Posts in news

Apple Planning Media Event to be Held in New York at the End of January, Says All Things D [Update!]

While a highly anticipated iPad 3 and iTV are expected by the mainstream media to be unveiled later this year, it’s a forthcoming event at the end of this month that could kick off another year full of surprises from Apple. Unrelated to the rumored products, Kara Swisher from All Things D writes that Apple is planning a media-focused event to be held in New York City at the end of the month, possibly pertaining to advertising or publishing deals.

According to sources “close to the situation”, Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue is reported to be involved in the announcement. Eddy Cue oversees Apple’s wide media domain, including the iBookstore, iTunes, iAds, and Apple’s iCloud services. Cue unveiled News Corp.’s online magazine, The Daily, at a media event in NYC last February.

Media is the key word in Swisher’s announcement, and while it’s possible that the upcoming event could detail some new deals for iTunes Match (perhaps for video), a sole event will promise and detail a longterm vision of Apple’s content strategy. As we saw with the international iTunes Match rollouts, I can’t see Apple using this event to make that that announcement. Siri currently has limitations outside the United States, but that too doesn’t seem like it would constitute its own event if it were to gain better international support. Apple is paving the way for something special, and if you asked me, I’m hoping Apple is starting to sit down with digital publishers to help create tools and develop experiences that are standardized and fluid on the iPad.

[via All Things D]

Update: Alexia Tsotsis from TechCrunch writes that she has independently confirmed Apple’s January event, which will be focused on the iBooks platform. While the details are still relatively unknown, the industry-oriented event will focus on publishing and eBooks. Alexia claims that the event itself isn’t “major,” meaning there will be no product launches. It is expected that improvements to the iBooks platform will be unveiled.

Apple To Appeal Italian Regulator’s Fine Over Warranties

Earlier this week it was reported by Reuters that the Italian anti-trust regulator had fined Apple a total of US$1.2 million for failing to adequately inform its customers about their rights to product guarantees and assistance. Today Apple has responded to the decision, telling The Register that it will be appealing the decision - believing that Apple has complied with all Italian laws.

The Italian regulators claim that Apple Sales International, Apple Italia and Apple Retail Italia all failed to give customers appropriate information about their rights to two years of free assistance that is available to them due to Italian law. Specifically the issue arises because the “AppleCare Protection Plan” that Apple sells and encourages customers to purchase, overlaps with what is already provided by Italian law.

Apple is also facing another anti-trust investigation in the EU over Ebooks. The Register’s article today is also well worth the read on their relationship with Apple’s PR group, because it seems as though the recent Christmas holiday has renewed the once frosty relationship between the two organizations.

[via Reuters, The Register]

Zephyr Jailbreak Tweak Enables Cohesive iPhone Multitasking Gestures

The iPad brought four (or five) finger gestures for multitasking in iOS 5, but due to the screen size, the iPhone didn’t receive the same gestures. Today however, Grant Paul (known more commonly as chpwn) has released a jailbreak tweak that brings gestures to the iPhone for those same multitasking functions.

The tweak, named Zephyr, is available on the Cydia store and is currently made up of two key gestures. The first is based on Max Rudberg’s concept video from earlier this month, and is essentially a single finger swipe up from the bottom of the screen (ie. the Notification Center gesture but from the bottom of the screen, moving up) and it reveals the multitasking tray. The second gesture is swiping in from the sides of the iPhone screen, allowing you to go back to your last opened app and then back again.

Emulating the gesture functions of the iPad and iOS 5, this Zephyr tweak looks and works really well and it’s clear that Paul took the time and effort to perfect how it works. It’s available for jailbroken devices for $2.99 on the Cydia store. Unlike some other, similar tweaks, Zephyr does not require Activator or other jailbreak tweaks to work.

Paul says he is looking to update the tweak with more gestures and actions in the future, including perhaps a gesture to exit to the home screen (as is possible with the iPad on iOS 5). You can view a demonstration of the tweak below the break.

Read more

MacStories Apps Of 2011: Reader’s Choice Winners

We’ve had a great response to our search for the best iPhone App, iPad App, Mac App and iOS/Mac Game with votes numbering in the thousands and people really excited about the huge giveaway that we ran alongside the vote. We’ve given away most of the codes but the final winners will be emailed over the next few days, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

We’ve tallied the votes and figured out who you, our readers, have deemed as the best apps and games of iOS and Mac. The winners may be largely what is expected, but it is interesting to see who the runner-ups were - there are a few interesting results there.

Just a quick note to all those who voted; thank you! We didn’t know whether you would embrace this idea or not, and we’re thrilled that so many of you voted and that we got such a large sample of our reader’s opinions on the best apps and games of 2011.

Jump the break to find out who all those winners and runner-ups all are.

Read more

Best Apps Of 2011: Final Chance To Vote & Enter Our Huge Giveaway

UPDATE: Voting is now closed. Winners will be announced tomorrow, Saturday 24th of December.

Last Friday we opened up the poll’s, to hear what you thought was the best iPhone, iPad and Mac App - as well as the best Game for the Mac/iOS from 2011. As part of it, we put together the biggest giveaway we have ever run on MacStories - with around 250 codes to give away.

We’ve had a great response with votes numbering in the thousands and people have loved the huge giveaway. But now we are on the home stretch, as of posting there are just 10 hours left of voting, with the poll closing at 7:00 PM EST (New York time) tonight. Click here to see how long away, exactly, that is.

