Mobile menu toggle

Mac - page 75

Choice Tim Cook Quotes From Apple’s Stunning Q2 Analyst Call

By •

Is Apple Chief Operating Officer Headed for HP CEO Chair?
Is Apple Chief Operating Officer Headed for HP CEO Chair?
Apple Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook.

From today’s Q2 analyst conference call:

On Steve Jobs: “He is still on medical leave, but we do see him on a regular basis. And as we previously said, he continues to be involved in major strategic decisions. I know he wants to be back full-time as soon as he can.”

On iPad 2: “Demand on iPad 2 has been staggering.”

On Android: “We continue to believe—and even more and more every day—that iPhone’s integrated approach is materially better than Android’s fragmented approach, where you have multiple OSes on multiple devices with different screen resolutions and multiple app stores with different rules, payment methods, and update strategies.”

On Samsung: “We are Samsung’s largest customer. And Samsung is a very valued component supplier to us, and I expect that strong relationship will continue. Separately from this, we felt the mobile communication division of Samsung had crossed the line.”

On Japan: “… there’s aftershocks, there’s still uncertainty about the nuclear plant, there’s power interruptions. If that stays at the level that it is today, I’m not as worried. I would worry if something happened and took a turn for the worst.”

On iPad in education: “… last quarter, we were about a 1:1 ratio of iPads to Macs, which is, I think, amazing given the short life of the iPad. And really demonstrates what kind of opportunity there probably is there.”

And one from Apple’s chief financial officer, Peter Oppenheimer, on iPhone: “We saw stunning iPhone sales.”

From Macworld: Tim Cook speaks! Apple’s COO on Android, Japan, iPad 2

Apple Releases iTunes 10.2.2

By •

20100927-itunesicon.jpg

Apple released iTunes 10.2.2 today and the new version of iTunes contains a number of important bug fixes. According to Apple these fixes include:

• Addresses an issue where iTunes may become unresponsive when syncing an iPad.
• Resolves an issue which may cause syncing photos with iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to take longer than necessary.
• Fixes a problem where video previews on the iTunes Store may skip while playing.
• Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance.

iTunes 10.2 came with several new features and improvements, including:

• Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3.

• Improved Home Sharing. Browse and play from your iTunes libraries with Home Sharing on any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Get your copy now via Software Update or download a copy to install the software manually yourself later.

Run Your Own Cloud Server With Iomega’s New Home Media Drive [Review]

By •

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

It’s a little admitted secret, but one of the biggest reasons people like Network Attached Storage drives is for Torrent downloads. They’re the easiest ways to download obscure British TV shows, for example, that can’t be easily had here in the U.S. After downloading a couple of shows, users watch them via WiFi streaming on their MacBooks or iPads.

Trouble is, Torrent downloads slow everything on the home network to a crawl. Everyone complains when the network is clogged with Torrents of Shameless or The Killing. Well, not any more. You can set up one of Iomega’s new Home Media Network Hard Drive, Cloud Edition at work and use the office’s net connection to download Torrents at night. Then you stream them over the net to your home.

I’ve been testing one of the Home Media Drives for several weeks. There’s a been a few glitches, but on the whole, it works well. Now I’ve got my own little Amazon S3 system, with none of the monthly fees.

Apple Releases Mac OS X Lion Preview Update

By •

Mac OS X 10.7

Apple released an update to the Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview 2 last Friday.  The update is available to developers that are beta testing Lion via Software Update on the Apple menu. According to the update:

The Lion Developer Preview Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview 2

The update did not include information on specific fixes or updates. If you’ve discovered something about the update please share your discovery by leaving a comment.

 

Apple Releases Xcode 4.1 Developer Preview 3

By •

xcode4icon

Apple has released the third version of its developer preview for Xcode 4.1. The new update according to Apple:

This is a pre-release version of Xcode 4.1 for both Mac and iOS development. This release requires Mac OS X Lion Developer Preview 2 Update and includes iOS SDK 4.3. Continue to use Xcode 3.2.5 or Xcode 4 on a Snow Leopard partition if you plan to submit Mac or iOS apps to the App Store.

