Flipboard 1.7 has just gone live in the App Store and it brings support for the iPhone and iPod touch. The iPhone version has been long anticipated and it has launched with a new feature called Cover Stories, which at the moment is exclusive to the iPhone and iPod touch. Cover Stories is a feature that curates a selection of articles and images being shared with you – it will even become ‘smarter’ over time. Whilst it isn’t yet available for the iPad version, the Flipboard team say that they are working on bringing the feature to the iPad.

With Flipboard for iPhone we’re introducing Cover Stories — one place to quickly catch up on some of the most interesting news, updates and photos being shared with you right now. The more you interact with your friends and the stories being shared, the smarter Cover Stories gets. You can refine what appears here by adding content to your Flipboard, muting anyone you’d rather not hear from, and connecting to your social networks. Cover Stories will be coming to your iPad in the near future.

The Los Angeles Times sat down with Flipboard CEO, Mike McCue about the new release. He revealed that the Flipboard team, now nearly 50 people, has spent most of the year developing the iPhone version – making sure it wasn’t just a shrunken version of the iPad app.

Building on Flipboard’s deep links to Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, McCue wants to harness the huge amount of data being generated by users of these major services to build a kind of social media nerve center — a digital brain that listens to all your social networks and picks the most important and interesting stories, and presents them to you in a simple and organized way.

The Flipboard team has also a made a short advert for the new iPhone version of Flipboard – we’ve included it and the version 1.7 release notes of Flipboard below the break. We’ll have some more thorough thoughts on the new iPhone version of Flipboard in the next few days – so stay tuned for that. You can download the universal Flipboard app for free on the App Store.

[Flipboard Blog via The Verge]

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Minecraft: Pocket Edition landed on iOS weeks ago with a $6.99 price tag and barebones gameplay that mirrors the creative mode from its parent sibling. Minecraft fans will have no qualms in having a small playground to explore and construct buildings in, but the mobile version (designated as an alpha) does leave something to be desired. While building with a preset list of block choices is fun, there’s virtually no want to explore (especially since you can’t construct any tools), and the Pocket Edition leaves some in-game elements from the desktop version such as coal and gravel (that you can’t mine) which can be found on mountains. This might leave you to believe that the iOS and Android versions will eventually grow into the same game that’s finally reached 1.0 status as of Minecon. While it’s true that the mobile version will eventually get a survival mode, it won’t necessarily mirror the expansive world generation and gameplay that the desktop game provides.

Daniel Kaplan for Mojang writes,

The plan now is to start digging into making Minecraft – Pocket Edition with Survival features!! Please note that we will NOT replicate Minecraft and try to bring all the features that are already out. This is not possible and does not match the touch platform. I’m trying to be as detailed as possible to show you why some stuff may take some time.

This is what the plan looks like right now and being worked on:

• A new file system – to make sure we can support items and mobs in the world
• Item system – to be able to pick up items
• Crafting – we know you want this. This will probably need some iterations since the interface will be customized for the touch devices
• Inventory system
• Mobs – animals and enemies!
• Optimizing rendering code – we are experimenting with caves but need to make it work better before we are able to release it
• Clean up of code and overall optimization

These updates will take time: Minecraft has to be optimized for mobile devices, and the current controls are only good enough to get by for what the game currently implements. Just like with early Minecraft, you’ll have the opportunity to watch it grow into a product that’ll have a lot more interaction than its predecessors. Even if the Pocket Edition could only match the early Minecraft beta days, that’s what I remember best, and it would be a nostalgic blast from the past.

[Mojang via Cult of Mac]

Houston, Texas is about to get a new Apple Store that’s getting an early sneak peek thanks to a curious Apple fan. The Upper West Side Retail Store, a massive glass-roofed complex unveiled at the end of 2009 (and pictured above), appears to be the inspiration for the Highland Village Retail Store said to be currently under wraps on the west side of Houston. The same all glass front, limestone walls, and glass roof made up the construction of the retail space, though not at the same scale as it’s older NYC counterpart. There is a difference, however, as the back of the store will also be all glass (there will only be one entrance to Apple’s new retail space). Inventory will apparently be held in next door in an adjacent space instead of in the retail store itself.

