MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been receiving a fair amount of attention of late for his email replies to customers. The replies are typically very short and to the point, but still demonstrate an unusual level of customer interaction for a customarily private CEO of a major company. Popular comic site The Joy of Tech this week has taken advantage of Jobs' responses to create an amusing Steve...

Alongside yesterday's release of iTunes 9.1.1, Apple also pushed out an update to MobileMe Control Panel for Windows. Version 1.5.2 of the utility brings compatibility with the new version of iTunes. MobileMe Control Panel is required to manage iDisk settings and to sync contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on a Windows PC. This update is required for Windows computers running iTunes 9.1.1.The ...

Apple today released iTunes 9.1.1, offering several minor fixes to the company's software hub for media and associated devices. iTunes 9.1.1 provides a number of important bug fixes, including: - Addresses several stability issues with VoiceOver - Addresses a usability issue with VoiceOver and Genius Mixes - Addresses issues with converting songs to 128 kbps AAC while syncing - Addresses...

On its Malware City blog, antivirus firm BitDefender notes that malware creators have begun to take advantage of the hype surrounding Apple's new iPad tablet device as a means of social engineering to encourage users to download their malicious software disguised as an iTunes update. Identified by BitDefender as Backdoor.Bifrose.AADY,the piece of malicious code inadvertently downloaded injects...

According to the Chitika Labs iPad tracker, over one million iPad devices are now estimated to be in use on the Internet, suggesting that Apple may have surpassed a major milestone less than a month after the device's launch and before 3G-capable models even go on sale later this week. Chitika's iPad tracker gained some fame in the days after the iPad launch as it tried to estimate sales...

Apple yesterday released Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.2, adding RAW image support for a number of digital cameras, as well as addressing issues with existing support for several other models. This update extends RAW image format compatibility to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '09 for the following cameras: - Canon EOS Rebel T2i / 550D / Kiss X4 - Leica S2 - Olympus E-450 - Olympus E-600 ...

MarketWatch reports that Apple today passed Microsoft for second place in weighting on the S&P 500 index of large U.S.-traded stocks. Apple's float-adjusted market cap reached $241.5 billion, surpassing Microsoft Corp.'s index market value of $239.5 billion, said Standard & Poor's. Exxon still remains in the top spot on the S&P 500 with a market cap of more than $300 billion, said S&P.The...

Late Show host David Letterman last night used his "Top Ten" segment to highlight the case of an Apple engineer who last month left his next-generation iPhone in a Redwood City, California bar, only to have it leaked by Gizmodo earlier this week. Letterman's "Top Ten Excuses of the Guy Who Lost the iPhone Prototype" pokes fun at a number of targets, including Apple's 'i' naming scheming for...

9 to 5 Mac reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has once again taken the time to respond to customer email, this time offering up a short response to a question about the leaked next-generation iPhone's effect on its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) presumably scheduled for this summer in San Francisco. In response to the customer's hope that WWDC will still be exciting even though the essen...

Apple today released Final Cut Server 1.5.2, bringing several fixes to the company's backend application for managing Final Cut Pro projects. Full details on the changes are included in the release notes for the update. - Fixes an expiring Java certificate in the Final Cut Server Java client. Updates the Java signing certificate to avoid certification authentication issues in the Final Cut...

Over the weekend, one MacRumors reader noted that the shipping window for Apple's 30" Cinema Display HD has slipped from its normal 24-hour timeframe to 5-7 business days. While slight variations in shipping windows routinely occur as supply and demand of certain items ebbs and flows, Apple has been rumored to be introducing a new 27-inch display by June, and thus sensitivities have been...

DigiTimes offers conflicting views on the possibility that Apple could offer an OLED display on the second-generation iPad. The report cites "sources in the component industry" who claim that Apple has begun development on the device and is looking to use OLED panels for a planned 2011 launch. The sources with the components sector said OLED panel prices are expected to drop and make it more...

iLounge notes that Apple has filed a countersuit in federal court and a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against Kodak over alleged infringement of patents related to image processing, power management, and memory architectures in its still and video camera products. Kodak filed suits against Apple and Research in Motion back in January, claiming infringement of its ...

The iPhone 4G images posted yesterday by Engadget seem likely to be fake. Applesfera reports that the device is a Japanese iPhone counterfeit. They have posted another image of the device (above) which is claimed to have been purchased in Japan by a reader. Update: These claims are...

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that Apple has shuffled the roles held by several of the members of its Board of Directors, changes necessitated by the passing of Jerry York last month. The report notes that the company's Audit and Finance Committee is now co-chaired by Intuit Chairman Bill Campbell and Genentech Chairman Art Levinson and are joined by Avon CEO Andrea...

Last month, Sprint began using Apple's iPhone to promote the carrier's Overdrive 3G/4G mobile hotspot device, claiming that customers could achieve Internet speeds up to ten times faster than AT&T's 3G network by connecting via Wi-Fi to Sprint's 4G network using the Overdrive device. Sprint has now brought the iPad into the fray, rolling out its own "4G Case" for the device. The case...

Earlier today, Apple's stock price briefly surpassed $250 per share before being dragged down by an overall market slide precipitated by charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against Goldman Sachs over alleged subprime mortgage securities fraud. Apple's stock has since rebounded, but remains below both the $250 threshold and today's opening price of $248.99. AAPL...

A new support document posted by Apple yesterday notes that the company's new 15" and 17" MacBook Pro models released earlier this week are unable to utilize the Intel HD Graphics package when running in Windows and are thus restricted to using the discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card under such usage. The restriction affects Windows 7, Vista, and XP. Windows cannot take advantage of...