News

The MiFi released by Virgin Mobile this week ($150) is almost exactly the same thing as the one offered by Verizon and, until recently, Sprint — but there’s a twist that makes it revolutionary all over again.

The Virgin MiFi, like its rivals, is still an amazing gizmo to have on long car rides for the family, on woodsy corporate offsite meetings, at disaster sites, at trade show booths or anywhere you can’t get Wi-Fi. If you live alone, the MiFi could even be your regular home Internet service, too — one that you can take with you when you head out the door. And it’s still insanely useful when you’re stuck on a plane on a runway.

But three things about the Virgin MiFi are very, very different.

Watch the streaming video from today's special event.

As expected, Apple refreshed its iPod lineup Wednesday, unveiling redesigned versions of its iPod touch, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle music players. But the company didn’t stop there, using its annual fall music event to also announce an update to its iTunes software and an overhaul of its Apple TV set-top box.

The fall music event is an Apple tradition dating back at least six years, in which the company typically rolls out new iPods in advance of the holiday shopping season. This year’s edition took place in San Francisco Wednesday, with Apple CEO Steve Jobs leading a 90-minute run-through of his company’s music plans for the coming months.

Those plans include a revamped iPod touch that adopts many of the features of its iPhone 4 counterpart—including front-and-back-facing cameras and support for Apple’s FaceTime video chat technology. The fourth-generation touch also sports the Retina display technology introduced to the iPhone line this summer.

Apple® will broadcast its September 1 event online using Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards. Viewing requires either a Mac® running Safari® on Mac OS® X version 10.6 Snow Leopard®, an iPhone® or iPod touch® running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad™. The live broadcast will begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT on September 1, 2010 at www.apple.com.

Adobe has released Photoshop Lightroom 3.2, Camera Raw 6.2 and DNG Converter 6.2.

These are final versions of updates that were originally posted as 'release candidates' on the Adobe Labs site, and are now available for immediate download. The latest versions provide final RAW support for sixteen recent cameras, including the Canon EOS 60D and Sony Alpha NEX-5. The updates also add more than 120 lens profiles and fix a number of bugs.

Autodesk has announced plans to release its legendary professional design and engineering software AutoCAD for the Macintosh. The software will be available this fall. The company has also announced a mobile application that will enable AutoCAD users to adjust their designs using iOS devices in the field.

AutoCAD combines design and drafting tools in a graphical user interface designed to be intuitive for Mac users. It supports Mac OS X technologies like Cover Flow and support for multi-touch gestures on Apple laptop trackpads, the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad. AutoCAD for Mac lets users work in the DWG file format; it’s downwardly compatible with DWG files created in older, PC-only versions of the software. An Application Programming Interface (API) provides customization features for tailor-built workflows.

Autodesk has also announced plans to offer AutoCAD for Mac for free to students through the Autodesk Education Community.

Folks who purchased a fancy new Core i5 or i7 MacBook Pro any time since the models were introduced in April can fire up Software Update and snag the EFI Firmware update Apple released on Thursday.

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.9, recommended for all users of the specified models, contains a few fixes for the portable computers, most prominently the squashing of a rare issue that could cause the latest Core i5 and i7 MacBook Pros to freeze during startup or intermittently stall while running.

Apple severed ties with a small Silicon Valley design firm that for nearly a decade had helped with the development of some of its products, after the firm showcased its own prototype tablet computer.

Eric Bauswell, a founder and chief executive of the engineering design company SurfaceInk, confirmed on Thursday that his company and Apple had “gone separate directions.”

Mr. Bauswell declined to give details of its relationship with Apple, citing client confidentiality agreements. But he said that his company was let go because of “Apple’s growing awareness of our turnkey capabilities,” referring to SurfaceInk’s business of designing products for its clients. “I think they view our capabilities as an opportunity for competitors, “ he said.

Apple declined to comment.

