OS X Mavericks has been designed to optimize your Mac. Whether it’s an older Mac or a new one, a desktop or a laptop: Mavericks just makes everything work better.

One feature that helps in the effort to keep your battery from running out as fast as it could is App Nap, a way for your Macbook to put the apps that aren’t being actively used on a low-energy mode, which consumes less power, and helps your battery stay fuller, longer.

However, you can also turn this feature off for a specific app that you want to run at full power all the time.

If you have a lot of passwords — and who doesn’t these days — LastPass is one of the best, free ways to keep track of them on all your devices. With iOS 7, though, the old LastPass app was looking a little long in the tooth. It needed a new coat of paint. And now the iOS 7 update is here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3x-bAWZWPM

Will flexible, bendable smartphone screens ever become a reality? Samsung thinks so. In fact, if you ignore the hysterically douchetastic concept video they are using to promote the foldable Galaxy tablets of the future, Samsung says we should have folding displays on the market by 2015.

If you have been trying to find a gold iPhone 5s or a new iPad Air in stock, you probably know about Apple Tracker, a simple web app that checked Apple’s inventory in order to help you find the precise model you were looking for in stock.

Or, rather, knew about it. Because it’s dead. And Apple killed it.

In 2011, Jayna Murray was slowly, brutally murdered at a Lululemon shop in a Bethesda, Maryland shopping area. She was bludgeoned with a hammer, slashed over 320 times with a box cutter, then strangled to death. Next door at the Apple Store, employees heard her tortuous screams, but didn’t lift a finger. Not to help her. Not to call the police. Nothing. It was just a day after the iPad 2 launched.

Although no one in the Apple Store was complicit in the murders, it was still a PR disaster for Apple’s retail outlet. Now a new book called The Yoga Store Murder by Washington Post reporter Dan Morse delves into the murder and its aftermath.

The Lollipod is a portable trips that’s meant to come along with your where other tripod couldn’t, wouldn’t or shouldn’t. It’s an ultra lightweight camera stand that works with anything from an iPhone to a GoPro to a real camera.

Rdio promised us back in September that recommendations were on their way, and you’ll find them now inside the app’s latest iOS update. The release also delivers a redesigned stations player, various user interface improvements, and some bug fixes.

Booq’s new Viper hardcases are tough, zip-up versions of the regular Viper sleeve, an already very protective case to carry your MacBook or iPad. The hardcase is sized to fit an iPad, an 11-inch MacBook Air or a 13-inch MacBook Air. MacBook Pro users can suck it – it’s not like you ever leave the house with your giant computers anyway.

Music streaming service Deezer has today announced that it now has more than 5 million paid subscribers worldwide, and it’s launching a new native Mac app that will improve the Deezer experience on your desktop. The app will sync with your existing iTunes library, and it will allow you to store music locally for offline access.

Drawing apps on the iPad are pretty neat, but it always seemed to me that they cleaved to strongly to the limitations of the physical world. Why, for example, should your piece of virtual paper be limited in size and shape like a piece of paper paper? It shouldn’t. And that’s the premise of Sketchology, a vector app with an almost infinite canvas.

Remember those old “home of the future” TV episodes from the 1970s, which invariably ended up with something going wrong and an automated voice yelling warning messages?

Well, someone at Apple does too (hopefully minus the “something going wrong” part), since Apple’s latest patent — issued by the U.S. Patent Office — describes a wireless communication system able to predict when to turn on devices such as your lighting or air conditioning based on your current location as opposed to a pre-programmed routine.

Apple pushed out a nice new update to its Apple Store app for iPhone on Tuesday, which brings Apple Store gift cards to Passbook in the United Kingdom and other countries. The feature made its initial debut just over a year ago, but until now, it was only available to users in the United States.

It might have been the unsaid mission statement for quite some time, but now top executive Shin Jong-kyun has puts his cards on the table, telling analysts that after overtaking Apple in smartphones, Samsung aims to be the world leader in tablet computers, too.

Shin noted that Samsung tablet sales will exceed 40 million units this year — more than doubling the sales in 2012.

