MacLife

Hey, how about that Super Bowl, am I right? Okay, you got us -- we didn’t watch the darned thing because we were working hard all weekend while the rest of you planted your backsides on the couch to indulge in cheap beer, stale nachos and the high blood pressure that surely comes from such testosterone-driven forms of entertainment. Most of you are probably having a hard time adjusting to a bad case of the post-Bowl Mondays, but we’re here to help with a heaping helping of tech news for this manic Monday, February 6, 2012.

There May Be a Valid Reason Why Siri Isn’t on Older iPhones

No one likes to be left behind when cool features like Siri are introduced and touted as only available on newer hardware. Despite the valiant efforts of hackers to port the intelligent assistant technology to older iOS handsets, Ars Technica is reporting that Apple may have had a valid reason for limiting it to the iPhone 4S. “According to recent SEC filings from technology start-up Audience, Apple incorporated an improved version of its background noise filtering technology directly into the A5 processor used in the iPhone 4S -- technology that improves Siri's speech recognition capabilities.” Of course, the basic functionality of Siri has already been available in software-only form as a free app, since discontinued after Apple’s release of the iPhone 4S in October -- but coupling it with Audience’s “earSmart” IP would certainly make a more convincing case for keeping Siri tied to newer hardware.

Best Buy Dreaming of an Apple Television, Too

Yeah, yeah, we know: You want an Apple television, and so do the analysts. But what about major electronics retailers? According to The Verge, apparently Best Buy also wants one, and wants one badly enough to query its customers with a survey exclusively dedicated to a theoretical 42-inch “AppleHDTV” which may retail for $1499. Now, before you get all excited and start clearing space on your credit cards, this is in no way an indication that said HDTV will ever arrive in stores -- Best Buy or otherwise. It sounds more like the retailer is getting a feel for what customers might like to see from such an offering, especially when features like a “built in iSight camera and microphone for Skype,” neither of which sound too Apple-like in this day and age. (FaceTime HD, anyone?)

Samsung Galaxy Note: The Stylus Makes a Comeback?

With an audience of millions watching the Super Bowl on Sunday night, Samsung introduced the latest of their attack ads against Apple in the form of a whopping 90 seconds of pure delusion. The spot opens with the usual bored-looking hipsters, presumably in line for the next iPhone, in what can only be described as sheer make-believe -- hey, we stood in line for the first two iPhones and nobody looked as bored and tortured as these folks. Of course, the dark cloud parts when one of them spots a dude with his new Android-packing Samsung Galaxy Note, which reintroduces the stylus to a world that has pretty much forgotten about it. The hipsters get so excited they take to dancing in the streets for the majority of the commercial time before the spot ends with Samsung’s slogan “The next big thing is already here”… followed a moment later by a “Coming Soon” notice. Confused? Yeah, us too…

Report: AT&T Begins Throttling Unlimited Users at 2GB

Still rocking one of those awesome unlimited data packages from the original iPhone back in 2007? If so, AT&T apparently hates you and wants you to die -- okay, so they don’t want you to die, but they do want you to surrender your unlimited data and get with the times. According to iLounge, customers are starting to receive text messages warning that they’re in the top five percent of data users -- a penalty that comes with reduced data speeds for the remainder of the billing cycle. So what is the top five percent, you may ask? If you guessed five or even 10GB, guess again: This particular user got whacked at only 2.1GB, which is ironically under the new 3GB for $30 data plan the carrier recently began offering. What gives? “Data consumption by all smartphone customers, including the top 5 percent of smartphone data customers, varies by month and by market,” explains Emily Edmonds, Director, AT&T Corporate Communications. “As of August 2011, the average data use across the country by the top 5 percent of AT&T smartphone customers was 2 GB per month.” Sounds more like a way to strong arm users grandfathered with undesirable unlimited plans into getting with data caps, if you ask us.

Redbox Partners with Verizon for Streaming, Consumes Blockbuster Express

Hey, Redbox… slow down! You’re making our heads spin here! If you weren’t paying attention earlier today, you might have missed the big news that the DVD rental kiosk giant is indeed preparing to take on Netflix with a new subscription-based streaming service in an unlikely partnership with Verizon. Concerned that the company might be abandoning those giant red kiosks? Don’t be, because Fast Company is reporting that Redbox had yet another huge announcement this afternoon, dropping $100 million for competitor NCR -- the folks behind their sole competition, Blockbuster Express. The deal will now bless Redbox parent Coinstar with “more locations than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined” -- and they predict those DVDs will keep slinging for upwards of another decade, to boot.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

This week's games are addictive and packed with cute animals, making them too fun by half. You'll be fighting your kids to get back your phone just so you can have a crack at these adorable discounted apps. Got a long car trip coming up for the weekend? Well, then, you're set.

Rocket Rush - Tappi Bear

Time for another space journey as you pilot Tappi Bear through the cosmos. Navigate your way through meteors as you fire you donut canon but watch out that the aliens don't get you! How far can you go? This fast loading universal game is a buck off, making it free for you. Enjoy and good luck!

Kiwi Brown

Oh noooes! The evil space bubbles are set to invade and only you, Kiwi Brown, can save the day. Pop those bubbles through cycles of days and nights (bubbles don't rest -- what can you do?). Power-up for mega burst action in this charming free iPhone only app down from one dollar to just one tap in the App Store.

Little Bricks

The classic brick breaking style game gets a few twists in this update on an old favorite. It's not just you, your ball, and some bricks. Oh no, you'll be working in the rain, in the snow, against high winds. You'll be finding portals and all kinds of other hidden gems in this now free iPhone favorite.

Derby & the Jellybean Adventure

Derby's on an adventure to eat as many jellybeans as he can. You'll fling him from peg to peg in this free iPhone physics style game. Watch out for thieving enemies who will try to steal your sweet treats. With the right aiming, you can toss this adorable little guy for hours without stop. Down from a dollar, but not forever, so what are you waiting for?

 

Ah, Friday: Time to kick up the feet and relax, assuming you don’t have to work the weekend. (Sadly, we do -- feeling sorry for us yet?) Despite the weekend being upon us, today was a rather busy day in the tech world, with Apple briefly removing 3G-equipped iOS devices from its online store thanks to a Motorola injunction, RIM baiting Android developers with free BlackBerry PlayBooks and a whole lot more. Read on to find out what’s making news for this Friday, February 3, 2012.

