News - page 1828

Spotify announced a major update to its Mac and Windows desktop apps today. Version 0.8.3 has begun rolling out to users of the popular music streaming service, and the update brings several new features and improvements.

Pandora-like radio stations can now be created based on Spotify playlists. Like Google’s search results, Spotify has also added Instant Search for immediately displaying search results. Playable song buttons can now be copied and embedded with HTML on the web. Sharing options have also been expanded for social networks like Tumblr.

A couple days ago, Rovio thanked fans for slingshotting Angry Birds past 1 billion downloads with a short video that teased a possible new game. Today, Rovio has confirmed they will, in fact, be releasing a new game entitled Amazing Alex. Amazing Alex is expected to launch in “two months’ time,” and confirms previous rumors that the game would be based on the Casey’s Contraptions game.

Apple and Samsung are neck and neck when it comes to U.S. smartphone market. In Japan, which represents roughly 5% of the global smartphone market, however, the iPhone is significantly beating Samsung’s range of Android handsets. Apple, in fact, has a more than 20% lead over Samsung in Japan – significantly higher than its current 5% lead over Samsung in America.

Earlier this week, one iPhone Dev-Team member teased a new version of Redsn0w that would allow users to downgrade their A5-powered devices — including the iPhone 4S, the iPad, and the new iPad — to iOS 5.0.1 and above for jailbreaking.

That update is now out and available to download.

Next week, the iPhone will launch on three additional U.S. regional carriers. This move follows last month’s roll out to five regional carriers plus last year’s addition of C Spire and Puerto Rico-based Claro Puerto (Apple’s first deasl with regional carriers).

Apple’s regional expansion prompted Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty to issue a note to investors saying that the new partnerships will help ensure sustained iPhone growth. She also noted that she doesn’t expect to see carriers dropping subsidized pricing for the iPhone – a concern that has also made investors hesitant when it comes to Apple.

During a press conference in Shanghai this week, Foxconn president Terry Gou finally confirmed that the company is making preparations to begin production of the upcoming Apple HDTV. Production is yet to begin, so you may not see the set before Christmas. But Apple certainly plans to bring Steve Jobs’s set to market.

Following Apple’s acquisition of several mapping companies over the years, it has always seemed inevitable that the company would one day wave goodbye to Google Maps in iOS in favor of its own, in-house service. That’s exactly what will happen when iOS 6 makes its debut later this year, according to one report.

Apple is expected to launch its own maps service, which offers an innovative 3D view mode, allowing you to view city stunning cityscapes in all their glory.

When you build a robot or an artificially intelligent machine, there’s always going to be a fear that one day it will turn against you. That’s what Siri has done to Apple today, labeling one of the iPhone’s biggest rivals, the Nokia Lumia 900, the “best smartphone ever.”

During a recent radio interview with ABC Sydney, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak slammed the Cupertino company’s “horrible” prices down under, which force consumers to pay large premiums for its latest devices. Woz’s comments come after several technology giants have come under fire from Australian consumers and its government over price discrimination.

One of my favorite jailbreak tweaks for the iPhone 4S (before I updated to iOS 5.1 and lost my jailbreak) was called Lingual, which enabled Siri to connect to Microsoft’s Bing Translate API and immediately translate words or phrases into a number of different languages.

Thanks to iTranslate Voice, you can now get the same functionality and more for any iPhone from the App Store. This excellent $0.99 app listens to you speak, then quickly translates your sentences into one of 31 languages. It’s super quick and incredibly accurate.

Leica’s new rangefinder camera, the M Monochrome, is colorblind. That is, it will only shoot black and white images. What’s that you say? You can totally shoot color images with any camera you like and turn them into awesome B&W photos later? That’s true, but there are some advantages to doing things Leica’s way.

Earlier today Apple released a minor update for Apple TV owners. HD iTunes Store previews have been added for movies and TV shows alongside several bug fixes and stability improvements.

Pocket, formerly known as Read It Later, has enjoyed much success since its rebranding, and although its last update was a nice improvement, there were a few things missing. Five million users later and we’re finally seeing a Pocket worth putting our stuff in. The new and improved Pocket 4.1 hit iOS today, giving us Android users a peek at what to expect in the upcoming days.

4G mobile broadband provider FreedomPop has started taking preorders for a $99 case/sleeve that gives free 4G data speeds to an iPhone 4/4S. Backed by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, iPhone owners who purchase FreedomPop’s case will be given 500MB of free 4G data each month. Full data packages will also be sold in the future, but those details have not been given at this time.

