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SAN FRANCISCO – Skiva Technologies showed off its upcoming OctoFire Turbo USB charger at Macworld this past week. It's an eight-port (hence the the name) “intelligent” charger for your iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Android device and other gear, and it is billed as an elegantly designed solution. The stop sign shaped charger is about the size of a…

Satechi’s ReadMate LED Desktop Magnifier is accurately described by the title. Although it is is not a specific Mac product, it is so useful and well designed that it deserves a review.  It is a beautiful, sophisticated magnifier with three LED lights to assist with viewing. It provides magnification at 5x. [Actually, this could come…

_________________ So far, I am impressed after watching his presentation. In the past, Microsoft always seemed so self-serving. It was all about holding onto turf, obsessing over WIndows and manipulating customers. Now, however, that may all be starting to change. Mr. Nadella, in his first big public presentation, showed a good grasp of Microsoft's challenges…

Mr. McCourt conducted a survey of 500 people in the U.S. from March 13 to 17. He wrote: The percent of survey respondents who owned iPhones declined q/q [quarter over quarter] to 52.3% from a high of 56% in December, but was up from 49.4% a year ago. iPhone share likely to continue to be…

Mr. Christie started at Apple in 1996 to work on the Newton, so he has a long relationship with Apple's touch screens. He was invited to work on a secret project in late 2004, resulting in two meetings a month (in a room with extremely limited access) with Steve Jobs to show progress and get…

Amber Cottle, Apple's new lobbyist Image Credit: Forbes Ms. Cottle's experience and connections will come in handy for Apple considering the company has become more vocal in Washington. The company openly supports corporate tax reform, CEO Tim Cook has even met with President Barak Obama to discuss online privacy and NSA surveillance. Apple also recently…

SimpleAir scores patent infringement win against Google's Android OS The patent that earned Google a bill for $85 million in damages, 7,035,914, covers the delivery and processing of notifications and other content. The money was awarded as part of a damages trial following a jury trial that ended in January. Google argued it shouldn't have…

None of the various parties associated with the movie and this story have commented, but TheWrap cited an unnamed source who said that Mr. Fincher met with Sony executive Amy Pascal to discuss the movie. According to that source, Mr. Fincher made it abundantly clear that he'd only direct the film if Mr. Bale played…

Fitbit faces lawsuit over fitness tracker-related rashes The skin rash issue has impacted less 1.7 percent of Fitbit Force users, but that was enough for the company to stop sales and issue a voluntary recall on the devices. Ironically, Mr. Spivey isn't one of the Fitbit Force owners that developed a rash. He filed the…

I'd like to thank Digiarty for again sponsoring TMO this week. They're always good for a very useful freebee, and this time is no different. In fact, this time is even better than last! From now until the 24th, they're giving away MacX DVD Ripper Pro for free just for you. Yeah, when you go…

42 million iPhones instead of 32? That's what Katy Huberty thinks is happening in Apple's Q2 Based on supply chain data, iPhone sales will be flat quarter over quarter, according to Business Insider. That's a misinterpretation, according to Ms. Huberty, because suppliers most likely ramped up parts production during the holiday quarter to push out…

Microsoft OneNote for the Mac. Finally. Microsoft OneNote for the Mac lets user create and manage notes, photos, and other pieces of information. It can synchronize that data with OneNote on other platforms such as iOS on the iPhone and iPad, Windows, and Android. The Mac version brings with it a couple firsts, according to…

When asked during the meeting whether or not Apple was working on a television, Mr. Jobs said, “No.” He added, “TV is a terrible business. They don't turn over and the margins suck.” His comments from the secret staff meeting were detailed in Yukaro Iwatani Kane's book, “Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs,” according to…

Pricing, as well as storage capacities, are across the board so we chose to compare the services we looked at based on cost per gigabyte. The companies we compared include Apple, Google, Dropbox, Amazon, Box, SugarSync, and Microsoft. Spoiler alert: Apple doesn't fare too well in this market. Free Online Storage Options Every company we…

Even while growing up in the middle of Baltimore I was attracted to places where nature was allowed to reign. I spent many hours wandering the trails in Gwen Falls and Druid Hill Parks. Nowadays, when not at work, you are just as likely to find me paddling down the St. James River, walking Playa…

Rapoo’s Ultra-slim Keyboard for iPad (E6300) was designed specifically for the iPad and has a number of features that should appeal to those who type with their thumbs. Touch typists? Not so much. The keyboard comes with a user’s guide and a USB to micro USB charging cable. It operates from an internal lithium battery.…

ZiiLabs says Apple and Samsung are infringing on its patents ZiiLabs listed ten of the 100 graphics, processor and 3D-related patents it owns in the lawsuit, according to Patently Apple. The lawsuit states, in part, Samsung has directly infringed and continues to directly infringe one or more of the claims of the '637 Patent by…

iTunes Radio is the third largest music streaming service in the U.S. Pandora currently holds 31 percent of the streaming music market, followed by iHeartRadio with 9 percent, and iTunes Radio with 8 percent. Trailing behind the top three are Spotify, Google Play All Access, Rhapsody, Slacker, and TuneInRadio. Edison tracked active online music service…

Is Apple Greenwashing? Please… Let me say right up front that Ms. Ridenour is wrong about Mr. Cook's reaction. As the guy who started the worldwide attention on Mr. Cook's angry response, I am supremely confident in my read on Mr. Cook and positive that for the first—and probably last—time, we saw an angry Tim…

“Here's to the cracy ones…” (Author's archive) Often, constancy of purpose can come across as arrogance. It's all too easy to confuse the constant dedication to a sound principle by someone with the arrogance of believing that an opinion is more valid than the opinions of others. It's a shame that confusion like that occurs.…

ComiXology users need to reset their passwords following a security breach The company alerted users to the security breach in an email saying, “Even though we store our passwords in protected form, as a precautionary measure we are requiring all users to change their passwords on the ComiXology platform and recommend that you promptly change…

Class action lawsuit says Apple's in-store POS system discriminates against the visually impaired The lawsuit stated that Apple “does not provide any auxiliary aids or services calculated to make its POS Devices fully accessible to, and independently usable by, blind people,” according to TUAW. It goes on to say that the plaintiff, David New, wants…

Perhaps never before I have reviewed a product with such a perfect name. IK Multimedia’s Bluetooth speaker — sorry, make that audio monitor — is called iLoud for a reason. It's loud. The black self-contained speaker/receiver is about the size of a box of Wheat Thins. Its all-black design is broken only a by a small…

Rapoo has released a new mouse (model 7100P)  that is designed for gamers and others who need either slower mouse movement or faster mouse movement. The mouse movement is measured in dots per inch (DPI), the same term we use for measuring pixels in photos, screens, printers, etc. When used in reference to a mouse,…