Because many businesses close early on Good Friday,
and because Low End Mac's 15th birthday is Saturday, we're posting our
news roundups a day early this week. Come back on Friday as we look
back at our first 15 years - and thanks for visiting Low End Mac. -
Dan Knight, publisher
Mac notebook and other portable computing is covered in The 'Book Review. iPad, iPod, iPhone, and
Apple TV news is covered in iOS News
Review. All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
News & Opinion
Rumor Roundup
Apple Updates
Tech Trends
Products & Services
Software
News & Opinion
Flashback Trojan Affecting 600,000 Macs: Is Your
Mac Infected?
Cult of Mac's Killian Bell reports:
"A Mac infected by a virus used to be something of a rarity, and it
was the best argument you could bring to a Mac versus PC debate. But
with Mac adoption surging in recent years, it was inevitable that
Apple's operating system would become a target for hackers.
"Variations of one Flashback Trojan, which first surfaced back in
2007, are now affecting more than 600,000 Macs around the world."
"The most recent variant of the Flashback Trojan targets Macs that
have an older version of Java Runtime installed. Thankfully, Apple
issues an update earlier this week patching the vulnerability, but for
some machines it was just too late."
The article goes on to explain how the latest Flashback variant
works, how to determine if your Mac is infected, and links to an
article explaining how to remove it.
Publisher's note: This represents about 1% of the installed base of
Mac OS X users, which is estimated at 60 million. Although Apple is
providing improved security for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and 10.7 Lion users, this might be a good
time to look into antivirus software, such as the free ClamXav
(below)
and free
Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac, both of which are compatible with both
PowerPC and Intel Macs running Mac
OS X 10.4 Tiger or newer. The first scan can take several hours,
and I currently have it running on our three production Macs at LEM
headquarters - a Power Mac G4 running Tiger, another running Leopard, and an Intel Mac mini running
Snow Leopard.
Link:
Is Your Mac Infected by the Flashback Trojan Affecting 600,000
Macs?
Ashton Kutcher to Play Steve Jobs in Indie
Flick
The Register's Anna Leach comments on actor Ashton Kutcher having
reportedly been chosen to play Steve Jobs in an upcoming biopic film
titled Jobs.
Ashton Kutcher and Steve Jobs
Ms. Leach notes that Kutcher and Jobs both have/had brown eyes, an
interest in tech, and association with small social networks - but it
was likely Kutcher's uncanny resemblance to the younger Steve Jobs that
clinched the role for him.
She says Kutcher, 34, a significant Silicon Valley angel investor
and and self-professed technophile, has declared himself thrilled with
the casting reported by Variety magazine.
Link: Steve
Jobs' Death Clears Way for Ashton Kutcher's Role of a Lifetime
Should Kutcher Play Jobs in Upcoming Indie
Film?
Redmond Pie's Paul Paliath riffs on Ashton Kutcher reportedly being
cast to play Steve Jobs in an indie film about the Apple founder. The
film, to be directed by Joshua Michael Stern from a script authored by
Matt Whiteley, will depict Jobs throughout his life's ascension from
1960s hippie to becoming one of the biggest figures in technology and
among America's greatest creative minds.
Paliath also notes that Sony Pictures is developing a movie about
Jobs, adapted from Walter Isaacson's biography, and it will be
interesting to see who get cast in the Jobs role for it, not to mention
who might play other major supporting characters, such as Apple
Computer cofounder Steve Wozniak, Apple CEO John Sculley, and longtime
Jobs frenemy Bill Gates in either flick.
Link: Ashton Kutcher to
Play Steve Jobs Role In Upcoming Indie Film, Should He?
