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Apple Begins International Launch Of iTunes Match [Updated]

This morning in Europe and Australia, Apple is rolling out iTunes Match a month after its US debut. Canadian, Australian, English, and our European friends are starting to see iTunes Match come online this evening, although customers trying to subscribe to the service early are currently getting an error as shown off by one Twitter user. While iTunes Match is not currently being promoted in the iTunes Store, users are able to subscribe to iTunes Match through Account Management.

Currently, the pricing for iTunes Match is as follows:

  • Australia: AU $34.99
  • Canada: CAD $27.99
  • Europe: €24.99
  • United Kingdom: £21.99

Today’s launch follows Apple’s iTunes Store and iTunes Match rollout out in Brazil on December 13th.

iTunes Match is an annual subscription service that matches an unlimited number of songs purchased from iTunes, and up to 25,000 of your own songs for immediate download on all of your iOS 5 devices. Songs that are scanned and not matched by iTunes are also uploaded to the cloud from your iTunes library. Apple’s matched tracks are downloaded as 256 Kbps AAC files, possibly offering a free DRM-free upgrade for existing, lower bit-rate tracks in your library.

For more information about how to get iTunes Match running on all of your Apple devices, be sure to check out our iTunes Match Hands On.

Update: It appears Apple’s international launch was premature. Apple is refunding customers who managed to subscribe in countries outside of the U.S. and Brazil, according to Darrell Etherington of GigaOM.

Update 2: It’s officially live!

The Humble Indie Bundle #4

The Humble Bundle has debuted their 4th charity bundle for the American Red Cross and Child’s Play, giving gamers an opportunity to pay what they want for a handful of indie games that are DRM-free while donating to two great causes. This holiday’s Humble Indie Bundle includes Super Meat Boy, Cave Story +, Bit.Trip Runner, Gratuitous Space Battles, Shank, NightSky HD, and Jamestown if you pay more than the average amount donated. Donations for the Red Cross, Child’s Play, the game developers, and the Humble Bundle folks themselves can be adjusted before checkout. All gamers are given access to a special key where they can download the games on any platform of their choice, whether it be Windows, Mac, or Linux. If you’d like to gift the Humble Bundle to a relative or a friend as a holiday gift, simply check that option before checking out with PayPal, Amazon Payments, or Google Checkout.

[via The Humble Mumble]

Gmail for iOS Updated with a New Notification Sound, Better Labeling, and a Whiteboard

Google’s official Gmail app for iOS is was quickly taken off the App Store when it first launched due to a notification bug, and while many of us are still waiting for a proper implementation (banners anyone?), Google’s decided to tweak the default chime for something more recognizable in the meantime. Instead of one iOS’ default dings, Gmail’s notification alert has been replaced with a chime that sounds like you’ve collected a coin from a 16-bit video game. Perhaps that’s the only thing to love about Gmail’s latest update if you’re a consistent user, as the addition of mobile signature support and a vacation responder aren’t too exciting. These features can be accessed via the gear icon at the top of the menu view.

Google’s gone ahead an improved labels with nested label support, better organizing the collection of labels you’ve set-up for the mobile interface.

But perhaps the oddball new feature (which doesn’t make much sense to me) is the addition of a whiteboard (Google calls it a canvas) that you can doodle on. Anything you draw, sketch, or write can be customized with different colors, brush sizes, lines, and paint. When finished, you can attach these doodles to your outgoing message.

Google does address one of my main complaints:

Behind the scenes, we’re continuing to work on highly requested features like banner notifications, multiple login support and the ability to send-as from any account already configured in Gmail. We want to make sure these are done right as we continue to improve the Gmail app.

Now that’s the update we’re looking forward to. I don’t know if the whiteboard is something we needed, but bug fixes and a more recognizable notification chime are certainly welcome.

[via the Official Gmail Blog]

Apple Brings Concept Artist Jan-Michael Cart Aboard as an Intern

You’ve probably seen at least one of Jan-Michael Cart iOS concept videos in the past, including this fantastic iMessage app concept for the Mac, or his conceptualization of dictation on the iPhone 4S. His YouTube channel is full of bright ideas on how iOS can progress with a variety of new features, and it seems his impressive repertoire of concept videos have landed him a gig at Apple itself. “It’s Official. UI/UX design.” Cart will begin at Apple as an intern while keeping his friends and family updated on his WordPress blog.

