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Agree/Disagree with LAPTOP Magazine's crowning of OS X Mavericks as a "worst-named" gadget of 2013.
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Wednesday Highlights: The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has indeed signed a deal to offer the iPhone on China Mobile, giving Apple access to 700 million new customers; If and until Apple makes official comment on Topsy purchase, speculation will continue, and Forbes' Jeff Bercovici lists a number of ideas including "enhancing content delivery...strengthening the overall app ecosystem" among others, as to what the acquisition will mean for Apple; perhaps "closer integration of Twitter" in Apple's software is the reason?; Jonny Evans at Computerworld highlights current OS data which shows "fragmentation undermines the Post PC age, and Apple isn't fragmented"; China Mobile and Apple do not have an official deal yet, but the road is paved and the two are "close to agreeing to a distribution deal"; Chris Breen at Macworld investigates the security of iCloud; LAPTOP Magazine thinks one of "the worst-named gadgets of 2013" is OS X "Mavericks"; scrapbookers will enjoy this review of Ember for OS X; HomeBase Software has a first look at the new FileMaker 13; Black Friday and Cyber Monday were owned by Apple as Localytics says iPad Air sales increased 51%, iPhone 5c saw 26% surge — more in our General Interest section; anamorphic adapter for iPhone camera allows for super widescreen film shooting; Xiaomi CEO calls iPhone "best smartphone on the planet" despite his company making Android phones in China; IDC believes large-screen tablets will return to prominence thanks to iPad Air; got duplicate contacts on your iDevice? Apple Gazette shows how to merge them; Marco Tabini argues it is time for Apple to "relax its App Store rules" as current rules restrict "developers who have contributed significantly to the platform's success".
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"Apple, China Mobile Sign Deal to Offer iPhone: Tie-Up Would Give Apple Access to 700 Million Subscribers" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 8:17 PM
"Apple and China Mobile reportedly seal iPhone deal" AppleInsider 8:41 PM
"Apple Finally Signs Long-Awaited Deal To Sell iPhones On China Mobile's Network" TechCrunch 9:43 PM
"TIME Exclusive: Icahn Files Apple Shareholder Proposal/The richest man on Wall Street is opening a new front in his quest to persuade Apple to part with more of its massive cash stockpile." Time 3:15 PM
"Carl Icahn Tells Apple He Is Seeking Shareholder Vote on Buyback: Carl Icahn is seeking a shareholder vote on his proposal to get Apple Inc.AAPL -0.26% to buy back more shares, though he is no longer seeking to get the company to repurchase $150 billion, according to a tweet from the investor Wednesday." WSJ Blogs 2:39 PM
"Billionaire investor Icahn steps up pressure on Apple" Reuters 3:14 PM
"Apple's 2013 Acquisitions: Maps, Videos and Data" WSJ Blogs 8:06 AM
"China Mobile License Paves Way for World's Largest 4G Network" ["Apple is close to agreeing to a distribution deal with China Mobile, a person with knowledge of the matter said in September. The carrier said in 2011 that Apple agreed to make an iPhone for its customers once it shifted to 4G."] Bloomberg 9:19 AM
"Apple's China Expansion Stalled by Tech: Munster" Bloomberg TV 1:41 PM
"China issues 4G TD-LTE licenses, should boost iPhone sales: Apple's iPhone could be getting a step closer to being officially offered on China's largest mobile network, after the nation's government finally issued 4G licenses to operate LTE TDD networks in the country." IDG News Service 9:29 AM
"China finally grants 4G licences, but still no iPhone deal for China Mobile" Engadget 8:00 AM
"Apple Supplier Responsibility: 2013 Progress Report" [37 page PDF download] Apple 12:46 PM
"Apple report on suppliers touts improved working conditions: The company issues its Supplier Responsibility Report and says no cases of underage labor were found in 2012." CNET News 12:46 PM
