"Dodging the question on the great Aussie rip-off: IT should be an easy question to answer. You ask an Australian for more than $3000 for one product. You ask an American for less than $US2000 for the same product. Why do you charge Australians so much more? Don't you like us very much?" ["Apple also appeared at the pricing committee today, and its answers were expected but, to its credit, much clearer. It charges more for music, movies and TV shows in Australia because the record labels, movie and TV houses charge greater wholesale prices here. It's not fair, of course, for Australians to pay 70 per cent more for AC/DC's Back in Black than Americans pay, but Apple is not behind the extra fee."] Melbourne Herald Sun 7:57 AM
"Apple blames rights holders for big mark-ups" Melbourne Age 8:04 AM
"Apple, Microsoft and Adobe give reasons for higher prices in Australia, can't guarantee you'll like them" Engadget 7:59 AM
"A Slightly Improved iPhone May Not Mute Apple's Critics: Does the next iPhone have to be a home run, or will a solid double be enough to woo back critics and investors? The latest speculation involves what is being called the iPhone 5S, which may have a better processor and camera but nothing else in the way of groundbreaking design or functions. Then again, a predicted third quarter launch gives Apple enough time to pull a rabbit out of the innovation hat." MacNewsWorld 8:34 AM
"EU antitrust regulators monitoring distribution of Apple's iPad, iPhone" ["'The Commission has been made aware of Apple's distribution practices for iPhone and iPad. There have been no formal complaints though,' Antoine Colombani told a daily briefing."] Reuters 8:05 AM
"European regulators scrutinize iPhone contracts with carriers: The informal antitrust probe comes after carriers complain that Apple's strict terms squelch competition." CNET News 8:08 AM
"iPhone, iPad come under EU antitrust scrutiny" Chicago Tribune [Free Registration Required] 8:46 AM
"Europe Weighs iPhone Sale Deals With Carriers for Antitrust Abuse" New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required] 9:48 AM
"EU regulator monitors Apple iPad and iPhone distribution" Reuters 6:50 PM
"EU Probes iPhone Contracts" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 9:47 AM
"Apple's IPad, IPhone Distribution Faces EU Antitrust Scrutiny" Bloomberg 9:57 AM
"EU mulls Apple antitrust probe over contracts: Telcos claim that Apple contracts with operators are too strict" IDG News Service 8:40 AM
"Apple put under Europe's microscope after iPhone antitrust complaints" ZDNet 9:50 AM
"What Apple did to trigger a European antitrust inquiry" Fortune 8:09 AM
"EU antitrust unit said to eye Apple iPhone accords" MarketWatch 7:59 AM
"Ex Apple CEO Sculley thinks Jony Ive will notice 'next big thing': Sculley has elaborated on what he meant when he said Apple is experiencing a 'lull in innovation'" Macworld UK 9:35 AM
"Apple pulls iForgot password recovery system over security bug" The Register 9:10 PM
"Apple Updates XProtect to Detect Yontoo Adware" Intego 1:40 PM
"Apple fights Yontoo Trojan with XProtect update: New XProtect definitions identify Yontoo as 'OSX.AdPlugin.i' and block all but the latest versions of Java." MacFixIt 12:57 PM
"Apple blocks OS X 'Yontoo' malware that injected ads into websites" 9 to 5 Mac 1:40 PM
"Apple updates XProtect.plist to block Yontoo" AppleInsider 2:21 PM
"Mac Users Getting Slammed By Yontoo Trojan" CRN 10:45 AM
