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1Password news: iOS and Mac apps discounted, free iOS 8 update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

If you're an avid user of 1Password, an excellent password-management application for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, a forthcoming iOS 8 edition will be supplied to you free of charge, developer AgileBits has confirmed.

And those who've been sitting on the sidelines waiting for a not-to-be-missed opportunity to get in on the action, now's the time to get a move on as AgileBits has 1Password for Mac on sale for 30 percent off.

As a bonus, the iPhone and iPad edition down by a cool 40 percent! So there you have it: now you can download the app in the Mac App Store for just $34.99 (regularly $49.99) and get 1Password for the iPhone and iPad for $9.99 (regularly $17.99)...

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Use a Mac running OS X 10.5.8 and below? You can no longer run Skype

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 8, 2014

If you own a legacy Mac with OS X Leopard 10.5.8 and earlier, you can no longer run Skype, the Microsoft-owned company has confirmed today.

Following a string of complaints from disgruntled users who took to the Skype forum last week reporting they were being locked out from accessing the VoIP service, a Skype team member penned a note confirming that the program was no longer supported on Macs running OS X Leopard 10.5.8 and older.

People running Skype on OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.7 Lion and 10.8 Mountain Lion are unaffected so "there is no need to upgrade to Mavericks or Yosemite if you don't want to" reads the message...

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The Sims 2: Super Collection is available now in the Mac App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2017

As Electronic Arts is gearing up to release the PC version of Sims 4 on September 2 , the latest installment in its iconic life simulation game, Aspyr Media has now released the ultimate Sims 2 collection pack on the App Store.

Featuring all of the content from the original game, in addition to six expansion packs and three 'Stuff Packs' never before packaged together, The Sims 2: Super Collection can be exclusively purchased through the Mac App Store as a $29.99 digital download.

The game has been rewritten from the ground up with modern hardware in mind, featuring a new renderer and support for native resolutions. As a cherry on top, you can import a neighborhood from SimCity 4 Deluxe, play around with custom content via the 'Body Shop' and much more...

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Apple researching Siri for Mac, patent filing hints

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 7, 2014

Rumors of Apple's supposed intent to port its iOS digital personal assistant, Siri, over to the Mac have persisted for years, and intensified lately. Back in November 2012, for example, 9to5Mac claimed that Siri would be baked into OS X Mavericks.

Mavericks is here without Siri and the feature is nowhere to be seen in Yosemite, which looms on the horizon. Of course, the Mac's Dictation feature, powered by Nuance, doesn't count as it's simply speech-to-text with no real intelligence.

That being said, it would seem that the Cupertino firm has been quietly researching ways of enabling Siri on the Mac. Case in point: a newly discovered patent application filed back in February of this year which details how Siri for Mac might function, what features it could include and how it should improve your desktop productivity...

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iPads and MacBooks can’t be bought with China’s public money over espionage concerns

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2014

First Russian, and now China. Just as news hit us a week ago that the Russian government is demanding access to the source code for Apple software to ensure it isn't enabling U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on the 145 million country, Bloomberg Wednesday reported that the Chinese government has taken Apple's iPad tablets and MacBook notebooks off the procurement list.

As a result, no government agency in China is allowed to buy Apple products with public money.

While government purchases are not a major sales driver for Apple, it's worth remembering that China is home to 1.33 billion people and filing as Apple's third-biggest market by revenue...

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RebootToHDD: an easier way to switch between Mac partitions

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Following our post on how to switch between Mavericks and Yosemite, iDownloadBlog reader Jack Stean took the script we featured and turned it into a full-fledged Mac application that sits in OS X's status bar. RebootToHDD does everything we explained in our tutorial, but without the hassle of copying and pasting script...

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Apple seeds OS X Yosemite Developer Preview 5

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

In addition to seeding the fifth beta of iOS 8 this morning, Apple has also released the fifth Developer Preview of its new OS X Yosemite operating system. The update comes two weeks after Preview 4, and well over a month after Apple announced Yosemite at WWDC.

The update is labeled as build preview 5 1.0 and can be downloaded via an update in the Mac App Store, or as a full download from Apple’s online developer center. It does not, however, appear to be out in Apple’s recently-launched public Yosemite Beta Seed program yet…

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How to stream torrents to your Apple TV, no jailbreak needed

Jeff Benjamin ∙ July 31, 2014

A new Mac app called TorrenTV was recently released to allow users to stream torrents directly to the Apple TV. The app, which begins playing movies immediately via a simple drag and drop of a .torrent file, streams to the Apple TV, even if the device isn't jailbroken.

Even better is the fact that TorrenTV requires zero setup. As long as your Mac and Apple TV share the same Wi-Fi network, TorrenTV will begin streaming video to your Apple TV almost immediately.

Of course, being that we don't condone piracy, the use of such an app would have its limits. Thankfully, there are legitimate videos available via torrents, which can thus be streamed directly to your Apple TV. Have a look inside for more information.

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Wunderlist 3 releases, adding real-time sync, public lists and 60+ new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 31, 2014

After previewing its major version 3.0 update earlier this month, 6Wunderkinder has now released the refreshed Wunderlist 3, the latest version of the popular cross-platform to-do, task and list management app.

With 60+ new features across iOS, Android, Chromebooks, Mac and on the web, Wunderlist 3 is a huge release for the Berlin, Germany-based company. Two standout new features deserve a mention: an all-new real-time syncing engine and public lists...

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Shazam launches new always-on menu bar app for Mac

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Popular audio identification service Shazam launched a new application for the Mac this morning. It lives in the operating system's menu bar, and offers a lot of the same features seen in its iOS counterpart, with a few new tricks.

Because it resides in the menu bar, Shazam for Mac is always-on and constantly running in the background listening for audio to identify. Once it recognizes a track, the app offers quick access to lyrics, song info and downloads...

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