Recently Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that Apple would be assembling a Mac computer in the United States once again. Cook didn’t offer a lot of detail on that comment, despite the fact that a flurry of questions were tossed his way when he made the announcement. People want to know where exactly the machine will be constructed, but Cook declined any further details.

All we know at this point is that a Mac computer will be built in the United States and according to Cook, it will be a new iteration of an existing product. That could mean anything from a refreshed MacBook to a new version of the Mac Pro or Mac mini.

Reports indicate that whatever Mac computer is built in the United States won’t just be a collection of parts shipped from overseas. Many of the components used in the assembly of the new Mac will themselves be made in the United States. Some of the components sourced from the US will come from Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, and Texas.

Some of the processors Apple uses in products such as the iPhone are already built in the US. Apple made a significant investment into a Samsung chip manufacturing plant in Texas where processors for the iPhone are produced. It’s nice to see Apple bringing even more of its construction back to the US, though you have to wonder if this will mean any increase in prices.

SOURCE: Engadget

As I write this, I’m working on a Mac Pro that I bought several years ago. At the time, the computer was state-of-the-art and capable of handling all kinds of tasks. For me, it was a perfect solution: it offered me the flexibility to run three monitors, had the power to handle some video editing, and was running OS X – an operating system, I believe, is superior to Windows.

But now years later, I’m lamenting my purchase of the Mac Pro. Although it’s still chugging along, it’s not working as well as it once did. And despite my best attempts to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of this supposedly high-end computer, it’s falling short on several fronts.

While all this has been going on, Apple has been launching new Macs at a torrid pace. Since my Mac Pro purchase, the company has launched two new Mac designs – the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro with Retina Display – and continued to update the iMac with outstanding design ideas. But it’s the Mac Pro that, save for a slight upgrade, has been ignored by Apple.

Now, I know that I’m not alone in wondering what is happening in Cupertino. Over the last few years, we’ve all been watching with baited breath as Apple hits the stage to unveil new Macs, hoping that a Mac Pro will be one of them. But each time, we’ve been disappointed. Apple’s customers have even e-mailed CEO Tim Cook to ask what in the world is going on. His response? Be patient.

Still, it’s hard for us to be patient. We’re watching our friends running Windows doing far more than we can with the Mac Pro. And it’s making us think twice about making the leap to a custom-built Windows desktop that, while not ideal, could actually deliver the enhanced power we need.

I’ve been holding off taking that plunge because I believe Apple has something up its sleeve for the Mac Pro. The trouble is, I just don’t know how much longer I can hang on. Yes, my Mac Pro is still doing its job, but it’s getting harder and harder to complete tasks. And I’m becoming more frustrated by the computer by the day.

So, I need to ask, Apple: where in the world is my new Mac Pro? If you’re not going to launch a new one, just put us out of our misery and tell us. If you are, make it quick; we’re losing faith that you’re actually going to launch a replacement. And the sooner we lose faith, the sooner you lose us to a Windows PC.

I never thought I’d say it, but it’s possible that I might just have to ditch my Mac Pro for a custom-built PC. Don’t make me do it, Apple. Don’t. Make. Me. Do. It.

These new options are tacked on to the 1TB drives that Apple initially only offered (either a traditional 5400rpm drive, or a “Fusion” drive). Of course, not everyone needs 1TB of storage, so offering lower space but with faster speeds is always welcome. However, it’ll cost you a pretty penny, as the 256GB option costs $300 extra, while the 512GB version costs $600 more.

Apple has offered solid state options with the 27-inch iMac, but only offering 768GB of solid state storage for a $900 upgrade price. The company also gave the option of either 1TB or 3TB hard drives, with Fusion drive options available as well. However, this is the first time that the 21.5-inch iMac is getting the choice of flash storage.

Apple’s Fusion drive includes a mixture between flash storage and hard drive storage, meaning that packed in there with a traditional 1TB hard drive is a 128GB flash drive to keep things fast, while still providing a lot of storage space to play around with. Hybrid drives like this have been a go-to choice for users who want SSD-type speeds without paying a fortune for it.

[via MacRumors]

But what most people can agree on is that Apple truly understands hardware. For years now, the company has been delivering the most innovative hardware designs in the industry. And its success in the marketplace has largely been a result of that.

Still, I’m suspect of claims that Apple still holds the crown as the world’s best hardware designer. Yes, the company’s products are nice-looking and I’ll freely admit that the iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro with Retina Display have rightfully earned Jonathan Ive his place in the spotlight. But when we take the entire industry as a whole, is it not possible for us to accept the idea that maybe – just maybe – Apple’s design cred has been hurt a bit?

Looking at Apple’s products, I’m not all that impressed any more. Although the iPhone 5 came with some design improvements, it’s basically the same device we’ve been seeing for years with a few changes here and there. And since so-called “major” updates only come out every other year, I sit and see nothing that’s so revolutionary that I’d commend the company on design.

Moving to the iPad, I think we can say the same thing. The iPad is certainly nice-looking, but is it really so much better looking than any other device on the market right now? Samsung, Google, and Amazon are all offering tablets that have similar designs, and they’re no less appealing.

But it’s in the notebook space that I think we need to seriously reconsider the idea that Apple is the world’s best hardware designer. Sure, the MacBook Pro with Retina Display is nice-looking, but is it really any better than any Ultrabook on the market right now? And when it comes to innovation, who can really take issue with what Lenovo is doing with half-tablet, half-notebook IdeaPad Yoga? It appears that Apple is the company that now likes to stay the course, and it’s allowing other companies to deliver the truly interesting products.

So, I pose this question: has Apple officially lost its credibility as the technology industry’s leading hardware designer? Apple fans will instinctively say that it hasn’t. But perhaps it’s best if we take a step back and evaluate what’s really going on in the marketplace. Apple is by no means a design slouch and its products are good-looking. But can we stop pretending like it’s the only company that truly understands what design is all about?