"Apple leads, Dropbox gains in cloud storage wars: Your digital entertainment habits help propel Apple to quite the lead over other cloud storage services in the U.S., according to a new survey." CNET News 8:07 AM
"Apple increases iCloud hacking defences: Apple has introduced two-step authentication for iCloud and other services to beef up security against possibly hacking attacks." Telegraph 8:29 AM
"Security loophole leaves Apple IDs, passwords vulnerable to easy attack" Digital Trends 6:45 PM
"The cash register rings its last sale: Stores ditch cash registers, allow sales staff and shoppers to checkout on phones and tablets" ["J.C. Penney, a mid-price department-store chain, said the response by customers has been great since it started rolling out iPod Touch devices late last year in its 1,100 stores. The goal is to have one in the hands of every salesperson by May. The company said that about a quarter of purchases at its stores nationwide now come from an iPod Touch. ... Urban Outfitters had given iPod Touch devices to its sales staff two years ago and the move has been very well received by shoppers, said Calvin Hollinger, the company's chief information officer in his address to investors."] Associated Press 8:50 AM
"Apple Grabs Top Spot In J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Study ... Again" App Advice 8:29 AM
"Apple tops smartphone satisfaction survey for ninth consecutive time" T3 8:29 AM
"Customer Satisfaction With Smartphones Increases, Apple Ranks Highest For 9th Consecutive Time" MacPrices 1:21 PM
"Apple and HP top customer experience ratings for computer companies" Digital Trends 6:45 PM
"Apple & HP Rated Best For Customer Experience [Report] Cult of Mac 1:17 PM
"Apple adds 'Offers In-App Purchases' App Store warning to freemium apps: iOS store's tweak makes it clearer which apps offer IAP, which may be a boon for parents" The Guardian 1:33 PM
"Google To Compete With Apple and Samsung On Smart Watch" Forbes 7:56 AM
"NYT: Apple allegedly squeezing EU operators on iPhone contracts, regulators looking into it" The Verge 8:28 AM
"Apple under fire from governments in both hemispheres over alleged anti-competitive practices" 9 to 5 Mac 8:34 AM
"15 of the App Store's most bizarre offerings" [Slideshow] Macworld 8:27 AM
"Apple Agrees to Accept Syria Wargame if It Doesn't Include Syria" Forbes 10:46 AM
"Apple Yanks 'Sweatshop' Game From The App Store. Oh, The Irony" ReadWrite 8:30 AM
"Chinese Students Are Signing Up For Horrific Loans To Buy Apple Products" Cult of Mac 1:17 PM
"iPad Hacker Appeals With Cyber Law Expert as New Lawyer" Mashable 6:48 PM
"Steve Wozniak Talks About Early Apple in Newly Found 1984 Videos" The Mac Observer 12:50 PM
"1984: Woz on Steve Jobs, Apple I" FairerPlatform 7:51 AM
"iPad-Playing Penguins Try to Nip at Virtual Mouse" ABCNews 10:22 AM
"Watch Nokia's Stephen Elop Lob Someone Else's iPhone On The Floor, Promise To Replace It" TechCrunch 8:28 AM
"Elop throws an iPhone on Finnish TV, refuses to answer Lumia 928 questions" The Verge 8:28 AM
"Girl fakes kidnapping for iPad" Khaleej Times 7:28 PM
"Kid Fakes Kidnapping to Con an iPad" PadGadget 7:28 PM
Non-Apple News
"Senate embraces Internet taxes: Senators vote 75 to 24 to glue an endorsement of Internet sales taxes onto a Democratic budget bill, despite opponents predicting the idea is antibusiness and a 'bureaucratic nightmare.'" CNET News 9:08 PM
"ARM's new CEO: You'll get no 'glorious new strategy' from me" The Register 12:48 PM
"Twitter Archive Now Supports 12 More Languages" PC Magazine 12:00 PM
"Forget Passwords! EyeVerify Knows You by Your Eyes" PC Magazine 11:59 AM
