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9 to 5 Mac - Apple IntelligenceApple removes standard Mac OS X 10.7.3 download due to bugs, offers combined download insteadApple’s latest Mac OS X 10.7.3 release is a pain for some users due to its bugs surrounding CUI issues and the crashing of applications. Apple has already been investigating the issues with test groups, and it has apparently decided that the best thing to do at this point is remove the standard 10.7.3 update from its servers and provide users with the ability to only download the combined installation. This combo installer is not riddled with the CUI and app crashing errors as explained in our report from yesterday. Read on for all of the details: // Apple removed its online download page for the standard (client) 10.7.3 download, and now that website forwards to the combo download link. In addition, clicking a saved link that directly downloads the standard 10.7.3 installation puts up an Apple 404 page. On top of this, Apple removed the ability to download 10.7.3 (client) directly from software update, and it is now providing users with the combo installation. This combined installer is typically a few hundred megabytes larger than the standard installer, but users will not face the annoying bugs. This new build is reportedly showing up as “11D50b” instead of the client’s “11D50″ labeling. Users who installed the client 10.7.3 download will need to manually download the combined update from Apple’s website.
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Apple modifies EULA for iBooks: Lays no claim to content, allows authors to distribute elsewhereApple just updated its End User License Agreement for the iBooks Author application, and the changes clearly outline the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company only requires .iBooks formatted products created in iBooks Author to sell through the iBookstore. With that said, Apple aims to sell the packaged format without claiming the content nor restricting where else authors can distribute the content. iBooks Author released alongside iBooks Textbook last month and controversy immediately brewed over its terms and conditions, which many claimed infringed upon software rights and imposed unjust requirements… // The uncertainty stemmed from Apple’s language in the agreement, with critics convinced that Apple tried to claim content rights to all books created for iBooks Textbooks. Questions also arose concerning whether Apple intended to control books from publishing elsewhere in another form. The modified license agreement simplified complex wording— especially in Section 2, which originally stated: B. Distribution of your Work. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, your Work may be distributed as follows: (i) if your Work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute the Work by any available means; (ii) if your Work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service), you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions: (a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution. The new update reflects the following changes to Section 2: B. Distribution of Works Generated Using the iBooks Author Software. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, works generated using iBooks Author may be distributed as follows: (i) if the work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute it by any means; (ii) if the work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service) and includes files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author, the work may only be distributed through Apple, and such distribution will be subject to a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary); provided, however, that this restriction will not apply to the content of the work when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author. You retain all your rights in the content of your works, and you may distribute such content by any means when it does not include files in the .ibooks format generated by iBooks Author. The new agreement explained that Apple never planned to confine the distribution of non-.iBooks content, and the EULA clarified users are allowed to distribute .iBooks formatted documents elsewhere—they just cannot charge elsewhere. “If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a “Work”), you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple,” Apple stated in a note at the beginning of the license agreement. The updated license agreement is a free download through the App Store. In related news, Apple also updated its iBooks application to version 2.0.1 today. It fixes an issue concerning various iBooks Textbooks unable to successfully open. Although the problem was not fully detailed by the company, it did release a statement last month promising a prompt fix. iBooks 2.0.1 is a free download through the App Store.