It might have taken competitors longer to catch up to Apple on design, but catch up they have. And it’s high time we accept that and give credit where it’s due.

According to 9to5Mac, OS X 10.9 will cater towards more power users, but will still keep features that also cater towards everyday users. However, it’s said that OS X 10.9 won’t be a complete overhaul like OS X Leopard or OS X Lion was, but we can still expect some new features in the upcoming OS that will see the the platform taking baby steps to closing the gap with iOS.

Furthermore, both Finder and Safari will be getting some updates that will cater towards those power users, including tabbed browsing in Finder, as well as a redesigned backend in Safari for improved page loading and overall efficiency of the browser, which should put the web browser in the running up there with Chrome and Firefox.

Of course, there are plenty of third-party utilities that offer these kinds of features, including tabbed browsing in Finder (and much, much more), but it would be nice if OS X came with these features by default. Finder has always been a stubborn file browser, and it seems third-party apps are the only way to truly experience a great file browser. Internally, OS X 10.9 is said to be codenamed “Cabernet,” but we’re guessing that won’t be the final name for the OS, as Apple has always been naming OS X after various wild cat names.

[via 9to5Mac]

Whenever you send a message using one of those phrases, the last word would be omitted and be replaced with a series of spaces. However, when you copy and paste the message, the original message appears unaltered. The bug seems to be affecting mainly users who use iMessage on their iPhones or their Macs running Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Users who message via their iPads seem to be safe from the issue.

This issue has existed for a few months now, however, Apple has yet to issue a fix for it. But hey, at least it’s not as dangerous as the bug that allows others to spy on your iMessages. Last year, it was discovered that you can access someone’s entire archive of iMessages just by placing their SIM card into your iPhone. Even if you completely wiped your phone, others would still have access to your messages.

There’s also a potential exploit that hackers could use to DDoS your iPhone and your Mac via iMessage. Hackers who have access to your email address could send you an unlimited amount of iMessages at a fast pace, quick enough to stall your device. The message spam could stall your device, or crash your iMessages app and prevent you from re-opening it. The only way to prevent the attacks is by disabling the iMessage app altogether. Hopefully Apple has fixes for these bugs soon.

[via The Verge]

This sale is a record, one way or another. Back in 2012 tickets sold out in right around two hours after they went on sale, that time working with an on-sale time that wasn’t announced in advance. The same situation occurred in 2011 where ticket sales took around 12 hours.

Here in 2013, the release of tickets was pre-announced and pinpointed for Apple developers, this allowing the masses to be on-point with clicks and credit cards. This event should prove to be an important one in Apple’s history as it will reveal not only a new iteration of their desktop operating system, but their mobile operating system as well, both of them with new leadership behind the scenes.

Have a peek at our still short history with WWDC 2013 in the timeline below and prepare for the big set of events starting on June 10th and lasting until the 14th of June, 2013. We’ll be live in-effect from start to finish, especially in regards to the major keynotes which have in the past proven themselves to be significant moments in the Apple road of events.

With Retina support, the updated Twitter app will be able to take advantage of the added pixels, and Twitter claims that the whole app will appear sharper and crisper on high-resolution displays. Twitter also made it easier to share photos. You can either drag-and-drop photos into the app, or click the new camera icon in the corner and browse for a photo to add.

Twitter says that “more improvements” will be coming in the future, which we would hope so, given the fact that Twitter’s client restriction are resulting in numerous third-party Twitter clients to shut their doors, most notably TweetDeck, which is set to close down on May 7 due to the restriction of the number of users that third-party clients can have.

TweetDeck is only one of the beloved Twitter clients seeing its end, which not seem like a huge deal since Twitter has their own apps to use, but the company has been surprisingly lacking in their offerings, with many third-party clients out-performing Twitter itself with unique features that you can’t get with official Twitter apps.

The initial invite to WWDC 2013 let developers know that they’d be in for just as exciting a set of presentations as any they’d seen in years past, promising also that those not able to attend would be taken care of. Noting that they’d be posting videos of each and every session spoken at the series of events, Apple made it clear that Registered Apple Developers would be able to take advantage of the content even if unable to be there in person. These videos have been promised to be delivered in a timely fashion.

If you have a peek at the image above, you’ll see what WWDC 2012 delivered as its first and main event mark. This combination preceded an event which delivered the original MacBook Pro with Retina display as well as sets of updates to Apple’s mobile and desktop operating systems iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion. Below you’ll find the WWDC 2011 image presented before the show – this tipped the reveal of Mac OS X Lion, iOS 5, and iCloud.

The 2010 edition of WWDC revealed the iPhone 4, changed the name of iPhone OS to a much simpler iOS, and showed both FaceTime and iMovie for the iPhone. So now that we’re several years in to this trend of revealing major software updates and a return (after one year without) of hardware announcements, Apple has been tipped to be bringing both to San Francisco on June 10th. And if you’re feeling cheeky, you could see the 2012 logo’s color orbs converging together to create the logo you see for 2013′s event – that could mean some real one-ness between the systems.

SlashGear will be attending this event and will be bringing on hands-on coverage and up-to-the-minute news from start to finish. Don’t miss it – straight from our WWDC 2013 tag portal all week long.

You can import single or multi-page PDFs into Skitch, and then you can annotate them with different shapes, arrows, and of course text. This allows you to point out items that need to be changed or want to give special attention to. You can also use the Highlighter tool to draw attention to a specific section of text or imagery.

The new stamps feature includes five stamps. There’s a red “X” stamp for bringing attention to things that need changed, an exclamation mark to draw attention to something that possibly needs attention, a question mark for items that may be confusing, a green checkmark to give the all clear, and a heart stamp for marking something that is excellent and shouldn’t be changed.

