Posts in news

YouTube 2.0 For iOS Released With Picture-in-Picture, Updated Design

YouTube 2.0

YouTube 2.0

Today, Google has officially launched version 2.0 of its YouTube app on the App Store, bringing a tweaked user interface, new icon, and picture-in-picture to the mobile client.

The big new feature of this version is picture-in-picture for videos, which allows you to keep watching a video while browsing or searching. This has been a popular option of third-party clients such as FoxTube for quite a while, and, in Google’s implementation, the player can be dismissed with a tap on an arrow button or a swipe down directly on the video player. Both on the iPhone and iPad, dismissing the player reveals a delightful animation and transition that quickly sends the video down to the bottom of the screen, where you can tap again to enlarge it, or swipe it away to close it.

Overall, the improved animations of the app are much snappier and responsive than version 1.4, and there are dozens of new transitions, translucency effects, and subtle interface hints that contribute to making navigation faster and fluid.

YouTube 2.0

YouTube 2.0

More importantly, YouTube 2.0 packs a tweaked design – starting from the icon – that suggests Google has been getting its iOS apps ready for the major 7.0 update coming to iOS this Fall. The app gets rid of several textures and graphical elements for a more subdued design with a focus on colors (red for selections, gray for the sidebar, whitespace for navigation and search results), transparency, gestures, and animations. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine Google going one step further with this new design and enhancing with iOS 7-only APIs such as blurs and physics effects once iOS 7 is available. The new app doesn’t mimic the look of Apple’s iOS 7 apps, but it does look like Google’s way of easing users into iOS 7’s (fast-approaching) future.

Based on my initial tests, YouTube 2.0 seems to be a powerful and welcome improvement over the old version. The picture-in-picture player is a great addition, and the app has a cleaner, more responsive interface.

YouTube 2.0 is available on the App Store.

Wacom Introduces the Intuos Creative Stylus for iPad

Connecting to 3rd and 4th generation iPads and the iPad mini, the Intuous Creative Stylus is a brand new pressure sensitive stylus from Wacom that aims to simulate pen on paper. The pen can react to 2048 different levels of pressure, enabling you to paint the perfect stroke. Powered by a AAAA battery that Wacom claims lasts up to 150 hours, the aluminum brushed pen connects to the latest iPads through Bluetooth 4.0, enabling you to rest your palm naturally on the iPad, while additional shortcut buttons can active various features in supported apps. At launch, the Intuos Creative Stylus will integrate with apps like Autodesk SketchBook Pro and Wacom’s newly revamped Bamboo Paper for sketching and taking notes. Wacom’s latest pressure sensitive stylus will run you $99.95, is available in black or blue, and comes with an additional carrying case, battery, and replacement nibs. You can order the pen online today from the Wacom Store, or wait until the pen hits Best Buy stores in October.

[Wacom via Engadget]

Digg 5.1 Brings the Most Popular Stories to Your iPhone and iPad

If you’ve settled on Digg as your feed reader of choice, you’ll like the latest batch of updates for the iOS apps, which brings the web’s clients Popular view to your iPhone and iPad. Throughout the app, you’ll also find new ways to filter out read and unread items, thanks to a toggle that slides in and out of view as you browse around. You’ll also find a static toggle in the settings that’ll let you view only the unread stuff. Other notable features include better scrolling and the ability to delete feeds and folders.

You can download Digg for free from the App Store.

AllThingsD: Apple Announcing New iPhone On September 10

According to Ina Fried at AllThingsD, Apple will announce a new iPhone at a media event on September 10:

Apple is expected to unveil its next iPhone at a special event on Sept. 10, sources told AllThingsD.

The launch comes at an important time for Apple, which continues to make a lot of money from the iPhone but has seen its global market share dip amid a growing wave of lower-cost Android devices as well as an intense battle with archrival Samsung.

AllThingsD has a solid track record with previous Apple event predictions, and it seems safe to assume this rumor will soon be backed by other well-connected sources.

