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Outlook for Mac gets a facelift, Office for Mac refresh in 2015
If you're a Mac user who relies on Microsoft's productivity software to get work done, you'll be happy to hear that there's a new version of Outlook for Mac available this morning, complete with a visual upgrade and boosted performance. If you're an Office 365 subscriber you might have already seen the update, but if not you can snatch the update after logging in to your Office 365 account. Along with a new look, the update adds push email support for more rapid delivery of your precious correspondence, and overall faster email downloading and syncing. While revealing the new Outlook, Microsoft also announced that a new version of Office for Mac is in the works and currently slated for a release in the second half of 2015. A public beta will debut first, falling sometime before July, with the full release coming later in the year.
How to make Yosemite look like System 7
Yes, OS X Yosemite is sexy, modern, and a far cry from what Apple desktops ran 20+ years ago, but that doesn't mean there's no value in nostalgia. Way back when Macs ran on CPUs with speeds of 33MHz (or even less), OS 7 -- also called System 7 -- was the best looking operating system most users had ever seen. Today, not so much, but if you long for the look of yesteryear anyway, here's how to tweak Yosemite and make it look it was released over two decades ago. Note: These tweaks were inspired by a guide published on WonderHowTo, so a tip of the hat for the idea. We'll be taking the concept a couple steps further to make this the ultimate retro tweak. For starters, there are a few system changes you need to make to lay the groundwork for the conversion, so take care of the following under your System Preferences menu first: Under General, change the Appearance selection to "Graphite" and the Highlight color to "Graphite" as well. Under Accessibility, toggle both "Reduce Transparency" and "Increase Contrast" on. Under Desktop & Screensaver, select Solid Colors and then choose Solid Gray Medium (or Solid Gray Dark, depending on your taste, both are pretty close). Now that your desktop is looking as bare and basic as it did when Nirvana was at the top of the charts, it's time to give your icons some much needed love. Depending on which versions of retro Mac you hold dear, you may want to find an icon pack from OS 8 or OS 9, but for the purposes of really throwing Yosemite back in time we'll go with System 7's low-res icon art. Download a System 7 icon collection from wherever you can find it. (I found the icons I'm using on a MacWorld forum thread where a kind user has provided four folders worth of ripped retro icons - Thanks Macosnoob!) Now you have the choice as to just how deep you want your retro conversion to go. If you feel like just replacing individual icons with the old school versions -- like the ones on your desktop specifically, while leave the rest of the system's icons alone -- you can do so by doing the following: Select any item you want to change, like your main HD icon or a folder, and click "Get Info." Here you'll see the icon of your object in the top left corner of the new window. Now find the icon file you want to use as its replacement, and drag and drop it on top of the object's existing icon in the Get Info window. A green plus mark will pop up to let you know you're about to replace it, and dropping it there will automatically swap it in. You can do this for as many items as you want, and doing so will only alter the specific items you choose. If you want to go all out with your retro devotion you can completely replace the icons your computer uses by default. Note: There is always a chance that when altering system resources you could mess something up, so be sure to do a system backup before doing this. Your system's icons are tucked away within a resource file, so go ahead and copy and paste this path into the "Go To Folder" field under the "Go" menu: /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/ Here you'll see the icon files OS X uses for virtually every file on your computer. In order to permanently replace the files with the retro versions you can rename the System 7 icon files so they match the ones you wish to replace, then swap them out. Once you do this you should be able to restart your computer and see your new (old) icons in action. If any of them look odd or distorted you may need to tweak the a bit in an image resizing program like Skitch so they render correctly, but for the most part they should be plug-and-play. To wrap up the entire conversion and give your Mac the old school feel it deserves, be sure to auto-hide the Dock, and hide the toolbar in folder windows by right clicking and selecting "Hide Toolbar" on the title bar your folders. Ta-da! Now you can compute like it's 1993!
How to get phone calls on your Mac in Yosemite
Chris Breen has a quick writeup on how to set your iPhone to route calls through your Mac (or use your Mac to make calls). Some important things to know: Your iPhone and Mac must be on the same WiFi network and you'll need iOS 8 and Yosemite installed on any target machines, plus an actual iPhone*. If you have iOS 8 on an iPad you may have already seen how you can take an incoming call via that device, but you'll need to configure your Mac to do this too. *As reader Hal Sherman points out, you'll need a Mac with native Bluetooth 4.0 LE as well -- a dongle won't do. In FaceTime preferences on iOS and Mac, you must enable "iPhone Cellular Calls". Then you can click the Audio tab in FaceTime on the Mac to initiate calls, even to your Android-using friends. That's pretty cool, right? While we're talking FaceTime on the Mac, did you know you can also set your Mac to route calls through Skype? The Default for calls setting allows it (at the bottom of the preferences/settings) but only on the Mac.
The only OS X Yosemite review you need to read
Over the past 10+ years, John Siracusa of Ars Technica has been delivering comprehensive OS X reviews that put all others to shame. The level of detail provided in Siracusa's reviews is astounding, the breadth of topics covered impressive. Siracusa's review of OS X Yosemite is no different. Spanning 25 pages, and conveniently categorized to boot, Siracusa's extensive write-up touches on all aspects of Apple's latest desktop OS, from surface level aesthetic changes to nitty gritty technical details. It's well worth a read for anyone with even a mild interest in Apple's latest iteration of OS X.
