Posts in news

Microsoft’s Silverlight To Gain iOS Support in 2011

At the Silverlight Firestarter event two days ago, Microsoft announced a new version of its cross-platform runtime and development platform, Silverlight. The new version, dubbed Silverlight 5, will see a first public beta release in the second quarter of 2011, with a final release to follow before the end of next year.

Silverlight 5 will focus on better, more interactive media experiences for Microsoft’s suite of business application; Redmond’s giant wants to offer a technology that will help developers create great user experiences. While we don’t know about developers’ support for the platform, it’s interesting that the new version of Silverlight will introduce support iOS devices. At the event in Redmond, Microsoft demoed the new Silverlight on an iPad, and confirmed that during 2011 they’ll roll out support for iOS and Windows Phone 7.

Good luck with the HTML5 and Flash competition, Microsoft.

[iSpazio via CMSWire]

Primo Power Core - A Battery Pack For All

PhoneSuit has just released a new accessory that works for any of your iDevices called the Primo Power Core Battery Back. The Primo Power Core is a “personal, portable, pocket-sized power plant”. It has an impressive 8200mAh capacity battery in a small, lightweight package and enough power to fully charge most mobile devices multiple times on a single charge. The Primo Power Core features automatic amp-switching technology so that your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Classic, Nano or other competing devices are charging at the fastest rates possible. Plug it in to extend movie watching, music or podcast listening, surfing the web, or playing video games.

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iFan - For Those Hot Summer Nights

Not everyone has the iPhone 4, with its improved lithium-polymer battery that lets you work longer, play longer … you get the point. I charge my phone every night and even throughout the daytime to keep it alive. Designer Tjeerd Veenhoven has created the iFan - a piece of hardware / case made from molded soft rubber with a fan on top that recharges your iPhone via windpower. Wrap it around your iPhone and run like the wind; or maybe the bike mount concept appeals to you more.

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Apple Now Featuring “Holiday Apps & Games” In The App Store Homepage

With Christmas just around the corner, Apple decided it was about time to start featuring holiday-related apps and games in the App Store. After all, they’ve been doing this for music and movies in the iTunes Store for a few weeks now, promoting apps sounded like the next most obvious step. So here they are, grouped together in a nice section Apple is featuring with a simple and elegant in the iPhone and iPad App Store homepages.

This is a direct link to the new section. As of right now, apps such as Angry Birds Seasons, Christmas Sudoku HD and Talking Santa for iPad are included.

We’re pretty sure more will come in the next weeks, and we think it’s a very nice way to put apps parents and kids will find interesting in this time of the year under Apple’s spotlight.

White iPhone Spotted In A Bar

Following in the footsteps of Gizmodo, we have our own bar stories to share with the general public. Or at least some spy shots of Apple’s unicorn-status white iPhone 4. While there aren’t any scandalous stories about sex and espionage (I wish there was), we do have some sexy finger photos after the break.

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Apple Silently Discontinues Compact Wired Keyboard

Introduced in 2009 together with a new iMac line, the “compact” Apple wired keyboard was basically identical to the standard wireless keyboard but it also featured two USB ports on its sides. As noted by AppleInsider, that keyboard has been quietly discontinued by Apple, as it is not offered as an option on the online store anymore.

Part number is MB869LLA, and it’s still available on some retailer websites – until they run out of stock, I guess. Apple’s wireless keyboard that ships by default with every new desktop Mac is available here at $69.

Apple Looking For iAd HTML5 Engineer

Just ahead of the launch of European iAds (although we still haven’t managed to find the Renault iAd running on any app) and the Japanese rollout in 2011, a new job posting on Apple’s website reveals that the iAd team is looking for a skilled HTML5 engineer “to help build iAd’s HTML5-based platform for rich content”.

The job posting, which among requirements lists extensive CSS3 knowledge and preferred WebKit development, also confirms that members of the iAd team will have to collaborate “with many groups outside iOS engineering”, namely content publishers who need assistance with the iAd JS framework and user interface design teams at Cupertino.

With the release of iOS 4.2 many expected iAd campaigns to become available on iPad apps as well, but, in spite of the changes in iAd’s framework to support the tablet’s screen, advertisements on the iPad are still nowhere to be seen.

iTunes Connect “Sales & Trends” Down For Developers

We received several tips from developers this morning informing us that “iTunes Connect was down”. We just checked, iTunes Connect works just fine but the “Sales and Trends” section (where developers can check on detailed reports of their app sales in the Store) is down.

When trying to access it (link), iTC returns the following error:

Your access is in the process of being set up, please return in 24 hours.

It seems like a maintenance routine that will be finished by tomorrow or later today, but we can speculate Apple will also roll out smaller improvements to the Sales interface once it goes back online. Anyway, developers, don’t worry: it’s not just you. It’s down for everyone, you just have to wait.

The Sales and Trends page is also unaccessible from the iTC mobile application.

Update: many developers are reporting Sales and Trends are back up. It sure is for us now.