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iPhone scalpers in China on the decrease as Apple resumes online sales of iPhone 4S, shipping by March 2Last week we told you about a new online lottery system for reservations that Apple setup for iPhone 4S sales through its Hong Kong stores to combat scalpers after it was forced to suspend sales of the device in various locations throughout Mainland China. Unfortunately, until this week, Apple’s online store for China has been out of stock since the overwhelming launch. After implementing the new reservation policies on Tuesday, and in Beijing on Wednesday, Apple has now resumed online sales of the device with shipments arriving to customers no later than March 2, reported ChinaDaily. Apple’s online store for Mainland China now lists the iPhone 4S with an expected delivery time of “February.” Customers are limited to two devices with all three models currently available in both black and white. An Apple employee confirmed the March 2 date to ChinaDaily: // “If you pay today, you might get the items tomorrow, and no later than March 2.” According to a report from Beijing Times (via Marbridge Daily), Beijing Apple stores in Xidan and Sanlitun are still not selling the iPhone 4S and have not decided on a timeframe for resuming sales for walk-in customers. With the introduction of the lottery reservation system, Apple did not disclose the number of available devices, but confirmed it will “not be selling the iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S to walk-in customers.” ChinaDaily said prices for iPhone 4S on the gray market in Beijing are not likely to increase due to a more than adequate supply from Hong Kong. One scalper said it is easy to find “40 or 50″ iPhones, but Apple store employees have actually reported seeing a decrease in scalpers… Despite industry analysts in Beijing being worried “scalpers may find ways to circumvent the restrictions” of Apple’s new reservation policies, Apple store employees in Beijing’s Xidan business district said they have noticed a decrease in the number of scalpers selling iPhones near the store since online sales resumed: “Since we began accepting online orders yesterday, not as many people have been hawking iPhones nearby as before.” After receiving the necessary approvals from Chinese regulators, China’s third-largest carrier, China Telecom, announced last month it would be the second official carrier to offer Apple’s iPhone 4S with a launch expected by the end of February or early March. For the iPhone 4S launch in China last month, China Unicom remained Apple’s exclusive partner. The deal with China Telecom would allow Apple to tap into the carrier’s more than 36.3 million 3G subscribers currently on the network.
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Latest Snow Leopard security update breaks popular PowerPC apps like QuickenAs part of the Mac OS X 10.7.3 update released earlier this week, Security Update 2012-001 [release notes] for Snow Leopard broke compatibility with several Rosetta Power PC programs. The issue, as described on Tidbits, MacInTouch and on Apple Support Communities threads (here, here and here), causes some third-party programs to crash unexpectedly under Snow Leopard. This includes popular applications such as Quicken, Filemaker 7, Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office 2004 and X. There is a workaround solution that helps alleviate the issue, at least until Apple addresses it with another update, explained right after the break. // The problems appear to stem from Rosetta, a lightweight and dynamic binary translator (discontinued in Lion) that lets Intel-based Macs run programs written for PowerPC machines. Printing from programs that rely on Rosetta are no longer working and Excel 2004 also freezes when accessing the File > Open menu command. A partial fix includes the RosettaFix reversioner that replaces the files updated by Security Update 2012-001 with previous versions. The 10.7.3 update is not exactly a walk in the park for some Lion users, who reported numerous app crashes adorned by the CUI graphics. Apple acknowledged the problem and said it is working towards resolving it. Until a fix arrives, there are several solutions to tackle the problem, as 9to5Mac explained yesterday.
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That was fast: German ban on Apple 3G products lifted due to FRAND status of patentsUpdate: 8PM ET: Apple has updated the store and all 3G devices are again available. Just this morning Apple was dealt a patent blow by a German court that ruled Apple’s 3G products outside of the iPhone 4S were in violation of Motorola patents. The “Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory” (FRAND) nature of the patents means Apple should be able to purchase licensing rights to those patents at market rates (i.e. what Nokia, Samsung, and others pay). According to Apple, Motorola has not offered those types of terms. Fast forward to a few minutes ago: Apple stated the 3G devices in question would be back on sale “shortly”… Slashgear reported: Apple has been granted a suspension of the German injunction against 3G-enabled iOS devices, with the iPad WiFi + 3G, iPhone 4 and other gadgets back on sale through the company’s online store. ”All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple’s online store in Germany shortly” the company told us in a statement. “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.” // Related articles
