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Apple Removes iWork, Aperture Trials From Its Website

The trial version of iWork ‘09, Apple’s productivity suite that includes Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, is no longer available on the company’s website for download. The company has replaced the former iWork trial webpage with a message informing customers that iWork is available on the Mac App Store.

The trial version of iWork is no longer supported. But you can easily purchase Keynote, Pages, and Numbers from the Mac App Store to start creating beautiful presentations, documents, and spreadsheets today.

On the Mac App Store, the iWork apps are available as standalone purchases priced at $19.99 each. The iWork trial webpage is still available on some international Apple.com websites, such as the Italian one, although we are hearing reports that the download returns an error, reloading the webpage and displaying the same message about the Mac App Store. The iWork trial briefly disappeared last year, but came back shortly after. In March, Apple also announced the beta of iWork.com (which iWork ‘09 supported) will be discontinued in July.

Similarly, the company has removed the trial of Aperture 3 from its website, with users on Apple Support Communities noticing the change at least more than two weeks ago (recent Apple support documents still instruct users on how to remove the Aperture trial). Aperture is available on the Mac App Store at $79.99.

The trial version of Aperture is no longer available. If you currently have a copy of the Aperture 3 Trial installed on your Mac, you must delete it from your Applications folder before downloading Aperture 3 from the Mac App Store.

The removal of trials from Apple.com shouldn’t come as a surprise. The company has been gradually shifting all its software releases to the App Store, including major releases of OS X and Final Cut Pro. In July 2011, Apple also shut down the Mac OS X Downloads webpage, redirecting customers to the Mac App Store. Apple, however, still has a trial of Final Cut Pro (which is sold at $299.99 on the Mac App Store) available on its website, suggesting that more expensive software may still receive support for trials in the future.

Apple has been rumored for over a year to be on the verge of releasing a new version of iWork, although such rumors never materialized in a finished product with substantial new features. Apple released compatibility updates to introduce Lion support and bug fixes, but avoided implementing direct iCloud integration back in October, requiring users to manually upload and download documents to sync through iCloud.com. According to more recent speculation, Apple may release an updated version of iWork with Mountain Lion, which is on track to become available sometime this summer. [Thanks, Luca]

iPad Launches In 12 Additional Countries This Week

With a press release published this morning, Apple confirmed the new iPad will launch in 12 additional countries this week. The April 20th launch countries include South Korea, Uruguay, and Venezuela. On April 27th, the device will become available in 9 more countries including India and South Africa.

In addition to South Korea, the new iPad also will be available beginning on Friday, April 20 in Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela. Beginning on Friday, April 27, the new iPad will be available in Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.

The third-generation iPad has been the company’s fastest rollout to date; after the April 27th release day, the new iPad will be available in 56 different countries worldwide since its launch 42 days ago.

Below, a recap of the iPad’s launch dates and units sold until Q1 2012.

March 16 (10 countries): United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK.

March 23 (25 countries): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

April 20 (12 countries): South Korea, Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela.

April 27 (9 countries): Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.

On March 19th, the company confirmed the iPad had sold 3 million units in 4 days. The April 20 and April 27 international launches won’t be included in the company’s Q2 earnings, which ended on March 31. Apple will hold its Q2 earnings call on April 24.

Apple Confirms 10th Retail Store in Italy

(The location of the Apple Store at Porta di Roma. Image via Macity)

As first noted by setteBIT, Apple officially acknowledged the existence of its 10th retail store in Italy, at the Porta di Roma shopping mall. As previously reported, the retail store is rumored to be opening on Saturday, April 21, albeit no official confirmation in regards to the grand opening has been made yet. The “Galleria Porta di Roma” shopping mall, located near the GRA highway of Rome, is open from 9 AM to 10 PM during the weekends, and it includes 220 retail stores. The new store’s dedicated webpage will be available here.

Two weeks ago, a rumor suggested the Porta di Roma Apple retail store would open on April 21st; on the same day every year, the city of Rome commemorates its founding in 753 BC, The celebration is known as “Natale di Roma” (Birthday of Rome), and such date would certainly provide an opportunity for Apple to play around the marketing tagline of the store opening.