Steve Wozniak: Ashton Kutcher Will Be Great as
Steve Jobs
TMZ reports that Steve Wozniak is officially endorsing Ashton
Kutcher to play Steve Jobs in an upcoming movie about the Apple
cofounder, quoting the Woz saying in a statement that:
"Everyone has their own idea of who they think could play Steve the
best. But when we started Apple at our young ages I decided not to put
my nose and comments into every aspect of the company, like the color
of boxes or the job responsibilities for a team. I would not step on
the toes of people who had done these jobs for many years or decades. I
would just do my engineering where I could not fail. So I look at the
casting agencies and directors who are experts at casting. i trust that
they considered all the relevant factors and made the best
selection.
"The fear that many might have is that Ashton was selected because
he's 'hot' right now. But I feel that his selection was done in the
most professional manner. And I'm glad that he's onboard. I think he'll
put a lot into it and that he cares about this particular subject."
Wozniak adds somewhat poignantly, "It's almost too bad that Steve
Jobs is gone. His opinions and guidance, as to the story and film crew
and cast, would have been invaluable."
Link: Steve Wozniak -
Ashton Kutcher Will Be Great as Steve Jobs
Apple Wins the Business Journals' American Brand
Excellence Award for the 2nd Consecutive Year
PR: The Business Journals named Apple, Inc. the 2012 Grand
Award winner as part of its ninth-annual American Brand Excellence
Awards, which recognize brands that best meet the needs of small to
mid-sized businesses (SMB). This year marks the second consecutive year
that Apple, a pioneer in brand excellence, has received the award.
The Business Journals also awarded Brand Excellence Awards to
companies in six additional business categories:
- Business Services: UPS
- Financial/Insurance: Visa
- Retail: The UPS Store
- Technology: Apple
- Telecommunications: Verizon Wireless
- Travel: Southwest Airlines
"Year after year, the American Brand Excellence Awards serve as a
unique way to dive into the minds of business owners to determine how
they view the companies that play a key role in their success on a
regular basis," says Michael Olivieri, Chief Revenue Officer of
American City Business Journals, parent company of The Business
Journals. "The results of this year's study prove how dynamic these
companies really are and continue to offer the highest class of service
to the SMB community, as five of the six winning brands took the same
titles just last year."
Over 250 business brands were rated and over 2,000 SMB owners and
managers participated in The Business Journals' annual proprietary
study. The winning companies were chosen as the brands who best met the
needs of small and mid-sized business owners and managers. The criteria
used to select the American Brand Excellence Award winners include
"easy to do business with," "industry leader," "forward thinking," "for
growing companies," "behaves ethically," "growing in popularity" and
"has a good price for what you get."
The Business Journals' Business of Brands study identified that the
penetration and use of social media as a marketing tool among the SMB
market was a key focus for this year. The study found that today, over
half (56 percent) of SMBs are including social media as part of their
marketing strategy, a significant increase from 49 percent last
year.
Several social media brands made an impact on this year's study,
including Facebook which was included for the first time and ranked as
#10 across all brands that were ranked. LinkedIn, which was one of the
biggest gainers on the list, moved to the #27 overall slot from #40
just last year. Twitter came in third among social media brands and
ranked #40 overall in the study.
"Networking has always been a critical business tool for SMBs and
social networks give this community an easy and convenient link to stay
in touch with those they do business with, enabling them to extend
their relationships," says Godfrey Phillips, VP of Research for The
Business Journals. "The increase in social media brands to our ranking
correlates to our study finding that SMBs find it necessary to stay
connected even more. In fact, SMBs are staying connected 40 minutes
longer each day and two-thirds of our respondents are connected more
than eight hours a day. This finding translates into an increased
business usage of mobility products such as tablets, smartphones and
even cloud computing, helping to explain the reasoning behind some of
our award winners."
The Business Journals has published a special feature on the
American Brand Excellence Award winners and the overall top 25 brands
named as part of The Business Journals' annual study.
Link: The
Business Journals
OWC Wins About.com 2012 Reader's Choice Award for
'Best Mac Peripheral Reseller'
PR: Other World Computing (OWC) has won the About.com 2012
Readers' Choice Award for best Mac Peripheral Reseller. OWC received
more votes-92% of all votes cast-than the other three finalists,
including giant coast-to-coast resellers like Best Buy.
