You can’t knock a helpful update.

OnyX, Titanium Software’s popular freeware multifunction utility for Mac OS X, has been updated to version 2.6.8. The new version, a 16.9 megabyte download via MacUpdate, adds the following fixes and changes:
- Deleting the Internet Cache improved.

- Deleting the Fonts Cache improved.

- Deleting the Recent Items improved.

- Bug corrected in the authenticate pane.

- Bug corrected when restoring the logo of Login window.

- Maintenance > Scripts pane improved.

- Help improved, corrected, and reindexed.

- New option: Show the Displays Extras menu with resolutions.

- New option: Show/hide shadow in window captures.

- New option: Show/hide the Reminders Debug menu.

- New option: Show/hide the Photo Booth Debug menu.

- New option: Lock/unlock the screen of automatically logged in user.

- New option: Show the dark menu bar in fullscreen mode.

- New version of sqlite3.

- Network Link Condition prefs pane updated to version 2.0.

- Misc. minor corrections.

OnyX 2.6.8 requires an Intel-based processor and OS X 10.8 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback, please let us know in the comments.

It’s time to start talking about iOS 7.

Per the mighty John Gruber of Daring Fireball, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design and new head of Human Interface Jony Ive has apparently made noticeable visual tweaks to Apple’s mobile platform. So much so, that “word on the street” has it that iOS engineers are required to put a polarizing filter over their iPhone displays to prevent onlookers from getting a glimpse of the new UI.

The rumor was revealed in a Branch discussion regarding the latest Apple talk, with a number of well-known bloggers airing out their thoughts on what the company has in store for 2013.

Other rumors have stated the new iOS will incorporate a “flatter” look, albeit time will tell what that actually means.

Gruber claims that iOS 7 development is “running behind,” prompting OS X 10.9 engineers to be pulled from their work to lend a hand in getting the mobile OS ready in time for launch.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

It’s hard to turn down a useful update.

On Wednesday, Adobe released 4.4 of its Lightroom image editing program. The new version, a 448.1 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:
- This update includes bug fixes, new lens profiles, and support for 25 new cameras including the Canon EOS 1D C, Nikon D7100 and Samsung NX300.

- This release also includes improved support for the X-Trans image sensor in FujiFilm cameras, such as the X-Pro1.

Adobe Lightroom 4.4 retails for US$149.00 and requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6.8 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

Never doubt the power of competition in the cloud-based market space.

Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Amazon has introduced file syncing to its Cloud Drive app for OS X, which essentially makes Cloud Drive Amazon’s version of Dropbox.

Like Dropbox, the app allows files put into the Cloud Drive folder to be available on any Mac or Windows machine running Cloud Drive with your login details. The files are also available through any web browser.

Cloud Drive users receive 5 GB of storage space for free, which is equal to Google Drive’s initial offering but more than double Dropbox’s 2 GB of storage for new users.

The app is available as a free download and requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried Cloud Drive and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

If you’re an iPhone 5 user, your call quality with AT&T should improve this year.

Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog and AllThingsD, when Apple introduced the iPhone 5 last year, Apple’s Senior VP of Marketing Phil Schiller explained that Apple updated the iPhone 5′s entire audio system. In addition to the inclusion of three microphones and an improved speaker design, Schiller also boasted that the iPhone 5 featured a technology dubbed wideband audio, otherwise known as HD Voice technology.

Phil Schiller said the technology was capable of delivering amazing sound performance and described it thusly:

In a typical cellphone call, this is what it looks like. The frequency of the data in your voice is compressed around the midrange to help make that call sound more intelligible, but it doesn’t sound entirely natural all the time. So with wideband audio we can fill up more of the frequency spectrum and make your voice sound even more natural.

In order to take advantage of the much improved call quality, however, the technology must be supported by the carrier and both devices on a particular call.

When Apple first introduced the iPhone 5, Schiller said that 20 cellphone carriers worldwide would be ready to support the iPhone 5′s wideband audio technology at launch. Notably, no US carriers were part of that original grouping of 20.

But that’s all poised to change.

According to statements made by AT&T senior VP Kris Rinne on Tuesday at the VentureBeat Mobile Summit indicating that Ma Bell is planning to roll out support for wideband audio later this year.

“HD Voice is part of our voice over LTE strategy,” Rinne explained.