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Mac desktop lowest price special from MacMall: New Minis start at $551, iMacs at $1086From 9to5Toys.com: MacMall is offering 9to5 readers an additional 3% off of their already lowest prices on Mac Minis and iMacs this month yielding the lowest prices you’ll find anywhere (by as much as $50) with free shipping via this link. The 3% is deducted at checkout and MacMall doesn’t charge tax in most states. All discounts, including higher end models listed below: // Related articles
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Former Apple exec Bob Borchers talks Apple marketing, packaging, and his time at AppleUpdate: Apple had these videos taken offline. We will make an effort to see if they exist somewhere else. Help us out in the comments if you find them. Former Apple marketing executive Bob Borchers, who was part of the original iPhone team and helped lead the Nike+iPod partnership and third-party iPod integration with car manufacturers, recently gave a talk at a school in California to discuss his experiences at Apple (part 2 below). In case you are unfamiliar, you might remember Borchers from several “guided tour” videos for iPhone and other Apple products a few years back. He has also been a source for many of the interesting stories coming from Adam Lashinsky’s new book “Inside Apple.” At the starting of his talk to students, Borchers surveys the crowd to find out the ratio of Android users to iPhone users, leading him to joke: “Alright that’s good. I’ll keep my Apple stock.” As a former marketing executive, Borchers showed and talked about a few ads, but also discussed the AT&T partnership, as he noted, “We broke rules in terms of how we worked with folks like AT&T”: “AT&T as a company… they buy the cellphones and then they sell them to you and I… we said, ‘no we don’t want to do that’. We want to be able to sell the iPhone. We want to be able to talk directly to the customer. That was a big, big change for the industry.” Other than telling some recent stories that have debuted in “Inside Apple,” Borchers also talked about Steve Jobs’ initial mission to create the iPhone, describing the late CEO as wanting to create “the first phone people would fall in love with.” He also discussed how important the multitouch display and having the full “Internet in your pocket” was to the original concept. Before wrapping up his speech, Borchers talked about how the iPhone was developed from his point of view on the product marketing/product management team and the importance of Apple packaging: // “Our job was really to establish what the iPhone was going to be, and to work with all the engineers and everybody else to create that product… when we decided we wanted to do touch technology, i would then go work with the design team [etc]… If you think of an orchestra… our job was to be the conductor.” Borchers discussed Apple’s obsession with attention to detail and gives the example of iPhone packaging: “One of the things that Apple is absolutely passionate about… and we spend too much time on… but as consumers I think you recognize it as being really important… you spend time doing even the silly stuff… like making sure the packaging is perfect… so when you open up an Apple product… you’ll see that it’s beautifully designed… that’s the attention to detail Steve was famous for.” As for the Gizmodo iPhone “nightmare”: “It’s like losing your keys only a hundred times worse cause Steve Jobs is going to come running after you. It was a big deal… but it’s a human process… occasionally people make mistakes… the iPhone has been ok.” These days Borchers is a partner at Opus Capital, investing in startups after the iPhone business grew so much that, “it wasn’t as much innovation as it was just kind of keeping things moving forward.” He wanted to “go back to small again.” You can check out part two of the Borchers talk below. Related articles
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Apple forced to remove all 3G devices except iPhone 4S from German online Apple Store following Motorola victoryUpdate: It appears that the ban has been lifted already Apple lost its first significant patent battle today as it was forced to take 3G iPads and iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4′s off its virtual Apple Store shelves in Germany today. The Mannheim Regional Court found Apple infringed a patent used to synchronize e-mail accounts. The ruling also allows Motorola Mobility to ask Apple for information about past sales and holds Apple liable for damages, Presiding Judge Andreas Voss said in delivering the ruling. “The court has come to the conclusion that the wording of the patent does cover functioning that were at issue here,” said Voss. Apple “wasn’t able to convince the court that it isn’t infringing.” The licenses at issue are supposedly “Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory” (FRAND) patents that are considered industry standards. This follows a previous ruling in Motorola’s favor at the end of last year. The court order is directed against Apple Sales International in Ireland, which operates the online store of Apple in Europe. Perhaps not comical for German consumers (but certainly elsewhere) is that German courts have also banned a number of Samsung products, including its first stab at a tablet, based on Apple patent complaints. Soon their only option will be Motorola XOOMs . The iPhone 4S, Apple’s current flagship device, remains on sale at the German Online Apple Store. It is not immediately certain why this device does not fit into Motorola’s complaint— maybe it is just too new and was not included as part of the original complaint. In addition, the 4S (and CDMA iPhone 4 and iPad 2) use Qualcomm chips while the banned devices use Infineon baseband, so it is possible Qualcomm has patents that indemnify its chips. In a statement to Businessweek, Apple said: // “Apple believes this old pager patent is invalid and we’re appealing the courts decision,” company spokesman Alan Hely said in an e-mailed statement. Apple told Paid Content: While some iPad and iPhone models are not available through Apple’s online store in Germany right now, customers should have no problem finding them at one of our retail stores or an authorized reseller. Apple is appealing 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. Related articles
