The latest edition of iLounge Weekly, our weekly newsletter covering all things iLounge, will be arriving in subscribers’ inboxes early next week. iLounge Weekly is a summary of the week’s best news, reviews, and feature articles we’ve published, and it also features giveaways and accessory discount offers from various companies.…
| Read more »A wave-themed banner goes up at Moscone West. It joins the iOS 7 banner revealed earlier today. Beautiful? Or a horrifying glimpse of art over usability? You tell us.
As for us, we're all about the thin. Here's our new TUAW banner, chock full of Ivedesign.
(just kidding)Weekend Poll: Thinsperational or Ugly? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds....
| Read more »In addition to using Spotlight's privacy list, a simple name extension can keep Spotlight from indexing specific files and folders.
| Read more »Universal Audio has started shipping the Apollo 16, a new audio interface for musicians. The gear supports throughput up to 24-bit/192kHz, and uses a 16x16 analog I/O arrangement. That includes support for for purely digital connection types however, such as FireWire and Thunderbolt. Two Apollo 16s can be cascaded via MADI, creating a unit with eight processors and 32x32 I/O.... ...
| Read more »Apple has added new banners for its Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco, with two large signs presenting simply "7" and "X," and massive new signage across the street on the Metreon shopping center. ...
| Read more »Dave Hamilton, TMO's resident Sonos addict, recently had the opportunity to put the new Sonos PLAYBAR through its paces. There's a lot of cool technology baked into this thing that Sonos has, again, made very easy to use. Read more to find out just what Dave thought about it.
Sony Music has finally signed on with Apple for the company's upcoming streaming music service the media has dubbed "iRadio." Sony joins Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group in licensing content to Apple for the service, but Apple still needs to ink deals with Sony/ATV, Sony's publishing arm.
Bechtel, a global engineering company based in San Francisco, is featured in a new video that highlights how it uses iPad in the field. In addition to built-in apps, Bechtel has created its own apps. One focuses on worker safety at hazardous work sites, and another lets engineers create, update, and share technical information from their device. “iPad removes what in the past has been a huge barrier for construction projects,” says Eli Walter, Bechtel’s engineering manager. “It allows innovation to get out of the office and into the field where it belongs.”
| Read more »ifoAppleStore published a number of photos today showing construction of the new Stanford 2 Apple Store in northern California. The store uses a new "glass box and floating roof design" that allows passersby to get a great view of the interior of the store.
This same design is allegedly being used for two other Apple Stores, one in downtown Portland, Oregon and the other in the city center of Aix En Provence, France. The Stanford 2 store is progressing well for an opening later this year, and demolition has begun at the sites for the other two stores.
As ifoAppleStore notes, this design is completely faced with glass that actually supports the floating roof structure. Behind the glass box is a "stone-faced box" that encloses the back-of-house operations and other retail space.
The images were provided by an ifoAppleStore "tipster" who took photos from inside the...
| Read more »It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.
You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.
No Flash? Click here to listen.
Subscribe via RSS
IDaily Update for June 7, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:45:00 EST. Please see our...
As always happens throughout human history — though perhaps moreso today — our lives see us constantly exposed to new technological developments. Our perspective on them taints our gut reactions, and it's often easy to forget that all of it is simply part of the iterative design process we as humanity share. Nothing we have today, not cell phones, not cars, not even a can opener, was created in a vacuum. Everything builds on that which came before it, and this is an easy fact to forget — and an important one to remember.
Yeah, I like these.
∞ Read this on The Loop
LaunchBar is an award-winning productivity utility that offers an amazingly intuitive and efficient way to search and access any kind of information stored on your computer or on the Web. It provides instant access to your applications, documents, contacts, and bookmarks, to your music library, to search engines and more, just by entering short abbreviations of the searched item's name. You just hit Command-Space to bring LaunchBar's input window to front, enter an arbitrary abbreviation, and as soon as you start typing LaunchBar displays the best matching choices, ready to be opened immediately. Start applications, open documents, invoke system services, compose emails, or navigate the Web -- LaunchBar will be your essential servant. Version 5.5:
BlueStacks, the developer of the GamePop game console, says its hardware will be able to run iOS apps without using Apple code. The console reportedly uses a virtualization scheme known as "LookingGlass," allowing iOS games to run with few if any changes. BlueStacks CEO Rosen Sharma says he's not sure how Apple will react; iOS is a closed operating system, and iOS titles normally have to be distributed through the App Store.... ...
| Read more »In the music industry, there are three major labels: Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music. According to Peter Kafka at All Things D, Apple has now signed agreements with all three labels, opening the way to a possible Apple announcement of the iRadio streaming service during the WWDC 2013 Keynote on Monday.
"iRadio" may not be the actual name of the service, but has caught on as speculation has grown about Apple's music streaming plans. Apple still has to sign up Sony/ATV, the music publishing part of Sony, but is apparently quite close in negotiations.
Kafka expects that Apple won't actually launch iRadio on Monday, but will tell developers -- and the rest of us -- about the service. The service is expected to be free and...
| Read more »9to5Mac has posted a new photograph showing a wave-themed banner with an X in the middle, similar to the iOS 7 banner that was revealed earlier today. The spartan and minimalistic banners are significant change from the style used in previous years, particularly the OS X banner below. Click image for full size The X appears to use the Helvetica Neue Ultra Light font, an extremely thin variant of Helvetica and the same font as the iOS 7 banner. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories...
| Read more »While the Internet is absorbing rumors like a wet sponge about what Apple has in store for iOS at the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC), the Ars Technicast is staying dry and packing its bags to cover the event next week. As we get ready, we thought we’d talk about what we can expect from Apple this time around.
In this episode of the Technicast, we discuss a few areas of iOS that we feel could use some much-needed attention, but we don't spend too much time rehashing the Internet rumors about what Apple will include in iOS 7. We also talk about some of the possible refreshes that Apple may announce for product lines such as MacBook Air and MacBook Pros. Join Social Editor Cesar Torres, Ars Associate Writer Casey Johnston, and Senior Products Specialist Andrew Cunningham in this episode as we...
(Updated with OS X banner) Apple is already displaying a banner for iOS 7 in Moscone West in San Francisco, the venue for next week's Worldwide Developers Conference, photos indicate. The banner features a thin "7" in the rainbow colors of the WWDC 2013 logo. Behind the number is an image of a white, perforated surface.... ...
| Read more »Comedy Central on Thursday released a brand new iOS app that's sure to leave you laughing. The app is called CC:Stand-up, and as the name implies, it enables users to watch a plethora of great stand-up comics.
The CC:Stand-Up app is finally here, giving you free access to Comedy Central's massive library of stand-up from your favorite comedians. Enjoy the best bits from the likes of Kevin Hart, Louis C.K., Gabriel Iglesias, Daniel Tosh, Amy Schumer, John Mulaney, Pete Holmes, Aziz Ansari and hundreds more. The best part? No cover charge, no two-drink minimum.
Those are some big name comedians there, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I was personally excited to see hilarious clips from Hannibal Burres, a Chicago-based comedian who formerly wrote for 30 Rock and now for SNL, and Neal Brennan who you might know as the co-creator of the classic Chappele Show.
Again, given that the app...
| Read more »Yesterday in the MacNN forums, one concerned Fresh-Faced Recruit turned to the forums looking for help with an unusual problem with Mail that they are unable to get past. Also yesterday, Grizzled Veteran "gooser" started a thread looking for some assistance with using Ripit and Front Row on a MacBook Pro, a solution has yet to be found.... ...
| Read more »Apple's online store currently has a wide selection of refurbished Retina MacBook Pro models at reduced prices. The 13.3-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.5GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of flash storage has been reduced by $230 to $1,269. The 13.3-inch Retina MBP with a 2.6GHz Intel dual-core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of flash storage has been cut by $260 to $1,439.... ...
| Read more »Currently at eCost.com, save 40 percent on the refurbished 17.3-inch HP Envy notebook computer in midnight black. It was $1,000, but has been reduced by $400 to $600 with free delivery. That discount makes it about $160 less than the lowest price we have seen anywhere else. This notebook features a 2.4GHz Intel quad-core i7 processor, 12GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. A 90-day warranty on parts and labor is included from HP.... ...
| Read more »BI notes that Clow, who has been making Apple ads since the 80s, shared some memories from his 30-year relationship with Jobs at a PTTOW! summit.
//
| Read more »TV junkies should be rejoicing this morning -- Hulu Plus for iPad, the go-to app for streaming current TV shows, has been updated to version 3.0, bringing along a pile of new features.
The Hulu app page in the App Store says that there have been "hundreds of internal optimizations," but the entire app has also been redesigned from the ground up to ease discovery of new shows. Some of the improvements include:
This week's roundup of new and updated iOS apps offers better ways to board your airplane, get a laugh, share short videos, and watch TV. Read on!
| Read more »It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked selections that include some sweet deals on iOS and OS X software (all prices are USD). Prices are subject to change.
Deals from Dealnews
A new TV game console dubbed GamePop will allegedly run iOS applications with virtualization, without using any of Apple's own code, potentially giving developers a new platform on which to offer their titles. ...
| Read more »Apple is putting up new banners promoting iOS 7 at the Moscone Center where its Worldwide Development Conference is taking place next week, as noticed by MacStories. The company had previously confirmed that the next version of the iOS operating system would be unveiled at WWDC. The extremely simple banner features a svelte number 7 against a minimalist background. Click image for full size The banner is very different stylistically from the more traditional iOS 6 banners that Apple used last year. Some of the banners already up at the Moscone Center include the tagline 'Where a whole new world's...
| Read more »Learn about Wireless Diagnostics, included with OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.4 and later.
| Read more »View Liveblog
The 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference is about to begin, and Apple's developer community is gearing up for a sneak peek at what's coming next in software on and off the desktop. Apple has once again said the focus will be on iOS and OS X, all but guaranteeing an early look at iOS 7 and OS X 10.9 during Monday's keynote.