"Temporary fixes released for Samsung Android lock-screen glitch" IDG News Service 11:36 AM
"Researchers uncover vSkimmer malware targeting point-of-sale systems: Malware is sold on cybercriminal forums, McAfee researchers say" IDG News Service 10:39 AM
"Tech hub working on 'Nigeria's next big idea'" CNN 10:33 AM
"China to create home-grown operating system: China is working with software firm Canonical on an open-source operating system customised for Chinese users." BBC 10:20 AM
"Female coder is sacked for tweeting picture of men who made 'sexist' dongle jokes at PyCon developer conference" The Independent 11:39 AM
"Joyent Offers NoSQL Database As A Service" InformationWeek 10:07 AM
"At AT&T Stores, No Welcome Mat for BlackBerry" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 12:56 PM
"BlackBerry CEO Talks Testing Smartphone-Powered Notebooks and Tablets, Will Share More Info In May" TechCrunch 12:36 PM
"Blackberry boss Thorsten Heins takes bite out of 'outdated' Apple iPhone: Lack of innovation has left iPhone user interface outdated, he says" The Independent 11:41 AM
"BlackBerry's U.S. Debut Marks Biggest Test of Comeback" Bloomberg 10:21 AM
"Micron's Revenue Beats Estimates on Higher Chip Shipments" Bloomberg 10:21 AM
"Vietnamese high school kids can pass Google interview" The Register 12:47 PM
"Google Opens Universal Analytics Beta To All, Creates A Single Analytics Platform For Tracking Online And Offline Interactions" TechCrunch 12:36 PM
"Watch Google's Sergey Brin Talk About The Emasculating Smartphone And Google Glass" TechCrunch 12:34 PM
"Google Drive hit by three outages this week: One of the incidents affected more than 30 percent of user requests to connect to the cloud storage suite" IDG News Service 12:07 PM
"Google is also working on a smartwatch, following Apple, Samsung" Los Angeles Times [Paid Membership Required] 11:48 AM
"Kansas City Hosts Hackathon To Develop Apps For Google Fiber" Forbes 10:49 AM
"Google & LG Join Crowded Smartwatch Rumor Mill" The Mac Observer 6:38 PM
"LG developing own iWatch and Google Glass-like wearable gizmo" iDownload Blog 10:48 AM
"Adobe to Australia: Higher pricing is your 'personalised experience'" ZDNet 8:06 AM
Publications/Podcasts
"Gene Steinberg meets The Loop's Jim Dalrymple, Laptop magazine's Michael Prospero, and Kirk McElhearn, Macworld's 'iTunes Guy,' this week on the Tech Night Owl LIVE!" The Tech Night Owl LIVE 6:38 PM
"Apple to launch 'low-end iPhone' without Retina in 2013: report: That's the claim from Amit Daryanani of RBC Capital Markets, who says the device will have a 4-inch display, but come with plastic casing." CNET News 8:41 AM
"Rumor: Apple to launch cheaper iPhone with plastic casing, non-Retina display this summer" AppleInsider 9:37 AM
"iPhone 5S, Low-End iPhone With No Retina Display Reportedly Launching This Summer" BGR 8:48 AM
"When Apple's new iPhones are due" Fortune 10:09 AM
"Apple's Jony Ive working on new look iOS" Digital Trends 8:28 AM
"Jony Ive Leaves His Mark As Skeuomorphism Concept Vanishes From One App" App Advice 8:46 AM
"With Apple's Jony Ive leading effort, iOS 7 could have simpler look" Los Angeles Times [Paid Membership Required] 11:51 AM
"Apple Management Shake-Up Results in Better Collaboration Between Apple Design Teams, New 'Flat' Design for iOS 7" PadGadget 8:27 AM
"iOS 7 to be flatter, starker, and simpler" T3 8:29 AM
"Apple's iOS 7 Could Come With Simpler, 'Flat' Design Jony Ive Says" LAPTOP Magazine 8:52 AM
"Apple iOS Platform Preferred by Enterprises Worldwide: Citrix/The report, which also details trends in dealing with apps and security policies, found iOS is the preferred platform in many vertical industries." eWeek 10:49 AM
