MacRumors

macupdate bundleA few times a year, MacRumors partners with MacUpdate to promote their Mac application bundle deal.

Their latest bundle delivers 12 Mac applications for $49.99 (a $609 value if all purchased separately). Notably, it includes Data Rescue 3, a data recovery tool, as well as two popular games, Company of Heroes and Roller Coaster Tycoon 3.


The full bundle includes (retail value in parenthesis):

- Data Rescue 3 ($99.99) - Recover lost data on drives.
- Espresso 2 ($75.00) - Powerful HTML, XML, CSS and JavaScript development tool.
- Snapz Pro X 2.5 ($69.00) - Powerful screenshot and video capture utility.
- TotalFinder ($18.00) - Adds tabs, hotkeys, and other tweaks to the Finder.
- TotalSpaces ($15.00) - Brings grid-style Spaces to OS X 10.7 and 10.8.
- Mac DVDRipper Pro 4 ($24.95) - DVD ripping tool.
- PopChar X 6 ($38.00) - Floating window shows available font characters.
- MoneyWell 2 ($49.99) - Personal finance manager with a single-window interface.
- Swift Publisher 3 ($29.95) - Print shop layout creation tool with 1100 image goodies.
- Company of Heroes ($29.99) - Real-time strategy game with two expansion packs included.
- Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 ($29.99) - Theme park simulation game.

The first 12,000 buyers also get Live Interior 3D Pro ($49.95 value).

All apps together are being sold for $49.99 until December 19th. MacRumors is a promotional partner with MacUpdate. Bundle sales through these links benefit MacRumors financially, and provide a way for readers to directly support this site.

NewImageCasio has officially announced the Bluetooth G-Shock, a $180 Bluetooth v4-enabled smart watch. Though the watch will ostensibly be competing with the Pebble e-paper wristwatch, the G-Shock is in a bit of a different category.

It's a much more traditional watch, looking nearly identical to other G-Shock watches, water resistant to 200m, and with significantly fewer features resulting from its Bluetooth v4 connectivity than the Pebble. When paired with an iPhone, the Casio smart watch can automatically set its own time, alert you to incoming calls and email, and locate your iPhone from the watch.

The watch only works with the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 at the moment. They are the only iPhones that support the new Bluetooth Low Energy specification which we've covered previously. Casio isn't the only company to adopt Bluetooth Low Energy; the Pebble watch and other watches like the Strata are both using the same technology.


There are a number of other possible uses for Bluetooth LE including heart rate monitors, proximity sensors like the one built into the Lockitron lock, and more. These products, however, have been slow to come to market.

The G-Shock uses an ordinary watch battery and the company says it should last 2 years when connected to Bluetooth for 12 hours per day. The watch lists for $180 and has limited availability at select retailers.

Adding to the selection of Lightning accessories for the iPhone 5 and the latest iPod touch, Philips has announced four new speaker docks with built-in Lightning connectors.

There are two docking speakers, a bedroom dock with clock, as well as a music system. They should be available for purchase in time for Christmas.

Philipsthing

Philips Lifestyle Music System (DCM2067) – an elegant and slim design that looks good in any modern interior. As well as charging and playing music from Lightning enabled devices through its retractable Lightning dock; the system also includes a CD player and FM radio. Even with its slender footprint, the system delivers 20W RMS power to provide a great sound performance.

Philips Portable Docking Speaker (DS7580) – slim and compact enough to fit in your bag, it features Philips’ wOOx technology that provides a rich and deep bass. Precise tuning between the speaker drivers ensures a smooth transition between low- to mid- and high-frequencies. With a built-in battery that lasts for approximately eight hours you can enjoy your music anywhere.

Philips Room to Room Docking Speaker (DS3205) – incorporates high-quality neodymium speakers, which are great for better bass response and a pure balanced sound quality.

Philips Bedroom Docking Speaker (DS1155) – has a 360-degree design, providing rich omnidirectional sound to fill your bedroom. The clock display of the docking speaker automatically synchronizes with the clock of your Apple device, and the speaker also includes a USB port at the back of the speaker allowing users to easily charge a second mobile device.

Philips didn't release any pricing info, nor which retailers will carry them, but Apple's Retail and Online Stores have carried Philips docks in the past.

There is a fifth Lightning dock that Philips shows on its Flickr page, however the Philips Urban Micro System (DCM3155) goes unmentioned in the press release.