German Motorola Victory Briefly Removes 3G Devices from Apple Online

If you live in Germany and have been trying to buy a 3G-equipped iOS device aside from the iPhone 4S in the last day or so, you might have been out of luck. According to AllThingsD, Apple removed all 3G-equipped iOS devices from their online store in that country with the exception of the iPhone 4S in compliance with an injunction granted to Motorola Mobility last December, part of the ongoing patent dispute between the two companies. Even as Apple was moving to comply, they were hard at work on an appeal, and this morning it came through -- although it’s only a temporary measure until the matter is resolved, which patent expert Florian Mueller says could take upwards of a year. “Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago,” an Apple spokeswoman explained to AllThingsD.

Free BlackBerry Tablet for Android Developers

iOS developers must surely be getting a good chuckle out of this: BlackBerry PlayBook maker Research in Motion is trying to woo Android developers to their tablet by giving them the necessary hardware for free. According to The New York Times, “all an Android programmer has to do to get one is make a PlayBook app and submit it to RIM’s app store, BlackBerry App World, by Feb. 13.” We’re not even talking about native BlackBerry QNX apps here -- RIM wants that Android goodness, presumably in the hopes of expanding its user base the way Amazon has with the Kindle Fire and its own Appstore. However, the report notes that RIM has an ulterior motive here: “Oddly, the PlayBook giveaway could have less to do with the tablet than it does with future BlackBerry smartphones.” Perhaps the idea is to lure Android developers and turn them to the Dark Side, writing QNX apps for the forthcoming BlackBerry 10 (and, presumably, the next PlayBook tablet as well).

Oops, Apple Did It Again: Snow Leopard Security Update Breaks Rosetta

While OS X Lion users had to content with a cryptic CUI error after installing Mac OS X 10.7.3 this week (assuming they could successfully open apps at all!), it turns out the seemingly harmless Security Update 2012-001 for Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard that Apple pushed out at the same time is also causing some ticks in that big cat’s fur. According to Macworld, Snow Leopard users who install the update are finding they can no longer run PowerPC apps, which require Rosetta to run. “People have reported cursor glitches, printing errors, and crashes when quitting an application,” the report reveals. “The popular financial package Quicken 2007, which requires Rosetta to work on Intel Macs, appears to be a frequent victim.” Thankfully, an enterprising group of system administrators at a Nebraska high school have already come to the rescue with the aptly named RosettaFix, which swaps out the afflicted files for the ones installed prior to applying the Security Update. The only caveat is that the fix may not work for all apps, but it’s worth a try if you find yourself stuck with no other choice.

Readdle Introduces Innovative New Remarks App for iPad

The creators of the popular Readdle Docs and PDF Expert apps are back, fresh from the recent Macworld/iWorld expo, with their latest work: Remarks, a $4.99 digital notebook app for the iPad. “Write down your thoughts, capture ideas and information, annotate documents and outline notes anywhere from university class to sofa at home,” the app description reads. “To let you write anything you have in mind we included all the tools you might need: pens and highlighters of different colors, floating text boxes, shapes and of course an eraser.” But this isn’t just a simple note-taking app: iPad users can also extensively annotate their notes, which are saved in PDF format and can be easily shared with others, imported to other iPad apps or even saved to the Mac or PC. Judging from early user reviews on the App Store, Ukraine-based Readdle has another winner on its hands with this 17.8MB app, which is now available and ready to purchase.

Apple’s iBooks Author License Not Quite as Evil

You may recall that the launch of iBooks 2 and the free iBooks Author was somewhat marred by a firestorm of controversy surrounding exactly what users could do with their finished work. According to MacRumors, many took the EULA quite literally, “believing that Apple was claiming rights to all content used in the production of the iBooks Textbooks, perhaps attempting to exclude books from being published in any other form.” Thanks to today’s iBooks Author 1.0.1 update, the licensing terms have now been clarified: Apple is claiming rights only to the .ibooks document format, while authors are free to sell their content in other formats as they please. A subtle change, but one that should send content creators back to the village to snuff out those torches and hang up the pitchforks -- at least for now.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

Some people are more fortunate than others -- for example, yesterday’s Mac OS X 10.7.3 update is causing grief for many who used Software Update to install it, while our 27-inch iMac was smooth sailing all the way with this method. If you’re one of those affected, read on for the fix -- and while you’re at it, stick around for a little bit and take in the rest of the day’s news for this fine Thursday, February 2, 2012.

Mac OS X 10.7.3 Update Woes? There’s A Fix for That

Hey, nobody’s perfect, and that includes the engineers at Apple. As noted by Macworld, yesterday’s Mac OS X 10.7.3 update appears to be hiding a little bugaboo that has caused some grief for a number of users. Thankfully, there’s an easy solution, which is to download the larger Combo updater and simply install it over the system having the problem. So what’s the problem? It appears that a number of users who updated via Software Update “discovered upon rebooting that every app they launched would crash, and the ensuing error dialog box sported bizarre overlays: gradient boxes reading ‘CUI CUI,’ along with bright red question marks.” While the fix is easy, if your particular system is crashing every app, you may need to resort to using FireWire Target Disk mode from another Mac to install, or if worse comes to worse, use Lion Recovery mode to get things going again. No word yet from Apple on what the problem might be or how they intend to fix it -- most likely they’ll pull the update and replace it with a patched version in the near future.

Avid Studio Brings Powerful Editing to iPad

It’s been quite a week for video editors, with Apple releasing an update for Final Cut Pro X that finally restores missing features from the legacy version and now their rival Avid landing on the iPad with a $4.99 prosumer offering called Avid Studio. Avid is a familiar name in the pro video world, having pioneered much of the non-linear digital editing used by Hollywood. The company’s latest offering isn’t quite as ambitious, but aims to take on Apple’s own iMovie solution instead. Avid Studio promises “big-screen moviemaking” on the iPad. “Swiftly arrange your clips in the Storyboard, make precision edits using the Timeline, and add high-quality transitions, effects, and a soundtrack,” the app description reads. “Then share your movie directly to YouTube, Facebook, and more -- or export your project to Avid Studio for the PC and continue editing with even more advanced tools.” Avid Studio is a 30.7MB download from the App Store and available now for $4.99.

Apple Leapfrogs LG to Become Third Largest Mobile Phone Maker

MacRumors is reporting that Apple’s recent success with the iPhone 4S is paying off in many ways, including a new report out from research firm IDC today that positions Cupertino as the third largest manufacturer of mobile phones worldwide -- and that’s not strictly smartphones, but rather mobile phones of all types. With a 128.4 percent year-over-year-change, Apple handily breezed from fifth place to third place, bumping rival LG down a notch. The iPhone maker is now perched behind Nokia in first place and Samsung in second place, although that pair will be much harder to dethrone: Nokia and Samsung sold 113.5 million and 97.6 million handsets respectively in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with Apple’s relatively modest 37 million.