"iPhone 6 Concept: Waterproof iPhone with New Home Button" GottaBeMobile 7:59 AM
"Photos show alleged Home button, vibrator for iPhone 5S" Electronista 1:37 PM
"iPhone 5S Update -Everything You Need to Know" Tapscape 7:51 AM
"Apple warns 'we will reject apps that aren't iPhone 5, Retina ready, use UDID'" Macworld UK 8:19 AM
"Apple places kill date on apps that use 'UDID' device identifiers" ZDNet 9:50 AM
"Apple to iOS Developers: Go Retina or Go Home" The Mac Observer 9:11 AM
"Apple granted four design patents, files for vibrating iPad 5, iBooks Author" Macworld UK 10:09 AM
"Apple plans iPhone that always falls on its feet" Telegraph 8:30 AM
"Apple's Next iPhone Could Come With Built-In Drop Protection, Patent Hints" LAPTOP Magazine 10:09 AM
"Yet more problems said to plague Retina MacBooks: Problems with fans and ghosting on the Retina display, and now claims that users are experiencing 'other significant performance issues'." Macworld UK 10:09 AM
Price Trackers/Deals
"Fractal Combat For iPhone and iPad Is Temporarily Available For Free (Normally $0.99)" Apple Sliced 9:49 AM
"Super Goalkeeper For iPhone and iPad Is Free Right Now (Previously $1.99)" Apple Sliced 9:49 AM
"Save The Pencil For iPhone Is Free Today (Was $1.99)" Apple Sliced 9:49 AM
"15" MacBook Pro Prices & Sales" MacPrices 7:50 AM
"13" MacBook Pro Prices & Sales" MacPrices 7:50 AM
"Video Review DBA CASES Thin Grip Case for iPhone 5" Run Around Tech 8:47 AM
"Dual-jack Heist may not be Wicked good, but they're pretty good earbuds" AppleDailyReport 8:31 AM
"Aztaka: These days it seems like the return of the sidescroller. There have been action sidescrollers, stealth sidescrollers, underwater puzzle sidescrollers, and now even an action-RPG sidescroller, Aztaka. Given the large quantity of games to compare it against, does Aztaka bring something new to the table? Does it bring in a new gameplay mechanic, a compelling story, expansive environments, or none of the above? Well, there's only one way to find out. Let's get playing." Inside Mac Games 9:02 AM
iPad/iPhone/iPod touch Apps
"GarageBand for iOS review: The music creation app that continues to amaze" CNET Reviews 7:52 PM
"Apple's Podcasts review: New features close the gap, but it's not perfect" CNET Reviews 12:53 PM
"Review: Apple's Podcasts app catches up with the competition" GigaOM 11:29 AM
"Hands on: Podcasts 1.2 is the one Apple should have shipped" Macworld 8:47 AM
"Now TV 2.0 for iPad and iPhone review: Movies and Sports on your iOS device" Macworld UK 8:33 AM
"Addappt opens its contact sync app for iOS to the public with new group and messaging features" The Next Web 8:19 AM
"Build beautiful slide decks on your iPad with Haiku Deck" PCWorld 12:05 PM
"Sorry, DNG iPhone app won't let you shoot true raw photos: A new iOS camera app called Digital Negative uses Adobe's DNG format to store uncompressed photos, but it's not the original raw sensor data. Developer Cypress Innovations hopes Apple will open up." CNET News 8:08 AM
"Moment Camera For iPhone Is A Charming Alternative Snapper With A Beautiful And Clean User Interface" Redmond Pie 11:31 AM
"Abalone Swims To The App Store, But This Game Is No Wet Fish" App Advice 1:18 PM
"Review: Karateka for iOS is a beautiful fighting game for the casual player" Macworld 8:31 AM
"'Le Vamp' Review - This Endless Runner Bites, but That's a Good Thing" Touch Arcade 12:57 PM
