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Apple Airs New “Parenthood” iPhone 5s Commercial

Apple aired a new iPhone 5s commercial today, focusing on parents using iPhone apps and compatible hardware devices in their everyday lives. The ad is called “Parenthood”, and it aired on the seventh anniversary of the iPhone’s launch in the United States on June 30, 2007.

The new commercial follows the company’s theme of “You’re more powerful than you think”, highlighting the capabilities of the iPhone 5s and its rich ecosystem of connected apps and accessories. While the first ad in the series put the spotlight on health and fitness-related activities, Parenthood depicts common scenarios of parenting life from early morning with a Withings baby monitor and the MyTeeth app to late evening, when the iPhone’s flashlight is used to find a misplaced toy before a little girl goes to bed.

Throughout the video, Apple highlights an array of devices such as WeMo, a Tractive dog collar, a Kinsa smart thermomether, and Parrot’s wireless sensor for plants. The iPhone is shown both as a portable computer to record the life and moments of a family as well as a device with apps that bring family members closer together or teach young kids to brush their teeth or draw. As Matthew Panzarino notes, the iPhone isn’t a passive experience or a surrogate for a parent. Apple suggests that empowerment from apps and accessories is subtle but powerful, naturally integrated in a modern lifestyle with an interplay of hardware and software. And like its previous Strength commercial, the iPhone’s portability isn’t a demanding burden – whether it’s trying to exercise while pushing a stroller or snapping macro photos of shellfish with an attached lens, the iPhone’s form factor allows the device to be a constant enjoyable addition to our daily lives.

At WWDC, Apple introduced HomeKit, a new set of APIs for developers of hardware accessories with dedicated apps to plug into for better integration with iOS and standardization. With Strength and Pareenthood, Apple isn’t just promoting the iPhone as a phone: they’re advertising a platform of experiences revolving around the iPhone, which, as the campaign implies, is a powerful message, narrated through familiar and relatable stories.

You can watch Apple’s new Parenthood ad below.

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SoundCloud’s iPhone App Updated with a Stunning New Design→

When we say all-new, we mean all-new. Designed and built from scratch. Easy and natural to use while you are out and about. Something that lets you hear more of what you want to hear.

So what makes the app special? It’s beautifully simple. You can control everything with your thumb. Tap anywhere to play and pause. Swipe to skip tracks. Slide along the waveform to explore a track and its artwork. Easy.

The SoundCloud team has done a fantastic job with version 3.0 of their iPhone app, it is simpler, cleaner and just stunning. I’ve only been using it for a short amount of time, but my favorite aspect is definitely the way they have designed the ‘play’ screen in the context of their “one thumb” interface notion - controls are hidden until needed and basic (but intuitive) gestures are used for skipping tracks and seeking.

However, one change to the app may disappoint some users, as SoundCloud have decided to remove the Record functionality from the app, which is now solely focused on listening. For those who still want to post music and audio to SoundCloud, they recommend an app such as AudioCopy. If you want to read more about the new SoundCloud app, you can check out the reviews posted by The Next Web and The Verge.

The new SoundCloud app is available on the App Store for free, an update to the iPad version is in the works.

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16 GB iPod Touch Now Available For $199, Comes in Colors and with a Rear-Facing Camera

Apple has today made a minor change to its iPod touch line up, updating the 16 GB iPod touch to now include a 5 megapixel rear-facing (“iSight”) camera and is sold in the six vibrant colours that have previously been offered for the 32 GB and 64 GB models. The 16 GB iPod touch also receives a small price drop from US$229 to the new price of US$199.

Everything else about the device from its 4-inch Retina display, A5 chip and front-facing (“FaceTime”) camera, remains identical to the previous model. One interesting tidbit is that the iPod touch loop is sold separately for the 16 GB model - yes, you’ll have to pay an extra $9.00 to get one of those.

The refreshed 16 GB iPod touch is available today online and in US Apple Stores. Apple says in its press release that it will be coming to other countries in “the coming days”.

