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Haswell chips could bring 50% more battery life to Apple’s next-gen MacBooks

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Macazine.net

The next generation in Apple’s MacBook line could see 50 percent greater battery life thanks to the processors expected to go into them, according to Intel.





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AppleInsider – Frontpage News

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More Details on Jony Ive’s Flat iOS 7 Design: Heavier on Black and White

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Macazine.net

jonathan_ive9to5Mac shares more details on Jony Ive’s redesign for iOS 7, noting that not only will it bring a flatter look to the operating system but also more emphasis on black and white design elements.

Sources have described iOS 7 as “black, white, and flat all over.” This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements. [...]

For the upcoming operating system, which Apple says will be unveiled at its June Worldwide Developers Conference, Ive has not simply picked areas of the software design to tweak. He has essentially made his mark on every corner of the operating system, according to descriptions from sources, all while mostly keeping the essence of what has made iOS so ubiquitous.

The report walks through a number of specific changes appearing in the current development version of iOS 7, including changes to the lock screen, notifications, and the home screen. The report also describes how the look of some of the default iOS apps has changed:

[T]he iPhone’s Notes app has replaced the yellow notepad design for a flat white look. Apps such as Mail, Calendar, and Maps have also gained a more uniformed look with flat white textures. While the core elements of those apps are mostly white, each app has been given a unique button color. Essentially, each app has a white base with a respective color theme.

For example, the Calendar app could potentially have red buttons, while Messages could have green controls.

Other changes include the addition of panorama home screen wallpapers that pan as the user swipes between screens, subtle animations in the Weather app, and the possibility of FaceTime being moved out of the Phone app into a standalone app for greater visibility.

Apple is expected to show off at least some of iOS 7′s changes at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) where the keynote is scheduled for June 10. Today’s report indicates that Apple has tested several different design themes for iOS 7 over the past several months and that things may still change before the public release, but it seems reasonable to expect that aspects shown at WWDC will be close to the final shipping version.


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MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors – Front Page

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Researchers find more versions of digitally signed Mac OS X spyware

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Macazine.net

Security researchers have identified multiple samples of the recently discovered “KitM” spyware for Mac OS X, including one dating back to December 2012 and targeting German-speaking users.

KitM (Kumar in the Mac), also known as HackBack, is a backdoor-type program that takes unauthorized screen shots and uploads them to a remote command-and-control (C&C) server. It also opens a reverse shell that allows attackers to execute commands on the infected computers.

The malware was initially discovered last week on the Mac laptop of an Angolan activist at the Oslo Freedom Forum, a human rights conference in Norway, by security researcher and privacy activist Jacob Appelbaum.

The most interesting aspect of KitM is that it was signed with a valid Apple Developer ID, a code-signing certificate, issued by Apple to someone named “Rajinder Kumar.” Applications signed with a valid Apple Developer ID bypass the Gatekeeper security feature in Mac OS X Mountain Lion, which verifies the origin of files to determine whether they pose any risks to the system.

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Macworld

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Shazam app goes universal, adds mapping features, more

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Macazine.net

The uber popular live music recognition app Shazam has received a major update today. The most noticeable change is a new mapping feature. Now users can explore a map and see what songs are being tagged in what areas of the world. Another major change is that Shazam is now a universal app. Previously there was Shazam for iPhone and Shazam for iPad, but now both apps have been rolled into one.

The iPad side of the new Shazam app has seen significant upgrades as well. Users are now greeted with a beautiful new home screen that allows them to flip through recently tagged songs. Another new feature is Auto Tagging, which tags any audio from TV shows our music playing around you without you having to tap a button. Shazam will even continue to run in the background and continue tagging songs when you leave the app. When you launch it again, everything that was tagged when you were outside the app appears on the new home screen.

Shazam is a free download.

Shazam app goes universal, adds mapping features, more originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 23 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog

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Doing more with Messages

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Macazine.net

Last week we wandered about Mountain Lion’s Messages application to get a feel for the territory. In today’s lesson we’ll dig into some of Messages’ less obvious features, including screen sharing, initiating remote slideshows and presentations, and viewing past chats.

Messages and screen sharing

When exploring the Mac’s sharing features I explained how to share the screen of another Mac on your local network. Through Messages it’s possible to do the same thing, but over the Internet.

To do this, each participant must use an AIM, Bonjour, Google Talk, or Jabber account. Screen sharing isn’t available through the iMessage protocol (meaning two iCloud accounts) or Yahoo.

To share someone’s screen, select their name in your buddy list and from the Buddies menu choose Ask to Share PersonX’s Screen (where PersonX is the person you want to interact with). That person will receive an invitation via an alert sound and a dialog box. For them to allow their screen to be shared, they simply click the dialog box. They can also elect to send you a text reply. For example, if they are in the middle of something, they can  just click the Text Reply button and type I can’t right this second. Try again in 5 minutes.

