Sparrow 1.1 lands in the Mac App Store

The eagerly-awaited 1.1 update to the Sparrow email app US$9.99) has landed in the Mac App Store, adding the promised features and bug fixes.

The app now supports general IMAP, so for those of you who were waiting to add Yahoo, AOL, or MobileMe accounts to Sparrow and totally ditch Mail.app, you can now do so. For the many Mac users who use the app to access your Gmail accounts, Priority Inbox is now integrated into the app.

My personal favorite new feature is a dedicated view for browsing your unread email. Simply choosing "unread" from a tiny popup at the top of the inbox displays only your unread messages. There's also an unobtrusive formatting bar for messages so you're free to change the font, style, size, color, alignment, and indention, or even add a bullet list in the compose window.

One thing that made me surprisingly happy was the new three finger swipe multitouch gesture for showing or hiding the preview pane. On an 11.6" MacBook Air, it's nice to be able to minimize the real estate taken up by the Sparrow window.

If you've created contact groups in the Mac OS X Address Book, Sparrow 1.1 now supports using those groups for doing mass mailings to a team. The Sparrow team also fixed a long list of bugs in the initial versions, improved sync with Address Book, and improvements to the mail database, scroll performance, and memory use. The update takes little or no time to install through the Mac App Store, and for existing Sparrow users, it's a solid and welcome update.

Call of Duty 4 hits the Mac App Store at Overpriced $50 !

Since the Mac App Store launch, we've been seeing some great apps and games coming to the Mac OS X but this one is the best for me. Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare now available in the Mac App Store.

What's interesting in the game is it's price, Call of Duty 4 is available at overpriced $49. This may be a sign of great things to come for the game very soon in the form of updates and more levels. The game seems really very great, go get it while it's hot from the link below.

Download Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™ [iTunes link]

Hackulous Teases DRM-free Mac App Store, 'Reverse BitTorrent'

Hackulous, the picaresque pirates best known for plundering Apple's DRM and capturing unprotected software for iPhone, iPod and iPad, yesterday unleashed an onslaught of updates, including cracking software for the much-anticipated Mac App Store and a "reverse BitTorrent" for jailbroken devices that aims to increase availability of cracked apps across the Web.

According to TorrentFreak, a community of hackers striving to circumnavigate DRM on Apple mobile devices, Hackulous is most notorious for two products: "Apptrakr," a Web-based index of cracked apps that boasts some 10 million unique users monthly; and "Installous," software that enables installation of software found via Apptrakr, which runs on about 9 million jailbroken Apple devices.

Here's what's new on the high seas. Hackulous admin Dissident announced dueling upgrades to "Clutch," which allows cracking of iOS, and its GUI, "Crackulous." There's also a piece of code called "Overdrive" that grogs up apps to keep them from becoming self-aware. The biggest news, however, is the new "Installous 4" package bundled in flagship Apptrakr.

Despite a bountiful booty of cracked apps, Apptrakr hasn't quite captured all of Apple's mobile apps. In the past, when a user bought an App Store app, they had to crack it, patch it, test it, upload it, and submit it to Apptrakr: the learning curve alone dissuaded use. Enter "Mobile Hunt," or what admin Dissident calls "reverse BitTorrent."

The hacker community's captain explains, "When you're using Installous you'll get a little pop up that says 'Hey, you have an application that Apptrakr doesn't.' We will add the application to a queue in the background (if you say yes) and it will start uploading tiny pieces of it, kind of like a torrent, up to the cloud."

Unlike BitTorrent, where a user uploads a single file that multiplies as others join, the launching point for Mobile Hunt is multifocal: many copies of the same software, evaporated in little drops from many devices into a cloud condensate a single copy that is then made available for download to millions of users via Apptrackr.

