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".
WEDNESDAY BLOWOUT: Every NEW or RENEWING paid subscriber receives 2 YEARS FREE.
"Apple Becomes Largest Mobile Phone Vendor in United States in Q4 2012" Strategy Analytics 8:50 AM
"Apple biggest phone maker in the U.S. for the first time: Apple bests Samsung by selling 17.7 million iPhones in Q4, as U.S. market share increases to 34%" IDG News Service 8:43 AM
"With 18M iPhones sold during Q4, Apple outsells Samsung in U.S." GigaOM 8:29 AM
"Apple Becomes Top Mobile Phone Vendor in the US for First Time" The Next Web 8:50 AM
"Apple Ousts Samsung As No.1 Mobile Maker In U.S. In Q4 2012 — Taking Record 34% Marketshare, Says Strategy Analytics" TechCrunch 8:50 AM
"Apple overtakes Samsung as top U.S. mobile phone maker" CNET News 9:00 AM
"Apple Overtakes Samsung With 34% of U.S. Mobile Market" Bloomberg 10:31 AM
"Apple is biggest US phone seller for 1st time" Associated Press 1:09 PM
"Apple Becomes Top Mobile-Phone Vendor in U.S. During Fourth Quarter" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 10:56 AM
"Apple makes modest gains in Chinese phone share" Electronista 9:07 AM
"Apple Executives Meet with Turkish President to Discuss $4.5 Billion iPad Education Initiative" MacRumors 10:28 AM
"Apple Absolutely Has To Make An iPhone With A Bigger Screen" Business Insider 8:29 AM
"Court denies Apple rehearing on Galaxy Nexus injunction plea: Apple said the court had introduced a new requirement for issuing injunctions" IDG News Service 8:42 AM
"Are Apple users superior? Do Apple's mobile devices lead in the U.S. because of technological elitism? Of course not." Fortune 8:38 AM
"Java browser plug-in on OS X re-enabled with update to Java 7" 9 to 5 Mac 5:30 PM
"Apple's anti-malware blacklists Java 7 plug-in again" ZDNet 10:33 AM
"Apple ticks off Mac users with silent shutdown of Java 7: Company sets XProtect to treat Java as malware, leaving Java-dependent users scrambling for guidance" InfoWorld 10:36 AM
"Apple Thinks iWork Pro with Newly Acquired Patents" Patently Apple 10:21 AM
"Apple nabs 18 patents related to 'axis-based user interface technology'" CNET News 11:40 AM
"Apple Looking To Reimagine User Interface In iLife Apps?" AppleBitch 8:23 AM
"Desktop Operating System Market Share" [Mac: 7.08%] NetMarketshare 8:27 AM
"Desktop Browser Market Share" [Safari: 5.24%] NetMarketshare 8:25 AM
AppleCare/Troubleshooting
"Q&A: MacFixIt Answers/This week, readers sent in questions about keeping a Mac clean and optimized, external drive permissions, and other topics." CNET Reviews 4:48 PM
Reviews/How-To/Tips
"How to Take and Edit Screenshots For Tutorials" Mactuts+ 9:14 AM
"Mac Gems: Inky offers a fresh, human take on email" Macworld 9:15 AM
"MacMost Now 821: Spell Checking In Multiple Language In Pages" MacMost 8:23 AM
"Even More Mastering The Option Key Tricks And Tips [OS X Tips] Cult of Mac 8:53 AM
"Transferring PDF digital booklets between iTunes libraries" iLounge 4:51 PM
"Here's The Alarm And Timer App That Every Mac User Needs In The Menubar" NoodleMac 8:30 AM
"6 Ways To Use The Swiss Army Knife Of Mac Utilities (think launcher, finder, organizer)" Mac 360 8:31 AM
"3 Cheap Ways To Control Flash, Destroy Flash, Or Keep Flash Out Of Your Mac Life" TeraTalks 8:31 AM
"Try The Nutty Way To Improve Your Mac's Speed And Save Battery Life That Actually Works" Mac 360 8:31 AM
"What's The Better Way To View And Switch To Open Apps? A Cute App Apple Should Buy" BohemianBoomer 8:31 AM
