Synology Inc., the leader in next-generation Network Attached Storage (NAS) servers for the home and small to medium sized business markets, has release the Mac client for Cloud Station^Beta enabling easy, yet secure Dropbox-like data synchronization for Mac users.

Cloud Station syncs and backs up users’ content seamlessly across their PCs, Macs, and DiskStation or RackStation. When offline, computer users can still view and edit files, and the changes will be synchronized to other computers when Internet connection resumes. In a business environment, account users can own their particular Cloud Station folders, or share a Cloud Station folder to collaborate on a project.

Availability
Synology Cloud Station^Beta package and its Windows^® and Mac clients apply to the following models: DS412+, DS112, DS112j, DS712+, DS212, DS212+, DS212j, RS2212+, RS2212RP+, RS812+, RS812RP+, RS212, RS812, DS1512+, DS1812+, DS3612xs, RS3412xs, RS3412RPxs, DS3611xs, RS3411xs, RS3411RPxs, DS2411+, RS2211+, RS2211RP+, DS1511+, RS411, DS411, DS411+II, DS411+, DS411j, DS411slim, DS211+, DS211, DS211j, DS111, DS1010+, RS810+, RS810RP+, DS410, DS410j, DS710+, DS210+, DS210j, DS110+, DS110j, DS509+, RS409+, RS409RP+, RS409, DS409+, DS409, DS209+II, DS209+, DS209, DS209j, DS109+, DS109, DS109j, DS409slim, DS508, DS408, RS408, RS408RP, DS108j

Cloud Station is available as a free download at http://www.synology.com/support/download.php

As you may have known, Apple has invested in futuristic Liquidmetal material that is highly durable, strong, thin and light. Little is known about the new iPhone though, nothing much has come out of Cupertino. And none expected to be, knowing how the Californian tech company is famous for guarding its unreleased products.

It hasn’t stopped French designer Antoine Brieux from envisioning what the new iPhone could look like. And its a delicious depicted at that.

What do you think? Is this Apple worthy?

Original source: DesignTAXI

Woz. Image source: Intomobile

In a recent interview with A New Domain, Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder waxes lyrical about how intuitive and natural the Windows Phone interface. He uses a Nokia Lumia 800 running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. He also added Android is “no contest” in terms of UI. While he praised Windows Phone’s UI (he especially loves the tile interface), he isn’t a fan of  the voice control functionality which lags behind iOS and Android. Woz admitted he still uses the iPhone as his default phone (two of them!), though. The fact that he looks at the best aspects of all mobile OSes out there earns him respect amongst the tech heads.

I do agree with Woz on the Windows Phone UI. Its simplicity, fluidity and intuitiveness makes it very appealing.  I also share his opinion on Android’s UI, while it has improved tremendously in its current iteration in Android 4.0 ICS, still lags behind iOS’ fluidity and attention to detail. I use all three OSes on a daily basis, including BlackBerry 7 OS. Call me an OS slut. Oh well.

Source: A New Domain via Engadget

Apple‘s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is coming again to San Francisco’s Moscone West. The much-anticipated five-day conference will run from June 11 through June 15 where developers will be learning about the future of iOS and OS X, featuring technical sessions and a showcase of outstanding iOS/OS X apps at the Apple Design Awards. Saying WWDC 2012 is a hot event is probably an understatement. Tickets sold out in 2 hours.

For Apple, WWDC isn’t just a massive get together with developers, but also a platform where it also announces/launches new products. Last year, Apple launched iOS 5, iCloud and a stream of other innovations. For its 5,000 attendees, the opening keynote by the late Steve Jobs, Apple CEO was always something to look forward to.

WWDC 2012 will showcase iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion, the future iterations of Apple’s operating systems. More than 100 technical sessions and hands-on labs will be presented by over 1,000 Apple engineers will provide developers with insight, code-level assistance and guidance on how to make most of iOS and OS X technologies in their apps.

Every year, Apple recognises the best of the best iPhone, iPad and Mac apps at the Apple Design Awards.

The rumour-mongering has already begun online about a liquid-metal iPhone 5, rumoured to be announced in June. While there is no indication of a June release (Apple launched the iPhone 4S in October last year), the world simply loves a good rumour! Well, what do you think?

The pace at how tickets for the developer conference had sold out has angered and disappointed some developers. Ticketless devs may have another option if Indie Developer Lab can help it. According to Slashgear, these boys are organising a WWDC-type event just around the corner from Moscone West.