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Readdle’s new Remarks app offers PDF annotating, accurate handwritingReaddle released a new application for the iPad called “Remarks“ that offers incredibly accurate handwriting recognition, PDF annotating, and more. At the heart of Remarks is PDF annotating, and PDFs can be imported by way of the iPad’s iTunes File Sharing feature or through opening the PDF with an email to the iPad. All of your PDFs are stored in an iWork for iOS-like file system, and a folder system is available. The interface, though, is powerful and feature-packed, and it is simple for PDF annotating. A user simply taps to open a PDF and then they can do actions such as handwriting, highlighting, panning, and creating shapes like circles and squares similar to what one does in OS X’s built-in PDF annotating application Preview. Remarks also allows you to import photos directly from within the application to place in a PDF, and it also allows users to email, print, and open the created or annotated PDFs in other iOS applications. While Remarks have been a fantastic PDF annotator in our testing, the marquee feature—perhaps— is its handwriting integration. In our tests, Remarks’ handwriting software is well crafted, very accurate, fast, and features no lag. A great bonus is being able to rest your hand on the display of your iPad without writing anything accidentally. Writing with Remarks with a stylus offers perfect iPad handwriting, but writing with your finger works great as well. Readdle said it is looking to bring more features soon to Remarks, including Dropbox and other cloud storage system support. Remarks is available for the iPad on the App Store for $4.99. //
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Apple researching social fitness tech sporting real-time sharing of performance data for competitive workoutsIn the future, hitting the gym along with your iPhone-toting pals could spur competitiveness in ways unlike ever before. Apple’s mobile devices run a variety of fitness apps and third parties provide useful accessories ranging from casual jogging to some serious working out. Not content with resting on its laurels, Apple is looking to ratchet it up a notch with a new patent filing titled “Interfacing Portable Media Devices And Sports Equipment” that surfaced Thursday in the United States Trademark and Patent Office database. It outlines new fitness technology letting you share performance data with your friends in real-time, as you are working out. Mentioning that traditional sharing through a third-party website is so last century, the filing goes on to describe immediate data sync between friends exercising on a similar equipment. Moreover, unlike Apple’s fitness center app patent or this fitness freak filing, it does not even pretend to mention Nike+. This suggests Apple could be developing its own solution that might some day augment or even replace Nike’s technology with numerous bells and whistles. Fancy yourself working out on a treadmill next to your boss and being able to brag about your lower heart rate and blood pressure all the while covering greater distances. Heck, you could be even working out at your local gym while boss is running on a treadmill at his office in Tanzania. Speaking of competitiveness… // Apple’s invention calls for the ability to display your performance data on the other person’s device, forcing him to run faster, jump higher, or hit harder. What’s more—participants can be in the same gym or scattered throughout facilities across the globe, as long as a Wi-Fi or cellular network connection exists to sync data. In addition, treadmills can exchange media (as depicted in the below drawing) and data from both treadmills can be displayed on each treadmill. “These treadmills may be located in the same building, or they may be located in different buildings, in different cities, or even in different continents,” said the filing, and then it continued: The user can establish communication between the media player and the treadmill by inserting the connector insert of the treadmill into the connector receptacle of the media player. Again, the treadmill insert may be recessed for mechanical stability reasons. While the workout is underway, the treadmill can record workout data on the media player. [...] User data, prompts, and other information may be generated and displayed using either the media player or the display on the treadmill. The treadmill may also have other means of receiving input data, in this example, the touchpad. The touchpad may be a keypad or other such tactile interface, or it may be another type of data entry interface. The patent filing was first submitted on Oct. 12, 2011 and credits, among others, Apple engineer Donald Ginsburg who heads “Apple’s Made for iPod” initiative. If you are eager to learn more, type in a patent ID 20120028761 into the USPTO search engine.