Skype for Mac Update Brings Video Call Stability, UI Improvements

The folks at Microsoft-owned Skype are back for another heapin’ helpin’ of update fun for the Mac edition, with a new version out today that promises “improved video call stability and improvements to the calling interface.” Of course, that all comes on top of the VoIP giant’s recent bear hug with Facebook, which allows users to check news feeds, instant messages and even video call their friends with or without the client software, thanks to the wonders of modern browser technology. But enough of our yakking, it’s time to click the link and get your update on...

iMessage “Bug”? Not So Fast

There’s been plenty of chatter this week about what everyone assumes is a bug with iOS 5’s iMessage service, which allows text messages to continue to be received even on stolen or lost devices. As it turns out, the “bug” only rears its ugly head when proper protocol is not followed. According to The Loop, one such incident recently documented by Gizmodo found a customer’s text messages inadvertently going to an iPhone owned by the Apple Genius who assisted her with an unrelated problem. Since the customer’s device had no SIM card, the Genius popped out his own and placed it inside the customer’s, causing a shift in the time-space continuum. Okay, not really, but it did cause the iPhone to start routing the customer’s iMessages to the Genius’ device. As it turns out, toggling iMessage on and off or having the customer put their own SIM card back into their device would have eliminated the problem, as explained by an Apple representative. Problem… solution.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

That surge of Twitter activity this evening was the internet going ape for Facebook’s new IPO filing today in an effort to raise $5 billion. Hey, good luck with that, guys… we’re just hoping all that cash will bring some much-needed fixes to the website, but Zuck probably has some other cool stuff in mind. Oh, and don’t forget to download Mac OS X 10.7.3 which finally hit Software Update today -- and while you’re downloading, maybe catch up on the rest of the news for Wednesday, February 1, 2012.

Leaked iPad 3 Photos Reveal Quad-Core Processor, Global LTE

It’s the beginning of February, and that means the iPad 3 rumors are going to start coming in hotter and heavier than they have over the last few months. Like clockwork, the first one is already here, with BGR reporting that leaked photos from “a source claiming to be in possession of an iPad 3 prototype” reveal some key details of the much-anticipated third chapter in the iPad saga. Using a development tool called iBoot, the tipster reveals there could be only two iPad 3 models this time around: One with Wi-Fi only and another with combined GSM, CDMA and LTE that will work with all carriers, both here and abroad. The photos also allegedly reveal an A6 quad-core processor with the model number S5L8945X, which is right in line with numbering scheme for the original iPad’s A4 and iPad 2’s A5 processors. That said, the photos do nothing to stem the long wait for CEO Tim Cook and company to actually reveal the device, let alone a date as to when we can storm the castle -- er, Apple Stores -- to actually buy one.

Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.7.3

After a lengthy period in beta with developers, Apple finally pulled the trigger on the Mac OS X 10.7.3 update, which is now available via Software Update or directly from its servers as a standalone 997.01MB download (a Client Combo is also available, which weighs in at 1.2GB). Among the improvements offered with the new update are language support for Catalan, Croatian, Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, and Ukrainian, fixing issues when using smart cards to log into OS X, resolving issues authenticating with directory services and compatibility issues with Windows file sharing. Apple has posted full release notes which detail every nook and cranny updated with the latest version, and a Security Update 2012-001 is available separately for both Snow Leopard and Snow Leopard server.

Rumor: Next-Gen iPod nano May Bring Back Camera

It’s been relatively quiet on the iPod front since the media player got bumped from its annual product refresh last year, but TechCrunch is reporting that there may be something worth waiting for. According to Chinese blog Apple.pro, a sixth-generation iPod nano has been spotted with a camera on its square little back, which falls in line with rumors we reported about last year. You’ll recall the fifth-generation iPod nano introduced a rear camera, which was summarily axed the following year when the nano got smaller and more square. Of course, the tiny camera will likely be of the 1.3 megapixel variety -- more akin to the front-facing camera of the iPhone 4S than that slick dude capturing images around back, but we’ll take what we can get.

Path Introduces Depth with Version 2.0.5

Social networking app Path really made a comeback in 2011, increasing the number of friends to 150 and allowing users to finally share directly to Facebook and Twitter. Today, the company announced a new version 2.0.5 release which adds Depth, billed as “the best way to tilt shift your photos and the only way to tilt shift your videos on the iPhone.” Depth creates a miniaturizing effect for photos and videos by creating a point or plane of clarity and blurring the surroundings, and works in both Spot and Landscape modes as well as before or after an image is taken. The update also introduces pinch, tap, rotate and zoom for photos, tap and rotate for videos, clickable links, friend requests sorted by time and the usual bug fixes. Path 2.0.5 is available for download now from the App Store.

Facebook Launches Initial Public Offering, Tech World Goes Nuts

Though it was widely expected, the tech world went a little bananas this evening as social networking giant Facebook officially filed its Initial Public Offering (IPO), revealing that it “earned $3.7 billion in revenues last year and made $1 billion in profits,” according to AppleInsider. The House That Zuckerberg Built is aiming to raise $5 billion with its public offering, making it the highest amount ever for a tech company. The filing also notes that game maker Zynga makes up 12 percent of Facebook’s revenue with its virtual currency and advertising, but cautions that “our financial results may be adversely affected” should that relationship sour. In December, Facebook revealed that it had 845 million monthly active users, with 483 million active users on a daily basis.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

Sometimes when you win, you really lose, as Apple may have discovered in a German court this week. Other times, you really wish that whole email thing wasn’t so permanent, as it appears Apple and a gang of other tech giants are going to discover in what may be an incredibly expensive class-action lawsuit.

It’s another tough week for Cupertino in the courtroom. Cue the dun-dun and lets review those gavel bangs.

Apple vs. Samsung

FOSS Patents reports that an appeals court in Germany has upheld a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which was originally granted to Apple last fall. In additional, the court found that the Galaxy Tab 8.9 also falls under the injunction.

The original ruling, ordered last August and upheld in September, was based on a violation of one of Apple’s Community designs -- a European version of a design patent. Samsung appealed to the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, and while that court did uphold the injunction, they did so based on a violation of German unfair competition law, not a design violation.

Sorry about that "unfair" thing... we'll work on that as we keep selling these.

The distinction is somewhat of a win for Samsung; although the injunction continues to block the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 and 8.9 in Germany, Apple really needed the injunction to be upheld based on design, so that Cupertino could attempt to replicate the decision globally. According to Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents, the "German unfair competition law is pretty unique," and won’t help Apple in courtrooms in any other country.