"Obama says he's not allowed iPhone for 'security reasons'" Reuters 8:40 PM
"Apple seeds OS X 10.9.1 to support staff as public release approaches" 9to5Mac 12:16 PM
"Update For OS X Mavericks Reaches Developers, Further Improves Mail" AppAdvice 8:15 AM
"Release Of The First Major OS X Mavericks Update Is Imminent" AppleBitch 12:50 PM
"The Worst-Named Gadgets of 2013" ["Unfortunately, the company decided to call OS X version 10.9 'Mavericks,' and claims that it's named after a surfing location in Northern California. However, when most people hear 'Mavericks,' they think of the McCain/Palin 2008 ticket."] LAPTOP Magazine 9:29 AM
AppleCare/Troubleshooting
"Limited graphics performance in OS X Recovery or Safe Mode" Apple Support 3:57 PM
Reviews/How-To/Tips
"Review: Ember is the software for serious scrapbookers" Macworld 11:00 AM
"iPad Air Wins Black Friday-Cyber Monday: New Devices Increase by 51%" Localytics 10:37 AM
"Black Friday propels iPad Air growth by 51%, iPhone 5c surges 26%" AppleInsider 10:39 AM
"Localytics: Apple's iPad Air was last weekend's big winner/But who would have guessed that the old iPad Mini would come in second?" Fortune 10:37 AM
"iOS 7 Adoption Rate Wallops Android 4.4 KitKat: Only 1.1% of Android devices run the latest operating system, versus 70% of Apple iPhones and iPads." InformationWeek 12:44 PM
"iPad Air scores big during Black Friday weekend" CNET News 10:38 AM
"Heads up Apple, Android to make big gains in 2014, IDC predicts: Apple will hold onto to a 'value edge' in 2014, but Android's ecosystem is poised to make big gains, according to IDC." CNET News 7:51 AM
"Android extends tablet lead over Apple as Microsoft lags behind" V3 8:52 AM
"Apple's iOS 7 reaches 70% penetration in just 2 months" ITProPortal 8:06 AM
"iOS 7 is on almost 75 percent of iPhones, 65 percent of iPads" The Inquirer 8:53 AM
"Fingerprint sees touch ID going mainstream for smartphones" Reuters 4:03 PM
"Apple presents updated 3D model of upcoming Downtown San Francisco store to city's Historical Preservation Commission" 9to5Mac 4:19 PM
"iBeacons Used To Deliver Location-Based Access To iOS Newsstand Publications" TechCrunch 7:56 AM
"Startup pushes Newsstand publication samples to iOS devices through Apple's iBeacons" AppleInsider 8:09 AM
"Imaginative use of iBeacon gives bar patrons free access to Newsstand magazines" 9to5Mac 8:11 AM
"Apple's iPads About To Launch In India" Forbes 8:42 AM
"Honda announces further integration with iPhones" Insanely Great Mac 7:32 AM
"Former Employee's App Helps Manage Schedules" ifoAppleStore 8:00 AM
"The iPhone concept that will make you fall in love with skeuomorphism" The Verge 8:51 AM
"The Connected Car Has Become The Next Battleground For Google, Amazon, And Apple's Mobile Platforms" Business Insider 3:56 PM
"Google May be Planning To Port Chrome Apps Everywhere" ReadWrite 8:52 AM
"Google working on Chrome apps support for Android and iOS" iDownload Blog 8:01 AM
"Shoot Super Widescreen Films With an iPhone? Seriously?" MacNewsWorld 8:05 AM
"The iPad Painting that Looks Like a Photo" The Mac Observer 7:30 AM
Non-Apple News
"Samsung to reportedly follow Apple with own version of Touch ID in 2014" BGR 6:41 PM
"NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show" Washington Post [Free Registration Required] 2:31 PM
"Will Phablets Cannibalize Small Tablet Sales? Big smartphones may steal sales from smaller tablets as the overall market for tablets is expected to top 221 million this year." InformationWeek 11:47 AM
"China's three major carriers finally get 4G licenses from the government" The Next Web 8:51 AM
"Kindle Fire is more popular among gamers than 'normal' Android tablets" BGR 10:47 AM
"Survey Says Mobile Gamers Prefer Kindle Fire Over Tablets With Google Play" AllThingsD 8:39 AM
Publications/Podcasts
"ACM 233: Apple v. Judge Cote and Samsung v. Consequences" The Mac Observer 9:43 PM
"Cingleton 2013 videos now available: Mac and iOS luminaries talk core values, get personal" iMore 10:43 AM
"The MacJury's Holiday Gift Guide #3" MacVoices 10:35 AM
