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Section: Macintosh / Apple Hardware, Peripherals, Mac Software, Miscellaneous / Other

Macintosh product updates and announcements for May 31, 2011:

Software

• Tidal Pool Software has announced MacProxy 2.0. MacProxy provides system-wide network proxy support for the Mac. It forwards network traffic from applications that do not support proxies and avoids complex setup for applications that do. MacProxy allows you to surf the internet from behind a firewall, tether your Mac to a SmartPhone/iPhone, and navigate the internet securely and anonymously.
• Utah based X-Wave Soft has announced eXtra Voice Recorder, their new product in its line of audio editing tools. Developed specifically for compact size and ease-of-use, eXtra Voice Recorder facilitates convenient audio recording, offering a number of advanced, time-saving features. Anyone can take audio notes anytime, anywhere. The app supports instant recording to a new or existing file and allows users to supply each recording with a detailed description and much more.
• Creaceed has announced the kick-off of their 3rd anniversary with a price reduction on all their Mac and iPhone applications. Creaceed is offering an incredible discount on all licenses purchased between May 31st and June 6th, 2011: 70% off Prizmo for iPhone, 33% off Movie Stiller, 30% off Hydra and Prizmo for Mac. Additionally, users who purchase a license for Hydra Express or Pro 2.x will get a fre upgrade to Hydra 3.x when it becomes available later this year.
• Feral Interactive has announced it is now offering a selection of titles from its prestigious family of Macintosh games for immediate purchase and download online via Amazon.com. The launch titles include the smash hits Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition, BioShock, Rome: Total War Gold Edition, Mini Ninjas, LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues, Brothers in Arms: Double Time, Battlestations: Pacific and Puzzler World with additional titles available for digital download in the coming months.
• LogicalVue Software, Inc. has announced SQLVue 4.1, an update to their elegant IDE for SQLite developers. SQLVue will make your database development more productive. You can quickly edit table data using the data editor. This robust SQL editor will auto-complete SQL commands, table names and column names. SQLite a free, open-source, single-user database engine that is taking the world by storm. SQLVue also gives you quick access to the official SQLite documentation.
• Zevrix Solutions announces Deliver 2.3.4, a feature update to its file delivery solution for remote and local destinations. Deliver supports FTP, Amazon S3, MobileMe, WebDAV and other services, and offers automatic e-mail notifications, delivery to multiple destinations, file encryption and other powerful capabilities. The software also lets users send output files and collected jobs directly from Adobe InDesign. The new version lets admin users view destination passwords in clear text.
• Macbundler is launching our sixth bundle, partnering with another bundle website (MacBundleBox) to offer a great bundle to mac lovers at 90% off. This bundle consist of 10 apps and 1 free app, namely: Vitamin R, Big Mean machine folder, Espionage, Macjournal, The secrets of Da vinci game, Inpaint, DVD art professional, folder brander, client folder maker, Easyframe and Boris continuum uprez. The total cost of all the apps individually is $405 and they are selling it at $49.99. The bundle launches on Wednesday (1st June) and runs for two weeks.

Hardware

• Gemini has announced the availability of the highly anticipated FirstMix—a USB DJ Controller for aspiring DJs. Now available at major retail locations across the country, this introductory controller packages professional functionality into an easy to use setup. Now everyone can be the DJ. 

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Apple’s iWork suite of Apps are now available on the iPhone and iPod touch. With the exception of GarageBand, that makes all of Apple’s iWork and iLife iOS apps universal. The best part about this update is that if you already own the iPad versions, you get the iPhone versions for free.  At first glance, the apps appear very similar on the iPhone and the iPad, but there are some differences worth pointing out.

Pages – The one noticeable difference is that the iPhone version of Pages is missing the iPad’s ruler and toolbar. The ruler on the iPhone is now accessible by clicking on the Tools icon.  The other quick access toolbar functions available on the iPad version are still there in the iPhone version, but located in the inspector section for each selectable item.  Also, on the iPhone, your only option to undo an action is to shake the iPhone, since there’s no undo button. The Smart Zoom feature just features a magnifying glass wherever you move the cursor, so that you can read what you’re working with. Note also that neither Pages nor Numbers on the iPhone can rotate, so they must be used in portrait mode only.

Numbers — With Numbers, the iPhone version seems to lack the iPad’s full-screen mode. Like Pages, the Undo button is also missing.  When editing a cell using the new Smart Zoom feature, you will notice some differences between the keyboards. All of the keys are there, you just may have to do some extra tapping to access some of Apple’s hidden keyboards on the iPhone version of Numbers.

Keynote — Unlike Pages and Numbers, Keynote is fixed in landscape mode on both the iPhone and iPad. Just like the ruler in Pages, the ability to add animations is hidden in the iPhone version, you just access it from the tools menu. Undo again is available via shake only on the iPhone version of Keynote.

With only a subtle few exceptions of a missing ruler, or hidden button, each App appears to support all of the same features and functionality on both the iPhone as well as the iPad.  The two implementations are practically indistinguishable from one another, and while the smaller screen of the iPhone means you’ll probably want to use iWork on the iPhone or iPod touch mostly for making small changes, it’s still a very welcome update.

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In response to Apple’s letter claiming that the license it holds for using technology ostensibly patented by Lodsys, the patent holding firm has filed suit against a number of App Store developers Tuesday. Developers affected include IconFactor, Illusion Labs, QuickOffice and Wulven Game Studios, among others. At least one Google Android app, Labyrinth, was also targeted with a suit by Lodsys, and Android developers have also previously been issued warnings by the patent holding firm.

The move is an aggressive one by Lodsys, which originally gave developers 21 days to license its patents, which are related to the use of in-app purchases. Twenty-one days have not elapsed from the time of issue of its notices to developers, but Lodsys felt it needed to move up “its litigation timing to an earlier date than originally planned, in response to Apple’s threat, in order to preserve its legal options,” the company said in a blog post. The patent holding firm also claims that apps that offer in-app purchases through both Google and Apple’s app markets may be required to acuire more than one license for their use.

Lodsys posted five separate entries Tuesday on its official blog regarding the lawsuits and the issue in general. In one, it unfairly accuses stories in the media of missing the point by focussing on “[t]he small developer being unfairly picked on,” among other so-called “narrow complaints.” It also made a slight concession in that it offered to pay any entity wrongly sent an infringement notice $1,000 if it turns out that the “scope of Apple’s existing license rights apply to fully license [them] with respect to our claim relating to your App on Apple iOS.”

In direct contradiction to Apple Legal’s letter on the subject released last week, Lodsys claims that developers are not covered by Apple’s license of Lodsys patents, since “Apple has specifically absolved itself of any legal responsibility it has with respect to 3rd party patent infringement by Application Developers.” Lodsys even goes so far as to claim that “Apple’s claim of infallibility has no discernible basis in law or fact,” and revealed that the letter was a surprise because Apple and Lodsys were apparently engaged in ongoing “confidential discussions” on the subject.

Lodsys closes its latest blog post by revealing that it has sent a letter detailing its legal position to Apple in response to that issued by Apple SVP and General Counsel Bertrand Sewell on May 23, and that Apple is free to make the entire content of said letter public. It’s unlikely that Apple will release the content of Lodsys’ letter, however.

It’s obvious from the tone and content of Lodsys’ new blog posts that it’s feeling the heat of overwhelming public sentiment and opinion against the position it has taken and the tactics it is currently employing. The patent holder had better brace for more heat, because unilaterally stepping up your own published timeline and filing suit against a number of small developers without any real warning in unlikely to silence accusations of “patent trolling.”

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Apple promised to release a security update to address Mac Defender malware and its variants, and that update arrived Tuesday afternoon. Security Update 2011-003 is now available for all Macs running Snow Leopard, and brings file quarantine updates, as well as a malware removal tool.

The OSX.MacDefender.A definition has been added to the OS X File Quarantine database, which means if a user downloads the malware, it will automatically pop up a dialog warning the user that the file will damage your computer, and provide an option to delete the file. The update also allows Apple to automatically update the known malware definitions list through daily updates. Users can opt out of this feature in Security Preferences, shown below.

The security update also automatically searches for and removes Mac Defender and its known variants upon install. If it detects the malware in your system, it will notify you once the update is installed.

It’s great to see Apple getting out ahead of this malware threat before it really gets out of hand, but as always, the first step to protecting your computer starts with you. Don’t ever install something when you’re not sure that it comes from trustworthy origins, and remember that if a website is telling you you’re infected without you having asked to begin with, it’s a safe bet that it’s not a genuine report.

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FROM GADGETELL – 100 Cameras in 1 is the first app to export photos to Instagram.
MORE »

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Apple’s  app market dominance isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, according to a new report by research firm research2guidance. Despite an eroding lead thanks the growing popularity of the Android Market and other competing offerings, Apple shows signs of being able to hold on to its download advantage for a while yet.

According to research2guidance, Apple’s App Store actually saw a 2-percent increase in app store market share in the first quarter of 2011, up to 59 percent from 57 percent in 2010. Apple’s share had previously dropped 24 percent since the introduction of Google’s Android Marketplace competitor.

Apple’s ability to stop and even reverse the slide is a good sign that Android will never totally eclipse the iOS platform in terms of worldwide smartphone use, and it’s also a good sign for developers (since iOS remains the best way to make money with mobile applications) and users (since it means new apps will continue to populate the App Store).

Research2guidance estimates that even if Apple’s share erosion continues at the same rate it experienced in the last two years, it will hold on to 40 percent of the market until 2015. And even in that worst-case scenario, two factors will keep the App Store profitable and attractive to users alike.

The first is the lock-in effect of downloaded apps. It’s a subject Kevin has covered before, when he asked what the magic number was before users would consider switching to another mobile platform. Most users felt that spending a certain amount of money would make them unlikely to switch, though that number varied quite a bit depending on the respondent.

App lock-in is helped by the fact that users of Apple’s iPad tablet seem to be “heavy app downloaders,” according to research2guidance. That means they download a lot, a fact aided by the lack of a worthwhile tablet app market competitor. Google’s own Android tablet app store still isn’t very well-stocked, as Kevin has pointed out.

If the recent increase holds true, Apple may be on the verge of reaching an equilibrium with Google, at least as far as apps are concerned, instead of continuing to cede ground. But even if the Android onslaught continues, Apple’s App Store should still be a winner, and looks like it will remain so for the foreseeable future.

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Section: Apple News, Conferences, WWDC, iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPhone OS, SDK and hacks, Mac Software, Apple Software, Operating Systems, Mac OS X

There you go, folks. For those who are still having doubts about Apple’s plan of coming out with a cloud service, time to erase those doubts. Come Monday, Apple will officially announce their cloud service, now officially called iCloud. Unfortunately, that’s all Apple wants us to know for now right now. But to keep us all excited, Apple is also announcing two more important products: iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion.

All of these will be announced to kick off Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 6th at 10:00 a.m. PT with none other than Steve Jobs giving the keynote address. We’ll continue to cover news and rumors as they surface, and be sure to join us on the 6th for our live blog of the event.

The full press release of the announcement follows:

Apple to Unveil Next Generation Software at Keynote Address on Monday, June 6

CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS® X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®; and iCloud®, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

WWDC will feature more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers. Mac® developers will see and learn how to develop world-class Mac OS X Lion applications using its latest technologies and capabilities. Mobile developers will be able to explore the latest innovations and capabilities of iOS and learn how to greatly enhance the functionality, performance and design of their apps. All developers can bring their code to the labs and work with Apple engineers.

For more details, visit the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2011 website at developer.apple.com/wwdc.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

So, which of these three new product announcements are you most excited about? iCloud, perhaps?

Full Story » | Written by Arnold Zafra for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Apple introduced iPhone and iPod touch versions of its iWork productivity suite on Tuesday. Pages, Keynote and Numbers will all be available as individual apps for $9.99, or as free universal updates for existing owners of the iPad versions of the apps.

The productivity suite had been rumored to be arriving on the iPhone and iPod touch since last June, when Apple posted some iPhone 4 screenshots that gave away an “Open in ‘Keynote’” function. The redesigned iWork apps arrive just one week before WWDC 2011, where Apple has announced it will reveal details about iCloud, iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion.

The iWork apps all now include thumbnail images of documents for easy file browsing. Keynote includes a full-screen presentation mode for showing off a slideshow on the iPhone 4′s Retina Display, and it works with the Keynote Remote app if you have a second iOS device. Pages has a Smart Zoom feature that automatically follows your cursor as you edit, and Numbers also employs this feature to make editing spreadsheets on the small screen easier.

The redesigned iWork apps work on iPad and iPad 2, iPhone 3GS and 4, and 3rd- and 4th-gen iPod touch models. We’ll be sure to give them a run-through and let you know how they compare to their large-screen siblings soon.

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Whoa. Hot on the heels of this morning’s announcement of iCloud at next week’s WWDC, Apple PR just dropped a huge bombshell via press release: iWork for the iPhone and iPod touch! Press release below:

CUPERTINO, California—May 31, 2011—Apple® today announced that its groundbreaking iWork® productivity apps, Keynote®, Pages® and Numbers®, are now available for iPhone® and iPod touch®, as well as iPad®. Created for the Mac® and then completely redesigned for iOS and Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface, Keynote, Pages and Numbers allow you to create and share stunning presentations, beautifully formatted documents and powerful spreadsheets on the go. iWork apps are available on the App Store™ for $9.99 each to new users and as a free update for existing iWork for iPad customers.

“Now you can use Keynote, Pages and Numbers on iPhone and iPod touch to create amazing presentations, documents and spreadsheets right in the palm of your hand,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The incredible Retina display, revolutionary Multi-Touch interface and our powerful software make it easy to create, edit, organize and share all of your documents from iPhone 4 or iPod touch.”

Keynote, Pages and Numbers import and export documents from iWork for Mac and Microsoft Office; print wirelessly using AirPrint™; and include beautiful Apple-designed themes and templates. All iWork apps now include improved document management with thumbnail images that let you find your files quickly, organize them and group them into folders using intuitive gestures. From the Tools button in the toolbar, you can easily share any presentation, document or spreadsheet without leaving the app.

Keynote makes it easy to create impressive presentations, complete with animated charts and transitions. You can play your presentation in Full Screen view on the stunning, high-resolution Retina™ display or connect to a projector or HDTV for a large audience. Available separately, the Keynote Remote app allows your iPhone or iPod touch to control a Keynote presentation on any iOS device or Mac.

Pages is the most beautiful word processor ever designed for a mobile device and has everything you need to create amazing documents. Pages takes full advantage of the high-resolution Retina display on iPhone 4 and iPod touch so you can see all the detail and richness of your documents. To make working with text easy on iPhone and iPod touch, Smart Zoom automatically zooms in to follow the cursor while you’re editing and zooms back out when you’re done.

Numbers uses Multi-Touch gestures and an intelligent keyboard to help you create compelling, great-looking spreadsheets with over 250 easy-to-use functions, flexible tables and eye-catching charts. Just like Pages, Numbers takes advantage of the high-resolution Retina display and Smart Zoom to make working with text and cells on iPhone 4 or iPod touch easy.

Strange Apple would announce iWork for iPhone a week before WWDC, and at $9.99 each. These apps already exist for the iPad and they have been heavily anticipated in the past.

Apple Releases iWork for iPhone and iPod touch is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog – Canada's #1 iPhone Resource

This morning, Apple announced that Steve Jobs will host the keynote for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference next Monday June 6 in San Francisco.

The release also stated that Apple is set to introduce iOS 5 and a new cloud service called “iCloud”.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS X; iOS 5, the next version of Apples advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch; and iCloud, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.

iCloud is widely expected to be the replacement service for MobileMe and further include wireless music streaming capabilities in some capacity.

Apple To Reveal iOS 5 & iCloud At WWDC 2011 is a post from: iPhone in Canada Blog – Canada's #1 iPhone Resource