Mac|Life Software Update RSS Feed

Apple Launches iTunes Preview

Arvind Srinivasan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:49:13 -0600

When iTunes 9 was released, it brought a slew of new features, including a redesigned interface for the iTunes store based on web technologies like HTML5 and CSS. Now, it looks like the software is porting some of the same technology over to the web in the form of the newly launched iTunes Preview website.

The main functionality of iTunes preview is that iTunes links will no longer open in iTunes; rather, they will redirect to a web page with information about the song or the artist, effectively mirroring what you would see in the iTunes artist page. The page then offers a link to preview or purchase the song inside the iTunes application.

Unfortunately, the site itself does not offer any preview functionality. Furthermore, finding artists is clunky -- unlike the desktop app, where you can browse the charts by genre, and look through various lists, the only way to find artists is to search for them, or browse for them alphabetically.

Safari 4.0.4 is Ready for Download

Roberto Baldwin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:46:43 -0600

Check Software Update on your Mac, Apple has released the latest Safari update.

Here is what Apple has to say about Safari 4.0.4:

This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes improvements to performance, stability, and security including:

- Improved JavaScript performance
- Improved Full History Search performance for users with a large number of history items
- Stability improvements for 3rd-party plug-ins, the search field and Yahoo! Mail

For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this site: About Apple Security Updates.

You can download the update here.

Mac OS X 10.6.2 Now Prowling The Streets

Cory Bohon — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:53:22 -0600

Apple has finally released Mac OS X 10.6.2, the update that might be ill-fated for Hackintosh netbook users.

The 10.6.2 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system patches that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes for:

an issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly
a graphics distortion in Safari Top Sites
Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts
a problem that prevented authenticating as an administrative user
issues when using NTFS and WebDAV file servers
the reliability of menu extras
an issue with the 4-finger swipe gesture
an issue that causes Mail to quit unexpectedly when setting up an Exchange server
Address Book becoming unresponsive when editing
a problem adding images to contacts in Address Book
an issue that prevented opening files downloaded from the Internet
Safari plug-in reliability
general reliability improvements for iWork, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, MobileMe, and iDisk
an issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account

For more information about this update you can visit Apple's website. If you are a netbook owner, you might want to consider holding off on updating until we get confirmation that this update kills support for the Intel Atom processor, as previously reported.

Apple To Kill The Hackintosh Netbook Dream?

Cory Bohon — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:01:05 -0600

According to developer rumblings, the Hackintosh netbook could be a thing of the past if Apple has anything to do with it.

The Hackintosh netbook has flourished as OS X users fill the netbook gap left by Apple. Sure, they might have violated the DMCA, and ended up with cramped keyboards, but they brought a dream to life.

According to OS X Daily, Apple could be killing support for the Intel Atom processor (the small processor that makes many netbooks tick) with the next Mac OS X 10.6 update (10.6.2).

If you have a Intel Atom Hackintosh netbook, we'd advise that you not update to the next iteration of Snow Leopard until this information can be verified. Or you could just wait until the Hackintosh community comes up with a new way to boot your netbook with Snow Leopard.

OS X Daily via Engadget

iTunes 9.0.2 Follows Apple TV 3.0 Into the World

Roberto Baldwin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:02:06 -0500

To enable grid Dark background - File>Preferences>General>Grid View (Click to embiggen)

Are you ready for some updating, well too bad. Apple is pushing another update on us and this one is for the Apple TV 3.0 software they pushed live a few hours ago. The best part about the update, support for a dark background grid in iTunes.

Yippee!

How long until an series of iPod and iPhone updates are pushed for the new iTunes which in turn is for the new Apple TV. Eventually, they could create an update loop that'll doom us all.

You can download the update via Software Update or from Apple's site.

Apple's notes on the new update:

iTunes 9.0.2 adds support for Apple TV software version 3.0, adds an option for a dark background for Grid View, and improves support for accessibility.

Apple TV 3.0 Software is Out

Roberto Baldwin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:49:23 -0500

If you have the Apple TV, settle down, they didn't released new hardware. Instead they released an update to the OS.

Apple TV 3.0 adds the current iTunes features, Genius Mixes and iTunes LP to your set top box.

Check it out and drop your first reactions in the comments below.