Yesterday's updates extend beyond the mobile frontier. Apple will launch the Mac App Store on January 6. A new product from Hackulous called "Kickback" aims to slash DRM from products available in the Mac App Store so that Hackulous can offer the same kind of free download service for the Mac as it currently provides for Apple's mobile devices. Don't expect Kickback right away, however. Dissident explains that Hackulous won't release it until the Mac App Store is up and running and fully stocked, because, "We don't want to devalue applications and frustrate developers." Now that's a courteous pirate.
Via: pcworld.com

Apple Confirms Mac App Store to Open on January 6

Apple today has confirmed in a new press release that Mac App Store will be opening on Thursday, January 6. According to Apple, the store will be available in 90 countries with both paid and free apps. Below is the full press release from Apple.

CUPERTINO, California—December 16, 2010—Apple® today announced that the Mac® App Store℠ will open for business on Thursday, January 6. By bringing the revolutionary App Store experience to Mac OS® X, the Mac App Store makes discovering, installing and updating Mac apps easier than ever. The Mac App Store will be available in 90 countries at launch and will feature paid and free apps in categories like Education, Games, Graphics & Design, Lifestyle, Productivity and Utilities.

“The App Store revolutionized mobile apps,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can’t wait to get started on January 6.”

The Mac App Store lets you browse new and noteworthy apps, find out what’s hot, view staff favorites, search categories and read customer ratings and reviews. Like on iPhone®, iPod touch® and iPad™, you can purchase, download and install apps in just one click and start using them immediately. Purchased apps can run on all of your personal Macs and updates are delivered directly through the Mac App Store so it’s easy to keep all of your apps up to date. The Mac App Store is available to Mac OS X Snow Leopard® users as a free download through Software Update.

Mac developers set the price for their apps, keep 70 percent of the sales revenue, are not charged for free apps and do not have to pay hosting, marketing or credit card fees. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Mac App Store to Open Next Monday Along with iOS 4.3 Launch?

In case you are on of our readers, you may know that Apple is reportedly launching iOS 4.3 next Monday (December 13th). However, an inside source has just told Appletell that Apple is targeting a Monday, December 13th launch of the Mac App Store.

An inside source has just told us that Apple is targeting a Monday, December 13th launch of the Mac App Store. The company apparently told developers to have their software prepared for a launch as early as Monday the 6th of this month, but our contact would be shocked if that happened at this point. Apple has made no official announcements regarding this, and delays could always happen, but there's a push to be launched before Christmas, well ahead of the previously estimated January release.

At the Back to the Mac even on October 20th, Steve Jobs confirmed that the Mac App Store should be launched after 90 days which means late in January 2011 so we can't verify these claims but we do know that Apple has already started asking developers to submit their apps to the Mac App Store and has already seeded a new version of Mac OS X 10.6.6 to Mac App developers. So this may claims that Apple would launch it earlier than what they said. More updates as they come, stay tuned !

Skype 5 Beta for Mac Now Available for Download !

Skype 5 Beta for Mac has been released and it comes with lot of improvements, new features and totally new UI. It looks like Mac version of Skype has started gaining feature parity with Windows version.

The new Skype for Mac includes following new features

• New call control bar — Hang up, mute and more from a mini Skype toolbar that sits on top of any web pages, documents or photos you’ve got open
  
• group video calling which allows you to make video calls with more than two people at a time as long as all participants are on the new Mac beta or Skype for Windows 5.0.
  
• Search chat content to easily navigate past conversations
  
• Offline IM so that you can send and receive instant messages even if the recipient is offline
  
• Personalise contacts via user profiles
  
• Quickly rejoin calls if your Internet connection fails momentarily
  
• Floating Contacts Monitor to see your online contacts and contact groups

Here you can try the beta version of Skype 5 for Mac OS X for free! Stay tuned as we'll inform you whenever Skype 5 goes alpha.

Download Skype 5 Beta for Mac

Phone Disk Turns your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch into a USB Drive [FREE]

Phone Desk is a nice tool for Windows and Mac OS X that enables you to turn your iPhone, iPod or iPad into a USB Drive.

By using standard USB cable, Phone Desk sits in menu bar or system tray of Mac or PC and whenever it finds an iOS device, it seamlessly mounts it to your files so you can directly access its files using Windows Explorer etc.