OWC Wins in First Ever 'Best Mac Peripherals' Category
About.com's popular reader-driven awards program began in 2008 and
has expanded to highlight the best products, features, and services
across a wide variety of topics ranging from technology to hobbies to
parenting and more. This year marked the debut of the Best Mac
Peripherals category, which was open to both brick-and-mortar and
online resellers. After soliciting reader nominations for favorite
reseller sites, a panel of About.com experts narrowed the large field
to four finalists. Enthusiastic online voting resulted in OWC winning
the title of Best Mac Peripheral Reseller, with a final vote tally of
an impressive 92% of all votes cast.
"It's very humbling to be recognized by Apple enthusiasts around the
world as the Best Mac Peripheral Reseller," says Other World Computing
Founder and CEO Larry O'Connor. "We re-dedicate ourselves every day to
earning our customers' trust by exceeding their expectations. That
commitment is what we call the 'OWC Difference'. On behalf of the
entire OWC Team, thank you to all that voted for us."
Publisher's note: We're longtime OWC fans as their corporate mission
dovetails with ours, which is to help you get the most out of your
Apple hardware, new or old. Congratulations, OWC! dk
Link:
Readers' Choice Awards 2012: Best Mac Peripheral Reseller -
OWC
Link: OWC
Rumor Roundup
Apple to Become #2 Shareholder of Foxconn?
Chinese tech blog site M.I.C. Gadget's Star Chang reports that
Taiwan's Hon Hai Group, which owns the Foxconn assembly plants that
produce iPhones and iPads in China, is planning to raise more than $3
billion by issuing less than $33.9 million in new GDR (global
depository receipt) shares, and it's reported that Hon Hai's largest
client, cash flush Apple, is expected to become a major investor.
Link: Apple Might Become
the Second-largest Shareholder of Hon Hai (a.k.a. Foxconn)?
Apple Updates
Java Update for OS X 10.7 Lion
Java for OS X Lion 2012-001 delivers improved reliability, security,
and compatibility for Java SE 6
This release updates Java SE 6 to version 1.6.0_31.
This release is for OS X v10.7 or later versions of OS X.
See https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
for information about the security content of this update.
Link: Java
for OS X Lion 2012-001
Java Update for OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 7 delivers improved reliability,
security, and compatibility for Java SE 6.
This release updates Java SE 6 to version 1.6.0_31.
This release is only for Mac OS X v10.6.8 or later versions of Mac
OS X 10.6.
See https://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
for information about the security content of this update.
System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.6.4 up
Link: Java
for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 7
Tech Trends
Big Changes in the Flat Screen Manufacturing
Business
Hardmac's Lionel reports on two announcements he says have changed
the entire flat screen manufacturing business within couple of
hours:
- Samsung announced it had spun off its flat screen division into a
new independent entity known as Samsung Display. It now owns R&D
and manufacturing resources for LCD and OLED displays.
- Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi announced the official birth of Japan
Display, a new company merging their activities on the flat display
market with activities officially starting on April 1st. The first step
of this merger was announced in November 2011.
Link: A Revolution in
the Flat Screen Manufacturing Business
Products & Services
Macs Ideal for Boomers and Seniors: Mac for
Seniors Shows Users How to Get the Most from Them
PR:
Famous for its intuitive and user-friendly system, the Macintosh line
of desktop computers and laptops from Apple is tremendously popular and
perfect for home use. Learn step-by-step how to work with OS X.
This new computer book discusses the basic features, such as
accessing the Internet, using e-mail and organizing files and folders.
The handy tools and apps included on the Mac that make it easy to work
with photos, video and music are also covered. Learn how to change the
look and feel of the Mac interface and how to set preferences to make
it even easier to work on the Mac.