So, even though Samsung technically lost the appeal, it succeeded in defeating Apple's design right, denying Cupertino significant leverage other lawsuits still pending around the world.

High Tech Workers vs. Apple

That potential class-action lawsuit we covered last week; the one where all the high tech workers in Silicon Valley accused Apple and a number of other tech companies of conspiring to fix their wages and prevent them from changing jobs? You know, the one with all the nasty sounding emails form C-level employees at those companies describing back-room deals with each to control employees? That one is going to trial.

U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh ruled a few days ago that the companies listed in the complaint -- including Apple, Google, Adobe, Intel, Pixar, and Lucasfilm -- must face a private class-action lawsuit claiming the violated antitrust laws. Koh’s ruling requires the companies to produce documents detailing the agreements, and allow lawyers for the plaintiffs to take depositions.

This could work out really, really well for us.

According to Bloomberg, Koh did not have a problem with the companies potentially making individual agreements with each other, but was concerned with "how it ties together" into a possible conspiracy between all of the companies. The case, which could produce damages that total hundreds of millions of dollars, is filed as In Re High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, 11-2509, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Jose).

 

Adrian writes the weekly Law & Apple column for MacLife.com. Follow him on Twitter, subscribe to him on Facebook.

Professional video editors who have been patiently waiting for substantial improvements to Final Cut Pro X had that patience rewarded on Tuesday, with a point update that brings back features such as multicam and broadcast monitoring. But that isn’t all of the news, as a third-party developer releases a pair of tools for allowing FCPX to play nice with its legacy version as well. There’s even more on deck for this fine Tuesday, January 31, 2012 as well...

Assisted Editing Apps Move Projects Between FCP7, FCPX

With the release this morning of Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3, Apple has finally lived up to the promises it made seven months ago after its controversial introduction to the Mac App Store. But one thing still lacking is the ability to import projects from the legacy Final Cut Pro 7, which Apple has left to third party developers. Thankfully, that wait is now over, as Assisted Editing is now offering 7toX for Final Cut Pro, a $9.99 Mac App Store purchase that allows metadata from a Final Cut Pro 7 project to be imported to Final Cut Pro X using XML, with full support for most every feature you can imagine. Better yet, the same developer is now selling the $49.99 Xto7 for Final Cut Pro, which does the same thing in reverse: It translates XML exported from Final Cut Pro X and allows it to be imported into Final Cut Pro 7. Coupled with the pro features offered by today’s update of the host software, it will be interesting to see what the critics will be left to complain about now.

Apple Updates Motion 5, Compressor 4

This morning’s Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 update may have grabbed all the headlines, but Apple didn’t stop there, pushing out minor updates to Motion 5 and Compressor 4 as well. Motion 5.0.2 now features improved speed and responsiveness for text editing, the ability to automatically add animation keyframes when recording is disabled, a keyboard shortcut for repositioning animation curves or paths, the ability to adjust the pan and scale of an image in a drop zone and an enhanced look for the Keyframe editor. Compressor 4.0.2 finally allows markers to be set as chapter markers by default, adding Uncompressed 8-bit and 10-bit 4:2:2 to the export settings list along with improved transcoding speed from Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2 to ProRes. Both updates are free in the Mac App Store for existing users.

Apple Nabs Dixons Vet for New Senior Vice President of Retail

With its former senior vice president of retail now working his mojo at JCPenney (and God help them, they need it!), Apple today announced that John Browett will step into those very large shoes, where he’ll report directly to CEO Tim Cook. Browett’s last gig was with Dixons Retail, billed as “a European technology retailer,” where the new veep has been CEO since 2007. Browett won’t report to work until April, where he’ll oversee “Apple’s retail strategy and the continued expansion of Apple retail stores around the world.”

Steam Mobile Now Available to All

Valve Software released Steam as a mobile app for iOS and Android devices last week, but it was unfortunately a closed beta. Thankfully, that barrier has now been shattered and today the company announced the app was open to everyone, allowing gamers to chat with Steam friends, browse community groups and user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for their favorite games, read the latest gaming news and stay up to date on unbeatable Steam sales -- so, basically everything except actually play the games. But hey, what do you want for free, folks?

Firefox 10 Arrives with Bug Fixes, Add-On Compatibility

Firefox 9, your number is up! Mozilla today pushed out Firefox 10 to its release channel for both desktop and mobile. So what’s new? On the desktop, the forward button is now hidden until you navigate back and most add-ons are now compatible with new versions of the browser by default. WebGL now gains anti-aliasing and CSS3 3D-Transforms are now supported, along with a new HTML5 tag for <bdi> as well as full-screen APIs. Last but not least, Mac OS X users get a bug fix which caused Firefox to crash when closing a tab with a Java applet installed. Sure, nothing earth-shattering, but look at the bright side: At the pace they’re going, Firefox 11 (which is already in beta) will be here before you know it, right around the time that new browser smells starts to wear off of Firefox 10.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

Despite hyperbolic headlines claiming video editors are abandoning Apple’s Final Cut Pro in droves for competitors Avid and Adobe, Apple is still very much hard at work on improving Final Cut Pro X -- including a considerable update released on Tuesday which restores a number of features missing since its release last summer.

Apple Inc. has announced the availability of Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3, a new update to the company’s $299.99 video editing solution which is available now from the Mac App Store. A free update for existing users, the update is significant for veteran FCP editors, since it brings back a variety of popular features that didn’t make it into the first three versions of FCPX.

Despite the modest version 10.0.3 number, the new FCPX reintroduces multicam editing, allowing editors to automatically sync up to 64 angles of video and photos using audio waveforms, time and date or timecode. Multicam Clips can include mixed formats, frame sizes and frame rates, making it a huge leap from the same functionality on Final Cut Pro 7. A powerful Angle Editor allows users to dive into a Multicam Clip for precise adjustments, while the Angle Viewer plays back multiple angles at the same time and seamlessly cuts between them.

Broadcast monitoring also returns to Final Cut Pro X with this update, although Apple cautions the feature is still in beta for now. Waveform displays, vectorscopes and calibrated, high-quality monitors can now be used with FCPX through Thunderbolt or third-party PCIe cards.

Video editors will also be jumping for joy now that media relinking has returned to FCPX, as well as the ability to import and edit layered Photoshop PSD files. On the improvements front, chroma keying is now a one-step affair, with the addition of advanced controls including color sampling, edge adjustment and light wrap. Apple boasts, “you can tackle complex keying challenges right in Final Cut Pro X, without having to export to a motion graphics application, and view your results instantly with realtime playback.”

