• apple,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  mac,  mac os x,  macbook pro

    Steve Jobs to Take Medical Leave from Apple

    January 17, 2011 /

    A short while ago, Apple posted a “media advisory” on their public relations website indicating that CEO Stephen P. Jobs has asked for, and has been granted, a second medical leave from the company he helped start.

    “Apple CEO Steve Jobs today sent the following email to all Apple employees:

    Team,

    At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

    I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

    I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

    Steve”

    Apple will be in good hands with COO Tim Cook at the helm while Jobs is away from Apple headquarters, and we can also know from the email that Jobs will still very much be involved with making strategic decisions.  The good news is that, aside from wild stock price fluctuation in the coming days, many of 2011’s new products are already mapped out and “in the pipeline” and will likely not be impacted by Jobs not sitting in his corner office while on leave.

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  • apple,  mac,  mac os x,  macbook pro

    Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.6.6 Update, Mac App Store

    January 8, 2011 /

    As promised, Apple on Thursday, launched the new Mac App Store, the first step in bringing iOS features “Back to the Mac.”

    Access to the new Mac App Store is provided by way of a new Mac OS X application that is bundled in with the 10.6.6 update for Mac’s running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.  The Mac App Store will be a built-in feature of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, due out sometime during the summer of 2011.

    The Mac App Store bring many of the iOS App Store features to the Macintosh platform.  Linked to your Apple ID account, Mac users can purchase apps for their Mac using the Apple Store One Click feature and the app is automatically downloaded and installed on your Mac.  Updates to Mac applications are also handled like updates to iPhone and iPad applications – you are notified of an update and you are able to download and install it for free.  (Major version upgrades are suppose to be paid upgrades.)

    One of the nice features of the Mac App Store is that you can download purchased content on other Macs that you may own.  This feature has been available on iOS devices for a while now, and is finally available for Mac Apps.

    Another thing that I like about the Mac App Store is that you can purchase Apple’s iLife and iWork applications separately for the first time.  You now have the freedom  to purchase only the apps that you want.  For example, I can now upgrade iPhoto, GarageBand, and Keynote individually without having to spend $80 each for iLife ’11 and iWork ’09.  (The last time I upgraded, I purchased the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Box Set that includes Mac OS X 10.6, iLife ’09 and iWork ’09 for $130.)

    To get started with the Mac App Store, use the Software Update application, in System Preferences, to install the Mac OS X 10.6.6 update.  After installing the update, the Mac App Store icon will appear in the Dock to the left of the Finder icon, and looks similar to the new iTunes 10 icon.

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  • app store,  apple,  mac,  mac os x,  macbook pro

    Mac App Store Arrives Tomorrow

    January 6, 2011 /

    Apple is set to fling open the virtual doors of their new Mac App Store tomorrow if reports around the web are accurate.

    The Mac App Store will bring the iOS App Store experience to Macintosh computers running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.  Mac users will be able to browse the Apple hosted selection of Apple and third-partyy developers applications for Mac OS X, and with one click, purchase, download, and install the software on their computers.

    Apple will list free and paid apps, and developers will be given the same 70/30 revenue split currently in effect in the iOS App Store.

    The Mac App Store will go live tomorrow, Jan 6, at 12 noon eastern, 9am pacific.

    [Via AppleInsider.com…]

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  • apple,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  mac,  mobileme,  touch

    Rumor: Free, Limited MobileMe Subscriptions On the Horizon?

    November 20, 2010 /

    Back in June I read a rumor on the gadget blog Electronista.com that stated that Apple was considering launching a free version of their $99 a year MobileMe service.  At the time, I was really excited by the prospect, because, I have a number of Apple devices (three Macs, and three iOS devices) and this would be a great way to keep the address book and calendars in sync across all six devices.

    On June 4, Electronista.com wrote;

    “Apple has lately faced growing criticism for continuing to charge for MobileMe at a time when Google can promise free e-mail, calendars and contacts synchronized online for Android phones where the iPhone is still at least partly reliant on a physical sync without paying $99 per year. The company has recently been working on a North Carolina data center that could help scale such plans in the future.”

