It's been a crazy, whirlwind day here at MacLife.com, with Apple's insanely great fiscal second quarter, Google Drive and all kinds of other cool stuff vying for the hearts and minds of tech fans everywhere. Can you think of a better way to cap off the day than to kick back with a nice recap of some other stories you may have missed? We didn't think so. Without further ado, here's the latest for Tuesday, April 24, 2012.
Google Now Selling Unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus Direct from Play Store
Just ahead of its Google Drive cloud storage launch today, Google snuck a curious item into its Play Store: An unlocked, contract-free Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which now makes up the sole item in a new "Shop Devices" category. Of course, this isn't the first time Google has tried pimping its own hardware -- the original Nexus One was sold online but quickly snuffed out, apparently to appease U.S. carriers at a time when Android desperately needed a boost on their shelves. Although the Galaxy Nexus is a few months old now, it remains one of the best Android handsets on the market, offering a completely pure Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich experience. At $399, the handset is a good bargain for those in the market for an unlocked handset, and thanks to its pentaband antenna, owners will enjoy HSPA+ data from either AT&T or T-Mobile while in the U.S., while using it almost anywhere in the world with GSM to boot.
Chinese Vice Minister Says Apple Does Not Own iPad Trademark
Apple's iPad trademark rift with Proview is still raging in China, but the news isn't looking good. Macworld is reporting that Fu Shuangjian, vice minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), has gone on record claiming that "Apple does not have ownership of the iPad trademark in China," an ominous sign that authorities in the country may be playing favorites with local companies. The SAIC enforces trademark laws in China, but has promised to abide by a higher court decision yet to come. "Due to the impact of this case, and because the court's final decision will determine ownership of the iPad trademark rights, SAIC will carefully deal with this case," Fu explained at a press conference on Tuesday. Failure to win that court ruling could result in fines for Apple or worse yet, a ban on the iPad from the Chinese market, where Cupertino has seen explosive growth with its products.
LaCie's Wuala Tries to Match Google Drive by Bumping Storage to 5GB
It's been a busy week for cloud storage companies, with Microsoft revamping SkyDrive on Monday and Google Drive launching earlier today. Hardware storage provider LaCie is hoping they won't be forgotten, announcing a 3GB bump for the company's Wuala cloud storage, which brings the service up to the same level as Google Drive. "Three years ago Wuala and LaCie joined forces. To celebrate the anniversary of this notable event, Wuala increases included storage from 2GB to 5GB." Wuala announced on their blog. "If you are already using Wuala, your new storage quota will be available over the next few hours. All you have to do is to sign into your account again to see your updated storage." Of course, if 5GB still isn't enough, Wuala will be happy to sell you even more...
Firefox 12 Arrives with Simpler Updating, Developer Improvements
The Mozilla Blog is touting a new Firefox update, so it's time to toss out that crusty old Firefox 11 and say hello to Firefox 12, which debuted today for Mac, Windows and Linux. It's not a huge update for end users, but promises to make future updates easier, specifically by removing the user account control dialog pop-up that frustrates so many Windows users. Once you've said "Yes" once, you'll never have to see the UAC prompt again. Developers will also be pleased with Firefox 12, which promises more than 85 improvements to Mozilla's built-in tools: "For example, developers no longer need to reload the page to see messages in the Web Console, and Scratchpad adds Find and Jump to Line commands to the editor. Our improvements touched on every one of the built-in tools." For what it's worth, installing Firefox 12 on our iMac cleared up some odd quirks we were experiencing with Firefox 11, so there's certainly no harm in giving it a go if you're in the same boat.
Amazon Release Send to Kindle App for Mac
Now here's a curious item: Amazon has released Mac and PC Send to Kindle apps for aiding Kindle owners in getting their personal documents onto their device. The app allows for drag and drop onto the Send to Kindle icon in the Dock, but Mac users can also send documents from any application with a Print menu as well. Finally, users can also control-click one or more documents via the Finder or simply open the Send to Kindle app to send them. Send to Kindle should be perfect for Mac users who want to archive their documents in their Kindle library, where they can be downloaded conveniently at any time. Send to Kindle for Mac requires Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or higher and is available to download now from Amazon's website.
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