Looking for quick help from Apple? The company has at last added a chat support option to its AppleCare Web site. Meanwhile, both Apple and Amazon are sending settlement letters to victims of ebook price fixing — but don’t expect to collect any time soon. A number of channels have been added to the Apple TV, and Joe Kissell takes a deep look at the personal cloud storage device Transporter, which promises a homegrown Dropbox alternative to protect your privacy. This week’s installment of FunBITS was inspired by recent revelations about NSA spying programs — Josh Centers reviews Blackbar, a word puzzle based around censorship. And if you’d like to do more to protect your privacy, we encourage you to check out Joe’s latest book, the just-released “Take Control of Your Online Privacy.” Notable software releases this week include ChronoSync 4.4.1, KeyCue 6.6, GraphicConverter 8.8, and ClamXav 2.5.
The AppleCare site has been streamlined, with a new option to get support via chat in addition to phone and in-person.
It’s an unfortunate fact that your online activities and information are being tracked and analyzed at all times, sometimes in ways that don’t benefit you at all. There’s no way to have complete privacy on the Internet, but with Joe Kissell’s advice in “Take Control of Your Online Privacy,” you can gain perspective on why online privacy is such a difficult problem, consider your privacy risks, and develop a sensible online privacy strategy.
Those who have purchased ebooks from Apple’s iBookstore and those who have purchased ebooks from Amazon have begun to receive price-fixing settlement notification letters, though the money — such as it is — may be a long time coming.
A number of new capabilities have arrived on Apple TV, including content from Disney, the Smithsonian Channel, Vevo, and the Weather Channel, plus profiles for individual Netflix users.
Connected Data’s Transporter device lets you sync and share files, and even access them from an iOS device, without using cloud storage. Joe Kissell tested it and found that it works as advertised, but isn’t for everyone.
Inspired by the revelations of NSA spying programs, Blackbar is an iOS word puzzle built around ████████ through obscurity.
Notable software releases this week include ChronoSync 4.4.1, KeyCue 6.6, GraphicConverter 8.8, and ClamXav 2.5.
Our own Josh Centers appeared on the Tech Night Owl Live podcast to discuss Steve Ballmer’s retirement from Microsoft and the future of the Apple TV. Apple is now accepting iPhone trade-ins, but is it a good deal? We also look at a number of security vulnerabilities in the Mac, iOS, Dropbox, and Android, and explain why Amazon dominates retail while Apple is the favorite of patent trolls. A clever modder makes a mini Mac (not a Mac mini!), businesses are excited about Google Glass, and the popular online RSS reader Feedbin goes open source.