The United Nations has released an app, created by three volunteers, to keep track of the United Nations observances such as World AIDS Day on December 1, or the International Day of Happiness on March 20th.

UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference allows users to import observances into the iPhone calendar and includes sharing options for email and social media.

Unapp

The app is the electronic version of the print United Nations Making a Difference 2013 Calendar, which highlights areas of UN achievements through high-resolution photos and text bullets. The electronic version was developed — at no cost to the United Nations — by United Nations Online volunteers Christopher Bell (New Zealand), Aveline Sodji (Canada) and Andrew Thornton (United Kingdom), working with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI). DPI staff and interns created app-specific icons and provided development support.

"Working for the United Nations in any capacity is an honour, but doing so on a voluntary basis—even in this small way—seems to be the purest way to give back to an organization committed to world peace, development and human rights", said Mr. Thornton, the coordinator of the volunteers.

UN Calendar of Observances: Making a Difference is a free download on the App Store. [Direct Link]

itunes radio round iconBack in early September, news broke in several publications about Apple's plans for a Pandora-like custom radio service, with the company reportedly seeking to arrange deals with music labels to allow more flexibility than permitted under the mandatory licensing used by Pandora. At the time, a launch was said to be "months away".

By late October, reports were indicating that talks remained in limbo with Apple and the major music labels remaining far apart in their licensing offers, although Apple was reportedly still hoping for an early 2013 launch.

As part of a report noting that Pandora's stock plunged yesterday after issuing weak guidance for the upcoming quarter, CNET says that Apple still has not made any significant progress with the major music labels.

The rumors continue to swirl but multiple music industry sources have told CNET in recent weeks that the deal that Apple has offered for iRadio has left the major record companies -- Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group -- cold.

My sources say that, at a minimum, a deal with all the majors is nowhere near to being completed. Even if Apple sweetens its offer or the big labels change their mind tomorrow, these deals take a while to put to bed. Even in the best case scenario, it will still be a while before we see iRadio.

Eddy Cue has long been Apple's "master negotiator" for content deals, a role that he has reportedly filled with a calm yet firm demeanor that has made him very well respected in the business. As Apple's content empire has grown, Cue's role has expanded to the point where it now encompasses the iTunes Store, App Store, iCloud, iBookstore, iAd, Siri, and Maps.

Tag: CNET

itunes 11 iconIn his review of iTunes 11, AllThingsD's Walt Mossberg notes that Apple is preparing a minor update to address several issues with the initial release of the software. Among the changes included in the update will be the return of a feature that allows users to find duplicate songs in their libraries.

A feature that finds duplicate entries is missing. Apple says it will soon be restored in a minor update of the program.

In my tests, some album covers were missing in album view. Apple says this is a rare bug, but one it has solved and will fix in a minor update soon. Another bug the company says will be remedied prevents owners of Apple TVs from wirelessly streaming cloud-based movies to their TVs.

Mossberg also reports that Apple has no intention of bringing back the Cover Flow view of album art, with the company finding that few users were interested in it and the new Expanded View offering a fresh take on integrating large album art into library browsing.

Related Forum: Mac Apps

Parts firm ETrade Supply has posted several photos of what it believes may be the rear shell for next-generation iPhone, which we are referring to as the iPhone 5S in accordance with Apple's recent pattern of naming the devices.

The part is extremely similar to that from the iPhone 5, in line with Apple's pattern of maintaining a given body style for two generations before making more significant modifications. This iPhone 5S part is, however, distinctly different from its iPhone 5 counterpart in several ways, most obviously in the arrangement of the screw holes for attaching the logic board.

iphone 5s 5 rear shells
Comparison of iPhone 5S and iPhone 5 rear shells with logic board screw holes boxed in red

Aside from the logic board screw holes, there are other subtle differences between the two parts highlighted in purple, blue, and yellow in the photo comparison.

iphone 5s shell exterior
The exterior of the shell contains the same text as seen on the iPhone 5, with placeholders being used for the various model, IMEI, and regulatory identifiers.

Given that the origin of the photos is unknown, it is certainly possible that this part is an old iPhone 5 prototype design that was discarded in favor of the design that was ultimately used. Alternatively, the part could also be a fake or a knockoff, although at a glance the part seems to show similar levels of quality to that seen on the genuine iPhone 5 part and a knockoff part intended to be used for replacement on iPhone 5 devices would be certain to retain the arrangement of logic board screw holes.