Once you place a stamp, you can add text next to the stamp to elaborate on your change that you want made. These features are actually only available to premium Evernote users, but the company is offering a 30-day free period where anyone can use these new features. The update is available now in the Mac App Store as well as in iTunes.

Apple currently makes up 45% of all PC operating profit, with Dell making up 13%, HP at 7%, Lenovo at 6%, ASUS at 6%, and Acer at a measly 1%., with 21% of the total pie consisting of “other” PC manufacturers. Of course, it’s important to note that profit is different than sales. Apple may not have sold the most computers, but they made the most profit from the ones they did sell.

The data comes from industry analysis firm Asymco, who say that the volumes which “made up for” low margins with PC sales are “disappearing.” Of course, Apple is experiencing the same problem, but on much lower scale, because they have “positioned themselves for growth with devices and content commerce and services.”

The problem seems to be OEMs’ reliance on Windows 8, which has been met with criticism as a step backward in desktop operating systems, whereas Apple integrates its operating system with its own hardware. Simply tacking on Windows 8 to various hardware is certainly cheaper for OEMs, but if Windows 8 fails, hardware sales go down with it.

[via Cult of Mac]

The launch of SimCity for Mac will come a bit later than EA hoped for. Originally, the game was set for a “spring 2013″ launch, but June 11 is technically during the summer. Either way, Mac users will finally be able to build the city of their dreams starting in just a couple of months. They shouldn’t have any problems either, since EA has finished upgrading their servers.

The game got off to a miserable start, with the midnight release not going as planned. Gamers who pre-ordered weren’t able to download their digital copy of the game, and even if gamers were able to download and install it, they were met with a bevy of server errors that deemed the game unplayable at first.

It became so bad that Amazon had to suspend sales of the game, and Electronic Arts told affiliates to “stop actively promoting” the game until the issues have been fixed. Of course, the game publisher tried to make things right with gamers, by offering them a free game for their troubles, but we’re not sure if that did the trick, since EA was recently voted the “worst company in America.”

According to 9to5Mac, a developer testing out the beta operating system spotted the code in OS X 10.8.4, specifically in the WiFi-frameworks folder deep within the file system. The code clearly reads “802.11ac” and it’s a line of code that is not found in OS X 10.8.3, which is the latest version of OS X that’s currently available to the public.

If you’re not too familiar with 802.11ac wireless, it’s essentially the successor to 802.11n, which is the latest and fastest network protocol to be certified. We’ve seen a few routers with 802.11ac on board, but it has yet to be certified, so we probably won’t be seeing a crop of 802.11ac products pop up just yet.

However, we’ll definitely see 802.11ac sprout up more and more in the near future, but we certainly wouldn’t be surprised if Apple waited a bit to implement it into their Macs. Sure, it may be in the code itself, but it’s possible that Apple won’t enable it in the next batch of MacBooks right away. However, we’ve heard in the past that Apple is partnering up with Broadcom to bring the new protocol to Macs this year.

[via 9to5Mac]

The first configuration is a 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 27-inch iMac. It has 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M video card with 512MB memory. Its RAM is upgradeable to 32GB, it is 802.11n WiFi capable, and supports a display resolution of up to 2560 x 1600. Its available for $1529.00, which is $270 lower than its $1799.00 non-refurbished counterpart. The second model features a 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX video card with 1GB memory. All its other specs are similar to the $1529.00 model. This model, however, goes for $1699.00, which is $300 off its $1999.00 counterpart.

There is also a last-gen model of the 27-inch iMac available as well. This version, released on May 2011, does not have the same IPS display as the former options. It has a 3.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and a AMD Radeon HD 6970M video card with 1GB memory. This version is available for $1599.00, $400 lower than its non-refurbished model. However, the lack of IPS technology and having only 4GB of RAM makes the other options much more appealing.

These iMacs are expected to ship within 1-3 days, and supplies are limited. If you’ve been wanting an iMac, you should act quickly. Also, in other news, we learned that Apple may be introducing a refreshed line-up of Mac Pros sometime this month or next month. If you’ve been eyeing a Mac Pro instead of an iMac, you may want to wait a little while for refurbished current-gen Mac Pros to go on sale. Also, be sure to check out our review of the current-gen iMac here.

The source is quoted as having specifically said “Mac Pro,” and so it is not currently know whether this means the refresh will be in the form of a tower or miniature tower or something else altogether. And while the plan is to announce the new Mac Pros this month, the source is reported as saying that the timeline could get bumped to next month or June.

As with all rumors of this nature, there’s no way to know whether or not it is true – Apple certainly won’t confirm it – and Mac Daily News says that it is not able to confirm the information either, only repeating what it was told by someone who has supplied them with correct information in the past. Because of this, we’re filing it away into the rumor folder for now, but will be keeping an eye out.

As we reported on January 31, Apple has stopped selling Mac Pros in Europe, with reasons being cited as “[Mac Pros] are not compliant with Amendment 1 of regulation IEC 60950-1, Second Edition which becomes effective on this date.” Sales were discontinued on March 1, following low demand and a noted lack of big updates from Apple.

[via Mac Daily News]

Obviously when there’s a program this old all about computers, even when it’s all “retro” and funny because of it, there’s some level of understanding you must have so far as how excited everyone seems about now-ancient tools and features. What’s particularly interesting about this video is how simple the presenters make each of the terms included in the still relatively new concept of visual computing.

What you’re going to learn is how the Apple Macintosh computer made working with a computer at home – or at school, or in the office – a reality for those that otherwise would never have considered using a computer. While the difference between working only with lines of code and working with pictures and renderings of objects wasn’t brand new at the time, the solidification of that kind of thinking was certainly taking place.

