Lion To Feature “UI Overhaul”, Developer Beta Soon?

By Graham Spencer

OS X 10.7 Lion was first shown off in October last year at the ‘Back to the Mac’ event with an expected launch of summer 2011. As we near the beginning of spring, TechCrunch has reported that it has seen a significant spike in traffic from computers running Lion. This, along with what TechCrunch has heard, suggests that Lion is being widely tested internally at Apple, perhaps in anticipation of a beta soon, they also note that:

And while we already know some of the new features thanks to Apple’s preview, there are still a few surprises, apparently. One of these is a much-anticipated UI overhaul. But that means that developers are going to need to be ready when it rolls out. And along those lines, we’re hearing that a developer beta should begin soon. There’s no firm timetable for this yet, but again, we’re only 4 months away from the summer.

This makes some sense to us here at MacStories; Apple would likely want to release a beta before WWDC so that some of the training sessions at WWDC can be about Lion, particularly if there are any significant changes to UI and then launch Lion at WWDC or soon after.

[Via TechCrunch]

MacBook Pro Spec Sheet Leaks, Light Peak To Be Called Thunderbolt

By Graham Spencer

Well this morning we’ve seen a multitude of leaks regarding Apple’s implementation of Light Peak and some specs of the upcoming MacBook Pro refresh. Thunderbolt will be the name Apple uses for Light Peak and it seems to take the form of the Mini DisplayPort, in fact it also replaces the Mini DisplayPort on the MacBook Pro as can be seen after the break.

The spec sheet for the updated MacBook Pro 13” has also been leaked in both German and English so it seems to be virtually confirmed that the 13” MacBook Pro will have a; 2.3Ghz Dual Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics unit.

Some interesting additional specs are that it will include an SDXC card reader which has the ability to read a card of 2TB and a reference to a webcam that is described as a “built-in FaceTime-HD camera” which begs the question, why is ‘HD’ appended to that? It could be as innocent as a higher definition webcam than is used in the iPhone for FaceTime or perhaps the suggestion that FaceTime calls could become higher quality. Jump the break for the spec page.

[Via Engadget, Mac4Ever, MacRumors]

UPDATE 4: With all the updates so far on these leaks, I have cleaned up the post, check the break for all the photos.

Gameloft’s VP Talks Premium Games, Maturing iOS Gaming Market And EA’s Sale Tactics

By Graham Spencer

Last week over at Mobile World Congress Gameloft’s vice president Gonzague de Vallois spoke to PocketGamer and had some interesting remarks regarding iOS gaming. One of the things he spoke about was iOS gamers gaining an increasingly high expectation for games on the platform, particularly in regards to graphics and utilizing the full potential of the device.

He says that taste’s of iOS gamers are maturing and are moving on from supporting the small developers who make small, casual games to the games that are more fully featured and more fully use the potential of the device. To me at least, this seems like a bit of an odd comment given the continuing success of games such as Angry Birds and the caliber of indie games that are continuing to come to the App Store such as Rockin’ Rockets.

New “Drastic And Ambitious” Final Cut Pro Launching In Spring?

By Graham Spencer

There is some speculation that the next release of Final Cut Pro which is part of the Final Cut Studio suite of video editing applications, will be coming sometime this spring according to sources that spoke to TechCrunch. Some people had been speculating that Apple may stop working on the far more professional-orientated Final Cut Pro and focus on the consumer iMovie program but Steve Jobs sent some of his trademark short and vague emails last year saying to “Stay tuned and buckle up” and also “Next release will be awesome.”

Supposedly Apple recently held a preview of the next version of Final Cut Pro on its Cupertino campus in which a small group of video editors were invited for feedback. This forthcoming version of Final Cut Pro, the eighth, is said to be “the biggest overhaul to Final Cut Pro since the original version was created over 10 years ago.”

A source told TechCrunch that the release would have a multitude of extensive changes from low-level architectural changes to a complete user interface redesign. 64-bit support is also expected to be on the list of improvements, something that its users have been quite vocal about. Those that have seen a demo of the product have said that the changes can be classified as “drastic and ambitious”.

[Via TechCrunch]

Apple Cuts The Minimum iAd Buy In Half

By Graham Spencer

Now that the first run of iAd campaigns has concluded, AllThingsD is reporting that Apple has decided to cut the minimum required spending in half from a steep $1 million to $500,000. The change has presumably been made because whilst it has been reasonably successful, the number of ads being presented and filling ad spots actually decreased this year. As a result Apple may be wanting to attract some smaller scale advertisers which couldn’t afford to enter the platform previously and fill those ad spots.

NPD: US Mac Sales Up 20%, Apple Set To Sell 3.6 Million Macs This Quarter

By Graham Spencer

New US sales data from the NPD Group show that Apple’s Mac sales have increased 20 percent year over year, which is inline with what is required to meet analyst expectations of 3.6 million Mac sales in the March quarter.

The growth is slightly below the 22 percent growth that was predicted but analyst Gene Munster did note that Apple had seen increased international growth of the Mac platform. Furthermore the now near inevitable launch of updated MacBook’s this week will likely give the Mac sales a boost for the final month in the March quarter.

You Too Can Have Steve Jobs’ Poker Face with Official Apple Cards

By Graham Spencer

Are you a die-hard Apple fan that wants to get some rare memorabilia? Well you had better check out this listing on eBay where an official Apple-branded pack of cards is on auction!

The pack of cards feature OS 7 icons of bombs, clocks, Mac face and trash cans instead of the traditional clubs, hearts, diamonds and spades as you can see above. The pack was purchased at the Apple campus store in 1997 which was one piece of merchandise that was Apple branded and sold only to Apple employees. In other words, these cards are rare and will be undoubtedly worth quite a bit!

The listing is open for another six days and as of writing was at a bid of £28.00, but that’s likely to rocket as Apple fans across the world discover this quirky gem and bid to get their hands on it.

[Via The Next Web]

WiFi2HiFi Makes Streaming Music From Your Computer to a HiFi Easy

By Graham Spencer

Just released today is WiFi2HiFi, a new iPhone and iPod Touch app that effectively allows you to use your device to stream audio from your computer to an iPod dock, stereo system or anything else that can connect to the 3.5mm jack or the 30-pin port. It virtually emulates the AirPort Express feature of streaming audio from a computer to connected sound system, but how well does it work? I was given a pre-release build to review and a review follows the break.

Apple Awarded Patent for a ‘Safe Deposit Box’ Feature

By Graham Spencer

Apple was recently awarded an interesting new patent regarding a possible feature in OS X in which users could secure vital files in a ‘safe deposit box’ which would encrypt and hide the files from access as well as potentially uploading them to the cloud.

The patent describes a simple process in which users would be able to drag a particular file to a safe deposit icon that would then secure the file and also upload the secured file to the cloud. Users could then access any secured files that are in the safe deposit box by verifying their identity. Patently Apple suggests that it could either be included in Lion’s Time Machine as an added feature or perhaps as a small ‘pro’ utility for those who want some extra security for their vital files and data.