"The Logitech FabricSkin Keyboard Folio For The iPad Air Review" AppAdvice 8:15 AM
"Video: Shinola Premium Leather iPhone 5/5s case" Insanely Great Mac 7:50 AM
"KKUVS Klover Case for the iPad 2,3 and 4" Run Around Tech 7:54 AM
"Audioengine's D3 Premium 24-bit DAC will beef up your Mac's audio" Apple Daily Report 7:31 AM
iPad/iPhone/iPod touch Apps
"Is Cannonball the best iPad e-mail client yet? It might just be. This clever app automatically filters out the newsletters, daily deals, and other unimportant stuff, but keeps it grouped and available." CNET Reviews 12:39 PM
"Brilliant iPad Game Forces You to Collaborate With a Stranger" Wired 8:53 AM
"Lost in translation? Check out these mobile apps" ZDNet 11:50 AM
"Appidemic: Piikki for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch" TechnologyTell 8:09 AM
"The iPad has a huge hit in Natural Motion's Clumsy Ninja, with 10M downloads in a week | Games | by Dean Takahashi" VentureBeat 8:51 AM
"Ballpoint Universe Infinite Review: Be prepared to hit a paywall to explore all that this hand-drawn shoot-em-up game has to offer." 148Apps 8:40 AM
"Roxie's Puzzle Adventure Review: Roxie's Puzzle Adventure is a perfect puzzle app for both young child as well as seasoned puzzle users." 148Apps 2:19 PM
"The Rivers of Alice Review: Alluring and mesmerizing, The Rivers of Alice is the perfect game for adventure gamers." 148Apps 10:47 AM
"Galaxy Run Review: Galaxy Run will likely please casual gamers looking for an addictive and challenging space runner. Sadly though, they may feel like they have to pay-to-play." 148Apps 3:14 PM
How-To/Tutorial
"How to Merge Duplicate Contacts on Your iPhone" Apple Gazette 8:09 AM
Tips
"A Very Dumb Yet Amusing iMessage Prank: Infinite Typing Indicator GIF" OS X Daily 4:20 PM
"iMessages come in from email address instead of phone number" iLounge 3:57 PM
"How to get a Retina iPad mini by Christmas: What's the latest date I can order the iPad mini 2? Where can I get an iPad mini with Retina display by Christmas? How much does the iPad mini 2 cost in the UK?" Macworld UK 11:00 AM
"The 4K Revolution May Have Finally Arrived. Will Apple Get In on It?" The Motley Fool 8:57 AM
"Apple and its court-appointed ebooks monitor" TUAW 8:51 AM
"Why Apple should relax its App Store rules" ["And as iOS continues to mature, Apple's tight grip onto its mobile ecosystem is beginning to make evolution and growth hard for developers who have contributed significantly to the platform's success."] Macworld 8:16 AM
"Here's How Much iTunes Radio Pays Record Labels" Kirkville 8:07 AM
"We Are About To Enter A New War Over 'Semantic' Search — A War Google Could Lose" Business Insider 7:54 AM
"Majority of NASDAQ 100 CEO's shun social media (but not Tim Cook!)" Apple Daily Report 7:31 AM
"Samsung Just Did What Steve Jobs Never, Ever Would Have Done" Mac 360 7:29 AM
"Apple And The Many Colors Of Android" Mac 360 7:29 AM
"iPhone vs Android: Long-Term Smartphone Value?" Tapscape 7:29 AM
Non-Apple
"Why Bezos's Drone Is More Than a Joke: Amazon Chief's Remarks Boosted Firm, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 7:35 PM
"Review: Nest Protect brings technology to the lowly smoke detector" GeekWire 2:40 PM
"Proof That Pandora's Growth Is Over" Seeking Alpha 9:23 AM
"EU Commission approves Microsoft takeover of Nokia business" Reuters 12:44 PM
"Europe clears Microsoft acquisition of Nokia devices business: FTC approval over the weekend means the acquisition of Nokia's smartphone business can move forward" InfoWorld 4:20 PM
"After U.S. DoJ, European Commission also grants fast-track clearance to Microsoft-Nokia deal" Foss Patents 11:45 AM
"Microsoft's Nokia deal approved by EU" MarketWatch 3:14 PM
"Microsoft Favors Europe for Record Bond Sale: Corporate Finance" Bloomberg 7:34 AM
"Microsoft Debt Deal A Necessary One" Seeking Alpha 8:55 AM
"Microsoft on 'Threshold' of Windows Phone growth: WP sees some success in U.S., Europe amid continued problems in China" Computerworld 8:38 AM