Apple CEO Tim Cook. Source – smh.com.au

Apple announced today its earnings for its second fiscal quarter of 2012. The impressive numbers beat industry estimates but were down from the Cupertino company’s previous record-breaking quarters. Revenues amounted to $39.2 billion with a net profit of $11.6 billion in Q1 2012. This translates to earnings of $12.30 per diluted share. Gross margin was 47.4 percent compared to 41.4 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 64 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple sold 35.1 million iPhones, a 88 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter and 11.8 million iPads in the quarter representing a 151 percent jump over the year-ago quarter. This while quietly shifting 4 million Macs. Sales were up 7% compared to the quarter a year ago. Apple also sold 7.7 million iPods.

The bump in the first-quarter forecast will ripple forward to the rest of the year. For calendar 2012, J.P. Morgan is looking at iPhone sales of 138.2 million, up from the prior estimate of 128.7 million. And iPad sales could hit 69.6 million, compared with an earlier forecast of 58.6 million.

The record March quarter generated $14 billion in cash flow from operations, growing Apple’s cash pile which is now topping a cool $100 billion. Apple expects revenue in the coming third quarter to be about $34 billion with diluted earnings per share of about $8.68.

Apple’s share price blipped to over $600 as it beat analysts predictions. Its market capitalization tops over $560 billion, making it the most valuable company and technology company in the world. In March this year, Apple announced plans for quarterly dividend payouts of $2.65 per share sometime in the Q4 2012, which begins on July 1, 2012. Apple’s Board of Directors also authorized a $10 billion share repurchase program which will commence in 2013 (begins on September 30, 2012). The share repurchase program will be executed over three years.

Apple will provide a replay of its Q2 2012 financial results conference call in two weeks time.

Chillin' for a killin'. Image source: Timekiwi.com

Apple‘s new iPad is set to be made available at Apple resellers all over Malaysia in less than 12 hours. Apple Premium Reseller, Machines is all set for the expected long queues for the new tablet. Machines has an event page detailing the launch. If you’re planning to be one of the early adopters, read a couple important notes after the jump, before you head to your nearest Machines outlet.

According to Machines, all Machines outlets will carry new iPad stocks except for Gardens and JB. It isn’t immediately known why these outlets will not carry the much-anticipated device. Starting 10am to 10pm, Machines will be selling the new iPad. This is of course, dependent on how much stocks are left (I’m guessing: not much). For the hardcore, only Machines Mid Valley will allow overnight queuing. For security reasons, other outlets at KLCC, Bukit Tinggi and Lot 10 will not permit queuing after closing hours, and therefore will only be available from 9am on April 20, 2012.

Customers will be given queue cards which are according to the quantity of iPads in stock. So no worries if they do run out of stock, you wouldn’t need to queue for no reason. Unless, you just love queuing for no reason. Each customer is entitled to a maximum of two cards which equals to two new iPads only. This is similar to what Apple has traditionally done with the iPhone. Machines accepts payment in cash or credit card (and no, if you’re asking – no payment in kind, good try!). No pre-registration, pre-booking or reservations are offered.

(Edit)Official pricing is now out on the Apple Online Store. Baseline price for the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad will be RM1,499.

Not interested to queue? No sweat, log on to Apple Store Online and place your order there. Make payment and get your spanking new iPad in 5-7 days.

Good luck!

Maxis Berhad has officially announced that beginning Friday, 20 April 2012, it will offer a range of attractive data plans for the new iPad.  These plans take advantage of Maxis’ recent and widespread network upgrades using “HSPA+ Dual Carrier” technology, doubling the download and websurfing performance previously available. Take a look at the postpaid and prepaid data plans offered after the jump.

Apple announced the availability of the new iPad in Malaysia and 11 other countries for Friday, April 20, 2012. The new iPad has been fastest selling tablet in Apple history, putting the tablets into 3 million customer hands in 3 days since its launch.

For more information about iPad please visit www.apple.com/ipad/ and Maxis’ iPad data plans, visit www.maxis.com.my/ipad

Apple has just announced that the third generation iPad will finally be arriving in Malaysia along with 11 other countries this Friday, April 20. Available in black or white, the new iPad boasts a stunning new Retina display, Apple’s blazing fast A5X chip with quad-core graphics and 5MP HD iSight camera with advanced optics. It’s not quite as thin nor light as the previous generation iPad, but packs a punch in performance. And still maintains its impressive 10 hour battery life.

