Apple has updated the MacBook Pro lineup, but don’t get too excited, since the update brings only small performance increases, along with a couple of $100 price cuts. More compelling is Microsoft’s Office for iPad update, which addresses many user complaints, adding support for third party fonts, PDF export, Excel pivot tables, and more. In Take Control news, the indefatigable Joe Kissell has designed his most recent book — “Take Control of FileVault” — to dispel misconceptions and encourage readers to enable FileVault in order to protect their data in the event of theft. Plus, for TidBITS members, the latest chapter of Charles Edge’s “Take Control of OS X Server” covers mobile device management, a hot topic for anyone tasked with managing a collection of iPads. If you’ve been wondering what’s available in the smartwatch world to compete with the Pebble, Jeff Porten took a look at four available smartwatches, with an eye toward what an Apple smartwatch could look like. Finally, in FunBITS, Josh Centers evaluates Amazon’s new Kindle Unlimited service to see if it’s worth the monthly price. Notable software releases this week include Paprika 2.0.4, ChronoSync 4.5.2, Mellel 3.3.6, and OmniFocus 2.0.2.
Apple has updated its MacBook Pro lineup with modest spec improvements and a couple of $100 price drops.
You can do only so much to prevent your Mac from being stolen, but with the FileVault encryption technology built into Mac OS X since 10.7 Lion, you can ensure that your confidential data — email, photos, financial information — is kept away from the prying eyes of a thief or anyone who comes into possession of your Mac.
If your organization has a collection of iOS devices or Macs and wants to distribute a set of consistent settings and policies, the Profile Manager service in OS X Server has the mobile device management features you need.
The first major update to Microsoft’s Office for iPad adds a number of high-profile and much-requested features, including PDF export, support for third-party fonts, image cropping, pivot tables, and Presenter View. Also updated was OneNote for iOS and OS X.
Jeff Porten covers his arm from wrist to elbow with smartwatches to see how they match up to each other, to the Pebble, and to his expectations of what feature an ideal smartwatch would provide.
Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited service is offering 600,000 books to subscribers for $9.99 per month, but will it save you money? Josh Centers took a hard look at the data to find out, and discovered that the selection was pretty limited.
Notable software releases this week include Paprika 2.0.4, ChronoSync 4.5.2, Mellel 3.3.6, and OmniFocus 2.0.2.
Apple has launched its content delivery network with the participation of leading ISPs, which should lead to faster streaming and downloads for users. Also, Apple’s “Stickers” ad has lead to a surprising boon for makers of MacBook stickers and decals.