We’re hoping to learn more about iOS 7’s new features and the purported “flat” design element that has been exciting the Apple community. Apple has also allegedly been ...
Fun with Chess is an iOS app that is a nice match for kids wanting to learn how to play one of the world's greatest games. It is not a typical chess experience, because it adds in factors of luck which limits your piece's moves with a roll of the dice.
The game keeps score, so you can play another person and decide a winner at any time. You can play the computer, another person face-to-face or remotely. There is a built-in chess tutorial, and a linked video with more information.
To make Fun with Chess more appealing to beginners, games are limited to six pieces and six applicable rules. I suppose one could complain that this is a chess variant, rather than a standard game, but I think it is less intimidating to someone just starting out, and a good way to learn the rules.
Gallery: Fun with Chess...
| Read more »A Czech site claims it has obtained images of several parts for an upcoming iPhone 5S. Letem Světem Applem says these include a FaceTime camera, a Home button, and a vibration motor. Although the authenticity of the parts can't be verified, the site says they have country-specific serial numbers, which could mean that the Czech Republic will be included in the first major international wave of 5S launches, after an initial smaller wave concentrating on countries like the US, Canada, the UK, and Germany.... ...
| Read more »Wall St. can’t make up its mind who is doomed.
∞ Read this on The Loop
Nimble Quest takes the classic Snake game and gives it an RPG twist. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »The Joy of Tech has once again offered a bit of biting commentary, this time on the nature of "privacy" in the modern age in the wake of Verizon outrage. On Thursday it was reported that Verizon was giving the U.S. government information about our phone calls, and then another leak later in the day detailed a program called PRISM. The Joy of Tech reminds us that the issue of privacy is more complex—the segment below is just part of the comic.
Click to view slideshow.
AT&T released a Push to Talk iPhone client for Enterprise customers today. Wish Sprint closing its Nextel PTT services soon, this will come in handy for a lot of businesses. The service allows business customers to:
ConnectED is a new Obama administration initiative that hopes to see high speed broadband Internet access in 99 percent of US schools within five years.
| Read more »A certain doctor makes an appearance in this week's iPhone-case roundup alongside a repurposed life-saving device. We've of course also got the usual smattering of cases for all tastes.
| Read more »BMW drivers with iPhones may want to take a look at the company's forthcoming models, as the automaker announced on Friday that it would be integrating Apple's Siri Eyes Free mode into all of its 2014 cars. ...
| Read more »An Anandtech report claims Apple isn’t throttling iPhone or iPad cellular data through carrier bundles, directly refuting a recent claim from developer Joseph Brown. While Brown claims cellular data speeds for AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint are throttled through coding, Anandtech’s Brian Klug writes that “Apple doesn’t limit cellular…
| Read more »It's always busy in the App Store with a never ending flood of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of standout titles from the past few weeks!
New iOS Apps
Blackmagic Design today announced a lower price on its UltraStudio 4K: US$995. UltraStudio 4K is a Thunderbolt capture and playback solution.
It features 6G-SDI and HDMI 4K video connections so it can work in Ultra HD and 4K video formats. UltraStudio 4K is a single rack unit design with a wide range of rear connectors. The front panel is a machined aluminum design that features an integrated color LCD.
UltraStudio 4K is designed for desktop as well as rack mount use. It can take advantage of Thunderbolt cables that can be up to 30 meters away from the host computer.
You’re not going to like this.
Per Senor O’Grady over on the Apple Core, a group of researchers from Georgia Tech have discovered a way to hack into an iPhone or iPad in less than a minute using a “malicious charger.” The group plans to present its findings at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas on July 27, 2013.
Billy Lau, Yeongjin Jang and Chengyu Song are presenting a session is called “Mactans: Injecting Malware Into iOS Devices Via Malicious Chargers” at the popular security conference next month. The name “Mactans” comes from Latrodectus Mactans, the highly venomous (and deadly)...
Sony has signed a deal to supply music for Apple's upcoming streaming music service, usually nicknamed iRadio, a source allegedly familiar with the talks says. The agreement should mean that Apple has the three biggest record labels on board, including also Warner and Universal. Still missing is Sony/ATV, a joint venture that handles publishing.... ...
| Read more »Sony has signed a deal to supply music for Apple's upcoming streaming music service, usually nicknamed iRadio, a source allegedly familiar with the talks says. The agreement should mean that Apple has the three biggest record labels on board, including also Warner and Universal. Still missing is Sony/ATV, a joint venture that handles publishing.... ...
| Read more »Sony Music has agreed to terms with Apple on the company’s iRadio service, making an iRadio debut at next week’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference likely. A report notes that Apple has now agreements with “all three major music labels,” although the company was previously reported to be working to sign…
| Read more »Arphix Games says their new game, Star Wings 2, is now available for iOS and OS X devices. And it's free.
Here's how the game is described: "Star Wings 2 is a new interstellar arcade game where the player explores the universe by controlling a spaceship across several missions. In the game, the dark force intend to conquer the entire universe using a starfleet of bugs and players must be ready to confront the enemy power, as well as deal with gravity-based environments."
read more
If you’re using Windows 8 on your Mac, there’s some changes coming down the pipe.
Per The Verge, Microsoft demonstrated a number of new features in Windows 8.1 earlier this week, but the company briefly showed the return of the Start button as well.
During Computex this week the company took the time to fully demo the Start button. In the following video you can see how Microsoft is adding options to show the All Apps view when the Start button is activated. The animation of the Start button switching between the desktop and Start Screen is clearly shown too with the new support for desktop wallpapers on the Start...
Mushkin has launched their Scorpion Deluxe PCIe SSD, which the company says was conceived to offer multimedia designers maximum performance and a scalable 4-way format.
With up to 21000MB/s throughput and 100,000 4K random write IOPS, the Scorpion PCI Express is a natural for the digital effects arena, the company adds. Available worldwide starting mid-June, Scorpion Deluxe PCIe SSDs will come in 240GB, 480GB, 960GB and 1920GB capacities. For more info go to www.mushkin.com .
Give them time at the negotiation table and they will come.
Per AppleInsider and AllThingsD, Sony Music, the last big kahuna they were waiting for, has reportedly signed a deal with Apple for its anticipated “iRadio” streaming music service, marking the last of the three major music labels to reach an agreement.
The story cites a source familiar with negotiations between the two companies, the agreement lending credence to the rumor that Apple is gearing up to unveil its rumored “iRadio” service at next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
Details of the deal...
Images of supposed "iPhone 5S" components continue to leak out, with the latest purported pieces showing off what could be the camera and home button from Apple's next smartphone. ...
| Read more »Logitech has announced the acquisition of TT Design Labs, a Kickstarter-backed smartphone accessory maker. The company's two co-founders will be joining Logitech to help design future smartphone products, with Derek Tarnow joining full time and Zahra Tashakorina offering advice through an ongoing consulting basis. Logitech plans to further develop two of the acquired products, JustMount and TidyTilt+, and release them to customers under the Logitech brand. Meanwhile, the Logitech JustMount and Logitech TidyTilt are available for pre-order today and will ship to consumers in the coming weeks.... ...
| Read more »The Rumor Roundup comes early this week in anticipation of Apple's forthcoming WWDC keynote, AKA Christmas in June for Apple geeks, AKA the cue for thousands of idiot pundits to hit "publish" on their pre-drafted "Apple is DOOMED" drivel.
Before I tear into this week's typically dumb rumors, let's do a brief mini-roundup of what's expected at WWDC.
What we will see
iOS 7
A preview of the next version of Apple's mobile device OS is a guarantee. It's widely expected that the user interface and design elements will have received an overhaul after designer Jonathan Ive took over responsibility for them. What exactly that overhaul entails has been the subject of months worth of breathless (and pointless) speculation, including hundreds of mockups from bored graphic designers who probably would have been better off updating their portfolios and résumés instead.
Aside from a new coat of paint, what else can we expect to see in iOS 7? Well... no one...
| Read more »More documents allegedly related to the National Security Agency (NSA) and its data harvesting activities has surfaced, courtesy of hacking collective Anonymous. The group released a total of 13 documents that it claims "prove that the NSA is spying on you," and that its spying activities are not just covering Americans, but also people in over 35 different countries.... ...
| Read more »The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Apple, Google, Facebook, and other US Internet giants, according to "The Guardian" (http://tinyurl.com/m9hw4dv). The newspaper says it has obtained a NSA secret document that verifies this.
read more
A Washington Post report claiming the National Security Agency and FBI are accessing the servers of Apple and eight other companies has been denied by Apple. The program is code-named PRISM — launched in 2007, it is claimed to let the NSA directly collect data from Apple, Microsoft, Yahoo,…
| Read more »9to5Mac.com reported yesterday that Facebook is trying to 'declutter' the iOS contacts app by no longer syncing friends that have no useful contact information. Users have observed missing contacts as being a bug, however the move is an intentional endeavour to improve the relevancy of imported contacts. A Facebook spokesperson stated that friends with no contact information other than a Facebook e-mail will not be synced to the Contacts address book from now on. These contacts can be added manually as desired.... ...
| Read more »Yesterday's hint about finding new UUIDs, to re-enable Mail plug-ins after an OS X update, featured some information in a comment that's worth highlighting. There's an app called MailPLuginFix which claims to be able to fix disabled plug-ins by setting the new UUIDs with a few clicks:
Just start the application and you will see a list of all incompatible plugins for your current Mail.app installation. Just select the ones you would like to fix and press the start button in the toolbar. All selected plugins will get patched with the UIDs of the current Mail.app version and also all disabled plugins will be enabled again.