A pair of reports from DigiTimes last month indicated that trial production on the iPhone 5S is already underway with Apple targeting the "middle of 2013" for a launch.

Related Forum: iPhone

eric schmidt blueGoogle Executive Chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt recently sat down for a wide-ranging interview (subscription required) with The Wall Street Journal and in addressing his company's relationship with Apple noted that the two companies would resolve their issues like adults. He said that while explaining Apple and Google's relationship over the past year, which has included Apple taking Google Maps and YouTube out of iOS.

It's always been on and off. Obviously, we would have preferred them to use our maps. They threw YouTube off the home screen [of iPhones and iPads]. I'm not quite sure why they did that.

The press would like to write the sort of teenage model of competition, which is, 'I have a gun, you have a gun, who shoots first?'

The adult way to run a business is to run it more like a country. They have disputes, yet they've actually been able to have huge trade with each other. They're not sending bombs at each other.

I think both Tim [Cook, Apple's CEO] and Larry [Page, Google's CEO], the sort of successors to Steve [Jobs] and me if you will, have an understanding of this state model. When they and their teams meet, they have just a long list of things to talk about.

Schmidt went on to note that Apple and Google talk about patent litigation and how Apple is currently embroiled in legal drama with Google's Android partners rather than Google itself. He also noted that the litigation would continue for "a while" and that the big loser is not Apple or Google, but a smaller company trying to get an operating system off the ground as they wouldn't have the necessary patent coverage.

Recently, Google updated its Search app to include its Siri competitor. Schmidt tells The Wall Street Journal that Google does, in fact, list Siri as an example of the future "non-conforming to the Web" competition. Google also has Safari-competitor Chrome available in the App Store and is reportedly moving closer to submitting Google Maps for iOS.

eddy cue headshotApple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue has decided to sell off 15,000 shares of his stock for about $8.8 million, according to a recent regulatory filing. He sold off his Apple stock for about $583.99 a share.

The stock that Cue cashed in is not part of the 100,000 restricted stock units (RSUs) he received in September 2011 as a promotion bonus. Half of those shares vest on August 24, 2013 while the other half vest on August 24, 2015 if Cue is still with the company.

Today's regulatory filing reveals that Cue still has 285 shares of Apple stock remaining, but The Next Web notes that next year those shares will be bundled in with the 50,000 coming from the first batch of last year's promotion bonus RSUs. Cue has received 76,250 RSUs over the past five years.

Last September, Cue was elevated to the senior management team, and he was recently put in charge of both Siri and Maps. He was also added to Ferrari's Board of Directors.

Cue cashing in does not necessarily mean that he is less invested in Apple. Senior Vice President of Technologies Bob Mansfield, Cue and other Apple executives may be looking to unload stock in 2012 as capital gains tax increases are scheduled in 2013. By selling now rather than in 2013, sellers can reduce their tax burden, and all of the senior executives are in line to receive substantial stock awards if they continue working at the company.

Google has updated the YouTube for iOS app, adding native support for the iPad and the iPhone 5, as well as full support for streaming videos via AirPlay, reports The Next Web.

NewImage

Google’s Horia Ciurdar says that more than 25 percent of all YouTube watching happens on mobile. Since the launch of the YouTube app back in September, Ciurdar says Google has “been hard at work to improve the app based on your feedback.”

Now the YouTube app will get ‘enhanced’ AirPlay support, letting you shoot your videos over to your Apple TV. Videos are also said to start faster and play more smoothly. Google has also improved VoiceOver support for those with visual impairments.

During the iOS 6 Beta, Apple removed the native YouTube app that had been included on every iOS device since the platform was introduced. Once iOS 6 was publicly announced, Google released a native YouTube app for the iPhone.

YouTube for iOS is available as a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Amazon today updated its Kindle for iOS app to version 3.5, adding X-Ray for books. With X-Ray, users can see detailed information on plot ideas, characters, and locations within novels.

kindlexray
From the app description:

X-Ray for Books - see the "bones of the book." X-Ray helps you learn more about notable characters, places, and phrases with descriptions from Shelfari.com and Wikipedia.