Of course, this is welcome news for AT&T subscribers who have long complained of subpar call quality measured against other US carriers like Sprint and Verizon.

Rinne also added that AT&T is taking other measures to improve call quality on its network.

Rinne, who oversees network technologies for the carrier, said that the carrier will also begin work on so-called advanced LTE which does things to reduce interference and bond together traffic from various frequencies.

Sprint is reportedly interested in supporting HD Voice as well, though a timetable for such support wasn’t specified.

So, if you ever felt your iPhone 5′s call quality was just slightly short of stellar, this should help. Verizon users, on the other hand, will have to wait until 2014 for HD Voice support.

Bring your iPhone over to the right carrier and nifty things can happen.

Per TmoNews, T-Mobile customers that brought their iPhones over to the carrier will see feature enhancements and perhaps even a data speed boost when the carrier rolls out an update on Friday.

The web site carried an image of a leaked screenshot showing a carrier update set for April 5. The update will bring features like Visual Voicemail, and MMS Settings, as well as “Network/Device optimizations that customers do not have access to today.”

While unconfirmed, it is possible that these “optimizations” will give current iPhone owners on T-Mobile access to the network’s LTE network. Currently, data speeds for iPhones on T-Mobile’s network top out at 2G EDGE levels. The iPhone 5, when it reaches T-Mobile, will be able to take advantage of the carrier’s new high-speed network.

Apple’s iPhone 5 will make its official debut on T-Mobile on April 12, for US$99 on the carrier’s new UNCarrier payment plans. The OTA update for current T-Mobile iPhone users will go out to devices running iOS 6.1.x or higher beginning April 5.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

And just a few years ago, they were at version 3.0…

On Tuesday, Mozilla.org released version 20.0 of its Firefox web browser. The new version, a 38.3 megabyte download and adds the following fixes and changes:

New:
- Security fixes.

- Per-window Private Browsing.

- New download experience.

- Ability to close hanging plug-ins, without the browser hanging.

- Continued performance improvements around common browser tasks (page loads, downloads, shutdown, etc.).

- Continued implementation of draft ECMAScript 6 – clear() and Math.imul.

- New JavaScript Profiler tool.

- getUserMedia implemented for web access to the user’s camera and microphone (with user permission).

Various:
- Details button on Crash Reporter.

- Unity plugin doesn’t display in HiDPI mode.

Known Issues:
- If you try to start Firefox using a locked profile, it will crash.

- Some function keys may not work when pressed.

- Browsing and Download history clearing needs unification to avoid confusion on clearing download history.

- Download statusbar add-on continues downloading files from Normal.

- Browsing, when switching to Private Browsing.

- Copy actions are broken on HTML5 videos.

Firefox 20.0 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.6 or later to install and run.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

To everything, there’s a parody.

The first trailer for the “iSteve” parody has gone online, the movie will be released in theaters on April 15th and you guys can decide what you make of Justin Long as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs:

That OS X 10.8.4 goodness you’re looking for…it just entered its first beta.

Per AppleInsider, Apple on Monday began seeding the OS X 10.8.4 beta to developers, though not much is known about the new maintenance update as little information was offered in the release notes.

According to sources familiar with the release notes, build number 12E27 doesn’t show any changes in the areas on which developers should focus, suggesting the software contains bug fixes and small enhancements at this time.

Like the final OS X 10.8.3 betas, the first 10.8.4 seed asks testers to look at Wi-Fi, Graphics Drivers and Safari, while the seed comes with no known issues.

Interestingly, Apple said it is not offering the build as a software update through the Mac App Store, as it did with the 10.8.3 builds. This may change with future seeds, but the company didn’t elaborate further.

The new seed come a over two weeks after Apple released OS X 10.8.3 to the public with Safari 6.0.3 and enhanced iTunes integration. Along with the new feature set, 10.8.3 brought bug fixes and wider support for Windows 8 in Boot Camp.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

It’s about that time again.

Per The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Apple updated its investor relations page on Monday to reveal that the company will post its earnings results for Q2 2013 on Tuesday, April 23. Per usual, an earnings conference call will follow at 5 p.m ET. Typically, this is where CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer go over Apple’s earnings in further detail and answer an assortment of questions from analysts.

Naturally, all eyes will be on Apple and its perceived ability to maintain the tremendous growth it has enjoyed over the past few years.

Stay tuned for full coverage of the event throughout the day.