Earlier this year, web reading service and platform Readability found itself in the middle of a debate regarding Apple’s newly launched subscriptions for apps and in-app purchasing rules, which forced the developers of Readability – a web-based tool to organize and read articles found online – to either follow Apple’s guidelines and give a 30% of their revenue to the company, or give up on the idea of having a native iOS client for iPhone and iPad. Because Readability’s unique twist was that, with a monthly fee, 70% of the revenue would go to the publishers of articles consumed through Readability, the developers decided to change direction and create a full-featured HTML5 app with offline access and most of the features they originally planned for the native Readability app. Readability’s revamped service was promising, but its developers didn’t expect subscriptions and in-app purchase rules to apply to them. And so they chose HTML5.

Today, however, Readability is announcing major changes to the platform, which include a new price point: free. Users that still want to support publishers will be able to create a Premium subscription that will also give them “additional features”; Readability says that going free will allow more people to enjoy the service, and solidify Readability as a platform for web reading.

With this release, Readability is available at no cost. Sign-up and you’ll have your own profile and reading list in no time. Both Readability accounts and our companion apps will always be completely free, but we also offer a premium experience for users who want additional features and an easy way to support their favorite writers and publishers.

Another big change for Readability is that, by going free, this time they have a chance of being approved by Apple. In fact, the developers explain in a blog post that a new iOS app – built in collaboration with Teehan+Lax – has already been submitted to Apple, and is awaiting approval. Considering the aforementioned Premium option for users, we assume it’ll be built directly into the app as well as in-app purchase (as only publishing apps with recurring subscriptions are accepted into Apple’s Newsstand).

Alongside the new iOS app, work continues on Readability’s HTML5 website and the entire Readability feature set, which is now open to developers and publishers willing to ”enrich their own services and apps with Readability.”

Since its re-launch earlier this year, Readability has always looked like a viable alternative to more popular “read later” solutions like Instapaper and Read It Later, both available on the web as well as iOS devices. Currently, Readability comes with an array of browser-based tools such as bookmarklets and a Chrome extension, whilst the website has a landing page for the iOS app “coming soon” for free.
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With a press release, Apple has announced that Arthur D. Levinson is the company’s new non-executive Chairman of the Board. Levinson has been a co-lead director since 2005; Apple also announced Bob Iger, President and CEO of Walt Disney, is joining the board.

Levinson is Genentech’s current Chairman and has served as CEO from 1995 to 2009. Named by BusinessWeek “one of the best managers” in 2004 and 2005, Levinson was a close friend to Steve Jobs and also served as a director of Google until he resigned from the board in 2009. Changes in Apple’s board have already appeared on the company’s Leadership page. Levinson fills the role of Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs, who resigned as CEO in late August, was named Chairman of the Board, and passed away in early October.

As for Iger, Disney’s corporate profile reports:

As President and CEO, Mr. Iger is the steward of the world’s largest media company and some of the most respected and beloved brands around the globe. His strategic vision for The Walt Disney Company focuses on three fundamental aspects: generating the best creative content possible; fostering innovation and utilizing the latest technology; and expanding into new markets around the world. Mr. Iger has built on Disney’s rich history of unforgettable storytelling, with the acquisition of Pixar (2006) and Marvel (2009), two of the entertainment industry’s greatest storytellers. Always one to embrace new technology, Mr. Iger has made Disney an industry leader at the forefront of offering its creative content across new and multiple platforms.

Readers of the official Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson may be already familiar with Bob Iger, who is often quoted in Steve Jobs’ negotiations between Pixar and Disney.

Press release after the break. [image via] Read more

Just two weeks ago we covered iPhone URL schemes, those native URLs specific to iOS applications like Facebook or Twitter that can be used to launch an app’s section (Facebook’s Messages view, Twitter’s Mentions tab) with a single tap. As it turns out, however, URL schemes aren’t exclusive to third-party apps that have implemented them, as Apple is using the same system to assign a unique URL to specific sections in the iOS Settings app. Which means that, in theory, you should be able to easily launch Bluetooth settings or iCloud’s control panel by tapping on a link.

Of all the solutions that have surfaced in the past weeks to create Home screen shortcuts for Settings without jailbreaking a device, I’d say IconSettings is the most clever, nicest and easiest to use. As noted by Engadget, you just visit this webpage, decide which settings panels to turn into Home screen icons, and manually add a webpage to the Home screen using Safari. That webpage will turn into an icon, which will launch the settings panel you chose from the list. Quite simple.

There’s a catch: whilst jailbreak apps like SBSettings really put iOS Settings’ in another location (in SBSettings’ case, a dropdown menu), IconSettings simply creates visual bookmarks for URLs that redirect to the Settings app. And by “redirect” I mean that you’ll briefly notice Safari launching before you’re brought to the selected settings panel you need. This should be no big deal as the animation is very short, but this method will still leave an open tab in your Mobile Safari (remember, you’re still launching a URL). So yes, IconSettings is a pretty cool web-based trick to create Home screen shortcuts for commonly accessed Settings, but keep in mind that Safari will keep track of these URLs.

If you don’t have a jailbroken device and you’re willing to compromise to have Settings shortcuts on your Home screen, check out IconSettings here. Its icons are fairly good-looking, too.