You’ll find that the Macintosh they’re working with here in the program was launched with two applications – one for typing (MacWrite), the other for drawing with your mouse (MacPaint). By the time this program had been filmed, as they say “the number of Mac products has skyrocketed, and now numbers in the hundreds.”

So consider this your mission for this weekend – see if you or one of your friends or family members would like to learn how computers work at their most basic. The talks here are applicable even to our most advanced systems – see how they make the magic happen now! And make sure you grab your healthy helping of Easter ham or otherwise non-denominational feast with the future on your mind!

BONUS: Save a collection of episodes lost to time for whatever reason, there’s a massive amount of episodes of Computer Chronicles up in the Internet Archive for your perusal now as well. More computer knowledge from the 1980s than you’ll know what to do with!

Have a peek at a few more “Weekend Watching” posts below to see how they ring your bell!

These videos were submitted initially to Tuaw where a reader by the name of Vince Patton notes that he’s in the process of making sure all of the tapes are transferred and that watchable video is produced from the source material. These videos are all being displayed at Patton’s YouTube channel where you can enjoy them in kind – we’ll also be embedding each of them in this post, of course.

First you’ll see an epic moment in the history of computing that you’ll be glad you took the time to click. Here Woz leads the club in the Pledge of Apple Allegiance, complete with the following lines:

I pledge allegiance
to the logo
of corporate marketing in Cupertino.
And to the computers
for which it stands:
one notion
under Jobs -
indispensable
hardware and software for all.

Make sure you commit that one to memory, dear readers.

Next you’ve got Woz speaking on pranking a hotel, hacking a Video on Demand box, and re-numbering a telephone. Immediately following that, you’ll find a video about additional pranks and wild times Woz had as a college students, including a choice note about how he’d used a TV jammer more than once.

A bit of a break from Woz for a moment, you’ve got Randy Wigginton speaking about the aversion of a near disaster 6 days before the original launch of Macintosh. He goes through the heart-pounding several days before Macintosh had to be launched as a software package, explaining that at 2 o’clock in the morning on the day they had to send the final build out at 6 o’clock in the morning (four hours later), the situation should very well have given their team all panic attacks: “nothing worked.”

Once again with Woz you’ll find a description of how the Apple II was created. This should enlighten your life even if you never used that magical machine, complete with its massive floppy disk drive and connectivity with the epic Koala Pad. This machine was many users of my generation’s first encounter with an Apple product, as the big A had a rather important link with grade schools at that time.

With one good turn comes another – next you’ll see Woz speak about the creation of the Apple I (which of course was created before the Apple II). Inside you’ll have found a fabulous note about how the Apple I worked with 4k dynamic RAM built-in even though it was more difficult to design for – and how no other system worked with that advanced feature for a year (or even two) after they’d done it. This is an absolutely unthinkable situation today.

Below you’ll see Woz speak on how Steve Jobs formed Apple Computer knowing full well he’d have to lose some money before he made any.

Woz returns with more information about how he was put on probation at the University of Colorado for “Computer Abuse”. Such is the life of a young genius, yes?

Finally, (for now), you’ll see Woz recall the point at which he was forced to quit his job at HP and put his efforts toward Apple full-time. This is an iteration of the story of Apple’s creation that we’ve never seen before today, spoken by none other than one of the two men who founded the company. Consider that for a moment, won’t you?

We’d like to thank Patton for his work in translating this all to digital video this week and look forward to the rest of the media without a doubt. Let us know if you hear any other hidden treasures in your viewing of these clips, too!

The trojan is detected as “Trojan.Yontoo.1” and it was discovered by Russian security firm Doctor Web. Of course, you have to an install a plugin or other piece of software in order for the trojan to activate, but hackers are making it easy for unsuspecting users to take the bait. They’re prompting users to install a plugin before they can watch a mobile trailer, for example.

Of course, we’ve all come across this scenario before, where we don’t have a certain plugin installed in order to view something, so we’re forced to download and install it before continuing. However, it looks like criminals are taking advantage of that tradition by implementing the same kind of system in order to get users to install the trojan.

It’s said that a Windows version of the trojan also exists, but it doesn’t affect Windows 8 users currently. Cross-platform malware isn’t rare most of the time, but this particular one uses its own code to target each specific operating system, as opposed to targeting a universal piece of software like Java, which we’ve heard plenty about recently.

[via The Next Web]

The analysis shows that since 3 months ago, over 9 million more people made the change from regular cell phones to smartphones. It also showed that 18 million more consumers have purchased a tablet device. The number of connected devices per U.S. Internet household has grown from 5.3 internet devices per home to 5.7 internet devices. The study also shows that unsurprisingly, most of those devices are Apple or Samsung branded devices.

Smartphone adoption rose up 5% since 3 months ago, and tablet adoption rose up about 18%. The PC still remains the most commonly used internet-connected device in households, with over 93% of households owning at least one PC, a number that hasn’t changed in the past 3 months. John Buffone, director of devices at NPD Connected Intelligence, stated, “It’s hard to believe that tablets and smartphones are still somewhat in their infancy. But as we have seen in just the past few months, there is significant potential for this market to develop further.”

Consumers are adapting to mobile devices at a rapid pace, especially with the help of Android and its low-budget tablets. Android tablet sales are forecasted to dominate the tablet market this year thanks to the cheap options offered, such as Amazon’s line-up of Kindle Fires, Google’s high-end, yet affordable Nexus 7, and HP’s upcoming Slate 7. The IDC predicts that over 190 million tablets will be shipped worldwide this year.

[via NPD]

Along with support for Windows 8, Boot Camp also added support for Macs with 3TB hard drives, a feature that is long overdue considering the storage needs of a lot of users. The 10.8.3 update also comes with several bugfixes including patches for Logic Pro and a fix for a bug that sometimes made audio stutter on some iMacs.

