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In 1998, Steve Jobs stood up and abruptly, boldly cancelled OpenDoc right before the bewildered eyes of several thousand developers. Previously, they had been told that OpenDoc was Apple’s salvation and answer to Windows. But that was the previous regime. Mr. Jobs had different, bold plans for the resurrection of Apple, namely simplifying the product…

If you’re using MobileMe, there are a couple of things to consider before you start trying to clean things up yourself. First, make sure that you’re not syncing with iTunes in addition to MobileMe (which is one of the most common causes of duplicated data). To check this, plug in your iOS device, open iTunes,…

Safe Download Version shows when your Mac’s malware definitions were updatedSafe Download Version is a Mac OS X application that shows which safe downloads definition list version is installed, along with the date and time the definition list was last updated on your computer. The brand new version 0.2 update changed the time shown from…

Apple had been rumored for some time to be working on a cloud service that could replace MobileMe, rumors that accelerated with the news that Apple had bought iCloud.com earlier this year. On Tuesday the company acknowledged iCloud by announcing that Steve Jobs would be participating in a keynote event for WWDC that focus on…

X2Y is based in Erie, Pennsylvania, and the suit was filed the Western District of Pennsylvania. According to Bloomberg, all five patents are in areas covering ways of overcoming electromagnetic interference. X2Y alleges that Intel is using the techniques covered by the patents in its processor line, and it named the Core i7 as “one…

Internet communication is so good nowadays that no company can drop just any old product out there and hope for the best — before the consumers get wise. Instead, the community of users, via Facebook and Twitter, conceive of what they need and create a group consciousness about what serves their needs and what doesn’t.…

The lawsuits came in response to a letter Apple sent to Lodsys requesting the company abandon its legal actions against developers. “Lodsys chose to move its litigation timing to an earlier date than originally planned, in response to Apple’s threat, in order to preserve its legal options,” the patent holder stated in a blog post.Lodsys…

As this is the last article in this series it seems only fitting that it be about an application that’s patterned after the device that started it all, the iPod. Back when it began, the iPod was a plastic and metal box about the size of a deck of playing cards, and back then it…

The Macintosh is benefiting from the iPhone and iPad halo effect. Macintosh sales continue to grow and Apple continues to note in its earnings reports that half of their retail sales are to former PC users. The Mac is being embraced, more and more, by thousands of newbies, students, and people of all ages who…

The best defense is to make sure that “Open ‘Safe’ files after downloading” is disabled in Safari’s preferences — which is the default. Apple released a Knowledge Base article which explains how to find and disable the malware and promises an update that will do just that automatically.Some are using the existence of these Trojans…

Can you hear me now?Mac users that can’t access Skype’s services should quit the Skype application, then delete the shared.xml file in <you home directory>/Library/Application Support/Skype. Skype’s services should be available once the application is relaunched.Skype doesn’t have any details available yet on exactly what went wrong, nor has the company said when it expects…

Mac Defender is a fake anti-virus piece of malware that tries to extort credit card numbers out of Mac users by creating phony problems on their system (read more in our original coverage). The malware first came to light with a security alert from Intego earlier this month, and has made headlines since because Apple…

“The Kindle 3 has 38 buttons, 37 more than the all-new Nook,” Barnes & Noble CEO William Lynch said (wryly, according to Fortune) during the media event announcing the device. “Anyone who has mobile devices with [a lot] of buttons and nav bars knows that means a lot of scrolling and a lot of interface……

Steve Jobs speaking at a 2010 media eventWWDC is Apple’s annual conference for iOS and Mac OS X developers, IT professionals and third-party hardware makers. This year Apple will be focusing on the future of Mac OS X and iOS.Apple isn’t expected to make any hardware announcements at the event, so it seems likely that…

Combustible aluminum dust that collected in factory air ducts is suspected as the cause of the explosion and fire at the Chengdu facility. The factory is said to be a location where some iPad production takes place, although neither Foxconn or Apple has offered an official confirmation.The Chengdu explosion happened on Friday, May 20, and…

France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard speaking at an EU symposium on Net Neutrality in 2010 Photo courtesy of Olivier Ezratty Praise be to the iPhone The comments came in a speech in San Francisco last week that was attended by AllThingsD. In that presentation, Mr. Richard spoke on a variety of topics concerning the smartphone…

Terms of the deal are unknown, but PatentlyO noted two facts that point to a cash transaction. The first is that Freescale has billions of dollars in debt that has come due, and the second is that Apple has more money than Bill Gates. At least a smattering of the patents deal with various aspects…

Ghostery is a free plug-in for Safari — and other browsers — that detects a website’s attempts to log your habits via tracking cookies and stops it cold. It installs easily and has a seamless but informative interface. After downloading, Ghostery installs with a double click into ~/Library/Safari/Extensions. It’s easy to uninstall by just dragging…

James Thomson, one of the developers that was hit with legal threats from Lodsys, tweeted “Good news for everyone!” Iconfactory co-founder Talos Tsui echoed that sentiment by tweeting “Way to go, Apple! Thanks!” Craig Hockenberry, also of Iconfactory fame, added “DEAR STEVE I WANT TO KISS YOU HUGS CHOCK” In a letter to Lodsys CEO…

According to AllThingsD, Foxconn said in a statement that six employees have already been released from the hospital.The explosion took place on May 20 at a Foxconn polishing facility, and an initial investigation suggests the accident was caused by “an explosion of combustible dust in a duct.”“All operations at the affected workshop remain suspended and…

“Hon Hai acknowledged a fire at its Chengdu plant, which we believe is a secondary location for iPad production,” Mr. Um said. “Our checks and those of our Taiwanese tech analyst Arthur Hsieh indicate less than 20 percent of iPad volumes are produced at the Chengdu facility.”The fire and explosion happened on May 20, and…

Patent Man: On the Prowl One patent holder is taking legal action against one type of in-app purchase implementation, though they’re not taking action against Apple. The story’s a little convoluted, though CNET says a company called Lodsys is threatening to sue App developers, Computer LogicX, individual developer James Thompson, and a few other developers,…

In a research note obtained by The Mac Observer, Mr. Wu told clients that Apple had reduced some of the production constraints on iPad shipments, and that the company’s manufacturers had successfully retooled and converted more production lines to making the iPad 2. The analyst’s sources said that Apple was still well shy of the…

Apple will continue using Thunderbolt technology without any restrictions after the trademark transfer is complete, according to Bright Side of News.“As part of our collaboration with Apple, they did some of the initial trademark filings,” Mr. Salvator said. “Intel has full rights to the Thunderbolt trademark now and into the future. The Thunderbolt name will…