MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple may be planning to release the final version of OS X 10.8.4 in the near future, as it today sent out notices to AppleSeed members announcing the closure of the OS X 10.8.4 software update project. As noted by AppleInsider, participants received a notification stating that weekend infrastructure maintenance requires the company to close existing products. The notice thanks AppleSeed...

Apple has updated its Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT) Certification, making it easier for individuals to get their initial certifications and for existing techs to keep theirs without yearly recertification exams.The company is making its AppleCare technician certifications permanent as of June 23rd, making it so technicians will not need to go through a yearly recertification...

Longtime Mac users are likely to be familiar with Camino, a Mac-specific browser based on Mozilla's Gecko engine, the same engine used in Netscape 6/7, Firefox, and other browsers. Officially launched in February 2002, Camino took advantage of Cocoa APIs and Apple's Aqua user interface elements and also integrated with several other Mac OS X features. The open source browser continued under...

One of the key features of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, launched in April 2005, was the addition of Dashboard Widgets, miniature apps with specific functions that could exist side by side on a dedicated screen accessible at the touch of a key. The feature spawned a market for third-party widgets, leading Apple to launch a dedicated page where it has hosted widgets for download and provided an easily...

Tapbots has released an update for Tweetbot on the Mac, adding several features that were introduced with the April update to the iOS version of the app, including a new media view and support for cover photos. The media view, which can be accessed at the top of the timeline by typing Command + F, provides an in-line view of photos have videos that have been tweeted, with the Tweets themselves ...

While talking with AllThingD's Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg at D11: All Things Digital, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple has hired former Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson to lead the company's environmental responsibility efforts.Lisa Jackson is joining Apple. Lisa was running the EPA for the last four years. She's going to be coordinating a lot of this activity across...

As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple today seeded build 12E55 of OS X 10.8.4 to developers. The release comes nine days after the previous build 12E52 and marks the eighth beta iteration of OS X 10.8.4. As with previous beta releases, Apple continues to ask developers to focus on Wi-Fi, Graphics Drivers, and Safari. The update is available through the software update tool in the Mac App Store and Ap...

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart ran a satirical segment (via Apple 2.0) on last night's show about Apple CEO Tim Cook's appearance in front of a U.S. Senate Committee examining the tax strategies of multinational corporations. Stewart suggests that a number of Senators are Apple fanboys for praising Cook and his company, as well as questions asking Apple executives what they think should be...

Evernote has added the ability to set reminders and alarms to its note-taking and organizational app, a popular new feature request the company says.For the millions and millions of people around the world that use Evernote everyday to achieve their goals, we’re excited to announce a new part of Evernote that will keep you on track every step of the way. Reminders are here. Our three most...

Forbes reports that former Gartner research director Michael Gartenberg has joined Apple. While his exact position at Apple hasn't been revealed, Gartenberg is said to be working under Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller.This isn’t Gartenberg’s first time jumping into one of the technology companies he tracks — though his last foray lasted less than a month. In Feb. 2007, he joined...

Twitter has updated its Mac app today, adding notification support. When a Direct Message or mention is received, users will now be alerted with a popup notification. This option can be configured in the app’s Preferences window. The update also brings a number of bug fixes:- Fix for Growl notifications not working in Lion and Mountain Lion - Fix for bug that prevented un-favoriting tweets - ...

Millward Brown today released its annual BrandZ study of global brands (via AllThingsD), which found Apple to be the world's most valuable brand for the third straight year. Although Apple topped the list once again, its brand value only increased 1% to $185 billion, which is not as impressive as the 19% increase (from $153 billion in 2011 to $183 billion in 2012) it received last year. Apple...

Apple today released MacBook Air Flash Storage Firmware Update 1.0, an update for Mid-2012 MacBook Air models to address an issue with recovering from crashes.This update is recommended for MacBook Air (mid 2012) models. This update addresses a storage firmware issue that, in rare cases, may cause a system to fail to recover from a crash. Flash storage module from mid-2012 MacBook Air (Source: iFix ...

As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple today seeded build 12E52 of OS X 10.8.4 to developers. The release comes seven days after the previous build 12E47 and marks the seventh beta iteration of OS X 10.8.4. As with previous beta releases, Apple continues to ask developers to focus on Wi-Fi, Graphics Drivers, and Safari. The update is available through the software update tool in the Mac App Store and ...

Apple has updated its iMovie for Mac software with some bug fixes and stability improvements.What's New in Version 9.0.9- Addresses issues where iMovie does not recognize video cameras connected to your Mac- Improves compatibility with projects imported from iMovie for iOS- Includes stability improvementsiMovie is available on the Mac App Store for $14.99. [Direct Link]...

Mozilla has launched Firefox 21 for Mac, Windows, and Linux, adding a number of improvements, namely to the browser's Social API. The Social API is designed to allow social providers to integrate directly with Firefox, displaying selected content on the browser's sidebar or toolbar. With the update Mozilla has added several new partners, including Cliqz, Mixi, and msnNow. Cliqz and msnNow...

Apple has released Thunderbolt Firmware update for all Macs with Thunderbolt ports, providing stability fixes for Thunderbolt and Target Disk Mode. The update requires OS X Lion 10.8.3 or later and uses 1.22MB of disk space. The update can be downloaded via Apple's software update page or through the Mac App...

The hugely popular Pixelmator continues to add features to its image editing app, this time adding an extensive collection of shapes and related tools, a new paint selection tool, and more. There is also a new tutorials website with videos showing how to use Pixelmator to its fullest.The last update to Pixelmator added CMYK support, color profile management. The software is becoming more and...