Hasta La Gadget!

Adobe recently issued a security update for Flash Player which patches an exploit that gave hackers the ability to take over a vulnerable system. Not leaving things to chance, Apple is now rolling out a hotfix for Safari that blocks outdated versions of the tainted web plug-in. If your system hasn’t been patched yet, you may receive a notification when attempting to access Flash-based content. The prompt will then advise that a new software version is available. If you’re running OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) or higher and Safari is your browser of choice, you may want to nab this update from Adobe. Otherwise the next time you go online, the internet might be a far cry from what you’re used to seeing.

Filed under: Internet, Software

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Via: The Loop, MacRumors

Source: Apple

Facebook and Vine were just the beginning — you should have known that. Especially once the biggest social network in the world started dipping its toes in the VoIP pool. Skype isn’t about to let others encroach on its hard won territory without a fight. The Microsoft-owned messaging platform has started testing what amounts to a video voicemail feature on OS X, Android and iOS, something that had already been hinted at in its updated TOS. Why those operating systems at first, without any word about Windows or Windows Phone, we’re unsure. But it’s a safe bet Redmond’s own platforms will get the feature sooner rather than later. Currently users in the US and UK should be seeing the option, just dig a bit as it might be hidden behind a more actions or overflow icon, as it is on Android. Customers are getting 20 free video messages to start, though we weren’t able to wrangle any further details out of the company regarding pricing.

(Update: While we still have some unanswered questions regarding pricing, Skype did say that unlimited voice messaging will be included as part of a premium subscription.)

(Update 2: A Skype spokesperson reached out to us with the following statement about availability:

“Users in these markets across all Windows desktop and mobile platforms can receive messages, too. We will have send capability in Windows by end of April. In the meantime, we continue to test this new feature in its early release.”

April isn’t ideal, but it’s better than nothing.)

Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Microsoft

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Bitcasa made some serious waves when it hit the scene in December, offering bottomless cloud storage for $10 per-month or $99 for a full year. The service is now leaving beta, with the promised Mac and iOS apps in tow. And, just as icing on the cake, a Linux client is also on the way (and already available in alpha form). While going gold isn’t going to change a lot about Bitcasa in the short term, at least the company knows how to celebrate right — with steep discounts! Sign up for the service during the month of February and you’ll get a full year of Infinite Drive for $60 $69. You can sign up at the source and peruse the PR after the break. We’re already busy backing up our My Bloody Valentine bootlegs.

Update: As some of you have noticed, the price being advertised on the Bitcasa site is $69 for the year, not $59 as the press release states. We’ve updated the post to reflect the advertised cost and asked for a clarification.

Filed under: Storage, Internet

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Source: Bitcasa

If you’re one of those folks that like to bridge the divide — rocking an Android handset, but rely on a Mac for heavy lifting — we’ve got some good news. Bluestacks, the emulator that lets you run Android apps on your desktop has hit beta on OS X. The tool launched in beta form on Windows in March and an alpha version for Mac landed in June. Now there should be a little more parity between the major desktop ecosystems when it comes to getting your Flipboard and Bad Piggies on. To download it for yourself hit up the source link.

Filed under: Software, Apple, Google

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Via: Android Central

Source: Bluestacks

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.

[Image credit: Kristin Paget, Twitter]

Filed under: Internet, Software, Apple, Microsoft

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Via: TUAW

Source: Wired