"Microsoft Is Not Killing Windows RT: Despite rumors to the contrary, Microsoft will unify its operating systems, not eliminate product lines." InformationWeek 4:03 PM
"Beijing leans on Microsoft to maintain Windows XP support" The Register 8:39 AM
"Nokia $321m India tax row looms over sale to Microsoft" Financial Times [Paid Membership Required] 7:34 AM
"The Nokia-Microsoft Deal Receives The EU Antitrust Watchdog's Blessing" TechCrunch 12:37 PM
"Microsoft Reports Record Xbox One Sales" Bloomberg TV 10:37 AM
"Microsoft Closes At $38.94, Its Highest Point In 13.38 Years" TechCrunch 7:11 PM
"U.S. court questions Google defense against Oracle over Android" Reuters 11:48 AM
"Oracle apparently winning Android-Java appeal against Google -- API declaring code copyrightable" Foss Patents 11:04 AM
"Hewlett-Packard 'To Cut 1,100 UK Jobs'" Sky News 7:33 AM
"Unite: HP 'addicted to culture of job cuts' as axe raised again/Over 1,100 workers set to walk the plank by January – union" Channel Register 8:39 AM
"HP to cut 1,124 jobs in UK, Unite union says" Reuters 7:33 AM
"Dell tells staff: If you haven't got stomach for private era - leave" Channel Register 11:04 AM
"IBM's Big Plans for Cloud Computing" New York Times [Free/Paid Registration Required] 4:03 PM
"Can OpenStack scale? IBM and Mirantis say yes it can (and aim to prove it)" Gigaom 8:07 AM
"IBM Shrinks - Analysts Hate It" Seeking Alpha 10:39 AM
"Intel aims at enterprise, carrier networks with faster silicon: The Highland Forest platform gets faster compression, encryption and deep-packet inspection" IDG News Service 6:41 PM
"Intel Lifted by Tempered Tablet Sales" Barron's 12:37 PM
"Intel: About Solid State Drives, Capacity, And Other Things" Seeking Alpha 8:40 AM
"Memo To Intel: Prepare For Weak Holiday Sales" Seeking Alpha 6:51 PM
"Intel - Analysts Are Confused" Seeking Alpha 9:23 AM
"Will Plummeting PC Sales Affect Advanced Micro Devices' Stock?" Seeking Alpha 8:56 AM
"Cisco's Lessons for Mobile App Empowerment" Forbes 8:42 AM
"China passes Japan to become world's 2nd largest IT market: The U.S. still has an IT market three times the size of China, though the latter is seeing far more rapid growth, IDC says" Computerworld 8:02 AM
"The PC is dying, and the tablet's future isn't looking so healthy now either" BetaNews 8:09 AM
"The PC Is Dying, The Only Question Is How Fast" Forbes 8:42 AM
"Tablet Shipments Soar as PC Slide Gets Steeper" AllThingsD 8:39 AM
"IDC Is Wrong: The Death of the PC Has Only Begun" The Motley Fool 3:57 PM
"How Apple Stock Got Red Hot Again" Forbes 12:40 PM
"Chart of the day: The ebb and flow of big money into Apple/Institutional ownership of Apple stock peaked at 74% in April and has fallen to under 64%." Fortune 8:38 AM
"Apple Stock Shock: 52-Week Highs Are Imminent!" 24/7 Wall St. 7:28 AM
Industry News
"Tech Stocks: Microsoft, H-P, Twitter lead tech gains/H-P plans to cut 1,100 jobs in the U.K.; eBay downgraded by Evercore" MarketWatch 3:58 PM
"Futures Slip After ADP Data Top Views" FOXBusiness 2:32 PM
"U.S. Stocks Edge Back: Stocks turned lower midday as investors weighed the outlook for the Federal Reserve to start paring stimulus efforts this month after a raft of economic reports." WSJ.com [Paid Membership Required] 2:32 PM
"Asia Markets: Asia stocks lower, as yen rebound hurts Japan/Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell sharply on Wednesday as the yen regained some lost ground, while the Australian dollar tumbled after the country's disappointing third-quarter growth data." MarketWatch 7:36 AM
"Europe Markets: European stocks wobble after selloff; Sage rallies/European stock markets wavered around the flat line on Wednesday, with investors staying cautious ahead of key events later in the week, including the European Central Bank meeting and U.S. nonfarm payrolls." MarketWatch 7:36 AM
"Most active Nasdaq-traded stocks: Nasdaq's 10 most active stocks at 1 p.m." Associated Press 2:31 PM
"Final Glance: Computer companies/Computer companies shares mixed at the close of trading" Associated Press 9:41 PM
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