Federico Viticci

10876 posts on MacStories since April 2009

Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, Unwind, a fun exploration of media and more, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about portable gaming and the handheld revolution.
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viticci@macstories.net

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iOS 4.3.1 Coming Within Two Weeks with iPad 2 Jailbreak Fix?

According to BGR – who has a good track record on iOS releases and rumors – Apple is preparing to launch a new version of iOS, 4.3.1, “within one to two weeks”. The release, a minor one as usual following the “point upgrade”, will contain a series of fixes for the baseband and will also patch a vulnerability in the iPad 2 that enabled hackers to jailbreak the device.

BGR reports:

  • Baseband updates for the 3GS and iPad (original)
  • Fixed memory hang that results in memory corruption when reading large files from USIM filesystem
  • Fixed problem with NTLM authentication in apps and on websites
  • Fixed issue with the Springboard and 3rd party apps not recognizing the gyroscope on the iPad 2
  • Fixed iPad 2 jailbreak vulnerability

iOS 4.3 was released on March 9th ahead of the iPad 2 launch.

iPad 2 Launch Not Delayed in Czech Republic, Still Coming This Friday

Last week several blogs noted that on Apple’s Czech website the iPad 2 was set to launch on April, rather than March as Apple had previously announced at the iPad 2 media event. On the website, Apple wrote “V prodeji od 25 dubna”, which roughly translates to “Coming April 25”. That was a month after Apple’s promised release date, and many speculated it was a sign of the company delaying the launch of the iPad 2 across Europe due to supply constraints.

But it looks like it was just a translation error by Apple’s website design team. The webpage has been updated and now reports “V prodeji od 25 brezna” – which is March 25. The release date that Apple announced and, apparently, was never meant to change.

The iPad 2 will come out later this week in 25 countries (launch was delayed in Japan) and, from what we’re hearing, it’ll follow the steps of the US launch with afternoon availability on Friday and same prices of the original iPad.  [Thanks, Krystian]

SoundTracking: More Than Just “Instagram for Music”

Last week I decided to refine my cloud storage and music streaming setup: I bought a Dropbox Pro 50 account and extended my Spotify subscription until September. In case you don’t know, I store my iTunes library on Dropbox so I can sync my iOS devices effortlessly across all the computers I’ve installed Dropbox on. But why using iTunes and Spotify together for storing and streaming music? For as much as I love Spotify – in fact, it changed my music listening habits since I started using it – not every artist I like is available on it. That’s why I care about keeping a well-organized iTunes library with the albums and songs not available on Spotify. This library is pretty huge and stored on Dropbox together with apps, books, movies and anything else that usually goes into iTunes.

With a 16 GB iPhone, the combination of iTunes + Spotify (which also happens to have an offline cache option) gives me the possibility of having any kind of music ready for listening whenever I like. SoundTracking, a new app for iPhone I installed a few days ago, aims at giving you the tools to share the “soundtrack of your life” and discover new songs shared by your friends, directly from your iPhone.

At first, SoundTracking might sound like an “Instagram for music” – that would actually make sense after all the Instagram alternatives and third-party apps we’ve seen recently, not to mention the Instagram for video SocialCam. SoundTracking starts from the same simple concept of Instagram: you open the app, tap on a button in the toolbar and share media with your social graph in seconds. In SoundTracking, that means you’re sharing the song and artist you’re currently listening to with friends using the app you discovered by logging into Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. But the similarities with Instagram stop at the basic concept, as SoundTracking goes really in-depth to allow you to not only share, but also discover new music and people with your same music tastes worth following. Read more

New Apple Patent: Flat USB & FireWire Cables with LEDs

Of all the designs and inventions Apple patents and trademarks every week, some are really interesting and provide good indication of things to come in Macs and iOS devices. Whilst we’ve recently seen several complex patents detailing social functionalities and smart location features coming to iOS, image editing capabilities for iPhones and a “safe deposit box” for cloud storage, a new patent design uncovered by Patently Apple last week seems to provide a simple solution to a minor, yet annoying problem: cables.

Apple sells a variety of cables on its online store: these cables are usually meant to connect Mac computers to external peripherals like monitors and hard drives, or to devices like iPhones and iPads. From HDMI connectors and FireWire 400 or 800 cables to most standard USB ones and 30-pin dock connectors (the ones that also come bundled with a new iOS device), these cables have one thing in common: they’re not flat. They tangle, they’re difficult to put away and carry around, they’ll very likely break over time as you twist them and, overall, simply use them. This happens because the standard cable circuitry used in the tech industry includes one or more wires placed within a non-conductive enclosure that result in a circular connector – the cable. The problem with a circular cable is that sometimes it’s meant to be used in a specific orientation, and if the cable bends in the opposite way (example: when you tangle it to put it away) the internal wires or external enclosure could break. Read more

Apple Store In Grand Central Not Happening After All?

Back in February, several rumors surfaced indicating Apple was planning on opening a major new retail store in Grand Central Terminal, New York in September. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Apple Retail, reports suggested the Store in Grand Central was set to become the largest Apple Store ever built, likely meant to host thousands of customers every day because of the heavy traffic in Grand Central. Furthermore, to drive traffic away from the popular retail location in 5th Avenue, the rumored new Apple Store in Manhattan would accomplish the double functionality of better managing customers across retail stores, and being an impressive construction in Grand Central. This, on top of the Retail anniversary, lead many people to believe that September would indeed see the launch of an Apple Store, Grand Central. Read more

iPad 2 and iMovie Enable “Citizen Journalism” For Breaking News

Geek Squad founder Robert Stephens was driving to work yesterday when he witnessed a large gas explosion a couple of blocks away. To see if someone had called 911 yet, he drove with his car near to the explosion site and started recording a video with his iPhone 4. A couple of minutes later, the video was edited and uploaded to the Internet to become the first semi-professional footage used by media organizations to break the news of the Minneapolis explosion.

How did the video end up on TV if it was simply shot with an iPhone? People shoot videos with their smartphones every day, but they’re not chosen to be broadcasted. It turns out, Stephens quickly transferred the video file over to his iPad 2 through the Apple Camera Connection Kit, and started editing it. He added a map, subtitles, and cleaner voice over. All of this using iMovie for iPad in a parking lot while he could still feel the heat of the explosion on his face. Once done editing, he sent the video to Youtube and CNN iReport over 3G and was one of the first eye-witnesses to tweet about the explosion and post footage. He also tweeted permission to use the video, which ended up on MSNBC and CNN coverage in a matter of minutes.

The story here is a great example of “citizen journalism”, with an Apple twist. Everyday devices like an iPhone and an iPad become indispensable tools when it comes to quickly capturing a particular scene, and uploading the results on to the Internet so everyone can see it. Furthermore, semi-professional videos edited in software like iMovie can be used by major news organizations without looking like “yet another amateur Youtube video”.

Something is also very clear: Apple needs a better way to transfer files between iOS devices without the need of hardware. Perhaps AirDrop for iOS. Check out the video below. [TwinCities via TUAW] Read more

Here Come The Angry Birds iPad 2 Cases

In a trip to the Apple Store back in December I noticed something really curious (and colored) on the shelves: official Angry Birds cases for the iPhone were heavily featured by Apple inside the retail space like no other case. The accessory section in the Apple Store is trafficked all day by customers willing to enhance their iOS or Mac experience, and especially with the iPhone 4 third-party cases of all kinds saw an explosion in demand and popularity. But the promotion reserved to these Angry Birds cases was unprecedented.

Now the same is about to happen all over again with the iPad 2, which doesn’t need a case according to Apple but still it’s going to experience the invasion of third-party accessories like the iPhone 4 did. Whilst most manufacturers are ramping up production for their cases, folios and stands now that the iPad 2 is available, Gear4 has once again signed Rovio over to release official Angry Birds hard-plastic cases for the iPad 2. Available in three different flavors at $49.99, the cases feature holes to let you access all the buttons and hardware cutouts of the iPad 2: camera, speaker, dock connector, and so forth. You can check them out here. And , of course, they have your beloved pigs and birds.

The iPad 2 is a beautiful piece of hardware and Steve Jobs wants you to use the elegant Smart Cover to carry it around, without actually covering the device’s beauty. But trust me: your wife  kids are going to love the Angry Birds case. [via iPadevice]

AT&T Slashes Price Of Original iPad 3G by $100→

AT&T Slashes Price Of Original iPad 3G by $100

The press release isn’t available yet in AT&T’s news room, but Jim Dalrymple at The Loop reports:

AT&T on Friday slashed the price of the original iPad 3G by $100 throughout its U.S. retail stores.

The iPad 3G now costs $429, $529 and $629 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively.

The change is only for AT&T retail stores for now as the Apple online store still reports the old (already slashed) prices for the iPad 1. This sounds like a clever move for AT&T to get rid of stock now that the iPad 2 is available, and very hard to find this week. Perhaps some users will settle with an original iPad 3G at the lower price point.

Earlier this week, we reported several original iPad owners on AT&T experienced issues when trying to migrate their data plan to the iPad 2.

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I Want This Tetris-like Stand For iOS Devices On My Desk

This product will likely never see the light of day on retail stores’ shelves, but it’d be so perfect on my home desk next to my iMac. The Polyply is a multi-device stand designed by Andrew Kim, and it’s made out of acrylic plastic and birch plywood. Realized as a two-week project by Kim to see how such an accessory would fit on an Apple’s fan desk, all parts were cut on a laser cutter. The Polyply could easily keep in place an iPad, an iPhone, and iPod and a stylus. It’s got room to plug in your Apple 30-pin dock connector and it even lowers for a better typing angle.

The design is simple and clean and, in spite of the times, it’d be just right for my desk that is daily cluttered by iPad, iPhone and, yes, an iPod Classic.

Like I said though, this was just an experiment. But I’d be ready to open my wallet if it was a Kickstarter project. [via Cult Of Mac]