MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

One week ago, we reported that Apple had seeded to developers a "Snow Leopard Graphics Update". While it was unclear exactly what the update is designed to address, a number of users have been complaining of graphics-related issues, particularly with high-performance games. We have received word that Apple has seeded a new build of Snow Leopard Graphics Update to developers today, and while...

Microsoft today released several updates for users of its Office for Mac productivity suite, bringing security and performance fixes to Office 2008 and 2004, as well as a pair of ancillary updates. - Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.2.6 Update (332.6 MB): The update addresses security issues as well as offering stability and compatibility enhancements. - Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.6.0 ...

As noted by Macworld, Apple has launched a new day pass program offering access to the company's Developer Compatibility Labs for Mac OS X developers. The new day passes, priced at $99, offer users access to Apple's facilities in either Cupertino, California or Tokyo, Japan to test their software or hardware products with a wide range of Apple products to ensure compatibility. The Single Lab...

Reuters reports that Apple has been ordered by a Japanese regulatory agency to provide customers with information on receiving replacement batteries for their first-generation iPod nanos, citing fire risk from overheating batteries. The ministry ordered Apple to publish an "easy to understand" statement online explaining how users of the devices -- responsible for four cases of minor burns in...

Apple today announced that it will be phasing out its Apple Learning Interchange (ALI) site as of September 3rd, diverting its users to iTunes U for that program's educational resources. For years the Apple Learning Interchange (ALI) has served as an important resource for educators to access great education content, share best practices, and learn more about using technology in the context of...

The Consumer Electronics Association today announced that Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg will be making the opening keynote speech at CES 2011, the major consumer electronics expo held each January in Las Vegas. Seidenberg's keynote speech will be held on the morning of January 6th, 2011. While the topic of Seidenberg's keynote is obviously unknown at this point, news of his speech is already...

Apple yesterday released Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.3, bringing support for the RAW image format to Aperture 3 and iPhoto '09 with the following cameras: - Canon PowerShot SX1 IS - Olympus E-PL1 - Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 - Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 - Samsung NX10 - Sony Alpha DSLR-A390 - Sony Alpha NEX-3 - Sony Alpha NEX-5The update weighs in at 5.68 MB and requires Mac OS X...

Apple yesterday released Server Admin Tools 10.6.4, updating its suite of applications for remote administration of Snow Leopard Server systems. The Server Admin Tools update is recommended for remote administration of Snow Leopard Server. This update includes the latest releases of: - iCal Server Utility - Podcast Composer - Server Admin - Server Monitor - Server Preferences - System...

SinoCast Daily Business Beat reports that China Unicom executive Li Gang flew to the United States yesterday to meet with Apple executives and finalize a deal to distribute the iPhone 4 and iPad in China. Discussions regarding the deal, reportedly scheduled to be announced on August 1 if all goes well, are said to be centered on pricing and terms for extending the original deal signed between...

AFP reports that Apple has agreed to honor pricing on as many as 40,000+ Mac mini orders that had been erroneously priced at only about 40% of their actual retail prices. The announcement comes after Apple had quietly raised the prices to their normal levels for orders that had already been placed at the incorrect prices and after Taiwanese officials applied pressure on the company to honor...

Apple today released a pair of Mac OS X updates for the company's new iMac models refreshed this morning, bringing upgraded functionality in the form of new Mac OS X 10.6.4 and Mac OS X Server 10.6.4 versions. Mac OS X v10.6.4 Update iMac (Mid 2010) weighs in at 452.62 MB and brings the following additions: This update contains all the applicable fixes from the Mac OS X 10.6.4 Update, plus the...

Walnut Street store under construction (Source: ifoAppleStore) Apple today announced the grand opening of its new Walnut Street retail store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The events will begin with a press preview at 4:00 PM on this Friday, July 30th, with the store set to open to the general public at 5:00 PM that day. While Apple has four existing stores in the Philadelphia area in its S...

Barron's briefly notes that TiVo's shares have jumped today (currently up over 6%) on rumors that the company's technology could make an appearance in revamped Apple TV hardware. It is unclear, however, what aspect of TiVo technology would be brought to the Apple TV. Rumors have pointed to a dramatic overhaul of Apple's set-top box, bringing a new design based on that of the iPhone 4 with...

Earlier this week, Apple released version 1.1.1 of its iBooks application, bringing several enhancements including support for embedded audio and video. The update clearly contained a bug, however, as Apple today released version 1.1.2 with an additional bullet point in its "What's New" section: Addresses a minor issue when updating iBooks.Apple has not disclosed any additional information on ...

Apple yesterday released a second developer preview version of Xcode 4 via its developer site, also posting a significant amount of new information about the release on its site. Xcode 4 brings a significant overhaul to Apple's tools for building Mac OS X and iOS applications, including a transition to a single-window application with Interface Builder integrated directly into Xcode. Xcode is...

Apple yesterday released a several update for Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard, bringing enhancements to the operating system's built-in wiki service support. Users who are already running Mac OS X Server 10.6.4 can update using Wiki Server Update 1.0 (26.34 MB). For those users still running earlier versions of Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard, Apple has folded the update into a "Version 1.1" of Mac ...

Fayette Mall store in Lexington, Kentucky under wraps (Source: ifoAppleStore) Apple has announced grand openings for two new retail stores set for this Saturday, July 24th, bringing new locations to Columbus, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky. Both locations will see media previews taking place at 9:00 AM with the stores opening to the public at 10:00 AM. The new Polaris Fashion Place store in...

Hardmac reports that Apple may be preparing to roll-out a new high-end video codec to compete against the existing H.264 standard of which it has been a staunch proponent. First, a transition towards better codec, dropping the efficient but CPU-consuming encoding codec H.264 for adopting Wavelet transform-type of codec which will allow even better compression rate while offering better...