X-Ray, which is a major selling point of Amazon's own Kindle devices, was previously introduced as a textbook-only feature with the 3.4 update for Kindle for iOS.

The feature is backed by Wikipedia and Shelfari, which is described as Amazon's community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers. iOS 5 is required for the 3.5 update, which can be downloaded from the App Store.

Apple has released updates for both the iOS and Mac versions of iWork. The iOS versions of Pages, Numbers and Keynote have experienced more significant updates, while the Mac versions have been updated mainly to support the iOS changes.

172743 309726 large 172743 304891 large 172743 285480 large

Pages 1.7:

In this release Pages for iOS is updated for improved compatibility with Microsoft Word and Pages for Mac.

• Use Change Tracking to track changes to body text in a document
• Accept and reject individual changes as you review a document
• Import Pages and Microsoft Word documents with change tracking and continue to track changes to body text
• Preserve tracked changes in documents exported in Microsoft Word or Pages format
• Preserve calculations in tables when importing from and exporting to Pages for Mac
• Add reflections to shapes
• Lock and unlock objects

--

Numbers 1.7:

In this release Numbers for iOS is updated for improved compatibility with Microsoft Excel and Numbers for Mac.

• Hide and unhide rows and columns
• Import and export Numbers for Mac spreadsheets with filters, and turn filters on and off
• Preserve rich text in tables when importing and exporting
• Add reflections to shapes
• Lock and unlock objects

--

Keynote 1.7:

In this release Keynote for iOS is updated for improved compatibility with Microsoft PowerPoint and Keynote for Mac.

• Import and export all Microsoft PowerPoint and Keynote for Mac slide sizes
• Import and export presentation themes, complete with master slides and preset styles
• Play back all Keynote action builds including Move, Rotate, Scale, and Opacity
• Add new slide transitions including Shimmer and Sparkle
• Preserve calculations in tables when importing from and exporting to Keynote for Mac
• Add reflections to shapes
• New print layouts include options to print with presenter notes, with builds, and without backgrounds
• Lock and unlock objects

About iWork 9.3 for Mac

iWork Update 9.3 adds support for iWork for iOS 1.7 apps.

This update is recommended for users of iWork 9.0 and later.

For detailed information on this update and individual application changes, please visit this site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5534.

Updates for the Mac iWork apps are available via the Mac App Store for purchases made via the Store, or via Software Update for customers who originally purchased iWork in a box.

iOS updates can, as always, be downloaded via the App Store.

Pages [Mac App Store, iOS App Store]

Numbers [Mac App Store, iOS App Store]

Keynote [Mac App Store, iOS App Store]

The Charlotte Observer reports that Apple has filed plans to double the size of its fuel cell facility at its data center in Maiden, North Carolina to 10 megawatts.

Fifty fuel cells adjacent to its $1 billion data center in Maiden are expected to be operating by January, Apple said in papers filed with the N.C. Utilities Commission. It will be fueled by “directed biogas” in which cleaned methane gas from a landfill is injected into a natural gas pipeline. [...]

California-based Apple says the initial 4.8-megawatt phase in Maiden began start-up and testing in October. In November it applied for an amended state permit to increase the project’s size.

apple cupertino fuel cells
Fuel cells at Apple's corporate headquarters in Cupertino, California

In North Carolina, Apple is combining its fuel cell facility with two massive solar farms to help achieve the company's goal of using 100% renewable energy at all of its data centers. At its originally planned 4.8-megwatt capacity, Apple's fuel cell facility in North Carolina was already said to be the largest in the United States not owned by a utility company.

In yet another sign that Apple's iPhone 5 stocks are returning to normal, Apple has lifted its limit of two iPhone 5's per customer. The top boilerplate in this image is from last week when Apple began selling the GSM iPhone 5 unlocked in the U.S., and the lower boilerplate is from today.

Twopercustomer
In recent days, we've seen ship times for some countries drop as low as 2-4 business days. Additionally, an Apple Retail source tells us that the prior restrictions on retail iPhone 5 purchases -- two per transaction and a ten-phone lifetime limit -- have been changed to ten phones per transaction and no lifetime limit.

While normal customers are unlikely to need to purchase ten iPhones per transaction, the limits are likely aimed at the well-documented reseller phenomenon where entrepreneurs purchase Apple products in bulk and ship them to countries where those products are not yet for sale.