Microsoft Updates OneDrive iOS App with Improved Office App Integration and Background Camera Uploads

Microsoft yesterday updated their OneDrive iOS app to support a more seamless method of integration with their Office iPad apps. The app will now instantly open Word, Excel or PowerPoint if you tap on an Office document in OneDrive - provided you have the Office iPad apps installed. Previously OneDrive would simply display the document (.doc, .xls, .ppt, etc) using iOS’ preview, which unfortunately struggles to properly format the more complex Office documents. The feature can be turned off by going to the OneDrive settings and toggling the ‘Use Office Apps’ switch.

The OneDrive app’s Camera Roll upload feature was also improved to support background uploads, allowing the app to contine upload images when you switch to another app. The app update also included various bug fixes, most notably making uploads more reliable.

In related news, Microsoft earlier this week announced that they would soon boost the storage space for Office365 users to 1TB per person on a family plan and 1TB per subscription for those on personal or university plans. For those without a Office365 subscription, the free storage available also got a boost to 15 GB (up from 7 GB) and standalone OneDrive storage plans got price cuts (starting from US$1.99 per month for 100 GB).

ABC News, PBS Kids, AOL On and Willow TV Arrive on the Apple TV

Earlier today the Apple TV was updated to add channels for ABC News (US only), PBS Kids (US Only), AOL On (US, Canada and UK only) and Willow TV (US and Canada only). It is now the 19th occasion on which Apple has updated the Apple to add new channels, pushing the total number of third party channels to 37 for those in the US. Also updated was the existing Flickr channel, which received a redesign.

Back in April, when we originally posted the above visualization, I wrote:

Even more interesting is the fact that in the last 12 months Apple has rapidly increased their pace of adding new channels, with 26 being added in that time period.

With today’s additions, it takes it to 30 third-party channels being added to the US Apple TV in the last 12 months. If you want to see what channels are available in your region, Apple has a helpful knowledge base article.

[via MacRumors]

A Recap of Adobe’s Creative Cloud 2014 Announcements

Adobe yesterday pushed some huge updates to their Creative Cloud desktop apps, as well as launching new mobile apps, a Creative Cloud SDK for third parties, and even some hardware products. To get your head around all of Adobe’s news, we’ve put together this brief recap of all the news, with links to great articles and reviews if you’re interested in learning more.

“Our shift to Creative Cloud has given us a broad canvas on which to innovate like never before,” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media, Adobe. “We’ve taken bold steps with this milestone release, fast-tracking new features to industry-defining tools like Photoshop and InDesign, while introducing mobile apps that turn tablets into indispensable creative tools.”

Creative Cloud SDK

Time will tell, but perhaps the most significant announcement in the long-term will be Adobe’s announcement of a Creative Cloud SDK. This SDK will allow third party developers to do everything from incorporate their apps with Adobe’s Creative Cloud storage component, enable compatibility with Photoshop documents (.PSD), support Adobe’s new Ink and Slide hardware, publish directly to Behance and a whole lot more. You can read more about the SDK on Adobe’s website and request access to the private beta.

Khoi Vinh has a great take on all of Adobe’s announcements that you should really read, but I think his comments on the Creative Cloud SDK are particularly great.

A properly implemented third-party developer ecosystem could mean that the next Photoshop or Illustrator competitor won’t have to fight against the full might of Adobe in order to gain mass acceptance. Rather, with access to Creative Cloud’s millions of pre-qualified customers of creative tools, they could compete against Adobe’s marquee apps on a feature-by-feature basis. So long as they’re driving more subscriptions, Adobe benefits regardless.

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Gamevice Controller Announced for iPad mini

Wikipad, the company behind a gaming-focused Android tablet released last year, has announced Gamevice, an iOS game controller made specifically for the iPad mini. The Gamevice was originally announced for Android and Windows tablets in January but, as noted by TouchArcade, the company has seemingly switched to an iPad-only device, targeting a public release later this year with “additional platforms” following soon.

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