Below is Apple's press release:

Apple Introduces Apple TV 3.0 Software With Redesigned User Interface

Enjoy iTunes Extras, iTunes LP & Genius Mixes on Your HD TV

CUPERTINO, California—October 29, 2009—Apple® today introduced new Apple TV® 3.0 software featuring a redesigned main menu that makes navigating your favorite content simpler and faster, and makes enjoying the largest selection of on-demand HD movie rentals and purchases, HD TV shows, music and podcasts from the iTunes® Store even better on your TV. You can now enjoy iTunes Extras and iTunes LP in stunning fullscreen with your Apple TV, as well as listen to Genius Mixes and Internet radio through your home theater system. The new Apple TV software is available immediately free of charge to existing Apple TV owners, and Apple TV with 160GB capacity is available for just $229.

“The new software for Apple TV features a simpler and faster interface that gives you instant access to your favorite content,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet Services. “HD movies and HD TV shows from iTunes have been a huge hit with Apple TV customers, and with Apple TV 3.0 they get great new features including iTunes Extras, Genius Mixes and Internet radio.”

The redesigned main menu on Apple TV gives you instant access to your favorite content. Recently rented or purchased movies, as well as other content including TV shows, music, podcasts, photos and YouTube, are accessible directly from the new main menu. The new software also allows Apple TV users to enjoy stunning fullscreen iTunes Extras and iTunes LP, including great new movie titles such as “Star Trek” or classics like “The Wizard of Oz” and albums such as Taylor Swift’s “Fearless (Platinum Edition)” and Jack Johnson’s “En Concert.” iTunes Extras gives movie fans great additional content such as deleted scenes, interviews and interactive galleries. iTunes LP is the next evolution of the music album, delivering a rich, immersive experience for select albums on the iTunes Store by combining beautiful design with expanded visual features like live performance videos, lyrics, artwork, liner notes, interviews, photos, album credits and more.

Now Apple TV users can enjoy Genius Mixes through their home theater system and listen to up to 12 endless mixes of songs that go great together, automatically generated from their iTunes library. Customers can also enjoy Internet radio, allowing them to browse and listen to thousands of Internet radio stations, as well as tag favorite stations to listen to later. Apple TV’s support of HD photos is enhanced with iPhoto Events, which simplifies finding your favorite photos on Apple TV, as well as iPhoto® Faces, which gives access to photos organized by people identified in iPhoto.

Apple TV users have direct access to a catalog of over 8,000 Hollywood films on iTunes including over 2,000 in stunning HD video available for rent or purchase. Users can also choose from a selection of 11 million songs, 10,000 music videos and over 50,000 TV episodes to purchase directly from their Apple TV or browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast directory of over 175,000 free video and audio podcasts. Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their Mac® or PC or all current generation iPods or iPhones.* iPod touch® or iPhone® users can download the free Remote app from the App Store to control their Apple TV with a simple tap or flick of the finger.

Pricing & Availability
The new Apple TV software is available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers. The 160GB Apple TV is available from the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $229 (US). Apple TV requires an 802.11b/g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. Video availability varies by country.

Apple TV easily connects to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed Wi-Fi, Apple TV automatically plays your iTunes content without setup or management.

Magic Mouse Software Ready for Leopard and Snow Leopard

Roberto Baldwin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:40:17 -0500

If you ran to the Apple Store to get a Magic Mouse only to be disappointed when you got home and all the swiping goodness was no where to be found, you're in luck.

Today Apple released software for the Magic Mouse for Snow Leopard and Leopard.

The Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 will bring the awesome to your desktop without making you buy a new iMac.

Apple's info for both updates:

About Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 for Leopard

Install this software to take advantage of your Magic Mouse special features. Mac OS X 10.5.8 is required before installing this update.

About Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 for Snow Leopard

Install this software to take advantage of your Magic Mouse special features. Mac OS X 10.6.1 is required before installing this update.

Enjoy.

Apple Offers Leopard/Snow Leopard Performance Updates

Cory Bohon — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:46:42 -0500

Today Apple offered up an update to fix hard drive problems that some Mac users were reporting. The Performance Updates for both Leopard and Snow Leopard are supposed to, "[Address] intermittent hard drive-related stalls reported by a small number of customers."

A few Mac users were experiencing these hard drive-related problems, and these problems have been reported for a while now.

You can download this update by visiting the Apple Support Downloads page for Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) or Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6), or you can open Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update). Apple has also created a page detailing the steps needed for installing this update.

Not all Macs need this update. The Macs affected are:

MacBook Air (Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009), iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008), MacBook Air (Late 2008), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008), iMac (24-inch, Early 2009), iMac (20-inch, Early 2009), Mac mini (Early 2009)