A visual history of OS X
After a lengthy beta, OS X 10.10 Yosemite is finally ready for prime time. It's the 11th version of Apple's OS X, and represents the biggest overhaul of the operating system's visuals since its introduction in 2001. While you're waiting for the update to download, let's take the opportunity to see exactly what's changed over the past 13 years.
OS X Yosemite review: a solid upgrade for everyone (especially iPhone users)
Apple's latest desktop operating system, Yosemite, is available today as a free download for anyone with a reasonably new (or not-so-new) Mac. Here's the thing, though: Many of you are already using it. In an unusual twist, Apple not only gave us a sneak peek of the software, but also allowed a large section of the public to take it for a spin while it was still in development. Though the company has declined to say how many people signed up for the beta program (there were a million available spots), we're sure many of you are running it right now, and don't even need to read a full review. That said, I wanted to finish what I started. Back when I posted my initial preview, I was able to discuss lots of things -- the iOS-inspired design, the new Safari browser -- but certain stuff wasn't ready for prime time. I'm talking about iCloud Drive, Apple's new cross-platform storage service, as well as "Continuity," a set of features that allow Macs to better integrate with iOS. Think: the ability to receive calls on your Mac, or to start reading an article on your iPad and finish it on your laptop. Now that the software is final -- and now that I've had a chance to test all the features -- I'm ready to weigh in. Suffice to say, it's clear that to make the most out of Yosemite, you need an iDevice to go with it. But even for Mac users who don't also own an iPhone (guilty!), this is still a solid upgrade. Read on to see what I mean.
OS X Yosemite available publicly starting today for free (Updated: Now Live)
After unveiling OS X Yosemite earlier this year at WWDC, Apple today announced that its next generation desktop operating system would be available publicly starting today, October 16. Similar to past releases, Yosemite will be bundled on all new Macs and will be available for free to existing Mac owners. The latest version of OS X includes several notable improvements including a redesigned interface that mimic the styling of iOS. Apple also improved OS X's notification center and made Spotlight search more powerful by pulling information from third party sources. Yosemite also ties in closely with iOS 8, allowing iOS device owners to call and text from their Mac, instantly serve as a Mac hotspot and edit documents seamlessly on both platform using Handoff. OS X Yosemite will be available to download for free from the Mac App Store later today. Update: OS X Yosemite is now live in the Mac App Store.
Is Apple experiencing a problematic decline in software quality?
While any new major software release is bound to have its fair share of bugs, the number and severity of glitches that accompanied the rollout of iOS 8 were far greater than we've come to expect from Apple. Many early iOS 8 users were quick to report issues as far ranging as Wi-Fi connectivity problems and abnormal battery drain. Even more jarring was the release of iOS 8.0.1, an update that embarrassingly killed all cellular connectivity for a percentage of iPhone 6 owners. iOS 8.0.2 has had its fair share of problems as well. Apple today is as busy as it's ever been. New hardware every year is now the expectation, as is the release of major new software updates. Over the past seven years, Apple has consistently been able to release new iOS updates every 12 months, the delayed release of iOS 5 being the lone exception. And while Apple used to take its dear sweet time with OS X upgrades, Apple's desktop OS now seems to have shifted to an annual release cycle as well. Whereas OS X Yosemite will likely drop about one year after OS X Mavericks was released, consider the wait time between older versions of OS X. The gap between OS X Panther and OS X Tiger was 18 months while the gap between OS X Leopard and OS X Snow Leopard was a whopping 22 months. With engineers at Apple working at full throttle to keep new updates coming down the pipeline, some have started to wonder if Apple's resources are being stretched too thin. Especially for a company like Apple which tends to have leaner teams, some have voiced the opinion that Apple needs to take its foot off of the gas just a bit to help ensure that future software releases have the level of polish longtime Mac and iOS users are accustomed to. Kirk McElhearn recently wrote: I've increasingly had the feeling that Apple is finding it difficult to keep up with all these releases, and that quality is slipping. This generally isn't the case with hardware – no, the iPhone 6 doesn't really bend, unless you apply a lot of pressure to it – but rather with software. Bugs abound; shoddy releases are followed by broken updates. Echoing this sentiment, Russell Ivanovic wrote the following earlier this month: Tim Cook keeps telling us that 'Only Apple' could do the amazing things it does. I just wish that Apple would slow down their breakneck pace and spend the time required to build stable software that their hardware so desperately needs. The yearly release cycles of OS X, iOS, iPhone & iPad are resulting in too many things seeing the light of day that aren't finished yet. Perhaps the world wouldn't let them, perhaps the expectations are now too high, but I'd kill for Snow iOS 8 and Snow Yosemite next year. I'm fairly confident I'm not alone in that feeling. And lest anyone think these are just two lone opinions amidst a sea of overwhelmingly thrilled Apple users, Mac software developer Michael Tsai recently compiled a long list of folks articulating the same belief -- namely that Apple is trying to do way too much way too quickly. And oh yes, let's not forget that there's a new Watch OS on the horizon as well. The conversation surrounding the uptick in Apple software glitches presents an interesting debate. And while it's only natural to suggest