A 30-day free trial of Final Cut Pro X continues to be available from Apple’s website, while the 10.0.3 update is available for purchase or update directly from the Mac App Store.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

Apple fired up the Software Update engines today to push out a new AirPort Utility update (or two!), and as January winds down we’re looking ahead to the inevitable announcement of a new iPad next month, along with a cascade of companion updates such as iOS 5.1 and most likely, the OS X Lion 10.7.3 which has been simmering with developers for a number of weeks. With that in mind, here’s what the tech world has been talking about on this Monday, January 30, 2012.

Amazon Dominating Low-End Tablet Market with Kindle Fire

Apple may still be the king of the tablet jungle, but that doesn’t mean there’s isn’t another device nipping at its heels while gobbling up the low-hanging fruit at the other end of the spectrum. AppleInsider is reporting that Amazon’s Kindle Fire has now shipped something like six million units in the first quarter of the year, which puts it in the neighborhood of the original iPad. Analyst Jordan Rohan of investment bank Stifel Nicolaus called the Kindle Fire sales “quite impressive” and praised how Amazon used its “distribution prowess to define and dominate the low end of the device ecosystem,” particularly when faced with so much competition not only from the iPad itself but also a tidal wave of other tablets running Google’s Android. The analyst predicts that Amazon will eventually use the Kindle Fire to launch a new video subscription service to go head-to-head with Netflix, although the e-tailer will have to expand its horizons beyond its own hardware if it has any chance of succeeding there.

Sprint Jumps Into the Official iPhone App Pool

Not to be outdone by AT&T and Verizon Wireless, third-place carrier Sprint today introduced Sprint Mobile Zone, the company’s official iPhone app which “offers Sprint customers immediate access to their account online, Sprint News and promotions.” According to SprintFeed, the app works for both Sprint and non-Sprint customers, offering simple device management, Apple and Sprint store locators and help functions, including access to a Sprint care representative. Sound good to you? Then head to the App Store and get your 1.6MB download on today.

Apple Updates AirPort Utility, New Base Station Firmware

It’s been relatively quiet on the Software Update front recently, but that’s all over now that Apple has pushed out not one but two new updates to the AirPort Utility as well as a new 7.6.1 firmware for the AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule. First up is a modest AirPort Utility 5.6 for Mac OS X Lion update, a 13.10MB download which “resolves an issue using network passwords stored in the Keychain.” Strangely, Cupertino has also pushed out the more full-featured AirPort Utility 6.0 for Mac OS X Lion, essentially an all-new 14.13MB download which completely does away with the old look of the utility app in favor of the one used by the iOS version. Coming along for the ride is the AirPort Base Station and Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6.1 which “fixes an issue with wireless performance and provides support for remote access to an AirPort disk or a Time Capsule hard drive with an iCloud account,” which certainly sounds like a tasty little update for this sleepy Monday evening.

Rumors Heating Up About NFC Payment System for iPhone 5

There has been plenty written about Apple implementing a near-field communication (NFC) payment system for the iPhone, and many were disappointed when it didn’t arrive with last year’s iPhone 4S. Google may have gotten the jump on Cupertino with its Wallet app for Android, but it’s been severely limited to a few handsets thus far. According to MacRumors, Apple is still actively looking to add NFC to a future iPhone, suggested by a recent Fast Company interview with a Mastercard executive who grudgingly coughed up some potential clues: "I don't know of a handset manufacturer that isn't in process of making sure their stuff is PayPass ready,” the executive said, and when pressed to reveal whether or not that includes Apple, he whipped out the confidentiality clause. "Um, there are...like I say, [I don't know of] any handset maker out there… now, when we have discussions with our partners, and they ask us not to disclose them, we don’t.”

Lottery System Aims to Stem iPhone Scalping in Hong Kong

9to5Mac is reporting that Apple has modified its existing reservation system in Hong Kong in an effort to thwart would-be scalpers who rained on the mainland China release earlier this month. The updated method is described as “a lottery system of sorts for iPhone reservations that appears to target scalpers employing bots from snatching up all the iPhones every day.” That means no more first-come, first-served -- customers will be required to provide a government-issued photo ID in order to buy an iPhone. This “lottery” is apparently open only during a three-hour window each day, and handsets are not available to walk-in customers at this time. Successful reservations will receive a confirmation email by 9pm that night with a time to pick up the iPhone the next day.
http://9to5mac.com/2012/01/30/apple-combats-scalpers-with-lottery-system-for-iphone-4s-reservations-in-hong-kong/

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

It may not be a slick new version or even the promised OS X Lion-friendly update to Quicken, but publisher Intuit is staking out its place on the Mac App Store by bringing the current version 1.7 of Quicken Essentials to Apple’s favorite marketplace.

Intuit, Inc. released Quicken Essentials 1.7 to the Mac App Store late last week, making it the latest familiar software publisher to give Cupertino’s virtual store a bear hug. The company is quick to point out that existing users shouldn’t rush to drop their $49.99, however, noting this “is not a new release of Quicken Essentials for Mac.”

“Quicken Essentials for Mac, a basic starter edition, helps you manage all of your personal finance in one place, so you can see where you’re spending and where you can save,” the product description explains. “Quicken automatically categorizes your financial transactions, stay on top of bills and helps you set goals so you can save more.”

The release isn’t the first time Intuit has offered software on the Mac App Store. Last year, the company served up a free TurboTax Refund Calculator prior to tax time to help get a rough estimate of users’ potential refunds.

Quicken Essentials for Mac 1.7 is a 20.2MB download compatible with Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later, and its presence on the Mac App Store is a good indication the company will not only make good on their promise to soon introduce an Intel-native version of the full Quicken for OS X Lion users, but also continue to serve up future versions of Quicken Essentials via the Mac App Store.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

620x349 with html5 and api support

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We loved the Olloclip. It's one of the few iPhone lenses out there that doesn't require a case to use and gives iOS photographers three different perspectives to choose from, including wide angle, macro, and fish eye. It's truly a versatile product, so we asked one of the founders why they decided to put three lenses into one.

Sure, there are tons of leveling up games where you repeat a similar task through increasing complexity and those are fun and all, but if you're looking for a bit more excitement in your daily gaming routine, check out these price drops. Whether you're fighting off hordes of zombies, putting the smack down on Deathstroke, or getting the knack of Expelliarmus, your pulse will be pounding.

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

They've hit the price with a Sectum Sempra spell and slashed it down from $4.99 to $2.99 for this engaging universal app, and believe us when we say it's worth it. Over 40 levels and over 100 characters means this game universe will take months to master. This is a limited time sale so if you haven't picked up this Hogwartian adventure, we suggest you wave your wand and Accio App Store pronto. (And we'd really like to believe that this is just a prelude to them finally porting Years 5-7 over to the iOS platform.)

