News & Opinion
Apple Updates
Software
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. Older Macs are covered in Vintage Mac News. All prices are in US
dollars unless otherwise noted.
Purchases made through links to Amazon.com and
Apple's iTunes/iBook/App/Mac App Store support Low End Mac.
News & Opinion
Apple Services, Stores, and iCloud Status
Monitor
Apple has posted a quick, comprehensive status monitor of the
current status of its various online services. The new Apple Services, Stores,
and iCloud Web page provides displays either a green square when a
service is operating normally, or an orange triangle if it's currently
offline or experiencing issues.
Donation Data Suggests Mac Users Are the Most
Charitable
PR: Qgiv, an online and
mobile donation solutions, has released "Technology's Impact on
Charitable Giving Trends," its first annual report highlighting how a
donor's technology choices impact charitable giving. Based on analysis
of more than 320,000 donations across 165,000 users, Qgiv found that
Gmail, Safari, and Mac OS users averaged more per donation than other
technology platform counterparts.
The findings are based on sampling a year's worth of individual
donations to more than 1,000 charitable organizations of all types.
Qgiv analyzed the connection between donation amounts to all charities
using the Qgiv platform and the donor's technology choices,
highlighting related giving trends. Charities on the Qgiv donation
platform include religious organizations, educational institutions,
philanthropic organizations, and more. The findings include:
Charitable Giving Unique Domain Email Users Most Generous
Donors using a unique domain name - one for personal domains or
corporate email addresses - gave 13% more per donation than the next
highest per donation amount, generated by Gmail users. Average donation
amount by email type from November 2011 November 2012:
- Unique/Corporate/Other email: $165 per donation
- Gmail: $143 per donation; (13% less than unique email donors)
- AOL: $138 per donation; (16% less than unique email donors)
- Hotmail: $128 per donation (22% less than unique email donors)
- Yahoo: $120 per donation (27% less than unique email donors)
Mac-based Giving Outpaces Other Operating Systems
Donors using a Mac OS gave 25% more per donation than Windows OS
users. Average donation amount by OS from November 2011 - November
2012:
- Mac: $182 per donation
- Windows: $137 per donation (25% less than Mac users)
Safari Users Win the Charity Browser War
Donors using the Safari browser gave 9% more per donation than the
next highest per donation amount, generated by Chrome users. Average
donation amount by Browser type from November 2011 November 2012:
- Safari: $168 per donation*
- Chrome: $153 per donation (9% less per donation than Safari
users)
- FireFox: $140 per donation (17% less per donation than Safari
users)
- Internet Explorer: $138 per donation (18% less per donation than
Safari users)
Gmail Biggest Drop in Average Donation Year over Year from 2011 -
2012
Despite giving more per donation than donors using other branded
email services, Gmail users have experienced the biggest drop in per
donation totals from 2011 to 2012. The following data represents the
average donation for the January through November time periods,
measured year over year:
- Unique/Corporate/Other email: 2011 - $155; 2012 - $156
- Gmail: 2011 - $153; 2012 - $132
- AOL: 2011 - $135; 2012 - $134
- Hotmail: 2011 - $128; 2012 - $133
- Yahoo: 2011 - $111; 2012 - $116
"The data on the giving trends by technology indicators can help
organizations maximize value from their current marketing and outreach
campaigns. Combining email, browser, and other key indicators with
existing demographic data has the potential to help these organizations
more accurately target the appropriate donors," says Todd Baylis,
president of Qgiv. "It's not enough anymore for organizations to offer
just one giving option. With today's diverse donor base and evolving
technology, charitable organizations need to provide a broader cross
section of options, like online, mobile, and on-site to maximize the
value they're getting back.
Yahoo Mail Benefits from Being 'Switzerland of
Internet'
ZDNet's Liau Yun Qing reports that Yahoo's nonalignment with any
mobile operating system makes is easier to cooperate with third parties
such as telcos, OS players, and Internet service providers, which don't
perceive it as a competitor. That's according to Vivek Sharma, general
manager for Yahoo Mail and Messenger, who has designs on making
Yahoo!'s email service the default choice for cross-platform email.
Ms. Qing cites Mr. Sharma commenting: "Yahoo is increasingly the
Switzerland of the Internet. We are available across all platforms.
