Weekly News Roundup – 15 February 2013

Once again the week is coming to an end and that means it’s time for a roundup of the past weeks news!

Apple releases updates to MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, lowers starting price – Apple is updating specs and dropping prices on select MacBook Pro andMacBook Air models. According to a company press release, the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro will now start at US$1,499 for the base model with 128 GB of flash storage, down from the original $1,699 price tag. The premier 13-inch Retina model will get a processor boost to 2.6 GHZ and a similar price drop from $1,999 to $1,699.

Former Apple retail chief John Browett now CEO of UK chain – After being ousted from Apple in October, former Vice President of Retail John Browett has taken a new job as chief executive at UK-based women’s fashion chain Monsoon Accessorize.

Hack brings all iPhone notifications to Pebble watch – Pebble watch owners have a good reason to jailbreak their iOS device. A new jailbreak app from developer Conrad Kramer lets the smartwatch accept all incoming notifications, not just the ones from native iOS apps, like messages and phone calls.

LinkedIn CEO gives Apple iPad minis to 3,500 employees – Jeff Weiner, chief executive at professional networking site LinkedIn, handed out an iPad mini to each of his 3,500 employees on Wednesday in recognition of their contributions to the company.

President Obama Mentions Apple Building Macs in America During State of the Union Address – President Barack Obama tonight mentioned Apple during his State of the Union speech to Congress, mentioning the fact that Apple will again be building Macs in the United States in 2013. CEO Tim Cook disclosed that plan back in December.

With Its Latest Update, Bump’s Mobile App Replaces USB Flash Drives – With the new release, users will be able to share any file from their phone to computer, and vice versa.

Staples executives confirm company will soon sell Apple products in the U.S. – Today, we have learned, Staples has announced to corporate employees that it has finalized a deal with Apple to sell Apple products in the United States.

Apple lands $159M government contract for iPhone, iPad – The New Zealand Police announced today that it has sealed the deal for 6,000 police officers to get an iPhone and 3,900 officers to also get an iPad.

Apple acknowledges iPhone Passcode security vulnerability and plans fix in future software update – Reached for comment, Apple said it is hard at work on a fix. “Apple takes user security very seriously” spokeswoman Trudy Muller told AllThingsD. “We are aware of this issue, and will deliver a fix in a future software update.” Apple confirmed in a support document this morning that it is working to deliver a fix to the “continuous loop” Exchange server bug on iOS 6.1 devices, as well.

Apple Aims to Prevent Blurry or Underexposed iPhone Photos with Automatic Image Buffering and Comparison – A newly-published patent application from Apple discovered by AppleInsider describes methods that would allow an iPhone to buffer a series of photos before the user presses the shutter button for the device’s camera and then automatically select the best one.