Today's MU PROMO offers 60% savings on Phone Amego (Family Pack) 1.4_9. "Phone Amego integrates your mobile and VoIP phones with your Mac. With handy features like on-screen caller ID and dialing directly from Address Book, Daylite, and selected text you’ll wonder how you ever lived without Phone Amego."
Major/Minor Threat to Apple's living room vision: Microsoft's new Xbox One game+media hub?
Vote for the results in the left column below or go straight to the results here.
Wednesday Highlights: Tim Cook goes to Washington, under fire from the US Senate over offshore tax shelters including Ireland, China, makes no apologies, defending his company and telling senators they need to fix the tax system; Cook even plays a little Genius Bar as Senator John McCain complains of having to constantly update apps on is iPhone; plenty more in our Apple/Macintosh, Op/Ed, and Finances sections; Apple claiming Samsung Galaxy S4 infringes on five patents including customizations Samsung has done on the Android Jelly Bean OS; a "sophisticated 'operation hangover' gang in India" said to be responsible for new OS X Oslo malware; Mactuts+ offers help for those having issues downloading apps from the Mac App Store; Macworld shows you where to get some nice, free or low-cost fonts; and the staff at Macworld have another tutorial for switchers from Windows to OS X; and here's how to sync calendars for those of you balancing between Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard systems; according to new stats, Samsung and Motorola have cut Apple's lead in customer satisfaction by half; Apple updates online store in preparation for Father's Day; TechHive shows you which major US carriers have the most LTE throughout the states; Tim Cook says the USA-made Macs are to be built in the great state of Texas, with Apple spending $100 billion in the endeavor; Flickr, Vimeo integration rumored for iOS 7, and a couple interesting iPhone 6 concepts hit the web; LAPTOP Mag gets a hands-on with LifeProof's Fre iPad mini case; is Apple held to different standards than other companies?; Rush Limbaugh has no love for the Senates "high-tech lynching" of Apple; Microsoft's Xbox One means "goodbye freedom".
THURSDAY BLOWOUT: Every NEW or RENEWING paid subscriber receives 2 YEARS FREE.
"The iPad's victory in defining the tablet: What it means/Apple's view of the tablet is now the accepted model, but one that most commodity competitors still haven't figured out" InfoWorld 10:40 AM
"Report: The PC Buying Experience, 2011" ["Key findings are that Apple consumers care more about customer service than PC buyers, consumers that buy PCs directly from the manufacturer are more satisfied than those that buy at a retailer and Best Buy employees are more helpful than those at other retailers."] Customer Experience Matters 2:03 PM
"Temkin: Mac buyers much more satisfied than PC buyers" Electronista 2:03 PM
"Apple tops PC buyer satisfaction survey" CNET News 3:53 PM
"August 5 hearing on preliminary injunction against Samsung too early, judge tells Apple" Foss Patents 3:47 PM
"How Apple became a monopsonist: Using its pile of cash to become the single buyer that controls key high-tech supply chains" Fortune 7:41 AM
"Apple dominates consumer sentiment for Tablet PCs - with 48% share of positive customer comments online" PRWeb UK 8:49 AM
"Apple Tries To Get Rid Of Samsung Copycats Once And For All" MobileCrunch 10:53 AM
"Apple tries to block sale of Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 in US" Crave @ CNET 9:17 AM
"iPhone Delay Won't Quell Apple Ardor" TheStreet 8:50 AM
"Smartphone Security Smackdown: iPhone Vs. Android/How do Apple iOS and Google Android stack up on security? Both could take one lesson from RIM, says Symantec security expert." InformationWeek 10:10 AM