Beginning Friday, April 20, the new iPad will be available in Malaysia, Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, South Korea, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela. Beginning on Friday, April 27, the new iPad will be available in Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.

The new iPad is the fastest selling iPad yet, pushing out three million units in just three days since its big launch on March 16, 2012.

The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white for a suggested retail price of RM1,499 (US$399) for the 16GB model, RM1,899 (US$599) for the 32GB model and RM2,099 (US$699) for the 64GB model. The iPad Wi-Fi + 4G models will be available for a suggested retail price of RM1,899 (US$629) for the 16GB model, RM2,199 (US$729) for the 32GB model and RM2,499 (US$829) for the 64GB model.** The new iPad will be sold through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com) and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Please note that the Malaysian prices are unconfirmed/unofficial.

While 4G LTE is only supported by AT&T and Verizon in the US, and selected networks in Canada, you can still plug in your 3G/HSPA/HSPA+ or GSM/EDGE supported SIM cards to enjoy data access.

Thinking of an iPad but on a budget? This is it!

In anticipation of the coming of the new iPad, Malaysia’s Apple Online Store has already slashed the prices of the iPad 2 to RM1,199 (for the base 16GB Wi-Fi model). This is an awesome time to pick up a cheap iPad!

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

**4G LTE is supported only on AT&T and Verizon networks in the U.S. and on Bell, Rogers and Telus networks in Canada. Data plans sold separately.

Flashback: Number of infected computers. Source: Symantec

Earlier in the year, over 600,000 Mac computers were reported to have been infected with a malware called Flashback. OSX.Flashback made its first appearance in 2011 and has since evolved from a social engineering scam passing off as a fake flash update to using digital certificates purporting to come from Apple. This malware is currently using the latest Java vulnerability (BID 52161 - Oracle Java SE Remote Java Runtime Environment Denial Of Service Vulnerability ) in order to deliver its payload.

Flashback: Number of infected computers by country. Source: Symantec

Symantec has confirmed the number of computers infected with the Flashback malware is going down, with approximately 270,000 machines still infected out of the originally reported 600,000, with the majority of the remaining infections in North America, Australia and the UK. More details can be found in this new Symantec blog post: http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/osxflashbackk-suffering-slashback-infections-down-270000.

IT departments and computer users can learn valuable lessons from this experience:

• No operating system is immune to malware attack and any Internet-connected device should have security precautions in place.
• Mac users are not out of the woods. There are still hundreds of thousands of users who have not taken the steps necessary to remove the malware. Additional infections are also still possible if the appropriate security updates are not installed.
• Cybercriminals often build on the exploits of others; additional attempts at widespread Mac malware infections are likely to follow.

Last week, Apple finally released a patch that fixes the Java security flaw for systems running OS X v10.7 and Mac OS X v10.6. Older systems (v10.5 and below) remain vulnerable and the official recommendation from Apple is to disable Java to prevent infection. It is recommended to initiate an update if this has not been done already or to download the update manually from Apple if your OS is vulnerable to the attack. Some quarters have condemned Apple for being slow to mobilise a fix/patch for the vulnerability.

Symantec Security Response has developed a free removal tool for OSX.Flashback.K for Macs, to detect and eradicate Flashback.

There are also other tools to scan possible infections and fix your Macs:

F-Secure
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002346.html

Dr Web Online
https://www.drweb.com/flashback/

http://download.geo.drweb.com/pub/drweb/mac/Light/drweb-light-605-macosx.dmg

Apple Java update
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5242

Have you checked your Mac yet? We highly advise that you do so!

In an annual brand evaluation survey of consumers by Nikkei BP Consulting Inc, Japan, Apple Inc. has come up tops for the first time. The Cupertino company scored 90.5 points for total brand power, a huge leap from 11th last year. The Apple iPad and two other products also made the list for the Top 40 brands.

Apple came in second to Toyota Motor Corp in a survey of businesspeople. Strangely, huge consumer brand name Sony is missing from the list. Surprised?

The Brand Japan 2012 survey targets 1,000 consumer brands as well as a business market category for 500 brands. It was conducted online over November and December 2011. Brand scores are calculated based on responses of 52,000 people aged 18 and older.

Here’s the listing of companies in the Top 10, with last year’s ranking in parentheses:

1. (11) Apple
2. (1) Google
3. (2) Uniqlo
4. (7) YouTube
5. (6) Disney
6. (4) McDonald’s
7. (3) Panasonic
8. (5) Nissan
9. (39) Dyson
10. (9) Rakuten

Source: Nikkei.com