    And so, I stated to wait patiently.  In the mean time, Google’s Android platform began to grow in popularity until today, Google’s Android is breathing down Apple’s neck.  Does Apple think that they could continue to sell a $99 a year service when Google’s free web apps could deliver a similar service and experience?

    Fast forward to this weekend when Mac-centric website MacRumors.com released more evidence that Apple is still considering providing at least some of the MobileMe services for free to iOS users.

    In the latest iOS 4.2 and 4.2.1 builds of iOS, MacRumors has discovered error messages in the operating system that read “MOBILEME_CREATE_UNAVAILABLE_IPAD” = “The maximum number of free accounts have been activated on this iPad.”

    Well, well, well…looks like the iPad maker is still very much considering a free MobileMe offering of some sort.

    Naturally, Apple has not confirmed their plans to launch an new MobileMe services.  Many believe that an new MobileMe service would go into effect once Apple’s new $1 billion North Carolina data center is fully ramped up and is online.

    [Via Electronista.com, MacRumors.com…]

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  • apple,  ipad,  iphone,  itunes,  lifestyle,  mac,  touch,  windows

    Confirmed: The Beatles Are Coming to iTunes

    November 16, 2010 /

    MacDailyNews.com is reporting, and I have confirmed with my own tests, that The Beatles are finally coming to Apple’s iTunes Store.  (To test: Open the iTunes Store and search for the term “the beatles”.)

    While that is probably great news for many people, I’m not a big fan of The Beatles.  I’m still holding out for the iTunes.com steaming service.

    [Via MacDailyNews.com…]

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  • apple,  mac,  mac os x,  macbook pro

    Apple Posts Mac OS X 10.6.5 Update

    November 11, 2010 /

     Earlier today, Apple has released the fifth update to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.  Some of the enhancements that have been baked into Mac OS X 10.6.5 include:

    • Improves reliability with Microsoft Exchange servers
    • Addresses performance of some image-processing operations in iPhoto and Aperture
    • Addresses stability and performance of graphics applications and games
    • Resolves a delay between print jobs
    • Addresses a printing issue for some HP printers connected to an AirPort Extreme
    • Resolves an issue when dragging contacts from Address Book to iCal
    • Addresses an issue in which dragging an item from a stack causes the Dock to not automatically hide
    • Improves Bluetooth pairing with Magic Trackpad
    • Add SSL support for transferring files with iDisk
    • Resolves an issue syncing Address Book with Google
    • Improves reliability of Ethernet connections

    However, the real reason you will want to upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6.5 is to plug the holes in Adobe’s Flash Player.  If you follow the security breadcrumbs, you will end up at the Security Update 2010-007 page which reads:

    Flash Player plug-in

    Impact: Multiple vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player plug-in

    Description: Multiple issues exist in the Adobe Flash Player plug-in, the most serious of which may lead to arbitrary code execution. The issues are addressed by updating the Flash Player plug-in to version 10.1.102.64. Further information is available via the Adobe web site at http://www.adobe.com/support/security/

    To be fair to Adobe, Apple also plugged nine holes in their QuickTime software.

    The 517MB update is available now via the Software Update control panel.  You can read the full list of fixes and enhancements in Mac OS X 10.6.5 on the Apple Support website.

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  • apple,  mac,  mac os x

    Apple Sends Out Invites to Back To Mac Event

    October 15, 2010 /

    Looks like Apple hasn’t forgotten it’s roots and will be holding a special invitation only media event on October 20 to talk about the Macintosh and Mac OS X.

    I’m looking forward to getting a look at Mac OS X 10.7.  I’m also wondering if you buy iLife ’11 if that will include the iOS versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote or if you will have to buy them separately.

    We’ll keep you posted.  Cool graphic, by the way.

    [Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]

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