Apple’s is actively marketing the iPhone as an indispensable companion for your active lifestyle and has been pushing Nike + iPod Sport Kit for ages (Apple CEO Tim Cook currently sits on Nike’s board of directors). Mind you, Apple’s healthy lifestyle promise is not just a marketing gimmick. The company is constantly enhancing its gadgets with new fitness-related features. For example, the fifth-generation iPod Nano gained a built-in pedometer that logs your steps and calories burned, letting you track the progress of your workouts through iTunes and on Nikeplus.com. As for Nike+ technology, it is now integrated into the iPhone, iPod Touch, and older iPod models as the company continues to promote it heavily on its homepage and retail stores. Related articles
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Apple working on fix for iTunes Match bug that matches explicit songs as cleanCult of Mac today publicized a bug in iTunes Match that matches explicit tracks to clean versions. The issue resides in Apple’s iTunes Match software that is sometimes unable to distinguish clean versions of a track from explicit versions due to slight differences. The issue is causing trouble for some, but Apple is already working on a fix. A 9to5 reader emailed Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services about the issue a couple of weeks ago and received a response from one of Eddy Cue’s engineers. According to the engineer, Apple is currently investigating the issue and working on a fix. Apple has no interim workaround for users of the iTunes Match service, the email elaborated. iTunes Match is Apple’s $25 a year iTunes service that matches ripped tracks to iTunes quality and keeps everything in the cloud. //
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comScore: iPhone at 30 percent US smartphone market share, 12 percent total US market shareResearch firm comScore is out with its latest numbers for the month of December, giving us a glimpse at the current United States mobile market. The report indicates that mobile sales are up-and-rising for the holiday month. comScore found that Google’s Android is leading with a 47.3-percent OS market share (rising 2.5 points) and Apple’s iOS is in second with a 29.6-percent market share (rising 2.2 points). When it comes to device market share for both smartphones and non-smartphones on the OEM side, Samsung tops the charts with a 25.3-percent market share, which did not change from the previous month. LG and Motorola place second and third, both losing a small amount of market share during December. Apple comes in fourth in market share, and now boasts 12.4-percent of total mobile subscribers (rising 2.2 points). The U.S. still ranks in as one of the world’s most important places for smartphones, with 97.9 million people owning smartphones during Q4 2011. When it comes to worldwide sales, Research Firm IDC yesterday released its estimates for December. They found that Apple passed LG to become the third-largest smartphone manufacturer worldwide, with an 8.7-percent market share in Q4 2011, and a 6 percent market share in 2011 as a whole. Nokia remains in the top spot with 26.6-percent, followed by Samsung who has 22.8-percent. You can check out the graphs after the break for the full run-down: // IDG global smartphones
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Apple already investigating Mac OS X 10.7.3 CUI, application crashing issuesThis morning, news broke out that Apple’s latest Mac OS X update – 10.7.3 – includes an odd bug surrounding CUI and app crashes. A number of 10.7.3 users are reporting that applications are often crashing and are given error messages with “CUI” stamped on it (as shown in the screenshot above). While 10.7.3 was just released yesterday, Apple is already investigating the issue and is looking to create a fix for affected users. According to a source familiar with the matter, Apple has just sent out the following email to a Mac OS X 10.7.3 test group: We would like to know if you have experienced an issue after updating to 10.7.3 characterized by the following: Applications crash or quit on launch, The term “CUI” and other graphic anomalies appear in dialogs and windows. If you have encountered this issue please submit a bug report. Be sure to include the following with your report: Install logs, system logs, a full System Report. There is no indication regarding how or when Apple plans to release this fix, but users can workaround the issue themselves with the steps we provided in our earlier post: // If all fails, the last resort involves booting into a Lion Recovery partition on a boot volume or USB stick: - Boot into the Recovery partition by holding down the Option key at startup. If you do not have the combo installer at hand, follow these steps after booting into the Recovery partition and before executing Terminal commands: - Select “Browse for help online” to launch the Safari browser