Batman Arkham City Lockdown

The Warner Brothers franchise games are seeing massive price cuts. They must be mad! Or else they're part of the escaped lunatics who've busted out of Arkham Asylum and are intent on turning Gotham City into a madhouse. Down from $5.99 to $2.99, this game puts you in the mask of the Dark Knight himself. Are you up to taking down the Joker? You'll get your chance, after Two Face and tons of other level bosses.

Zombie Samurai

Speaking of slashing, you'll be doing plenty of that when you pick up your katana against zombies. Defend your dojo and do it on either your iPad or your iPhone because both of these babies are free. These brain lusting undead will over run Japan and only you are there to stop them before it's too late. Think you've got what it takes to survive the zombie apocalypse? Think you've got the sword moves? You'll soon find out.

What a week! Apple is swimming in more cash than they know what to do with, the Macworld/iWorld show is winding down in San Francisco and the EFF is working overtime to keep jailbreaking legal. What’s that? You didn’t hear about that? Why, you’ve come to the right place, then… step right up and have a heaping handful of the best and brightest news for this Friday, January 27, 2012.

Former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein Exits HP

The strange, twisted saga of webOS took another interesting turn today with the announcement that former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein (pictured above) has officially left the building at HP. According to The Verge, an HP spokesperson confirmed the departure with a simple "Jon has fulfilled his commitment and we wish him well,” apparently in reference to a commitment he was tied to when HP purchased Palm in 2010. Of course, it doesn’t help that the baby he has been nurturing since its introduction in 2008 -- that being webOS and its associated Pre, Pixi and TouchPad hardware -- has been put out to pasture by HP, with webOS kicked downstairs as a curious open source project whose future is still uncertain. Rubinstein granted Verge boss Joshua Topolsky an exclusive exit interview which is worth a read for any Palm fans still lurking about.

Apple Again Ranked as World’s Largest Smartphone Vendor for Q4 2011

We can’t say we’re too shocked after seeing Cupertino’s record financial results earlier this week, but research firm Strategy Analytics today confirmed that Apple has narrowly passed Samsung as the world’s largest smartphone vendor for the last three months of 2011, with 37 million sold compared to Sammy’s 36.5 million. It’s a bit of a hollow victory, since Samsung still takes home the gold ribbon for the entire year, with 97.4 million smartphones versus Apple’s 93 million, but the better news for the industry is that global shipments are up 54 percent and a record 155 million smartphones were sold in the fourth quarter. Samsung’s market share for the year is 19.9 percent compared to Apple’s 19 percent, with Nokia in third place with 15.8 percent, having shipped 77.3 million devices during 2011.

Like Jailbreaking? Help the EFF Keep It Legal

Many of us take jailbreaking our iOS devices quite seriously, but did you know that an exception to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that made the practice legal is about to run out? According to AppleInsider, the exception granted by the DMCA in 2010 will lapse this year, and could potentially make it a crime for users to jailbreak and unlock their devices. Crazy, right? Thankfully, The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) wants to come to the rescue and is lobbying for users to speak out and make their voices heard by the DMCA with a new “Jailbreaking Is Not A Crime” website. "The DMCA is supposed to block copyright infringement, but it's been misused to threaten tinkerers and users who just want to make their devices more secure and more functional," explains EFF Senior Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "The U.S. Copyright Office should hear from concerned Americans who want to run software of their choice on the gadgets of their choice." The EFF also seeks to expand the current exception to “specifically cover tablets and videogame systems,” so hit the website and throw your hat into the ring while you still can.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Sets the Record Straight on Factory Workers

Yesterday, The New York Times published an exposé on factory conditions where Apple’s manufacturing is done in China -- and to say it didn’t paint a pretty picture is an understatement. Today, Apple CEO Tim Cook is firing back, with an email sent to Apple employees to set the record straight. According to 9to5Mac, who managed to get their hands on a copy of the email, Cook went on the offensive: “For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers’ manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren’t as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.” Cook has good reason to be defensive about the accusations, since his former role as COO made him directly responsible for the manufacturing of Apple’s products for quite some time prior to being enlisted as Steve Jobs’ heir to the CEO throne last year.

Beginning Sunday, T-Mobile Will Heart iPhone Customers Even More

It’s no secret that there are around a million iPhone users who have chosen to unlock their handsets and hang their shingle at fourth-place carrier T-Mobile, despite the fact that their device is incapable of using the company’s 3G and faux 4G radio bands. T-Mo has quietly supported such customers, but according to TmoNews, that support will be coming out of the closet this weekend. On January 30, T-Mobile “will begin offering additional support to customers using an Apple iPhone on our network.” Such support will include “common procedures, information about feature and specifications and other basic device questions.” T-Mobile has frequently been a safe haven for customers who prefer buying an unlocked device and paying month-to-month or even prepaid, and the carrier seems quite happy to embrace those lost souls into their own bosom.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

(Image courtesy of The Verge)

 

This week we've been testing a lot of computing kit, with several Intel and AMD CPU and APUs passing through our testing lab.

We've also been very busy reviewing Sony's impressive new gaming handheld, the PS Vita. Check in with TechRadar to read our full Vita review very soon.

But in the meantime, let's recap what we've been up to for the past seven days!

Sony HX9V review

With the Sony Cyber-Shot HX9V boasting an asking price of £269 in the UK and $329.99 in the US, it falls between the likes of a Canon PowerShot S100 and a regular point and shoot compact such as the Nikon Coolpix S6200 in cost.

Sony has packed a lot into this high-performance travel zoom that poses very serious competition for the likes of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ20, Fuji FinePix F600 EXR, plus a host of rival compact cameras that similarly incorporate a broad focal range with built-in GPS and pocket sized proportions. Though not 100% perfect in each and every regard, the Sony Cyber-Shot HX9V nonetheless comes very close in most.

Intel Core i7 3820 review

The Intel Core i7 3820 performs at around the same sort of levels as the top-end standard Sandy Bridge CPUs. And we have to say, that's a bit of a disappointment. This is supposed to be the serious enthusiast processors for Intel's desktop faithful, but the more mainstream, soon-to-be-replaced Sandy Bridge setup is just as good at the quad-core level.

The fact that Intel has put the chip out for the same price as the top-end Sandy Bridge i7 2700K is impressive, and thoroughly welcome. It's a decent chip, offering the extra bandwidth of the Sandy Bridge E platform for straight Sandy Bridge prices. But the vast majority of us don't need that bandwidth.

