After reaching what could have been the tenth big cat iteration of OS X, Apple has announced a new series. It’ll be basing the next versions of its computer operating system on California, with the first iteration known as Mac OS X Mavericks.
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When Seagate launched its PC/Mac Backup Plus offering that could safeguard not only your folders but your Facebook or Twitter content, too, it seemed like a nice idea. But conspicuously missing from the Mac side of that equation was a USB 3.0 port to hustle transfers along at a much less pedestrian 5 Gbps — likely because until recently, no Macs directly supported it. Now, Seagate has launched a USB 3.0 version of the device for those shiny new Macbook Pro Retina and Air models that pack it, while offering the option to upgrade to Thunderbolt or FireWire 800 “as the need presents itself.” Prices go from $110 for the 500GB model up to $180 for the 3TB version — check the PR after the break to see the entire range.
Continue reading Seagate Backup Plus brings USB 3.0 speed, sociability to new Macbooks
Filed under: Storage
Seagate Backup Plus brings USB 3.0 speed, sociability to new Macbooks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 02:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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For all of the many directions Ubuntu One’s cloud storage has gone, it hasn’t headed the Mac’s way. Official clients have been the province of Linux devotees (naturally, Ubuntu is recommended) and their Windows friends across the aisle. A newly available Mac beta puts all three major desktop platforms on an even keel, very literally — the OS X port is almost identical to what you’d get in Linux or Windows, including a few rough points where other interface concepts clash. Still, the Ubuntu One test build has a handy Mac-specific menu bar item, and it’s one of the few cloud options that will natively support both the Ubuntu box in your den and the MacBook Pro in your bag. Grab your copy at the source link if you can deal with a few unfinished elements.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Ubuntu One reaches Mac in beta, completes the cloud storage circle originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
While the latest software for OS X Lion isn’t nearly as exciting as a couple of other updates that Apple released today, Lion users will find a few worthwhile improvements within the new OS X 10.7.5 update. Most importantly, the latest software introduces Gatekeeper, a security feature from Mountain Lion that makes it more difficult to inadvertently install malicious software. The update also brings improved WiFi reliability for the iMac (late 2009 and newer) and squashes a bug that’d caused Launchpad icons to become rearranged. You’ll find an even greater number of fixes / improvements after the break, and it’s also worth a mention that even Snow Leopard users have received a bit of love today in the form of a security update. Want to prove you’re a good cat owner? Go ahead and check for new updates right away.
Filed under: Software
OS X Lion hits 10.7.5 with most recent update, brings improved security with Gatekeeper originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Sep 2012 04:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
We’ve been using the Tweetbot for Mac alpha for several weeks now. It’s about time that a more polished beta version arrive, we’d say — and the new 0.8 revision does its best to justify moving one letter up the alphabet. Most of the upgrade focuses on improved multi-column and keyboard support, along with a heap of bug fixes. The real story, though, may be what Tweetbot can’t do. Twitter’s tough new API limits put a sharp curb on the number of new users that a third-party developer like Tapbots can bring into the fold. To maximize the number of customers buying the finished version, the company is limiting beta access solely to those who’ve already linked their Twitter accounts to the alpha; if you aren’t already part of the secret club, you’re not getting in today. We’re still looking forward to the completed Tweetbot release, but the hoop-jumping required to keep the app commercially viable doesn’t bode well for any future competition with the official Twitter clients.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Tweetbot for Mac hits beta, runs headlong into new Twitter API limits originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 01 Sep 2012 01:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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There’s a special moment in every operating system’s life when it loses its innocent .0 status and grows up. It’s OS X Mountain Lion’s turn to mature, as Apple has just pushed out the 10.8.1 update for early adopters. Most of the fixes are for issues that plague specific use cases, such as audio output from a Thunderbolt Display or crashes in Migration Assistant. There are a few remedies that a wider audience might appreciate — a fix for iMessages that don’t send and an improvement to Exchange compatibility in Mail, for example. We don’t yet know of any surprises lurking underneath, but it can’t hurt to have a smoother-running Mac while we investigate.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software
Apple posts OS X 10.8.1 update, mends your Mountain Lion originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Aug 2012 11:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tweetbot‘s been offering a rough-around-the-edges alpha version on its upcoming refresh for a few weeks now, but it’s the latest update that’s caught our attention — again. There’s several substantial changes that could tempt you away from other desktop Twitter clients. These include a new multiple account view, with separate columns that can either be docked to your main feed or left in their own window. You can spin out mentions and search results into their own space, and even adjust each column’s height and width — if you’re looking to squeeze even more Twitter content into a single screen. A new menu bar icon offers access to your multiple accounts, new tweets, direct messages and mentions, while the latest build also improves support for media upload and Mountain Lion‘s notification bar. Tweetbot’s alpha is still free to try for now, but once the kinks are eventually worked out, expect to pay for the finished article.
