WEDNESDAY BLOWOUT: Every NEW or RENEWING paid subscriber receives 2 YEARS FREE.
Tim Cook, among tech luminaries and government officials in secret meeting to stop Donald Trump. Is this a good thing for Apple's CEO to be involved in?
Vote for the results in the left column below or go straight to the results here.
Wednesday Highlights: Apple rumored to rebrand iPad in face of tablet sales decline, but Adrian Kingsley-Hughes at ZDNet doesn't think it'll turn the tide; Business Insider posts chart from Deutsche Bank which shows "where the market goes, Apple goes"; poll from WSJ/NBC reveals division among American public over Apple vs. FBI, but pro-Apple voters outnumber pro-FBI by 2:1; DA from Manhattan wants "Apple to speak on behalf of victims of crime"; WSJ Blogs has tips and tricks to keep Mac safe from malware; New York Times Q&A on demise of Google's Picasa; Steve Jobs/Bill Gates broadway musical cancelled due to departure of investor; Sacha Baron Cohen channels Apple product launch in his promotion of new movie; Microsoft's got another Surface ad attacking Apple's Macs; purported iPhone 7 case reveals dual-camera cutout, stereo speaker, no headphone port—more in our Hardware/Software section; in our Reviews section, Mashable pits Galaxy S7 Edge camera against iPhone 6s Plus, and ZDNet questions whether the 6s Plus is "really worth $500 more" than Xiaomi's Redmi Note 3.
Today's MacUpdate Promo offers 62% savings on The Paragon Mini Bundle for just $29.95. 4 top titles: NTFS for Mac, Camptune X, ExtFS, and HFS for Windows.
"Can rebranding save the iPad? Probably not: Will it matter to the buying masses if the new iPad is called the iPad Air 3 or the iPad Pro? I doubt it, but given Apple's trend for convoluted and chaotic naming, I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen." ZDNet 7:15 AM
"The Changing iPhone User Base: A new 4-inch iPhone is coming. The best way to understand why Apple is releasing a new 4-inch iPhone in 2016 is to look at the changing iPhone user base. Apple is now selling iPhones to an installed base of more than 550 million users with a multitude of wants, needs, and desires regarding their smartphones." Above Avalon 12:37 PM
"Apple's iPhone problem in one chart: Apple usually does worse than the market as a whole" Business Insider 7:50 AM
"Senators close to finishing encryption penalties legislation: sources" ["It would expose companies like Apple Inc, which is fighting a magistrate judge's order to unlock an iPhone connected to the mass-shooting in San Bernardino, California, to contempt of court proceedings and related penalties, the source said."] Reuters 4:04 PM
"Apple has support of independent voters in FBI iPhone battle: In a 2-to-1 margin, independent voters say the iPhone maker shouldn't cooperate with government efforts to crack open a terrorist's iPhone, according to a new poll." CNET 7:48 AM
"Americans Divided Over Apple's Phone Privacy Fight, WSJ/NBC Poll Shows: Democrats, independents favor company; Republicans worry government won't go far enough to protect national security" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 8:08 AM
"Comey's FBI makes waves: The aggressive posture of the FBI under Director James Comey is becoming a political problem for the White House. The FBI's demand that Apple help unlock an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino killers has outraged Silicon Valley, a significant source of political support for President Obama and Democrats." The Hill 1:35 PM
"Manhattan D.A.: I want Apple to speak on behalf of victims of crime" Fox Business Videos 7:34 AM
"France votes to penalize companies for refusing to decrypt devices, messages/But UN official warns: 'Without encryption tools, lives may be endangered.'" Ars Technica 8:34 AM