"Lawsuit accuses Missouri Apple Store of race, gender discrimination: A new lawsuit takes aim at Apple and one of its senior retail store managers, accusing them of refusing to promote an employee because she is a black woman." AppleInsider 7:23 PM
"Google Goes Missing In Lodsys Litigation: Android developers continue to ask when Google will come to their defense as Apple has done for its developers. They may have a long wait." InformationWeek 7:26 PM
"Lodsys sues The New York Times Company and five other companies who previously sued Lodsys" Foss Patents 2:22 PM
"Expert pleads guilty in insider probe" ["Shimoon, arrested in December, was accused of leaking secrets about Apple Inc iPad ahead of its launch and giving up new details about the company's iPhone 4."] Reuters 8:14 PM
"Apple Supplier Pleads Guilty to Selling iPad, iPhone Secrets" The Mac Observer 8:15 PM
"How to prep your Mac for Lion: Steps you can take now before OS X 10.7 hits the Mac App Store" Computerworld 8:10 AM
"Mac OS X Lion Pre-Install Tips for Home, Biz" PC Magazine 12:25 PM
"Digital Cow Software Weblock 1.8.1: Weblock unlocks your ability to restrict access to files shared on Mac OS X's built-in Apache server. This allows you to put an authentication dialog on any directory being shared through your Web server or filter based on IP address." Macworld 10:25 AM
"Control iTunes from the command line with ViTunes" Macworld 10:50 AM
"An App for Hunting Movies" New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required] 7:52 AM
"How To: Make Library visible in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion" FairerPlatform 7:48 AM
"How to print mailing labels without Word or any office suite" Mac Support Central 7:42 AM
"Compiling a Universal Binary from Autogen sources" Mac OS X Hints 9:50 AM
"10.6: Paste a file path directly into a Save dialog" Mac OS X Hints 9:50 AM
Op/Ed
"Virtual memory and what it does to you" Rixstep 7:11 PM
"Jon Rubinstein Compares HP's WebOS to Mac OS X" The Mac Observer 7:11 PM
"My Thoughts On Apple's Handling of the Final Cut Pro X Roll Out" iSource 2:04 PM
"REALbasic styled text to HTML solution gets major update" PandaWare 7:13 PM
"FoldersSynchronizer 4.0.9 for OSX" softoBe 3:38 PM
"Skype Update Adds New Video Chat Features" The Mac Observer 9:28 AM
"Skype 5.2 For Mac Has Arrived, Comes With Group Screen Sharing And Video Calls" TechCrunch 8:58 AM
"MaBaSoft releases Currency Assistant 3.1.5" MaBaSoft 8:26 AM
"NoteList 2.12 stores data in a free format" Tension Software 8:26 AM
"Cocktail 5 beta is Mac OS X 10.7 Lion ready" FairerPlatform 7:53 AM
"Eltima Software's new campaign - buy Folx Pro at your own price" prMac 7:54 AM
"Meet the beetles! for OS X now in the Mac App Store" prMac 7:37 AM
"Research and Markets: Objective-C - A soup-to-nuts guide on the Objective-C programming language" Business Wire 8:35 AM
"iWork Formulas and Fuctions User Guide" OlderMacs 10:09 AM
"Objective-C Language and GNUstep Base Library: The aim of this manual is to introduce you to the Objective-C language and the GNUstep development environment, in particular the Base library. The manual is organised to give you a tutorial introduction to the language and APIs." OlderMacs 7:37 AM
"comScore Reports May 2011 U.S. Mobile Subscriber Market Share: Smartphones Reach Key Milestone; Now Owned by 1 in 3 Americans" ["Apple strengthened its position at #4 with 8.7 percent share of mobile subscribers (up 1.2 percentage points), while RIM rounded out the top five with 8.1 percent share."] comScore 7:13 PM
"Apple passes RIM in OS and handset market share" The Loop 7:12 PM
"ComScore: Apple Passes RIM in Handsets, Smartphones" The Mac Observer 7:13 PM
"iPad Generates One Percent of World's Web Traffic" AllThingsD 7:42 AM
"iPads Generate 1% of the World's Web Traffic [Stats] Mashable 8:13 AM
"Smartphones and the iPad make up 5 percent of Web browsing" DigitalTrends 9:35 AM