If true, this could set Apple’s pattern history to repeat itself with new phones being released with iOS 7 pre-installed, and the new OS on track for a release 7-10 after the media event. A Golden Master seed of iOS 7 could be released to developers on the day of the event, with Apple asking developers to start submitting iOS 7 apps to the App Store on the same day. In 2011, Apple released the GM seed of iOS 5 on October 4 and asked developers to start submitting apps on the same day; last year, Apple held a media event, released a GM build of iOS 6, and emailed developers on September 12.

New iOS versions are typically released on Wednesdays (iOS 5 was released on October 12, 2011, and iOS 6 on September 19, 2012 – both Wednesdays), which could mean a release of iOS 7 on September 18 (alongside iTunes 11.1, in beta right now) with the new iPhone to follow on September 20 in a few initial markets (new iPhones are usually released on Fridays).

There are differences between this year and 2011/2012 for Apple – most notably, the fact that iOS 7 is a major rethink of iOS that may require more than a week between a GM build and the public release. But there are several minor differences as well: a Dev Center outage that lasted three weeks; a rumor that claimed Apple was forced to “pull away” resources from the iPad team earlier this year to focus on iOS 7 for the iPhone; the fact that iOS 7 beta for iPad was, indeed, released two weeks after the iPhone beta, with recent reports suggesting that the iPad build still isn’t nearly as fast and stable as the iPhone one. And, besides iOS 7, this year’s most prominent rumor – a low-cost iPhone that may or may not see Apple more aggressively entering new international markets. But how many at launch? Will Apple keep growing the list of initial launch countries? Will the low-cost iPhone be introduced on September 10 as well? Will the successor to the iPhone 5 be called iPhone 5S?

We’ll find out, if Ina Fried is right, on September 10.

Rdio, Now With Better Stations And ‘You FM’

Rdio has always allowed you to play a mix of songs based on what you or your friends are listening to in their collections. Today, Rdio has updated their website and mobile apps with vast improvements to stations, allowing you to instantly listen to stations surrounding artists, songs, and genres.

Everything is a station

Rdio’s Stations is a response to both Spotify Radio and iTunes Radio. Drawing from a library of 20 million songs, Rdio hopes to turn anything into a custom Station. Your favorite pop radio song? That band you can’t stop listening to? By visiting Stations in the sidebar on your mobile device or desktop, you’re instantly greeted with a search bar and collections of music by your friends, stuff that’s in heavy rotation, and popular artists and genres. And no matter where you are in Rdio, you can also select songs and artists to make a station out of them as well.

Just like the music player, the Stations Player puts album art front and center over a blurred background that provides some contrast for the scrubber and other controls. New to the Stations Player are like and dislike buttons that let you vote on your favorite tracks.

It’s about you (FM)

You FM is the biggest new thing here, which is Rdio’s way of curating stations based on what you do across your social networks. Rdio says they’ll look at who you follow on Twitter, things you like on Facebook, and things you thumbs up in Rdio to create Rdio stations of all your favorite songs and “related tracks.” So if you follow Nine Inch Nails and have your Twitter account hooked into Rdio you’ll hear a lot more Reznor in your Stations mixes.

It’s also about your friends

Then there’s your friends. There’s a People tab in Stations that’s supposed to highlight what your friends are listening to, which is basically their ‘You FM’ stuff. It’s the previous implementation on steroids. You’ll also find Stations in there like Pitchfork FM and Rolling Stone FM if you want indie or Top 40 Stations.

So if you like radio here you go

Rdio can be downloaded for free from the App Store, but requires a monthly subscription to use. Check out Rdio’s pricing here and read more about their Stations update on their blog page.

Twitter 5.9: It’s All About Login Verification and List Management


Twitter’s latest updates bring some significant changes to their official mobile apps, such as the ability to turn on login verification (different from SMS-based login verification) and create lists.

