May 3rd, 2013

Belkin’s Thunderbolt Express Dock Is The Best Damn Thing In The World

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Thunderbolt, you were a tech with near unlimited promise when first introduced, but what have you done with all that power? Since my first Thunderbolt-equipped Mac, I’ve essentially been using the ports as straight up Mini DisplayPort replacements, and using them exclusively for powering external screens. But now the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock has arrived, and Thunderbolt finally makes sense. → Read More

April 25th, 2013

Twitter Actually Updates Twitter For Mac, Adds Retina Support And 14 New Languages

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Twitter for Mac has long languished, not seeing an update since 2011, but Twitter just pushed out a new one that brings Retina display support to the official client, as well as a revised interface for sharing photos, and 14 additional languages. The update is available now through the Mac App Store, and Twitter promises further improvements to come in the future. → Read More

April 10th, 2013

SimCity Arrives On Mac June 11, 1.3M PC Copies Sold So Far Despite Connection Requirements

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SimCity is making its way to Mac, as promised, but now EA has put a specific date on when that will happen. The city-building simulator will arrive on OS X June 11, EA revealed in a press release today, at which time those who have purchased the game for PC on either Origin or as a physical boxed copy will be able to download Mac-compatible version, too. → Read More

January 27th, 2013

Help Key: Put Display Settings Back In The OS X Mountain Lion Menu Bar Where They Belong

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I like my Retina MacBook Pro, in part because I have the option to switch to extremely high-resolution display modes when I’m way from my home Thunderbolt monitor and want as much screen real estate as I can get. But Apple did a curious thing in OS X Mountain Lion: They removed the option to put a display preferences item in the OS X menu bar. Luckily, third-party developers have stepped up and… → Read More

January 23rd, 2013

Apple’s Tim Cook Sees “Huge Opportunity” For iPad In Mac Cannibalization

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Apple CEO Tim Cook responded to questions about the issue of potential cannibalization of Mac sales by iPad devices on today’s earnings call, a question made more timely by the fact that Mac sales were down considerably on the quarter. He reiterated that supply constraints are leading to fewer sales, but also tackled cannibalization as a broad topic, noting that there is opportunity there for the… → Read More

January 23rd, 2013

Apple’s Mac Problem

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News came today that Apple’s Mac sales are down 21% year-over-year and 16% for the quarter. While 4.1 million Macs sold in Q1 2013 is nothing to sneeze at, it’s still nearly a quarter year-over-year loss, which makes investors nervous. → Read More

December 28th, 2012

Early Apple Computer And Tablet Designs Reveal The iMac And iPad That Might Have Been

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Apple worked closely with Frogdesign during the eighties, creating Apple’s early design language and charting the visual path of Apple computers from the Apple IIc to the Macintosh. Frogdesign founder Hartmut Esslinger’s fingerprints are all over those early, iconic designs, and in a new book, he reveals some concepts for Apple computers and tablets that never made it to market. → Read More

December 27th, 2012

BlueStacks’ App Player For Mac Launches Beta: Now You Can Run Over 750,000 Android Apps On Mac

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BlueStacks, the startup known for bringing Android applications to desktop PCs, is today releasing its App Player for Mac into beta, following its previous Mac alpha release in June. At the time of the original Mac launch, the selection of apps was limited – there were only a handful of apps available like Fruit Ninja and Pulse, for example. But with today’s beta release, the company is now… → Read More

November 20th, 2012

Meet Phorce, A Smart Bag That Charges Your Gadgets And Provides Power Management Via Bluetooth

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I like gadgets, and almost out of necessity I also like bags. The Phorce, a new project hitting Kickstarter today, knows that there are many out there like me, and wants to provide a bag-based charging solution to help you keep your gadgets protected and topped off, with the added benefit of additional power management options communicated via Bluetooth to an iPhone app. → Read More

November 19th, 2012

Apple’s OS X 10.9 Reportedly Bringing Siri, Maps Integration To The Mac

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A new report from 9t05Mac this morning claims that Apple will be delivering a couple of very interesting features to the desktop, in a move that continues its trend of making its traditional computers more closely resemble its iOS-based devices withe every release of OS X. “Reliable sources” told the blog that early builds of OS X 10.9 include Siri voice commands, and hints that Maps could arrive… → Read More