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Apple seeds Safari 5.1.4 to devs: Speedier Javascript on Lion, fixes for plug-ins, zooming using gestures, printing PDFsRight on the heels of yesterday’s release of Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 that includes Safari 5.1.3, Apple seeded its developer community with Safari 5.1.4 for Mac and Windows. Apple advised developers to update their test machines to OS X 10.7.3, because it is a requirement for Safari 5.1.4 for Lion. Release notes and download links are available after the break. // Safari 5.1.4 Update for Mac and WindowsJavaScript Performance Enhancements Plug-Ins & Zooming Printing PDFs Note: You must be a registered developer in order to download pre-release software from Apple. Safari 5.1.4 Update – Lion (44MB)
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CEO Tim Cook breaks down $150M in charitable contributions by AppleAmong the various topics, like the new employee discount program, discussed at a recent all-hands Town Hall session with Apple employees was something seemingly very important to CEO Tim Cook: Charity. Unlike cofounder Steve Jobs who thought his company should focus on maximizing shareholders’ value so they can donate their own wealth, the new boss is adamant that Apple must do more on this front. According to The Verge, the Town Hall meeting saw Cook shed more light on Apple’s charitable contributions that totaled $150 million (versus a cool $97.6 billion they had in the bank last quarter): According to our sources, Cook said that Apple has donated a total of $50 million to Standford’s hospitals, split into $25 million for a new main building and $25 million for a new children’s hospital. Cook also spent quite a bit of time talking about Apple’s status as the leading contributor to Project RED, and expressed pride that Apple’s given over $50 million to the effort since it started. According to Apple’s website, the Product Red initiative generated more than $180 million for the Global Fund since its inception. As 9to5Mac first reported back in September, one of the first important moves (anti-Jobsian, perhaps?) of then newly appointed CEO was a company-wide charity matching program for donations made by Apple employees up to $10,000 a year. // From Cook’s aforementioned email to troops: Starting September 15, when you give money to a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Apple will match your gift dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000 annually. This program will be for full-time employees in the US at first, and we’ll expand it to other parts of the world over time. This initiative, however, was overshadowed as an investigative New York Times article underscored cruel working conditions at Foxconn factories in China (some call them sweatshops), where Apple’s gadgets are being manufactured. Although Business for Social Responsibility disputed some of the most devastating claims, such as Apple being aware and did nothing to prevent exploitation of underage workers and suicides; Cook was so shattered that he issued a company-wide email in response to those allegations. Re-iterating, “We care about every worker in our supply chain,” Cook further wrote he was “outraged” because “Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us.” Such interesting wording for a person famous for his low-key demeanor is an indication of just how devastating the story must have been to Apple’s new boss. Perhaps in an effort to pre-empt the scandal, Apple let the Fair Labor Association access its suppliers’ facilities and for the first time list suppliers in its 2012 Supplier Responsibility Report. Only time will tell if the ongoing Foxconn blunder paints Apple as a greedy corporation in the public eye. If anything, it should force the company to be more open to corporate charities, something its cofounder was always reluctant to embrace. According to the authorized Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, Jobs discouraged charity on a corporate level at Apple, even though he was a charity giver: Jobs was notoriously stingy when it came to giving away money. He argued privately that the most philanthropic action Apple could take was to increase the value of the company so share-holders could give away their wealth to causes of their choice, not Apple’s. Related articles
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Here’s the fix for intermittent CUI errors following the 10.7.3 updateA number of users flooded Apple Support Communities forums following yesterday’s release of the Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 update to complain about dreaded CUI errors. In addition to a bunch of minor issues, some people reported being greeted with unexpected app crashes after rebooting into 10.7.3. For them, attempting to launch any application would produce the above (and below) prompt saying: The application unexpectedly quit after trying to restore its windows. Do you want to try to restore its windows again? Log files reveal that the affected users are often unable to use their computer normally as a large number of crashes are being logged. Luckily, there are several easy