So if you haven’t yet voted, get a move on and vote right now - you’ll also go in the running for some of the apps we are giving away today — the final day of the giveaway! We’re giving away some truly excellent apps today, in fact, a spectacular bunch of apps:

  • Tweetbot (iPhone)
  • Fantastical (Mac)
  • Reeder (Mac)
  • Pixelmator (Mac)
  • PDF Expert (iPad)
  • Reckless Getaway (iOS)
  • Ecoute (Mac)
  • iA Writer (Mac)
  • AirServer (Mac)
  • Triple-Pack Bundle: Mr. Reader (iPad), iA Writer (iPad), AirServer (Mac)

View more details on how to enter the giveaway
View all the short listed apps

 

Real Racing 2 Now Also Available On The Mac App Store

Firemint’s hit iPhone and iPad game, Real Racing 2, has today launched on the Mac App Store. The game features the same campaign mode, tracks and cars as the iPhone and iPad versions but also allows you to optionally use an iPhone or iPad as a controller.

The most critically-acclaimed iOS racing game comes to the Mac Store! Featuring visually-stunning graphics and state-of-the-art handling, experience the excitement, competition and glory of authentic championship racing with Real Racing 2.

BURN RUBBER ON YOUR MAC!
Take control of the wheel with your iPhone or iPad – or use your Mac to steer your way to first place!

It’s the latest iOS game to be ported over to the Mac and distributed through the Mac App Store, which Firemint itself has previously done with Flight Control. It’s something that wasn’t very common just 12 months ago when the Mac App Store was yet to launch and demonstrates how the ease of use and popularity of the store has led to a surge of casual games being launched on the Mac - where previously it was thought that there was an insufficient audience for it to be practical.

The game weighs in at over 700 MB and costs $12.99 on the Mac App Store (non-US users can purchase it via this link). Jump the break for the full release notes.

Read more

Evernote Releases Skitch for iPad

Skitch is a popular tool for annotating screenshots and images with the ability to quickly share them with others. It was purchased by Evernote back in August of this year and today they are proud to present Skitch for iPad.

Skitch is the amazingly fun and surprisingly powerful way to move your ideas and projects forward using fewer words. With Skitch, annotate and draw on just about anything that you see, whether it’s a new or existing photo, a webpage, screenshot, map, or a blank canvas. Then, share your work with friends, colleagues or save it all to Evernote. It couldn’t be simpler.

Skitch for iPad has a handful of useful features as well as some not so useful features, all of which are housed in the very common “home screen” style interface. I am not personally a fan of apps that lump their main features in to a grid of large square icons. I think it is a lazy approach to user experience on a touch screen device. The fonts, colors and images used for the layout elements makes the entire app feel like a cartoon. After all the featured icons are the thumbnails of the drawings you have added. To remove them you have to tap and hold like you would expect to do on a home screen except the icons don’t jiggle as an indication. Because of this, it feels like an unfinished implementation. When you are finished removing images you can’t just tap in an empty area of the screen like you would with an actual home screen, you have to find the tiny Done button on the bottom corner of the screen. These are certainly not a huge issues, just more like disappointments and it all goes back to the lack of thought that went in to the design of this app.

Read more

Steve Jobs to be Honored by The Recording Academy with a Trustees Award

The Recording Academy has announced its 2012 Special Merit Awards recipients; Steve Jobs, Dave Bartholomew, and Rudy Van Gelder are expected to be formally awarded a Trustees Award on February 11th, 2012, during a special invitation-only ceremony. The Trustees Award is awarded by the Recording Academy’s National Trustees to those who have made significant contributions (other than performances) to the recording industry.

Steve Jobs transformed the music industry when he unveiled the first iPod in 2001. The iTunes Store was unveiled almost two years later in April, 2003, ushering in a world of digital music that could be immediately downloaded and synced to Apple’s portable MP3 players. In 2010, Apple announced that they had surprased 10 billion songs downloaded from the iTunes Store. Steve Jobs was known for his love of Bob Dylan, and Apple recently succeeded on adding The Beatles to iTunes. Steve Jobs was also nominated by NBC News’ Brian Williams to be 2011’s Person of the Year.

“This year’s honorees offer a variety of brilliance, contributions and lasting impressions on our culture,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. “It is an honor to recognize such a diverse group of individuals whose talents and achievements have had an indelible impact on our industry.”

The Recording Academy also announced recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award category which includes Allman Brothers Band, Antonio Carlos Jobin, Diana Ross, George Jones, Gil Scott-Heron, Glen Campbell, and the Memphis Horns.

Formally, the 54th annual GRAMMY awards will be televised by CBS at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 12th.

[Grammy.com & Mercury News]

 

 

Apple Rolls Out New “Complete My Season” Feature, Improves “Complete My Album”

Over the past 24 hours Apple has introduced “Complete My Season” for iTunes TV shows and has improved its existing “Complete My Album” feature. The “Complete My Season” feature enables users who have purchased some episodes from a TV season to purchase the rest of the season using the “Season Pass” but at a reduced price that takes into account the already purchased episodes. It allows users to easily purchase all the episodes of a TV season with effectively one click and not having to worry about purchasing one of the episodes again, when you already own it.

However it appears as though the feature may be limited to those in the US iTunes Store - I checked on my TV purchases in the Australian Store and was unable to utilise this feature, similarly, it appears not to be enabled in the UK. If you live outside the US and do have access to this new iTunes feature, please let us know in the comments below.

The similar feature for music albums, “Complete My Album” (which has been available for a few years) also received a nice update today. Previously, this feature could only be used in the first 180 days since purchasing a song from an album. Today MacRumors notes that Apple has revised the support document about the feature, noting that there is no longer any reference to the 180 day limit (see below for current statement).

How long do I have to take advantage of Complete My Album?

When you buy individual songs from any qualifying album, you can complete the album at any time, as long as the album is available for sale on the iTunes Store.

[Via MacRumors (1) (2)]