November 7th, 2012

Clear For Mac Launches, Translates A Made-For-Mobile Experience To The Desktop

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Clear for Mac had a unique challenge in making its way from the iPhone to the desktop, since Clear was obviously built with iOS in mind. In fact, its primary appeal was the fact that it largely did away with control elements inherited from the desktop, dropping buttons in favor of gestures made commonplace thanks to the success of iOS. So bringing it to OS X, and keeping Clear recognizable while… → Read More

October 31st, 2012

After iOS Success, Simple Task Manager Clear Headed To Mac With iCloud Syncing Next Week

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Clear, a simple task manager from Realmac software and Impending, has just announced that it will be delivering a Mac version of its client for OS X launching next Thursday for $14.99. The app looks an awful lot like it does on iOS, but offers additional features like the ability to break out different lists in new windows, as well as iCloud syncing with the iOS client. → Read More

October 25th, 2012

Pocket’s Mac App Brings All That Saved Content To The Best Place To Use It

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Pocket (formerly ReadItLater) delivered a new native Mac OS X app today, allowing you to save and access content for later reading from around the web. Pocket’s rebrand was all about going beyond just being an article-saving tool and becoming a catch-all scrapbook for anyone’s digital life, and the new Mac app is a good complement to that mission. → Read More

October 24th, 2012

Skype Gets Retina-Ready, Adds Multi-Window Chat And Live Messenger Support

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Skype hit version 6 today, with a rare simultaneous release for both Windows and Mac. This brings a whole bunch of new features to the table, including single sign-on with both Facebook and Microsoft credentials, so that new users don’t even have to sign up for Skype itself, Retina display compatibility for Macs, and multi-window chats. → Read More

October 23rd, 2012

For The Year Ending In June, Apple’s Mac Outgrew PC by 7x, Now #1 Desktop And Notebook

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As we’re waiting for the iPad Mini, Apple is discussing the Mac, which has become the #1 Desktop and Notebook, according to the company. This is huge, because the personal computer industry has been run by Microsoft in the past, but Apple has shown strong growth in the past six years straight. → Read More

October 19th, 2012

Put Instagram In Your Mac’s Menu Bar With Instabar

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I’m a sucker for OS X menu bar applications, and I’m also a big fan of browsing Instagram as a way to break up the day. Now, those two things come together in a single convenient package with Instabar. The Mac app debuted a paid version for $0.99 earlier this week, and today released a free alternative with fewer features. With either, you’ve got some prime time-wasting available with one click. → Read More

October 18th, 2012

Tweetbot For Mac Now Available For $19.99: Twitter Client Token Limits To Blame For High Price

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Tweetbot for Mac has finally arrived in retail release form, after an extended public alpha and beta testing phase. The native OS X Twitter client from iOS and Mac developer Tapbots is available from the Mac App Store, for the somewhat eyebrow-raising price of $19.99. Is it worth $20? A thousand times yes. But some users may balk at the price – which is exactly what Tapbots is counting on. → Read More

October 16th, 2012

Latest MacHeist Bundle Now Available For $29, Over 1.5M Members Should Help It Set Records Again

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MacHeist 4′s puzzles have been keeping members buzzy this year, but now the curtain gets pulled back and the entire software lineup is revealed. After delivering four missions and four nano-missions, the MacHeist bundle now offers a full 15 apps for the low price of $29, with 25 percent of all proceeds going to charity. The company raised $850,000 with its MacHeist 3 bundle in 2009, and it’s… → Read More

September 6th, 2012

Rumored: Development To Cease For Twitter’s Mac Client

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Here’s a piece of Twitter news that would really make me sad. According to former TechCrunch full-time writer guy, MG Siegler, Twitter will cease to support and develop Twitter for Mac. → Read More

August 30th, 2012

Cobook, A Better Address Book For Mac, Now Syncs With Google Contacts

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Cobook, a Mac contact management app which offers an improved experience over the default OS X address book (at least, that’s a popular opinion), has released an update today which introduces a notable new feature: the ability to sync with Google Contacts. That’s a great selling point for this free software application, which previously pulled in contacts from the Mac’s native address book, as… → Read More

June 14th, 2012

Skype For Mac Update Brings Improved Contact List, Video Calls & Screen Sharing, But No “Conversation Ads” Just Yet