Xcode 4.1 Preview 3 includes these new features:

• Updated to support Mac OS X 10.7 Lion preview 3 and include iOS SDK 4.3
• Improved Assistant editor logic when switching among different file types
• Fixed a bug that prevented indexing of some projects
• Fixed a bug related to nil settings in the Core Data model editor
• Fixed a bug in LLVM GCC 4.2 and LLVM compiler 2.0 for iOS projects
• Additional bug fixes and stability improvements

You can download Xcode 4.1 Developer Preview 3 from Mac Dev Center.

[via iClarified]

MacBook Air (Late 2010) Now Shipping With Faster SSD Drives

By •

MacBookAir2010

AnandTech is reporting that Apple has appeared to have made some changes to the MacBook Air released in October 2010. The Macbook Air refresh last fall included some welcome surprises for Apple fans — a new 11.6″ form factor, an external case redesign, faster graphics, and larger SSD drives. All of this came at a lower price. The most interesting part of the refresh was the new SSD drives. Apple didn’t use regular 2.5″ or 1.8″ SSDs and instead introduced a whole new type of SSD form factor called mSATA SSDs a.k.a. blade SSDs.

Keep Your Mac Mac Running Like A Mean Machine [Video How-To]

By •

onyx

It happens to everyone. After time, your Mac will start to slow down. This can get awfully frustrating, but it’s not the end of the world. The free application OnyX can help your Mac run just like it did the day you bought. With some simple maintenance, your Mac will be just like new! In this video, you can find out how to get Onyx and use it to tune up your system.

MacTech Boot Camp Coming To Dallas – Save $200

By •

MacTech_Boot_Camp

MacTech Boot Camp is coming to Dallas next week and is filling up fast, but CultofMac.com readers can get last-minute tickets — plus a $200 discount.

MacTech Boot Camp is an intensive one-day training program for Mac consultants and IT technicians. It boasts more than a dozen sessions covering everything from effective marketing to proper support call technique. There are also sessions on networking, printers, Windows on Mac, security, scripting and command line — plus a bunch more. If you want to get up to speed as an independent Mac consultant, this is the program for you.

The Dallas event is April 27 at the Hyatt Regency DFW.

Tickets are normally priced at $495. To save $200, just follow this special CultofMac discount link and get in for just $295.

You can even take an exam to become an Apple certified tech at the show. There’s a study group before a proctored Apple Certification Exam. There’s also a discount for MacTech attendees: take the test for $199 (It’s normally $299).

If you’re not in Texas, no worries. MacTech Boot Camp is a traveling roadshow. There’s a show coming up fast in Boston (May 18 at Royal Sonesta Hotel), followed by Los Angeles (July 27) and Chicago (Aug 31). Attendees can save $200 by registering early.

CultofMac.com is a media partner of MacTech Boot Camp.

Here’s more info about MacTech BootCamp:

Apple Releases Safari 5.0.5 And Mac OS X Security Update 2011-002

By •

Safari_Security_updates

Apple has just released Safari 5.0.5 – an update for Safari on Mac OS X  which offers unspecified bug fixes and security updates for Apple’s web browser application.

The release notes read:

This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes the latest security updates.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

In addition to the Safari update Apple has also released a Mac OS X Security Update 2011-002. The release notes read:

Security Update 2011-002 is recommended for all users and improves the security of Mac OS X.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

All these nifty updates follow the release of iOS 4.3.2 earlier today.

 

 

How to completely uninstall software under Mac OS X [MacRx]

By •

Mac Uninstall

Uninstalling software under Mac OS X is generally a straightforward procedure — just delete the program from the Applications folder. Few vendors offer uninstallers on the Mac, and generally they’re not necessary. Most programs don’t run background components or alter system settings files (like the Registry on Windows), and leaving old preferences and support files on the hard drive generally doesn’t do much harm.

But if you are trying to remove an old or corrupt component, reinstall software to change a serial number, or just free up disk space, removing all components of the old application can be important. These components include the application itself, preferences and support items, and sometimes hidden files or kernel extensions. Anyone who’s had problems installing an Adobe CS application or removing Symantec AntiVirus will appreciate how hard it can be to fully remove old software.