workarounds to fix this annoying bug… A forum user who goes by the nickname “nmphotog” has a simple solution: Don’t install the update through the operating system’s Software Update mechanism, which only retrieves 10.7.3 update files specific to a user’s current OS version. Instead, download the combo installer from Apple’s website that weighs 1.2GB, run the installer, restart into 10.7.3 and use Disk Utility afterwards to check for broken permissions and other disk-related issues. If you cannot apply the combo installer on the affected system at all, try booting into Safe Mode by holding down the Shift key during startup until the desktop or login window appears. If this does not work, you will need to use another Mac. Simply boot the affected system in Target Disk Mode by holding down the “T” key during startup. Plug the computer into another Mac using a Thunderbolt or FireWire cable and run the combo installer on another Mac against the affected machine’s boot drive. For some, their Mac is so adversely affected that none of this works— not even Target Disk Mode. Hopefully, they would have a Time Machine backup created before applying the 10.7.3 update. If that is your story, restore your computer from the most recent Time Machine backup, apply the combo installer and you should be fine. If all fails, the last resort involves booting into a Lion Recovery partition on a boot volume or USB stick: - Boot into the Recovery partition by holding down the Option key at startup. If you do not have the combo installer at hand, follow these steps after booting into the Recovery partition and before executing Terminal commands: - Select “Browse for help online” to launch the Safari browser
. You may also want to check out additional tips and resources provided by OSXDaily. Let us know in the comments if these tips work for you and remember to always backup your system before any major OS update. Related articles
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Jumsoft releases first collection of iBooks Author themes with ‘Book Palette 1.0′Jumsoft has just released Book Palette 1.0 on the Mac App Store– a collection of templates and themes for Apple’s recently released iBooks Author platform. The first release of many to come includes 10 templates from business to cookbooks that all include customizable layouts, covers, chapter pages, tables of contents, glossary pages, and everything included in the iBooks author app. It looks like Apple isn’t going to have an issue with developers selling additional add-on content for iBooks Author through the Mac App Store. Although Jumsoft has designed the templates to be ready to go with the default designs and layouts, they explained just how customizable they are: Most objects in the templates can be easily reshaped, recolored, moved, or removed. Use a variety of pre-designed text styles or opt for fonts of your choice to format your text for the best effect. Add matching gallery, video, or other Multi-Touch widgets and also modify their look to your own liking. In fact, feel free to create a book that is entirely yours. Book Palette 1.0 is available on the Mac App Store now for $2.99, and of course requires iBooks Author and Lion 10.7.2 or higher. If you’re interested in trying out the new iBooks experience for yourself, you might not know the book Apple demoed at the iBooks Author unveiling includes a free sample chapter that is quite impressive. You can grab E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth here, and we also recommend another iBooks Author creation, the $2 iCloud for Beginners. Today the Associated Press reported Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski are challenging educators and textbook companies to get digital textbooks in the hands of US students within five years. The government also plans on releasing a 67-page “playbook” that offers teachers and students guidance and “promotes the use of digital textbooks.” You can grab the free iBooks Author if you’re interested in creating an iBook of your own and trying out Jumsoft’s new themes. A sampling of the themes included in Jumsoft’s 1.0 collection is below:
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Avid releases iPad version of FCPX competitor ‘Avid Studio’Avid, the makers of the music industry’s leading DAW called ”Pro Tools”, just dropped an iPad version of its pro-sumer Final Cut Pro competitor known as ”Avid Studio.” Although the latest Final Cut Pro X update brought multicam editing, broadcast monitoring, and many of the features pro users demanded be re-implemented, the Avid Studio iPad app shows why Apple should and most likely will release FCPX for iPad. The app is available from the App Store now for $4.99, significantly less than the desktop version that retails for $169.99, but the app will increase to $8 after an initial 30-day introductory period. The Avid Studio app is the company’s first video editing suite for iPad and aims to provide most of the features offered through the desktop version. Users will get the familiar timeline and storyboard, but