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Skype just announced a new version of its Mac software which brings changes based on user feedback, including the return of the resizable contact list and improvements to video calls and screen sharing features. The news follows yesterday’s announcement from the company which said that Windows users on Skype’s free service would now see advertisements in the software. However, no mention of the… → Read More

March 6th, 2012

New Skype For Mac Update Finally Includes Full Screen Mode, Automatic Updates

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I lean on Skype (and Macs) pretty heavily, so when a fairly substantial update for the VOIP/messaging service goes live, my ears tend to perk up. The new Skype 5.6 update has me especially tickled — it’s now available for folks of the Mac persuasion, and it thankfully packs a handful of bugfixes as well as a slew of new (and arguably overdue) features. → Read More

February 22nd, 2012

Retickr Raises $1.5M For A Social News Reader That Learns What You Like

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Retickr, a social news reader application for Mac OS X, received a big update today, as well as a new round of funding. The startup just closed its Series A of $1.5 million led by the Lamp Post Group, the investors who had previously put $150,000 into the company’s seed round.

The app, which combines RSS, social networking updates and news, is not your standard feed reader, but rather attempts… → Read More

February 16th, 2012

Apple’s Mac Attack On China

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Whenever you see those photos and stories of the crazy crowds at Apple stores in China, they seem to always be about the launch of a new iPhone. But if Apple has its way, soon those masses will be clamoring for something else as well: Mac computers.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, speaking earlier this week at the Goldman Sachs conference, noted that China accounted for $13 billion in sales last year for… → Read More

August 5th, 2011

Chrome Lion Full Screen Support Is Ready To Go In Canary, Both With Tabs And Without

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Following up on our earlier coverage of Google’s Chrome browser for OS X Lion, it looks like development is moving along faster than expected. Specifically, swiping gesture support has already been fully implemented (in the right direction now too), and now a proper full screen mode has hit the Canary build of the browser as well.

Shortly after Lion’s launch a few weeks ago, we noted the Chrome… → Read More

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July 19th, 2011

AppleDestroysQ3EarningsEstimatesWithRecordRevenues,Profit,iPhone,AndiPadSales

Following Google’s stellar earnings last week, Apple has today announced their own earnings for their Q3 period. As expected, they’re good. Massively good.

Apple set several new records in terms of both revenues and sales. Most notably, Apple’s revenue was a staggering $28.57 billion — over $5 billion ahead of their (always low) guidance, and almost $4 billion ahead of the $24.92 billion that… → Read More

July 5th, 2011

Skype 5.2 For Mac Has Arrived, Comes With Group Screen Sharing And Video Calls

Right on the heels of releasing Skype 5.5 for Windows, featuring deep Facebook integration, the company has just rolled out a new version of its voice and video calling software solution for Mac.

Skype 5.2 for Mac is available now and is much more worth the download than the 5.1 updated version of the beta Mac software released back in November 2010.

With the new version, Skype for Mac users can… → Read More

May 2nd, 2011

Google Chrome Canary About To Hit OS X — Chrome 16 Due Before End Of Year

Users of Google Chrome are probably aware of the three channels you can use depending on how cutting edge you want to be (and how much you mind bugs): Dev, Beta, Stable. But ever since last year, there’s actually been a fourth channel as well that’s less publicized: Canary. Sadly, it has been a Windows-only build until now. But it looks like that’s about to change.

Given the talk in the Chromium… → Read More

March 31st, 2011

Boxcar Pushes Its Way Onto The Mac

My love of Boxcar should be pretty clear at this point. Because I’m an information junkie, it’s probably the app I use the most on my iPhone/iPad besides Safari. And earlier this year, they brought the notification goodness to the web as well. Now they’re taking the next step: native Mac support.

Yes, Boxcar is here for the Mac. The app resides in your toolbar and when clicked shows a drop-down… → Read More

March 23rd, 2011

Serlet Transition Out Appears As Natural As OS X Transition Towards iOS

Back in October of last year, the day before it was formally unveiled, I wondered if OS X Lion would be the last of its kind. There were two main arguments: the big cat name choice and the colossal rise of iOS. With today’s news that OS X father Bertrand Serlet is leaving Apple after 14 years (and 22 years working with CEO Steve Jobs), the question has come roaring back to life.

Apple has been… → Read More