MacinTech Users' Group

Apple is working on an inexpensive iPhone model that will come in multiple colors, according to Japanese site Macotakora. The same story also said that Apple was working on the expected iPhone 5S, and that this device might also be available in different colors. Bryan Chaffin weighs the information.

When it comes to Apple lore, 1984 is best known for Apple's 1984 Super Bowl commercial, but the company also produced the gem below for its annual sales meeting held in Hawaii. Called Blue Busters, the video is a takeoff of the hit movie Ghostbusters with an Apple-oriented remake of the song by Ray Parker, the artist who recorded the titular Ghostbusters song. Apple's Blue Busters harkens to a time when IBM was the Big Bad and the Cupertino was trying to get Apple II, Lisa, and now Mac computers into businesses. Note the Macs on the Blue Busters' backs. Good times... [Via Wired]

Apple quietly dropped the prices on refurbished iPads with Retina Display (4th generation) and iPad minis. The company used to offer them at a 5-6 percent discount off retail, but the new pricing puts the entire at 15-17 percent off.

Two readers ask Nancy Carroll Gravley questions about the Dock and Passwords.

Apple has yet another new iPhone commercial out touting the smartphone's features by showing it as a personal device and a part of people's daily lives. In contrast, Microsoft's latest ads take a more negative spin by trying to show Apple's products are inferior.

AT&T Wireless added a new US$0.61 a month administrative fee in May its customers will pay as part of their regular bill. The fee may be new to AT&T, but it's already standard practice at Verizon and Sprint.

The Mac Observer Spin: Like it or not, cell service providers can add "administrative fees" and consumers will have to pay. At least AT&T didn't try Verizon's short-lived $2 fee for paying your bill by phone.

Facebook isn't the only company interested in buying up the community-fed mapping and navigation company Waze. Apparently Google is negotiating with the Waze, too, and that could drive the company's price up over US$1 billion.

The Mac Observer Spin: Assuming the Waze team really is interested in a buyout, a bidding war would be a great thing. While there is a lot of value in the company, the bigger value in the end for Facebook and Google may be keeping Waze out of competitor's hands.

Got a file that's preventing you from emptying your Trash? Got a disk image that won't eject? Then we've got a Terminal trick you'll like. This command will show you what programs are accessing a file or volume, so you can quickly figure out what to quit to get on with your life. 

Judge Denise Cote said on Thursday that she expects the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will be able to prove that Apple conspired with publishers in the run-up to the release of the iPad. The judge issued a "tentative view" to attorneys representing the DOJ and Apple to that effect, adding that the opinion is based on reading through some of the evidence.

The Mac Observer Spin: This case drives us nuts. On the one hand, Apple mostly likely did act as ringleader in getting the publishers to shift to the agency model for pricing. At the same time, before Apple did so, Amazon had monopoly power in this market and was dumping books to gain that power and shut down competitors.

Microsoft is taking pot shots at Apple's iPad in its efforts to promote moribund sales of Windows 8 tablets. In a new series of commercials, the Redmond, WA company harnesses Siri to disparage iPad's one-app-at-a-time nature, and compares specs to show an Asus device is thinner and weighs less than iPad.

Apple released Fuji-Xerox Printer Drivers v2.4 for OS X on Thursday. The patch notes don't specify what's new, saying simply, "This download includes the latest Fuji-Xerox printing and scanning software for OS X Mountain Lion, OS X Lion and Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard."

Reuters has put together a detailed look at Apple's operations in Ireland at the center of the company's tax strategy. As noted by CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer during their testimony in a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Apple first started doing business in Ireland in 1980. Reuters explains how the Irish government used generous tax concessions to attract companies like Apple going back to 1956, and how those efforts led to many multinationals using Ireland for their European operations. If you're following Apple's tax story, it's a great read.

Apple has reportedly scheduled its keynote event for its 2013 World Wide Developer Conference on Monday, June 10th. We say reportedly, because while AllThingsD reported the date, Apple hasn't officially announced it and media invites have yet to go out.

Don't plan on spending your money on an Apple smartwatch this year, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He expects the rumored iWatch will surface later in 2014 and that it will include biometric-related features, too.

The Mac Observer Spin: It's a pretty safe bet that Apple is experimenting with wearable technology in its labs, and that most likely includes watch-type devices. Whether or not any of those products ever make it to market remains to be seen, and it's also a safe bet they won't make it out of testing if Apple doesn't think they'll be market changing devices.

Recently, we've seen some articles that claim Tim Cook doesn't really know what he's doing and he'll drag Apple down. It's all nonsense, driven by lack of understanding of the man. John Martellaro refutes the crazy notion based on his own experiences. Plus he presents a video for you to analyze.

The popular Gmail client app Mailbox started life as an iPhone and iPod touch app, but now has iPad support, too. Mailbox hit the App Store earlier this year and proved to be so popular that users had to sign up on a waiting list to get access to its features. The app has since been bought by Dropbox and the waiting list days are behind us. The app gives users more email organizational control that Google offers, can set reminders to check specific messages later, and more. Mailbox is free and is available at Apple's iTunes-based App Store.

Apple followed through on a plan to add Samsung's Galaxy S4 smartphone to its patent infringement lawsuit this week by filing new documents in the case claiming the device infringes on five patents. The filing also stated that the Google Now search features included with the S4 infringe on two patents.

The Mac Observer Spin: Apple made it clear it wants Samsung's Galaxy S4 included in this patent infringement case. Judge Koh will most likely approve the addition while cutting one of the other devices Apple is already targeting, especially since denying Apple's motion would most likely lead to yet another patent infringement lawsuit between the companies.

The Mac Observer's Managing Editor Jeff Gamet recently joined the MyMac Podcast team to talk about several cool Mac-related products along with ideas on an Apple-branded television.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer testified before a U.S. Senate committee on the company's tax practices and the need for tax law reform. Jeff and Bryan dive into that and take a look at Samsung's delusions of relevance in the smartphone market at Google's expense.

Apple released three updates for its Windows products on Tuesday. The company released iTunes 11.0.3 for Windows and Windows 64, as well as QuickTime 7.7.4 for Windows. The iTunes update brings the new MiniPlayer features released for Mac last week, while the QuickTime update includes security patches.