The future Palo Alto (N. Calif.) and Third Street Promenade (S. Calif.) stores—both expansions of existing stores—will also feature the UWS design, according to renderings submitted by Apple to city planning officials. However, the scale of the stores will be smaller than the original Upper West Side store that opened to rave architectural reviews in 2009.

Photographs posted on ifoAppleStore show off the similarities in architecture between the NYC and Houston retail spaces. The open design, featuring high glass ceilings overlooking open spaces, looks like it’ll be a common theme for Apple heading down the road.

[ifoAppleStore via TUAW] image via Apple

Grand Theft Auto fans are going to have an early Christmas present come December 15th as Rockstar Games celebrates the 10 year anniversary of Grand Theft Auto III with a launch on iOS and Android mobile devices. Grand Theft Auto III made waves when it was launched on the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox back on October 22nd, 2001, introducing players to a vast open world with a gripping story line and hours of endless gameplay. There’s nothing quite like GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas, and I’m terribly excited to see games from my youth (in hindsight that I probably shouldn’t have been playing) find its way onto iPads and iPhones. Here’s the list of supported devices:

iOS:

• iPad, iPad2
• iPhone 4, iPhone 4S
• iPod touch 4th generation

Android:

• Acer Iconia, Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Dell Streak 7, LG Optimus Pad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1, Sony Tablet S, Toshiba Thrive
• HTC Rezound, LG Optimus 2x, Motorola Atrix 4G, Motorola Droid X2, Motorola Photon 4G, Samsung Galaxy R, T-Mobile G2x
  

The game will only cost $4.99 when it launches. An official trailer will be released next week with the launch of the mobile remake. Be sure to check out Rockstar’s post for more iOS and Android screenshots.

[via Rockstar Games]

Cox Communications has just launched a free app for streaming live TV directly to the iPad. This app is available exclusively for customers that have Essential/Preferred TV subscriptions as well as Cox Preferred, Premier, or Ultimate residential Internet service. Subscribers log in to the app with the same credentials used to access their Cox online account. It requires the user to be on their home wifi connection to stream which is an odd limitation but when attempting to use the app away from my house I received a pop-up that said it can only be used on a Cox network.. I would really like to see Cox improve the app by allowing the user to stream TV over remote wifi and 3G connections.

I am personally a Cox TV Essential provider and I have roughly 80 different channels each of which are aired in both standard definition and HD versions. After logging in to the iPad TV Connect app I found that it had 32 different channels including A&E, AMC, FX, History, USA, and many more. These are great channels I would actually enjoy watching. According to the built in TV Guide section, these are the HD versions but after streaming a few channels I would have to disagree. The quality is not bad but it does look a bit grainy when in fullscreen mode.

The iPad TV Connect app is a good first attempt but it fails in a couple of ways. The usability of the app could be greatly improved. It lacks the ability to swipe through channels in fullscreen mode which seems like a more than logical way to browse TV channels on a touch screen device. It also does not support AirPlay video streaming to an AppleTV. If you try to enable AirPlay Mirroring then the video playback will stop and you will receive a pop-up error message. You aren’t even able to playback audio over AirPlay speakers and keep the video on the iPad. I am not sure why they would choose to limit the app in this way but maybe an updated version will be released to fix these issues.

Although I am not completely satisfied with Cox TV Connect, as a Cox cable customer I am elated to have the app on my iPad. I hope to see Cox really get behind this app and strive to improve it because it does have great potential and I look forward to future versions.

Cox TV Connect for iPad is available for free on the App Store

Update: The iPhone version of the BBC iPlayer (Global) app is now available for free on the App Store – it comes as a universal app that runs on both the iPad and iPhone.

The global version of BBC iPlayer first began rolling out internationally five months ago and is now available in sixteen countries around the world. So far the video-on-demand service, offering BBC content to an international audience, has only been available on the iPad. That will change this Thursday when the BBC iPlayer app will become available for the iPhone and iPod touch.

The announcement was made by Jana Bennett, President of Worldwide Networks and Global BBC iPlayer who noted that “moving to iPhone and iPod Touch allows us to take the service to a significant new potential audience and deliver fantastic programme content from the BBC and the UK’s creative industry”.

This platform extension shows how Global iPlayer isn’t just about moving TV to tablet devices, it’s also about a mobile strategy – about truly getting TV everywhere in a way that it hasn’t been before.

Bennett also announced that programs from DRG will also begin to appear on the BBC iPlayer service in early 2012. DRG is a program distributor that owns programs such as Peep Show, Father Ted, Black Books and Shameless.

[Via The Next Web]

In a statement released today, the European Commission has revealed that it is opening formal antitrust proceedings to investigate the possible presence of anti-competitive practices within the ebook industry.  The investigation will target a number of international publishers including Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster and Penguin. The Commission will also be investigating whether Apple has helped the publishers engage in anti-competitive practices.

The European Commission has opened formal antitrust proceedings to investigate whether international publishers Hachette Livre, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holzbrinck have, possibly with the help of Apple, engaged in anti-competitive practices affecting the sale of e-books in the European Economic Area, in breach of EU antitrust rules.  [Shortened]

The Commission will examine the ‘agency agreements’ entered into by the publishers — with concerns that they may breach EU antitrust rules that “prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices”. It isn’t yet known for how long the commission will run for.

The Commission will in particular investigate whether these publishing groups and Apple have engaged in illegal agreements or practices that would have the object or the effect of restricting competition in the EU or in the EEA.

[Via The Verge]

Facebook could have a new neighbor as Apple decides whether Prineville, Oregon, would make a suitable location for their next data center (codenamed Maverick). Apple is reportedly looking at a 160 acre plot of land in Crook County that’s a quarter mile south of Facebook’s nearby sever farm. Apple’s option to buy the land will expire at the end of the month, so a decision has to be made soon.

Sources with inside knowledge of Apple’s plans have told The Oregonian that Apple might be looking to take advantage of Oregon’s low power cost and property tax exemptions. Server farms are popular in Oregon, where rural “enterprise zones” free companies from paying property taxes on computer equipment, and the mild climate helps offset energy costs.

There are a couple of snags hanging up the decision. One revolves around a tax on intangibles, which take the value of a company’s brand into consideration. Intangible fees can undercut the tax exemptions that companies like Apple, Facebook, and Google are granted.

On the topic of energy, Apple’s plans aren’t finalized as they await word on whether Prineville can provide enough electricity for their Data Center. Apple will have to wait behind other local companies as transmission capacity is increased via the Bonneville Power Administration. Rackspace has already opted to build their new server farm elsewhere (Morrow County). However, the region’s transmission capacity is looking to be expanded a year ahead of schedule thanks to state delegation, and it’s possible Apple might have an open door thanks to recent developments.

To serve Facebook and other data centers in Crook County, the BPA says that it must upgrade the nearby Ponderosa Substation, add transmission lines and eventually add another substation. The full build-out would take two or three years and cost around $26.5 million.

Apple’s next data center will continue bolster their online offerings such as iCloud, which will require 31-Megawatts of power to operate. Currently, electrical transmission in Prineville is maxed out.

Data centers also generate franchise fees for local governments with their high electricity use, and Apple would bring its Prineville property onto local tax rolls by acquiring it from the county.

Apple’s data center will bolster their online offerings such as iCloud, mirroring the data center that was constructed in Maiden, North Carolina. The Maiden data center came under scrutiny as it was questioned whether the tax exemptions granted to Apple was worth the number of jobs (only 50) it brought to the region. While the data center won’t solve Crook County’s record 15.8 percent unemployment rate, the data center would provide a short term stimulus as construction of the facility (and expansion of other facilities like Facebook’s) takes place.

[The Oregonian via Macgasm]

Flooding in Thailand has caused a worldwide shortage in hard drives as manufacturers of platter based hard drives and hard drives components have gone underwater. Hard drive motor supplier Nidec (whom supply 100% of drive motors to companies such as Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital) have many factories that are offline and inaccessible, straining the supply. Consequently, hard drive prices have risen dramatically and products are seeing longer wait times. 14,000 factories in the region have shut down, suspending work and leaving 600,000 people without a job. Over half of the world’s hard drives are made in Thailand.

On Friday, AppleInsider wrote that Apple’s build-to-order iMacs were seeing wait times up to 5-to-7 weeks as 2TB hard drives are running short. iMacs with smaller hard drive configurations will ship within a few days. During Apple’s conference call in October, Cook noted that there would be an industry shortage of hard drives (and that they sourced many components from Thailand), though Apple’s thoughts remained with the people affected by the flooding.

As factories are scrambling to pump out water and refurbish damaged equipment affected by the flooding, there is a glimmer of hope as the year ends. Western Digital announced on Thursday that the production of hard drives has resumed in one of its buildings.

Specifically, the company indicated it [has] re-started production of hard drives this week in one of its buildings in Bang Pa-in (BPI), Thailand, one week ahead of internal schedules. This facility had been submerged in some six feet of water since October 15, the estate was pumped dry on November 17, main power was restored on November 26 and production restarted November 30.

This doesn’t mean hard drive production will dramatically pick up anytime soon. Many factories have to assess damages, and Western Digital has said that specific components such as head sliders aren’t likely to resume production until March, 2012. It won’t be until after the next quarter that hard drive component manufacturers will finally be able to have a handle on the situation, but it’ll likely take much longer to resume production at scale thanks to the scale of the Thailand flooding.

[via AppleInsider, Ars Technia, and OWC] Header image via NikonRumors.

Apple’s already teased Grand Central commuters with a December 9th unveiling on their storefront, but today Apple updated their Grand Central Retail Store page with a 10 AM date for the store’s grand opening. The Grand Central Retail Store will open regularly at 7:00 AM for early commuters (stores typically open at 10:00 AM) on weekdays, and Apple has published an Extended Holiday Hours guide for late shoppers still buying gifts for the holidays. The store will of course be closed on December 25th for Christmas.

[via MacRumors]

There have been a lot of twists and turns in the Apple and Samsung legal battle and the latest milestone saw a US judge deny Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop sales of some Galaxy devices in the US. What this means is that Samsung can continue to sell all their Galaxy devices in the US for the time being. Interestingly, Judge Lucy Koh noted that Apple will likely succeed in proving that Samsung’s Galaxy products infringe Apple’s patents, but she didn’t grant the injunction because it wasn’t demonstrated that it would cause irreparable harm to Apple if the Galaxy products stayed on sale.

The Verge got a statement from Samsung on the ruling:

Samsung welcomes today’s ruling denying Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction. This ruling confirms our long-held view that Apple’s arguments lack merit. In particular, the court has recognized that Samsung has raised substantial questions about the validity of certain Apple design patents. We are confident that we can demonstrate the distinctiveness of Samsung’s mobile devices when the case goes to trial next year. We will continue to assert our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple’s claims to ensure our continued ability to provide innovative mobile products to consumers.

It was also revealed yesterday that Apple had given some work-around options to Samsung for how they could side-step their iPhone and iPad design patents. Matt Macari from The Verge has an excellent article that covers the issue in great depth and clarity. In short, Apple had to make a list of alternative design choices to make the argument that Samsung did have other choices when designing their smartphones and tablets and they chose to emulate Apple instead. Some of the alternatives Apple made include:

• Front surface that isn’t black
• Display screens that aren’t centred on the front face and have substantial lateral borders.
• No front bezel
• Front surface that isn’t entirely flat
• Cluttered appearance

[The Verge (1) (2)]

Our South American and chilly Siberian friends will have the opportunity to grab an iPhone 4S as soon as December 16th. While Apple themselves haven’t indicated any upcoming launch dates, advertisements and announcements are confirming the details. Currently the iPhone 4S is available in 44 countries, with plans to bring it to 70 countries by the end of the year.

Russian retailer Digital.ru has already announced they’ll be selling the iPhone 4S on the 16th. Brazil carrier Claro has published their promotional page noting the 16th as well.

MacRumors:

Brazil and Russia are not the only countries set to see iPhone 4S launches on December 16th, as reports are also coming in from Taiwan, the Philippines, South Africa, and Malaysia citing that same date for their iPhone 4S debuts.

Thanks to a quick international rollout, it looks like plenty of new iPhones will be available just in time for the holidays.

[MacRumors via iDownloadBlog]