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Paris Apple Store robbed of more than $1 million in goods

Armed robbers broke into the Apple Store in Paris on New Year's Eve and made off with more than a million dollars' worth of merchandise, according to reports.

Masked suspects wielding handguns forced their way into the store through an employee entrance as a janitor was leaving, about three hours after the store's 6 p.m. closing time, England's Telegraph reported. The janitor was "lightly injured," the news outlet said. The Wall Street Journal cited French reports and said a security guard had also been overpowered by the thieves.

The Journal said two suspects forced … Read more

Pirated iOS app store Installous shutters

Installous, a major portal for pirated paid apps from Apple's App Store, won't be around anymore.

Development team Hackulous today announced the closure of Installous on their official Web site. As of today, the pirated app store no longer works, and only shows these errors: "Outdated version. Installous will now terminate" or "API Error. API unavailable." … Read more

The best money-saving tips of 2012

2012 was hellish in a lot of ways, but it was a good year for saving money.

Indeed, as any regular reader of The Cheapskate or CNET's Marketplace knows, you could count on finding a good deal -- often a great deal -- pretty much every single day.

Of course, some of the best money-saving advice applies all year round, not just on a particular day. With that in mind, I've rounded up some of my favorite thrifty tips from 2012. (It probably goes without saying that most of them will work just as well in 2013.)

1. Always buy refurbished Apple gear.… Read more

Typical Mac user is a freckly, glasses-wearing gal

When you think of a typical Mac user, you may imagine a young Silicon Valley go-getter type with hipster glasses and a tongue-tying Starbucks order involving half-caff, soy milk, and foam. According to an unscientific composite created by app maker BlueStacks, you'd be way off base.

BlueStacks compiled data from Nielsen and 1.1 million Facebook fans to determine what the typical Mac lover looks like. It turns out that Ms. Mac 2012 is a freckled, T-shirt wearing lady with long, black hair.

Ms. Mac also happens to be from North America. She's under 20, has OS X Lion installed on her Mac, wears jeans, and rocks a pair of sneakers. There are no geek hoodies to be found anywhere on the infographic, though.… Read more

Apple applies for patent on 'active stylus' technology

Apple has filed for a patent that the company says, improves the overall functionality of a stylus.

Dubbed "Active Stylus," the technology describes a way in which a stylus, outfitted with an electrode at the tip, can interact with a "capacitive touch sensor panel" and allow users to tap around on menus, buttons, and text fields. The technology doesn't necessarily reinvent the stylus -- it is still handheld and functions just as today's styli do -- but it attempts to improve accuracy while maintaining costs.

Here's what Apple's patent says about the … Read more

Predicting the most unlikely tech events that will happen in 2013

The other day I was lying on the beach when an older, bronzed man came and lay down next to me.

He made some groaning noises and chatted on his flip phone. He was Iggy Pop.

This, in itself was unusual. However, at the very moment he was there I was reading a book called "Paris, I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down," by Rosencrans Baldwin. It's the story of an American writer who moves to Paris with his wife to write silly ads for Louis Vuitton.

I happened to be on page 167, where … Read more

Type 'sell' into Google Finance and take a bite out of Apple

Update, 5:40 p.m. PT: Google says the situation isn't deliberate. See the note at the end of this story.

Fiscal cliff or not, Google Finance seems to have developed a sense of humor.

A Reddit reader noticed earlier today that if you type "sell" into the search field at Google Finance, the site serves up Apple's presently somewhat sullen stock chart.

Ouch. Is this some sort of nasty Christmastime Easter egg/lump of coal? That's what some in the blogosphere are currently trying to figure out -- Google watcher, Search Engine Land proprietor, … Read more

Details of proposed sanctions emerge in Apple-Samsung case

Details have emerged about how Samsung might be affected by an October 24 ruling against it in an Apple patent case before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

A public, partially censored version of the presiding judge's initial determination and recommendations in the case was published by the ITC yesterday, showing Judge Thomas Pender's suggested sanctions, which include an import and sales ban on infringing products, and the posting of a bond for 88 percent of the value of the smartphones at issue in the case.

Pender ruled that Samsung is violating one of Apple's iPhone design … Read more

Suppliers hint at changes to MacBook Air -- Digitimes

One of the first MacBook Air rumors of the season alludes to internal changes but few external tweaks.

A fresh report from the not-always-reliable Taipei-based Digitimes claims the "industrial design will not see any major changes" in 2013.

Apple introduced the accentuated wedge aesthetic in late 2010 (see photo above), so about a year and a half will have transpired if new MBAs are introduced in the first half of 2013.

The report makes no mention of displays, but that's an area of intense focus for Apple. The high end of the MacBook Pro line now sports … Read more

Upcoming book gives look at early Apple designs

Apple fanatics may find themselves foaming at the mouth over some retro conceptual Mac computer photos featured in Hartmut Esslinger's upcoming book "Design Forward: Creative Strategies for Sustainable Change."

The book explores Esslinger's journey as a German designer who worked with Sony, Louis Vuitton, and others before moving on to Apple in 1982. Apple hired Esslinger to transform the successful yet scattered startup into a brand with a globally recognizable design mantra. … Read more