Will Apple’s iCloud be free as in water? Can OS X hope to combat the malware menace? Is Apple’s secret data center merely a front for its nefarious plot to drill into the Earth’s core? We raise all of these questions and, frankly, answer none of them in the remainders for Wednesday, June 1, 2011.
Apple may offer free iCloud services with aggressively priced Mac OS X Lion (AppleInsider)
With only a few days to go before Apple spills the beans on iCloud, expect the rumors to come fast and furious (minus Vin Diesel and Paul Walker). AppleInsider reports that all Lion users may get some iCloud services for free, though probably not the rumored music streaming. We have it on good authority, however, that AppleInsider’s sources are slightly mistaken—instead, all Mac users will get a free cloud shaped like a lion.
New MacDefender Variant Evades Apple’s Malware Detection System (Intego)
Those malware creators certainly are industrious; if only they’d turn to the light side of the Force. Not long after Apple rolled out improved malware protection, a new variant of the Mac Defender Trojan horse appeared that can fly underneath Apple’s radar (until it updates its definitions, anyway). We hear the key to its stealthy tactics is that it’s more of a Trojan rabbit. I mean, nobody expects a rabbit inquisition.
Apple’s new data center is visible (at last!) from space (Fortune)
Apple’s apparently dropped the cloaking device on its North Carolina-based data center, which is now visible in Google Maps. And it looks like…a giant white-roofed building. What were you conspiracy nerds expecting, Skull Island?
Federal government loosens its grip on the BlackBerry (Washington Post)
It seems iOS devices are making inroads with Uncle Sam, as the U.S. government is said to be dialing back on its monogamous relationship with RIM’s BlackBerry handset. According to the Washington Post, “this is the federal government 2.0.” Whoa, it’s been 234 years and we’re only at 2.0? I guess nobody’s written any good code since Thomas Jefferson died.