Login Verification

Login verification requires that you have your phone when logging into Twitter on your Mac or PC. To turn it on visit the Me tab, tap on the gear, tap on Settings, then tap on Security. Make sure to save the subsequent backup code in an app like 1Password for safekeeping.

Manage Lists

You can find your lists in the Me tab if you scroll down and tap on the list entry. You can now create your own lists from inside the app, and add / remove people by visiting a Twitter profile and tapping the user button.

Social Context when Searching

As you search Twitter will show you profiles, top photos, and suggestions, while also providing context as how you’re connected to other users based on your search. Your initial query result ends up looking a lot like what’s found in the Discover tab.

View Photo Galleries

Also seen in our header image, photo galleries let you view anyone’s profile and get all of their photos in a gallery view.

You can download the latest Twitter update for free on the App Store. Read about Twitter’s latest update here.

Apple Airs New iPhone 5 Commercial: “FaceTime Every Day”

Following commercials for the iPhone 5’s Music and Photos apps, Apple’s “Every Day” campaign is back today with a new television ad called “FaceTime Every Day”. As we expected, the commercial – available on YouTube and Apple’s website – focuses on FaceTime video calling.

The new commercial, similarly to Music Every Day, isn’t primarily aimed at highlighting the technology behind FaceTime or the features of the app; rather, it emphasizes how FaceTime can seamlessly fit into everyday life and turn remote “face to face communication” into something worth enjoying and remembering. Something as natural as talking to another person, but made possible by technology.

A girl shows her engagement ring to, perhaps, her mother or a friend who’s not there with her; a man sends a kiss to his significant other (after having made sure nobody is watching); bits of life around the world – fireworks, an empty apartment, kids playing in the backyard – are shared with FaceTime.

There is no feature checklist. There are no flying robots in a post-apocalyptic scenario or references to wives and Tegra chipsets. The simple idea of connecting people is the checklist. “Every day, more people connect face to face on the iPhone than any other phone”. There’s no mention of FaceTime in the commercial, because there doesn’t need to be: “FaceTime” may be in the ad’s name, but the iPhone experience is the product being advertised.

We have embedded the commercial below. Read more

Sponsor: PDFpen for iPad

Our thanks to Smile for sponsoring MacStories this week with PDFpen for iPad.

–

PDFpen for iPad is the mobile version of Smile’s award-winning PDFpen for Mac. With PDFpen for iPad, you’ll be able to sign contracts, make changes, and fill forms when you’re out of the office or on the go.

PDFpen provides iCloud and Dropbox support, so you can edit your PDFs seamlessly on your iPad, iPhone and Mac (you can also exchange documents via Box, Evernote, Google, and more). PDFpen lets you sign and return documents without printing or faxing, directly from your iPad – so, for instance, you’ll be able to fix typos or correct price lists immediately while an issue is foremost in your mind without having to wait to be at your desk with a Mac.

PDFpen for iPad is available at $14.99 on the App Store, and you can find out more about PDFpen for iPad here.

Feedly Launching Pro Version with Evernote Integration and Search

RSS service Feedly, one of the most popular alternatives to Google Reader that quickly hit 12 million users after the shutdown of Google’s service, has today started rolling out a Pro version that, starting at $5 per month, will enable search, Evernote integration, HTTPS navigation, and premium support for users. However, there’s a catch: Feedly Pro’s regular $5/month subscription ($45 annually) will be available publicly for everyone this Fall; today, the company has launched a $99 Feedly Pro lifetime membership that will unlock the Pro features, forever, for the first 5000 users.

As a daily Evernote user and fan of RSS apps that implement full article search, I was curious to try out the initial feature set of Feedly Pro, so I purchased the lifetime membership this morning. My first impression is that, overall, the Pro features will add value to the service for power users, but they will need several improvements and refinements. Feedly says that, in the future, Pro users will be able to directly vote for the features they want to see in the service. Read more