Corsair Vengeance M60 review

There are two mice in Corsair's fledgling range – the M90 caters for the MMO gamer's needs, and as such sports fifteen programmable buttons. This M60 sets its sights square and true on the first-person shooter afficionado, for whom split seconds and DPI figures are everything.

With that said, even the grouchiest CS:S gamer will be happy with the Corsair Vengeance M60's performance. Primarily, you want a comfortable mouse that doesn't have a ton of buttons you'll keep accidentally pressing at a fair price, and Corsair's rodent ticks all those boxes with confidence. The adjustable DPI and sniper button are useful additions in a layout that otherwise shows restraint, and it feels like it could survive a nuclear blast.

AMD A8-3970K Black Edition APU review

While its flagship FX processors are failing to shine it does seem a little on unfair on AMD that at the other end of the market it has a chip which really ought be cleaning up. Its Llano Fusion APUs, which combine a multi-core CPU and a Radeon graphics part on one die, are actually rather good.

They may be based on an older processor architecture, but quad core examples like this A8-3870 hold their own against Intel's similarly priced dual core Core i3s in CPU benchmarks. When it comes to 3D tasks like gaming, the on board HD6550D is simply in a different league to Intel's laggardly HD Graphics 3000 cores.

Devolo dLAN 500 AVtriple+ review

The Devolo dLAN 500 AVtriple+ comes at a high price, at over £100, so is certainly at the higher end of the powerline adaptor market in terms of cost. But if you're after a speedy network across your home and have a few devices that need to be connected, then it's going to be money well spent.

This week's other reviews:

Cameras

Hands on: Samsung WB150F review

General networking

Nextivity Cel-Fi RS2 3G review

Hard disk drives

Zalman SSD-F1 Series 240GB review

LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series 240GB SSD review

Headphones

Urbanista London Headphones review

Input devices

StarTech 2 Port USB VGA KVM Switch with File Transfer and PIP review

Keyboards

Corsair Vengeance K60 gaming keyboard review

Lenses

Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM review

Media streaming devices

Iomega TV with Boxee review

Memory cards

Samsung 16GB SDHC Plus Class 10 review

SteelSeries Kinzu V2 Pro Edition review

Mobile phone accessories

Tascam iM2 review

Mobile phones

Hands on: ZTE Tania review

Network adaptors

Western Digital WD Livewire review

Scanners

Canon imageFORMULA P-215 review

Software

Hands on: iBooks Author review review

Hands on: Pure Music review

Corel PaintShop Pro X4 review

Speakers

iLuv Boom Cubes review

Logitech Mini Boombox review

Microlab X16 review

Sony SRS-DB500 review

Logitech Z623 review

Televisions

Hands on: LG 84LM960V review

Web cams

Karotz Smart Rabbit review

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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You’ve almost gotta feel bad for the tech companies who have to announce quarterly financial results in the wake of Apple’s gangbuster $46.33 billion fiscal first quarter. Case in point: Nokia, the onetime giant of the cell phone business, whose fortunes have gone the other way in the last quarter, with a $1.3 billion loss. Hang in there, Nokia… it’s almost Friday, and the weekend is sure to be kinder on you than the last three months. Meanwhile, let’s have a peek at what else is making news on this Thursday, January 26, 2012.

Nokia Q4 2011: Profits Down, More Than a Million Lumia Handsets

Just a couple of years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that cell phone giant Nokia would be playing the role of underdog. Flash forward to today, and the company is draining profit like a sieve and doesn’t have much to show for its new Windows Phone-packing Lumia line thus far. According to Engadget, Nokia racked up a mere $13.1 billion in net sales for last quarter, which is an improvement from the third quarter, but down 21 percent from the same period in 2010. All in all, the Finnish company had an operating loss of $1.3 billion for the fourth quarter -- very unfortunate, considering Apple’s gangbuster revenue announced this week. On a better news front, Nokia has now sold “well over” a million Lumia devices, those being the budget-conscious Lumia 710 and its more attractive big sister the Lumia 800, which are the first fruits of Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft to produce Windows Phone devices. Nokia also plans to break even in the first quarter of this year, which has been rumored to see the launch of its new Lumia 900 here in the U.S.

Rumor: Apple Employees To Enjoy Steep Discounts on Products

Apple CEO Tim Cook held an “all hands on deck” Town Hall meeting for employees on the company’s Cupertino campus Wednesday, a day after reporting their biggest quarter ever. While no one knows for sure what was discussed there, 9to5Mac is reporting that Apple employees may soon benefit from the company’s mountain of wealth, thanks to some new corporate discounts that will kick in this June. According to an unnamed source, Apple employees “will soon be given $500 discounts on purchases of new Macs and $250 discounts on purchases of a new iPad.” The generous discount comes with a few caveats, of course: Employees have to work for Apple for at least 90 days, and the low-priced Mac mini is excluded from the deal. Hey, you can’t expect them to just give that stuff away, can you…?

AT&T Q4: 7.6 Million iPhones Activated, Best Smartphone Quarter Ever

Apple isn’t the only company enjoying record income during the last three months of last year. According to AT&T, the telco wrapped up 2011 with their best quarter ever for mobile broadband sales, with 9.4 million smartphones sold -- and as you can imagine, most of them were iPhones. The carrier confirmed in a press release that it activated 7.6 million iPhones last quarter, a number that absolutely smokes the 4.3 million activated by competitor Verizon Wireless for the same period. AT&T also isn’t afraid to boast that it bested Verizon in iPhone activations for the entire year, with 17.5 million compared to Big Red’s mere 10.8 million. Remember all the pundits who predicted gloom and doom for Ma Bell when they finally lost iPhone exclusivity? Yeah, those were good times...

PSA: $4.99 Cydia Battery Fix for iOS 5 Does Nothing

Still having battery drain issues with your iPhone 4S or other iOS 5 device? Apple’s iOS 5.0.1 update fixed the problem for some users, and hopefully the forthcoming iOS 5.1 will take care of the rest. In the meantime, a new jailbreak-only tweak in Cydia called iOS 5 Battery Fix promises to squash the problem for good -- except it doesn’t actually do anything. According to Cult of Mac, the $4.99 app is “just a complete scam to steal your cash,” as iOS hackers Dustin Howett and Sam Binger discovered after examining the app’s code. “DHowett found that all it does is replace /System/Library/CoreServes/powerd.bundle/com.apple.SystemPowerProfileDefaults.plist,” Binger writes. “I looked for any possible impact of this. While this sounds good… we’re changing the power settings right? The reality is that it does absolutely nothing.” The report notes that the tweak isn’t malicious -- unless you consider being duped out of a $5 bill for absolutely nothing malicious, that is.