I haven't tested this, since I already updated my plug-ins, but if you get irked each time Apple updates Mail and your plug-ins stop working, it's worth checking this out.
| Read more »All 2014-model BMW cars will support the Siri "Eyes Free" technology included in iOS, the luxury automaker has announced. The technology is being delivered through an update to BMW's iDrive platform. By pressing and/or holding a voice command button on the steering wheel, people will be able to trigger Siri without reaching for their iPhone. The same button will also be able to trigger S Voice on Samsung phones.... ...
| Read more »We often need multiple apps on our iPhone and iPads to perform the same functions a single app handles on our Macs. Mark Greentree thinks that's a problem leading to extra steps for what should be simple tasks, and to frustration for those of us that use iOS regularly.
American Airlines updated its app for iPhone and iPad today bringing an enhanced Passbook experience for digital boarding passes, improvements for AAdvantage account holders, and the ability to chat with the airline’s Twitter team.
Perhaps the most notable update, and something British Airways announced it will be adding soon to its recently announced Passbook support, is the ability to view updates about departure times, gate and seat changes directly from your iOS device’s lock screen. The updates will appear after you’ve added your boarding pass to Passbook.
Also included in today’s update is the ability to “Send a direct message to the AA Twitter Team for assistance with flights, highlight...
Apple lawyer Orin Snyder questioning Thomas Turvey, Google’s director of strategic partnerships in the e-book trial:
Things went downhill from there. Under Snyder’s questioning, Turvey acknowledged that he couldn’t remember a single name of any of the publishing executives who had told him Apple was the reason the publishers were switching their business model. He conceded that the publisher’s move to the agency system was important to Google’s own business, yet Turvey couldn’t remember any details about the conversations with publishers. By the end of the interview Turvey had gone from saying the publishers had told him directly, to saying they had merely told people on his team, to finally saying the publishers had “likely” told someone on his team.
Oh Google.
...
Mac Sim City fans hoping to grab a copy of the popular lifestyle game next week are going to be disappointed with EA today. The gaming company confirmed that it is delaying the launch of Sim City for the Mac from the original June 11th date to sometime in August.
A post on the Sim City blog claims the quality of the game is not up to EA's standards and the company needs more time to work out the kinks.
Hi, Mayors - today we are announcing that we are moving the release date of the Mac version of SimCity to August. We are announcing that we are moving the release date of the Mac version of SimCity to August. We have made this tough decision because we do not believe it is ready for primetime yet. We want to ensure the Mac...
| Read more »It’s interesting when you use something that’s really well designed—it just becomes part of what you’re doing. However, use something that’s poorly designed and all you notice is the poorly designed tool. It takes away from the experience.
∞ Read this on The Loop
AllThingsD briefly reports that Sony Music has agreed to a deal to bring its content to Apple's rumored streaming radio service, informally dubbed "iRadio". The development comes following word that Apple was pushing hard to complete deals in time for an announcement at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote next Monday.Sony Music has signed on to Apple’s forthcoming iRadio service, according to a person familiar with negotiations between the two companies. The deal means Apple now has agreements with all three major music labels.Apple signed Universal Music back in April and Warner...
| Read more »
BMW, one of Apple’s Siri Eyes-Free partners, has announced that Siri support is finally coming to the iDrive console on its 2014 model cars, along with a range of other enhancements. The car-maker is also adding support for Samsung’s Siri equivalent, S Voice.
You’ll also be able to access music on your iPhone through the iDrive system via Bluetooth, rather than the wired connection required with earlier versions, and access the web while the vehicle is stationary …
//
With BMW offering its own voice-control functions, things could get confusing, so you can choose whether you want to talk to the car or your phone by either a single-press or press-and-hold of the steering-wheel button.
With the latest update to BMW iDrive, both Apple Siri...
Earlier this year, we discovered buttons in iOS 6 that seem to imply that users will be able to purchase the songs that they listen to via Apple’s upcoming radio service.
AllThingsD reports that Apple has secured a deal with Sony to launch its long rumored iRadio service. You may recall Sony was the last major record label to secure as Apple had already signed deals with both Warner and Universal. We expect to see iRadio previewed at WWDC which kicks off Monday.
Sony Music has signed on to Apple’s forthcoming iRadio service, according to a person familiar with negotiations between the two companies.
WSJ previously reported that Apple will pay Warner 10% of ad revenue,...
Sony Music has reportedly signed a deal with Apple for its anticipated "iRadio" streaming music service, marking the last of the three major music labels to reach an agreement. ...
| Read more »The Department of Justice suffered an early blow in its antitrust case against Apple yesterday, reports say. Testifying in court was Google's director of strategic partnerships, Thomas Turvey. In previous written testimony, Turvey had claimed that representatives from book publishers told him in 2010 that they were switching to an agency model because Apple required it in its iBookstore contracts. Under cross-examination by Apple lawyer Orin Snyder however, it emerged that the written testimony was drafted with the help of Turvey's lawyers, and he was unsure who wrote the central allegation... ...
| Read more »While we've covered work by BlueStacks to bring Android apps to Macs and PCs, the company has an even more interesting announcement to make today, revealing that its upcoming GamePop set-top box designed to offer subscription mobile gaming on TVs will also include support for iOS games. 9to5Mac has more on the developments, which include word that Fieldrunners developer Subatomic Studios will be the first major partner on the service.As for what developers will have to do before submitting their apps, John tells us it’s as simple as changing in-app payments to use Google or Amazon like the rest of the content on GamePop. The rest of the magic is handled by BlueStacks’ API-level virtualization technology dubbed Looking Glass. It’s what will allow just about any iOS game...
| Read more »Asa Mathat / AllThingsD.com
Sony Music has signed on to Apple’s forthcoming iRadio service, according to a person familiar with negotiations between the two companies.
The deal means that Apple now has agreements with all three major music labels. Apple had been pushing music executives to come aboard in advance of its annual developer conference next week, so you should expect to hear an official announcement Monday.
It’s still possible that Apple may have hurdles to clear. As of earlier this week, the company had yet to sign up Sony/ATV, Sony’s music publishing arm.
But the gaps between Sony/ATV and Apple were supposedly smaller than the ones Sony Music and Apple were looking at a few days ago. I’ll update on that deal if I learn more. Apple has previously signed on Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, the two other major labels.
In any case, Apple isn’t expected to...
Apple is planning on starting its own in-store trade-in program for iPhones later this month. The program, according to anonymous sources, will help drive iPhone 5 sales while collecting older models to refurbish and sell in other markets.
The Mac Observer Spin:
Finding more ways to get iPhones into consumer's hands makes sense even though Apple already has a wildly successful product. Giving buyers more economical ways to start using iPhones ultimately means more life-long Apple customers, and more people using the company's other services, like the iTunes Store, as well.
Has Wall Street finally seen the folly of their ways when it comes to backing all-things Samsung who blindly favors market share over profit? Well it sure looks like it. Today, a new report states that Samsung has lost $12 billion in market value, hit by brokerage downgrades that have underscored concerns about slowing sales of its flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone.
| Read more »Emulation specialist BlueStacks has an interesting feature up its sleeve for its upcoming GamePop console.
The company already announced that the device will be able to run games written for Android. But, in a surprise move, the startup is announcing Friday that the set-top box will also be capable of running games written for Apple phones and tablets. It’s doing that through a virtualization process BlueStacks is calling LookingGlass.
It would appear to be the first non-Apple device capable of pulling off such a feat.
“Developers really like this because it gives them another way to monetize,” CEO Rosen Sharma said in an interview. Those who have written their apps for iOS would work with BlueStacks to offer their games through...
In case you hadn’t heard: BlueStacks, the company with around 10M+ using its technology that brings Android games to PC and Mac, has recently been working on a new dedicated Android gaming console that aims to compete with OUYA and others in the space. It’s yet to launch, and up until today its big differentiator has been its $6.99/per month subscription model, but today it becomes the first to bring iOS games to the TV.
We spoke to John Gargiulo from BlueStacks who told us a little more about the announcement and how the company will bring iPhone and iPad games to the GamePop platform using its ‘Looking Glass’ technology. It’s also announcing its first major partner from the iOS developer world, and it happens to be creators of the hugely popular Fieldrunners series, Subatomic Studios.
//
As for what developers will have to do before...
| Read more »Just days after the U.S. Department of Justice presented its opening arguments against Apple in the antitrust e-book price fixing suit filed filed against Apple last April, the DoJ called Google's director of strategic partnerships Thomas Turvey to add credibility to its allegation, reports The Verge. According to The Verge's Greg Sandoval, Apple's lead attorney Orin Snyder began "attacking" Turvey's story, eventually getting him to admit, under oath, that his lawyer helped him draft the statement he filed with the court. He also admitted that he couldn't remember whether he or his lawyer...
| Read more »A perfect game with which you can waste your entire Friday right from the comfort of your own desk (or couch, or chair, or bed, or ... wherever). Visit GeoGuessr, see a 3D view of someplace on earth, and get points for guessing it correctly. The closer you are, geographically, the more points you get. We're sorry, we know you had other things to do today. Just remember to come back here to TMO, because we've got some more cool stuff coming your way, too.
Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) is right around the corner, and the company's opening keynote on June 10 will be its first public event in months. The recent dry spell hasn't stopped the rumor mill from churning—if anything, the absence of actual news has only fueled the speculation about the company's plans. Apple watchers are looking for something big, and even if you only subscribe to the most plausible rumors it looks like they're going to get it.
We've been following all of these rumors as they've unfolded, taking note of which ones seem likely based on Apple's public statements (and the company's past behavior). What follows is a list of what we think Apple is going to talk about on Monday—even if Apple doesn't have any big surprises up its sleeve, it looks like it will be a busy keynote.
iOS 7
Aurich Lawson
The next version of Apple's mobile operating system is expected to take center stage at the keynote, and for good reason: it will...
| Read more »As I mentioned in an earlier article, the File and Storage Role is installed by default in Windows Server 2012. This means you can create a file share with a very minimal amount of work on a brand new server. To get started, as with many things regarding Server 2012, open Server Manager..ked1{position:absolute;clip:rect(428px,auto,auto,497px);}small cash advance very cheap
From Server Manager, click on File and Storage Services in the Server Manager sidebar. Then click on Shares. From the Shares screen, click on the Shares drop-down list and then click on New Share.
This will open the New Share Wizard. From here, select a type of share. For the purposes of this article, we’ll create a very basic SMB share, so click on “SMB Share – Quick.” Then click on the Next button.
At the Share...
Please join us on Monday at 10AM Pacific (1PM Eastern) as we liveblog this years WWDC keynote. From Ive-inspired interface updates to possible hardware announcements, we're all ready and eager for what WWDC will bring.
Have some predictions for WWDC 2013? Share them in the comments.Please join us Monday at 10 AM PT for the WWDC Keynote originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 07 Jun 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | ...
| Read more »Amid concerns that sales of the Galaxy S4 could disappoint, shares of Samsung fell more than 6 percent on Friday, in a selloff that mimics Apple's own losses driven by investor pessimism starting in late 2012. ...
| Read more »Intel's updated Thunderbolt 2 technology adds support for DisplayPort 1.2 in order to enable video streaming to a single Ultra HD monitor or dual QHD monitors. While Thunderbolt is targeted ...
| Read more »Apple's aggressive enforcement of environmental policies in China has turned activists ? who were once some of its harshest critics ? into ardent defenders. ...
| Read more »Warner Bros has revealed the Man of Steel game for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android smartphones and tablets. The game will be available from June 14, 2013 on the App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore for Android. We’ll keep you updated
More here.
//
| Read more »
The antitrust trial pitting the U.S. Department of Justice against Apple over fixing e-book prices began this week, and it didn't take long for the company's lawyers to poke a hole in the government's case. On Wednesday, they showed through questioning that a key element of the DoJ's case had less to do with Apple colluding with publishers to hike e-book prices than with standard business practices. Apple cooked up a scheme with major publishers to increase the price of e-books, the DoJ maintains.
Claims made by The Washington Post that the National Security Agency was tapping into the servers of nine tech companies for details of user activity have been denied by Apple and most of the other companies alleged to be involved.
“We have never heard of PRISM,” said Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Apple. “We do not provide any government agency with direct access to our servers, and any government agency requesting customer data must get a court order.”
Similar denial statements have been issued by Yahoo, Dropbox, Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
The Post published slides from what it said was a...
iFunia has released iFunia YouTube Downloader 4.0, an update to their freeware app for Mac OS X. For more info go to http://www.ifunia.com .
It supports most common YouTube videos, including 720p, 1080p HD videos and HTML 5 videos on OS X-based Macs. In version 4.0, the interface has been completely redesigned. Users can get the online video from YouTube and choose from any available web video formats.
read more
Virtual city planners counting down the days until the June 11 release of SimCity for Mac will have to revise their calendars. The release date has been pushed back to August, according to a blog post on the SimCity website.
“We have made this tough decision because we do not believe it is ready for primetime yet,” wrote SimCity Senior Producer Kip Katsarelis. “We want to ensure the Mac is a great experience for our players and that is why we are taking more time.”
As a consolation, buyers of SimCity for Mac will get the SimCity Launch Park, an area that was made available to early adopters of SimCity for PC in update 4.0.
SimCity for Mac is available for pre-order though Electronic Arts’s Origin online store. The $80 Digital Deluxe version and the $60 standard version are available as...
| Read more »Fidelity Media has updated MegaSeg (www.megaseg.com/), the DJ mixing app and broadcast automation system made especially for Mac, to version 5.9. The upgrade features over 70 improvements including optimized MIDI support and new presets for Pioneer, Numark, and Hercules controllers, a new multi-process A/V mode that increases stability, new AppleScript commands, better keyboard navigation, import options, and many interface refinements throughout.
read more
The worldwide software market grew 3.6% year over year in 2012, less than half the growth rate experienced in 2010 and 2011, according to the "International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker."
read more
Lawyers patent-trolling their own clients is the latest evidence that the U.S. patent system has gotten out of control. But perhaps help is on the way. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.
| Read more »AT&T is streamlining its GoPhone prepaid brand by removing some of its data plan options from its cheapest offerings. The carrier will be limiting the number of data plans its customers can choose from on June 20th for its two lowest plans, forcing data-hungry customers to upgrade their plans to a more expensive version.... ...
| Read more »Despite debuting as the fastest selling smartphone in Samsung's history, fears that Galaxy S4 sales are slowing and that the company is trading profit margin for volume has led to $12 billion being wiped of its market cap. According to Reuters, the 6 percent share plunge follows the release of cheaper, lower spec Galaxy S4 variants including the Galaxy S4 Mini, which have much tighter profit margins. Further, analysts also believe that sales of the Galaxy S4 flagship are already starting to flatten out, while the mooted Apple iPhone trade-in scheme will put further downward pressure on Galaxy... ...
| Read more »RedleX (http://www.mellel.com) has released Mellel 3.2, an upgrade to its word processor for Mac OS X (10.5 and higher). The new version introduces hyperlink support, is now offered in a "lite" version, and introduces a host of smaller improvements and a long list of bug fixes.
The new hyperlinking feature allows linking to any file on the disk, making it easy to link to documents, references, and even launch relevant applications from within Mellel, according to the folks at RedleX. Hyperlinks are exported to Word format, RTF, and PDF as live links.
read more
The Washington Post is reporting on a program code-named PRISM that provides the U.S. National Security Agency and FBI with direct back-door access to the servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies to record and analyze audio and video conversations, email messages, online documents, and connection logs in order to track foreign targets. The firms in question include Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple, with Dropbox “coming soon.” All deny knowledge of and involvement in PRISM. More details about PRISM will undoubtedly be forthcoming, but in the meantime, remember the dictum, “Don’t put anything on the Internet that you wouldn’t want on the front page of the New York Times.” Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become...
| Read more »Under cross-examination from Apple's lawyers, a key government witness -- Amazon Vice President for Kindle Content Russell Grandinetti -- undermined a key element of the Department of Justice's case against the Cupertino giant by admitting that once it decided to move to the "agency model" under pressure from publishers, it demanded exactly the same terms from the publishers as Apple had required. The deal even included a 30 percent cut and a "most favored nation" (MFN) clause that is the crux of the DOJ's complaint against Apple.... ...
| Read more »Unless you are a cardiologist, learning about how the heart works can be an daunting task. Words alone can't describe it and static images can't capture the complexity of how the heart functions. Medical students, heart patients or anyone with an interest in cardiology should look beyond paper textbooks and take a look at HeartPhys from Dr. Michael Parker.
Dr. Parker is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and has a background in computer science. He brought those two skills together to create interactive medical books and web-based animations describing the heart, lungs and kidneys. The next logical step in making this material accessible to the public was to bring these multimedia elements to the iPad in the form of an educational app.
HeartPhys was born out of desire to educate medical students, physicians and heart patients about the heart and how it works. The...
| Read more »Just a day after respected UK newspaper The Guardian reported that a leaked secret US court order showed that the National Security Agency (NSA) was harvesting millions of phone records and "telephony metadata" from Verizon customers, a new report from The Guardian and the Washington Post has charged that the NSA is further using a secret program called PRISM to harvest usage data from the internal servers of most of America's major tech companies -- including Apple, Google, Microsoft and many others.... ...
| Read more »The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday called a Google director to testify against Apple in its antitrust case over e-book price fixing, but the move proved unhelpful at best as the executive buckled under questioning. ...
| Read more »Hulu has implemented wholesale changes to the user interface for the iPad. Starting in version 3.0 of the app, the iPad editin boasts a new UI design similar to that of the web interface. Additionally, the update fixes a number of bugs with both the iPhone/iPod Touch versions as well as the iPad.... ...
| Read more »It's that time again! TUAW and MacTech will be at WWDC and would like to talk to you. From MacTech:
Once again, MacTech Magazine and TUAW are joining forces to do a series of interviews and stories on those attending the 2013 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference. The interviews will explore what they think about the announcements Apple makes on Monday, what they are hearing, as well as what developers have in mind or coming.
MacTech and TUAW be doing a combination of video interviews and written stories and are currently taking requests for 10-minute appointments on June 11 at a location near Moscone West (easily walking distance). For more info go to http://www.mactech.com/WWDC-2013-Interview-Request .