"iPhone, iPad yield Double the Click Rate Relative to Android Devices: Mobile Advertising Research from MediaMind Shows iOS Devices Deliver highest CTR, while BlackBerry Delivers the Lowest" PRWeb 12:31 PM
"iPhone delivers 2X click through rate" Tech.Blorge 12:33 PM
"Steve Jobs' bio gets a new title/'iSteve: The Book of Jobs' was the publisher's idea. The author had second thoughts." Fortune 8:15 PM
"Apparently Undeterred by Apple Crackdown, Tapjoy Investors Pour In $30M More" AllThingsD 3:47 PM
"Would you Take Medical Advice from An iPhone? The doctor is always in, when it's your iPhone." Technology Review 11:22 AM
"The Paperless Cockpit" ["But instead of carrying all that paperwork, a growing number of pilots are carrying a 1.5 pound iPad."] New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required] 10:23 AM
"FAA approves use of Apple's iPad as electronic flight bag" AppleInsider 7:16 PM
"iPad brings new connection to lawyers, clients" Arizona Republic 11:23 AM
"Apple to decide on Google+ app: Google has asked Apple to approve a mobile version of its social networking site + (Plus) for iPhones and iPads." BBC 7:58 AM
"Verizon iPhone 4 May Be About To Get $50 Cheaper" Mac|Life 9:07 AM
"Verizon lining up iPhone 4 discount?" CNET News 9:15 AM
"iPhone 4 Prototype Pulled From eBay" RazorianFly 7:50 AM
"Stranger's iPhone Reunites Estranged Mother with Daughter" Minyanville 12:31 PM
Non-Apple News
"Verizon confirms it will ditch unlimited smartphone data plans starting July 7" FierceWireless 11:28 AM
"Verizon confirms death of unlimited data on July 7th, four new tiers from $10 to $80" This is my next 11:28 AM
"Quantum says it's back and ready to join the storage fray" The Register 11:06 AM
"Toshiba shows first 3D laptop that doesn't need glasses" ZDNet UK 11:15 AM
"In war of egos, hackers battle a rival group" New York Times News Service [Free Registration Required] 10:37 AM
"Report: TSMC may beat Intel to 3-D chips" EE Times 10:31 AM
"Virtual Grocery Shopping: International supermarket giant brings virtual goods to subway commuters in South Korea, eliminating the need for a physical store." Technology Review 10:59 AM
"South Korea's 'Mobile Wonderland'" [Video Report] CNN 10:22 AM
"Google+ Faces First Facebook Defense" PCWorld 10:46 AM
"Mark Zuckerberg may be the most followed person on Google+" Los Angeles Times [Free Registration Required] 10:41 AM
"Facebook blocks Google Chrome extension for exporting friends" ZDNet 11:14 AM
"Google shutters Realtime Search after Twitter deal expires" The Register 11:06 AM
"Google bid 'pi' for Nortel patents and lost" Reuters 9:55 AM
"Trend...against' cell phone/brain cancer link" The Loop 10:18 AM
"Glass that does it all: That windowpane in your office will soon become valuable for more than the view. Newly developed electrochromic 'smart' glass can cloud up for privacy, block the sun's rays to cool you down, or absorb them to power the place." Fortune 8:10 AM
Publications/Podcasts
"TWiT Live - netcasts you love, from people you trust" TWiT Live 2:16 PM
"A Former Avid Employee's Thoughts On FCPX: 'Even though the FCPX rollout seemingly exposes Apple's hubris, I'm glad they did it.'" techvessel 8:24 AM
"Insanely Great Show: Final Cut Pro X FAQ, Black Ops Maps, Google+ (Podcast)" Insanely Great Mac 8:24 AM
"500,000 Apps Interview Series: Ge Wang, Ocarina/Second in a series of interviews leading up to the 500,000 App milestone in the App Store, we talk with Ge Wang, Assistant Professor at Stanford University and co-founder of SMULE, the development group behind the bestselling iOS application Ocarina." 148Apps 8:10 AM
"Turn Your iPad 2 Into A MacBook Air (with Video!)" M.I.C. Gadget 8:18 PM
"The iCade review: your iPad as an arcade machine" Ars Technica 10:19 AM
"Hands-On: The SoundJaw Fixes the iPad 2's Awful Speaker" Wired 11:23 AM
