It’s been a pretty quiet one this week for news but we’ve still managed to find a couple of pieces to keep you ticking over until next week.
Happy reading!
VLC 2.0.2 released with retina-display support and more
The popular open-source media player VLC has received an boost up to version 2.0.2 today with a load of new features, especially for what seems like just a minor update. Apart from retina display support for the new MacBook Pro, VLC 2.0.2 fixes bugs from previous versions and adds further refinements to the Mac interface, including enhanced crop features and the restoration of the popular “go automatically to full screen” feature.
VLC 2.0.2 features reina display support for the new MacBook Pro and a load of bug fixes and other features
You can also drag and drop directly between the playlist, services and media library and Growl 1.3 is supported as well (although there’s currently no talk about support for Notification Center in Mountain Lion). One of my favourite new features is the removal of that “building font cache”, which used to crop up every so often and made it impossible to watch a video without having to wait 5 minutes for VLC to find all your fonts.
The new version can be grabbed either directly from their website or via an automatic update from within VLC.
Mountain Lion to offer automatic security updates
On Monday it was revealed that the new upcoming version of OS X will feature automatic security updates that will check whether Mac users are running the latest and up-to-date software, ensuring complete protection from Internet threats.
OS X Security Test 1.0 in the latest Mountain Lion Developer Preview
The move came after an increase in the amount of Mac malware, including the Flashback trojan, discovered back in April and which affected around 600,000 users worldwide. The update, known as “OS X Security Update Test 1.0″, performs a daily check with Apple’s servers to make sure that Mountain Lion is completely up-to-date, or when the user’s Mac is restarted and also has the ability to download and install updates discreetly in the background.
Apple has also toned down the language on its corporate website following the Flashback trojan. The section on Mac security stated before that Macs “don’t get PC viruses” and that you can “safeguard your data – by doing nothing”. Now, the section reads that OS X is “built to be safe” and that safety is “built right in”.
The new feature is available in the new Developer Preview 4 and will feature in the retail version of Mountain Lion, expected to be released later this month via the Mac App Store.
And finally…
RIP, MobileMe
Today didn’t just mark the start of a new month but also the death of MobileMe, Apple’s cloud-based Internet storage which has been around (in one form or another) since 2000 and has been ditched in favour of iCloud. Visitors to the service are greeted with a simple “Closed” sign and a link to how to move your files across to iCloud and download any existing files from your Gallery.
MobileMe ceased yesterday on June 30th, more than 12 years after it was first created.
MobileMe was born on January 5, 2000 as iTools before being renamed to .Mac in July 2002 and MobileMe in July 2008. It was criticised mostly because of its high price tag – a yearly subscription clocked in at $99, and teething problems experienced at its launch, including unstability and synchronisation problems.
Heard Anything Else?
If you’ve heard anything else exciting that’s happened this week then go ahead and post a link to in the Comments section below for the benefit of our readers!