When Apple revealed the iPhone 4 back in June, they were keen to point out the smartphone’s new video recording capabilities. However, despite the device’s newfound video competency, it still fell short when it came to sharing your high-definition content, especially when uploading to YouTube. When you decide to share your video online, the moment you tap that Send to YouTube button, the iPhone 4 will take your clip and compress it. The seemingly unavoidable compression process takes your 720p HD clip and squeezes it down to a lower quality 360p video.

Drakfyre’s Software recently released a free application called 720tube, which solves the compression problem. The fairly basic — yet functional — utility application works as expected, taking your HD video clips and uploading them to YouTube in the format you originally intended.

Netflix has hit the iPhone. iPhone and iPod Touch users can now stream their favorite Netflix videos.

The popular video subscription service just updated its Apple app to support the iPhone and iPod Touch, which now join the iPad in offering streaming videos. Netflix members can download the free 1.1.0 version to watch their favorite TV shows and movies.

The Netflix app lets you access your Instant Queue to view videos you've already saved. You can browse by genre or search for specific titles from the service's growing library of streaming content. You can also stop a video and then resume where you left off, whether you're watching on your iPhone, your computer, or your game console.

To tap into this app, you must be a paying Netflix subscriber (plans start at $8.99 a month) or set up a free 30-day trial.

Gmail isn't just about e-mail anymore: it's also a phone.

Google launched the ability to make voice calls to any traditional phone number from a Gmail account Wednesday, which CNET had reported Tuesday was in testing. It's a blend of Gmail and Google Voice technology that allows users to dial numbers from their computers as well as receive incoming calls through one's Google Voice number.

Gmail users can link their Google Voice accounts with their Gmail accounts to have their in-boxes treated like just another line that will ring when people call their Google Voice numbers, and their Google Voice number will appear on the incoming call screen of those they are calling. A Google Voice account isn't required to use the service, but international calls will be funded through Google Voice accounts.

Calls to phone numbers in the U.S. and Canada will be free, and will cost 2 cents a minute to several other countries such as France and the U.K.

Adobe on Wednesday announced a major redesign of its free online editing tools at Photoshop.com, giving consumers one less reason to BitTorrent the real McCoy. The suite of rich Web apps has been redesigned, renamed, and reorganized to make sharing and editing photos online easier. But the real improvement to these tools is easy access: The Photoshop Express Editor is now open to all visitors—no sign-up or sign-in required.

Photoshop.com now features four Web apps under the “Photoshop Express” name: Photoshop Express Editor, Organizer, Slideshows, and Uploader. The Editor app is for touching up photos; the Organizer app allows you to sort photos into albums and share them with friends; the Slideshows tool makes it easy to create interactive slideshows from your images; and the Photoshop Express Uploader puts your photos on the Photoshop.com site in order to set up your creative photographic canvas.

All Photoshop Express apps are free to use, and interestingly, Adobe no longer requires you to register for an account before you can begin using Photoshop Express Editor.

Apple on Wednesday announced that it would be holding a special invitation-only event on Wednesday September 1, at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

As usual, the invitation itself is a terse affair, listing only the time and place and showing a picture of a guitar with an Apple-logo-shaped sound hole. In past years, Apple has used September events to showcase music- and media-related products, such as new iPods.

It’s time for users of Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard to get their Software Update engines ready. Apple on Tuesday released Security Update 2010-005, which is recommended for all users.

Detailed in Apple’s support document, this update contains a variety of fixes for both the client and server versions of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard. Among the vulnerabilities squashed in the patch include one where maliciously crafted fonts that could be embedded in documents, a potential man-in-the-middle data interception attack, possible code execution due to maliciously crafted PDF documents, vulnerabilities in the ClamAV antivirus program, a weakness in the Samba system that could allow denial of service attacks, and a number of security holes in Mac OS X’s pre-installed version of PHP.

The updates are available now in Software Update for all affected versions of Leopard and Snow Leopard or from Apple’s support downloads site.

These days, the way you interact on Facebook just might make or break that job opportunity that you have been hoping for. When your potential employer sees those pics of you, that you don’t quite remember, from that thing back in January that you didn’t even want to go to, they start to waver and then don’t call back. I, for one, don’t want this to happen to any of you -- and neither does BIT System Inc., who developed the free S.N.A.P. iPhone app. Social Network Analyzer for Privacy, or S.N.A.P., is designed to point out the holes in your privacy on Facebook.

