Events

Skype 6.0 for Mac and Windows Desktop released

Andrew Edney

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Oct 24, 2012

0

Skype 6.0 for Mac and Windows Desktop released

Today saw version 6.0 of Skype for Mac and Windows Desktop released.

What’s new:

Microsoft and Facebook Account Integration Sign up and sign-in is easier than ever. You can now sign into Skype using your Microsoft or Facebook account – there’s no need to create a new Skype account. This makes it even easier to connect with friends on Skype without having to set up another account.
IM friends on Messenger Now you can instant message your Windows Live Messenger, Hotmail and Outlook.com contacts via Skype all in one place. If you use a Microsoft account today, merging your accounts is easy – just sign in to Skype with your Microsoft account.
Calling with Messenger friends is coming soon We’re working on polishing a feature which will enable audio and video calls to Windows Live Messenger customers using Skype desktop clients. The feature will be available in coming weeks.

Get it now for Windows or Mac.

New Minecraft Patch To Bring Golden Apples to All

Chris Hare

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Oct 24, 2012

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New Minecraft Patch To Bring Golden Apples to All

The next Minecraft patch which will bring a number of bug fixes for update 1.8.2, whilst also adding golden apples to the food chain of Minecraft.

4J Studios are currently working on the patch, which will corrects issues such as the game crashing bug or a lack of animals spawning in the Minecraft world. You can catch the full list of compiled bugs here.

Golden apples restore two food points and they also offer enhance regeneration and fire resistance.

App Update: Apple updates iBooks to version 3.0

Apple
News

Andrew Edney

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Oct 24, 2012

0

App Update: Apple updates iBooks to version 3.0

Apple has just updated it’s iBooks app to version 3.0.

What’s New in Version 3.0

• See all your iBookstore purchases in iCloud—right on your bookshelf with iOS 6
• Scroll vertically through your books with the flick of a finger using the new Scroll theme
• Receive free updates to purchased books—including new chapters, corrections, and other improvements
• Look up definitions for words in German, Spanish, French, Japanese and Simplified Chinese with iOS 6
• Share quotes or thoughts about your favorite book with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Messages, or Mail

iBooks 2 is available now for free in the App Store

App Update: WordPress for iOS updated to version 3.2

Apple
News

Andrew Edney

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Oct 24, 2012

0

The WordPress app for the iPhone and iPad has been updated to version 3.2.

It’s easy to manage your WordPress blog or site from your iOS device. With WordPress for iOS, you can moderate comments, create or edit posts and pages, and add images or videos with ease. All you need is a WordPress.com blog or a self-hosted WordPress.org site running 2.9.2 or higher.

What’s New in Version 3.2

★ Featured Image support
★ Push Notifications for self-hosted blogs using Jetpack *
★ More Accessible Settings

• Almost 70 bugs and crashes fixed, including tweaks to Stats

* Only the owner of the blog will receive push notifications for new comments on their own posts. All authors on a blog will be able to receive push notifications in the next version of Jetpack.

Download from the Apple App Store now

Apple introduces the 4th generation iPad

Andrew Edney

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Oct 24, 2012

5

Apple introduces the 4th generation iPad

As well as the iPad Mini, Apple also introduced the 4th generation iPad last night, only a short while after the New iPad!

So what are the differences between this one and the last New iPad?

Well, this one has the new Lightning connector (the one the iPhone 5 has). It also has a A6X CPU which Apple claim is twice as fast as the processor in the third iPad. There is also a 5 megapixel rear iSight camera, and the battery life is still at 10 hours.

The new iPad will also support LTE too!

Anyone who purchased the third generation iPad in the last 30 days can swap to the new one!

Skype for Windows 8 Announced

Microsoft

Jim McCarthy

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Oct 24, 2012

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Microsoft is releasing a Windows 8 version of Skype on October 26th. Read on for details.