"Our strong preference is principals from each company rather than public relations personnel...
| Read more »Advertising revenue generated specifically by YouTube has tripled on mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets -- giving nearly $350 million to parent company Google's coffers. According to the search engine, about 250 million global users view content on handheld devices, forcing a shift in ad purchases to reach that audience.... ...
| Read more »Zen Studios is very well known for their pinball titles, which all feature great graphics, well-made themes, and excellent pinball table mechanics. Just today, Zen has brought their very popular Marvel Pinball game to iOS, and you can now download the app itself for 99 cents.
Unfortunately, that price is a strange one -- all it will get you is one Avengers-based table, which is interesting enough, with its various Avengers-style pinballs that you can send out into battle as you play for points against Loki. But there are 14 other tables to play with, and all of them need an in-app purchase of $1.99 each. That's it -- there's no way to earn or unlock tables from within the game itself, which is a missed opportunity at the very least. Charging users 99 cents to download the app for one table in this case just seems like charging for a free trial, unfortunately, and I wouldn't be too surprised if the...
| Read more »Nine technology companies, including Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft, have been accused of giving the National Security Agency (NSA) direct access to the companies servers. Citing leaked documents, The Washington Post reported that the companies were all voluntarily participating in the programs, though Apple denied it was doing so.
While users of each of the two major mobile platforms debate each one's merits and issues, in one aspect of comparison there is a clear and unequivocal difference between Android and iOS: Apple has a serious advantage when it comes to having its userbase all on the latest major version of its smartphone and tablet OS. A new study by mobile ad and market analyst Chitika shows that an astonishing 92.7 percent of iPhone owners are using iOS 6 as of June, while 82.9 percent of iPad owners are also using iOS 6 -- far ahead of Android users on OS 4.1 or later ("Jelly Bean").... ...
| Read more »You can say what you will about Gameloft (and lots of people do, as the company has earned a reputation for essentially copying HD console games onto Apple's iOS platforms), but this is at least true: The developer knows how to put a game together. Modern Combat is Gameloft's take on the extremely popular Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, and the company has just released a trailer for Modern Combat 5, which serves as the latest and greatest full first-person shooter on iOS. Thanks to the success of Angry Birds, most iOS trailers consist of a series of cute animals playing around to some overly sweet music, but not this one. As you can see below, Gameloft has figured out how to draw a whole lot of realism out of the iPad and the iPhone.
Modern Combat 5 is set for a release in the fourth quarter...
| Read more »In an interview on Thursday, YouTube's vice president of sales Lucas Watson disclosed that mobile ad sales have tripled over the past six months, suggesting the removal of Apple's ad-free version formerly baked into iOS was a key factor in driving revenue. ...
| Read more »Apple has told CNBC that it does not provide the U.S. government with direct access to its servers, contradicting a Washington Post report that the company, among others, is knowingly participating in a secret program that is allowing the government to monitor the activity of U.S. residents.
The program, code-named PRISM, was created in 2007 and is used by the National Security Agency and the FBI to provide information on everything from emails to photo and videos and connection logs to monitor a person's online movements -- all without having a warrant issued. The companies the Washington Post say have openly complied with PRISM...
| Read more »Refuting a previous report, Anandtech has published in great detail why it believes that Apple is not using network provisioning to intentionally hobble the internet connection on iPhones and iPads. The debunk called the notion that Apple would do such a thing blatantly wrong, and notes that "there's both no incentive for them to do so, and any traffic management is better off done in the packet core of the respective network operator rather than on devices."... ...
| Read more »Finally we've received the third in the Mophie Juice Pack trilogy. First, it was the slender and lightweight Juice Pack Helium (US$79.95). Next, it was the classic Juice Pack Air ($99.95). Now Mophie has filled out the Juice Pack family with the ultra-big-capacity Juice Pack Plus for iPhone 5 ($119.95).
Design
Like the two other Juice Packs, the Juice Pack Plus has a two-piece design; an upper sleeve containing the battery that your iPhone 5 slides into, and a bottom portion that contains speaker channels, the charging connector, and a set of LEDs to tell you how much juice is in the pack.
As you'd expect from a battery case with a 2,100 mAh capacity (compared to 1,400 mAh for the Helium and 1,700 mAh for the Air), the Plus is thicker than the other kids in the family. The...
| Read more »Game makers Electronic Arts and Maxis delivered some bad news for Mac gamers on Thursday, alerting them that the release of the Mac version of SimCity has been delayed until August. ...
| Read more »The ebook negotiations game, in case you were wondering, is hardball. Meanwhile, Apple may start trading places (for your iPhone) and your MacBook Air may become even more magical. The remainders for Thursday, June 6, 2013 just had two weeks left before retirement.
Apple ebooks trial: Amazon ‘yelled … and threatened’ when publishers tried to control prices (The Verge)
The ebook price-fixing trial continues apace, and we continue to hear about how Apple and Amazon negotiated with the publishers, which is starting to sound a bit like excerpts from Glengarry Glen Ross 2: Die Harder.
Apple Said to Start IPhone Trade-In Program in Stores (Bloomberg)
...
Q Branch announced on Thursday the release of Vesper, a note-taking and thought-organizing app for iPhone. Vesper allows users to take notes and ideas without imposing a specific method for doing so.
As more information regarding a secret Internet data mining initiative comes to light, one report reveals Apple staved off advances from both the NSA and FBI until six months after cofounder Steve Jobs died, though the company claims not to have even heard of the program. ...
| Read more »Last August Apple announced it had lost its license to include the iPhone-bundled YouTube app as a part of iOS 6. Google wanted to make its own app, one that had ads, unlike the one found in iOS 5. The move appears to have been a smart one. Bloomberg reports Google has tripled its mobile ad revenue in the last six months.
So what happened six months ago? Why the debut of Google's new ad-enabled YouTube app for iOS! The Bloomberg report goes on to say that more than half of all U.S. smartphone owners, at least 70 million people, have used a YouTube app of some sort, be it on an Apple or Android. With Apple's share of the U.S. at 39.2% according to a ComScore report released this...
| Read more »A seemingly incompatible perspective on the reports from the Washington Post and the Guardian today that the U.S. National Security Agency has for six years been operating a project called PRISM — for which Internet companies provide massive amounts of online user data crucial to intelligence operations — is that of the Internet companies themselves. They say they’ve never heard of it.
Said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling in a statement today, “We have never heard of PRISM. We do not provide any government agency with...
It's too soon to tell, but Samsung might have finally beaten Apple to become the United State's top smartphone maker, at least for now. A new report by the investment research firm Canaccord Genuity shows that Samsung beat Apple in US sales in May. In particular, Canaccord found the Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note II, and Galaxy S III sold more units combined than Apple's iPhone.
It's important to be aware of the methodology Canaccord used to develop their findings. The study surveyed only the retail stores of carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless. Apple Stores were not surveyed. At Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint stores the Galaxy S4 was the top-seller for the month of May. The iPhone 5 only beat the Galaxy S4 at AT&T stores.
According to Canaccord analyst T. Michael Walkley:
"While we believe Samsung and Apple maintained dominant share of the U.S....
| Read more »A Webkit bug report filed in Apple's own Radar system on May 8 has revealed an internal build number for the OS X 10.9 upgrade, also informing developers and others that Apple appears to be quite far along on testing the forthcoming major release. The filing, reported by AppleInsider, posts a presumed OS X 10.9 build numbered 13A451 -- the "13" referring to 10.9 (Mountain Lion's current build is 12E55), the "A" meaning a ".0" release, and the last digits indicating a build number. In this case, it suggests that Apple is very thoroughly testing the forthcoming release.... ...
| Read more »Hi, Mayors – today we are announcing that we are moving the release date of the Mac version of SimCity to August. We have made this tough decision because we do not believe it is ready for primetime yet. We want to ensure the Mac is a great experience for our players and that is why we are taking more time.
| Read more »Microsoft launched a free keyboard cover promotion for its Surface tablet, and Bryan Chaffin takes the opportunity to express some snarky smugness. Join him in his mocking!
The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers are reporting on a top secret intelligence program that gives the U.S. National Security Agency direct access to user data on corporate servers across a wide spectrum of Internet companies including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, and Apple. Apple reportedly joined the program in 2012, though Microsoft has been involved since 2007. It is unknown how or why Apple resisted joining the program for five years, nor why it decided to join in 2012. Twitter is noticeably absent from the list of companies, while Dropbox is said to be "coming soon". Data from the program, code-named PRISM, is frequently used in...
| Read more »Cambridge Audio has been known for its high-end audio systems and audiophile speakers for quite some time, and recently the company entered the world of Bluetooth speakers with the addition of the Minx Air range (US$449.00 - $599.00). Since those speakers might be a bit on the spendy side for many Apple device owners, Cambridge Audio today announced the much more affordable and portable Minx Go Portable Wireless Speaker ($149.00).
Available in black or white, the Minx Go includes 5 speakers and a bass radiator to blast out sound. That sound is practically guaranteed to be crisp and impressive, since the Minx Go also has an advanced Digital Sound Processor (DSP) and Digital/Analog Converter (DAC) to coax the details out of every recording.