Apple’s first retail store in Italy opened in April 2007 at Roma Est, another shopping mall located outside Rome. The new Apple store at Porta di Roma will be the company no. 365 worldwide, Italy’s 10th, and the 118th to open outside the United States.

Apple Releases Standalone Flashback Malware Removal Tool

Yesterday, Apple released an update to Java on OS X to include a removal tool for common variants of the Flashback malware. A few minutes ago, Apple also released a standalone version of the Flashback malware removal tool, which contains the same code found in ”Java for OS X 2012-003”.

The removal tool has also been released in a standalone package installer for those users who don’t have Java installed on their computers. Once installed, if malware is found, ”a dialog will be presented notifying the user that malware was removed”. In some cases, completely deleting the Flashback malware might require a system restart.

Apple’s Flashback malware removal tool can be downloaded here. In the past week, a number of third-party removal tools have also surfaced online.

Apple Loses A Few Legal Battles, Wins One And Responds To DOJ Allegations

The last 24 hours has seen a number of developments regarding various legal issues that involve Apple. It’s not the most riveting news, so rather than writing them up as separate posts, we’ve decided to combine them into one, easily digestible post.

Apple Responds to DOJ Allegations

Late yesterday, somewhat belatedly, Apple issued AllThingsD with a statement responding to the DOJ’s allegations of collusion with the big book publishers. It was a similar statement that the other publishers made earlier and conveyed the idea that Apple’s entrance into the e-book market disrupted Amazon’s prior monopoly in the market.

The DOJ’s accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true. The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. Since then customers have benefited from eBooks that are more interactive and engaging. Just as we’ve allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore.

Apple Permitted To Intervene in Lodsys Case

You may recall that Lodsys filed lawsuits against a number of iOS developers last year for allegedly violating their patents. Apple filed a motion to intervene in the case last year, claiming that the licensing it has attained from Lodsys itself also protects third party developers on the App Store. The court yesterday agreed with Apple and has granted permission to Apple’s motion to intervene. Unfortunately, for many developers this is too little too late, with many settling with Lodsys early on to avoid costly legal fees.

Apple Loses Attempt To Restore Push Email to German iCloud Users

Apple had been forced to suspend email push services for German iCloud users earlier in February this year after Motorola succeeded in bringing an injunction against Apple. Today the Mannheim regional court upheld that decision and Apple will be required to pay damages to Motorola Mobility.

Apple Required to Compensate Tokyo Couple For iPod Nano that Burst Into Flames

In July 2010, a first generation iPod nano spontaneously burst into flames and caused burns to the owner’s hand that took more than a month to heal. Apple was required to pay the owner approximately US$7,400 for medical fees and compensation for the pain and suffering. Apple began a worldwide replacement program of the device last November.

[via, AllThingsD, TUAW, TNW, Cult of Mac]

Apple’s Java for OS X 2012-003 Update Removes Common Flashback Variants

Two days after their initial announcement and on the heels of F-Secure’s removal tool, checking Software Update on your Mac should prompt you for Apple’s latest Java update for OS X. The 2012-003 update removes common variants of the Flashback trojan, as well as disabling automatic execution of Java applets. While you will be able to turn the ability to run Java applets back on through the Java Preferences app, it will automatically be disabled if you don’t consistently access or run applets after a period of time.

For more information, you can read the support article or the supplementary information provided through Software Update.

[Apple Support via The Loop]

Apple Increasing Security of Apple ID Accounts on iOS→

Apple Increasing Security of Apple ID Accounts on iOS

The Next Web reports Apple has begun enhancing the security of Apple ID accounts on iOS devices and iTunes by asking users to pick three security questions.

In the past 24 hours, Apple appears to have started prompting iOS devices owners and those with Apple IDs within iTunes to make their accounts more secure, requiring them to pick three security questions and enter their answers when they download a new app.

