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As much as new MacBook owners love to rave about their systems, no laptop -- even one with an Apple logo -- comes right out of the box ready to perform optimally.

And while it's certainly exciting to unwrap a new holiday MacBook, there are a handful of tweaks, tips, and fixes you should check out on day one that will make your MacBook easier to use. I've put together some of my personal favorites here.

There are many more I could list, and I'm sure I've left out some of your favorites, so feel free … Read more

Xmas is a time for families to be together and share all the tensions they have harbored for the whole year.

So to celebrate family closeness, Apple has just released an ad -- bless you, MacStories -- for the iPad Mini. It features a grandfather and granddaughter.

She is singing to him over FaceTime.

We see her face on a regular iPad and his on an iPad Mini.

Naturally, the viewing public, tired from shopping and eating, are supposed to look at this sweet opus and offer an "aahh" and a "so sweet."

Here at Technically … Read more

Sometimes I just wander into places.

No reason I should. No reason I shouldn't.

Tonight it was a fascinating North Vietnamese restaurant called Khong River House in Miami Beach. It's been open only four days and the staff have that staring-eye look that reminds you of exam day at college.

Still, for reasons of sheer art, they have an installation near the restrooms. The idea is that you take one of the provided pens and write down your truth, your dream, or your confession on a piece of board that you then hang for all to see.… Read more

Apple has changed course on a technical specification that recently put a third-party charging accessory out of luck.

The company today said it's now allowing its newer Lightning adapter specification to coexist with the older (yet still quite popular) 30-pin adapter in the same accessory.

"Our technical specifications provide clear guidelines for developing accessories and they are available to MFi licensees for free," Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told CNET. "We support accessories that integrate USB and Lightning connectors, but there were technical issues that prevented accessories from integrating 30-pin and Lightning connectors so our guidelines did … Read more

Google is putting its acquisition of Motorola to use by building a powerful new device known internally as the 'X phone' to compete with offerings from Apple and Samsung, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal reported that engineers at Motorola are working hard on the new handset, to be released some time next year. It will mark the first time that Google has built a phone with struggling Motorola, which it acquired for $12.5 billion.

Motorola will continue to produce devices for its carrier partner Verizon, while also devoting resources to the 'X' partnership with Google … Read more

Samsung is drawing closer and closer to the technology that will transform the future of smartphones and tablets. The company will show off its progress in a couple of weeks at CES 2013 when it demos a 5.5-inch flexible display with a 1,280x720-pixel resolution and a 267-pixel density (an upgrade to the one pictured above from CES 2011).

While these displays are still at least a couple of years away from being used in mainstream products, they represent the next big innovation in mobile devices. They will enable much thinner, more power-efficient smartphones and tablets, and a lot … Read more

Longtime holdout of Apple's Newsstand service, The Wall Street Journal changed course today, and is now offering a complete version of its paper through the paid subscription service.

The Journal has had a reader app on the App Store since early 2010, but did not allow users to subscribe using their Apple ID and linked credit card account, something that gives Apple a cut of the profit. That business model, along with a system that requires users to opt-in to sharing some of their demographic information, has been irksome for some publishers.

The new service, which went into effect … Read more

It didn't take Facebook long to backtrack over controversial policy changes it intended to make regarding its photo-sharing app Instagram.

A public backlash was ignited by Instagram stating that had it the perpetual right to sell users' photographs without payment or notification. Under the new policy, Facebook claimed the right to license all public Instagram photos to companies or any other organization, including for advertising purposes, which would effectively transform the Web site into the world's largest stock photo agency.

"Instagram is now the new iStockPhoto, except they won't have to pay you anything to use … Read more

Google Maps users looking to get more out of the app can grab some free advice from Google itself.

A new page dubbed "10 ways to make your Google Maps for iPhone experience even better" reveals several handy features that you may not know existed.

Tip 1: To place a pin on a map, press down and hold any location. The pin reveals the specific address and displays an info sheet with an option to share that location.

Tip 2: To access Street View, press and hold any location on the map and then tap on the info … Read more