Microsoft is releasing a new, Metro-styled Skype app for Windows 8, and it will be available on October 26th. Here is part of what they announced:

Welcome Skype for Windows 8: It’s Fast, Easy and Beautiful

Skype for Windows 8 is almost here and we are incredibly excited by this important new version of Skype. This is our big step forward together with Microsoft to introduce a completely new Skype experience, which is designed to be always on, immersive, effortless and fun to use.

The team at Skype has been building on the Windows platform since the first release of Skype. With Skype for Windows 8 we’ve focused on how people are using Skype today, and re-imagined Skype for everyday communications across our global community.

Focused on the people you care about

Skype puts the people and messages that matter most to you at the heart of our new experience.

Recent chat messages and calls are right there as you launch Skype alongside the people that you contact most often. We’ve made it simple and easy to add your favorite contacts so that they are only one tap or click away.

Always Reachable

On Windows 8, you can be always available and reachable whether you are using a desktop, laptop, tablet or convertible PC with Skype running seamlessly in the background without draining your battery.

You’ll be able to receive voice and video calls and chats even if you’ve navigated away to another app or to the desktop, enabling you to stay more connected with your contacts whatever you’re doing. Skype for Windows 8 will notify you about new calls and instant messages so you’ll always know when someone is contacting you.

Modern design

Skype for Windows 8 is fast, fluid and easy to use. In designing Skype for Windows 8 we wanted to build a truly modern Skype, as comfortable and easy to use with touch as it is with a keyboard and a mouse.

With Windows 8 we have built a new full-screen immersive and uncluttered Skype experience, but also bought other great new Windows features to Skype.

Once you’ve downloaded Skype from the Windows Store, Skype appears on the new Start screen as a live tile. As well as being the launching point for the Skype experience on Windows 8, the Skype live tile provides a window into the app, showing you if you have missed a call or have a new message waiting for you inside.

Check out the rest of the blog post here, and enjoy this video that gives some more details about the Windows 8 Skype app!

Skype Announces Windows 8 App

Apple Updates the iMac

Jim McCarthy

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Oct 24, 2012

0

Apple released an updated iMac today. Read on for details.

Apple released an updated iMac today. Here is the announcement:

All-New iMac Features Stunning Design, Brilliant Display & Faster Performance

SAN JOSE, California—October 23, 2012—Apple® today unveiled a completely new iMac® with a stunning design, brilliant display with reduced reflection, and faster processors.* With third generation Intel quad-core processors, powerful NVIDIA graphics and an innovative new storage option called Fusion Drive, the new iMac is the most advanced desktop Apple has ever made.

“With a stunning design, brilliant display and faster performance, we’ve made the world’s leading all-in-one desktop computer better in every way,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The all-new iMac is unbelievably thin, yet packs an incredible amount of performance and technology into our most innovative desktop.”

Redesigned from the inside out, the new iMac packs high-performance technology into an aluminum and glass enclosure with up to 40 percent less volume than its predecessor and an edge that measures just 5 mm thin. Built with an unprecedented level of fit and finish, the new iMac delivers an amazing desktop experience in a gorgeous design. The new iMac also features a completely reengineered display that reduces reflection by 75 percent while maintaining brilliant color and contrast. In the new design, the cover glass is fully laminated to the LCD and an anti-reflective coating is applied using a high-precision plasma deposition process. Every iMac display is individually color calibrated using an advanced spectroradiometer.

The new iMac features third generation quad-core Intel Core i5 processors that can be upgraded to Core i7. The latest NVIDIA GeForce processors deliver up to 60 percent faster performance for advanced gaming and graphics intensive apps. Every new iMac now comes standard with 8GB of 1600 MHz memory and a 1TB hard drive, and customers can choose to configure their iMac with up to 32GB of memory and a new 3TB hard drive, or 768GB of flash storage for ultimate performance. With two Thunderbolt and four USB 3.0 ports, the new iMac delivers even greater expandability and support for high-performance peripherals.
Fusion Drive is an innovative new storage option that gives customers the performance of flash storage and the capacity of a hard drive. It combines 128GB of flash with a standard 1TB or 3TB hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages files to optimize read and write performance. Fusion Drive adapts to the way you use your iMac and automatically moves the files and apps you use most often to flash storage to enable faster performance and quicker access.

