News - page 2087

The iOS App Store might be a walled garden, but that’s not to say that developers and publishers don’t have the elbow room to engage in some of the principals of capitalism, like cross-promotions. Just don’t be surprised if one day, Apple routs you out.

The latest example of Apple clamping down on developers for engaging in practices that they don’t quite think is critic is the crackdown on pay-to-install apps, which now appears to be in effect, with publisher TapJoy claiming that Apple is actively banning such apps from the App Store.

Back in March, a U.S. Magistrate ordered Steve Jobs to undergo limited questioning in relation to an antitrust lawsuit pressed against Apple by RealNetworks, who were shut out of iTunes when they figured out a way to wrap songs purchased via their Harmony software in a simulacrum of FairPlay DRM convincing enough to be played on 2004’s iPods.

Apparently, that limited questioning happened a few days ago between RealNetworks’ lawyer and the Apple CEO, who is currently on medical sick leave. Personally, I imagine that it consisted mostly of monosyllabic grunts intermixed with a series of contemptuous stares withering plucked from the physiogonomic vocabulary of some dandy Star Prince crash-landed upon Planet Feculon and forced to cavort with its natives. Either way, the transcript will doubtless be juicy.

We may never get to read it though. Apple has just asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit. Just when it was getting good!

Wanna scare a PC maker? Pull out a tablet. It’s become common knowledge that the iPad and other tablet devices are going to eat the PC’s breakfast, but now a lengthy Wall Street report calls tablets “one of the most disruptive forces” for PCs this year. How disruptive? Try 21 million lost notebook sales – just this year.

But what about all of these Android-based tablets appearing? Surely Apple’s iPad can’t dominate for long, right? Apple likely will own 64 percent of the tablet market this year and 74 percent if the Android alternatives disappoint. “We believe the downside scenario for Android shipments is more likely at this point,” Goldman Sachs tells investors Tuesday.

An iPhone 4 running a “test version” of iOS has been discovered by Vietnamese site tinhte.vn, and reveals a new Expose-like multitasking UI and a revamped Spotlight search function. Two videos published by the site demonstrate these new features, along with some pretty interesting hardware in the form a white, 64GB iPhone 4.

In this test version of iOS, double-tapping the home button displays your multitasking applications in a manner similar to that of Expose on your Mac. Instead of icons for the applications you have running – like you currently see in iOS 4 – you see a preview window for each application.

An iPad-only magazine called Project hopes to generate some buzz by capitalizing on the iPad 2’s gyroscope feature.

The latest edition of the magazine, which costs $2.99 in iTunes, allows readers to view a panoramic, animated landscape by moving 360 degrees on the spot.

The brainwave to exploit the gyroscope feature seems a natural fit for the ‘Summer Movie Blowout’ issue of the magazine backed by Virgin Digital Publishing and Seven, which features flicks including ‘Thor’, ‘X-Men’ and ‘The Hangover Part II’.

“Because most other publishers are creating iPad versions of their magazines, there tend to be a lot of reproductions and use of video content,” said Chris Bell, deputy editor of Project. “But because we’re building the magazine from the ground up, we’re forced to look at the latest technology such as gyroscope.”

Not sure if readers will buy it, but advertisers were willing to try. The issue has backers including T3, Audi, Becks, Ford and Nissan.

Via Mediaweek

Microsoft’s latest iOS offering hit the App Store today in the form of Photosynth; a fantastic photography application for taking 360º panoramic photos on your iPhone. It’s a free download, and one of the most impressive panorama applications I’ve tried.

The first thing I noticed about Photosynth is how easy it is to create your panorama. You simply tap the screen to start and then move your device around – up, down, left, right – and the application captures the images automatically, so there’s no need to move your device bit by bit while tapping a button to capture each tile.

Although a ruling on Apple’s patent-infringement complaints against HTC and Nokia won’t be announced until August, we already know the Washington, DC-based U.S. International Trade Commission staff is recommended coming down on the side of the two handset makers. The non-binding staff opinion became public at the start of the ITC trial.