that Apple should simply ease up off the gas, I think the issue is a bit more nuanced. A few points to consider: Apple purposefully keeps its software teams small Apple may be a gigantic company, but the teams working on the software that helps power our favorite devices are probably much smaller than you might think. Steve Jobs made no secret of the fact that hiring a select few A+ players is preferable to hiring a large number of B players. This hiring philosophy is still a part of Apple's DNA, which is to say that simply adding more bodies onto the iOS and OS X software teams isn't necessarily a clear-cut solution. Hiring more people is easy. Hiring the right people is much more challenging. Furthermore, because Apple's software teams are relatively small and are comprised of the "best of the best", many software engineers at Apple are often pulled in numerous directions to help solve whatever pressing problem happens to require the most attention at any given moment. Recall that the release of OS X Leopard was delayed because key engineers temporarily left the project to help complete work on the original iPhone. An Apple statement on the matter read at the time: We had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned. So while a reflexive solution might be to simply hire more engineers, that's not necessarily Apple's style. Apple has historically trusted small teams to work on considerably large and important projects. To this end, it's business as usual over in Cupertino. As for the recent problems associated with iOS, perhaps (and this is purely speculative) it has something to do with many of Apple's top engineers spending a lot of their time working on software for the upcoming Apple Watch. Apple can't deviate from annual iPhone releases Apple's business model, as it pertains to the iPhone, is built around annual release cycles. You can bet good money that the iPhone 6s, or whatever Apple may happen to call it, will hit store shelves sometime in late September of 2015. Because Apple is beholden to an annual release cycle for the iPhone, it arguably has no choice but to adhere to an annual release cycle for software as well. Apple's hardware and software are inextricably linked and, at this point, consumers simply expect new iPhone models to come with snazzy new software. Any deviation from that 1-2 punch would seem like a step backwards. Imagine, for a second, if the iPhone 6 launched running iOS 7 with the promise that iOS 8 would be available for download a month later. It stands to reason many folks would have simply waited a few weeks to upgrade. New hardware is great, but it's less appealing when it lacks the requisite software designed to take advantage of it. Remember that the iPhone remains Apple's primary source of revenue. Not only does the iPhone enjoy insanely high margins, but it's also Apple's top performer in terms of unit sales. It's therefore hard to picture Apple taking any steps that might affect, even temporarily, the money train that is the iPhone. Further, sometimes the selling points for new iPhone hardware often rests upon new software: The iPhone 4s had Siri, the iPhone 5s had Touch ID, and the iPhone 6 has Apple Pay and an assortment of incredible new camera features. Apple has more users today than ever before Another point to consider is that the number of consumers using Apple software today is far greater than it's ever been. As a result, the number of users exposed to an initial release of Apple software -- whether it be iOS or OS X -- is much higher than ever before. A larger user base results in a more vocal user base. What may have once been a Wi-Fi glitch that affected 2,000 iPhone early adopters is now a problem that affects 10,000 users across the globe. In other words, is it possible that current software releases are as polished as ever, and that the real issue lies in an increasingly large and vocal user base that has little to no tolerance for any type of software glitch? This theory might have held some weight pre iOS 8.0.1, but really, there's absolutely no excuse for an iOS update that literally breaks cellular connectivity. Where does this leave us? Going forward, it's hard to say what steps Apple should take to remedy this seemingly growing problem. Bolster its QA teams? Hire more software engineers? Those options certainly seem more practical than deviating from the annual release cycle for both hardware and software. All the while, Apple hardware sales continue to reach new peaks and consumers are seemingly okay, however reluctantly, with giving Apple something of a pass on early iOS troubles. They are, after all, still buying iPhones in record numbers. Still, the notion of blindly giving Apple a pass because it's, well, Apple, understandably doesn't sit well with some. Daniel Jalkut, a former senior software engineer at Apple, tweeted the following earlier this month: The biggest/richest company in the world, already staffed with many of the smartest and most creative people, shouldn't get so many passes. - Daniel Jalkut (@danielpunkass) October 4, 2014 Looking ahead, one can only hope that Apple won't rush the release of the Apple Watch, which at this point still doesn't have a release date. As a new product, the Apple Watch will only get one chance to get it right, and one can only hope that Apple is doing all it can to ensure that some of the basic glitches that have affected recent software rollouts are nowhere to be seen on its highly anticipated wearable device.
Skype for OS X gets updated with redesign, improved video calls, and messaging
Skype has just launched its redesigned Mac client, introducing a new look that fits with the aesthetics of the upcoming OS X Yosemite. If you've been using the recently updated iPhone or iPad versions of the service you'll recognize the some of the design's features. Multi-person videos calls, sharing, and chat syncing across devices have all been improved, and the app now allows you to use a split screen to send images messages during a voice or video call. The new version of Skype as a free download on their website. You can watch a video preview of the changes below.