"Top 10 PC games we'd like to see on the Mac" [Slideshow] Macworld 7:44 AM
"A Few Words On Mac Clones And Backups" BohemianBoomer 7:29 AM
"El Capitan comments focus on the pros and cons and issues involved in updating from more stable earlier OS X versions, along with more USB problems." MacInTouch 7:18 AM
Press Releases
"Maxon to showcase new Cinema 4D plugin for VR at Game Developers Confab" Architosh 12:30 PM
"Sleeping Dogs is coming to the Mac" Mac Gamer HQ 11:41 AM
"iAddressX offers quick, easy access to Mac OS X Contacts info" Apple World Today 7:46 AM
"Apple and Google are more popular than any presidential candidate" Business Insider 1:50 PM
"Trappist Monk Who Inspired Apple's Fonts Passes Away" MacRumors 8:32 AM
"Debut of Musical About Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Postponed After Investor Drops Out" CNBC 10:56 AM
"'Nerds' Musical About Steve Jobs and Bill Gates' Rivalry Cancels Broadway Run" MacRumors 8:32 AM
"Steve Jobs and Bill Gates holograms are out of a job" The Next Web 8:27 AM
"Borat creator uses hilarious Apple parody to promote new movie" Cult of Mac 7:42 AM
"Sacha Baron Cohen previews new movie, Apple product launch style" Memeburn 8:27 AM
"INRIX takes on Apple and Google in connected car battle with OpenCar acquisition" GeekWire 8:28 AM
"Microsoft continues its Mac assault in new Surface Book ad highlighting pen + touch [Video] 9to5Mac 11:31 AM
"Microsoft Continues Attack on Mac With New Surface Ads [Video] iClarified 10:53 AM
"Wax Wozniak to Debut Next Week" PC Magazine 1:02 PM
"Google's Music Lab is an amazing collection of interactive musical experiments" The Next Web 8:27 AM
Non-Apple News
"Google swipes iPad's killer work features for Android N preview" Cult of Android 1:38 PM
"Sketchy report says HTC could be Google's Nexus partner for three years" 9to5Google 9:13 AM
"Samsung Galaxy S7 teardown reveals tiny heat pipe, gobs of glue" Mashable 8:21 AM
"Consumers do not trust websites with new domains" BetaNews 8:04 AM
"Seagate's New 10GBps SSD Will Be the World's Fastest" Gizmodo 7:56 AM
"Phone Subsidy for Poor Could Expand to Include Broadband: FCC plan aims to bridge income divide when it comes to getting access to the Internet" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 7:51 AM
"Facebook reportedly in talks to stream NFL's 'Thursday Night Football' games" Los Angeles Times [Paid Membership Required] 7:51 AM
"The NFL on Facebook Is a Glimpse at the Radical Future of TV" Wired 7:44 AM
"New MIT Code Makes Web Pages Load 34 Percent Faster in Any Browser" Gizmodo 7:27 AM
Publications/Podcasts
"Dan Frakes On Improving iPhone Battery Life and The WireCutter's Review Methods" MacVoices 2:33 PM
"Happy Hour Podcast 057 | Apple gets social, Macs for ransom, and iOS 10 wishlists" 9to5Mac 2:30 PM
"Podcast 498: What the heck is a 'dormant cyber pathogen'?" Macworld 1:38 PM
"TMO Daily Observations 2016-03-09: iPhone 7 Sans Headphone Jack, Online Apple II Software Archive" The Mac Observer 1:04 PM
"The Dragonslayer: In this exclusive interview, he tells us what's next" The Verge 11:46 AM
"Edward Snowden Dismisses FBI Claim That Only Apple Can Unlock iPhone" Time 8:34 AM
"Edward Snowden says FBI's claims are 'BS,' explains how they can bypass auto-erase [Video] 9to5Mac 7:38 AM
Non-Apple
"Desktop Printer Ink Wars 2016: Part II" The Mac Observer 4:09 PM
"You want to help foot the bill for my data? Yes, please.: Critics of sponsored data services have lost sight of how such things actually benefit consumers" Computerworld 3:59 PM
"Here's What the New Doom Multiplayer Looks Like" Time 1:38 PM
"Biometric logins will replace passwords, but you just never know who to trust" The Next Web 11:42 AM
"The digital world: Crossing the great divide" The Next Web 10:49 AM