Welcome to the new blog section of my website. Soon I will be embarking to California, where I will be interning at a fruit company for seven months. I will be updating this to chronicle my adventures and misadventures in the Bay Area for my family, friends, and followers online. Stay tuned, I leave in less than a month!

This isn’t the first time Apple has acquired talent from the iOS community, hiring the developer of MobileNotifier, Peter Hajas, earlier this year. Congratulations to Cart for a splendid invite at Apple. Hopefully we’ll see his ideas permeate in future iOS updates sooner than later!

[via iPhoneinCanada]

 

Microsoft Continues iOS App Rollout with OneNote for iPad and SkyDrive for iPhone

Microsoft has been rolling out quite a few apps lately, now introducing Microsoft OneNote for the iPad and SkyDrive for the iPhone (and Windows Phone). It looks like Microsoft really is bringing Microsoft Office to the iPad with these notable releases, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. OneNote is a mobile companion for the desktop app (not an addition to), and SkyDrive is Dropbox-esque in its execution. Handy to have with you? You bet. Alternative replacements for the real things? Probably not so much.

Read more

Microsoft Releases their First iOS Game: Kinectimals Now Available in the App Store

Coinciding with the launch of their official Xbox LIVE application for iOS, Microsoft has brought Kinectimals to iOS, giving Xbox 360 owners an opportunity to play the iOS version and unlock up to five new cubs for the Kinect version. Kinectimals, only $2.99 on the App Store, allows gamers to explore the island of Lemuria while caring for and playing with their own virtual cub. At the beginning of the game, players will choose their very own cub to care for, feed, and interact with. Available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and the iPad, Kinectimals brings the same visual flavor of the Xbox 360 version to your mobile devices.

Kinectimals is the first game that Microsoft has brought to iOS, with the incentive that it unlocks more content for the parent game. Kinectimals is its own stand-alone adventure, however, and can be downloaded as a universal app from the App Store.

[Major Nelson (Twitter) via The Verge]

Google Chrome Updates to Support Multiple Users by “Signing In to Chrome”

Before today’s Google Chrome update, the browser was limited to a single user and a basic syncing feature that kept apps, extensions, and bookmarks mirrored between different computers. Today, the sync feature is getting attention in the form of a “Chrome Sign In” that enables Chrome users to instantly sync their session in real time to Google’s cloud. As a replacement for the previous sync, Signing In to Chrome allows you to maintain your own personal Chrome workspace without interfering with someone else’s browser preferences.

Multiple users can Sign In to Chrome, and instantly the browser changes to reflect their setup. However, this doesn’t protect your significant other or nosey roommate from snooping around in your stuff. Signing In to Chrome simply makes convenient the ability to quickly load one’s settings, but it doesn’t protect the workspace from being used by someone else (as anyone can simply click to switch between users). It’s certainly intended to be used in a family setting where multiple people are sharing the computer, not on a public computer in a library.

You’ll likely have the latest Google Chrome update when you either restart or launch your browser this afternoon, and you can manually check for the update by visiting About in the Wrench menu. You can read more about Google Chrome’s latest update on the official Google Chrome Blog.

TextMate 2 Alpha Now Publicly Available for Download

MacroMate’s first alpha build of TextMate 2 is available for download this morning, immediately usable for all registered users who have TextMate licenses. TextMate’s last stable release (1.5.10) was made available on November 18th, 2010, following a September announcement that work had begun on TextMate 2. Michael Sheets promised the the availability of TextMate 2 before the end of December, noting MacroMates was pleased with how it was turning out. With the TextMate 2 release, Allan Odgaard notes that “performance is fine” outside of a few edge cases, and gives a fair warning that TextMate settings and the proof-of-concept bundle editor are currently works-in-progress.

Odgaard writes:

It’s important to stress though that being an alpha release; it is not complete. It has reached a point where it may suit some early adopters and provide some relief to those who have been questioning TextMate’s future. For the time being, the alpha builds are only for people who already have a TextMate license and an Intel Mac.

A list of changes since 1.5.10 can be viewed via the included release notes.

You can download TextMate 2 from the MacroMate’s blog.