Apple also updated the Mac® mini with third generation dual-core Intel Core i5 and quad-core Intel Core i7 processors that are up to twice as fast and have integrated graphics that are up to 65 percent faster.** Mac mini comes standard with 4GB of 1600 MHz memory with support for up to 16GB. Retaining its amazingly compact aluminum design, the new Mac mini now includes four USB 3.0 ports in addition to its Thunderbolt, HDMI, SDXC, Gigabit Ethernet, and FireWire® 800 ports.

Both iMac and Mac mini meet stringent Energy Star 5.2 requirements and achieve an EPEAT Gold rating.*** iMac uses up to 50 percent less energy than the previous generation when idle, and features LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac mini retains its status as the world’s most energy efficient desktop computer, using only 11W when idle. Both the iMac and Mac mini include PVC-free components and cables, contain no brominated flame retardants, and use highly recyclable materials and material-efficient packaging designs.
iMac and Mac mini ship with OS X® Mountain Lion, bringing Messages, Notification Center, system-wide Sharing, AirPlay® Mirroring, Dictation, Game Center and the enhanced security of Gatekeeper to your Mac. With iCloud® built into the foundation of OS X, Mountain Lion makes it easier than ever to keep your content up to date across your Mac, iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch®.

Pricing & Availability
The 21.5-inch iMac is available with a 2.7 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.2 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US); and with a 2.9 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US). The 21.5-inch iMac will be available in November through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.
The 27-inch iMac is available with a 2.9 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US); and with a 3.2 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.6 GHz and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US). The 27-inch iMac will be available in December through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.
The Mac mini is available with a 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 4GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $599 (US); a 2.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz, 4GB of memory and a 1TB hard drive for a suggested retail price of $799 (US); and a 2.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.3 GHz, OS X Server, 4GB of memory and two 1TB hard drives for a suggested retail price of $999 (US). The Mac mini is available today through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at apple.com/imac or apple.com/mac-mini.

*Testing conducted by Apple in October 2012 using preproduction iMac configurations. For more information visit apple.com/imac/features/.
**Testing conducted by Apple in October 2012 using preproduction Mac mini configurations. For more information visit apple.com/mac-mini/features.html.
***Claim based on energy efficiency categories and products listed within the EPA ENERGY STAR 5.2 energy database as of October 2012. EPEAT is an independent organization that helps customers compare the environmental performance of notebooks and desktops. Products meeting all of the required criteria and at least 75 percent of the optional criteria are recognized as EPEAT Gold products. The EPEAT program was conceived by the US EPA and is based on IEEE 1680 standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products. For more information visit www.epeat.net.

Check out the iMac website here, and sound off in the comments if you plan on buying one of these!

Apple iMac Website

Apple Introduces 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display

Jim McCarthy

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Oct 24, 2012

0

Apple Introduces 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display

Apple introduced a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display today. Read on for details.

Apple announced a new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display today. Here is the press release:

SAN JOSE, California—October 23, 2012—Apple® today introduced an all-new version of its popular 13-inch MacBook® Pro featuring a stunning Retina™ display and all flash storage in a new compact design. At a mere 0.75 inches and 3.57 pounds, the remarkably portable 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is 20 percent thinner and almost a pound lighter than the current 13-inch MacBook Pro.
“The 13-inch MacBook Pro is our most popular Mac, and today it gets completely reinvented with a new thin and light design, fast flash storage and a gorgeous Retina display,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With vivid colors, razor sharp text and more pixels than anyone else’s 15 or 17-inch notebooks, the Retina display completely changes what you expect from a notebook.”