Apple updates Xprotect malware definitions to shut down 'iWorm' Mac botnet
Apple this weekend updated its XProtect malware blacklisting system in OS X to address the recent iWorm attack that allegedly infected more than 18,000 Macs. As noted by MacRumors and Business Insider, a change to the XProtect.plist file released on October 4 contained definitions to protect users from three variants of the iWorm malware, including OSX.iWorm.A, OSX.iWorm.B, and OSX.iWorm.C. Discovered by security researchers at Russian anti-virus company Dr Web, the iWorm malware targeted OS X machines, forming a botnet that was organized using a server list posted on Reddit. It is not known how the malware was spread, but an anonymous tip provided to The Safe Mac suggests the malware was bundled with pirated Mac software downloads available on The Pirate Bay. In addition to Apple's anti-malware actions, Reddit also shut down a fake Minecraft subreddit and banned the account that was posting the iWorm botnet server list to the subreddit's forums. Without these posts, iWorm-controlled Macs are unable to connect to the botnet servers that are used by hackers to send instructions to the infected machines.
Iris Screen Recorder: A fast way to grab Mac screen videos
Whether you're teaching others about how to use their Macs or creating podcasts, you may find that capturing a video of what you're doing with your machine is the best way to show people what's going on. Iris Screen Recorder (free, with US$19.99 in-app purchase to remove watermark) does the job perfectly, making screen video captures easy and fast. Once you've installed Iris from the Mac App Store, launching the app puts a tiny camera iris in your menu bar. That's your only indication that Iris is ready to go. When you're ready to capture video, you can either select the recording option from the menu or use a keyboard hot key that you've set up in the preferences. You can choose whether or not to have a countdown before the recording starts -- for doing screencasts, I find that this is a great way to get prepared to start speaking. You can hide all but the active application before recording by checking a box in the app preferences, and the app uses hardware acceleration by default. If you'd like to hide your desktop (perhaps it's littered with folders and files), you can select an image or a color to hide your desktop with. During your recording, you'll probably want to call out your mouse clicks and drags, so you can select a highlight type and a highlight color to make sure your viewers see what's going on. You don't have to record the entire screen; if you're trying to focus on a specific window or app, you can shrink the capture area down to its size. Recordings can be set to start and end on a timer, perfect if you're trying to capture something that's being streamed to your Mac at a particular time. You can also set up Iris to capture a "talking head". That's usually the person behind the keyboard, and it's a great way to let people who are watching the video actually see who's doing the narration. Once again, you can toggle the talking head on and off, so the face doesn't need to be on the screen constantly. As I say in the screen capture/review embedded above, I like Iris a lot and found it to be a smooth, fast, and non-disruptive app for doing screen videos. However, I think the price might be a bit high and would suggest to the developer that he look into cutting that price in half. You can see that Iris works well with the current beta version (GM) of OS X 10.10 Yosemite, so I have the funny feeling TUAW readers might be seeing a lot of the fruits of this app in the near future.
Thousands of Macs infected with OS X botnet malware controlled via Reddit
Russian security researchers from anti-virus company Dr Web have discovered a new OS X botnet that has hijacked over 17,000 Macs worldwide. Macs recruited into the botnet are infected with Mac.BackDoor.iWorm malware, which is being spread by a yet-to-be-discovered method. Once infected, Mac computers can be controlled by hackers who are communicating with infected machines using a unique medium -- Reddit. The Mac.BackDoor.iWorm opens a port on the Mac and connects to other infected machines using information posted by the hackers in Reddit's forums. It is worth mentioning that in order to acquire a control server address list, the bot uses the search service at reddit.com, and - as a search query - specifies hexadecimal values of the first 8 bytes of the MD5 hash of the current date. The reddit.com search returns a web page containing a list of botnet C&C servers and ports published by criminals in comments to the post minecraftserverlists under the account vtnhiaovyd. The bot picks a random server from the first 29 addresses on the list and sends queries to each of them. Search requests to acquire the list are sent to reddit.com in five-minute intervals. According to their analysis, the United States has the most infected machines with 4,200 compromised OS X computers. The UK and Canada are also hotbeds with more than 1,200 botnet controlled machines in each country. [Via Graham Cluley]
Twitter remembers it has an OS X app, updates it for the first time in 10 months
To say that the Twitter app for Mac has been somewhat forgotten would be an understatement. While the social network client had a half dozen updates throughout the length of 2013, it's received zero treatment so far this year, and -- speaking personally -- the icon on my desktop is actually starting to develop a thick layer of dust. Today's update changes that, bringing it up to version 3.1 and finally adding the same support for multiple photos that the mobile versions of Twitter have had for many months now. Along with allowing up to four photos to be included on each tweet, users can now also send photos via private messages if they don't feel like posting them publicly for all to see. A few nondescript "bug fixes" were also included with the update, but not detailed. [via MacRumors]
Equil Smartpen 2 captures notes, sketches with a real pen
For a lot of people, there's no substitute for taking notes with a pen and piece of paper. You can draw, annotate, write, and organize your information in a real notebook. The problem comes when you want to get some of that information into a computer, at which time you usually have to transcribe your handwritten notes and then try to recreate your drawings or scan them. Well, the Equil Smartpen 2 (US$169, pre-order on Indiegogo) wants to change all that by giving you a comfortable ballpoint pen that captures all of your writing and sketching on plain paper, moving it to either a Mac app (Equil Note, free) or one of several free iOS apps (Equil Note HD for iPad, Equil Note for iPhone, Equil Sketch HD for iPad, and Equil Sketch for iPhone. Design The Equil Smartpen 2 reminds me of some pens that I've received as handout promotional items ... and I mean that in a good way. It's triangular in shape, wider than your usual "stick ballpoint pen", and has a good feel to it. The point where your fingers hold the pen is made of a translucent white plastic that tapers down to the pressure sensitive tip, while the