"Review: Lexmark X548dte/In many regards, the $1749 Lexmark X548dte is an excellent workgroup color laser multifunction (print/copy/scan/fax). The output quality is good, the paper handling is generous, and the control panel, with its large, 7-inch color LCD, is a model of efficiency. Several minor design oversights spoil the effect, however." PCWorld 8:00 AM
"Canon PowerShot SX220 HS review: The SX220 may be a modest revamp of its predecessor, but delivers great results at the extremes of its zoom and in low light" Macworld UK 8:09 AM
"Casio Exilim EX-H30 review: The EX-H30 mimics the Nikon's layout, matches the Olympus' spec and apes the Canon's manual features, all at a great price" Macworld UK 8:09 AM
"JayBird Gear JF3 Freedom Bluetooth Wireless Headphones" iLounge 11:53 AM
"Cassandra — Wednesday Review: The Week in Full Swing" Amitiae 9:06 PM
"Why would you want an unlocked iPhone?" Y! Tech 7:25 PM
"Rumor: Apple soldering MacBook Air SSD to motherboard (and why it's a bad idea) (updated 2x)" ZDNet 2:59 PM
"The iPad: Epic success for users" Computerworld 2:47 PM
"Apple Vs. Google: The Client Vs. The Network" Seeking Alpha 2:46 PM
"Apple's iPhone 5: To LTE, Or Not To LTE?" Barron's 2:22 PM
"Looking Back at the Power Mac G4 Cube Ten Years On" Low End Mac 2:22 PM
"Is Apple Stepping Up iPad Shipments?" PC Magazine 2:04 PM
"Samsung Consolidates Lawsuits in Apple Patent Battle" The Mac Observer 12:23 PM
"Hackers Apple Attack: Hot Trends" [Video Report] TheStreet 11:50 AM
"Inside Apple, Zipcar's Success" [Video Report] TheStreet 11:28 AM
"Apple: Will 'Converged' Devices Doom The Tablet? Sanford Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi this morning ponders in a 16-page Report the question, Will Tablets Cannibalize Notebooks or Might It Be the Other Way Around?" Barron's 11:23 AM
"iPhone 5: See You in September?" AllThingsD 11:48 AM
"iPhone 5 Speculation: Two Models?" TheStreet 10:32 AM
"Focus in Business Means Leaving Money on the Table: Apple" Foliovision 10:23 AM
"I use Apple products because they work, it's that simple" The Loop 10:18 AM
"Why a 15M iPhone 5 order placed now makes sense" GigaOM 8:39 AM
"Interaction with a Quadrotor Helicopter via the Kinect" Daily iPhone Blog 1:48 PM
"Greg's Bite: Microsoft Loses Strategy VP" MacNews 12:23 PM
"Google Chrome: It's Come A Long Way in a Very Short Time" OStatic 11:28 AM
"Is host-based antivirus software losing luster?" Network World 10:39 AM
"Moving data to the cloud? Read this first" InfoWorld 10:39 AM
"Is your cell phone giving you cancer? Another study says 'Probably not'" Houston Chronicle 10:37 AM
"Budgeting For Wireless Data On Verizon's New Plans" Associated Press 10:00 AM
"The Apps That Eat Your Wireless Data" Associated Press 10:00 AM
"Google's Android IP headache may become a migraine" ZDNet 11:14 AM
"Review: Google+ a clean, intuitive mobile experience so far" CNN 10:24 AM
"'Do No Evil' Has No Place in IP Warfare: On the intellectual-property front, Google's loss at the Nortel patent auction may lead to more setbacks for Android in the mobile patent wars" GigaOM 10:17 AM
"Is Larry Page the Answer to Google's Problems?" Forbes 10:34 AM
"'Pokemon' Coming To The App Store This Summer" Touch Arcade 11:49 AM
"Convert iPhone Pics to Drawings with Paper Camera" The Mac Observer 10:51 AM
"HMH's DataDirector and GradeCam Join Forces to Bring The Power of Web-Cams, Document Cameras, and iPhones to Classroom Assessment" Business Wire 9:31 AM
"E-Book Reader Use In The US Hits Double Digits For First Time" MacNews 9:12 AM
"Dream Theater Keyboardist Releases SampleWiz App" Run Around Tech 9:03 AM
"'Spirit' and 'Spirit HD' Get High Resolution Makeovers, Both on Sale for 99¢" Touch Arcade 9:02 AM
"'The Incredible Machine' Gets A Heavy Dose of Retro" Touch Arcade 8:59 AM
"Datacolor Releases SpyderGallery™ 1.1 iPad® Display Calibration Application with Improved User Features" Business Wire 8:36 AM
"ON Voicefeed App Gets Users Up Close And Personal" Business Wire 8:36 AM
"Even the Apple TV deserves its own case, says Waterfield Designs" Insanely Great Mac 7:13 PM