"The tiny little box your cable company doesn't want you to know about" BGR 9:12 AM
"Samsung Galaxy S7 Review Buzz: It's the Bee's Knees" TechNewsWorld 7:32 AM
"How Google Can Fix Gmail: The so-called 'leader' in web-based email systems is rickety, clunky, junked-up ugly mess and always has been." PC Magazine 7:26 AM
Humor/Cartoons
"How the tech CEOs plan to stop Trump!" The Joy of Tech [cartoon] 7:20 AM
"Microsoft to court: Make Comcast give us the Windows-pirating subscriber's info/Microsoft is using the IP address 'voluntarily' collected during its software activation process to sue a Comcast subscriber for pirating thousands of copies of Windows and Office." Network World 10:58 AM
"Suspected software pirates push Microsoft too far, company files copyright suit" GeekWire 7:31 AM
"Hilton has put this IBM Watson-powered robot on reception to answer guest queries" ZDNet 7:14 AM
"IBM creates Watson-powered robot concierge for Hilton hotel" V3 7:44 AM
"Hilton Testing IBM Watson-Powered Robot Concierge" PC Magazine 1:02 PM
"What's IBM Really Pushing with the Resilient Buyout?" Market Realist 8:03 AM
"HP Aims to 'Reinvent' Mobile" Tech.pinions 1:18 PM
"Three new Dell business systems now available: First shown off at the CES earlier this year, Dell's three Latitude systems are now available to order." ZDNet 7:14 AM
"Intel Buying Replay Technology in Bid to Up Its Sports Game" Re/code 8:28 AM
"Intel buys a 360-degree sports video replay specialist: It will use Replay Technologies' freeD tech to create 'immersive sports' entertainment." Engadget 8:26 AM
"Intel acquires 'freeD' maker Replay Technologies" SiliconBeat 11:42 AM
"Cisco in 2016: A Cloud Space Acquisition Spree?" Market Realist 7:25 AM
"The Truth behind Cisco's Acquisition of CliQr Technologies" Market Realist 7:25 AM
"Facebook Is Shaking Up the Networking Market With Its Cisco Killer" TheStreet 7:25 AM
"Digitimes Research: Global AIO PC shipments in 2015 dip 5%" DigiTimes 8:22 AM
"Dow reclaims 17,000 level as stocks log gains on bull market's B-Day: Investors await the ECB decision Thursday" MarketWatch 4:08 PM
"Stocks Celebrate Bull Market Anniversary With Gains" TheStreet 4:07 PM
"Stocks Rise With Oil; MaxLinear Jumps, Near Buy Point | Stock News & Stock Market Analysis - IBD" Investor's Business Daily 4:07 PM
"Stocks celebrate bull's 7th birthday with modest gains" USA Today 4:07 PM
"Wall Street Flirts with 17K as Oil Prices Jump" FOXBusiness 4:07 PM
"U.S. Stocks Inch Higher as Energy Shares Rally: Investors look ahead to decisions from the ECB, which is expected to take further stimulus measures" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 4:06 PM
"China stocks snap six-session win streak, weighed by weak metals: Investors shying away from risk for time being" MarketWatch 8:35 AM
"European stocks rejuvenated by gains for oil prices: ECB meeting Thursday still looming large" MarketWatch 8:35 AM
MacSurfer Headline News Staff
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: P. Pearson
Managing & Weekday Editor: D. Mahaffy
Evening Editors: S. Siegling and
D. Mahaffy
Weekend Editors: S. Siegling , A. Spaulding and
D. Mahaffy
CEO: T. Jefferson
CFO: K. Midas
Editor Emeritus: W. Shakespeare
Writers Emeritus: W. Lewis, R. Chandler, W. Morris, G. Simenon, C. Vallejo, F. Garcia Lorca,
P. White, R. Adams, P. Valery, C. Aiken, R. Bradbury, F. Pessoa, S. Bellow, F. O'Connor
Art Directors: V. Van Gogh, C. Monet
Advertising Managers: C. Chaplin, H. Marx
Public Relations Firm: Bits & Bytes
Bomb Squad: Type 11 Errors
Chief Scientists: I. Asimov, S. Hawking
Road Crew: R. Petty, J. Cooper
Mechanics: Tom and Ray
Fishing Crew: A. Lindner, D. Stange, K. VanDam
Head Chef: Mom
Head Travel Guru: D. Pearson
Mascots: Cyberdog, Clarus the Dogcow
General Counsel: #%@*$$$$!