Do-Not-Track Tool Added To Latest Safari Browser

By •

Safariicon

The latest beta version of Safari now features a do-not-track privacy setting to prevent online advertisers from tracking users as they surf the Web.

The tool has been added to the latest version of Safari in Lion, the upcoming update to OS X expected to go public this summer.

Safari is the third major browser to add a do-not-track setting. It joins Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Mozilla’s Firefox include it, but Google’s Chrome does not — yet.

Google, of course, is one of the web’s biggest online advertisers. It’s also worth noting that Apple offers an in-app advertising program called iAds that competes with other forms of advertising, online and off.

Wall Street Journal: Apple Adds Do-Not-Track Tool to New Browser

Watch Eddie Izzard On Mac’s Software Update [Video Humor]

By •

cult_logo_featured_image_missing_default1920x1080

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Sj2Q0rGUmo

Here is British comic Eddie Izzard on OS X’s Software Update. It’s pretty funny and spot on.

The clip is taken from his Izzard’s live show at the Madison Square Garden, which is just out on DVD.

It has got to be the first standup skit ever about OS X’s Software Update. In fact, it’s the first skit I’ve seen from a popular comic about Macs in general, except Sinbad of course. A sign of Apple’s ever-expanding popularity?

Via Gizmodo.

Why Upcoming Steve Jobs Biography Looks Good

By •

bill_gates_time_cover

Author Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Steve Jobs is likely to be a doozy, if this fascinating profile of Bill Gates in Time is anything to go by.

I just spent the last hour or so reading the 1996 profile, which Isaacson published when Gates was at the height of his power. Isaacson managed to get full access by persuading Gates it was a shot at winning Time’s Person of the Year. Gates didn’t win, but the profile is a great piece of work. It’s full of personal anecdotes and is psychologically penetrating. Isaacson talked to Gates’ friends, family and colleagues, and paints a rich, detailed portrait. It’s highly readable but also critical of Gates. We can only hope Isaacson does the same thing for Jobs, who has famously resisted biographers so far. As previously reported, Jobs has granted Isaacson full access for iSteve: The Book of Jobs, which is to be published early next year. (I don’t think it’s fair, but columnist Michael Wolff says Isaacson is a social-climbing sycophant).

Here’s a taste of the Gates piece:

When Gates decided to propose to Melinda in 1993, he secretly diverted the chartered plane they were taking home from Palm Springs one Sunday night to land in Omaha. There Buffett met them, arranged to open a jewelry store that he owned and helped them pick a ring. That year Gates made a movie for Buffett’s birthday. It featured Gates pretending to wander the country in search of tales about Buffett and calling Melinda with them from pay phones. After each call, Gates is shown checking the coin slot for loose change. When she mentions that Buffett is only the country’s second richest man, he informs her that on the new Forbes list Buffett had (at least that one year) regained the top spot. The phone suddenly goes dead. “Melinda, Melinda,” Gates sputters, “you still there? Hello?”

Time: IN SEARCH OF THE REAL BILL GATES

Via Apple 2.0: The man who won Steve Jobs’ trust

Strip Private Location Info From Your Images [New Mac App]

By •

photo-privacy

Okay, this is sorta creepy — and if you aren’t aware of this little fact by now, you should be: Unless you’ve adjusted the settings to turn this feature off, every time you snap a photo with your iPhone it embeds data with your exact location in the image file. This data, called a geotag, can be easily read using easily available software by anyone who has access to your images online (btw, contrary to what the folks at NBC say, it’s not new technology; the ability to geotag photos has been around since at least the first iPhone to include GPS, the 3G).

Keeping An Eye On Your Kids’ Online Activities With Parental Controls [Video How-To]

By •

parental


As a parent, it is always important to keep tabs on what your children are doing on the computer. Whether it’s the sites they are visiting, the amount of time they spend online, or even what applications they are using, Mac OS X can cover it. OS X includes a set of parental controls that can be tweaked to anyone’s liking. In this video, you will see how to set up parental controls and use the features that work best for you.

Why Apple Should Be Worried About Amazon’s Cloud Player [Opinion]

By •

Amazon's Cloud Drive and Cloud Player on a Mac
Amazon's Cloud Drive and Cloud Player on a Mac

This is a guest post by Paul Lamere, an executive at The Echo Nest, a music intelligence company located in Somerville, Mass. It was originally published here.