The new MacBook Pro packs more than 4 million pixels into its 13-inch Retina display, nearly twice the number of pixels in an HD television. At 227 pixels per inch, the Retina display’s pixel density is so high the human eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels at a normal viewing distance, so images look sharp and text looks like it does on the printed page. With four times the pixels of the current 13-inch MacBook Pro, you can view and edit video in pixel-accurate 1080p and see a new level of detail in high resolution images. The 13-inch Retina display uses IPS technology for a 178-degree wide viewing angle, and has 75 percent less reflection and 28 percent higher contrast than the current generation.

Featuring flash storage that is up to four times faster than traditional notebook hard drives, the all-new MacBook Pro is extremely responsive, whether it’s waking from sleep or launching your favorite apps.* Fast flash storage combined with the latest Intel dual-core processors gives the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display plenty of power to run your most demanding apps with ease.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display features 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 processors with the option to choose faster 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7 processors, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 8GB of 1600 MHz memory, and up to 768GB of flash storage. Two Thunderbolt and two USB 3.0 ports allow users to connect to multiple displays and high-performance devices, and a new HDMI port offers quick connectivity to an HDTV. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display also features a FaceTime® HD camera, dual microphones, improved speakers, three-stream 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a MagSafe® 2 power port.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro battery delivers up to 7 hours of wireless productivity and can remain in standby for up to 30 days.** With the all new Power Nap feature in OS X® Mountain Lion, your MacBook Pro with Retina display stays up to date while it sleeps. Power Nap automatically refreshes Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Reminders, and Photo Stream, and when the notebook is plugged in, downloads software updates and backs up your Mac® using Time Machine®.

Continuing Apple’s commitment to energy efficiency and the environment, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display meets stringent Energy Star 5.2 requirements and achieves an EPEAT Gold rating.*** Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Apple notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, are PVC-free and are constructed of highly recyclable materials.

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display ships with OS X Mountain Lion, bringing Messages, Notification Center, system-wide Sharing, AirPlay® Mirroring, Dictation, Game Center and the enhanced security of Gatekeeper to your Mac. With iCloud® built into the foundation of OS X, Mountain Lion makes it easier than ever to keep your content up to date across your Mac, iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch®.

Pricing & Availability
The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available with a 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.1 GHz, 8GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage starting at $1,699 (US); and with 256GB of flash storage starting at $1,999 (US). Configure-to-order options include faster dual-core Intel Core i7 processors and flash storage up to 768GB. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at apple.com/macbook-pro. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display is available today through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

*Testing conducted by Apple in October 2012 using preproduction MacBook Pro with Retina display configurations. For more information visit apple.com/macbook-pro/features-retina/.
**The Wireless Web protocol testing was conducted by Apple in October 2012 using preproduction MacBook Pro with Retina display configurations. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. For more information visit apple.com/macbook-pro/features-retina/.
***Claim based on energy efficiency categories and products listed within the EPA ENERGY STAR 5.2 energy database as of October 2012. EPEAT is an independent organization that helps customers compare the environmental performance of notebooks and desktops. Products meeting all of the required criteria and at least 75 percent of the optional criteria are recognized as EPEAT Gold products. The EPEAT program was conceived by the US EPA and is based on IEEE 1680 standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products. For more information visit www.epeat.net.

Here are some product pictures:

This is a very nice computer, but $1,699 for a Core i5 seems a little expensive for a 13” device. Check out the Apple website for the MacBook Pro here.

Apple Website for MacBook Pro

Apple Introduces the iPad Mini

Jim McCarthy

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Oct 24, 2012

0

Apple made the smaller iPad official today, releasing the iPad Mini. Read on for details.