Written using the well-known step-by-step method from Visual Steps,
this book may be all a new user needs to feel comfortable with the
Mac.
Topics covered in this Mac computer book:
- perform basic tasks in Mac OS X
- use Internet and e-mail
- download and use apps
- work with files and folders
- work with photos, videos and music
- set preferences
Visual Steps is a specialist publisher of computer books for Seniors
and is dedicated to help individuals over the age of 50 participate in
the cyber-age. More than 25.000 copies of the title Windows 7 for
Seniors and 80.000 of Windows XP for Seniors have been sold.
All of the Visual Steps books follow the same methodology, known as
the Visual Steps Method. This method distinguishes itself in a number
of ways from traditional instructional methods. Attention is made to
the special needs and requirements of the mature individual. Each
product:
- Allows learning in a friendly, fun and hands-on manner.
- Uses a larger print format
- Contains easy to understand, visually oriented, step-by-step
instructions.
- Has an extensive use of screen shots and illustrations.
- Features practical, useful information and tips.
- Includes follow-up exercises to reinforce new skills and increases
confidence.
- Offers special help topics for do-it-yourself error correcting and
offers an extensive index.
Suitable for: Mac OS X Lion
- Mac for Seniors
- Author: Studio Visual Steps
- 296 pages
- Paperback, full color
- ISBN: 978 90 5905 008 2
- Price: US $22.95, Canada $25.95
Link: Mac
for Seniors ($17.90 at
Amazon.com)
Software
ClamXav 2.2.4 Free Antivirus Solution for Mac OS
X
PR: Mark Allan's ClamXav is a free virus scanner for Mac OS X
that uses the ClamAV open source antivirus engine as a back end and has
the ability to detect both Windows and Mac threats.
ClamXav can be set up as passive or active: scan only the files you
tell it to or your entire hard drive, whichever you prefer; you can
also choose to activate Sentry to monitor your hard drive and scan new
files as they arrive.
ClamXav 2 Features:
- Clean, simple-to-use interface
- Clearly lists infected files
- Free virus definitions (usually updated daily)
- Save your favourite scan locations for easy access
- Customise the toolbar - or hide it entirely
- Send selected files to quarantine or trash with one click
- Specify files to exclude using plain text(you can still use regular
expressions if you want the extra flexibility) or by using drag &
drop from the Finder
- Specify schedules to update virus definitions and perform
scans
- Use ClamXav Sentry to monitor your hard drive and scan new files as
they arrive (this feature not available in the App Store version)
- Use the bundled ClamAV engine or bring your own installation
- Compatible with Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7 Lion
New in ClamXav v2.2.4:
- Updated ClamAV engine to 0.97.4 (if you have edited freshclam.conf
and clamd.conf by hand, you can find your old files inside /tmp)
- Added ability to exclude "infected" files from future scans -
useful to ignore false-positives.
- ClamXav Sentry will now check for updates on launch if set in
ClamXav main preferences.
- Fixed a crash which could occur if the designated Quarantine folder
didn't exist.
- Fixed bug which could cause items not to be scanned in rare
circumstances.
- Fixed minor errors in German Localisation.
- Updated version of Growl bundled with ClamXav Sentry.
- Improved stability during updates
- OS X 10.4 users should NOT download this update
System requirements:
- PPC/Intel
- Mac OS X 10.4 or later
ClamXav is available on the download page or in the Mac App Store,
and is donationware.
Link: ClamXav
Desktop Mac
Deals
Low End Mac updates the following price trackers monthly:
For deals on current and discontinued 'Books, see our 13" MacBook and MacBook Pro,
MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Pro, 15" MacBook Pro, 17" MacBook Pro, 12" PowerBook G4, 15" PowerBook G4, 17" PowerBook G4, titanium PowerBook G4,
iBook G4, PowerBook G3, and iBook G3 deals.
We also track iPad,
iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle deals.