Since many of these devices are purchased for resale in China, it's possible that Apple's launch of the iPhone 5, iPad mini and 4th-generation iPad in that country later this month could lessen reseller demand.

The iPad mini retains its two-per-customer limit, however. Attempting to purchase more than two on the Apple Online Store displays the following notice:

A maximum of 2 iPad can be purchased per customer. Please adjust the total quantity of iPad in your order before checking out.

Soon after the launch of the 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro in June, we pointed to an analysis by AnandTech showing how the need to drive a massive number of pixels taxed the graphics capabilities of the machine to the point where it struggled to hit 20 frames per second while scrolling on resource-intensive web pages such as Facebook news feeds.

AnandTech now follows up with a new report based on a thread in our forums showing that the latest builds of WebKit, the open source browser engine upon which Safari is based, demonstrate dramatically improved frame rates during scrolling.

I grabbed a build (r135516 - it's no longer the latest build but I assume the later builds also contain the fix) and tried it out on the 13-inch rMBP. Scrolling down my Facebook news feed ended up being one of the best showcases for poor scrolling performance on the rMBPs, so that's obviously the first test I ran. As always I used Quartz Debug to measure UI frame rate.

The results show frame rates of around 20 frames per second (fps) under the standard Safari 6.0.2, but jump to nearly 50 fps when using nightly build r135516 of WebKit.

webkit retina frame rate
Frame rates approaching 50 fps when scrolling in WebKit nightly build r135515

AnandTech hasn't been able to determine exactly what code changes were made to enable the significant boost to scrolling performance on Retina MacBook Pro models, and it is unclear exactly when those changes will be incorporated into Safari itself, but it certainly seems that a solution is on its way.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro

NewImageLoren Brichter, the creator of Letterpress and Tweetie, sat down with GigaOm to talk about developing iOS apps, the App Store, and more.

Brichter was a member of Scott Forstall's iPhone team early on, and though he didn't have much to say about Forstall's ouster from Apple, Brichter did have positive things to say about Ive's promotion:

"I’m excited about Ive" taking over the Human Interface group at Apple, where he will lead both industrial design and the design of the software that runs on it. "He has good taste." He paused. "But more important than good taste, he has the ability to" — he points to the MacBook Air in front of me — "he’s true to the materials, to the medium he’s working in. One of my complaints about design of iOS is it’s doing things that aren’t true to the hardware."

"My design goals with Letterpress were to do things that the graphics hardware was really good at. [Ive] is the kind of person who has the same aesthetic. It’s not superficial — he’d think about [the design of iOS and an iOS device] all the way through" not just make something that looked good, he said.

Brichter also disclosed that Letterpress has been downloaded more than 1 million times. Additionally, he developed his own version of the user interface framework -- bypassing Apple's UIKit -- because he "wanted to try."

D2thunderboltLaCie's popular d2 series of hard drives have been upgraded with Thunderbolt, in addition to the existing USB 3.0 ports. There is a 3TB model for $299 and a 4TB unit for $399, both coming with 3-year warranties.

LaCie promises top performance from the drives, though they are hampered a bit by the legacy hard drives inside. Solid state drives are needed to achieve the highest transfer speeds. That said, for those needing maximum storage, these drives should do the trick.

Deadlines rule our world. When digital storage is critical for your project, it had better be as fast and reliable as you are. In every office setting, it has to connect to any computer, deliver more than enough speed for the most demanding applications, and be completely reliable. Enter the LaCie d2 USB 3.0 Thunderbolt Series.

The drives are available from LaCie's online store.

Puddingmonster
ZeptoLab -- the development house behind Cut the Rope and its offspring -- has showed off its next project, another game called Pudding Monsters. We haven't seen any gameplay but TechCrunch got some hands-on time and has a brief preview:

Pudding Monsters is all about getting pieces of pudding to stick together. Unlike the physics-based puzzler Cut the Rope that made players focus on getting their timing just right, Pudding Monsters is an even more casual game and doesn’t focus on physics. Instead, it’s a more basic puzzle game where players have to move pieces of pudding around a board, but unless they hit an object or another piece of pudding, the pieces will fall of the board and the game is over. There are numerous game elements like pudding pieces that are asleep and wake up when you touch them that will keep surely keep gamers occupied and interested in the game for a while.


Pudding Monsters will arrive on the iPhone and iPad on December 20th.