AJA’s Io XT with Thunderbolt Now Available

It’s been nearly a year since Apple introduced Thunderbolt I/O ports to the Mac, and the promised flood of new peripherals to attach to them has been slow to arrive on the market. This week, AJA has announced the availability of one such product, the company’s new Io XT. This $1495 pro video box hooks into a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac and allows complete video/audio capture and playback, supporting all of the latest codecs including Apple’s ProRes, CineForm, DVCProHD, Avid DNxHD and more. The peripheral is noteworthy as the first such solution to include dual Thunderbolt ports, which allows one for connection to the computer while the second can be used to daisy chain additional devices, including high-speed storage or even another display. AJA Io XT is now available from the company’s global network of resellers.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

You’ve almost gotta feel bad for the tech companies who have to announce quarterly financial results in the wake of Apple’s gangbuster $46.33 billion fiscal first quarter. Case in point: Nokia, the onetime giant of the cell phone business, whose fortunes have gone the other way in the last quarter, with a $1.3 billion loss. Hang in there, Nokia… it’s almost Friday, and the weekend is sure to be kinder on you than the last three months. Meanwhile, let’s have a peek at what else is making news on this Thursday, January 26, 2012.

Nokia Q4 2011: Profits Down, More Than a Million Lumia Handsets

Just a couple of years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that cell phone giant Nokia would be playing the role of underdog. Flash forward to today, and the company is draining profit like a sieve and doesn’t have much to show for its new Windows Phone-packing Lumia line thus far. According to Engadget, Nokia racked up a mere $13.1 billion in net sales for last quarter, which is an improvement from the third quarter, but down 21 percent from the same period in 2010. All in all, the Finnish company had an operating loss of $1.3 billion for the fourth quarter -- very unfortunate, considering Apple’s gangbuster revenue announced this week. On a better news front, Nokia has now sold “well over” a million Lumia devices, those being the budget-conscious Lumia 710 and its more attractive big sister the Lumia 800, which are the first fruits of Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft to produce Windows Phone devices. Nokia also plans to break even in the first quarter of this year, which has been rumored to see the launch of its new Lumia 900 here in the U.S.

Rumor: Apple Employees To Enjoy Steep Discounts on Products

Apple CEO Tim Cook held an “all hands on deck” Town Hall meeting for employees on the company’s Cupertino campus Wednesday, a day after reporting their biggest quarter ever. While no one knows for sure what was discussed there, 9to5Mac is reporting that Apple employees may soon benefit from the company’s mountain of wealth, thanks to some new corporate discounts that will kick in this June. According to an unnamed source, Apple employees “will soon be given $500 discounts on purchases of new Macs and $250 discounts on purchases of a new iPad.” The generous discount comes with a few caveats, of course: Employees have to work for Apple for at least 90 days, and the low-priced Mac mini is excluded from the deal. Hey, you can’t expect them to just give that stuff away, can you…?

AT&T Q4: 7.6 Million iPhones Activated, Best Smartphone Quarter Ever

Apple isn’t the only company enjoying record income during the last three months of last year. According to AT&T, the telco wrapped up 2011 with their best quarter ever for mobile broadband sales, with 9.4 million smartphones sold -- and as you can imagine, most of them were iPhones. The carrier confirmed in a press release that it activated 7.6 million iPhones last quarter, a number that absolutely smokes the 4.3 million activated by competitor Verizon Wireless for the same period. AT&T also isn’t afraid to boast that it bested Verizon in iPhone activations for the entire year, with 17.5 million compared to Big Red’s mere 10.8 million. Remember all the pundits who predicted gloom and doom for Ma Bell when they finally lost iPhone exclusivity? Yeah, those were good times...

PSA: $4.99 Cydia Battery Fix for iOS 5 Does Nothing

Still having battery drain issues with your iPhone 4S or other iOS 5 device? Apple’s iOS 5.0.1 update fixed the problem for some users, and hopefully the forthcoming iOS 5.1 will take care of the rest. In the meantime, a new jailbreak-only tweak in Cydia called iOS 5 Battery Fix promises to squash the problem for good -- except it doesn’t actually do anything. According to Cult of Mac, the $4.99 app is “just a complete scam to steal your cash,” as iOS hackers Dustin Howett and Sam Binger discovered after examining the app’s code. “DHowett found that all it does is replace /System/Library/CoreServes/powerd.bundle/com.apple.SystemPowerProfileDefaults.plist,” Binger writes. “I looked for any possible impact of this. While this sounds good… we’re changing the power settings right? The reality is that it does absolutely nothing.” The report notes that the tweak isn’t malicious -- unless you consider being duped out of a $5 bill for absolutely nothing malicious, that is.

AJA’s Io XT with Thunderbolt Now Available

It’s been nearly a year since Apple introduced Thunderbolt I/O ports to the Mac, and the promised flood of new peripherals to attach to them has been slow to arrive on the market. This week, AJA has announced the availability of one such product, the company’s new Io XT. This $1495 pro video box hooks into a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac and allows complete video/audio capture and playback, supporting all of the latest codecs including Apple’s ProRes, CineForm, DVCProHD, Avid DNxHD and more. The peripheral is noteworthy as the first such solution to include dual Thunderbolt ports, which allows one for connection to the computer while the second can be used to daisy chain additional devices, including high-speed storage or even another display. AJA Io XT is now available from the company’s global network of resellers.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

 

Valve just annouced that it's launching a beta release of the Steam application for your iOS and Android device. The app will enable gamers to chat with their Steam friends, browse communities they're a part of, peruse user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for available on Steam, and check up on the latest game-related news.

Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve, stated in the press release that the idea for the mobile app came after repeated requests from users. "Seeings which of your friends are online and playing a game, sending quick messages, looking at screenshots for an upcoming game, or catching a sale--these are all features customers have requested." Newell added that mobile gadgets are changing the way that gamers interact with each other and that the move is part of the company's commitment to be relevant in the mobile sphere.

 

Valve just annouced that it's launching a beta release of the Steam application for your iOS and Android device. The app will enable gamers to chat with their Steam friends, browse communities they're a part of, peruse user profiles, view screenshots and user-generated content for available on Steam, and check up on the latest game-related news.

Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve, stated in the press release that the idea for the mobile app came after repeated requests from users. "Seeings which of your friends are online and playing a game, sending quick messages, looking at screenshots for an upcoming game, or catching a sale--these are all features customers have requested." Newell added that mobile gadgets are changing the way that gamers interact with each other and that the move is part of the company's commitment to be relevant in the mobile sphere.