming music options. How exactly that might manifest is unclear, but the Journal speculates that Apple may implement new subscription options.
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President Barack Obama has signed the "Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act," making cellphone unlocking by individuals or businesses legal again, at least temporarily. The bill reauthorizes an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which allowed unlocking. The matter will come up for debate before the Library of Congress in 2015, so the bill signature today isn't a permanent fix.
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Aereo is "figuratively bleeding to death" according to a court filing made last night by the Supreme Court-impacted Internet video service. The filing cites "staggering costs" that it is still paying to stay alive as a business entity while the and US Copyright Office debate if it should be treated like a cable company, like the Supreme Court alluded in its ruling against Aereo.
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7 hours ago | Posted in: industry, Apple
Although layoffs may be coming, no one at Beats has lost their job yet as a result of Apple's takeover, a source tells Billboard. "Every single person is going through Apple orientation, they're signing up for healthcare," the person comments, noting that everyone has been offered a full-time job at Apple, although as confirmed by the company some people are only being offered work for a limited time. Specifically, the source says that these people could lose their jobs in anywhere from three months to a year. Five people have reportedly been fired in "performance-based terminations."
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Delta Airlines today release an update for both of its Fly Delta iOS app, now allowing access to free in-flight entertainment content. Available through its new Delta Studio initiative, the service will be available on all domestic and two-cabin aircrafts, and feature a variety of TV shows and movies through the on-board Wi-Fi. The updated Fly Delta app also includes access to past and current issues of Delta's Sky Magazine, as well as a Glass Bottom Jet feature which provides flight tracking information. Users of the Gogo Video Player app are permitted to stream and access content through in flight entertainment services. Fly Delta for iPhone and iPad are both free to download through iTunes.
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9 hours ago | Posted in: iPhone
Photos obtained by a French site show what are claimed to be home buttons and connected flex cables for Apple's 4.7- and 5.5-inch iPhones, sometimes dubbed the iPhone 6 and iPhone Air, respectively. Both differ not only from the iPhone 5s, but each other, with the 4.7-inch phone for instance having a straight cable, and the 5.5-inch device having a slightly bent one. The buttons themselves are also visibly different. Significantly, identification numbers appear to match previous leaks and other parts from Apple.
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Once again, it's time for the MacNN and Electronista Friday Deals! Every Friday, we're going to take a look at current sales, and bring you what we think are some of the best bargains on prime apps, gadgets, and peripherals for you, our faithful readers. All prices are verified at the time of publication, but any sales may not be valid if you're reading a few days down the line. Check pricing before you click buy! We have a tendency to add deals over the weekend as we find them, so check back often!
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(Updated with Apple welcoming page) Vivendi's Universal Music Group has completed a sale of its 13 percent stake in Beats to Apple, in a deal worth $404 million, according to an official statement. The company hasn't released any other details. In all, Apple is paying about $3 billion to acquire Beats.
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11 hours ago | Posted in: gadgets
Casio is adding another smartwatch to its wristwear range, this time adding a new item to the G-Shock collection. The G-Shock GBA-400 provides the option to control music on an iPhone or Android smartphone over Bluetooth, with the additional ability to pipe nearby music to the smartphone for recognition by SoundHound, displaying the track information on the watch's digital display.
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11 hours ago | Posted in apps
OmniPlan is a project planning application that is capable of storing Gnatt charts, schedules, summaries, milestones and critical paths. The software also allows users to break down a project into smaller tasks that can be distributed among workers. The latest releases resolves a number of bugs and crashes, including a problem that resulted in task labels rendering poorly on printouts of the Gantt view. A crash that could occur when plugging and unplugging external monitors has also been fixed.
ExpanDrive builds cloud storage into any application by allowing the online storage account to act like a USB drive plugged into the Mac. Version 4.1.4 makes improvements to the app’s ability to detect new/deleted files on a remote server, as well as to support for Textmate 2. Support for very large S3 listings has also been fixed and non-ASCII characters on Google Drive should no longer create any problems.
Together is a tool for storing, previewing, editing and searching a variety of files. Most items can be dragged to Together's main window or Shelf for quick access. The v3.2.1 update addresses a crash that could occur after importing a folder by moving it, as well as a problem where the last selected items would not be restored after a restart if "Close windows when quitting an application" is selected in General System Preferences.
Ember is a digital scrapbooking app that can be used to store and organize websites, photos, apps, and many other things. Any content added to the app can be organized into collections, while tags can be used to further sort items. With the latest update, users can now record their screen at 60fps. A problem with saving GIFs from the Ember browser via the right-click menus has also been fixed.
HoudahGeo enables users to link photos to the location where they were taken. Photos can be pinned to their respective locations, removing the need for a digital camera with built-in GPS capabilities. In v3.7.2, the software can now display speed in knots, and will also check if it has read privileges before trying to load an image. Furthermore, pasting coordinates now understands more number formats and separators.
Rayner Software has released Netshade 6, an update of its proxy/VPN client for the Mac. The main addition is actually KeyShade, a tool for storing passwords, notes, and bank and credit card info. Data is encrypted using AES-256, and synced across devices. Rayner says that a standalone version of KeyShade will be "coming soon" to Mac and iOS, but that for now it's tied to NetShade.
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To-do app Wunderlist has reached version 3.0, and is celebrating with fresh, iOS 7-inspired look, among other changes. The biggest changes users would immediately notice are the design, the real-time sync and a new option to make a list public. Users can also share lists with selected other Wunderlist users (such as family) across nearly any mobile or desktop platform, with instant updating.
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Roam Mobility, a Canadian independent roaming SIM replacement provider, has announced its new unlimited roaming plans for travellers while in the US. Upon purchasing a one-time upgrade to the network ($2), users with one of the company's SIMs and an unlocked device can access Roam Mobility's new Text+Data plan ($2 per day) offering unlimited texting and 2G data; plans that include 4G LTE data, flex scheduling, a Snowbird incremental option, and more are also available at generally lower rates than before. Roam Mobility can be purchased from major retailers across Canada, such as London Drugs, Staples, 7-Eleven, and more.
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