"Plasma-Sky Review: Plasma-Sky is another one of those addictive arcade shooters that is available in the App Store and has the appeal to attract almost anyone to its vibrant and enjoyable gameplay." 148Apps 8:35 AM
"Does Apple's iWatch Signal a Cheap iPhone?" The Motley Fool 8:36 PM
"For iOS 7, Apple May Dispense with the Leather and Felt" Techland 6:41 PM
"Why I won't be going back to BlackBerry from iPhone: After using BlackBerry phones for years before switching to an iPhone, I was intrigued to see whether the Z10 could tempt me back. But glitches and a lack of apps left me cold." CNET Reviews 1:18 PM
"Apple's Wrongheaded, Dangerous Censorship of Satirical Sweatshop for iPad" Techland 1:17 PM
"Here's One Way Apple Continues to Dominate" TheStreet 1:15 PM
"Scaling on a Shoestring, Lessons from NewsBlur" Webmonkey 1:01 PM
"Will Obamacare Tax Your iPhone as a Medical Device?" CIO 12:50 PM
"The Challenge for Smartphone Makers in 2013" Tech.pinions 11:51 AM
"Will There Be More Than One New iPhone This Summer?" [Video Report] Bloomberg 9:57 AM
"Can Apple Survive a $99 Kindle Fire Tablet?" The Motley Fool 9:57 AM
"Managers: Those iPads coming to work, it's not what you think" ZDNet 9:50 AM
"Apple: On the art of entering a (corporate) corner/Apple's reconstituted design organization is beginning to work together again." ZDNet 9:49 AM
"Analyst predicts iPhone 5S, low-cost iPhone this summer (but I'm dubious)" AppleDailyReport 9:47 AM
"New Web Domain Names: Should You Pass?" InformationWeek 1:31 PM
"VMware Crosses The Rubicon Once Again" Seeking Alpha 1:25 PM
"The door starts to open: HBO mulling the first step toward a la carte programming" AppleDailyReport 1:21 PM
"Facebook's social status can't cement its future" MarketWatch 1:16 PM
"Swapping Windows 8 for Linux Mint, openSuSE and Fedora on my new netbook" ZDNet 1:05 PM
"Five Opportunities for Mobile Computing: Thousands of startup companies see mobile computing as their chance to strike it big. We picked five." Technology Review 12:37 PM
"Facebook's Sandberg and Yahoo's Mayer don't pass muster as tech role models for UK young women" V3 12:52 PM
"Women aren't even safe in the Twittersphere: When women, like Adria Richard, speak up, they risk the misogynist wrath of those who try to shut them down" Salon 12:16 PM
"Unboxing the Razer Edge Gaming Tablet" PC Magazine 12:00 PM
"The top 8 cloud skills employers now demand" [Slideshow] CIO 11:37 AM
"Worried your cloud service will die? Get open source insurance" InfoWorld 11:37 AM
"Google, LinkedIn, and Microsoft prove no cloud is too big to fail: Crashes are inevitable in the cloud. The trick to a successful cloud strategy is to design for the impending failure" InfoWorld 11:37 AM
"Email forever! Why social apps can't replace it" InfoWorld 11:35 AM
"'Freemium' model makes video-game marketing tough slog" The Globe and Mail [Free Registration Required] 11:25 AM
"PC monitor demand to continue declining in 2013, but large display segment set to grow, says IDC" DigiTimes 10:46 AM
"Three cool things you can do with your flash drive" Austin American-Statesman [Free Registration Required] 10:17 AM
"Google Driverless Car: Hands-On Account Of Driverless Car Ride" BGR 10:09 AM
"Could drive vendors end transient drive failures?" ZDNet 9:50 AM
"Don't Fear Your Kids' Technology Use; Embrace it" Mashable 8:29 AM
"US Department Of Defense Comes To The Defense Of ... BlackBerry?" App Advice 8:29 AM
"Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Blackberry Q10 specs comparison" The Inquirer 8:10 AM
"Commentary: Foxconn does not need Sharp Mexico plant" DigiTimes 8:06 AM