Unlike most Bluetooth speakers, the Minx Go can be cranked up to full volume without any sound distortion...
| Read more »Despite making some progress on the game overall with recent patches, Maxis and Electronic Arts have revealed that the Macintosh version of the problem-plagued game Sim City, previously due June 11 has been pushed to an unspecified date in August. An official developer blog post by senior producer Kip Katsarelis made the decision because "we do not believe it is ready for primetime yet."... ...
| Read more »Hulu users that enjoy the streaming service on Apple's iPad can now download a new version of the app, one that features a full redesign, new capabilities, and features aimed at making discovering content easier than before. ...
| Read more »It's being reporting late today that Apple will be initiating a new a program later this month that will allow users to trade-in their older iPhones for the latest model. Bloomberg cited people familiar with the plan as saying that it's a first for the company as it prepares to introduce a new version of the smartphone.
| Read more »Things have been on a roll lately for Passbook-supported apps outside of North America. First it was easyJet, then British Airways, and then iTunes Festival London. Now the Subway UK app has finally gained Passbook support.
The new Subway UK app, Subcard, lets customers scan their iPhones at checkout to earn points towards free sandwiches. Additionally, users can browse their Subcard ID number and the total of number of points they've earned right in Passbook.
Currently Subway does not offer Passbook support in the US, nor does it have a country-wide Subway app.
...
| Read more »From 9to5Toys.com:
A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites or are so popular that they don’t even last 24 hours. We know you can’t be at your computer every second, so we’re going to roundup the best deals each day to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want. Be sure to follow 9to5Toys.com so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook
Today’s Featured deals:
...
Bloomberg is reporting that Apple has teamed up with BrightStar Corporation, a mobile-phone distributor, to begin an in-store trade-in program, according to an unnamed source. The program will help users with aging iPhone handsets transition to the more recent iPhone 5.
This isn't the first recycling program from Apple. Apple runs a Web-based recycling service in conjunction with PowerOn Services Inc., a company based in Roseville, CA. The company offers cash for used iPhones, iPads, and Macs. The program with BrightStar, however, will be available at Apple’s retail locations so that consumers will receive their money quickly and avoid having to deal with packaging and shipping products, as is standard with some other trade-in services. This tactic will also help ensure that the...
Following yesterday's claim that three out of four major carriers in the U.S. throttle iPhone and iPad data speeds, AnandTech has investigated the issue and determined that the original assertion, which has since been deleted, is untrue.Apple doesn't limit cellular data throughput on its devices — there's both no incentive for them to do so, and any traffic management is better off done in the packet core of the respective network operator rather than on devices. Sideloading tweaked carrier bundles isn't going to magically increase throughput, either.According to the site, which offers...
| Read more »Just a day after a developer wrote a blog entry maintaining that Apple was intentionally limiting cellular download speeds for iPhone and iPad users on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, the claims have been withdrawn and his mistake in understanding how carrier bundle files has been explained. ...
| Read more »With Apple rumored to announce a refreshed MacBook lineup at its Worldwide Developers Conference next week, Gazelle on Thursday said its website has seen a substantial increase in traffic, with MacBook trade-ins jumping 171 percent compared to the period leading up to WWDC 2012. ...
| Read more »We've been asking why Android device owners don't seem to use their devices all that much for months at The Mac Observer. On Thursday, Flurry released a report with quantifiable data demonstrating the discrepancy in usage between iOS and Android device owners along with three possible reasons for that discrepancy. Bryan Chaffin offers his analysis.
“As a culture we have moved into a realm where the consumption of news is a near-constant process,” says Richard Gingras, Senior Director, News & Social Products at Google. “Users with smartphones and tablets are consuming news in bits and bites throughout the course of the day — replacing the old standard behaviors of news consumption over breakfast along with a leisurely read at the end of the day.”
So Google moved to the more creepy Google Now and Google Plus. No thanks.
∞ Read this on The Loop
Nerval's Lobster writes "Strengthened by an agreement with Apple that set the prices for their respective e-books higher, publishers strong-armed Amazon into giving them similar terms, an executive for the online retailer has testified in Manhattan federal court. The U.S. Department of Justice has taken Apple to court over the alleged price-fixing, after reaching out-of-court settlements with five publishers (HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group, and MacMillian). Apple, which competes with Amazon in the e-book space, refused a similar settlement. "Certainly if someone offered reseller, we would have taken them up on that offer," Russell Grandinetti, Amazon's vice president for Kindle content, testified before the court, according to Reuters. "Reseller" means a company sells goods to a retailer for a particular price (usually wholesale), allowing the retailer to set the actual sales price. Under the terms of that model, Amazon could...
| Read more »Great article by John Kirk that looks beyond market share numbers.
∞ Read this on The Loop
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.
You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.
No Flash? Click here to listen.
Subscribe via RSSDaily Update for June 6, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 06 Jun 2013 16:15:00 EST. Please see our...
| Read more »In a roundup of what to expect at next week's World Wide Developers Conference, 9to5Mac has released some new rumors concerning both iOS 7 and Apple's upcoming streaming music service, "iRadio." Alongside the standard iOS 7 rumors, the site suggests that Apple has been experimenting with camera filters for its built-in camera app, like those used in many third party camera apps such as Instagram.We understand that while many iOS engineers are excited about the potential of filters being built-in to the iPhone's camera app, some Apple executives are not as fond of the feature. With that in mind, we are not sure if filters will make this year's release.In addition to experimenting with camera features, Apple is also said to be testing new motion...
| Read more »Apple CEO Tim Cook’s suggestion that Apple is ready to open up the iPhone has developers champing at the bit.
Cook said at D11 that the company does plan on opening up more opportunities for developers, but didn’t go into specifics.
“I think you will see us open up more in the future,” he said. “But not to the degree that we put the customer at risk of having a bad experience.”
That leaves a lot of open questions as to what access Apple might grant developers and when. Details could come at Monday’s Worldwide Developer Conference, where Apple is set to show off the next version of its iOS operating system.
Among those eagerly hoping for good news is TouchType, the maker of the popular...
Matthew Panzarino over at The Next Web has a really insightful piece up discussing how interviewers and analysts afforded the chance to ask Apple CEO Tim Cook questions aren't really taking full advantage of the opportunity.
Following Tim Cook's interview at this year's All Things D conference, there seemed to be a collective yawn from people who found Cook's time on stage to be particularly uninteresting and not terribly informative.
Adam Lashinsky, who perhaps went a bit overboard in his critique, penned a piece titled, "The unbearable lightness of what Tim Cook says."
Here's a snippet:
It is a strange sight to see the CEO of Apple, a company known for its brilliance and vision, decline over and over to discuss just about anything in any detail. It was the...
| Read more »Apple is nearly finished decorating the Moscone Center for WWDC 2013. Work began two days ago with giant Apple logos on the outside of the building, as well as large horizontal and street pole banners. Spotted on some of the banners inside the Moscone Center is the tagline 'Where A Whole New World's Developing'. Thanks to MacStories for the imagery. Workers are also preparing the banners that have sometimes been covered with black sheets pre-Keynote in past years. Update: MacStories has...
| Read more »Apple is planning to launch its own iPhone trade-in program later this month, sources say. The company is reportedly partnering with Brightstar, a phone distributor that already takes care of trade-ins at carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as some phone makers. Although the program means paying for used hardware, it could encourage people to upgrade to new products; AT&T for example is paying up to $200 for a working iPhone 4 or 4S, which is enough to cover a 16GB iPhone 5 on contract.... ...
| Read more »Vesper (US$4.99) is a new iPhone app designed for the sole purpose of collecting and organizing your thoughts in a logical manner, and if the all-star development team is any indication, it should be a cutting-edge app with a modern, intuitive UI. The developers, a company named Q Branch, were kind enough to provide TUAW with a copy of Vesper for testing, and here are my first impressions of the app.
To begin, let's talk about Q Branch. It's made up of the stellar team of John Gruber (Daring Fireball, creator of Markdown), Dave Wiskus (former designer and creative officer at Black Pixel), and Brent Simmons (NetNewsWire, MarsEdit, Glassboard). The team formed after a chat at...
| Read more »SMARTReporter is an application that can warn you of some hard disk drive failures before they actually happen! It does so by periodically polling the S.M.A.R.T. status of your hard disk drive. S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) is a technology built into most modern hard disk drives that acts as an "early warning system" for pending hard disk drive problems. SMARTReporter can notify you of impending hard disk drive failures by sending e-mails, displaying a warning dialog or executing an application. The current status of your hard disk drives is always displayed through the customizable menu item. Because SMARTReporter relies on the S.M.A.R.T. implementation of Mac OS X, it only supports ATA, SATA or eSATA hard disk drives, if you want S.M.A.R.T. support for your FireWire hard disk drive, send feedback to Apple. Please note that a S.M.A.R.T. alert doesn't mean that your HDD will completely fail for sure, nor can S.M.A.R.T. catch all...
| Read more »OmniGraffle helps you draw beautiful diagrams, family trees, flow charts, org charts, layouts, and (mathematically speaking) any other directed or non-directed graphs. We've had people use Graffle to plan plotlines for a story, make an overview of an operating system, show the evolution of computers, and even show how diseases can spread in a closed population. If you want to organize your thoughts, your projects, or even your friends graphically using boxes and lines, OmniGraffle is your tool.Version 5.4.3:
Bug fixes:
Over the past week a number of 9to5 readers have noticed issues with their Facebook contacts within the Contacts app on iOS 6 and up that are automatically synced when logging into Facebook through Settings. Some users have taken to the Apple support forums to discuss the problem, noting that a large portion of their contacts from Facebook no longer appear in the iOS Contacts app. Rather than a bug, we reached out to Facebook about the problem who told us it’s actually Facebook’s new effort to remove “phone book entries that were not useful.”
In other words, Facebook is trying to remove some of the spam from your iOS Contacts app by no longer syncing friends that have no useful contact information. According to a Facebook spokesperson, friends that have no contact information on their profile other than a @facebook.com email address will not be synced to the Contacts address book going forward....