rest of the body is made of a white plastic. Looking close up at the pen, you notice several things that clue you to the fact that this is not just a plastic pen. There's a small grey rectangular button on one side, and near the top you'll find a glowing white LED and a pair of charging contacts. The entire pen fits into what's called a "Charging Cradle and Convenience Case" that holds not only the charger for the device, but the receiver for the pen. That receiver is a small 3-inch long rectangular box that slides out like a drawer from the charging cradle. Folding around the triangular charging cradle is a magnetically-secured cover similar to Apple's Smart Covers. There's even a pop-out cap for the pen, which should help the pens last longer as they won't dry out. It's a very attractive package. Equil will be selling the devices singly or in two-packs; we received a two-pack (two pens) for the review. Functionality For me, the real test of the Equil Smartpen 2 was going to be on how well it worked. I've tried a lot of "smart pens" over the years, and to be honest I was pretty skeptical about how well this device would capture text and sketches. My first test was with my iMac, which is running OS X Yosemite beta. Upon pulling the little receiver out of the charging cradle, I noticed a previously hidden switch for setting modes. It has three positions: one marked with the Bluetooth symbol for shutting off Bluetooth and just capturing pen motion with the pen alone, one marked "Other" for Mac OS X, Windows, and Android, and another marked iOS. The receiver is clipped to the top of the page of whatever you're writing on. If you happen to be using something like a Field Notes notebook or Moleskine, you can just clip it to the page, write and draw, turn the page, and clip it onto the top of that page. That receiver is able to determine the bounds of the page and tells you when you're getting too close to the top or the bottom by flashing a red light. I believe it's using some sort of infrared connection with the pen, as there is a function in the Mac app to determine if you're getting either radio frequency or infrared interference. Pairing the device to my Mac was simple - it just required holding down a power button until a tiny blue LED flashed, then using the OS X System Preferences to complete the pairing. At that point, I fired up the Equil Note app. The app design is flat and very "Yosemite-like", with individual documents combined in collections. The piece of paper you're writing on is represented by a blank piece of "paper", and there are on-screen buttons for changing the ink width and color, switching between a pen, brush and highlighter, selecting or "lassoing" a section of transcribed writing or drawing in order to delete or move it, a tool for typing notes or annotations onto the page from your Mac keyboard, a tool for grabbing a small photo of yourself to insert into the notes, and another tool for selecting the color of virtual paper you want to write on. For any note, you can add as many pages as you want. You can select the paper size (Letter, A4, A5, B5, B6 or custom), add tags to a note, name the note, or share it with a number of services. Equil Note has built-in integration to Evernote, and devices can be synched via either Dropbox or iCloud as well. One interesting in-app purchase for Equil Note is the addition of handwriting recognition packages for a number of languages. Those packs run $5.99 each, or all languages can be installed for a single $19.99 purchase. I did seem to have some issues with getting the receiver to stay paired and connected with my iMac - I'm not sure if that's an issue with OS X Yosemite or if the app just isn't happy with my Mac, but twice I had to eliminate a pairing and re-pair to get things working again. After trying out the Mac app for a while, I switched over to the iPhone version of Equil Note to give it a try. It's similar, and the app is very well done. I actually had an easier time getting the iPhone app to pair with the device and then connect to the app then I did with the Mac app, but both worked equally well, providing almost instantaneous "reflection" of my writing and drawing on the screen of the Mac and the iPhone. What I was able to ascertain during my testing of the Equil Smartpen 2 is that it works, and it works very well. Most of the other devices I've tried either required expensive special paper, had a pen that didn't actually write on the piece of paper, or were so slow in transmitting the pen strokes to the computer or device that they were worthless. Not so with the Equil Smartpen 2. One thing I really find to be useful is that you can shut off the Bluetooth connection altogether and just capture your writing with the pen and receiver. Later, when you're near an iPad, iPhone or Mac (or those other devices...), you can sync up the receiver to them and transfer the captured writing to your computer for sharing. I was not able to test the handwriting recognition, so I don't have any idea of the accuracy of the software that's used. There are some gestures that can be turned on in the software to make your life a bit easier; one lets your double-tap the wake button on the pen to get a new blank page started, while two others let you navigate back and forth between pages by holding down the button and circling the pen clockwise or counterclockwise. Right now, as part of the Indiegogo funding campaign, you can get an Equil Smartpen 2 for $60 off of the regular retail price of $169. For $109, you're getting a single pen with the very cool charging/receiver dock. They also have a $199 special that gets you the 2-pack, so you'll always have a pen charged up and ready to write. By the way, the pen is supposed to last about 8 hours on a charge. Conclusion The Equil Smartpen 2 is the first pen-to-computer input device that I'd actually consider purchasing. Between the well-designed and implemented hardware and the incredibly well-done Mac and iOS apps, it's obvious that a lot of hard work and thought went into the creation of this accessory. There are a few small annoyances with Bluetooth pairing that should get fixed, but otherwise, this is a solid product right out of the starting gate. Rating: 3-1/2 stars out of 4 stars possible
Apple releases OS X bash Update 1.0
If you've been worried about the recent discovery of a security flaw called Shellshock in the bash UNIX shell, you can rest easier. Apple released OS X bash Update 1.0 to fix the issue, which made it possible for a remote attacker to execute arbitrary shell commands. According to the release notes for the update, "an issue existed in Bash's parsing of environment variables. This issue was addressed through improved environment variable parsing by better detecting the end of the function statement." The update incorporated a suggested change that resets the parser state, and also added a new namespace for exported functions. Versions of the patch are not only available for OS X Mavericks (see link in first paragraph), but also for OS X Lion, OS X Mountain Lion, and OS X Lion Server. TUAW also posted instructions on patching OS X for the bash/Shellshock vulnerability last week.