This app lacks beauty, but truly makes up for it in function.

In just over three years, iTunes U downloads have topped 300 million and it has become one of the world’s most popular online educational catalogs. Over 800 universities throughout the world have active iTunes U sites, and nearly half of these institutions distribute their content publicly on the iTunes Store. New content has just been added from universities in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico and Singapore, and iTunes users now have access to over 350,000 audio and video files from educational institutions around the globe.

“iTunes U makes it easy for people to discover and learn with content from many of the world’s top institutions,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “With such a wide selection of educational material, we’re providing iTunes users with an incredible way to learn on their computer, iPhone, iPod or iPad.”

Created in collaboration with colleges and universities, iTunes U makes it easy to extend learning, explore interests or learn more about a school. A dedicated area within the iTunes Store, iTunes U offers users public access to content from world class institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, Oxford, University of Melbourne and Université de Montréal.

Apple's put a touch interface on so many of its other products, could an iMac be next?

If a patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is any indication, the answer is possibly yes. Patently Apple, a blog that keeps tabs on Apple's USPTO filings, noticed an application on Monday that depicts a hinged-screen version of Apple's iMac desktop that has a touch-sensitive screen. The hinge appears to allow the computer to alternate between a traditional vertical desktop configuration and a flat, iPad-like surface when rocked back on its hinge.

Because this would be a desktop computer and a touch-screen device at the same time, it appears the user can choose whether to use the touch-focused iOS operation system from the iPhone and iPad, or the traditional Mac OSX desktop operating system. Moving between the OSes, according to the application, would be activated by touching specific areas of the iMac's screen.

The patent also describes how an accelerometer would be used for alternating between touch input and mouse/keyboard input when the device is in horizontal surface mode versus vertical desktop mode. While it's true patent applications aren't always good indicators of actual products being developed, this one doesn't seem that much of a stretch.

The third iteration of Amazon’s Kindle e-reader ships Friday boasting a lower price, improved E-ink display, longer battery life, slimmer profile, and faster page turns. The new Kindle, dubbed the Kindle 3, ships in two versions: 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity for $189 or Wi-Fi only for $139. You can also buy the Kindle 3 with Amazon’s new graphite color (first introduced with the new Kindle DX in July) or the Kindle’s standard white.

Many critics are wondering whether the Kindle 3 might be the device that finally convinces people to toss out their trade paperbacks forever in favor of the Kindle. Assuming they haven’t already, that is. Amazon is fond of saying the Kindle is the online retailer’s best-selling item. The problem, however, is that Amazon never provides solid sales figures to reveal exactly how many Kindles are being sold.

Nevertheless, the Kindle 3 looks like it is going to be at least as popular as its predecessors since the newest Kindle is currently back-ordered until September 17.

Apple is apparently ramping up its battle to prevent iPhone and iPod owners from jailbreaking their devices.

The company has applied for a patent, titled "Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device," that covers a series of security measures to automatically protect devices from thieves and other "unauthorized users." Unauthorized users apparently applies to those who engage in jailbreaking, which allows devices to run apps not approved by the company producing the operating system--such as Apple, the main target of such bypasses.

The application, which was filed in February 2009 and published Thursday, describes measures to identify "particular activities that may indicate suspicious behavior," so that "safety measures" can be taken to restrict the device's functions. Those activities include the "hacking, jailbreaking, unlocking, or removal of a SIM card," according to the application. Apple also intends to send warnings to owners via e-mail or text message when such activity is detected.

The application also describes a variety of measures that could be used to help identify the unauthorized user, including the activation of a camera that could capture and geotag the device's surroundings, and perhaps current user, and transmit that information to a remote device.

Nikon announced the D3100, the newest addition to its lineup of DSLR cameras. The D3100 has a 14.2-megapixel CMOS sensor, three-inch LCD display, and one button 1080p HD video recording. It will be packaged with an image-stabilized AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens, and sold for an estimated $700.