We're also everybody's friend because we do not compete with the
operating system providers or the original equipment
manufacturers."
Yahoo's revamped email interface.
Yahoo has revamped its Mail service for the Web and released apps
for the Apple iPhone, Google Android and Microsoft Windows 8, with Mr.
Sharma noting that that Yahoo is the only Webmail provider with branded
apps for all the three most popular mobile OS platforms.
Link: Yahoo Mail Benefits
from Being 'Switzerland of Internet'
Apple Updates
EFI Update for Late 2012 iMacs
The
iMac EFI Update 2.0 update is recommended for all iMac (Late 2012) models. This update
contains general performance fixes pertaining to sleep and Thunderbolt,
and improves compatibility when using the 5 GHz band in Wi-Fi.
Boot ROM or SMC Version Information: After Update is complete:
- Build version: 010A.05
- ROM version: IM131.88Z.010A.B05.1211151146
System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.8.1 and greater, EFI version
010A
Link: iMac
EFI Update 2.0
Wi-Fi Update for Late 2012 Macs
Mac Wi-Fi Update 1.0 is recommended for all late 2012 Mac systems.
This update improves compatibility when using the 5 GHz band in
Wi-Fi.
Boot ROM or SMC Version Information: To confirm the update has been
applied, the CFBundleVersion string of the AirPortBrcm4311.kext will
need to be checked.
New driver delivered in update:
- AirPortBrcm4331.kext
- CFBundleVersion = 612.20.15
System Requirements: OS X 10.8.2 (specifically build version
12C2034)
Link: Mac Wi-Fi Update
1.0
Software
Logos 5 Christmas Sale
PR: Explore
the Bible with the world's leading Bible software. Save at least 15% on
any base package with Logos' Christmas sale.
Better Bible Study This Christmas with Logos Bible Software
Do better Bible study on your Mac: Logos 5 is your way to get into
the Word this Christmas season. Massive libraries, smart searches,
in-depth datasets - you'll get new tools to study in new ways. Do
better Bible study with Logos 5.
Find What You're Looking For
Logos 5 shows you everything the Bible says about Christmas. Just
type what you're studying into the Topic Guide and hit Go.
You can afford the library you want with a budget-friendly,
interest-free payment plan.
Link: Logos Christmas
Sale
Year End Sale: 20% Off Photoshop Elements
PR: Adobe is celebrating the season with 20% off Adobe
Photoshop Elements 11. The Offer Ends January 6, 2013.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 sale price: $79.99
Add easy Adobe Premiere Elements 11 video editing for $20 more.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 & Adobe Premiere Elements 11:
$99.99
Instant discount applies to the full version of Adobe Photoshop
Elements 11, Adobe Premiere Elements 11, and Adobe Photoshop Elements
11 & Adobe Premiere Elements 11 software.
Pricing is available only through the online Adobe Store or through
the Adobe Call Center at 800-585-0774. When purchasing through the
Adobe Store, you must enter offer code DEC2012 in the shopping cart
before checking
out when prompted to do so. To purchase through the Call Center,
mention offer code DEC2012 when calling. OEM, education, and volume
licensing customers are not eligible. This offer is valid in the U.S.,
Canada (excluding Quebec), and Mexico. Offer valid until 11:59 p.m. PST
on January 6, 2013. Savings are limited to one discount per customer.
Prices are listed in U.S. dollars and do not include applicable local
taxes. This offer and prices are subject to change without notice. Void
where prohibited by law.
Use promotional code: DEC2012
Link: Photoshop Elements
11
Link: Premiere
Elements 11
Link: Photoshop
Elements 11 & Adobe Premiere Elements 11
Pixelmator 2.1.4 Released
PR: Pixelmator has released a version 2.1.4 update for its
image editor program, that features layer support, GPU-powered image
processing, and many other features.
The version 2.1.4 release adds layer Auto Select for painting and
retouching tools, improved responsiveness for effects with large
images, improved support for Photoshop CS6 brush collections, improved
Auto Save support, stability fixes, and other changes.
Pixelmator 2 is currently priced at $14.99 for Mac OS X 10.6.8
through 10.8, and is exclusively available for purchase on the Mac App
Store.
You can also try Pixelmator for free for 30 days.
Link: Pixelmator
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.
