Earlier today, Apple released a WiFi update for late 2012 Mac systems. The new software improves compatibility for devices on the 5GHz band and requires that your machine be running OS X 10.8.2. Qualified users looking to expand their system's connectivity can snag the 1.49MB update through the Apple Menu's Software Update tab, or by visiting the source link below.
[Source: Engadget]
Earlier this week, we noted that this weekend's group of Apple retail store grand openings would be headlined by the company's Causeway Bay flagship location in Hong Kong. The store features three levels, with a 30-foot tall glass curtain wall making a significant impact on the shopping center.
With the store set to open to the public tomorrow, Apple has been putting the finishing touches on it and has unveiled the store for passersby to see. ifoAppleStore's Gary Allen pointed to an image posted to Flickr showing showing the full scale of the store's glass facade.
[Source: MacRumors]
Apple's old Third Street Promenade location was one of the early Apple Stores and was an extremely popular location that was almost always crowded to capacity. The new store should allow considerably more foot traffic.
Apple proposed the new store to the Santa Monica planning commission more than a year ago, with the new building gaining approval without so much as a discussion.
[Source: MacRumors]
As those affected by recent iMessage outages no doubt noticed, Apple's status page for its various services hasn't exactly been the most detailed around. That's changed a bit today, however, with the company rolling out a new page that promise to offer a better look at what's working and what's not across iCloud, iTunes and Apple's other services. As you can see above, that includes a grid that provides a quick look at any outages currently occurring, below which is a more detailed timeline that lets you look back at any past outages and how long they lasted.
[Source: Engadget]
When the Xserve joined the great server farm in the sky, Mac-minded datacenters everywhere were left without a true rackmountable computer; even the current Mac mini wasn't designed for those kinds of tight spaces. Enter the purposefully anonymous Steve, who just filled the gap with one of the cleverer solutions we've seen yet. He and vendors have developed custom 1U shelving, cooling from car radiators and four-in-one power cables that, combined, fit 160 Mac minis (and a managing Xserve) into one enclosure without cooking the machines to death. With each Mac mini carrying a quad Core i7 and an SSD, Steve now has twice as many cores (640) as an equivalent Xserve cluster despite lower power consumption and a 45-second, network-controlled reboot -- all big helps to his unnamed employer's software development, even with the lack of built-in redundancy for Apple's tiny desktop. As many gritty details as Steve can share are available at the source.
[Source: Engadget]
Apple has had to take security more seriously when a larger user base and the cloud have opened up greater risks. Thanks to a just-discovered hire, we now know 1 Infinite Loop isn't messing around. While many of us were fixated on new iPhones in September, the company was quietly recruiting Kristin Paget as a Core OS Security Researcher. She's had stints at eBay and Google, but she's best-known for helping Microsoft while she was a security researcher at IOActive: not only did her team burst the bubble of Windows Vista engineers who thought their code was airtight, the group ultimately delayed the entire OS release to get security up to snuff. Given that Vista avoided most of the malware chaos that affected Windows XP even after Service Pack 2, Paget bodes well for the future protection of Apple's platforms. Just don't expect her to talk shop when she's a security expert at a firm that tends to really, really value its secrecy.
[Source: Engadget]
Just days after finally pushing out its redesigned iTunes 11 software, Apple has thrown open the doors to its iTunes music store in 56 new countries today. The list of countries includes Russia, Turkey, India and South Africa where customers can download DRM-free tracks from both major labels and local acts. Additionally, movies from a number of distributors large and small are now available in Russia, Turkey, India and Indonesia, with "select additional countries" gaining access soon. That brings the iTunes store count to a total of 119 countries where it's pushing media, while the App Store offers 700,000 apps in 155 countries around the world. There's a few more details (although oddly not an official list of all the countries, but MacRumors appears to have worked them out if you're interested) in the press release after the break, international listeners can just open up iTunes and see if that buy button is clickable.
[Source: Engadget]
Apple Senior Vice President of Technologies Bob Mansfield sold 35,000 shares of Apple stock at a price of $582, netting him a cool $20 million. This financial transaction was detailed in a SEC filing spotted by MacRumors.
