Posts in news

Netflix Expanding to Six European Countries Later This Year

Reuters is reporting today, with confirmation from the Netflix Twitter account, that Netflix will expand its international availability to six European countries later this year. Whilst Netflix is already available in a number of European countries including the United Kingdom, Norway and Finland, this latest international push is significant as it includes the major markets of France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Netflix previously said it planned a substantial expansion in Europe this year but had not said specifically where. The costs of launching in the new markets will keep the company’s international unit at a loss, Netflix said in an April 21 letter to shareholders.

The pricing and programming that will be offered in these new regions will be announced by Netflix at a later date. But it is reasonable to expect that the new regions will launch with all of Netflix’s original content such as ‘House of Cards’ and ‘Orange is the New Black’ as well as a limited mix of licensed movies and television shows, including those from the respective local markets.

In our recent feature on Mapping The International Availability of Entertainment Services we compared the availability of Netflix to other digital movie and TV stores and streaming services such as iTunes, Hulu and Xbox Video. Included below is an updated version of our map and graph which demonstrates how this expansion will impact on Netflix’s global availability. (Please note these interactive elements are only viewable in a browser and will not render in RSS or read it later services).
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Apple Releases WWDC 2014 App

As with previous years, Apple today updated its official WWDC app for the upcoming developer conference, which will kick off in San Francisco on June 2.

The WWDC 2014 app is available for free on the App Store, and it can be used by attendees to browse times, locations, and descriptions for sessions, labs, and special events, but, for developers who weren’t selected for a ticket by Apple’s lottery system, the app will also provide a handy way to view session videos (which will be uploaded throughout the week) and sync video playback across devices using iCloud. The app, redesigned since last year’s version, will include Passbook support to speed up on-site registration for attendees, combining inline maps with favorites to find a specific location inside Moscone West and mark a session or lab as important so it won’t be missed.

You can download Apple’s WWDC 2014 app here. WWDC 2014 kicks off on Monday, June 2.

Podcasts for iOS Updated with Siri Integration, Improved Show Notes Support, and More

Following changes to podcast listening in iTunes 11.2, Apple updated its dedicated app for iOS devices, Podcasts, to version 2.1, available now on the App Store.

Podcasts 2.1 comes with the same browsing improvements seen in the latest iTunes – you can browse by All Unplayed episodes, scroll a podcast’s feed, and manage settings for automatic download of episodes and deletion after playback. Settings and Share menus are available in a podcast’s individual screen, where tabs for Unplayed and Feed allow you to browse episodes you haven’t listened to as well as all episodes from a show’s archive. Read more

Apple Releases OS X 10.9.3

Apple updated OS X Mavericks to version 10.9.3 today, adding better support for 4K displays, sync improvements, and bundling Safari 7.0.3 (previously a standalone update) into the OS.

Improved 4K display support is available for the Late 2013 Mac Pro and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display, and it allows OS X to drive a connected 4K display with pixels in “2x” (Retina) mode for high-resolution graphics. As for sync improvements, OS X now allows contacts and calendars to be synced between a Mac and iOS using a USB connection.

Other improvements in OS X 10.9.3 are listed on Apple’s official release note page. OS X 10.9.3 is available through Software Update on the Mac App Store or via direct download using the links below.

Sandboxing Difficulties Mean Coda 2.5 Will Not Be Released on the Mac App Store


Panic announced yesterday that they will be moving away from the Mac App Store for distribution of their popular and Apple Design Award winning Coda app. Panic has been working for a number of months on a significant 2.5 update for Coda but have been struggling to resolve issues with maintaining adherence to the sandboxing requirements of the Mac App Store. Instead, Panic has decided to revert back to distribution of Coda outside of the Mac App Store so they can release the update shortly.

As we continued to work on Coda 2.5—a significant update that we’re really excited about—we continued to discover new corners of the app that presented challenges under sandboxing. Coda, to be fair, is a very complex developer tool and is something of a sandboxing worst-case scenario.

Panic makes this move despite the fact that they had a notable degree of help from teams within Apple - but it seems that ultimately it just was not enough. They write that Apple “to their considerable credit, spent a lot of energy assisting us with ideas, workarounds, and temporary exemptions we might be able to use to get around some of the issues”. The move also comes more than a year after Panic successfully made the decision to change the way Coda worked in some ways so that it could be sold on the Mac App Store despite the, new at the time, sandboxing rules.

The new version, which will be available from Panic’s website upon release, will automatically detect if there is a Mac App Store version of Coda installed and unlock the app for use. As a consequence of moving away from the Mac App Store, it also means the Coda can no longer use iCloud Sync and as a result, Panic have developed their own sync service - Panic Sync. This new service will be free and work across Panic’s apps, including Coda and Diet Coda.

Panic write in their announcement that they will always “evaluate the possibility of sandboxing with each future release of Coda”, with the hope of one day returning to the Mac App Store. Finally, Daniel Jalkut made the point on Twitter that Coda will no longer be eligible for the award it won last year, the Apple Design Award, because it is leaving the Mac App Store.

Birdbrain Updated with New iOS 7 Design, Graphs for Twitter Stats

Birdbrain is one of the oldest Twitter apps I’ve been using on my iPhone, but it’s not a Twitter client in the traditional sense. Before Tweetie 2 and Tweetbot, Twitter for iPhone and Tweetbot 3, Birdbrain, originally released in July 2009, allowed me to keep an eye on my Twitter stats for follower counts, mentions, number of retweets, and more. Part ego-boosting tool and part utility to better understand why or how many people follow you, Birdbrain is back today with an iOS 7 update that brings a redesign and a couple of new features to monitor your Twitter account.

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