Apple: most users safe from Bash security flaw, Shellshock fix coming soon
Red Hat security researchers this week discovered a vulnerability in Bash, a command interpreter or shell that is found in Unix, Linux and OS X. The flaw potentially allows malicious hackers to run arbitrary commands and gain control over a vulnerable machine. Following the discovery of this bug, Apple responded to iMore and confirmed that "the vast majority of OS X users are not at risk to recently reported bash vulnerabilities." Bash, a UNIX command shell and language included in OS X, has a weakness that could allow unauthorized users to remotely gain control of vulnerable systems. With OS X, systems are safe by default and not exposed to remote exploits of bash unless users configure advanced UNIX services. We are working to quickly provide a software update for our advanced UNIX users," the spokesperson said. Apple doesn't specify which advanced Unix services are involved in Shellshock, nor does the company provide a timeframe for the upcoming fix. If you want to learn more about Shellshock, Troy Hunt has an excellent guide that details the vulnerability and how it compromises web-connected devices. You also can use this script and instructions from our own TJ Luoma to recompile Bash and disable the Shellshock bug ahead of Apple's upcoming fix.
What is the Shellshock Bash bug and why does it matter?
By now you may have heard about a new bug found in the Bash shell. And unless you're a programmer or security expert, you're probably wondering if you should really worry. The short answer is: Don't panic, but you should definitely learn more about it, because you may be in contact with vulnerable devices. This bug, baptized "Shellshock" by Security Researchers, affects the Unix command shell "Bash," which happens to be one of the most common applications in those systems. That includes any machine running Mac OS X or Linux. The "shell" or "command prompt" is a piece of software that allows a computer to interact with the outside (you) by interpreting text. This vulnerability affects the shell known as Bash (Bourne Again SHell), which is installed not only on computers, but also on many devices (smart locks, cameras, storage and multimedia appliances, etc.) that use a subset of Linux.
Disk App: Free up storage on your Mac in seconds
I'm a big skeptic when it comes to disk cleaning apps that claim to free up storage on your Mac. My experience in the past has been that the apps are slow, tend to delete files that are required to make your Mac operate properly, they're expensive (some as much as US$40!), and just aren't worth the time and money to buy. So what do you do when you're down to just a few GB on your Mac and you need to clear out some space? A new app from It's About Time, Disk App ($0.99 introductory price, regular price of $4.99) may be just the thing to clean up your drives without the hassle of some of the other apps on the market. Once you've purchased and downloaded Disk App from the App Store, launching it will display a simple and clean interface. You're asked to click on a Home icon to select your Home folder and an Applications icon to select your Applications folder. When that's done, a introductory screen graphically and numerically tells you how much total storage you have, how much is used, and how much is free (see image at top of this post). In the center of this pie chart is a big Start button. Click it, and within seconds (it took only 2 seconds on my late 2012 iMac) you're presented with another "pie" -- this one showing slices that you can click on to delete files or ignore those items. For example, in the image below, you can see that my Mac could regain 2.24 GB by clearing Cache, App Logs, Old iOS Installations (which I had already deleted), and Trash. The other slices -- Large Files, Browser Data, Mail Downloads, and Downloads -- are optional since you may wish to inspect those categories before deleting information. In my case, 2.24 GB isn't a lot since I have a humongous 1.11 TB Fusion Drive. But every GB helps, so I clicked the center button and literally within a second or two, I had regained 2.24 GB. Do this every month or so, and you can probably save a few GB each time. I decided to scan the "Large Files" slice to see what I could save. Once again, clicking the slice showed a list of files (mainly video) that were taking up a lot of space. The list was sorted with the largest video file at top, then showed progressively small video files. Scrolling through the list I found some videos that are archived out on YouTube, so I clicked those to remove them from my Mac. Within a minute I had found an additional 31.34 GB to delete. Some of the files had names I didn't recognize, but Disk App has a handy "theater" function that will display an image preview of the files with a click. By clicking on the "Add 31.34 GB link", the formerly gray-colored slice was now yellow, indicating that I'd selected some files for deletion. With a click, I had another 31.3 GB available. Disk App is fast, easy to use, doesn't get rid of important files without prior warning, and is well worth the $5 price tag. For a buck right now, it's a steal.