Overall, OS X 10.8.3 spent three-and-a-half months in beta, with 13 different beta version being released over that timeframe. That’s a long time for such a small OS update, but this isn’t anything new from Apple. They’ve been known to release several beta versions of updates before seeding it out to the public.

Hopefully todays update doesn’t cause any problems. In the past, several different OS X updates have wreaked havoc on particular Mac machines, so if you’re weary about updating this time around, then it won’t hurt to wait it off for a few weeks to find out if it’s causing any problems. Otherwise, the update should be ready for you, either in Software Update, or through the Mac App Store.

The new iMacs with the built-in VESA adapter will cost $40 more than a regular iMac, and they don’t come with the stand, but you have the option to select a desk mount during checkout if you want starting at $140. The wall-mountable iMacs don’t actually come with a wall mount, so you’ll have to go out and buy your own on top of the $40 premium for the adapter that Apple slaps on.

Apple seems to have quietly rolled these new models out, and they’re not actively promoting them either, but a link at the bottom of the iMac configuration page will take you to the main page where the wall-mountable iMacs are advertised, where you can then select one to purchase starting at $1,339 for the 21.5-inch model.

However, the new wall-mountable iMac options show a ship date of 7-10 business days, while standard iMacs ship within 24 hours, so if you need an iMac fast, it may be best to get the standard one, but if you’re absolutely dying to have a wall-mountable option, be prepared to wait a couple of weeks.

[via AppleInsider]

The Mac version of the game will come with the “8-Ball” and “Prestige” DLC packs, which adds an 18 extra cars, two new events, and one new track. Other than that, the game will include the same features that other gamers have been enjoying for years, including the excellent career mode and even the “Flashback” feature that allows you rewind a few seconds back if you crash.

GRID for Mac will be priced at $24.99 in North America, £17.49 in the UK, and €19.99 in Europe, which certainly isn’t a cheap price for a game that’s almost five years old, but it’s been a recent trend for older games to release on Mac near the price of when the game was brand new. However, $25 isn’t too bad, considering that GRID is about the best it gets when it comes to mixing simulation with a bit of arcade.

GRID 2 will be launching on May 28 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. No word on a Mac version, and we don’t expect it to launch on Mac for a while, but knowing that GRID finally came to Apple’s platform, there’s now hope that the second installment may one day arrive for Mac users. Of course, the sequel will include all-new tracks and cars, as well as a new career mode to make your through.

TweetDeck will focus all of its efforts to improve the experience for its power users. It is focusing entirely on developing its web-based app and Chrome app. It believes that most users are steering away from its TweetDeck mobile apps and opting towards Twitter’s official mobile apps and its feature-rich offerings like photo-filters, various editing capabilities, and enhanced search.

Despite cutting off support for its mobile apps, TweetDeck is doing exceptionally well. It has doubled its workforce in the past six months and it has massively improved its web/chrome apps. It has revamped its user experience, created a search term auto-complete feature, included search filters, and have included an auto-updating twitter stream feature. It also releases updates on a weekly basis.

Your TweetDeck mobile apps shouldn’t be discontinued until sometime in May, however TweetDeck has stated that it will be “retiring” its Twitter v1.0 API, the same API that TweetDeck’s mobile apps work on. So in the next couple of months, users who are still using the TweetDeck apps will experience several outages. TweetDeck understands that many users will be affected by this change and has stated, “And for those of you who are inconvenienced by this shift, our sincere apologies.”

[via TweetDeck]

Well it looks like Apple and its shareholders are in for a bit more bad news. Today, Apple’s shares have dropped to a new low. It has dropped 2.5% down to $430.47, and it looks like things will only continue to go downhill from there. Analysts believe that Apple’s earnings this quarter will decrease year-over-year, and unless Apple introduces something new and exciting, things don’t look like they will improve.

Something like the iWatch, or the Apple TV would help improve Apple’s current position, but the iWatch isn’t expected to launch until 3 years from now and the Apple TV is said not appear for another 2 years. There’s also rumors going around that Apple is planning on creating a cheap iPhone to appeal to the lower-end market of consumers who only need phones that work.

All of this also also comes after that other set of bad news Apple has received. In its lawsuit against Samsung, Judge Lucy Koh cut down Samsung’s $1 billion fee that it owed Apple all the way down to $589 million. Judge Koh is also planning a new trial involving 14 of Samsung’s devices due to an impermissible legal theory. This could cut down the fee even further than $589 million. This just hasn’t been a good week for Apple. Hopefully, the products Tim Cook plans on introducing will have enough of a wow factor to reverse its current luck.

[via Business Insider]

At the same time, issues are arising at Apple. The company’s $700+ stock price is now in the $400s. And although the iPhone was able to outpace Samsung’s Galaxy S III in the fourth quarter, it appears to be fighting a battle against Android that it can’t win.

So, I pose this question: is it getting easier or harder to not buy Apple products?

Those who say it’s getting harder might be making a good point. Apple is delivering some of the best products out there, and it’s doing so in the industries that excite us most. For instance, Apple is delivering the most popular smartphone on the market as smartphones increasingly gain traction among consumers and enterprise users. And although several Android tablet vendors are trying to take down the iPad, so far, they’ve been incapable.

Even on the computing side, Apple is making it harder to buy competing products. The MacBook Air is still the best thin and lightweight computer on the market, and its software is top-notch. When compared to Windows 8, it’s getting harder and harder to buy a PC over a Mac. Apple has a secret weapon in its battle with Microsoft – Windows 8.