Filed under: Internet
Tweetbot for Mac’s latest alpha adds experimental ‘snap-together’ column layout originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 19:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple has been on a social networking kick lately, what with Twitter’s footings in iOS 5 and OS X Mountain Lion as well as Facebook’s upcoming presence in iOS 6. From what the New York Times hears, that fascination could become more of a fixation. The company has reportedly chatted with Twitter in past months about the possibility of investing money on the scale you’d normally expect from a later-stage venture capitalist: the newspaper is talking “hundreds of millions” of dollars based on Twitter being valued at more than $10 billion. Any such deal would be less about funding (Twitter purportedly has $600 million-plus in the bank) and more about getting cozy in a social world where Apple still has some learning to do. Apple might equally want to dissuade competitors from getting any ideas, we’d add. Neither side will comment, and the negotiations aren’t even supposed to be active at present. Regardless, that Apple might have even toyed with a social networking investment could represent a major change in tack for a company that’s not always known for playing well with others.
Filed under: Internet
NYT claims Apple has dallied with investing ‘hundreds of millions’ in Twitter originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jul 2012 23:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Well, we can’t exactly say we saw this one coming. Sparrow, maker of popular email apps for iOS and Mac OS X, has just announced that it’s been acquired by Google. Expectedly, details on the acquisition are being kept under wraps at the moment, but company CEO Dom Leca has confirmed in a blog post that Sparrow will be joining the Gmail team at Google to “accomplish a bigger vision.” Fans of the company’s apps will be glad to know, however, that the team will “continue to make Sparrow available and provide support for our users” while also working on new things at Google. That does sound like most of their attention will be focused elsewhere, though. You can find Leca’s full statement on the matter at the source link below.
Update: The Verge was able to get some notion of a cost for this deal, with “under $25 million” being a figure assigned to this, a figure that wasn’t inflated due to a bidding war. (That should answer those wondering if maybe Google bought this out from under Apple.)
Filed under: Internet, Software
Google acquires Sparrow, the Apple-focused email app maker originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Apple is well-known for wanting a close spread in hardware requirements with OS X upgrades, having dropped PowerPC like a hot potato when Snow Leopard arrived just three years after the Intel switch. Whether or not you’re a fan of that policy, it’s certainly carrying forward with Mountain Lion. When the newly-finished OS hits the Mac App Store, it will rule out the very first wave of 64-bit Macs: certain MacBook Pros, Mac Pros and other early systems will be denied a taste of 10.8. Some sleuthing from Ars Technica suggests that it’s a matter of graphics drivers rather than capriciousness on Apple’s part, as the Macs excluded from the mix are using 32-bit drivers that won’t play nicely with Mountain Lion’s 64-bit Utopia short of a wide-scale conversion effort. It’s little consolation to those who dropped a pretty penny on certain Macs just a few years ago. That said, Apple is still going the extra mile to support some systems — if you’re reading this on an original aluminum iMac, you’re sitting pretty.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software
Apple sunsets a few 64-bit Macs with Mountain Lion, video drivers likely the culprit originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 11:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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