For the last year we’ve heard rumors of how both Apple and Google were getting close to releasing music locker services that allow music listeners to upload their music collection to the cloud giving them the ability to listen to their music everywhere.

So it was a big surprise when the first major Internet player to launch a music locker service wasn’t Google or Apple, but instead was Amazon.  Last week, with little fanfare, Amazon released its Amazon Cloud Drive, a cloud-based music locker that includes the Amazon Cloud Player allowing people to listen to their music anywhere.

Amazon’s entry into the music locker is a big deal and should be particularly worrisome for Google and Apple.  Amazon brings some special sauce to the music locker world that will make them a formidable competitor:

Saving Energy With Your Mac [Video How-To]

By •

Energy

Have you ever found yourself thinking that your Mac takes too much power or that your MacBook battery is draining too quickly? If you have, you’ll want to check out this video. In it, I’ll show you some of the best, yet most overlooked options for saving energy on your Mac.

Mac OS X 10.6.7 Update for 13-inch MacBook Air Released

By •

mbaupdater

The release of Mac OS X 10.6.7 isn’t even two weeks old and Apple has issued a supplemental update that patches the latest OS release. The patch fixes problems encountered by late 2010 13-inch MacBook Air users who upon launching iTunes experienced crashes that left their computers completely frozen and unresponsive.

I even experienced it myself before the problem mysteriously disappeared after forcing the machine to restart by powering it off and then on again. Since then I haven’t had a problem, but for some the problem persists. Luckily Apple has a fix.

According to Apple:

This update addresses an issue that makes the system unresponsive when using iTunes. It is recommended for all 13″ MacBook Air (Late 2010) users running Mac OS X v10.6.7.

You can grab this update via Software Update on your Mac or download it directly via this support page.

Welcome to Mac OS X: An Illustrated Introduction [10th Anniversary]

By •

Welcome to Mac OS X

Ten years ago Apple bestowed a new operating system unto the world, Mac OS X. A merger of NeXTStep and the Classic Mac OS, OS X finally delivered Apple’s first major evolution in OS design after a half decade of failed attempts: Taligent, Copland, Rhapsody…

To teach new users how to use its new creation, for a few years Apple included an explanatory brochure titled Welcome to Mac OS X with every copy. These booklets provided a helpful introduction to the new OS. In honor of the tenth anniversary of OS X, here’s a look back at how Apple described things in 2001.

How Mac OS X Came To Be [Exclusive 10th Anniversary Story]

By •

The instillation disk for Max OS X. Photo by malagent: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49368060@N00/2310215514/
The instal disk for Max OS X. Photo by malagent: http://www.flickr.com/photos/49368060@N00/2310215514/

Mac OS X celebrates its tenth birthday today. The groundbreaking operating system was introduced to the public on March 24, 2001. Mac OS X helped reverse Apple’s fortunes in the desktop PC market, and has underpinned a lot of Apple’s subsequent success. Most importantly, it spawned iOS, which runs today’s iPads and iPhones.

Below is the story of how OS X’s game-changing interface came about. The story gives some insight into corporate creativity at Apple. OS X’s interface started as a side project. But as soon as Steve Jobs got wind of it, it was fast-tracked. Jobs became intimately involved in its development — a scary prospect for the programmers working on it.

But the struggle wasn’t just in its development. Apple had to nail the switch from the old Mac OS to the new, or it could have sunk the company. Guess which ally was crucial to the transition — Apple’s old enemy, Microsoft.

With the launch of OS X, Jobs finally took the title of Apple’s permanent CEO. Prior to that he’d been the interim CEO, or iCEO, and OS X was the last major part of the company he needed to fix.