Apple’s dispute with HTC and Nokia would be the first patent court battle involving Android-based handsets, prompting greater interest. In opening comments comments before ITC Administrative Law Judge Carl Charneski, Apple charged its not what you see, “but what’s under the hood” that makes the Cupertino, Calif. company’s products so successful.

Good news If you’ve got a Sonos music system and an Apple AirPort Express: a free software update will make your multi-room Sonos system AirPlay compatible.

Available today as a free download, Sonos System Software 3.4 adds AirPlay compatibility to a multi-room Sonos music system. You do need an Apple AirPort Express though, which when plugged into any ZonePlayer’s line-in can be played across multiple systems across the house — so-called Party Mode.

Crackle is one of the fastest-growing digital entertainment networks, offering hundreds of high quality Hollywood movies and TV series from Columbia Pictures, Tri-Star, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classics and more.

Fans of the service couldn’t previously enjoy this content on their iOS device due to its Flash-based website, however, the official Crackle application is now available to download in the App Store.

The application is free and supports all iOS devices, while the content is ad-supported and free to watch. It lets you enjoy high quality content over Wi-Fi and 3G and build your own queue of content for viewing online or on your iOS device.

Crackle currently features movies such as The Da Vinci Code, Big Daddy, Ghostbusters, and Snatch, while its TV series collection boasts Seinfeld, Spider-Man, Married With Children, and The Three Stooges, amongst hundreds of other great titles.

For some time yesterday, UK carrier Three gave customers the opportunity to purchase the white iPhone 4 through its website for delivery on Wednesday, April 20th. The carrier later removed the listing as news spread over the web, but was this simply an error, or did Three just reveal the device’s launch date?

Well, recent reports have suggested that the device is now in production, and will launch by the end of April. Although Apple is yet to give customers an official date, it may have provided this information to carriers.

Having said that, we still think someone at Three made a slight cock up, and that this listing means nothing. It’s not the first time the carrier has listed the device on its website either; back in January the white iPhone 4 appeared on Three’s website, thought it was listed as “out of stock.”

[via 9to5 Mac]

Sudden changes to App Store rankings for both free and paid games and applications has led to speculation that Apple has changed its App Store ranking algorithm. The App Store’s bestselling chart was previously based purely on the number of times an app was downloaded; now it seems like application usage is also taken into account when iOS apps are ranked.

One of the most noticeable shifts for an application was to the official Facebook app, which jumped straight to the number 1 spot in the free chart after hovering between 10th and 20th for the last year. Other popular apps, such as Netflix and Pandora, also jumped up the chart after the adjustment.

In an internal memo to its employees, Apple has announced the end of its iWork and MobileMe rebate programs with effect from close of business on April 18th. The rebate programs allowed customers to save $30 on MobileMe when purchasing a new Mac or iPad, and $30 on iWork when purchasing a new Mac.

The termination of these programs follows reports that Apple is set to revamp its MobileMe service over the coming months. A new MobileMe service, said to feature a digital “music locker” for streaming content from the cloud to Apple devices – as well as the “Media Stream” and “Find my Friends” features – is rumored to launch either later this month or at WWDC in June.

Though it’s not clear why iWork was also cut from the rebate program, it’s believed this is simply due to the release of iWork 2011 later this year. I think the the Mac App Store could also play a part in this: if Apple has decided to offer future iWork releases exclusively through the App Store as separate purchases, there may be a new way for customers to claim rebates – such as promo codes – or no rebates at all.

[via 9to5 Mac]

Just 4 days after iOS 4.3.2 was released, redsn0w has been updated. It was initially said that iOS 4.3.2 fixed @i0n1c‘s untether exploit, but was later said that it did not patch his vulnerability. Today, redsn0w was updated to 0.9.6RC14 for both Mac OS X and Windows. Stefan Esser (aka @i0n1c) needed to slightly update his untether exploit. No, this update doesn’t support the iPad 2. More information and download links after the break!

