MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Microsoft today release a new update for its Office 2016 for Mac apps, introducing small performance improvements, bug fixes, and 64-bit support across the Office lineup. Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote have all adopted the 64-bit runtime environment to enable better performance and "new innovative features." 64-bit support has previously been available to Microsoft's "Office...

Apple has announced that it will be opening a trio of retail stores following construction and renovations over the next week. Apple's retail store at Westfield Annapolis in Annapolis, Maryland will open at a new location within the shopping mall on Saturday, August 20. Apple did not provide a specific time, but the store opens at 10:00 a.m. local time on Saturdays. The store's new address...

Team messaging app HipChat has announced a new group video chat feature for premium users of the platform. The video conferencing option, set to roll out over the next few weeks, means HipChat Plus account holders can initiate a virtual meeting with another person and add up to 10 others to the call using an invite URL. Users also have the ability to share their screen during a video...

Best Buy is celebrating its 50th anniversary on Monday, August 22 and in honor of the occasion, the retailer is offering 50 deals for 50 hours, dropping the prices on a wide range of products from television sets to computers. Of interest to those potentially looking to purchase an Apple device, Best Buy is dropping the price of some MacBook Pro models by $150, and students can save an...

Apple today released another update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced in March. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari. Safari Technology Preview release 11 includes bug fixes and updates for JavaScript, Web APIs, Apple Pay, Web Inspector, MathML, CSS, Rendering,...

Ford Motor Company has announced its plans to build a fleet of fully automated driverless vehicles for commercial ride-sharing by 2021, according to Reuters. The company said it was increasing its investments in technology firms and tripling its investment in semi-autonomous systems, which would entail doubling the size of its Palo Alto research team while expanding its campus in Silicon...

Apple today added Japan to its list of countries eligible for iTunes carrier billing, suggesting the company is set to fast-track its expansion of the payment feature to regions across the globe (via Mashable). Japan becomes the fifth market to accept the transaction method, which allows users to charge iTunes content purchases directly to their cellphone bill instead of registering a bank...

Apple today announced that Lens Technology, one of its major suppliers in China, has committed to power all its glass production for Apple with 100 percent renewable energy by 2018. The commitment is a large step in Apple's efforts to help manufacturers lower their carbon footprint in China. Lens Technology has committed to power all of its glass production for Apple with 100 percent renewable ...

Voice dictation company Nuance today announced a collection of new software upgrades, including Dragon Professional Individual (version 15), Dragon Legal Individual (version 15), and Dragon Professional Individual for Mac (version 6). As with all versions of Nuance's software, the new updates are said to feature "powerful dictation, transcription and customization capabilities" to allow users...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted a patent application that details a remote control device for a marine vessel, a concept that Steve Jobs was originally credited the inventor of (via PatentlyApple). The patent, titled "Remote motion control using a wireless mobile device", was filed in 2013 and has just been granted, now registered under Apple and Savant Systems. Savant is a...

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has increased its stake in Apple by 55 percent, taking its investment in the company to $1.46 billion (via Reuters). Berkshire owned 15.23 million Apple shares as of June 30, up from 9.81 million shares as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing. It's unclear whether Buffett himself or one of his deputies are behind the investment. The move by...

Tesla has removed the word "autopilot" from its China website after a driver in Beijing who crashed while the mode was active complained that the company had misled them about its capability (via Reuters). The accident happened on a commuter highway when the car failed to avoid a vehicle parked on the left side and partially in the roadway, damaging both cars but causing no injuries. Tesla ...

Apple chairman Arthur D. Levinson and general counsel Bruce Sewell recently sold approximately $7.6 million and $2.5 million worth of company shares respectively, according to SEC documents filed electronically this week. Levinson sold 70,000 shares of common stock on August 9 for an average price of $108.68, while Sewell disposed of 23,305 shares for an average price of $107.49 on August 5....

Apple might be looking to further expand its presence in Seattle, Washington following its acquisition of Seattle-based machine learning and artificial intelligence startup Turi. The news comes from reports of a "large California company" looking to purchase a big piece of office space in the city, with most believing that it's Apple (via GeekWire). Last week, Apple paid $200 million to...

Following months of being repeatedly blocked by independent planning body An Bord Pleanála, Apple has finally been granted the go-ahead to build its massive data center in Galway County, Ireland (via Business Insider). The Irish planning board reversed course on its earlier oppositions to the data center, "despite opposition from a number of individuals and local businesses," giving Apple...

Apple has announced that its World Trade Center retail store in Lower Manhattan opens on Tuesday, August 16 at 12:00 p.m. local time. The store will be located in the new Oculus transit and retail hub on the lower level. Apple's plans to open a retail store at the new World Trade Center have been rumored since 2013, and construction has been underway since earlier this year. It will be the...

Apple today released the fifth developer beta of Safari 10 for OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan users, allowing those who don’t yet want to install the macOS Sierra operating system to test out the upcoming Safari update. The fifth Safari 10 beta for Yosemite and El Capitan can be downloaded from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App...

Santa Clara County police are currently searching in the San Jose neighborhood of Cambrian Park for three suspects who were reportedly caught burglarizing an Apple building this morning in Cupertino, California, where the company's headquarters are located, according to local affiliates ABC7 News and KPIX 5. Source: Matt Keller/ABC7 News It is unclear if the suspects were able to break into...