Key Features of Phone Desk

• Open, copy and save files directly on device
• Browse the iPhone in Finder and Windows Explorer
• Fully integrated with OSX and Windows
• Expands to work with multiple devices
• Clean application
• Copy images and the view them on device

Macroplanet is giving free licenses of Phone Disk until 1st December 2010, so if you install and activate the Phone Desk before 1st December 2010, you will get free updates and can enjoy the full version of this software on your computer forever! So what are you waiting for? Head over to Phone Desk page to avail this offer before its too late.

Yahoo Messenger 2.0.1 Allows Video Calling from iPod Touch 4G to PC / Mac

Yahoo Messenger App 2.0 was already available for iPhone 4 as it was already been discussed here. Using the iPhone 4, we can make video calls over 3G to a PC or Mac and vise versa using this app. Now Yahoo Messenger App gets an updated to enable video calling on iPod touch 4G too.

What's New in Version 2.0.1

- Enabled video calling on iPod touch (4th generation).
- Bug fixes.

This new version had fixed some previous bugs and enabled iPod touch 4G to video call to a PC or Mac. The main feature it has that it can make video and voice calls over 3G network. Some other features like that you can make low cost voice calls on landline numbers, send free messages through Messenger. To thave the best experience from this app, it's recommended to use Wifi.

Download Yahoo Messenger 2.0.1 for iPhone, iPod touch [iTunes Link]

You may also like:

• Yahoo Messenger 2.0 for iPhone Hits the App Store with Video Calling Over 3G
• Fast Copy Makes Copy & Paste Faster Than Ever [Jailbreak Req]
• VLC Media Player Updated to Support iPhone and iPod Touch
• All Jailbreak and Unlock Guides for iPhone, iPod and iPad 

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion Brings Tons of New Features

Back to the Mac was a great event for Mac lovers! First, two new Macbook air announces one 11.6-inch and other 13.3-inch. Then, Steve Jobs announced Mac OS X 10.7 or what's called by Lion.

Multi-touch gestures
Apple knows that touch screen notebooks don’t work, trackpads and mice are the way to multitouch a desktop operating system. With this in mind, Lion will have advanced gesture support

Mac App Store
The App Store revolutionized mobile applications, so of course they bring it to the Mac. Features are automatic installation, one-click downloads, automatic app updates, apps will be licensed for use on all of your Macs. This will be available first under 10.6 Snow Leopard in 90 days. On the developer side, the Mac App Store will have the same developer 70/30 split as the iOS App Store, and submissions will be accepted soon. See screenshot below of the Mac App Store:

Launchpad
Launchpad is Home Screen for your Mac, supports multitouch gestures and multiple pages of apps, folder support, the whole thing very similar to iOS on an iPad. This is part of a newer and more refined Mac OS X GUI. See screenshot below:

Full screen apps
immersive experience of iOS apps comes to the Mac, true full screen support for apps, takes away window bars. Supports multitouch gestures to swap between fullscreen apps, desktops, and other apps. See screenshot below:

Mission Control
Expose, full screen apps, Dashboard, Spaces all in one – (we called better window management) – how do you make them all work together? Unify them under Mission Control

Auto-save
self explanatory, awesome feature and much needed. Clicking Save feels archaic after using an iPad/iPhone, doesn’t it? Yup, bring it to Mac OS X

Mac OS X Lion has a scheduled release date of summer 2011. It will be called Lion and is a significant update to OS X. ac App Store will open up within 90 days and will work on Snow Leopard. [via OS X Daily]

HOW TO: Jailbreak iOS 4.1 on iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad, iPod touch 4G / 3G on Mac

We already broke the news and told you that Geohot with the help of some hackers could write Limera1n's code to work on Mac OS X. In case you don't know how to use the most easiest tool to jailbreak your iOS device, here's full step by step how to guide to jailbreak iOS 4.1 on iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPod touch 4G, iPod touch 3G and iOS 3.2.2 on iPad.