OmniGraffle Pro helps you draw beautiful diagrams, family trees, flow charts, org charts, layouts, and (mathematically speaking) any other directed or non-directed graphs. We've had people use Graffle to plan plotlines for a story, make an overview of an operating system, show the evolution of computers, and even show how diseases can spread in a closed population. If you want to organize your thoughts, your projects, or even your friends graphically using boxes and lines, OmniGraffle is your tool. OmiGraffle Professional has all of the great features in 3.0, plus a powerful toolset for advanced document creation and editing options. For the pro user who's looking for an in-depth diagramming application that's still priced below the competition, you've come to the right place.Version 5.4.3:
Bug fixes:
Photo by Nick Thulin
By this time in 2012, Apple had taken the stage and dominated the news cycle multiple times to announce products like a new iPad, Apple TV, new Mac operating system, and various other software for both iOS and OS X. However, the first half of 2013 has been low on Apple product introductions as the company, coming off of a big fall, has focused on minor tweaks to existing products.
Even though Apple has been out of the limelight, the Cupertino company has been hard at work on a slew of new hardware, software, and services products, and the company plans to...
Before/After (via Zach Kahn)
Hulu Plus for iOS received a major update today including an overhauled user-interface on the iPad, editor’s choice collections of content to view, and the ability to watch previews of content inline without going full-screen.
The update is available for free on the App Store.
//
What’s New in Version 3.0
We’re excited to introduce you to an entirely new Hulu Plus experience for iPad. In addition to hundreds of internal optimizations, the Hulu Plus app has been...
Reuters is reporting that among the announcements we'll see at next week's WWDC keynote, Apple will introduce a new music streaming service called iRadio. The service will be free and ad-supported, Reuters says those in the know claimed, and will feature ads from the iAds team. The service is designed to dive into the already crowded market of music-streaming services, which includes Pandora, Rdio, Spotify, Slacker Radio and a number of other sizable options.
I will buy this rumor, but I don't know if Apple's plan is simply to just introduce "another" music streaming service. The company has been working hard with iCloud and iTunes Match to get you access to your music from any of your devices, and my guess is that any "iRadio" reveal would be along those lines, aimed at providing you direct access to any tunes...
| Read more »While many had expected Apple to follow last year's pattern and release a developer preview of OS X 10.9 early this year ahead of a summer public launch, the company has so far remained essentially silent about its plans for its next-generation Mac operating system. That silence does not, however, mean that Apple has not been working hard on the project since it first started showing up in web logs last fall. As spotted by an AppleInsider reader, circumstantial evidence of Apple's work showed up in a WebKit bug report early last month revealing that version of OS X 10.9 in testing was Build 13A451. According to Apple's build number scheme, "13" refers to OS X 10.9, "A" refers to...
| Read more »If you miss the old three-finger swipe upward on the trackpad to return to the top of a Web page, then you will like this keyboard shortcut. Originally posted at How To
| Read more »In an effort to sell more iPhone 5s, Apple will start an in-store iPhone trade-in program this month, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Apple is running the program in conjunction with mobile phone distributor Brightstar Corp. According to the report, “Used iPhones collected in the U.S. will…
| Read more »While next week will likely see the introduction of the newest version of iOS, a new study finds that the current version of Apple's mobile operating system is installed on more than 90 percent of all North American iPhones. ...
| Read more »A US accessory maker, Hard Candy Cases, has announced a pair of "iPad 5" cases, even though Apple has yet to debut the tablet. Hard Candy says it expects the device to be revealed during Apple's WWDC keynote on June 10th, and is taking a "gamble" that its cases -- the ShockDrop and the Squish -- reflect the hardware's final design. The accessories can be preordered for $35 and $50, respectively.... ...
| Read more »Jason Citron is a true veteran of iOS gaming. He was one of the two developers behind Aurora Feint, and later vaulted it up to the huge social network that OpenFeint became. Now, Citron is back to making games with a new company called Hammer & Chisel (formerly Pheonix Guild), and he's just announced today that his upcoming game is called Fates Forever. It'll be a multiplayer online battle arena title, similar to the extremely popular League of Legends, but built from the ground up for iOS and a touchscreen interface.
"If you look at games," Citron told TUAW recently, "very rarely do you find one that's generally new, and usually when you do, it's because of the UI change." Citron believes that even hardcore games "could be made materially better by changing them to use a...
| Read more »What makes a product creepy? How do customers feel about Internet services versus things they can touch and hold? John Martellaro explores the creepy factor.
Do you use the Task Switcher in Mac OS X? If you do and are moving only right through your app icons, then you are missing out. Originally posted at How To
| Read more »The Apple Store in Fashion Show mall in Las Vegas is set to undergo major expansion and renovation, according to ifoAppleStore. By the end of the month the current location of the Fashion Show store will be moved to a new temporary location in the same mall. While the store is at its new temporary location the old location will be dramatically renovated and expanded.
Currently the store has 30 feet of storefront and is 3,900 square feet in size. Apple obviously realizes that the store, being one of the busiest stores in a mall that attracts 13 million visitors a year, is in need of expansion. In September, when the temporary store is moved back into its original renovated location, the new Fashion Show mall store will feature a 117-foot storefront and an inside space of 10,000 square-feet.
The Fashion Show store was the...
| Read more »A quick setting change may help reduce window clutter for OS X Terminal users.
| Read more »Get more out of Mac OS X's Mission Control feature with these keyboard shortcuts. Originally posted at How To
| Read more »When I think of accessory manufacturer Booq, I normally think of high-quality computer bags and backpacks. Well, the company has just announced the new Fibre snapcase (US$29.95), a stylish line of iPhone 5 cases that bring the soft touch of cloth to your favorite phone.
The back of each Fibre snapcase is covered with the same material found in the company's Mamba line of laptop bags, giving your iPhone protection while adding a classy look and an extra bit of grip to keep the phone from sliding out of your hand. The sides of the case are made of a matching polycarbonate plastic for protection just in case it does happen to be the victim of a fumble.
The Fibre snapcase is available for order today on the Booq website and will be arriving at selected retailers shortly.Booq...
| Read more »If you have a collection of files for which you would like to change the icon, then there are some easy approaches to doing so.
| Read more »Bloomberg reports that Apple will for the first time begin accepting trade-ins on iPhones in its retail stores, encouraging users to upgrade to the latest models and seeking to boost sales. Apple will be partnering with recycling firm Brightstar to offer the program.Used iPhones collected in the U.S. will only be resold in emerging markets, where Apple’s share is lower and demand for cheap devices is greater, said one of the people. That way, the resale of Apple’s older models won’t cannibalize iPhone 5 sales in the U.S., the person said.Since 2011, Apple has partnered with third-party firm PowerON in the United States to offer Apple gift cards to users seeking to recycle their used iOS devices through the company's website, moving last year to...
| Read more »Peter was featured on this week’s Maccast with Adam Christianson, talking about next week’s WWDC.
| Read more »Apple is reportedly planning to allow iPhone owners to trade in their devices at the company's retail stores, in an effort to further boost domestic sales of its newest smartphone models. ...
| Read more »SugarSync has introduced a new Remote Wipe feature for its cloud storage service. First offered to business account customers last month, the Remote Wipe feature is now rolling out to all users. Remote Wipe gives users the ability to remove all of their synced files from a connected computer that has been either lost or stolen. After enabling the feature SugarSync will wait for the selected device to connect to its servers, and will then remove all of the previously synced files and alert the user that action has been taken. The feature will begin rolling out today to all customers with a paid... ...
| Read more »The iOS and Android versions of BlackBerry Messenger will launch on June 27, according to a now-deleted tweet by T-Mobile UK. BlackBerry recently announced that the apps would arrive this summer, but without a specific date. The company is in fact claiming that T-Mobile UK's date is inaccurate, although it hasn't provided a different one.... ...
| Read more »Just off the wires, Apple appears to be ready to offer trade-ins on iPhones for the first time according to Bloomberg. Apple currently offers a free recycling program for older devices but this would seem to follow efforts by companies such as...
| Read more »
The U.S. International Trade Commission has partially reversed an earlier ruling and found that Apple infringed one of Samsung's patents after all, leading it to ban the import of certain older iPhones and iPads. The ban includes such products as the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, original iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G. The iPhone 5 and the fourth-generation iPad remain unaffected. Apple now has the option of appealing the ruling to the White House or the Federal Circuit.
Apple's trial with the U.S government over allegations that Apple was the "ringleader" in a conspiracy to increase the price of e-books on the iBookstore is a doozy. The Justice Department on Monday laid out its case with a series of 81 slides which it claims show that Apple ran afoul of anti-trust law by using questionable tactics to rope five big time publishers into the agency model of e-book pricing.
One of the publishing houses involved in the case is the Penguin Group. While they settled their own dispute with the DOJ already, company CEO David Shanks took the stand on Tuesday and said that Apple was more concerned with securing the deal it wanted than with the existing contracts publishers already had with Amazon.
"It was fairly clear that...
| Read more »PlexConnect is a clever project: a free command-line tool that lets you view content from your Plex Media Server on your Apple TV—without jailbreaking Apple’s set-top box. That scratches an itch for me; though I maintain a Mac mini media center, the Apple TV runs quieter and cooler, and generally just works. (And on the rare occasion it doesn’t, I don’t have to fumble around for a mouse and keyboard to troubleshoot it.)
