The great thing about owning iOS, OS X and Apple-powered gadgets in general is the seamless manner in which they tend to integrate with one another. AirPlay, in particular, makes it very easy for content to be beamed to separate Apple devices, but the major hitch for most folks is the proprietary nature of this connectivity. An intriguing new app, created by AirSquirrels - looks to bridge the gap between Apple products and those created by other companies by allowing an iOS devices screen to be streamed to Windows, OS X and - get this - Google's Android.
Hot on the heels of Apple's latest OS X Mavericks seed to registered developers, it is being reported that Apple is close to releasing OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 to the public. Tuesday's 13D55 beta seed that landed in the inboxes of interested parties marked the continuation of OS X and gave developers a chance to test and give feedback on the latest features and improvements to be added. The latest reports are suggesting that Apple is happy with the progression of the test firmware and will be in a position to publicly release the update very soon.
A short while ago, Apple's refreshed, reduced-price 2014 MacBook Air went on general sale, adding an upgraded Intel Haswell processor for a slight improvement in performance. But the bigger news story is the knock-on effect that the refresh has had on the pricing of the older, refurbished MacBook Air, which can now be picked up from Apple with the standard one-year warranty for a very enticing $599.
It was just yesterday when we got a glimpse of the updated 2014 MacBook Air specs, and today, as expected, said updates are upon us. And we have all the details right here.
Microsoft's takeover of Nokia was finalized last week, and most of the news over the weekend has been related to the big transition. The newly-bolstered software maker is very keen to get back to business as usual, however, and on Monday, made a noteworthy tweak to the pricing of the app of its previous major acquisition - Skype. The change sees group calling go free on Windows, OS X and Xbox One, and you can catch the important details after the fold.
Whether you use a Mac or a PC is obviously a matter of preference, but it's not unheard of for some people to want to use one platform but have the interface look like the other. Skinning Windows to look more like a Mac is something that has been done for years, and with each new version of both OS X and Windows, these tools have had to adapt.
Apple's decision to keep OS X and iOS as close to each other as possible when it comes to the underlying technology that powers them both has been beneficial to the firm in the past. Unfortunately that also means that some security holes found in one are likely to also be evident in the other, meaning both will require patching. Conventional wisdom says that if you have two platforms with the same security problem, you patch them both at the same time, but it seems nobody told the folks at Apple, leaving one security researcher to lay into the company over the matter.
Apple's Q2 FY14 earnings call on Wednesday revealed that the sales figures of certain products have not been as strong nor impressive as in previous years, with the iPad numbers in particular having faltered year-on-year. But given the growing number of competitors in both the tablet industry and the emerging "phablet" market, this is perhaps to be expected, and even the popularity of the all new iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina Display haven't prevented sales of the Apple slab from dipping somewhat.
We thought things had gone a little too far when we heard that Apple had introduced an app section within the iOS App Store dedicated to taking selfies. The practice of taking a photo of yourself has - for one reason or another - grown immensely popular in the last six months, leaving Apple with no option but to try and capitalize on it by curating a selection of the finest selfie based apps out there. If, like us, you thought that things couldn't get any crazier, then allow us to introduce you to S.E.L.F.I.E, the world's first magical mirror that can capture your photo (read: selfie) and post it to Twitter.
Thanks to extensions, browsers like Firefox and Chrome can be tailored to suit the needs of the individual users. Once a mere component of the wider computing experience, our browsers are like an OS unto themselves, and every element – irrespective of whether it may be aesthetic or function-related – can be adjusted by means of the many thousands of extensions available.