NOTE: If you are using Ultrasn0w to unlock your carrier, then don't use the instructions below as the unlock for new basebands is not available yet. For iPhone 4 users, use the instructions posted here to preserve your baseband. For other devices, wait for PwnageTool to be released this weekend.

STEP 1: Download Limera1n for Mac OS X from here.

STEP 2: Connect your iPhone to your PC via USB then launch Limera1n and hit “make it ra1n”

STEP 3: You will have to get your device into DFU mode by following the steps on the screen shown by Limera1n.

• You iPhone will now be placed in recovery mode.

• Press both the power and the home buttons.

• When Limera1n asks you to, release the power button.

• Your phone will now be in DFU mode

STEP 4: You should see a message like this indicates that your devices has been jailbroken successfully.

STEP 6: Now start Limera1n app from your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and install Cydia as shown in the screenshots below.

STEP 7: Now simply restart your device and enjoy the jailbreak!

HeyWire to Send Free International Text Messages with a Real Number

HeyWire is a new app available in the iTunes app store, this app was created by a company called MediaFriends to allow any user with an iPhone to send international text messages to people all over the world for free. The app can be used as chat or texting service that brings free messaging with a real phone number.

The service enable users to text each other worldwide anywhere and supports 114 countries, 360 mobile operators, and major languages. The app can be downloaded for Mac or PC from here, for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad from the link below:

Download HeyWire Text Worldwide [iTunes link]

You may also link:

• Windows Phone 7 Launch Date Confirmed For 21st October, First Ads Hits the Web
• iTunes 10.0.1 Confirmed Safe for Jailbreak and Unlock
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Apple Releases Safari 5.0.2 to Bring Improvments

Apple has just updated their browser Safari to 5.0.2, the update fixes some bugs and security issues. The update is 39 MB size and as usual it requires a restart. Apple notes on the update "improvements to compatibility and security", here's the full changelog.

- Fixes an issue that could prevent users from submitting web forms
- Fixes an issue that could cause web content to display incorrectly when viewing a Google Image result with Flash 10.1 installed
- Establishes an encrypted, authenticated connection to the Safari Extensions Gallery

Also you will notice that iWeb update is included in the update. To install these updates, just navigate to "The Software Update" app from your Mac OS.

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Mac OS X gets PDF Exploit Fix in a Security Update

Mac has got its own PDF exploit fix in a new security update, it's the same as the iOS 4.0.2 for iPhone / iPod Touch, and iOS 3.2.2 for iPad which fixes PDF exploit that was discovered when JailbreakMe released! Here's what Apple says about the security update.

Impact: Viewing or downloading a document containing a maliciously crafted embedded font may lead to arbitrary code execution

Description: A stack buffer overlow exists in Apple Type Services’ handling of embedded fonts. Viewing or downloading a document containing a maliciously crafted embedded font may lead to arbitrary code execution. This issue is addressed through improved bounds checking.

The update is available for all users who have the latest version of either Leopard or Snow Leopard installed on Mac OS X Server 10.5, Mac OS X 10.5.8, Mac OS X Server 10.6, or Mac OS X 10.6.4 .

Office 2010 for Mac Pricing and Shipping Date announced

Microsoft has just announced the pricing and shipping date of Office 2010 for Mac, The new Office 2010 shipping will be available in late October, The shipments and prices of Microsoft Office 2010 as follows,

- Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac and Messenger for Mac – $119.
[Single install for $119, Family Pack for $149]

- Microsoft Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac, Outlook for Mac and Messenger for Mac – $199.
[Single install for $199, Multi-Pack for $279]

- Microsoft Office for Mac Academic 2011 includes Word for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac, Excel for Mac, Outlook for Mac and Messenger for Mac – $99.

If you purchased Office 2008 for Mac between Aug. 1, 2010, and Nov. 30, 2010, you can upgrade to the new version for free.[Source: Microsoft]

Download iTunes 9.2.1 for Mac & Windows

iTunes 9.2.1 has been Released and it's now available in the App Store, iTunes 9.2.1 is available for both Windows and Mac users and it brings Fixes for some bugs, you can find the full changelog after the jump and download links...

