Mac

Photographer sues Apple over promotional eyeball image

Apple has been sued by a Swiss photographer who claims the electronics giant misused one of her images by including it in a promotion for its latest MacBook Pro computers.

Photographer Sabine Liewald claims Apple acquired the rights to use the image of a model's eye (complete with make up) for "layout purposes only," as opposed to commercial use. The complaint specifically points to examples where Apple ended up using the image in its advertising, including on its Web site.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York earlier … Read more

Fix corrupt Mac App Store downloads

Apple's Mac App Store, which was introduced in OS X 10.6.6, has become Apple's central location for distributing new software as well as managing updates to the OS and purchased applications. Though in most situations the Mac App Store works fine to download and run a specified installer, there are times when errors occur and even persist regardless of how many times you retry the download.

MacFixIt reader Silverio recently wrote in with such a problem:

I've been experiencing problems to install updates for iMovie through Apple Store. The error message says that the product … Read more

PCs showing 'severe slump' as HP slips to No. 2

It's even uglier than thought in the PC market, new data today shows.

IDC says the global computer market "withdrew sharply" in the third quarter, with shipments falling 8.6 percent from the prior year. The tech research firm had expected a decline of just 3.8 percent -- what it called a relatively quiet quarter as companies prepare for the upcoming Windows 8 launch.

Rival Gartner, meanwhile, said shipments slid 8.3 percent to 87.5 million units, worse than its expectation for a 6.5 percent decline.

Both firms noted that back-to-school promotions weren't … Read more

Lost Steve Jobs time capsule still missing, 29 years later

Somewhere under Aspen, Colo., a time capsule containing Steve Jobs' mouse has been sitting and waiting to be unearthed. Since 1983. And no one knows where it is.

That's what blogger Marcel Brown wrote this morning, explaining that the time capsule, known as the Aspen Time Tube and buried in conjunction with the 1983 International Design Conference there, is lost and those looking for it are facing considerable odds against success.

According to a 2010 article in the Glenwood Springs (Colo.) Post Independent, the Aspen Time Tube was buried in June, 1983, and contained a number of items, ranging … Read more

Apple once again rumored to be eyeing carbon fiber

Apple is once again rumored to be looking into carbon fiber as a material for use in a future product. Citing a source within a Japanese company that produces carbon fiber, Japanese Apple blog Macotakara today says Apple has ordered up "large" samples of the product.

The outlet didn't into specifics about where that carbon fiber might be headed, short of noting that Apple has filed for patents that make mention of carbon fiber, and is on the lookout for a senior engineer to work on carbon in Japan.

Rumors about Apple and carbon fiber have been … Read more

Ultrabooks: The top technical problems

Owners of ultrabooks face a variety of technical woes, from limited battery life to poor screen quality, according to a new study from FixYa.

Tracking questions and complaints from its site users, FixYa narrowed its scope to seven different ultrabooks, shining a light on the key problems found in each one.

Low memory was the top complaint among users of Apple's popular MacBook Air, followed by thermal shutdown, which automatically turns off the computer if it gets too hot. Some owners also said the Air was difficult to repair and that the speaker quality was poor.

To deal with … Read more

Apple releases OS X 10.7.5 and Snow Leopard security updates

In addition to firmware updates for MacBook systems and updates for iPhoto, Aperture, iOS, and Mountain Lion, Apple has issued security updates for both OS X Snow Leopard and Lion.

The updates should be available via Software Update for systems running their respective operating systems, but they can also be downloaded from the Apple Support downloads pages for the respective updates:

OS X Lion Update 10.7.5 Server Combo (1.99GB) OS X Lion Update 10.7.5 Server (1.22GB) OS X Lion Update 10.7.5 Client Combo (1.91GB) OS X Lion Update 10.7.5 Client (… Read more

Apple's OS X 10.8.2 arrives with Facebook in tow

Apple's iOS isn't the only thing to get an update this morning. Alongside iOS 6, Apple quietly pushed out 10.8.2, the second minor update to Mountain Lion since it was released in July.

Chief among the additions is integration with Facebook, a feature that was promised for a fall release when Mountain Lion first debuted earlier this year. Facebook users can share items directly from share sheets now, as well as in Notification Center, and sync up contacts from the popular social network.

The update also adds the Power Nap feature to late-2010 MacBook Air machines, … Read more

Game time: How the iPhone 5 sent one case maker scrambling

SAN FRANCISCO--As Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage for his company's iPhone 5 media event yesterday, a group of hard-core Apple users a block away settled in to find out exactly what the new device had to offer.

With no less than nine Macs and eight iPhones in evidence, these ten people could easily be mistaken for a standard bunch of fanboys (and girls) eager to get their first official information about the iPhone 5. But they were hardly a normal group. This was much of the brain trust at Incase, one of the world's largest makers … Read more