“Samsung tablet shipments started to grow remarkably since the second half of last year,” he said.

Everpix was euthanized yesterday, and is currently in read-only mode until the developers can figure out how to let users download their archives. Everpix, for those who don’t know, was an amazing service that slurped up all of your photos from your iPhone, your Flickr, your Instagram, your Gmail (!) and more, and put them all in one place. It removed duplicates, send you a daily mail showing you pictures from the same day in the past, and was generally the best solution to the problem of digital photo overload.

I’m working on a piece about alternatives (I have been using a few other services along with Everpix for the last few months), but until then I thought I’d remind you about Photojojo’s PhotoTimeCapsule, a semi-replacement for the Everpix Flashback.

I just found out that Aviiq’s sweet portable charging station comes in a mini version, and it’s made of felt. As someone who loves felted wool so much that I have both iPad bags and slippers in the magical material, I’m stoked about this tiny portable power package.

Just in time for the new iPad Mini, iDevices — the company best known as the makers of the iGrill wireless meat thermometer — has announced the launch of its new iGrillmini, an ultra-compact version of the device equipped with Bluetooth smart technology.

I’m an unashamed lover of Rickshaw bags, and the new Commuter 2.1 looks as good as any of the SF-based makers other bags. I actually tested the original Commuter way back in the mists of time and found it to be excellent but a little to bulky for me.

Now, though, my daily commute actually involves a bike ride across town instead of a two second lurch from bed to desk, and I do that ride on a Brompton with a front bag. And for this, the new Commuter looks to be ideal.

I’m pleased to formally introduce my new book on Apple’s head designer, Sir Jonathan Ive — Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products.

Published by Penguin Portfolio on November 14, it’s the first full-length biography of the worlds’ most-celebrated designer.

I’m super psyched about it. It turned out great. I managed to talk to a bunch of inside sources, who reveal some of Apple’s most guarded secrets about how the company really works.

Everpix, the young photo storage startup that aimed to solve your Photo Stream woes, is no more. Due to a lack of revenue and the inability to scale, the company’s founders announced today that the service will be shutting down in the coming weeks.

Apple announced the release of iTunes version 11.1.3 this afternoon. The new update fixes an issue where the equalizer wasn’t working as intended and also comes with a bevy of bug fixes and performance improvements for users switching views really large iTunes libraries.

Users can download the new update from Apple’s website or via the Mac App Store.

Here are the release notes:

One of the things I’ve always wanted to do in my car (as I drive to and fro taking my kids to and from school, music lessons, and soccer practice) is to read my emails and text messages. But taking your eyes off the road is bad, mmmkay?

You can always turn on VoiceOver before you get in the car to read your screen to you, but it involves a whole lot of tapping and different gestures, so it’s kind of impractical to use on a non-regular basis.

Luckily, in iOS 7, you can now get Siri to read your email and your iMessages to you with a simple spoken command.

Apple has published a new report outlining the different kind of government requests it has received for its customers’ personal data. The report breaks down the number of customer account and device requests from different governments around the world, and the U.S. unsurprisingly leads the pack with the number of requests for each area.

Today Twelve South unveiled its new BookBook Travel Journal for the iPad, a leather-bound traveling case that has the vintage look Twelve South is known for. While the outside has the appearance of an old book, the inside of the case allows for storing headphones, cables, and other accessories.

Using a laptop on your lap is a pretty bad idea. Not only does it get hot, it also forces you to hunch your back or neck, and if you have any kind of carpal-tunnel problems they’ll make themselves painfully obvious pretty quick.

The Curb only fixes one of these, but it does do a pretty good job.

Typing in your password every time you want to unlock your Mac sucks. Apple still hasn’t added facial ID recognition to OS X, nor have we heard nary a mention of Touch ID coming to MacBooks, but if you’re looking for a neat way to quickly unlock your Mac, a new app called Knock allows you do it with two quick taps on your iPhone screen.

The free Mac app works in tandem with an iPhone app that turns your phone into an authentication device. Knock uses Bluetooth Low Energy to communicate from iPhone to Mac but you should be able to leave it on all day without draining battery.

Here’s a video of Knock in action: