The Mac Observer

 

Apple has filed a lawsuit asking a California court to dismiss a group of lawsuits seeking class action status over claims that the Siri voice recognition in the iPhone 4S doesn’t perform as advertised. According to the lawsuits, Apple intentionally misstated Siri’s capabilities in its advertising — an accusation that Apple denies.

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U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote denied a request from Apple and ebook publishers to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing them of price fixing, and at the same time said that Apple and Steve Jobs were in the middle of the conspiracy.

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Mac Geek Gab co-host John F. Braun joined the Not Another Mac Podcast to discuss Mac security, cloud services, and more.

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Display News Briefs: More from Wednesday May 16th, 2012

Aaron Sorkin Adapting Steve Jobs Bio for Film

Aaron Sorkin will pen Sony’s movie version of the biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. Mr. Sorkin is known for “Social Network” and the Oscar-nominated “Moneyball.”

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iPhone 4S: My Favorite Siri Commands - 08:35 AM ET
iPhone 4S: My Favorite Siri Commands

If you have an iPhone 4S and you don’t use Siri much, Melissa Holt is disappointed in you. So disappointed, in fact, that she’s decided to write an entire tip on her favorite uses for Apple’s friendly personal assistant. She hopes by doing so that she can convince you to start talking to your electronics in public—after all, the more people start doing that, the less insane she looks when she does. We’d call that a win-win.

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Tuesday May 15th, 2012

The iPad Crystal BallBarclays: 7-inch iPad Appears ‘More Likely’

Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes told clients on Tuesday that Apple releasing a 7” iPad “appears more likely.” In a research note obtained by The Mac Observer, Mr. Reitzes said that, ” recent research still leads us to believe that Apple may be planning to add another form factor to its iPad line in the 7” range for the fall.”

The iPad Crystal Ball
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Dave Hurban & his iPod nanoiDermal: Man Implant Magnets to Hold iPod Nano

So you want to wear your iPod nano like it was a wristwatch, but the idea of a fat band to hold it just really turns you off. What’s a fellow to do? If you’re Dave Hurban, you make the only logical move that you can and surgically embed four magnets into your own arm to hold that nano where it belongs, on your wrist.

Dave Hurban & his iPod nano
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deals

 
Darth Vader USB Hub:  $49.99 - 03:05 PM ET
Darth Vader USB Hub:  $49.99

The Deal Brothers found a deal on a USB hub from the Dark Side. It’s powered, but it only has four ports. Who cares?It’s Darth Vader! Oh, and it’s $49.99.

I am your father...

Corporate KarateHow to Compete Against Apple … and Win

Smart, technical people have known for a long time why their company, their executives, and their CEO can’t seem to fight a winning battle against the competition, namely Apple. It’s a dirty little secret that no one wants to admit to. John Martellaro explores the problem.

Corporate Karate
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Apple & $$Apple’s Six Best Decisions of the 21st Century

Looking back at Apple’s unprecedented financial success over the course of this century, Ted Landau asks: What were the key decisions that Apple made over the past 12 years that contributed most to its astounding ascent? What were the pivot points? He put together such a list, consisting of six items. Here they are…

Apple & $$
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Foxconn Backtracks on Apple Television Production Statement

Hon Hai Precision executives have backtracked on a report that the company is ramping up to start production on an Apple-branded television. Now company leaders are saying those reports are wrong, and that CEO Terry Gou never said Apple is building its own television sets.

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Analyst: iPhone Supplies Dipping Ahead of Fall Refresh

Apple is scaling back iPhone 4S production ahead of a fall product refresh, according to Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu. That could lead to a 25 percent reduction in sales compared to the previous quarter, and come in under analyst expectations.

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Psystar DOA: Court Rejects Appeal in Apple Copyright Case

Psystar’s long running legal battle with Apple over Mac clones seems to have finally come to an end now that the U.S. Supreme Court shot down the defunct PC maker’s appeal attempt in appealing a ruling blocking it from selling PCs with OS X installed.

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Perian Shutting Down, Going Open Source

The team behind Perian is shutting down the project after six years of development and will be releasing the code for its video codec tool to the open source community. Perian has been a popular OS X add-on because it lets users play media content that isn’t natively supported through QuickTime.

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Monday May 14th, 2012

AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router & WLI-H4-D1300 wireless media bridgeAirStation Router & Bridge Offers Fast 802.11ac Speeds

Buffalo Technology announced on Monday that the AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router and WLI-H4-D1300 wireless media bridge have shipped and are available at select electronics retailers. The significance of the new 802.11ac devices is that they offer so-called gigabit Wi-Fi speeds, and when combined, can do so even if your device doesn’t otherwise support 802.11ac.

AirStation WZR-D1800H wireless router & WLI-H4-D1300 wireless media bridge
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Apple's iCloudApple Reportedly Expanding iCloud with Photo Sharing, Personal Videos

Apple’s iCloud service could soon include photo sharing (not just syncing), syncing of personal videos, and new access to Reminders and Notes in an upcoming upgrade. These features are rumored to be included in iOS 6 which is expected to be announced at WWDC in mid-June.

Apple's iCloud
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Media Player BugReaders Report Media Player Bug In OS X 10.7.4

We’ve received reports from readers who are experiencing a bug in the recently released OS X 10.7.4. The bug manifests in the media player displayed with some media attachments in Mail. When it occurs, the right side of the media player us cut off, and the play head can disappear off the edge.

Media Player Bug
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Oops!Kaspersky: Apple Didn’t Really Ask Us for Help

Security firm Kaspersky issued a statement on Monday saying that comments claiming that Apple had asked the firm for security help were taken out of context. It would appear, however, that Kaspersky overstated the situation, and that Nikolay Grebennikov, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, misspoke, and that the clarification is really a correction.

Oops!
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MGG 397: Geeks Have The Beans … And They Spill Them

Have Mac or iOS questions or problems that you just can’t figure out? Mac Geek Gab has your answers. Submit your questions to Dave & John and they’ll dig in and get you your answer. Want to know how to safely move your iTunes library? Need to find duplicate files on your hard drives? Is Gmail’s “All Mail” folder confusing your Mac’s Mail.app? Listeners just like you wrote in with these questions this week and they got answers. You can hear the answers, too — it’s free! Just press play, or even download and queue up for your next commute. What are you waiting for?

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Flashback IllustrationApple Releases Flashback Removal, Security Update for Leopard

Apple released Flashback Removal Security Update for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard on Monday. The software will search for and remove most variations of the Flashback malware in circulation on Macs running Leopard. Apple also released Leopard Security Update 2012-003, software that merely disables out of date versions of Adobe Flash.

Flashback Illustration
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AirPlayTime Warner Cable CEO Doesn’t Know About Apple’s AirPlay

Apple’s AirPlay technology allows users to wirelessly stream content from their iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches to their Apple TV (and thus to their TV). Despite its potentially disruptive nature, however, Time Warner Cable’s CEO Glenn A. Britt had never heard of it until asked by a reporter during a group interview.

AirPlay
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11” MacBook Air 1.6GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5:  $849

The Deal brothers found a great price on a refurbished MacBook Air 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 for $849. This system was originally released in July 2011, and it ships for free.

MacBook Air

Art EarbudsChicBud’s Arts Earbuds are Designed For Females

chicBuds obviously knows its target audience (females) and caters to the likes and desires of that audience. Their products are colorful and they provide good sound.

 

ChicBud’s Arts Earbuds
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Reader Discussion: Tim Cook at AllThingsD Conference

Apple CEO Tim Cook will be speaking at the AllThingsD conference later this month, so today TMO readers are talking about what he might discuss. They’re also looking at the list of who is — and isn’t — speaking at the event and what that list might mean.

Forum Discussion

Apple SecurityApple Asks Kaspersky for Security Help

The security research company Kaspersky claims Apple has asked it for help with analyzing and identifying potential security flaws in OS X. News that Kaspersky has been tasked to help harden OS X comes on the heels of criticism that Apple doesn’t take OS security seriously enough.

Apple Security
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Third Gen iPad Drops “4G” for “Cellular” in Product Name

Apple has dropped the 4G moniker from iPad WiFi + 4G following complaints in some markets that the multimedia tablet doesn’t support 4G networks outside of the United States and Canada. Now Apple is referring to the 4G-capable third generation as iPad WiFi + Cellular, which may appease governments that are investigating Apple’s use of 4G in the iPad name.

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German TV Maker Denies Apple Buyout Rumor

Following rumors that Apple is buying the German high definition television maker Loewe, the company is categorically denying the report. Loewe representatives went on the record saying there is “absolutely nothing to it.”

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Jeff Gamet & Julie Kuehl Join IMP for 200th Episode

The Mac Observer’s Jeff Gamet and Julie Kuehl joined the International Mac Podcast team for the show’s live 200th episode where they talked about Apple and Adobe security, and Apple’s vintage promotional videos.

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Saturday May 12th, 2012

MacOS KenDensed: Google, HP & AT&T Rant-a-paloosa

What do you get when you throw together sneaky Google stuff, HP going copy-cat, and AT&T going on a cry-fest? Mac OS Ken’s Ken Ray on his soap box. We’ll sedate him later.

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TMO Workspaces: Jeff Gamet - 10:29 AM ET
TMO Workspaces Jeff GametTMO Workspaces: Jeff Gamet

Welcome back to yet another edition of TMO Workspaces, where we highlight a Mac user’s workspace. This week, we’re taking a look at The Mac Observer’s Managing Editor, Jeff Gamet.

TMO Workspaces Jeff Gamet
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Friday May 11th, 2012

5 Fabulous Favorite Free iOS Apps - 07:56 PM ET
NYPL Biblion5 Fabulous Favorite Free iOS Apps

This week in Free on iTunes Vern Seward looks back on 5 of his favorite iOS apps: NYPL Biblion, McSweeney’s, PlainText, With Friends games, and Instagram.

NYPL Biblion
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New Maps app mockupReport: Apple-Owned Map Technologies to Replace Google in iOS 6

Apple’s “Maps” app will be updated in iOS 6 to use Apple-owned technologies to replace Google’s mapping data for the backend, according to online reports. Included is a new 3D mode that will reportedly be part of the re-engineered system.

New Maps app mockup
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The WozThe Woz: Apple Is Too Cool To Become Uncool

There’s little to fear that Apple’s cool quotient could ever rise so high as to tip the company over the precipice to become uncool, or so Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak believes. The Woz made the comments during a PR tour of Australia in response to questions from a local journalist who wanted to know if Apple could become a victim of its own success.

The Woz
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An Inconvenient Truth About E-books - 05:20 PM ET
E-book problemsAn Inconvenient Truth About E-books

E-books seemed awfully cool at first, especially as Apple and Amazon popularized terrific tablets and e-readers on which to read them. Plus sales of e-books are greater than paper versions now. But there are lots of gotchas, and the whole industry is basically a mess.

E-book problems
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TMO Artist's Rendition of SamsungApple Accuses Samsung of Destroying & Withholding Evidence

Apple has accused rival and partner Samsung of destroying and withholding evidence in their epic patent infringement battle. In court documents, Apple filed a motion asking Judge Lucy Koh to penalize Samsung by issuing “spoiliation inference” instructions to the jury, instructions that could severely hurt Samsung and help Apple.

TMO Artist's Rendition of Samsung
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F-Sim Space Shuttle v 2.4F-Sim Space Shuttle for iOS: A Superb Flight Simulator

Sometimes there are apps that are so amazing, so well done, so technically pleasing, that one is in awe. Such is the case for F-Sim’s Space Shuttle landing simulator. The graphics on a retina display are astounding. The technical depth is amazing. If you’ve ever wanted to experience what it’s like to land the Space Shuttle orbiter, this is it.

F-Sim Space Shuttle
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AluCube MiniJust Mobile’s AluCube Mini Can Solve Cable Chaos

Just Mobile has the answer for everyone who wants a clean and tidy desk with cables where they should be.

 

Just Mobile’s AluCube Mini
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17” MacBook Pro Quad-Core Intel Core i7 2.2GHz:  $1,779.99

The Deal Brothers found a deal on the 17” MacBook Pro quad-core Intel Core i7 2.2GHz blowout model for $1,779.99. This is one of MacMall’s “Blowout Deals,” and shipping is free.

17" MacBook Pro

Hon Hai Exec Says Apple Television Coming

Hon Hai Precision Chairman Terry Gou claims Apple has plans for its own television, and Hon Hai company Foxconn will be building it. Mr. Gou said Foxconn is already preparing for production of the Apple-branded high definition television, although production hasn’t begun yet.

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Adobe Launches Creative Cloud, Creative Suite App Subscriptions

Adobe followed up its Monday Creative Suite 6 release with its Creative Cloud launch on Friday. Creative Cloud offers online storage and collaboration, and also includes full access to all of the Creative Suite applications as part of a monthly subscription.

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