"An Ancient Way Of Learning Is Made Completely New Again On The Mac, iPhone, And iPad" McSolo 8:31 AM
Op/Ed
"Best Mac AntiVirus? You Have Choices" FairerPlatform 8:23 AM
Press Releases
"Cloak Protects Your OS X and iOS Network Data from Prying Eyes" The Mac Observer 4:43 PM
"Freeway Pro 6 Goes Big on HTML 5" FairerPlatform 10:23 AM
"SCSC Releases a Major Update of Scannerz for Mac OS X" prMac 8:49 AM
"MacX DVD Ripper Pro Updated to Rip DVD to ISO Image/MKV with Fast Speed" prMac 8:48 AM
"Omni Group unveils OmniFocus 2, OmniPlan, OmniOutliner 4 for Mac: After going 'iPad or bust,' the company's getting back to the Mac." Ars Technica 8:28 AM
"The Super Bowl of Video Games. Literally." Time 11:51 AM
"Quantum crypto still not proven, claim Cambridge experts" The Register 11:50 AM
"Filthy! old! blog! bug! blamed! for! Yahoo! webmail! hijacks! Yahoo! webmail accounts are being hijacked by hackers exploiting an eight-month-old bug in the web giant's blog, security biz Bitdefender warns." The Register 11:48 AM
"GTA V delayed, will launch on September 17" TG Daily 11:45 AM
"TeliaSonera Chief Nyberg Quits After Uzbek Bribery Report" Bloomberg 10:11 AM
"Facebook doesn't talk to Google, says Zuckerberg" Mashable 11:08 AM
"Google Gets Its Act Together: New Nexus 4 Orders Reaching Customers In As Little As 48 Hours" TechCrunch 11:42 AM
"Google begs for secrecy as it files Glass design with FCC" The Register 11:49 AM
"Rotund Mega baron Dotcom offers bounty for breaking his crypto: Kim Dotcom is offering a prize of € 10,000 ($13,600) for anyone who can break the cryptography of Mega, his recently launched cloud-based storage site." The Register 11:47 AM
"French website hits stumbling block indexing Mega files: Mega is keen to avoid copyright infringement accusations" IDG News Service 10:55 AM
"Verizon launches prepaid plans for 3G phones starting at $60" CNET News 9:56 AM
"BlackBerry's Z10 U.S. launch hits roadblock" Bloomberg [Free Registration Required] 9:37 AM
"Panasonic-Sharp Win Time for Turnarounds as Yen Boosts Earnings" Bloomberg 10:10 AM
"PlayStation 4 buzz begins as Sony teases February event" PCWorld 10:54 AM
"Mega explains removal of public files after blocking a third-party search engine that indexed user uploads" The Next Web 8:49 AM
Publications/Podcasts
"Gene Steinberg meets TechnoBuffalo's Roy Choi, AppleInsider's Daniel Eran Dilger, and the NPD Group's Stephen Baker, this week on The Tech Night Owl LIVE!" The Tech Night Owl LIVE 8:22 AM
"We're not making this up: Apple trademarks the SHOP/Rectangular tables protected, no word on rounded corners" The Register 8:39 AM
Price Trackers/Deals
"Royal Envoy HD (Premium) For iPad Is Temporarily Available For Free (Normally $4.99)" Apple Sliced 8:21 AM
"SimplePhysics For iPhone and iPad Is Free Right Now (Previously $1.99)" Apple Sliced 8:21 AM
"EDGE Extended For iPhone and iPad Is Free Today (Was $2.99)" Apple Sliced 8:21 AM
"Rarefied Retina MacBook Pros get priced closer to earth: The Retina MacBook Pro gets price cuts ranging between $150 and $200 at Best Buy." CNET News 9:22 PM
"15" MacBook Pro Prices & Sales" MacPrices 8:22 AM
"13" MacBook Pro Prices & Sales" MacPrices 8:22 AM
"Novell aims to remake image: Will it work?" ZDNet 12:02 PM
"Q&A: can my tablet replace my cable TV?" USA Today 11:52 AM
"Why you should care about cyber espionage" PCWorld 10:53 AM
"The cloud is coming to your business, like it or not/Survey: Significant adoption often had nothing to do with IT, suggesting many businesses have pulled ahead of their CIOs" InfoWorld 10:36 AM
