MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Microsoft is set to cut pricing of Windows 8.1 by 70 percent for computer and tablet manufacturers, according to Bloomberg, partly due to increased competition from both Apple and Google in the PC space. Stronger competition from Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google cut revenue last quarter at Microsoft’s devices and consumer licensing division, which includes Windows software, as the computer...

Apple is preparing to open a new retail store in Lansing, Michigan, according to the Lansing State Journal. The plans for a 6,000 square foot store at the Eastwood Towne Center were discovered in paperwork submitted to Lansing Township officials by a contractor working with Apple. A contractor for the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology company filed an application with Lansing Township officials...

Adobe today released a second security update for its Adobe Flash Player software on both Mac and Windows, addressing a threat that could allow an attacker to take control of an affected system, executing malicious code. The vulnerability (CVE–2014–0502) allowed attackers to compromise at least three nonprofit organizations according to security firm FireEye (via ArsTechnica).This threat actor...

Apple is expanding its Maiden, North Carolina data center again according to permits filed with Catawba County, reports The Hickory Daily Record. The plans say the additional data center building will cover 14,246 square feet with walls 25 feet tall, made of precast concrete wall panels along steel columns, similar to the "tactical" data center that was added in 2012.Photo of the facility from ...

LaCie has launched several new products with Seagate's new 5TB drives, including a new Thunderbolt 5-bay RAID array that puts up to 25 terabytes of storage in one 5-bay unit. LaCie's is using Seagate's new drives featuring 'Shingled Magnetic Recording' technology to push the physical boundaries of magnetic storage.The new drives are also available in LaCie's d2 Quadra for $350 and the d2 USB3.0 ...

Work at Apple's Campus 2 is well underway with most of the existing buildings now demolished and parking lot pavement removed, as shown in a recent aerial photograph (via MacGeneration) from Ron Cervi, a news and traffic reporter for KCBS. Demolition on the site began in November after Apple received unanimous approval for the project from the Cupertino City Council. Photo by Ron Cervi ...

doubleTwist, the company behind the popular multi-platform iTunes-compatible doubleTwist Media Player, today brought its new AirPlay Recorder app to the Mac, allowing iTunes users to capture and save streaming audio for offline use.First introduced for Android in January, AirPlay Recorder is designed to record audio, such as streaming songs from iTunes Radio, using AirPlay. After downloading...

Apple today seeded build 13C62 of OS X 10.9.2 to developers, marking the seventh beta iteration of 10.9.2. The release comes five days after the sixth OS X 10.9.2 beta, build 13C59, and nearly two months after the first OS X 10.9.2 beta. The update is available to registered developers through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store and should be appearing in the Mac Dev Center...

Photos of Apple's first Brazilian retail store in Rio de Janeiro have surfaced by way of website MacMagazine [Google Translate]. The store, which is located at the VillageMall luxury shopping center, is notable for taking on a unique "pavilion" look with a single floor and a curved glass exterior. Unlike most Apple Stores, the location is based on the concept of having two large separate spaces,...

Apple today seeded build 13C59 of OS X 10.9.2 to developers, marking the sixth beta iteration of 10.9.2.The release comes roughly a week after the fifth OS X 10.9.2 beta, build 13C53, and nearly two months after the first OS X 10.9.2 beta. The update is available to registered developers through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store as well as through the Mac Dev Center. Apple...

National Geographic Channel show Diggers last year unearthed a time capsule containing a piece of Steve Jobs memorabilia that's been buried for 30 years. A video obtained by CNET shows the excavation and opening of this renowned canister. (Credit: Mike Durkin) The time capsule, known as the "Aspen Time Tube", was buried in 1983 by the organizers of the International Design Conference....

Apple has updated its Compressor encoding app to version 4.4.1, fixing a number of reliability and stability issues. Compressor is used to encode video files for posting to websites like YouTube and Vimeo, burning to DVD or Blu-ray, and more. What's new in Compressor Version 4.1.1• Resolves issues installing Compressor on a system where Qmaster was previously enabled• Improves reliability ...

Apple's current head of human resources, Joel Podolny, has left his role to focus full-time on Apple University, according to Apple spokesperson Kristin Huguet, who spoke to Bloomberg. Apple University is called "an increasingly important resource" in the note written to the news site."We are excited that Denise Young Smith will expand her role to lead Apple's worldwide human resources...

Apple's quarterly earnings may be stagnant, but at least one division within the company is showing extraordinary growth. As noted by Asymco analyst Horace Dediu, Apple's iTunes/Software/Services division grew by 34 percent year-over-year after taking into account the 70% Apple pays to developers for App Store purchases. Dediu estimates that Apple's gross revenues from the...

A new Mac OS X trojan horse that monitors web browsing traffic in order to steal Bitcoins has been discovered by SecureMac. The trojan, called OSX/CoinThief.A, is disguised as an innocuous Bitcoin app called StealthBit that purports to send and receive anonymous payments.The app was posted on open-source website GitHub, but the precompiled version of the app had the malicious payload installed. ...

The first Apple retail location could have opened in the late 70s, according to a new account from distinguished Silicon Valley marketer Regis McKenna (via CNET). During a fireside chat held Thursday at the Computer History Museum, McKenna recalled a 1976 meeting in which he turned down an offer from Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak to market the Apple II. However, McKenna stated...

Apple today seeded build 13C53 of OS X 10.9.2 to developers, marking the fifth beta iteration of 10.9.2. The release comes a week after the fourth OS X 10.9.2 beta, build 13C48, and over a month after the first OS X 10.9.2 beta. The update is available to registered developers through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store as well as through the Mac Dev Center. Apple continues...

Apple's director of Federal Government Affairs appeared at a daylong summit for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to discuss distracted driving. A number of other executives appeared at the session as well, including representatives from Google, Samsung, AT&T, Sprint, Toyota, General Motors, and more.The summit, a multi-part roundtable discussion called...