Apple has announced a smaller iPad, 7.9” and largely based on the hardware of the iPad2. Here is what they announced:

Apple Introduces iPad mini

Unveils New Fourth Generation iPad with Retina Display, Faster A6X Chip, FaceTime HD Camera & Ultrafast Wireless

SAN JOSE, California―October 23, 2012―Apple® today introduced iPad® mini, a completely new iPad design that is 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the third generation iPad. The new iPad mini features a stunning 7.9-inch Multi-Touch™ display, FaceTime® HD and iSight® cameras, ultrafast wireless performance¹ and an incredible 10 hours of battery life²―every inch an iPad, yet in a revolutionary design you can hold in one hand. Apple today also announced the fourth generation iPad featuring a gorgeous 9.7-inch Retina™ display, new Apple-designed A6X chip, FaceTime HD camera and ultrafast wireless performance. Both iPad mini and fourth generation iPad come with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features.

“iPad mini is every inch an iPad. With its gorgeous 7.9-inch display, iPad mini features the same number of pixels as the original iPad and iPad 2, so you can run more than 275,000 apps designed specifically for iPad,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPad mini is as thin as a pencil and as light as a pad of paper, yet packs a fast A5 chip, FaceTime HD and 5 megapixel iSight cameras and ultrafast wireless―all while delivering up to 10 hours of battery life.”

iPad mini comes in a beautiful new aluminum and glass design that is just 7.2 mm thin and weighs only 0.68 pounds. The 7.9-inch Multi-Touch display delivers the same iPad experience users have come to expect, in a design that has 35 percent more screen real estate than 7-inch tablets and up to an astonishing 67 percent more usable viewing area when browsing the web. The dual-core A5 chip delivers responsive graphics and a fast, fluid Multi-Touch experience, while still providing all-day battery life.

iPad mini features a front-facing FaceTime HD camera and a 5 megapixel iSight camera on the back with advanced optics for taking sharp still pictures and recording full 1080p HD video. The iSight camera includes video image stabilization and both cameras feature backside illumination to let users capture great pictures in low light. iPad mini also allows easy sharing of photos with friends and family using iCloud’s Shared Photo Streams.

iPad mini features dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi support for speeds up to 150 Mbps,³ which is twice the Wi-Fi performance compared to previous iPad models. iPad mini is available in Wi-Fi + Cellular models which are world-ready with built-in support for ultrafast wireless standards, including LTE¹ and DC-HSDPA, so you can browse, download and stream content fast from wherever you are. iPad mini data plans will be available with no contract so you can simply sign up and activate service directly from your iPad.⁴ The Personal Hotspot feature means you can share a fast cellular data connection via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB with up to five other devices such as MacBook® Pro, iPod touch® or another iPad.⁵

The new fourth generation iPad features the amazing 9.7-inch Retina display and includes a new Apple-designed A6X chip that delivers up to twice the CPU performance and up to twice the graphics performance of the A5X chip, all while delivering an incredible 10 hours of battery life in the same thin and light iPad design. Other new features include a FaceTime HD camera, twice the Wi-Fi performance when compared to previous iPad models and support for additional LTE carriers worldwide.⁶

iPad mini and fourth generation iPad both feature support for the Lightning™ connector that is smaller, smarter and more durable than the 30-pin connector. Lightning connector accessories are available to support cameras, SD cards and VGA or HDMI digital video.⁷ Existing iPad Smart Covers and the iPad Smart Case are compatible with fourth generation iPad, and new polyurethane Smart Covers custom-designed for iPad mini are available in pink, green, blue, light gray, dark gray and (PRODUCT) RED for $39.

iPad runs over 700,000 apps available on the App Store℠, including more than 275,000 apps designed specifically for iPad, from a wide range of categories including books, games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. iPad also supports the more than 5,000 newspapers and magazines offered in Newsstand and the more than 1.5 million books available on the iBookstore℠. The iTunes Store® puts the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store at your fingertips with a catalog of over 26 million songs, over 190,000 TV episodes and over 45,000 films. The new iBooks® app for iPad lets users read ebooks in over 40 languages. iBooks also lets users experience an entirely new kind of ebook that’s dynamic, engaging and truly interactive. Ebooks created with Apple’s new iBooks Author offer gorgeous, fullscreen ebooks with interactive animations, diagrams, photos, videos, custom fonts, mathematical expressions and much more.