The company is also asking users to enter a backup email address, in order to better protect their device but also their account (which is tied to Apple’s Retail website and all of its media services).

Apple’s motivation to educate users on security by urging them to enable security questions is laudable, especially considering the many cases of phishing and hacked App Store accounts reported in the past years. However, it is worth noting how, on the other hand, several users have been asking Apple to be more flexible with entering an account’s password on the iOS App Store, letting users download free apps and updates without asking for a password after periods of inactivity.

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Adobe Updates Revel with Retina Support, Better Photo Management

Revel, Adobe’s cloud-based application for iOS and OS X to store photos online and have them synced across devices, was updated today to include several new features and Retina graphics for the new iPad. As I outlined in my original review of the app (when Revel was still called Carousel), Revel stands as a mix between Apple’s Photo Stream – a feature of iCloud that automatically transmits new photos taken on iOS devices to the cloud – and more traditional lightweight photo editors; with options to quickly crop and rotate photos, filters, and adjustments, Revel allows users to store, sync, and edit photos across devices by paying a monthly or yearly fee.

Revel, however, wasn’t perfect in its first version, and Adobe promised they would add more functionalities for better file management – admittedly limited and overly simplified in Revel 1.0 – to enhance the capabilities of the software. Revel, in fact, simply provided a stream of photos in chronological order, without enabling users to sort these photos in events, simply giving them an option to create and share “carousels”. Aside from supporting the Retina display, today’s major update to Revel brings several new options to organize, browse, and share photos imported from an iOS device’s photo library.

Revel 1.2 lets you organize photos in events. When photos are imported and organized by day, Revel displays an icon next to the date’s label to set an event name, or a different date and time. While in edit mode, this button allows you to quickly select or deselect photos from a specific day. Retaining the same horizontally-scrolling interface, Revel 1.2 also adds shortcuts to view the favorite items from a set, and browse a day in a more convenient grid mode that you can activate with a button, or by swiping to the right across a day’s photos. Photos can be assigned to an event, and photos from a different day – Revel is still largely based on a chronological visualization of your photo library – can be merged into an existing event. While updating the app with new events for my old photos, I noticed that, whilst graphics and images look better on the Retina display, photo thumbnails look slightly pixellated.

Viewing modes have been revamped as well. You can now view all photos, events by date or name, or photos that haven’t been uploaded yet. On the sharing’s side, you can now select multiple photos at once, and choose to share them, save them back to the Camera Roll, or delete them.

While still lacking several of the functionalities seen in desktop photo managers like iPhoto (you can’t sort people’s faces, view locations, and create albums), Revel offers a very intuitive and reliable sync mechanism that makes sure all your photos and changes are always kept in sync across devices, something even Apple’s own iPhoto doesn’t do yet. Revel 1.2 is a free download on the App Store, with monthly subscriptions starting at $5.99 through iTunes. Adobe Revel 1.2 has also been released for OS X, and it’s available on the Mac App Store.

Kickstarter: Pebble, an E-Paper Watch for the iPhone

People love to fit their iPod nanos with a super sweet watch band. With its nice watch face and music on the fly, it’s a very attractive piece to add to your Apple nerdware. The Nano “iWatch” could be improved when it comes to its wrist functionality though. Pebble Technology from Palo Alto, California, is not only improving wrist technology but incorporating our smartphones with the Pebble watch, “it’s infinitely customizable, with beautiful downloadable watch faces and useful internet-connected apps.” Pebble connects to our iPhones via Bluetooth and sends information through silent vibrations for incoming calls, emails, messages, and more.

Pebble can easily be customized by adding apps (via the iPhone Pebble app) to be used for cyclists, runners, controlling music, a golf rangefinder and infinitely more apps via the SDK that they have also developed. The Pebble also has customizeable watch faces (much like the iPod nano) to fit each owner’s unique style. The watch will also come in 4 colors - arctic white, jet black, cherry red and one to be voted on my Kickstarter backers.

Video after the break. Read more