Steve Jobs Is Re-Elected to Disney’s Board Despite Opposition

By •

Disney is an entertainment giant. But with assets valued at a total of just (!) $81 billion, Apple could probably snap it up with the money Tim Cook uses to wedge his office door open with. There are people who will swear up and down that an Apple/Disney buyout makes perfect sense — particularly given Steve Jobs’ history as a major Disney shareholder.Recently Francis McInerney, a consultant at North River Ventures, called the deal “frighteningly obvious” and said that “the logic is so great this could happen tomorrow.” Rumors of an Apple/Disney merger go back at least as far as 1999 when it was reported that Disney planned to acquire both Apple and Pixar in a $12 billion stock swap, with Steve Jobs being ordained CEO of the mega-company. Since then, this rumor has come back with surprising regularity — although it’s unknown exactly why Apple would be interested in running theme parks and making animated movies.

Disney is an entertainment giant. But with assets valued at a total of just (!) $81 billion, Apple could probably snap it up with the money Tim Cook uses to wedge his office door open with. There are people who will swear up and down that an Apple/Disney buyout makes perfect sense — particularly given Steve Jobs’ history as a major Disney shareholder.

Recently Francis McInerney, a consultant at North River Ventures, called the deal “frighteningly obvious” and said that “the logic is so great this could happen tomorrow.” Rumors of an Apple/Disney merger go back at least as far as 1999 when it was reported that Disney planned to acquire both Apple and Pixar in a $12 billion stock swap, with Steve Jobs being ordained CEO of the mega-company. Since then, this rumor has come back with surprising regularity — although it’s unknown exactly why Apple would be interested in running theme parks and making animated movies.


Disney shareholders have re-elected Steve Jobs to the company’s board of directors, despite opposition from the AFL-CIO, the labor union federation.
As previously reported, the AFL-CIO opposed Jobs’s re-election because of his poor health and his job as CEO of Apple. The union argued that Jobs already had his hands full and advised shareholders not ro re-elect him.

Nonetheless, Jobs was re-elected on Wednesday at Disney’s annual shareholder meeting in Utah, according to Bloomberg.

With 7% of Disney’s stock, Jobs is the largest individual shareholder in the company. He has been a director at Disney since 2006, when Disney bought his other company, Pixar, for $7.4 billion.

New iMacs With Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt In Late April?

By •

apple_imac_new_aluminum

UPDATE: Brian Tong sent me a note pointing out my unfair characterization of him as “just a TV show host.” Brian has worked at CNet for three years where he is an editor. He’s a journalism major and even used to work in Apple retail. He’s got lots of contacts at the company. My apologies to Brian for unfairly questioning his credentials.

New iMacs with Sandy Bridge CPUs and the zippy new Thunderbolt port are due at the end of April or the first week of May, according to CNet TV presenter Brian Tong, citing “anonymous sources.”

There won’t be a redesign. The new machines will look the same as the old, which is no bad thing.

The source of this info is a bit iffy. Tong isn’t a traditional is a tech reporter — he’s a TV show host — but he does work in tech news and Tong is an editor at CNet and host of CNet TV’s The Apple Byte Show. He says he’s “highly confident” about his source.

The Sandy Bridge update is definitely on the cards. What’s new is the ship date — four to six weeks. This in line with our interactive Buyer’s Guide, which says an iMac update is overdue.

Please, please, please let this be true. I’m in the market for a new desktop to replace my old Mac Pro, and Sandy Bridge, big screens and Thunderbolt make for a juicy, juicy update.

The last iMac update was about eight months ago with Intel’s Core i3, i5 and i7 chips and ATI Radeon graphics. But the MacBook Pros were just updated with quad-core Sandy Bridge processors, and they’re screamers.

Thunderbolt is a new port for high-speed peripherals and displays. Dubbed “one connector to rule them all,” it’s a single 10Gbps cable that consolidates almost all existing ports, from FireWire to USB to miniDisplay to eSATA.

Swapping to DVI May Solve MacBook Air Video Problems

By •

flickrfreezemba2

People have had complaints about video problems on the MacBook Air since they were first released. I encountered some video problems initially, but after the plethora of updates that Apple has released the video problems haven’t returned.

These updates and suggested fixes worked for some, but unfortunately they didn’t work for everyone. People are still complaining on Apple Discussion Forums about problems they are encountering when connecting their MacBook Airs to external displays.

People were hoping that the next Mac OS X release would solve these problems. That update, Mac OS X 10.6.7, was released yesterday.

It didn’t solve the problem for some people, but we’ve gotten some clues on how to  resolve the problem for others.