"Deal to sell Dell may be about to face competition: Deadline looms for bidders looking to top $24.4 billion deal to sell Dell to CEO, Silver Lake" Associated Press 9:50 AM
"Dell may face Mark Hurd as deal deadline looms: Use of 'duelling CEOs' in buyout battle is unusual, experts say" MarketWatch 1:16 PM
"Is Mark Hurd the Man for Dell?" [Video Report] Bloomberg 1:22 PM
"Will Michael Dell Be Outbid?" [Video Report] CNBC 1:21 PM
"Dell's 'Go-Shop' Period Ends With No Word On Competing LBO Offers" CRN 9:15 PM
"Reliant on Dell for PCs? Start looking around, says Gartner ball-gazer" Channel Register 12:48 PM
"IBM makes atomic chip breakthrough: Scientists at IBM claimed today that it has cracked a materials conundrum that may well create a new class of memory and logic chips." TG Daily 12:43 PM
"IBM moves toward post-silicon transistor: IBM's new work shows that flexible low-power circuitry could be built with strongly correlated materials" Techworld 12:39 PM
"IBM: We need scientists to take part in 'world's biggest Big Data challenge'" Computerworld UK 12:39 PM
"HP Taps Former Top Accountant, Jim Murrin, To Head M&A" Business Insider 9:52 AM
"Microsoft, Adobe, wilt during Australian price gouge grilling" The Register 12:47 PM
"Microsoft: Australians think our pricing is fair" ZDNet 1:03 PM
"What to Expect (And What We Want) From Windows Blue" Wired 12:58 PM
"Microsoft expected to update its full suite of built-in Windows 8 apps" ZDNet 1:03 PM
"Bing weaves more Facebook, Twitter data into search results: The Microsoft search engine is doing more and more to distinguish itself as a social search tool" Techworld 12:40 PM
"Would Microsoft Spring a Trap Card on Sony by Blocking Used Game Sales?" Forbes 10:54 AM
"Intel's Pentium launched 20 years ago today" V3 12:53 PM
"Intel Pentium turns 20 today, reminds us they don't build 'em like they used to (Video)" Engadget 9:13 PM
"Intel exec: No future in 10-inch tablets" ZDNet 1:05 PM
"AMD Releases Radeon HD 7790 Midrange Enthusiast Graphics Card" PC Magazine 11:59 AM
"Cisco Must Pay $70 Million in XpertUniverse Patent Case" Bloomberg 1:18 PM
"Cisco ordered to pay $70 million in civil fraud patent case" Reuters 6:50 PM
"Cash prizes for start-ups and SMEs in Cisco BIG Awards" Techworld 12:40 PM
"Plan to hike H-1B cap to 300,000 seen dead; 130,000 cap still possible: Senate bill could impose large fees for big H-1B visa users, sources say" Computerworld 10:37 AM
"NATO's Tallinn Manual outlines rules for cyber-warfare" TG Daily 12:42 PM
"Silicon Valley faces tough use and piracy issues" Washington Post [Free Registration Required] 9:44 AM
"Big Tech tests the waters of the music stream" Reuters 9:55 AM
"The carbon nanotubes of quantum computing" TG Daily 12:42 PM
"U.S. stocks close higher on Cyprus deal hopes: Can app help you invest like a billionaire?" MarketWatch 6:46 PM
"U.S. Stocks Rise on Earnings Amid Cyprus Bailout Debate" Bloomberg 10:22 AM
"Stocks Jump on Cyprus Hopes" FOXBusiness 12:55 PM
"Wall Street rises on hopes for Cyprus deal, but dips for week" Reuters 6:47 PM
"Stocks Gain as Nike Outweighs Cyprus" TheStreet 6:47 PM
"Stocks rise on Cyprus hopes: U.S. stocks rose Friday on optimism that officials in Cyprus will reach a deal this weekend to rescue the nation's troubled banks." CNNMoney 6:47 PM
"Dow Bounces Back to Nearly Erase Week's Losses" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 6:47 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 , 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
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