Apple’s Developer Center is where it keeps the documentation and resources third-party developers need to make their apps. If a registered developer needs to download the latest iOS or OS X build, they go to the Dev Center. It’s an invaluable resource Apple provides for $100 per year to each person in its developer program.

When the Dev Center goes down for maintenance, it usually only lasts for a few minutes. But for some unknown reason, the Dev Center has been down for well over 24 hours. Developers are scratching their heads on Twitter, and Apple hasn’t said anything.

Some space geeks are calling today “The Day the Earth Smiled,” because the Cassini probe is set to take a picture of our planet as seen from Saturn later this afternoon. To honor this momentous occasion, the maker of astronomy software SkySafari is giving away basic versions for iOS and OS X (and discounting the Android version) through Sunday.

Even though Apple was awarded $1 billion last summer during its patent infringement case against Samsung, the two tech giants still aren’t done fighting, but there’s hope that a deal can be made as the two sides have renewed their talks to reach a settlement.

LumoPro’s LP180 flash is quite excellent. Even the Strobist himself, David “can I flash you?” Hobby said that “It’s the first flash that I actually prefer over a Nikon SB–800.” High praise indeed, as the SB–800 has been his workhorse small strobe for years.

Why is it so good? Tough, easy to use, and with some genuinely handy (and unique) features. And all for $200, which is fully $350 less than the current top-end Nikon speedlight, the SB–910.

The rumor mill has provided a steady supply of pictures of the alleged lower-cost iPhone that Apple is rumored to release later this year, but now we have some comparison shots of what the rear shell looks like compared to the iPhone 5.

Weekly ASCII in Japan got their hands on what they claim is the rear shell for the budget iPhone. While we can’t verify the authenticity of the case, it’s very similar to the other leaked photos of the budget iPhone rear shell we’ve seen and the screw hole layout is similar to the iPhone 5s logic boards that leaked earlier this week.

The mag says that they  saw casings in pink, blue, orange, black, and white as well.  Here are some close-up comparisons between the two iPhones:

If you’ve been hunting for a truly unique way to customize your iPhone 5 then look no further. With this exclusive promotion you’ll be able to fully customize a case with all of your special photos thanks to Casetagram.

Casetagram is a revolutionary design service that lets you create custom cases for your mobile devices from your Instagram and/or Facebook photos. And Cult of Mac Deals has a Casetagram iPhone 5 case available for $39 during this limited time offer – and that includes free global shipping and a screen protector ($20 value) for your mobile device!

Rovio Account has been a work in progress for a couple of months now but it looks like it’s finally ready for prime time. This morning Rovio announced that its game syncing feature – Rovio Account – is finally available worldwide for both iOS and Android devices.

VLC made a comeback on iOS today, but if you didn’t get it within a few hours after it became available, then you’re out of luck, because it has disappeared again. But don’t worry — it hasn’t been pulled; an App Store issue is preventing it from being found.

Registered developers have been testing the iWork for iCloud beta since Apple announced it at WWDC, but it appears Apple is now opening testing up to the general public. Many iCloud users who aren’t registered with the company’s developer program have received invitations to get involved.

There’s a lot of smoke suggesting a fire coming our way. We’ve seen countless leaks, rumors and reports that say Apple will release a budget iPhone Lite in September: a plastic-bodied mid-range phone which Apple will be able to offer for $0 on contract, making a dent in the mid-range market.

We’re pretty sure the iPhone Lite is a real product at this point. But according to a new report, there might not be just one iPhone Lite. There could be two.

https://youtu.be/wE7AQY5Xk9w

While Microsoft has lost an astonishing $900 million on the Surface RT and dropped the price to $349 to clear out inventory, they’re still bashing the iPad on national TV, this time using Siri to woefully lament her own feature-by-feature inadequacy compared to the Surface RT.

I have to admit, I love this commercial. Sure, the iPad is an infinitely better tablet, but I still think this is a funny and effective attempt by Microsoft to make the Surface RT seem like less of a lame duck. They should really be exerting this effort on the Surface Pro, though, which has gotten a much better reception than the also-ran RT.

Source: YouTube

Apple has acquired Locationary, a small Canadian startup that crowdsources location data, according to a report from AllThingsD. Apple has refused to comment on its plans for the company, but the acquisition will undoubtedly help improve Apple’s widely criticized Maps service.

Aakash Doshi is a third-year student at the Srsihti School of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore, India, and he has a wonderfully hobby: he distills Apple’s Mac line-up down to their essence in bright, colorful, beautiful abstractions of their classic designs. I love them. We’ve put more after the jump, but be sure to check them out in hi-res on Doshi’s Tumblr, where he’ll be adding more over time.

Realmac Software, creators of Clear, Analog Camera, and other terrific apps for Mac and iOS, have announced Ember, a “digital scrapbook” for your Mac. Ember lets you collect photos, notes, web clippings, and anything else that’s important to you and your projects and store them all in one place.

Check out the new introduction video below.

iPhone chargers are dropping bodies all over China this week. Following an incident earlier this week in which a Chinese woman was electrocuted using a third-party charger, a 30-year old Chinese man has been put into a coma for ten days after plugging in his iPhone.

In the OS X 10.8 version of Messages on the Mac, you can set the background color of your own messages, and you can set the background color, font, and font color of anyone who sends you messages.

Now, though, in OS X Mavericks, you can do all those things, plus send messages in your own choice of font, as well as let your friends send you messages with their own font choices.

Here’s how to make that happen.

Do you ever wish you had a better camera in your smartphone? Well, before you upgrade to a hideous Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, you might want to take a look at the blurry picture above. It’s an accessory that Sony is rumored to be working on that’ll help you take incredible pictures with your smartphone.

It’s not just a fancy clip-on lens; it’s actually a 20.2-megapixel Exmor RS camera with a Carl Zeiss lens that uses your smartphone’s display as its viewfinder.

If you’re already wearing a backpack, then the best place to hang your camera might be from one of its straps. That’s the idea behind the Capture Camera Clip v2, a follow up to the runaway success that was the Capture Camera Clip.

We’ve seen lots of demand for BBM on Android and iOS since BlackBerry announced in May that the service would finally go cross-platform. And the Canadian company has promised us that the app will be here by the end of summer. But how long is BlackBerry’s summer?

According to one company executive, we could be waiting up until September.

Instants is a great new iPhone app for browsing your photos. It brings several of iOS7’s organizational ideas to the current iPhone, but does it in a much cleaner and more intuitive way. Plus, it’s free (with an in-app purchase for one extra feature).

Just this week DigiTimes reported that the iPad mini with Retina display wouldn’t be available until 2014 due to supply constraints, but its “industry sources” appear to have changed their minds. The Korean outlet now reports that the device will launch this October instead.

Remember those cool, ultra-light wooden iPhone 5 cases from Kubxlab? Now they’re available with the skins of exotic animals replacing the slivers of rare-tree flesh on the back panel. They’re called “Exotics” and “Elegance.” Let’s see if they live up to that.

There’s a great little trick with the latest Google Maps for iOS (the v2.0 that shipped earlier this week). Just by typing a magic phrase into the search box, you can cache the current map view for online use.

VLC, the popular open-source media player, has made its comeback on iOS and is available to download now from the App Store. The release comes more than two years after VLC was pulled from iOS due to licensing issues, but this time it’s back for good — with lots of improvements.

The official Evernote app for iOS now allows you to mark up images, PDFs, and notes thanks to the Skitch integration added in its latest update today. The release also brings shortcuts, recent notes, the ability to submit support requests, and more.