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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Thoughts On The Daily: The Newspaper, The App, The “Newspaper App”

The problem with The Daily, the long anticipated iPad-only publication launched today in a joint effort of News Corp. and Apple, is that it’s three things in a single package: an app, a newspaper and a business model. Taking an early look at The Daily is difficult because of its intrinsic nature of newspaper that’s an app aimed at making Rupert Murdoch’s wallet larger.

I have been testing The Daily for a few hours now, I’ve read most of its content and played around with the social functionalities, and I still don’t know where the newspaper is going as a daily publication, or what’s the general guideline established at News Corp. After all, you can’t get to know a newspaper and its feeling after a single issue or, in our case, “refresh”. But I do have some impressions to share, some complaints to make about The Daily as an iPad application and thoughts on the potentialities of Murdoch’s promise to re-imagine newspapers in the tablet’s era. Read more

Someone Brought An iPad 2 To The Daily Launch

In a room crowded with journalists and bloggers obsessed with Apple, it might not be a good idea to bring a prototype of the unreleased next-generation iPad with you. Because yes, apparently someone brought an iPad 2 at today’s launch of The Daily. The device was spotted by Reuters and, guess what, it appears to carry a front facing camera:

A Reuters eyewitness saw what appeared to be a working model of the next iPad with a front-facing camera at the top edge of the glass screen at a press conference to mark the debut of News Corp’s Daily online paper in New York on Wednesday.

A source with knowledge of the device confirmed its existence, adding that the final release model could have other features. News Corp and Apple declined to comment.

Did the working model belong to an Apple employee? If so, how can you even think of bringing one to the launch of The Daily? Or maybe Reuters saw some weird light reflection, and the “source” fooled them to think it was an iPad 2?

Now, our question is: where is the photo?

Verizon Contact Transfer App for iPhone Now Available

As noted by TiPB, Verizon has released a first version of its Contact Transfer app in the App Store. The free iPhone app, which only works with Verizon iPhones and won’t do anything on your AT&T device, can import contacts from your previous Verizon phone using the external Backup Assistant service.

This application is only for Verizon wireless users. Download the free application to transfer your contacts from your Backup Assistant device to your new device. All your contacts will be transferred to your new device with in minutes.

Backup Assistant is the service Verizon uses to let customers save their contacts in the cloud and easily restore them on any device. The iPhone version will behave just like you’d expect from a Verizon handsets, although I guess for Mac users it should be simpler to just sync their Address Book using iTunes. Or, if you’re a MobileMe subscriber, activate contact syncing over the air. Still, if you happen to have an old Verizon phone and you never backed up your contacts to the desktop, this app might help during the process.

MyWi “On Demand” Now Available, Brings Smart Hotspot to iOS

MyWi, a popular app available in Cydia that allows users to turn their 3G-capable devices into mobile hotspots for internet tethering, was updated today to include a new functionality the Intelliborn developers call “On Demand”. The new feature, which can be unlocked for $4.99 following the $19.99 app purchase, allows iPhones and iPads to “understand” when the mobile hotspot feature needs to be activated, or disabled.

A problem with mobile hotspots on the iPhone, in fact, is that you can’t specify settings for when a WiFi connection becomes available and you can stop tethering to other devices. The new MyWi On Demand connects when you need it, and shuts down when you don’t. After the usual pairing session between the hotspot device (say, the iPhone) and a non-3G device like your iPad WiFi, the iPad will automatically join the internet connection shared by MyWi when no other option is available, and disconnect from MyWi when another connection is found (your home wireless connection, for example). The system is pretty smart and useful, especially considering that it easily lets you save dozens of MBs of data.

More details on MyWi On Demand can be found here, and you can check out the promo video below. Apple’s next major update to iOS, version 4.3, will introduce a similar functionality called “Personal Hotspot” that enables users to turn their iPhones into portable hotspots to share an internet connection. Read more

How To Create, Manage and Renew iTunes App Subscriptions

With the launch of The Daily this morning, Apple also introduced the long-rumored subscriptions for apps, which allow you to automatically get an app’s new content as long as you pay a weekly or annual fee. At least that’s how it works with The Daily, and we have collected all the details about News Corp’s subscription implementation here.

I was curious to see how subscriptions worked on Apple’s end though, so I tried to manually activate a new 7-day subscription in The Daily to see what would happen in my iTunes account. At first I couldn’t activate a new subscription (besides the two-week free trial period offered by Verizon Wireless), so I waited a couple of hours and tried again. Inside The Daily, you can access subscription management through the Settings. Choose your subscription, confirm that you’re willing to give out your personal information like zip code, name and email to “the publisher” (in our case, The Daily Holdings), enter your Apple ID password and tap Done. In the current version of The Daily, there is no confirmation of a successful subscription. Read more

Verizon iPhone Coming to Best Buy On February 10

Best Buy just issued a statement confirming that the Verizon iPhone will be available in their stores on Feb. 10:

Best Buy today announced that the iPhone 4 from Apple on the Verizon Wireless network will be available in Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile specialty stores across the country beginning Feb. 10, the first day the device is available to the public.

The iPhone 4 is an important device for Best Buy and we are excited to help Apple and Verizon Wireless bring it to even more consumers,” said Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile. “Our customers have come to expect Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores to carry the best selection of mobile phones anywhere, and offering the iPhone 4 on Verizon’s network is our latest effort to deliver on that promise.

Pre-orders of the device will start tomorrow. [via All Things Digital]

This Is What The Daily Looks Like [Updating]

Live from The Daily announcement, here’s what The Daily looks like. First screenshots below and after the break.

The app features lots of photographs and videos, social integration with Facebook and Twitter feeds inside the articles, breaking news during the day. One  cool feature that was demoed on stage was “360 photography”, which allows you to move around a scene with your fingers – it looked very impressive and immersive at the same time. The Daily comes with several sections accessible through a “carousel” interface, which is a mix of Apple’s Cover Flow and the classic bookshelf. Online video can play inline the carousel, and the process of scrolling through the sections looks very smooth.

The app is now live in the App Store. Check for our first impressions in a few minutes.

Read more

The Daily Launch Event Will Be Live Streamed, App Launches Today

It looks like The Daily’s launch will be live streamed on the app’s official website:

Watch at 11 a.m. Eastern Time today as News Corporation unveils The Daily, featuring special guest Eddy Cue, vice president of Internet Services from Apple. Check back later today for our full web site. The Daily will be available on the App Store starting at 12 p.m. EST.

The app will also be available later today in the App Store. Check for updates on MacStories as the launch happens. In the meantime, enjoy the countdown on thedaily.com.

Apple Confirms Verizon iPhone Available for Pre-Order Tomorrow

Press release just went out confirming that the Verizon iPhone 4 will be available for pre-order tomorrow on first come, first served basis through Apple’s online store and Verizon’s store. The Verizon iPhone 4 will be sold at $199 for the 16 GB model, $299 for the 32 GB model with a two-year contract. Sales in Apple retail stores and 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores will begin on Thursday, February 10th and 7 AM – just like AT&T did for the iPhone 4 last year.

We have seen iPhone accessories have started appearing on Verizon Wireless’ website last week, and the February 3rd pre-order date was previously reported as well.

Press release embedded below.

Read more