A Russian hacker helped users get in-app purchases for free. A solar-powered Bluetooth keyboard can switch between devices. And Mountain Lion’s ready to roar, so we offered advice on getting your Mac ready. In case you missed those or other big stories from the past week, here’s your chance to catch up with the Weekly Wrap.
Apple headlines
We spoke to the hacker behind an iOS exploit that lets users get in-app purchases for free. The hacker told Macworld he expected Apple might hire him; perhaps, since English isn’t his first language, he mistakenly conflated “hire” with “set on fire.”
Apple’s outgoing senior vice president of hardware engineering, Bob Mansfield, announced Friday that Apple returned its products to the EPEAT registry. We repeat, Apple is a repeat EPEAT participant. If you don’t know EPEAT from EPCOT, allow us to break it down for you.
Macs running Snow Leopard and earlier may be susceptible to yet another Java exploit. Speaking of big cats and running, if you see a mountain lion on the loose in California, run. It is likely not an OS X 10.8 preview.
And a mountain lion on the loose reminds us that soon Apple will unleash a more tamed Mountain Lion upon us all. Get your Mac ready now.
Reviews, reviews, reviews
We reviewed the Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K760, which connects via Bluetooth to three devices at the same time, so that you can switch between controlling your Mac or iOS device in an instant—all with a keyboard whose battery will never run low. Folks, we live in the future.
There’s the CitySlicker MacBook Case, which comes with an optional suspension strap, as should most things in life.
As part of GemFest 2012, we looked at oodles of great Mac apps this week: NetUse Monitor charts your net ‘Net usage, whether it’s gross or not. CleanMyMac helps free up space on yours, not mine, despite the name. Token offers menubar access to your iWork documents, but still refuses to author them for you. Instabackup downloads all your Instagram photos. And CommandQ prevents you from quitting an app with the keyboard unless you really mean to.
On the iOS side, we reviewed Barefoot World Atlas, which knocked our socks off. Centipede Origins didn’t bug us. And we also looked at Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and a whole lot of iOS scanning apps.
Advice and how-tos
First off, if you need any help with iTunes, just Ask the iTunes Guy. Traveling? Maximize battery life across all your devices; that’s the one time we welcome battery charges.
You can create read-only PDFs in OS X with minimal effort. And if you want to use an older iPad to read only, we can help you with that, too.
And if you just don’t want to read anymore, we can sympathize. In that case, just take a listen to the latest edition of the Macworld Podcast, wherein we go up close with iOS 6.