In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the first Apple Store, all of the stores received an upgrade this week. The upgrade consisted of new table displays with iPads next to each product displaying prices and details. Customers can also use the iPads to call over a store employee.
When Lodsys threatened to sue iOS app developers, claiming that they owned the patent on in-app purchases, it sent a chill through the app development community. Apple came to their defense this week firing back at Lodsys saying that they had licensed the patent from them, and that Apple’s license covers developers. Developers reacted enthusiastically to Apple’s support.
“Don’t worry dear, you can come up with another superhero name.”
Dealing with malware on Macs has been a non-issue until recent weeks. The “Mac Defender” trojan seems to have affected many Mac users, particularly the ones active on the web. Thankfully this is a weak trojan horse that is difficult to get, easy to remove and doesn’t cause any real damage. Most importantly, it does not try to spread itself like a virus.
MacMost has launched a new section, the Mac Virus and Malware Information Center. Here we have posted information and a video about the Mac Defender trojan. You can find out how to avoid it and how to remove it. In the future, we can update that section and post information there about other malware that may spring up.
“Using AirPlay on my iPad I can show you my vacation photos on the big screen! Isn’t technology great?”
“Uh, sure.”
“We have to go…”
Learn about the Mac Defender/Mac Protector trojan horse malware attack. See how it works. Find out how to protect yourself from it. Watch step-by-step how to remove it. This piece of malware tricks you into download and installing it with frightening, but completely fake, virus warnings. What it really wants is your credit card number. Fortunately it is easy to avoid and easy to remove.
Apple issued updates for iPhoto and Apple TV 2 this week. Both updates fixed some bugs. In iPhoto, merged events will no longer split up again when synced to an iPhone. On the Apple TV, 2 a variety of video and audio issues were addressed.
Apple and two app makers have been hit with a lawsuit over privacy. The suit claims that the unique phone ID is being used to track individuals and serve advertisements. It appears that those two app makers were specifically targeted only because they were mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article about user tracking.
Apple has reportedly decided this week to not use its advertising network, iAd, on apps meant for kids. A message to one developer said this was at the request of advertisers. This may leave some app creators without a source of revenue for apps they have spent time and money developing.
Microsoft has made a deal to buy Internet telephone company Skype from eBay. This alarmed many Mac and iOS users, fearing that they may lose support. But Microsoft issued a statement saying they plan to continue to support non-Microsoft platforms.
“My new toaster has an App Store. For 99 cents I can get an app that burns a picture of Elvis into the toast. For $2.99 it will tweet when the toast is done.”
Apple updated the entire iMac line with new processors, ports, camera and graphics. The new iMacs went on sale on Tuesday with essentially the same exterior design, but new internal parts. There are 21.5-inch and 27-inch screen models.
All of the iMacs now feature quad-core Intel Core i5 processors as standard, with options to get an i7 as well. In addition, they all have the new high-speed Thunderbolt ports that support an external screen as well as hard drives and video equipment. The graphics chips range from the AMD 6750M to the AMD 6970M. The built-in camera is now 720p HD.
“The new MacBook Air weighs -3 ounces. Would you like me to get one down from the ceiling for you?”