new gestures will allow them to pinch and squeeze to scale images and videos, and arrange edits on the timeline for picture-in-picture effects. Users of the desktop software will also appreciate the Precision Trimmer, Razor Blade tool for on the fly cuts, and the ability to export projects easily to Avid Studio on the desktop. Projects can be uploaded to iCloud, and finished projects can be shared to YouTube, Facebook, and by email from within the app. Unlike the desktop version, there is no Flash export option. // Other features include multi-layer 3D animations, titles, and transitions, high-quality fades and dissolves, and “professional-looking motion titles and graphics with full control over text, font, color, size, position, and rotation.” Users can also import their own audio or select from included sound effects with full control over trimming, setting levels, and fading audio in and out. While admitting that the company is trying to do the same thing with Avid Studio as Apple has done with Final Cut Pro X, Avid’s Tanguy Leborgne noted some pro users have opted for Avid instead, which the company began offering discounts for to FCPX users whom considered switching. AllThingsD pointed out Hollywood production company Bunim/Murray is one major pro user that has already made the switch. Leborgne said the following about Apple’s strategy to AllThingsD: “Both Apple’s product and the pricing strategy were the same thing we’re trying to address here,” Leborgne said. “But for professionals, it relayed to them that Apple was not really focused on the higher end of the market.”
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Apple hires Xbox Live veteran for App Store marketingRobin Burrowes, the person in charge of Xbox Live marketing in the EMEA region, left Microsoft for Apple and is now charged with heading the App Store marketing initiatives for iTunes Europe. Burrowes led Xbox Live marketing for seven years and were responsible for product, business and marketing management as well as planning, strategy and leadership of Xbox Live across regions, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to joining Apple, the executive was involved with Microsoft’s MSN online operation as events/B2B marketing manager, British retail chain HMV (promotions manager) and Tennent Caledonian Breweries (brand marketing manager). Burrowes graduated from University of Strathclyde in 1991. Apple fashionably would not comment on its new hire. Hiring yet another games veteran indicates Apple’s desire to expand on iTunes gaming initiatives in Europe. Apple’s business in the region and around the world is booming on strong iPhone sales. Interestingly, a recent job listing on Microsoft’s website for a software development engineer possibly hinted at Xbox Live games for iOS devices. A spokesperson for the Windows maker told Forbes they are “working to extend a few of our Xbox experiences and titles to other platforms.” // Burrowes’ LinkedIn profile also stated his key achievements include developing and executing several new business initiatives, such as Xtival Free Live Weekend, Summer of Football promotional campaign, entertainment content strategy, and a bunch of retail promotions. He also “over-achieved on all subscription and revenue targets from 2008 to 2010, driving notable increases both paid subscriptions and ARPU.” Sounds just like an A-player Apple would love to have on its team. Apple has been bolstering its App Store talent with other notable industry professionals. iOS games are continuing to rake in well over an estimated one-third of total App Store revenues. As MCV pointed out, last year the company hired former Nintendo Public Relations Chief Robert Saunders to promote iOS apps. Another high-profile hire includes: (former) Activision, EA, and Xbox public relations head Nick Grange, who is charged with promoting the hardware side of Apple’s business. Most recent —and by far the most controversial hire— includes a new retail manager, John Browett, who was CEO at European electronics retail chain Dixons. Related articles
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Get 20% off iTunes eGift cards at Best Buy (Digital Delivery) today until 7PM ETFrom 9to5Toys.com: Today only, until 7 pm ET, Best Buy takes 20% off iTunes eGift Cards, as listed below. At up to $20 off and no shipping, each is tied with our mention from four weeks ago and at or near the lowest price we’ve ever seen. Sales tax is added where applicable. The gift cards will be emailed for redemption so those overseas with US iTunes accounts can take part.
iTunes credit can be used for Mac Software, iOS Software, Games, iBooks, music, movies or just about anything besides hardware.
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Tots els articles publicats són propietat dels seus respectius autors i/o dels blogs que els han publicat originalment. Todos los artículos publicados son propiedad de sus respectivos autores y/o de los blogs que los han publicado originalmente.
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