The D3100 debuts some impressive new Nikon features, most notably continuous auto focus in video recording and live view modes. When you activate Live View using the dedicated switch, the D3100's 11-point autofocus system will lock-in on your subject and refocus as necessary when the subject moves around. Face Detection technology also gets a boost in the D3100, with the ability to focus on up to 35 different faces at a time, perfect for those unwieldy group and family shots.

Inside the D3100 is Nikon's new Expeed 2 image processor, which Nikon claims works to improve the camera's performance speeds and overall image quality. The camera's low light abilities are impressive, with an ISO range of 100 to 3200 that can expand up to 12,800 with the Hi-2 setting. The camera also includes new Scene Recognition and Auto Scene Selector features, 3 fps continuous shooting, an optional quiet shutter release, and in-camera editing effects.

By pressing the new dedicated movie button a user can immediately start recording a 1080p AVCHD video at 24 fps, or a 720p video at 24 or 30 fps. The beginning and end of a recorded video can now be trimmed in-camera, and an HDMI port allows for instant viewing on an HDTV. All of those video files can now be record to SDXC memory cards.

The D3100 will available in mid-September, and the four Nikkor lenses will be available in late September.

Mobile Safari is a pretty good Web browser on the iPad, but Lunascape, makers of a “triple engine browser” for Web developers, thinks it can do better. iLunascape is the company’s new Web browser that brings a new interface, “real” tabbed browsing, and a handful of power user feature to Apple’s tablet.

iLunascape was designed to make Web browsing more convenient on the iPad, so its toolbars and almost all buttons are at the bottom of the display; well within thumbing territory, the company claims. The browser also uses a more traditional tab interface in contrast to Mobile Safari’s “pages,” displaying actual tabs at the bottom of the window.

Besides a unique interface, iLunascape offers a number of features that Apple’s out-of-the-box browser does not. You can snap Web pages as screenshots (saved in the Photos app); set a Home Page that opens in new tabs by default; open search results in a new tab; and set a built-in rotation lock if you want to leave the iPad’s system-wide lock disabled. You can also manually clear iLunascape’s history, cookies, and cache.

iLunascape is available now in the App Store for free and requires an iPad running iOS 3.2 or later.

Canon has released two new Pixma multifunction printers, the Pixma MG8120 and the Pixma MG6120. Both printers showcase two enhancements to Canon’s Pixma’s line.

The first enhancement is called the Intelligent Touch System, which is implemented through the MG8120 and MG6120 control panels. The control panel uses touch-sensitive buttons, and only the buttons you need to use light up. Canon says this should make the devices quicker and easier to use, and minimize mistakes.

The second enhancement is called Full HD Movie Print. This feature works only with selected Canon EOS digital SLR cameras, or PowerShot point-and-shoot cameras that support HD video recording. Full HD Movie Print allows you to select a frame from a recorded HD video and print it. You can also apply noise reduction to the selected frame so the print doesn’t appear grainy, and resolution enhancement makes lines look smooth, not jaggy.

The Pixma MG8120 is $300, while the Pixma MG6120 is $200. Both devices include a one-year limited warranty.

A midlevel Apple manager was arrested Friday and accused of accepting more than $1 million in kickbacks from half a dozen Asian suppliers of iPhone and iPod accessories in a federal indictment unsealed and a separate civil suit. Paul Shin Devine, a global supply manager, and Andrew Ang, of Singapore, were named in a 23-count federal grand jury indictment for wire fraud, money laundering and kickbacks.

"Apple is committed to the highest ethical standards in the way we do business," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said in a statement. "We have zero tolerance for dishonest behavior inside or outside the company."

The alleged scheme used an elaborate chain of U.S. and foreign bank accounts and one front company to receive payments, the indictment said, and code words like "sample" were used to refer to the payments so that Apple co-workers wouldn't become suspicious.

Devine, 37, of Sunnyvale, is being held by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to the Internal Revenue Service. He could not be reached for comment.

The Snow Leopard Graphics Update contains stability and performance fixes for graphics applications and games, including fixes that:

- address frame rate issues occurring in Portal and Team Fortress 2 on certain Macs

- resolve an issue that could cause Aperture 3 or StarCraft II to unexpectedly quit or become unresponsive

SmileOnMyMac is getting a new name, though it’s keeping its smile. The developer of Mac productivity tools announced that it’s changing its name to Smile.

The reason for the name change? After developing largely for Mac OS X since 2003, the company now makes software for the iPhone and iPad as well. The mobile version of TextExpander, for example, lets iPhone and iPad users convert short abbreviations into longer text snippets in a multitude of apps. More than 40 apps use the TextExpander SDK to take advantage of that app’s text expansion features.

“Now that we have TextExpander touch for iPhone and iPad, we’ve outgrown the SmileOnMyMac name,” company founder Greg Scown said in an e-mail announcing the new moniker.

As a long-time Mac troubleshooting researcher and consultant, one of my favorite and perhaps the most valuable Mac knowledge sites online is Apple's own Support Discussions forums. According to an official post on the site, the forums will be receiving a makeover, becoming more socially inclined by adding feature sets like avatars, homepages, and widgets.

The new-look forum will now be called Apple Support Communities, toting the tag line, "Experience the Power of Apple Support Communities." That power is the unique mix of new and old Mac users from around the world who have frequented the old Discussions forums for years, giving suggestions for just about any Mac, iPhone, iPod, iPad, or Apple accessory that may come up.

The iPad has its share of feature-rich word processors like Pages and Documents to Go. But sometimes you just need a text editor, and you need to get your texts onto your Mac with the least amount of friction. Second Gear hears your call, which is why it released Elements, a Dropbox-powered text editor, for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Elements is quite simple, really. It lets you create and edit text files that are automatically saved to your Dropbox account. While working on a file, Elements automatically saves your work every 60 seconds. If you don’t have a Wi-Fi or 3G connection, Elements lets you work offline and will upload all your changes once you get connected.

Playboy, the adult magazine run by Hugh Heffner, has agreed to remove all risqué content from its iPad app in order to avoid breaching Apple’s strict anti-obscenity rules.

Anyone forking out £3.20 for the digital version of the magazine will have to do without the explicit photo spreads that titillated generations of teenage boys.
The Playmate of the Month, one of the magazine’s most popular photo features, will only appear on the iPad as a tasteful headshot.

Playboy agreed to censor its content in order to secure a place in the App Store, from which any software which Apple considers “obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory” is banned.

While Playboy has long trumpeted the strength of its journalism – “I only read it for the articles” is the standard response of men caught with a copy of the magazine by their partners – many iPad users have expressed frustration at the self-censorship.

Apple Inc. is facing some early challenges in its closely watched mobile advertising foray, with some ad campaigns experiencing delays as agencies attempt to learn the new system amid Apple's tight control over the creative process, according to ad executives.

Since launching its iAd mobile advertising service on July 1, Apple has been slow to roll it out. Of the 17 launch partners Apple named for iAd, only Unilever PLC and Nissan Co. had iAd campaigns for much of July. Of the remaining 17, Citigroup Inc., Walt Disney Co. and J.C. Penney Co.—which tied its campaign to the back-to-school-season—have since launched iAd campaigns and other companies are planning iAd efforts.

Part of the reason some marketers are experiencing delays in getting their iAds to market is that Apple has kept tight control on the creative aspects of ad-making, something advertisers aren't used to, according to several ad executives involved with creating iAds. That has made the creation of the mobile ads laborious, taking about eight to 10 weeks from brainstorm to completion—longer than normal for most mobile ads, executives said. The building of the actual ad, handled by Apple, in some cases is taking two weeks longer than expected, one person added.

At least one company appears to have dropped their iAd efforts for now. Luxury marketer Chanel SA, one of Apple's iAd launch partners, said it doesn't have a campaign planned at this time. But a Nissan spokeswoman said its iAd "has driven exceptional results to date." The company said the rate of users tapping on the banner is five times the click-through-rate of the Nissan Leaf online campaign.