Others, however, disagree. They say that the logic that Apple is still making the best products in the mobile space and thus is the only worthwhile choice is outdated. They point to devices like the Samsung Galaxy S III, Google’s Nexus 10, the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, and others to prove their point. And although Android didn’t necessarily top iOS when it first launched years ago, it’s now delivering more (and perhaps better) features than its chief competitor.

On the PC side, Apple detractors point to the increasing popularity of Ultrabooks to question the desire to buy a Mac. Ultrabooks, after all, are well-designed and lightweight and later this year, will deliver tablet-like functionality, giving them an advantage over devices like the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

In the end, though, I still think Apple wins out. The company’s sales seem to indicate that people are still finding a lot of value in its products. And try as competitors might, they’ve yet to find a way to beat Apple in terms of design. And in today’s technology industry, that truly matters.

So, perhaps it really is getting hard to not buy Apple products. And Apple is laughing all the way to the bank because of it.

Despite the drop in stock price, Tim Cook still had an amazing 99.1% approval rate in his re-election as CEO. Cook had many discussions with shareholders about the direction Apple is going, and he says that there are many great products that Apple is planning that will help boost the company’s stock price. Cook, however, did not elaborate on what type of products these would be. The shareholders asked that Apple increase its dividends to $2.65 per share, which would turn out to be a total of $10 billion in annual dividend payments.

That’s much lower than David Einhorn, who runs the Greenlight Capital hedge fund, had planned. Einhorn, who was absent from the meeting, wanted Apple to release preferred shares called iPrefs that would offer an annual dividend of 4%. Einhorn even sued Apple in order to block a proposal from the company that would require it to receive the approval of its shareholders before issuing preferred stock.

Cook commented on Einhorn’s suggestions and lawsuit, saying, “I strongly believe it was a silly slideshow, regardless of how the judge ruled on it.” Apple had begun 2013 with $137 billion, which is much more than the $98 billion it had at the start of 2012. There was a huge influx of sales on iPhones and iPads that contributed to this number. Cook also says that he has no worries about Android having a higher market share than Apple, because in the end, all Apple wants to do is create the best products. A shareholder suggested that Apple create a computerized bicycle (iCycle?) to help boost its stock prices, erupting laughter in everyone, including Tim Cook.

[via ABC]

Rounding out the top five are HP with 8.2% (down from 8.9% in 2011), Sony at 4.4% (down from 5.7%), and Dell with 3% (down from 3.3%). So, essentially, out of the top five companies who made the most money, only Apple and Samsung saw a boost in the percentage of consumer tech revenue, which is surprisingly really, since both companies are doing quite well.

As for the top five categories of consumer electronics, tablets saw the most growth from 2011 to 2012, with a 45% increase in revenues. Smartphones had a 25% growth, while laptops, HDTVs, and desktops all suffered a loss, with desktops seeing the biggest loss of 11% — no surprise there, really.

Best Buy, Walmart, Apple, Amazon, and Staples were the top retailers, yet again, in 2012. Staples just recently became an official Apple reseller, where all Staples stores will begin selling Apple products. This is a huge deal for Staples, and due to the popularity of iPads and Macs, Staples should see quite a bit more traffic coming through its doors.

Apple has confirmed the news to Reuters and say that they’re currently working with authorities to investigate the attacks, but luckily the Cupertino-based company says that “there was no evidence that any data left Apple.” Apple also plans to release a tool later today that will protect Mac users against the software used in the attacks.

UPDATE: Apple has released a new version of Java meant to plug up the vulnerability. It’s available now on Apple’s support page or through the Software Update tool on OS X.

However, the exploit was said to be spread from a website for software developers, so it seems regular consumers are okay at this point. Apple ended up identifying a small number of systems that were infected, but isolated them immediately to prevent further spreading of the bug. Since newer Macs ship without Java installed, most users shouldn’t worry, but the removal tool should provide a sense of ease anyway,

Similar attacks also targeted The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Twitter just recently. All companies affected said that no critical information was stolen, but of course, that didn’t make the situation much better. Twitter says that 250,000 accounts were hacked, resulting in conscience users to change their passwords right away.

The increase in prices brings the Office for Mac OS software up to the same price-point as Office 2013 for Windows. Also with the price increase for Office for the Mac OS, it looks like Microsoft has also gotten rid of its multi-license products, which is probably a move that’s meant to drive consumers towards Microsoft’s Office 365 subscription service. For $99 a year, or for $9.99 a month, you can subscribe to Office 365 for families, and install Office on up to 5 devices. With the subscription, the user will be given the installation software for Office for Mac Home and Business. For Windows users, you get the installation files for Office 2013.

According to Computer World, the price change for the Mac OS software was most likely increased around January 29th, the same day Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 365 was launched. For Mac owners, if you still want to purchase Microsoft Office for the older price-point, many retailers, like Apple itself, are still selling Office for Mac 2011 at its original price.

Microsoft hiking up the prices of its Mac software, and also its elimination of multi-license software does bring the spotlight to open source projects, like Open Office or Libre Office, who offer programs with the same functions for free. So unless you specifically need the Microsoft Office software for your job or business, there are plenty of alternative, free software that can meet your needs.

The gold Blue Peter badge, as it’s called, is a rarity in the history of the show – so to speak – having only been given out to the most honorable of guests over the program’s many years on the air. Right around 1,000 badges have been given out, according to the BBC, others having been handed to the likes of JK Rowling, Damian Hirst, and The Queen (of England, of course).

UPDATE: The full interview is now available for all to see!

Acting Editor of Blue Peter Ewan Vinnicombe spoke up on the event, saying that Ive “is an inspiration to children around the world.” The award was given on an episode of the show that will be broadcast on CBBC Saturday the 16th of February at 10AM GMT. In the episode, Ive conducts miniature reviews of product designs sent in to the show by Blue Peter audience members. He gives advice to the children who designed said products, and lets them know what they can do to make great products in the future as well.