Roundup of iOS and OS X Labor Day deals
It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Labor Day Deals, featuring our own handpicked iOS and OS X selections. All prices are USD and subject to change. Some deals may expire quickly. TUAW is not responsible for third-party deals and cannot guarantee availability or quality of any particular product at a specific price. iOS Software Discounts SNK PLAYMORE Sale [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99] SNK PLAYMORE's applications, including The King of Fighters and Metal SLug will be available to purchase at $0.99 each. Disney App Sale [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99] From August 29th through September 4th, more than 25+ of the most popular mobile apps will go on sale for 99 cents. Ghostbusters Paranormal Blast [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $1.99] Blast and then steer ghosts into a virtual ghost trap for containment and collection in a strikingly immersive augmented reality battle. Just like a real Rookie! Animoog for iPhone [iPhone; On sale for $2.99, down from $5.99] Animoog is Moog Music's first professional synthesizer for iOS devices, and was the first music app in history to hit number one in the App Store on the day of release. Beach Games [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $1.99] Hit the beach and master FIVE different sports. Clone Magic - Clone Yourself, Split Pic, Clone Camera and Air Pic Maker for SnapChat, Tumblr, Kik Messenger and Flickr [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $1.99] Do you want to make a photo where many of you appear? It's now very fast and easy with Clone Magic. SoundGrid [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $2.99] SoundGrid is powerful yet easy to use matrix sequencer for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. 100 Rogues [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] 100 Rogues is a dungeon crawling adventure for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. DataMan Next : Track Data Usage In Real-Time [iPhone; On sale for $0.99, down from $1.99] Your weapon against overage. DataMan Next tells you in one glance if you're safe from busting your data cap. Never worry about overage again. Volt 3.2 [iPhone; On sale for $4.99, down from $9.99] VOLT supports IE or Firefox modes. The limited compatibility allows you to see or visit those IE only websites. NOTE: Some IE restricted websites may not work with VOLT. Caveman Feast 200 Paleo Recipes [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Caveman Feast for iPhone and iPad contains 200 delicious Paleo recipes that are beautifully illustrated and easy to follow. Speed Tracker. GPS Speedometer, HUD and Trip Computer [iOS Universal; On sale for $1.99, down from $3.99] Speed Tracker is the most elegant and unique combination of GPS speedometer and Trip computer in just one application. Anytune Pro+ - Slow Downer Music Practice Perfected [iOS Universal; On sale for $7.99, down from $14.99] ANYTUNE™ is the ultimate music practice app for singers, dancers and musicians of all kinds. har•mo•ny 2 [iOS Universal; On sale for $2.99, down from $3.99] We love color and har•mo•ny 2 gives you color in abundance. Hundreds of handcrafted levels, rich with color and organized into paths for your exploration. 2 Dreams [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $1.99] An exceptionally inceptional story. Numerical: Calculator Without Equal [iPhone; Now free, down from $2.99] Numerical is a calculator without equal. Path Input - Swipe Keyboard Note [iPad; Now free, down from $19.99] Path Input is a quick, smart and fun input solution on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Altunenator [OS X; Now free, down from $0.99] Altunenator ensures that when you're playing media in iTunes, you don't hear the same tracks over and over. Screeny [OS X; Now free, down from $14.99] Screeny makes screen capturing easy and gives you the freedom to capture your videos or images at any size. Sago Mini Music Box [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Play a song for your furry friends as you go on a musical adventure. Sago Mini Monsters [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Create your own colorful monster! Shapist [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $2.99] Shapist is a sliding block puzzle where you can do much more than just slide. Trainz Driver - train driving game and realistic railroad simulator [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $2.99] Drive your favorite trains in an incredibly realistic 3D world! JELLIES! [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $1.99] A handcrafted game about catching jellies - with bombs, clocks and electroshock. Stronghold 3: The Campaigns [iPad; Now free, down from $0.99] Play as a feudal lord in the world's most amazing castle-construction set. Grid Diary - Questionnaire Diary, Gratitude Journal, Private, Secret and Simple [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $4.99] Did you ever try to keep a diary but never succeeded? Or did you have writer's block problem? Grid Diary is here for you. Checkmark 2 [iPhone; On sale for $2.99, down from $9.99] Checkmark is back with an all-new design for iOS 7 and great new features, including Lists, Location Groups, One-tap Rescheduling, and much more! DRAGON QUEST VIII [iOS Universal; On sale for $14.99, down from $19.99] The 8th instalment in the legendary DRAGON QUEST series is now even easier to enjoy! Sago Mini Friends [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Go on a playdate with your favourite Sago Mini friends! Sago Mini Space Explorer [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Blast into space with Harvey the dog. Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $9.99] Mickey Mouse returns to star in Castle of Illusion, a fantastical reimagining of the Sega Genesis classic. Oscura Second Shadow [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Classic platforming meets modern design in a game built and optimised for touch controls. Spyglass [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $3.99] Spyglass is an essential GPS toolkit for outdoors and off-road navigation. LYNE [iOS Universal; ;On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] LYNE is a minimalist puzzle game that will knot your brain as it calms your soul. Wave Wave [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Wave Wave is a savage arcade game by Thomas Janson, with music by Danimal Cannon and Zef. Boson X [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Boson X is a fast-paced rotational runner set in a particle accelerator. Storm Casters [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $4.99] Lost and alone after escaping from your burning village, you find yourself at the entrance to an ancient and forgotten dungeon. Pentumble [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $1.99] Pentumble combines the joy of a free-flowing platformer with beautiful graphics and levels that are guaranteed to challenge even the most intrepid gamer. Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage (Universal) [iOS Universal; Free] An icy wind has swept the Vikings away, leaving them stranded throughout the land and surrounded by trolls, deadly traps, dangerous enemies, and worst of all... troll snot! Apple's App of the Week. Breach & Clear On sale for $1.99, down from $3.99] Breach & Clear brings deep tactical strategy to mobile devices! Build your Special Operations team, plan and execute advanced missions, and own every angle. Tiny Defense [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Green Planet is a beautiful home of the little mechanical life forms known as "Minirobots". W MoneyWiz - Personal Finance [iPhone; On sale for $0.99, down from $4.99] Have all your accounts, transactions, budgets and bills in one place. LEGO® The Lord of the Rings™ [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $4.99] Follow the epic storylines of the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy reimagined with the humor and endless variety of LEGO gameplay. Sky Guide: View Stars Night or Day [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $1.99] A star and constellation guide has never been more beautiful and easy to use. J Rayman Fiesta Run [iOS Universal; On sale for $0.99, down from $2.99] Join legendary platforming hero Rayman for a new adventure on your favorite mobile device! PDF Forms – Fill, Sign and Annotate PDF Forms and Documents [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $9.99] PDF Forms is a powerful processing app for anyone who has to deal with PDF forms and legal documents. Instacast 4 – Podcast Client [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $1.99] Instacast revolutionized podcast clients in 2011 and is still the best podcast app on the planet. I 1Password – Password Manager and Secure Wallet [iOS Universal; On sale for $9.99, down from $17.99] 1Password creates strong, unique passwords for every site, remembers them all for you, and logs you in with a single tap. W.E.L.D.E.R. [iOS Universal; Now free, down from $1.99] Weld words in the word machine! OS X Software Discounts W.E.L.D.E.R. [OS X; Now free, down from $2.99] Weld words in the word machine! SnapNDrag Pro [OS X; On sale for $4.99, down from $9.99] napNDrag Pro is screen capture made ridiculously easy. Pomodoro Timer: Focus on your productivity and beat procrastination using the Pomodoro Technique [OS X; On sale for $2.99, down from $4.99] Pomodoro Timer helps you boost your productivity using the Pomodoro Technique. Anytune – Slow Downer Music Practice Perfected [OS X; On sale for $14.99, down from $29.99] Slow down music, choose the perfect pitch, and learn to play by ear. 1Password – Password Manager and Secure Wallet [OS X; On sale for $34.99, down from $49.99] 1Password creates strong, unique passwords for every site, remembers them all for you, and logs you in with a single tap. Contacts Sync For Google Gmail [OS X; Now free, down from $9.99] Contacts Sync for Google Gmail" allows you to quickly & easily sync your Gmail & Mac contacts Grid [OS X; On sale for $5.99, down from $24.99] GRID™ - Racing on the Mac just got exciting again. StopWatch Plus [OS X; On sale for $14.99, down from $29.99] No more messy time sheets and forgotten tasks!
Google releases 64-bit beta version of Chrome for Mac
Following the successful release of 64-bit Chrome for Windows earlier this week, Google has announced that it is bringing 64-bit support to Mac users through the Chrome beta channel. The new 64-bit version takes advantage of OS X's 64-bit architecture, offering performance and security improvements that are not possible with the current 32-bit Chrome for Mac release. While there are several changes under the hood, the most notable difference to users will be the faster initial launch of the Chrome browser and a decrease in overall system memory usage by the browser. Starting today, Mac owners can download this 64-bit version from Google's Chrome beta channel. The 64-bit Chrome beta for OS X is compatible with all Macs that have a 64-bit processor, which includes most modern Mac hardware. You can view this Apple support document for instructions on how to locate your processor type and determine whether it is 32-bit or 64-bit. Remember, this 64-bit version of Chrome is still in beta, which means it may still have some stability issues. These beta versions are used to test new features before they are included in the public version of Chrome. If all goes smoothly, we should see 64-bit support roll out in the public Chrome build in the near future.