PlexConnect lets you navigate your Plex Media Center on your Apple TV in a native interface.
A caveat: If you’re Terminal-shy, then PlexConnect’s probably not for you. While it doesn’t require a lot of command-line expertise, those who have never ventured into that territory may find it a hassle. There are...
| Read more »Back in mid May, we reported that BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) would soon be making its way to both iOS and Android as a free download.
And now, thanks to a tweet from T-Mobile UK, it appears that BBM fans have something to look forward to on June 27.
Now you might be wondering who exactly uses BBM anymore. Well, RIM a few weeks ago noted that BBM continues to service more than 60 million active users per month and that BBM users send and receive upwards of 10 billion messages each day.
So there is a market for it, apparently.
BBM for iOS will only run on iOS 6 and will include features such as multi-person chats, voice note sharing, and BlackBerry Groups.
Twitter via EngadgetBBM for iOS slated to arrive on...
| Read more »A curious filing in Apple's bug reporting system includes a build number that suggests pre-release testing on OS X 10.9 has been much more extensive than with last year's OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. ...
| Read more »MCE Technologies is shipping its USB Super-BluDrive. The USB Super-BluDrive is a lightweight, portable, slot-loading drive that connects via USB and can play and record CDs and DVDs, as well as play commercial Blu-ray movies directly on the Mac with the included software.
It's compatible with all Mac systems. The USB Super-BluDrive retails for US$79 and is available immediately at http://tinyurl.com/mnd28az .
read more
Mail Pilot, an email client for iOS from Mindsense, made waves when it hit the App Store in early April. Today, Mindsense announced that it is bringing its productivity app to the Mac.
Mail Pilot for the Mac will mirror the iOS version, but will include features to help you manage your inbox effectively on the Mac. Details on the specific features included in the OS X version of the Mail Pilot app will be released in the coming weeks.
While you wait for MindSense to roll out the full version of Mail Pilot, you can sign up for beta access now at the MailPilot website....
| Read more »Vesper is a simple and elegant tool for collecting notes, ideas, things to do — anything you want to remember. Use tags to group related items into playlist-like collections. Vesper imposes no system; organize and curate your notes whatever way comes naturally to you. Eschewing complications, Vesper’s focus is on how it feels to use it.
Great looking app from John Gruber, Brent Simmons and Dave Wiskus.
∞ Read this on The Loop
In a move that will bring it into direct competition with Apple's iMessage for iPads and iPhones, BlackBerry Messenger will be going cross-platform, appearing on iOS and Android devices later this month. ...
| Read more »Apple is indeed planning to launch a streaming music service at WWDC next week, and carry audio ads on it, according to new sources. One of the people tells Reuters that Apple has contacted some of its bigger advertisers, but hasn't started selling the service extensively. The sources also back reports that the service - often nicknamed iRadio -- will resemble Pandora in its revenue scheme, and feature both audio and banner ads, sold through iAd.... ...
| Read more »Chronos has announced the forthcoming release of PrintLife, which offers a way to create print projects on Mac OS X.
"PrintLife is nothing like other printing software products of the past," says Robert McCullough, vice president of Sales at Chronos. "Gone are the cheesy clipart graphics and corny templates. PrintLife makes it easy to create stunning projects with the beautiful included artwork and templates."
read more
Three people you may have heard of—writer John Gruber, developer Brent Simmons, and designer Dave Wiskus—have joined forces to create Q Branch, an app development company whose first product is a $5 iPhone app called Vesper. The app, released Thursday, aims to help “collect your thoughts.”
Yes, it’s Yet Another iPhone Notes App. But it’s one that’s meticulously and tastefully designed—not surprising, coming from the principals of Q Branch. I’ve spent the past few weeks beta-testing the app, and in advance of the release I also talked to Gruber, Simmons, and Wiskus (all of whom have written for Macworld in the past) about what went into building it.
A notebook in your iPhone...
| Read more »The chicken and egg adoption/price reductions of Thunderbolt haven’t yet made the devices accessible to most storage shoppers. That didn’t stop Thunderbolt’s inventor, Intel from Frankenstein-ing an otherworldly thumb drive with a Thunderbolt interface and 128GB of fast storage.
Internally, the drive has SanDisk SSD (why not Intel’s own?) storage and probably has a bottleneck giving the device somewhere between SATA 3 and 10GB/s Thunderbolt speeds. Intel is making a few for demo purposes and but doesn’t expect a consumer version until wider Thunderbolt adoption takes place and prices for the tech go way down.
//
| Read more »Comedian Mark Thomas, together with about 50 activists, took to Apple's retail store on Regent Street in London to protest Apple's penchant for tax avoidance. Of course, all taxpayers - both corporations and individuals - do all they can to minimize their tax liability within the confines of the law, so it's not as if Apple is doing anything illegal, or for that matter, even unusual. Then again, who really wants logic to get in the way of a fun protest?
Thomas explained the reasoning behind the protest:
Apple has this amazing situation where they pay no tax on one of their companies registered in Ireland, and so in essence, they're using Ireland as a offshore tax haven. So what we've decided is that Apple on Regent Street should therefore become Irish territory. So we're going to create Irish territory on Regent Street. Hopefully we'll do it without getting busted...
| Read more »New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has announced that he and San Francisco District Attorney George Gasćon will be questioning Apple, Google, Samsung, and Microsoft officials about why the companies haven’t taken more steps to combat theft. Schneiderman recently sent letters to Tim Cook and other CEOs expressing…
| Read more »John Gruber wants you to collect your thoughts.
That’s the goal of his new note capturing app called Vesper that he launched today with fellow Mule Radio podcaster Dave Wiskus as well as developer Brent Simmons. Gruber and friends launched their development company today called Q Branch and Vesper for iPhone is their first app… and boy is it...
Remo Software has introduced Remo Repair MOV for Mac OS X. It's a tool to repair corrupt GoPro videos.
GoPro Cameras are widely used by hobbyists and professionals. Extreme sports, racing, surfing and wildlife enthusiasts use them to capture crucial moments. Remo Repair MOV (Mac) comes to rescue and can repair damaged mp4 GoPro files and make then playable again.
Remo Repair MOV (Mac) is available as a free trial version. The full version has a manufacturer's suggested retail price of US$69. For more info go to www.remosoftware.com .
Curbed Network’s popular food blog Eater has introduced its free Eater app. Eater’s app offers dining recommendations from the site, allowing users to find the Eater 38 and Eater Heatmap restaurants and bars in their location. Keep in mind that only selected cities will have Eater recommendations, due to…
| Read more »Dropbox offers an experimental builds channel where it lets users try out potential new features via beta builds. The latest build of Dropbox for Mac offers a few cool new features, including:
As with any betas, users should approach with caution. Also, Dropbox routinely adds features in betas that never make it to final release builds. However, if enough users try out the new features and give positive feedback, they...
| Read more »3 Sprockets says Cubeman 2 is now available through the Mac App Store and iOS App Store for Mac OS X and iOS devices. You can buy it for US$1.99 for a limited time.
Here's how the game is described: "Featuring more of the addictive gameplay and unique features that made the original 3D strategy action game a cult smash on its release in 2012, Cubemen 2 is a fast paced, action packed, original 3D Strategy game where you use your little Cubemen units to defend and attack enemies in a range of awesome game modes including CTF, Skirmish, Territory and more.
read more
Apple's trail over conspiring to artificially raise ebook prices has focused on the deals the iPhone and iPad maker struck with publishers, and the Department of Justice has made a point of focusing on wording that ensured other retailers couldn't sell books at a lower price. That contract clause doesn't seem to be a big deal for Amazon as far as the DOJ is concerned, however, because it turns out the online retailer struck very similar deals with publishers -- including the "most favored nation" clause that's getting Apple in hot water.
The Mac Observer Spin:
If the "most favored nation" clause is such a big deal for the DOJ why isn't Amazon facing the same scrutiny for including it in the contracts it signed with publishers? Based on the wording in Amazon's contracts with publishers it's no surprise why the company didn't want those documents made public.
...
Koffeeware has launched Creator Five, its HTML5 powered suite of online B2B photo products customization services. Creator Five enables photo e-commerce websites with customization and upload features.
Creator Five requires no plug-ins. No Air, no Flash, no Java, no Silverlight -- nothing to download or install. It supports a variety of browsers and touchscreen devices, including iOS and Android products. It also supports a variety of customizable products: photo books, cards, fun products, collages, canvas, calendars, and more.
read more
It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked selections that include some sweet deals on iOS and OS X software (all prices are USD). Prices are subject to change.
Deals from Dealnews
If you’re having trouble keeping your iPhone charged, Facebook may be at fault. A German developer has discovered that the Facebook app’s misuse of background tasks is causing the app to run in the background all day, hogging the CPU and causing the battery to drain faster than normal. Until the bug is resolved, Facebook users can preserve battery life either by killing the app from the multitasking switcher after every use or by deleting the app and using the Facebook Web app within Safari. Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related...
| Read more »Update: T-Mobile has now removed its original tweet.
According to a tweet from T-Mobile UK’s Twitter account, the previously announced BlackBerry Messenger service will be arriving on both Android and iOS later this month on June 27. A release date for the BBM service, which will arrive for the first time on iOS and Android as a free download, has not officially been announced by BlackBerry, but the tweet from T-Mobile is a pretty good indication on when we will see the service begin to roll out. However, a report from BusinessInsider later claimed that the date is incorrect based on a source close to the situation. We’ll have to wait for official confirmation from BlackBerry to find out for sure, but BlackBerry told us last...