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Macworld

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Apple Updates Look of Online Store With More Feature Images, Fewer Text Links

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Macazine.net

Apple today rolled out some updates to its online store, not only posting new features advertising Father’s Day gift purchases but also introducing a new, cleaner look for the store. While the main page of the online store had previously consisted of a main center column with product promotions flanked by sidebars with additional links, the new look brings an all-feature design focusing more on product images.

apple_store_0513_redesign_main
Previously, the left sidebar had offered quick access to accessory categories for Apple’s various product lines, as well as links to the company’s refurbished and clearance stores. Shoppers looking for accessories must now drill down through the product categories along the top “shop” navigation bar to reach the various accessories, while links to the refurbished and clearance stores are listed at the bottom of the page.

A similar situation exists for the former right sidebar, which offered links to Apple’s other stores such as for education and business, as well as store services including gift cards, financing, and returns. All of these links are now only directly accessible through the store site map links at the bottom of the page.

The change removes some redundancy on Apple’s main store page, as many links had appeared both in the main body of the page and lower down in the site map section, and by removing the sidebar links Apple has been able to bring much greater prominence to product images.

apple_store_0513_redesign_accessories
Apple has made additional image-centric changes further down in the site, with the main pages for each of the company’s product lines now allowing for larger images and less text, while accessory pages have seen even more dramatic changes away from simple lists and toward more featured images.


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MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors – Front Page

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Microsoft announces Xbox One, with more Smart Glass and TV integration

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Macazine.net

Microsoft has announced a brand new game console today, though the company would probably disappointed to hear that I called it that. The Xbox One is really more of an entertainment center all-in-one — it’s designed to connect your games, your streaming media, and cable television all together in one set-top box. In some ways, it’s a competitor to Apple TV. The Xbox One will also include a new Kinect camera, which will boast Siri-like voice control over all of its functions, and allow users to switch back and forth between live games, live TV, or any of the console’s various apps.

Obviously, that release is only tangentially related to Apple and its products, but there are a few closer ties that might become more important in the future. First up, Microsoft has already confirmed that the Xbox One will work with its Smart Glass system, for which there is already an app on the iPhone and the iPad. It’s unclear just what Smart Glass will do for the Xbox One, but we’ll stay tuned for more functionality on that end.

And second, Microsoft is apparently learning from Apple. The Cupertino company has famously been making its own “system-on-a-chip” hardware lately to go into new iPhones and iPads, and Microsoft has now done exactly the same. The Xbox One’s CPU is a chip based on AMD designs, but customized by Microsoft’s own R&D labs. There are a few reasons for that, including the power requirements, and the fact that the Xbox One actually runs a few different operating systems at a time (to easily switch back and forth between the games and the TV content). But Microsoft clearly borrowed the model for the hardware from Apple, and presumably later versions of the Xbox One will have even more customized chips in them. The Xbox One is due out sometime this year, but there’s no official release date announced yet.

Microsoft announces Xbox One, with more Smart Glass and TV integration originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 21 May 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog

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Apple CEO Tim Cook says America’s IP environment needs more work

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Macazine.net

In the midst of a larger discussion with U.S. senators on international corporate taxes, Apple CEO Tim Cook took an aside to discuss another area of regulation where the iPhone maker would like to see changes: the United States’ intellectual property protection environment.





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AppleInsider – Frontpage News

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What to do when you have more content than room on your iOS device

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Macazine.net

This week, I take an in-depth look at just one question. I get a lot of emails about syncing music to an iOS device, and many people find it difficult to sync when their music library is larger than the space available on their iOS device. So here’s a question about checked tracks, playing albums, and syncing.

Q: I have a lot of music and an iPod. I can’t fit all the music onto the iPod, so I uncheck the tracks I don’t want to sync. This works fine, except when I want to listen to an album in iTunes on my Mac.

I might have the three best songs checked so they get synced to my iPod, and when I go to play the full album in iTunes, it will only play those three songs, unless I check the others. If I do that, however, the next time I sync the iPod, those other tracks will get copied. Even if I create a playlist, it will skip the unchecked songs, so the only way to listen to music that I don’t want on my iPod is to check the boxes and hope to remember to uncheck them again.

How can I get around this problem?

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Macworld

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Mac Gems: Delicious Library 3 lets you track your movies, music, and more

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Macazine.net

It’s been eight years since we reviewed the original version of Delicious Library, Delicious Monster’s clever app for managing your media. But the question that greets Delicious Library 3, the latest edition in the franchise, is this: In 2013, is it still a good way to track and document all the items in your media collection?

The answer to that question: Mostly, but Delicious Library 3 has some mild shortcomings to be addressed.


Delicious Library 3′s main interface

If you’re not familiar with Delicious Library (the last major version of which, Delicious Library 2, was released five years ago), the Mac app organizes and tracks collections of books, movies, other media, and even tools—it’s media-oriented, but it’s not limited to media. Essentially, anything with a barcode can be scanned and added to the app’s customized “shelf.”

In the past, the easiest way to add an item to Delicious Library was by holding its barcode up to your computer’s webcam for scanning. The app uses this barcode to automatically find and enter pertinent information about the item (including a photo) to the shelves of your virtual library.

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Macworld