It’s been a long time coming, frankly, but Amazon have finally released their Kindle for Mac application, which allows OS X users to read the same Amazon ebooks as they would on a standalone Kindle. The free software has the same functionality as its previously-released PC counterpart: not only can you buy ebooks from Amazon’s bookstore, but thanks to Whispernet both bookmarks and the furthest point to which you’ve read will be synchronized across Kindle and Kindle for Mac.
Apple have announced a new scheme for their developers, the Mac Developer Program, based on the same system as the iPhone Developer Program and eventually replacing the current ADC scheme. Priced at $99 per year, the Mac Developer Program gives access to early builds of OS X, developer boards and technical support, and various tools to produce software for the platform.
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Looks like we should all brace for an Apple update; according to World of Mac's sources, the Cupertino company is readying to release Mac OS X 10.6.3. The latest developer build of the update - 10D558 - went out recently, with the accompanying notes left unchanged; the sources "continue to insist" that it's almost ready for a general release.
Nokia’s N900 is developing quite a name for itself as a great platform for hacking, and after seeing the Maemo smartphone dual-boot Android a week ago, now it’s the turn of some classic Mac OS X action. Toni Nikkanen managed to get Mac OS X 10.3 – the Power PC version – running on his N900, though to be fair it’s not a native install; instead, the Apple OS runs in the PearPC emulator.
Video demo after the cut
Apple have secured a permanent injunction against clone-Mac manufacturer Psystar, which means the copycat vendor must stop selling hardware running OS X by December 31st 2009. The ruling also prevents Psystar from “intentionally inducing, aiding, assisting, abetting or encouraging any other person or entity to infringe” on Apple’s copyrights, or indeed “playing any part in a product intended to circumvent Apple’s methods for controlling Mac OS X”. However the ruling fell short of specifically naming Psystar’s Rebel EFI software, which allows some non-Apple PCs to run OS X, as U.S. District Judge William Alsup felt the company did not sufficiently explain the app’s intention.
In an unforeseen twist to the Apple/Psystar “clone Mac” legal wrangles, the upstart clone maker has apparently inked a settlement deal that will only be called upon should all of their appeals fall flat. The deal calls for Psystar to pay an as-yet unspecified amount in damages to Apple as well as cease pre-installing OS X onto their computers; however it may not prevent sales of OS-free machines, onto which customers would then be free to load OS X onto themselves using Psystar’s Rebel EFI software tool.
There’s a lot to like about Sony’s VAIO X ultraportable – its indecently-skinny build, the engineering intelligence that went into its design, and its lengthy battery life just to name a few things – but if you’re less than inspired by Windows 7 then how about a Mac OS X version? That’s not one of Sony’s official options, but insanelymac forum member Asama took it upon himself to throw OS X Snow Leopard onto the VAIO X himself.
To do so he used the hacked together build of Snow Leopard that’s been put together for the Sony VAIO P, reasoning that many of the components used in that don’t-call-it-a-netbook machine were the same as used in the VAIO X. Happily it installed quite merrily, though as expected the WiFi doesn’t work. Where fixing that in the VAIO P is a case of taking out the wireless card and swapping in a different one, it’s a more arduous task on the VAIO X since so much has been soldered into place in the name of space-saving.
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With Snow Leopard happily padding around hundreds of thousands of Macs around the world, it comes as little surprise to hear that Apple are already a few weeks into development of OS X 10.7. Sign of the upcoming OS refresh has been spotted in the change log of the open source "launchd" framework: a new entry for Mac OS build number "11A47" has turned up, and going by Apple's general nomenclature for build codes, that points squarely at OS X 10.7.
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Having heard earlier this week that Apple had blocked Atom processor support in their latest build of OS X 10.6.2, we're now being told that the low-power Intel CPU has once again been welcomed back into the Mac fold. A newer 10.6.2 build, 10C535, has restored Atom support, meaning owners of netbook-turned-Hackint0sh machines may not be left without the latest software in their DIY Apple ultraportables.
Apple may be reluctant to launch a netbook – and given their financial success selling mid- to high-end notebooks we can’t really blame them – has spawned a busy community of Hackint0sh creators, many of whom turn to humble Atom-based netbooks such as the MSI Wind for use as donor machines for OS X. All that might change, however, with the news that Apple have tweaked Mac OS X 10.6.2, their upcoming operating-system update, to prevent installation on Atom-based computers.
SlashGear JP
