This week has (again) been pretty quiet in the world of Mac news but we’ve still managed to find some juicy stories to keep you ticking over till next week.
Alfred 1.2 released
Alfred, one of our favourite Mac utilities of all time, received a major update on Tuesday of this week, bringing a wealth of new features as well as some tweaks and bug fixes. It is available either via an automatic update through the app itself or via a manual download from the developer’s website.
A summary of the new features in Alfred 1.2, including 1Password integration and larger type (with the Powerpack)
The new version of Alfred brings quick and easy access to bookmarks in 1Password (this feature has to be enabled in Alfred’s settings), which can be brought up by typing “1p” then the name of the bookmark, large type with the optional Powerpack plug-in (which is enabled by hitting Command + L) and two new themes: Dark & Smooth and Pistachio.
There are also a few new hotkeys in version 1.2, a new file searching algorithm and a tonne of bug fixes. For the full change log, head over to Alfred’s website but otherwise go ahead and grab the update!
Updates for Mountain Lion DP3 and 10.7.4 released
Apple has released a slight update to the Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3, hinting that the final “gold” version might be just around the corner (with a release more than likely at the upcoming WWDC in June). Although the full list of changes is currently unknown (and not available on Apple’s website), one of the more interesting features is a “Do Not Disturb” setting for the new Notification Centre, allowing users to work in peace without intrusive notifications.
An update to Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3 brings an interesting "Do Not Disturb" feature in the Notifications Centre
New versions of Lion (version 10.7.4) and Xcode (version 4.4) were also released to registered developers, further hinting at an immediate Mountain Lion official release.
Amazon Cloud Drive released for Mac
Not wanting to be outdone by last week’s announcement of Google Drive, Amazon has released a Mac (and Windows) client for its cloud-based storage service, originally named “Amazon Cloud”, which is available for download from their website.
Amazon has released a Mac client for its online cloud storage, Amazon Cloud
Up till now, Amazon Cloud was only available as a web version with users having to log on to manage files however the new client allows users to upload files directly from their desktop without having to log on. However you’ll still need to use the web version to browse files stored online and there is currently no way to keep Cloud synchronised with a folder on your desktop, meaning that Amazon Cloud isn’t ready to take on the likes of Dropbox and Google Drive. Not yet anyway.