"WaterField Designs Unveils Apple TV Case for Entertainment on the Go" WaterField Designs 7:45 AM
"Trivia With Facebook Friends for iOS Proves Who's Really a Friend" prMac 2:21 PM
"New StockAnalyzer App Makes Stock Evaluation a Breeze" prMac 8:33 AM
"Day at the Races, Moonswing's Racecard app for iPhone keeps you on track" prMac 8:27 AM
"Paper Camera - Witness the birth of a new comic art experience" prMac 8:26 AM
"AddTo Honolulu is available - Travel, Write and Share" prMac 8:26 AM
"Demansol releases the Award Winning Board Game - Scotland Yard for iPad" prMac 7:54 AM
"Play with your Food - Sushi Star iPhone Game Now Available" prMac 7:37 AM
"Join a Space Shuttle Tracking Project with Theodolite iOS Apps" prMac 7:37 AM
"Word Ball Free 1.0 released for iOS - Fast Paced Word Game" prMac 7:37 AM
"Fun Countdown for the iPad with multitouch calendar events and alerts" prMac 7:37 AM
"TribbsHD for iPad - The Cure for Summer Break Brain-Mush" prMac 7:37 AM
"Daily App Show Features Wizard's Castle for iPhone 4" prMac 7:37 AM
"iGiveaway for iOS - Comprehensive, Affordable Marketing for iPhone Apps" prMac 7:37 AM
"Diethard Seiferth Releases TagYourTime! 1.0 for iPhone and Pod touch" prMac 7:37 AM
"The Story Home licenses childrens books by famous author Don Freeman" prMac 7:37 AM
"Russell Brand Promotes the HP TouchPad" PC Magazine 10:46 AM
"The HP TouchPad homebrew community is already alive and well" ZDNet 11:13 AM
"HP poaches latest ESSN EMEA boss from Logica" The Register 11:05 AM
"HP Announces 'most Compact' All-in-one Laser Printer" IDG News Service 10:47 AM
"Microsoft's Baidu Partnership Could Court Controversy" eWeek 10:32 AM
"Why is it so hard to push good .Net patches? June's 'Black Tuesday' patches to Windows' .Net Framework library have admins hopping mad. Again" InfoWorld 10:39 AM
"Electronics company Wistron pays Microsoft for Google Android" Seattle Times 10:50 AM
"Microsoft adds Android and Chrome OS OEM Wistron to its patent-protection roster" ZDNet 11:14 AM
"Microsoft to fold Windows games site into Xbox.com" CNET News 11:23 AM
"Cisco Poised to Help China Keep an Eye on Its Citizens" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 9:40 AM
"E.U. Plans Sharp Reduction in Data Roaming Charges" New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required] 3:51 PM
"Global Tech Leaders Promote Open Internet: Leaders from 34 countries, including notable technology pioneers, have released principles aimed at maintaining the Internet as a forum for open communication and expression." InformationWeek 3:53 PM
"Research brings more efficient spintronics" TG Daily 11:02 AM
"Apple Finance Board calls for 90% sales growth in fiscal Q3: The largest collection of amateur analysts sees iPhone sales up 110%, iPads up 155%" Fortune 2:58 PM
"The Apple Finance Board FQ3 Estimate Index" Seeking Alpha 12:31 PM
"Active Apple Insider Trading as AAPL Stock Price Nears the 52-Week High" PRNewswire-Asia 8:37 AM
"The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Apple, Microsoft, Research In Motion and Google" Zacks 8:36 AM
Industry News
"Netflix's big gains pace day for tech stocks: Online video firm expands streaming service into Latin America" MarketWatch 3:20 PM
"U.S. stocks retreat after best week in two years" MarketWatch 8:42 PM
"Stocks Stuck in Neutral After Five-Day Run" FOXBusiness 3:20 PM
"Wall St flat after strong rally" Financial Times [Paid Membership Required] 9:57 AM
"Stocks Finish Mixed After Portugal Debt Downgrade" TheStreet 8:43 PM
"Stocks End 5-Session Streak of Gains: U.S. stocks closed slightly lower following the biggest weekly gain in two years as investors hesitated to make big bets ahead of economic data expected this week." WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 8:44 PM
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 , C. Rogers 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: #%@*$$$$!