Apple released iTunes 10.2.2 today and the new version of iTunes contains a number of important bug fixes. According to Apple these fixes include:

• Addresses an issue where iTunes may become unresponsive when syncing an iPad.
• Resolves an issue which may cause syncing photos with iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to take longer than necessary.
• Fixes a problem where video previews on the iTunes Store may skip while playing.
• Addresses other issues that improve stability and performance.

iTunes 10.2 came with several new features and improvements, including:

• Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3.

• Improved Home Sharing. Browse and play from your iTunes libraries with Home Sharing on any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 4.3.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Get your copy now via Software Update or download a copy to install the software manually yourself later.

Since Apple’s moving towards touch-based media players, have you ever missed using a good old click-wheel iPod? If all you have is your iPhone or iPod Touch, then iClassic is the next best thing.

Available for $2.00 in the Cydia Store, this nice little novelty will allow you to access your iPod library to play and control your music while using a click-wheel interface. 

Look. Summer’s right around the corner, and odds are, you’re still wearing some swag-tee you got at Macworld circa ’00, no? Why not wrap your torso in this super-soft “Mac I’d Like to Friend” Cult of Mac (CoM) tee, instead? They’re limited edition, hipster-approved, and guaranteed to get you unexpected high-fives from dodgy-looking street strangers.

Our new CoM tees are 100% cotton, and 100% designed, forged, and hewn in the fires of Mount U.S.A. They’re also available now over at MightTees.com, creators of fine indie-art inspired graphic tees.

Apple is suing Samsung for copying the look and feel of its iPhone and iPad, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The lawsuit claims several of Samsung’s smartphones and tablet — the Galaxy S 4G, Epic 4G, Nexus S and the Galaxy Tab — copy Apple’s intellectual property. The suit, filed last week in Northern California, claims:

“Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple’s technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products,” the lawsuit said.

Of course, Samsung makes a lot of components for Apple’s products, from RAM used in MacBooks to flash memory used in the iPhone and iPad. It aslo manufactures the A4 and A5 processors for Apple.

Update: An Apple spokesperson elaborated on the charges for Mobilized:

“It’s no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging. This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

Classic Mac collectors are a creative bunch. Where others see digital trash, we see potential. Steve Abbott, curator of MacAbbott’s Mac Museum in Charlotte NC, has just created an innovative coffee table using those five-flavored candy-colored original iMacs in the style of Apple’s iconic Yum advertisement.

Steve stripped the guts out of five systems – blueberry, grape, tangerine, lime, and strawberry – added opaque white paper and light fixtures inside, then fashioned a table around them with a glass top and birch base. Reminds me of the kids tables inside Apple retail stores, with the retro glow of high tech lifesavers. The Yum coffee table is one-of-a-kind and for sale, bids start at $5,000; contact MacAbbott for details.

“To the cloud!” is becoming a well-worn phrase. Although Apple has a $1 billion data center in North Carolina which most suspect will be used to create a cloud-based iTunes service, almost everyone and their grandmother are beating the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant to the punch. First came Amazon, now HP seems ready to use cloud-based storage to get more attention for its TouchPad iPad rival.

In a slide describing the TouchPad, the PC maker mentions a music service permitting song storage that then streams back to HP devices, ala Apple’s MobileMe.

Samsung makes some great ARM-based smartphone chips… and even fabricate Apple’s in-house-designed A5 CPU, so when Samsung talks about the future of chips, they’re talking in part the future of the iPhone.

And what is that future? According to a Samsung rep, Samsung is “planning to release a 2GHz dual-core CPU-equipped smartphone by next year” that will have “the data processing capacities of a regular PCs.”

That’s a huge leap in the clock speed of the current A5 SoC, which maxes out at 1GHz per core. It does not appear that Samsung intends on keeping these chips to themselves, though: Samsung apparently hopes to sell the compontents to other manufacturers as well.

Could Apple be one of them? Maybe not, but it seems obvious that Apple will have a chip with similar capabilities available around the same time. If that’s right, then next year’s A6 CPU might boast 2GHz clock speeds per core. Just imagine demoing Infinity Blade on that.