Also during the show you’ll see Ive being interviewed by presenter Barney Harwood, who has Ive recalling the influence the program had on him when he was as child. Speaking about how “vividly” he remembers watching the show in his early years, Ive speaks about how he enjoyed the way the creators of the show “reused products that you though were no longer useful.” Fun stuff!

BONUS: Having been given a tip that he’d be getting a gold Blue Peter badge before going on the show, Ive came prepared. Having been handed an official badge, Ive gave Barney a giant aluminum (aka aluminium) badge in return – one that took 10 hours to craft!

Be sure to catch the program as you eat your cereal in your footie pajamas in the fabulous England morning and let us know how it goes! For those of you in the USA that’ll be asleep at that point, just bust out your typing fingers and have a search for it – the CBBC will certainly post it up sooner than later. Can’t wait!

Each video you’ll be leaving as a message will be able to be approximately 3 minutes in length. Inside the USA and the UK this update will be rolling out over the course of the day with other countries coming soon if enough interest is shown. Skype has currently not given a specific reason as to why each of the other major mobile and desktop operating systems have been included in this update while Windows was left out.

And this isn’t the only service that’s recently been boosted in its ability to leave messages when a person’s friends are away. Facebook’s mobile app was updated to include voice messaging just this past month, while BlackBerry 10 was introduced with ooVoo for 12-person video chat. The many different ways people are able to connect with one another aside from typing with their keyboard are quickly becoming a hot commodity – different, if not entirely better, that is.

And remember – if you want more than 20 video messages in the very near future (at least in this early Beta stage here at the start of this functionality) you’ll have to grab yourself a premium account – have at it! Have a peek at the timeline below for more Skype-related news to see where the service is going in the very near future. Also be sure to let us know if you see one of these updates and find it to be excellent!

[via AllThingsD]

The Apple Shop has had the same name and been in the same location for the past 20 years, but after an Apple computer store opened in Norfolk in 2009, calls began to flow in to the wrong location – the juice store. According to Fisher, he’d been receiving an average of 24 calls a week since the Apple computer store moved in nearby. While most of the situation has been entertaining, he said, some callers have been rude as well.

Fisher notes The Apple Shop was opened by his brother Stephen back a couple of decades ago soon after he’d first started up the Norfolk Cider Company in 1987. As his telephone “has a Norwich prefix”, as he explains, “people unawares ring up the Apple Shop.” He’s made it clear his fair share of times with a kind “I’m very sorry, I can’t help you, but please do come along and get com proper Norfolk cider to get over your sorrows.” This comment is met with either an understanding chortle or a bit of an angry hang-up.

With too many hang-ups on the line and a bit of time lost due to too many mistaken calls each and every week, Fisher has decided to change the name of the shop. The new name of the shop will be The Norfolk Cider Shop from Easter. Fisher has made it clear that Apple has not forced him to make the change – so no worries!

[images via The Apple Shop]

In December of 2012 Cook confirmed that Apple would be bringing Apple product manufacturing back to the USA in 2013. One of the earlier mentions of this move was made in May of 2012 where Cook made mention of “things we can do” in the future – and here it is. Parts of the newest iMac have already bore the “Assembled in USA” mark and the Mac Mini has been tipped to be coming to the USA for manufacturing as well.

The State of the Union address spoken by President Obama noted that “after shedding jobs for more than 10 years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three.” He went on to list groups like Caterpillar, Ford, and Intel who have moved (or will move soon) sets of jobs to the USA from overseas. Obama made the final mention appear most important: “And this year, Apple will start making Macs in America again.”

According to MacRumors, the Apple CEO was seated just one seat away diagonally from the First Lady Michelle Obama and one seat behind the Second Lady Jill Biden. UPDATE: maybe he moved seats? See image 7 of the box. You can also see the full list of seats in the box at The White House website – note also that Bobak Ferdowsi was there: you’ll remember him from the NASA Mars landing last year without a doubt!

Cook spoke up today responding to a question about the Greenlight Capital situation saying, “I don’t think this is well understood. The disagreement centers around a question on Apple’s policy. We filed this back in February, it’s called Prop 2. It’s not about whether Apple returns cash to shareholders, it’s not about the mechanism Apple uses to return cash to shareholders … what this proposal is about is the rights of shareholders.”

With the Greenlight letter which you can see here, you’ll find that the hedge fund recommends that Prop 2 be turned down. This proposal would “impede Apple’s ability to unlock shareholder value” according to its authors. Cook has responded today saying, “I find it bizarre that we would find ourselves being sued for something that’s good for the shareholders. It’s a silly fight show, honestly. My preference would be that people on both sides take the money they’re spending on this and donate it to a worthy cause.”

Needless to say, Cook is voting yes, but isn’t encouraging either side of the argument to be pushing harder than they need to with campaign dollars. Cook continued, “You’re not going to see a ‘Yes on 2″ sign in my front yard. I support it, I’m personally going to for it. I encourage others to vote for it. … But it’s not something we’re going to spin cycles on.”

[via Apple]

Origin for Mac was initially announced way back in August 2011, and just went into alpha testing last month, but the platform is finally releasing to the public in all its glory. Origin is almost identical to Valve’s Steam service, in which it allows gamers to buy and download games and demos, as well as chat with friends.

And, just like Steam’s own cross-platform abilities, select EA titles will also be available to play across both Mac and Windows machines, meaning that gamers using both Windows and Mac can purchase a game once and download it for both systems. The game obviously has to be compatible with both platforms, but if so, gamers can play the game on a Windows machine and continue where they left off on a Mac.

EA doesn’t say exactly how many titles in Origin are compatible with Mac, but they mention popular games like Dragon Age 2, Batman: Arkham City, LEGO Harry Potter, and The Sims 3. EA also recommends that gamers be running OS X 10.6.8 or newer with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better in order to get a maximum experience with the service.

The report follows Gartner’s assertion that mobile apps will be of a much more hybrid nature in a very big way over the next few years. This idea and Apple’s growth in the Enterprise IT environment create vision for the future where businesses work with devices based on their hardware quality rather than the operating system they run. It’s important to note here that Gartner is affirming Apple mobile devices as already accepted in a large way by enterprise IT, while Apple’s desktop hardware and software is on the rise.

David Mitchell Smith, vice president and Gartner Fellow says that “Going forward, Apple will continue to benefit from consumerization and will continue to evolve Macs to take on more iOS characteristics.” It’s because of this cross-pollination that Macs will grow in their use by businesses across the market. Smith continues, saying that because the iOS universe is being pushed to desktop feature by feature and because Apple’s mobile lineup continues to be massively popular, Mac desktop systems will inevitably continue to be accepted by enterprise as consumer demand grows.

The Gartner team also spoke on Microsoft’s mobile systems in Windows Phone and Windows 8 (and Windows RT for tablets too, we must assume). They say that enterprise acceptance of these mobile systems are due in a large way to the relationship the companies have with Microsoft rather than the features the smartphones and tablets work with. Because Microsoft has “not benefited from consumerization”, as Gartner says, Apple will continue to grow in this rather healthy way.

Consumerization here is, as Gartner says, “driven first by consumer demand, and then by the demand of those consumers to bring that technology into the workplace.” How simple is that? Sounds like a winning strategy if there ever was one to be had!

[via Gartner]

Back in November, a select number of websites were reporting that they were getting a few visitors that were running OS X 10.9, and now it seems that number has jumped quite significantly since then. AppleInsider has reported that the number of users running OS X 10.9 spiked in January, according to their traffic logs, claiming that they’ve gotten “thousands” of hits from OS X 10.9 machines.

Of course, last year Apple announced OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 during the month of February, so it’s very possible that we could officially hear about version 10.9 sometime soon, although we’re keeping the salt by our side as always. While it seems that 10.9 is really close to an unveiling, we won’t officially believe in it until we see it, of course.

However, it’s obvious that Apple will release a major update to OS X at some point in the future, and they’ve been on a yearly release schedule for the past few releases, so it could be as far ahead as this summer before we see 10.9 show up for download. The biggest question remains, however: What cat will Apple give its next major OS X update this time around?

[via AppleInsider]

According to MacGeneration and this thread on the Apple Support Communities site, Apple has blocked this latest version of Java using its Xprotect software. Apple uses Xprotect to keep malware out, and this is the same software it used to block Java earlier in the month. Just as it did before, Apple has made Xprotect block a version of Java that doesn’t yet exist, meaning all earlier versions (including the current one) are blocked as well.

Apple isn’t the only one taking issue with Oracle’s claim that the security concerns have been addressed. The Department of Homeland Security is still recommending that consumers refrain from using Java after the update, saying that all of the security flaws have not yet been fixed. The flaw could potentially allow unsigned applets to run without permission, which in turn means that some of the more undesirable people of the world could potentially take control of your computer.

So, with the Department of Homeland Security still warning against using Java, it may not be such a bad thing that Apple has restricted access to the browser plug-in. This will naturally prove to be headache for a lot of different Mac users considering that Java is everywhere these days, but until Oracle provides another update, there doesn’t seem to be much that can be done. Stay tuned, because we’ll probably be hearing more about this soon.

[via MacRumors]

While the Mac Pro has been slowly dying off the past couple of years, due to lack of demand and what seems like no interest from Apple to give the series a big update, the discontinuation of the Mac Pro in Europe actually has nothing to do with this lack of demand from users. This only affects Europe and a few other surrounding nations, so Mac Pro sales will continue in all other countries as usual.

The new product certification standards in Europe appear to have something to do with a few internal components in the Mac Pro systems, such as power supply parts and various wiring. It’s currently unclear exactly which aspects of the Mac Pro line don’t meet regulatory standards, but any new Mac Pro systems will not be shipping over to Europe after March 1.

Resellers in Europe will be able to continue selling existing Mac Pro systems that have already shipped over, even if the March 1 date has passed, but starting at that point, no new shipments will be going to Europe. Apple has announced that a redesigned Mac Pro will come sometime this year after the company barely updated the line in June 2012 with outdated processors and no big improvements.

[via MacRumors]

This fully granted trademark listing includes items such as “oblong table and stools [that are] set below video screens flush mounted on the back wall.” That’s essentially describing the sections many Apple Stores had where people were invited to classes on what their Apple product was capable of and what they could do with it in the future. You won’t see that feature in too many Apple Stores these days as the back is mostly reserved for the Genius Bar or sales counters (where applicable.)

Another feature listed in the trademark is “a clear glass storefront surrounded by a panelled facade.” This joins several other patents and trademarks surrounding the stores interiors that’ve been granted in the past, one of which is a design patent for a floating glass staircase granted back in 2003. You can find the full trademark listing at the USPTO right this minute complete with registration granted date set for January 22nd, 2013.

The original drawing of the store (which you see above) includes a note about what the store is put in place to show: “retail store services featuring computers, computer software, computer peripherals.” This listing goes on to note “mobile phones, consumer electronics, and related accessories, and demonstration of products relating thereto.” This should ring a bell as the patent was first applied for in 2010 and lists mobile phones but not specifically tablet computers – they must simply be included in the overall computer listing in the first place.

Have a peek at the patent and let us know if you find anything else that rings your bells on what Apple now has the rights to. Were you planning on opening your own store soon with an Apple look? Let us know what you plan to do now!

[via Reuters]