"Hot or not: 10 tech trends for 2013" [Slideshow] InfoWorld 10:35 AM
"Sony Likely To Unveil PlayStation 4 On Feb. 20, But We'll Need To See More Than A Spec Show" TechCrunch 11:41 AM
"Is Sony about to unveil the PlayStation 4?" Houston Chronicle 10:33 AM
"Traveler tips: How to avoid being hacked overseas" Associated Press 11:03 AM
"5 tech tips for enjoying the Super Bowl" CNN 10:19 AM
"PC Makers, Learn From Car Makers: Use Model Years" InformationWeek 10:01 AM
"BlackBerry 10: Forget about the phone - it's the OS that really counts" ZDNet 12:02 PM
"Which Apps Are Coming to BlackBerry 10 - And Which Aren't?" PC Magazine 10:52 AM
"The End Of Smartphones: A First-Hand Account Of What It's Like Wearing Google Glass" Business Insider 10:29 AM
"Chromebook 101: How to make your new toy more Apple-y" TUAW 9:19 AM
"Three Months with Microsoft's Office 365" AnandTech 9:17 AM
"Nest, The iPod Of Smart Home Tech, Preps Consumers For The Future" ReadWrite 9:08 AM
"Who owns your social media account and community when you resign?" memeburn 9:02 AM
"New report shows Windows 8 sales remain sluggish; no significant growth in sight" Computerworld Blogs 10:22 AM
"Windows 8 ekes out 2.2 percent market share" CNET News 9:57 AM
"Windows 8 Adoption Increased 2.26% In January" BGR 8:17 PM
"Microsoft teases IE10 for Win7 with Blocker Toolkit: Microsoft has dropped a strong hint that the long-awaited version of Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 might actually ship soon – ironically, by releasing a tool that blocks installation of the browser on users' PCs." The Register 11:49 AM
"Has Microsoft finally embraced open source? By implementing Git in its developer tools, Microsoft is using GPL-licensed software -- and perhaps ending its war on open source" InfoWorld 10:35 AM
"With Sony Set to Reveal Playstation 4, When Will Microsoft Respond?" Forbes 9:48 AM
"Court rejects Oracle's bid for a quicker end to HP suit" Reuters 10:00 AM
"HP workers halt legal fight against bosses over 29,000 job cuts: HP employees have 'withdrawn' legal action against the company and agreed to return to the negotiating table to hear CEO Meg Whitman's plan to cut 29,000 jobs." Channel Register 11:47 AM
"HP to Close German Enterprise Services Site With 1,100 Employees" Bloomberg 9:44 AM
"HP to close site in Germany, cutting 850 jobs" Reuters 12:13 PM
"HP's building an avatar to manage your mobile connections: The company is developing a cloud-based service to manage mobile devices and wireless connections based on context" IDG News Service 10:36 AM
"HP reels in late for LTO-6 party, yells: Tape is BA-ACK" The Register 11:48 AM
"Oracle Loses Bid To End HP Lawsuit" InformationWeek 4:45 PM
"Oracle: BMO Capital Ups Rating; See Better Enterprise Spending" Forbes 10:30 AM
"IBM May Need Multibillion-Dollar Deal to Jump-Start Sales" Bloomberg 12:14 PM
"IBM buys big-data analytics company Star Analytics" GigaOM 6:17 PM
"Intel plans big splash for Mobile World Congress" CNET News 12:18 PM
"Intel says businesses want ultrabooks not BYOD" V3 11:54 AM
"Intel demands Haswell ultrabooks be equipped with touch screens, say Taiwan makers" DigiTimes 10:27 AM
"Cisco Systems names Motorola CEO Brown to board" Associated Press 12:12 PM
"U.S. Weighs Tougher Action over China Cyberattacks" Techland 11:51 AM
"Patent Producers Clustered in Only a Few Cities" New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required] 10:34 AM
"IT 'nearshoring' to pick up in 2013" ZDNet 12:02 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: #%@*$$$$!