We know what you’re asking: Will this thing actually work? Take a look at this video and find out:

Most of us have kind of moved on from the iPod. It was really freaking awesome for a while, but then Apple came out with the iPhone and iPad. Since then iPod sales have slowly dropped, because why spend $150 on an iPod when an extra hundo will get you an iPod Touch? Some people still really really love their iPods though. Some in more crazy ways than others. Like Dave Hurban for example, who had four holes drilled into his wrist and plugged with magnets, just so he doesn’t have to bother with iPod Nano watch bands. Dave’s “invention” is called the iDermal, and it’s crazy, original, and pretty weird.

Eat your heart out Pebble, and check out the video below.

May is Mobile Management Month at Cult of Mac, where we will be profiling a different mobile management company every weekday. You can find all previous entries here  and read our Mobile Management manifesto here.

IBM is one of the newest entrants to the mobile management market. The company launched its IBM Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices in March. At the moment, IBM’s feature set is focused on device management with limited app management capabilities. It will appeal most to companies that are already using other IBM solutions. Although Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices can be used as a stand alone mobile device management tool, it will be most effective when integrated with IBM’s various Tivoli enterprise solutions including endpoint management and help desk packages because it will be able to key off existing organizational systems making for easier setup and a streamlined overall management experience across the board.

With each new day we’re getting closer and closer to a new jailbreak release, but things are still not quite ready. Good news is that infamous Chronic Dev hacker pod2g has successfully jailbroken his third-gen iPad on iOS 5.1. The news follows the previous announcement that he had gotten an untethered jailbreak fully functional on his iPhone 4 running iOS 5.1.

Pod2g still has to work on stabilizing his jailbreak and packaging it for public distribution, but his exploits will work on all iOS devices, including the iPhone 4S.

Over the past two years, we’ve seen the iPad integrated into a number of different workplaces. While most iPad in business stories focus on the freedom that the iPad offers, the story of the iPad and iPod touch in one Brooklyn restaurant illustrates that in addition to freedom and flexibility, adopting Apple’s mobile platform can save you a lot of cold hard cash.  

Rumors saying Apple is planning a smaller version of the iPad won’t die, and a new report sheds more light on the rumored product. Fueling past rumors that Apple is interested in creating a 7-inch iPad at a cheaper price point, iMore claims that the company is planning a 7-inch iPad for release this October alongside the next-gen iPhone.

But that’s not all! The most interesting claim is that the upcoming 7-inch iPad will be priced between $200-$250. Also, the tablet will feature a Retina display like the third-gen iPad, keeping the same 2048×1536 resolution, according to the report.

The Mac has had a vibrant, growing community of developers for many years, and Apple has continued to encourage third-party developer participation with the Mac App Store. Launched in January of 2011, the Mac App Store already boasts 10,000 apps. It’s easier then ever for developers to get their apps in front of millions of OS X users. But what if you don’t want to play by Apple’s rules? Or what you if you want your app to be seen by as many eyes as possible? Then you start to look outside the Mac App Store.

While Apple’s is great in its own ways, other storefronts are offering different —and in many ways better — experiences for app distribution and discovery. In fact, there’s a certain Mac app out there that’s been doing it well for a long time.

Having Verizon as your carrier can have certain drawbacks when it comes to your wallet, but it sure is hard to argue about it when they’re rolling out 4G LTE Like A Baus! Verizon has announced its next bombardment of 4G LTE rollouts and it comes just in time for summer. Verizon plans on lighting up and expanding its 4G LTE service up and down the East Coast beginning next week. It’s a long list of beach towns and Vermont markets so if you were hoping of taking your work with you to the beach this summer, you should be covered (East Coast that is).

Businesses and individuals thinking that they have mobile security covered, may need to think again. That’s the message from a new report on mobile security shows that nearly half of people using a personal device like an iPhone, iPad, or Android device are doing so without their company’s knowledge or permission. The same report showed that users frequently access sensitive or confidential data from mobile devices but would stop after a security breach.

Adding to concerns around personal mobile devices and BYOD programs, one third of IT professionals in the survey said that their company has already experienced a mobile-related security incident.

Back in 1985, Big Blue (IBM) was the big bad competition for Apple. So, of course the sales team at Apple, including Steve Jobs, decided to make a video. It being the mid-eighties, the theme obviously had to be the hit of the season, Ghostbusters.

One recurring theme from many large companies is that Apple doesn’t act like other enterprise technology companies. It’s a common complaint that CIOs and IT leaders have been making for years. As Apple products have entered more and more businesses, the refrain has gotten louder.

According to Politico, Apple treats lawmakers in Washington in much the same way, which is causing similar reactions in the halls of Congress. While Apple may be able to shrug off concerns about its approach to businesses, it may not be so lucky when it comes Washington insiders.

Ongoing concerns over the practice of employers requiring prospective and current employees to hand over their social media passwords has led to the introduction of new legislation prohibiting the practice. According to Senator Richard Blumenthal’s (D-CT) government page, the Password Protection Act of 2012 will enhance current law to prohibit employers from compelling or coercing employees into providing access to their private accounts: