Long-time Subscriber? The NYT Gives You 1 Year of Free Web, iPhone and iPad Access →

Long-time Subscriber? The NYT Gives Out 1 Year of Free Web, iPhone and iPad Access

Jim Dalrymple at The Loop reports the New York Times is refining its paywall introduction by gifting one year of full free digital access (web, iPhone and iPad) to “long-time subscribers”. Apparently the NYT started sending out emails to some subscribers earlier today inviting them to join the promotion, and the one who got in touch with by The Loop has been a subscriber for 12 years.

The customer I spoke with has been a subscriber for 12 years and received the email this afternoon. He said he took The Times up on the offer and accepted the one-year free.

In the email The Times says “as a frequent reader of NYTimes.com, you’ve demonstrated an uncommon interest in a wide variety of today’s most important topics.” The email and subscription is being sponsored by Lincoln.

The New York Times’ paywall is set to go live for everyone on March 28th.

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“Single-Issue” $1.99 Downloads Coming to WSJ iPad App

By Federico Viticci

In an effort to drive more customers to its monthly subscription plans and experiment with the App Store distribution platform, the Wall Street Journal is launching “single-issue” downloads in its official iPad app, Paid Content reports. The option, not available yet in the free iPad app, will allow users to download a day’s WSJ content for $1.99 on their iPad, and according to Dow Jones’ digital head Alisa Bowen the new system will better invite users to subscribe to the full-access digital subscription plan. Single-issue downloads will offer a relatively cheap way to sample content and decide whether or not a full subscription is worth it.

There will be limitations in the single-issue downloads, but the WSJ hasn’t provided additional details. These new downloads won’t affect in any way the current $18 subscription that gives readers complete access to the WSJ website.

Right now, any current WSJ subscriber with a log-in can get full access—to the site and all the apps—and that won’t change. In addition, the WSJ recently began offering a digital bundle offer. Basically, for $3.99 per week, you can get full access to WSJ.com and its suite of digital products (iPad, Android Tablet Edition, iPhone and BlackBerry apps), all of which works out to roughly $17 with tax for a full month.

Bowen told me that she believes readers are more likely to subscribe once they had a taste of the content. But it’s not the first time they’ve tried that approach. For example, WSJ content is available for free to users who log on to Starbucks’ digital network as part of the coffee chain’s free wifi access.

Last week, controversy arose around the New York Times’ subscription plans that will force readers to choose between three different packages for website access, smartphone and tablet apps. Many think the NYT’s plans are too expensive and complex in differentiating between smartphones and tablets; it is unclear at this point whether the WSJ will consider a unified option for iPhone, iPad and Android users or take a similar approach to the NYT by launching different subscriptions across devices. The single-issues downloads are expected to be implemented with a new version of the iPad app, which was last updated in February.

Apple TV 4.2.1 Update Released With Various Fixes

By Federico Viticci

As noted by MacRumors, Apple issued an update for the second-generation Apple TV earlier today bringing a number of fixes and stability improvements. More specifically, the Apple TV 4.2.1 software (based on iOS 4.3) fixes the color and flickering issues reported by many owners of old televisions in the past months and also fixes other problems with audio and “wake from sleep”. The changes are outlined in Apple’s support document for the device.

TV compatibility: Addresses issues that may cause the screen to flicker or display incorrect color on some older TVs.

Wake from sleep: Addresses an issue where Apple TV may not wake up from sleep.

Audio: Addresses an issue where audio may not be heard on some TV models after switching from another input.

Stability and performance: Apple TV Software Update 4.2.1 includes stability and performance fixes for Apple TV

With iOS 4.3, Apple brought NBA League Pass and MLB.tv to the Apple TV, as well as several minor changes to the interface and user experience.

Aperture 3.1.2 Released

By Federico Viticci

Apple released a minor update to Aperture a few minutes ago, improving compatibility with the importing process of iPhoto libraries and a number of reliability improvements for brushes. The new version is labelled 3.1.2; Aperture 3.1.1 was released in December.

More information about the update are available here, full changelog below.

About Aperture 3.1.2

This update improves overall stability and performance, including specific fixes in the following areas:

Importing iPhoto libraries

Reliability and responsiveness when using brushes to apply adjustments

Reconnecting referenced master images

Aperture 3.1.2 is also available in the Mac App Store at $79.99.

Steve Jobs: “We Have No Plans To Kill The iPod Classic”

By Federico Viticci

In the past months, several reports suggested Apple was in the process of discontinuing the iPod Classic line, which hasn’t been updated in years, to make room for the latest generation iPod Touches, Nanos and Shuffles. With stock running low in several Apple resellers and a lack of announcements at Apple’s September music event, many thought the iPod Classic was on its way out. The numbers, however, proved that in spite of old hardware, the Classic was the 5th most popular music player in the US in 2010. Rumors of new portable hard drives by Toshiba even suggested Apple might not discontinue the line, but bump its capacity to a whopping 220 GB in the same design. That hasn’t happened yet.

Now it’s Steve Jobs himself, in an email reply to a MacRumors reader, to confirm that Apple isn’t planning to kill the iPod Classic just yet.

Q: Hello, I’ve heard a LOT of speculation that Apple is looking to kill the iPod Classic because it wasn’t updated on Sept. 1st, and that a lot of people would rather Touch. The iPod Classic is probably the best iPod in the line. PLEASE DON’T KILL IT!!!

A: We have no plans to.

Sent from my iPhone

So there you have it. In his usual short-reply fashion, Jobs allegedly reassures a loyal Apple fan that the iPod Classic isn’t going anywhere. Discontinuing the line would indeed be a strange move on Apple’s part, considering how the iPod Classic is the only device that can enable owners of large music collections to carry around their libraries without worrying about space.

Shazam Adds “Friends” Feature with Facebook Integration

By Federico Viticci

Shazam, the popular music discovery tool for iOS, was updated earlier today to include a new feature that, similarly to Apple’s Ping or the recently reviewed SoundTracking, lets you connect with other people to see what music they’re listening to. The new functionality is called “Friends” and it’s displayed as a new tab in Shazam’s bottom toolbar. To get started with Friends, you’ll have to login through your Facebook account and link the device to your Shazam profile – all the social interaction of Friends happens through Facebook and your friends that are already using the mobile app to tag songs.

Once you have some friends using Shazam (right now, I don’t), the songs they tag will show up in the Friends tab alongside the album artwork, a preview you can listen to and a link to buy the song on iTunes. Tapping on an item brings you to the usual Shazam view where you can share, check lyrics and Youtube videos, get tour info for a specific artist or jump to Last.fm. The Friends functionality is very streamlined and doesn’t provide all the options offered by an app like SoundTracking, but it’s a start and a welcome addition to Shazam.

Shazam Encore is available for $5.99 in the App Store. The free version got updated as well. Read more

10.6.7 Crashing iTunes For Some MacBook Air Owners

By Federico Viticci

According to a thread on Apple Discussions that received more than 30 replies since yesterday’s release of Mac OS X 10.6.7, the latest software update makes it impossible for some MacBook Air (late 2010) owners to open iTunes. The issue seems to especially affect the new MacBook Airs 13”, and it basically forces iTunes to quit seconds after launch while running 10.6.7.

Before upgrading to a new version of OS X, it’s always a good practice to backup your important files and possibly use Time Machine to save multiple instances of your OS to an external hard drive. When issues pop up, however, there are some tips you can follow to make sure the upgrade process goes as smoothly as Apple (and the user) wants. First off, if Software Update is failing you and you notice issues with some applications, consider running a Combo Update. It’s a bigger download, but in most situations the Combo Update is everything you need to make OS X update to a newer version correctly. You can download the Mac OS X 10.6.7 Combo Update here.

If iTunes 10.2.1 is still crashing after a combo update to 10.6.7 and a manual restart, you can erase your iTunes preferences and Genius database to start fresh with the app on the newly updated OS. Preferences can be found in Users/yourusername/Library/Preferences and they look something like this: “com.apple.itunes”. Delete those files when iTunes is closed and reboot again. The Genius database can be found in Music/iTunes and it’s the file called “itunes library genius.itdb”. The database will be rebuilt on next launch, after you accept the iTunes EULA again.

Of course, you should always backup everything on your Mac – especially the iTunes library that stores your music, apps, movies, books and more. Storing iTunes on Dropbox (which in its Pro plans includes a featured called “Packrat” that you gives unlimited access to all your previously deleted files) is a good plan to get started. If you have a MacBook Air and you found another way to fix iTunes on OS X 10.6.7, please let us know in the comments below.

Sparrow 1.1 Is Out: IMAP Support, Priority Inbox and More

By Federico Viticci

Since its release date weeks ago, Sparrow for Mac has quickly become many people’s favorite way to access Gmail from the desktop. With an intuitive user interface resembling the original Tweetie for Mac and support for several Gmail functions like labels and archive, Sparrow has sold thousands of copies in the Mac App Store enabling the developers to focus on bringing additional features to the app.

With the release of version 1.1 today, Sparrow is once again redefining the rules of Mail clients for OS X: Sparrow 1.1 contains several bug fixes and stability improvements, but most of all it adds general IMAP compatibility, MobileMe support and lots more features like Gmail’s Priority Inbox.

If you’re a Gmail user, Sparrow now lets you switch between the regular inbox, the Priority one and unread items from a dropdown menu under the top toolbar. The feature is very convenient as it further integrates Gmail with the desktop in a way no other apps did before. Switching between different types of inboxes is effortless and takes seconds. Another Gmail improvement is a fix for archive’s synchronization, which was pretty slow on version 1.0.

Gmail aside, Sparrow 1.1 is a complete revamp of the application. In the redesigned preferences panel, you can now set a signature for each of your aliases, and a signature can be made default with the click of a button; a format bar in the compose windows lets you choose fonts, sizes and styles without opening an external window or the system’s default font picker. The “minimal mode” – available in the Preferences – is another new option that lets users hide the message preview in the main window – quite handy if you don’t want to see a preview of the message while scrolling the list. On a related note, scrolling performances have been improved as well and now Sparrow feels much more responsive.

Sparrow 1.1 is a huge update that contains many other improvements like better HTML and CSS rendering, contact grouping options and Gravatar support, multitouch gestures (I love the three-finger swipe to open a message in its dedicated panel) and a “mark as spam” shortcut. The app is available in the App Store at $9.99, and it’s a powerful alternative to Mail.app – now with IMAP support and deeper Gmail compatibility. More screenshots below. Read more

Rumor: Valve “Looking Into” iOS for Steam Expansion

By Federico Viticci

If you’re familiar with the PC and Mac gaming scene, then you have most definitely heard of Steam: a game distribution platform by Valve that collects thousands of games in a single marketplace that’s easy to use and aggregates users worldwide enabling them to communicate through the platform. Steam, first released on Windows PCs, came out on OS X last year after much anticipation, quickly becoming many users’ favorite way of discovering and downloading games for the Mac.

Member of Steam’s forums Political Gamer recently visited the Valve headquarters and reported an interesting tidbit from his visit and talk with Valve co-founder Gabe Newell: Valve is apparently “looking into” iOS and Android as possible platforms for Steam’s expansion in the future:

After waiting in the lobby for a few minutes it turned out Gabe was in the office and wanted to say hi. To my great delight he was playing DOTA 2 when we walked in and from what I can see the game already looks very promising. After a little “sneak peek” we sat down to talk about Steam and other goings on in Valve. During this chat he confirmed that Steam will get a video recorder very soon, also he said they were looking into the iOS/Android platform for possible expansions with Steam. He also siad that the Source film maker is in the pipeline for a public release. After the chat was over he happily signed my copy of the Orange box and sent me on my way to Robin Walker.

The report doesn’t provide any additional details on Valve’s plans for a mobile Steam, and we only speculate that the development studio might be considering an iPhone or iPad client to check on your online Steam account and friends. Certainly Apple would never approve an iOS Steam app that lets you download and play games out of the App Store, whilst on Android Valve could easily deploy and alternative store like Amazon did (and got sued for the name choice). On iOS, Steam as we know it would be a difficult goal to accomplish: Apple doesn’t allow the installation of apps from alternative sources (the so-called “side-loading”) and the possible implementation of in-app purchases wouldn’t fit Steam’s growing catalogue of games.

Apple has turned its iOS and Mac App Stores into the perfect place for users to discover and buy games, and we don’t expect Steve Jobs to change his mind anytime soon about allowing other developers to “break the ecosystem” with unofficial app stores. So perhaps Steam for iOS will be a simple app to manage your online account? Or a “brand” for App Store developers to publish their games? We don’t know yet, but it’s interesting that Valve is at least looking at the possibilities offered by iOS. [via]