Full ChangeLog:

iTunes 9.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes, including:
- Disables older versions of some incompatible third-party plug-ins
- Addresses minor issues with dragging and dropping items
- Addresses a performance issue when first syncing to some devices with iTunes 9.2
- Addresses an issue upgrading to iOS 4 on an iPhone or iPod touch with encrypted back-ups
- Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance

Note: For Jailbreakers, don't upgrade to iTunes 9.2.1 till we till you, it may catch your jailbreak and damage your device.
Download iTunes 9.2.1 for Mac and Windows

PhoneDisk to Mount your iDevice in a Finder [Windows & Mac]

PhoneDisk is a simple and small utility that find your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad whenever it's connected to your Mac or PC, It mounts your Device to your file system so you will be able to access your Device files directly using a finder or any other program.

PhoneDisk brings support for iPhone, iPod Touch, and the big iPad. It works under both Windows & Mac but it requires Mac OSX 10.5 or Later / Windows 7, XP, or Vista. PhoneDisk is avaliable for Free for limited time, So catch the sale before you miss it.

Download PhoneDisk for Windows & Mac.

iPhodroid has been Updated and Supports 2G and 3G iPhones (Also Install/Uninstall Feature)

Last Month, we told you that iPhodroid has been Released to Install Android on iPhone 2G and 3G but there were some bugs in it, But all has been Repaired in this new and exclusive Version. It's very easy to install it as the Developer of iPhodroid made it Automatic Method to Install Android on your iPhone.

New Features:
Now supports iPhone 2G/3G
Install/Uninstall
OpeniBoot standalone
Choose the image you want
Choose the kernel
MD5 checker
NOR backup

If you want to Install Android on your iPhone 2G and 3G you can follow the Step-by-Step guide (it don't need a guide!) posted Here.

You can Download the New version of iPhodroid 0.6 Beta from Here.

iDemo: A Mirror for your iPhone on your Desktop [Mac OSX]

iDemo has been Release to Reflex your iPhone on your Desktop and Yes it's Free. iDemo developed by guys on Plutinosoft and we Should say thanks for them. iDemo is developer for Mac OSX (till now) but they are saying that in the Upcoming version will work on Windows. Also iDemo works on Jailbroken iPhones (till now).

After weeks of work, iDemo is finally live. iDemo is a tool that simplifies real-time demonstrations of iPhone apps and games. iDemo connects to your iPhone over WiFi and mirrors your iPhone screen on your desktop, in real-time – kinda like Steve Jobs during his keynote presentations. It supports not only ScreenSplitr but Display Recorder as well for super fast framerate.
iDemo 1.0.1 is free during the beta with the intention to sell it for $9.99 within a week. You will always be able to use iDemo for free for up to 5 minutes once you’ve connected to your iPhone.
Upcoming features:
Windows version
iPad support
Mirroring via USB connection
Unjailbroken iPhone support (maybe)
Mouse and Keyboard Events

Note: If you want to run iDemo on your iPhone, You should have a Jailbroken iPhone, Step-by-Step guide to Jailbreak your iPhone posted Here.
Download iDemo for Mac OSX from Here.

Third Beta of Office for Mac Reveals New Icons, Splash Screens, and More

Microsoft has Released the third beta of Office for Mac 2011, Microsoft has begun putting more effort into some of the finishing touches that offer some obvious visual changes. The third Beta reveal New Icons, Splash Screen, and more for Different Applications.
Here's some screenshots for the Third Beta of Office for Mac 2011, They really put more efforts:

Sure, We will tell you by Any updates and we will keep your eyes peeled for information in the latest beta as testers put it through its paces.

Autocad for Mac [Sledgehammer Beta 1], First Screen Shots

The app is names “Sledgehammer Beta 1″, it doesn’t seem very polished yet as it’s coming from Windows but at least it's already support for Magic Mouse gestures. You can see the first screenshots for this App after the break...

It's just a beta version of Autocad for Mac and I think it will be Released - The Final - as soon as possible.[via Macstories]