With early morning lines outside the Apple Store still 50 man deep, it’s pretty clear that Apple’s had a hard time supplying the demand for the iPad 2… but a new manufacturer joining the iPad 2 supply change might soon help matters.

According to Digitimes, Apple is now testing a new LED backlight maker called Everlight Electronics in order to expand their component supply for the iPad 2.

Presumably, the LED backlights in questions are the companie’s 2,000 millicandela backlights, which the company has been shipping to other Taiwan-based tablet makers for the last month.

Will the new Everlight Electronics LED backlight, will the iPad 2 get any less scarce… and will it be any less prone to the bleeding issues of previous backlights? Time will tell.

Apple is scheduled to release its official numbers for the fiscal second quarter later this week. A review of analyst expectations appears to again set the stage for the Cupertino, Calif. company producing a blow-out quarter with both professionals and bloggers predicting higher revenue and sales.

In January, Apple’s finance chief Peter Oppenheimer guided $22 billion quarterly revenue, slightly lower than the Street consensus of $23.27 billion, but quite lower than blogger-analysts who predict revenue of $25.30 billion. As we’ve reported, the events in Japan could temporarily hurt Apple, bringing its usually artificially-low revenue guidance more in line with reality. Also, what do the pros and and amateurs expect for product sales? We’ll get into that after the jump.

Back in January, Don Lee introduced the Nomad Brush, a paintbrush with bristles made of capacitive fibers that can be picked up by an iPad’s display. Now comes the Flow, a nearly identical product trying to get off the ground over at Kickstarter.

It seems like a great idea at first blush, but then the problems occur. The iPad’s touch display can only register ten touch points at once, which means that if your brush has more than ten bristles, you’ll be losing a lot of granularity and detail. Consequently, a lot of the feel and look of painting with a brush will be lost, especially since the iPad’s display doesn’t register pressure. With a capacitive brush, then, you’re still trusting whatever art software you’re using to emulate the bristles… just not the brush stroke.

To be fair to Anthony and Russ, the creators of Flow, they seem to acknowledge in their Kickstarter video that the Flow won’t allow for the same precision as a real brush with real paint: instead, the Flow is all about eliminating friction, maximizing precision and using a drawing accessory you’re most comfortable with. For $20, that’s the kind of cheery logic that makes sense.

Apple’s iPhone 4 could soon be the most popular camera used to upload photos to Flickr, overtaking the Nikon D90 DSLR. The iPhone still has a little way to go before it reaches the top spot, but if the current trend continues it will overtake the D90 in around one month.

Although the iPhone 4 only launched just under a year ago, it is considerably less expensive than the Nikon D90 – which has been on the market for around three years and costs over a thousand dollars. Its smaller form factor, and the fact that everyone carries their iPhone everywhere, is believed to be one of the reasons why the device is proving to be more popular than a traditional camera.

Whether it comes in June or it comes in September as the latest rumors suggest, people aren’t really expecting the hardware to be a shock. It’ll definitely pack Apple’s new A5 SoC as boasted by the iPad 2; it might boast a Qualcomm baseband allowing the same hardware to run on both CDMA and GSM networks; it will probably have a revised antenna design to mitigate the chances of Antennagate II. These are no-brainers.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s of Concord Securities supports this view of the next hardware, with a twist: she says that the iPhone 5 will be announced in September and start production that same month, but not be released until October.

Kuo’s got a pretty good record here. In the past, he successfully forecast the quality (or lack thereof) of the iPad 2’s cameras, as well as predicted that the white iPhone 4 wouldn’t be released until April of this year. Hardly Criswellian soothsaying, but not bad.

Kuo also claims that when the iPhone 5 is released, it will boast an 8MP camera sensor. We’re guessing he’s talking about this one, which not only will allow the iPhone to shoot in 1080p video, but will also improve image quality by affording the smartphone 35% better low light sensitivity.