Earlier this year, Mansfield sold another chunk of Apple stock for $12.5 million. Shortly after Mansfield sold his stock in February, the executive announced that he was retiring from his role as head of hardware and would serve the company in an advisory role. After a brief hiatus, Mansfield recently returned to lead a new Technologies group that was formed after the ouster of iOS chief Scott Forstall.
This latest transaction does not mean Mansfield is ready to exit the company again. Executives regularly cash in stock they receive as compensation for their work at Apple. Mansfield also has incentive to stay at Apple as he is slated to receive another 150,000 shares that will be disbursed in two equal allotments with the first arriving in June 2013 and the second in March 2016. He also has 100,000 shares of restricted stock that'll vest in 2014.
[Source: TUAW]
When it comes to wireless charging, today's options aren't exactly as cord-free as the label would suggest. Things like charging mats or other wireless docking options are fine and all, but adding more accessories and bulky cases to the mix is often more trouble than it's worth. As Wired reports, a patent filed this week by Apple side steps these pesky add-ons and could offer true wireless charging for the first time on Apple hardware.
The patent -- titled Wireless Power Utilization In A Local Computing Environment -- uses near-field magnetic resonance to push power to compatible devices from a central unit, creating what is effectively an invisible bubble where your gadgets can recharge without the need for cords or plugs of any kind. So imagine your wireless keyboard and mouse simply never running out of juice, or even being able to set your phone or tablet down on your desk and have them recharge on their own.
[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]
It's December 1, 2012. The newest iteration of the 21.5-inch iMac has been out for a full day, and the staff at iFixit has already carefully disassembled one of the new all-in-one Macs to determine how repairable it is -- or isn't -- and what makes the latest iMac tick.
The first thing the iFixit team was unhappy with was the use of adhesives to attach the display assembly to the body of the computer. Rather than strong magnets, used in the previous series of iMacs, the display is basically glued on and requires a heat gun and guitar picks to remove.
The display itself sports the same model number (LG LM215WF3) as the previous 21.5-inch iMac, but strangely enough it's 5mm thinner than the older display. iFixit surmises that "Apple took all the same pieces of the LCD and crammed them into a smaller housing."
[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]
Lost in yesterday's writeup of the iFixit 21.5-inch iMac was this small line in the description: "Interestingly, this iMac claims to have been assembled in the USA."
Sure enough, a look at the iFixit image of the back of the iMac shows the fascinating line "Designed in California. Assembled in USA". Why is that fascinating? Apple has closed all of its US production facilities, which were in places like Elk Grove and Fremont, California and Fountain, Colorado.
9to5Mac reports that some earlier generation iMacs have come in boxes printed with "Assembled in USA" on the side. In order for a product to be marked as "Made in the USA," the US Federal Trade Commission states that "A product that includes foreign components may be called 'Assembled in USA' without qualification when its principal assembly takes place in the U.S. and the assembly is substantial. For the 'assembly' claim to be valid, the product's last 'substantial transformation' also should have occurred in the U.S. That's why a 'screwdriver' assembly in the U.S. of foreign components into a final product at the end of the manufacturing process doesn't usually qualify for the 'Assembled in USA' claim."
9to5Mac's Seth Weintraub speculates that perhaps Apple is making an early manufacturing run of the new iMacs in the USA to "get the manufacturing kinks" worked out before handing the proverbial factory keys over to Foxconn.
[Source: TUAW - Click here to read the full story]
We're currently putting Apple's latest "skinny" iMac through its paces here in New York, but an eager Japanese customer has already popped open the 21.5-inch desktop's case, revealing a serviceable hard drive, removable logic board and even a bit of room to spare in the tapered silver housing. There's not much in the way of details over at Kodawarisan, a scant Japanese-language site, but there are plenty of interior pics to gawk at, tiding us over until the experts at iFixit manage to dissect an iMac of their own. Head on over to the source link below for a dozen or so undressed snaps of Cupertino's latest creation.
[Source: Engadget]