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Apple Thanks Apple Store Employees In Tenth Anniversary Poster

Apple didn’t openly celebrate the tenth anniversary of its retail stores except for using the occasion to role out iPads as an interactive “smart sign”. However it has been noticed that in the back-end of stores, Apple has sent a tenth anniversary poster. The poster is almost philosophical in its review of the past ten years of Apple stores, highlighting the successes, failures, trivial facts and lessons learnt.

Jump the break for a recreated version of the poster, or head to ifoAppleStore for a transcribed copy of the poster. Otherwise, here are some highlights that we thought were interesting:

We’ve learned that a 32’6” transparent glass box can stand tall even among the giants of the Manhattan skyline.That when glass becomes as iconic as the Fifth Avenue Cube, it can also become the fifth most photographed landmark in New York City.

We’ve also learned that getting these details perfect can feel like trying to move a mountain. Sometimes two. But in the end, the effort is worth it. Because steel, glass, and stone can combine to create truly unique and inspiring spaces.

We’ve learned that a visit to the Genius Bar can fix more than just computers. It can also restore a customer’s relationship with Apple

We’ve found that when we wear black T-shirts, we blend in. And when we wear too many colors it’s confusing. But blue shirts are just right. We’ve also learned that it takes precisely 4,253 stitches to embroider the Apple logo on those blue shirts. And we even figured out which direction the stitches should go in.

As beautiful and iconic as our stores may be, the people who create and staff those stores are what matters most. So on this 3,652nd day we say think you to very single one of you. We say thank you to thosewho were there on the first day, to those whose first day is today.

[Via MacRumors]

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Apple Paying Record Companies Up To $150 Million For iCloud

According to The New York Post, Apple will hand over between $100 and $150 million in advance payments to the four major record labels as part of its iCloud deal with them. Each of the four, which includes Sony Music, EMI, Warner Music and Universal, were offered between $25 million and $50 million as incentives to get on board with Apple. The exact figures will ultimately depend on how many tracks consumers end up storing on Apple’s iCloud offering.

Yesterday we reported on the expected initial cost of iCloud, which is rumoured, to be free for the first year and $25 a year after that. The New York Post also notes that Apple will take a 30% cut of fees, the music publishers receiving 12% and the rest to going towards record labels and artists.

We also reported yesterday that Apple had finalised its iCloud deals with Universal Music, which was the hold out record company.  The New York Post also notes that the size of the advance payments was the major stumbling block for Google, which had apparently been negotiating with the music companies before launching its cloud music offering last month. The official iCloud announcement will come on Monday at the WWDC keynote.

[Via The New York Post]

 

Chirpy 2.0 Released, Unifies Twitter DMs In A Single Inbox

Following Twitter’s recent changes to the API for direct messages that will force developers of third-party clients to implement the web-based OAuth authorization scheme instead of the xauth scheme in all apps that want to display DMs, it’s no surprise to see app updates coming out in iTunes sporting “updated to support Twitter DM changes” bullet points in their changelogs. Chirpy 2.0, released earlier today and available now in the App Store, however, doesn’t simply comply to Twitter’s latest rules to display and interact with DMs outside of Twitter’s official software and website: in fact, Chirpy 2.0 is a major rewrite of the original application that I reviewed here, still aimed at providing a standalone, unified inbox for all your Twitter DMs and conversations.

Chirpy is not an app for everyone – if you send a very few DMs a day your default Twitter client will probably be fine. Chirpy is meant for those Twitter users that usually send as many DMs as email messages – I’ve talked about the importance of instant, private communication in my workflow before, and since I exchange around 30-50 DMs with my coworkers and friends every day, having a Twitter client with a great DM interface it’s a fundamental requirement for me. However, if you’re serious about direct messages, Chirpy offers the same choice you would have when dealing with a web browser that can send emails Vs. an actual email client: will you be fine managing DMs in your client that already does everything else, or would you prefer a separate solution to send, read, manage and share DMs? Chirpy 2.0 builds on the strong foundation of the first version to provide a single inbox for all your conversations, with the possibility to add multiple accounts and receive push notifications without installing a dedicated app like Boxcar. Chirpy 2.0 brings support for the iPhone 4’s Retina Display, alongside profile pictures in the inbox and conversation views. In the settings, you can now customize the colors of the app’s chat bubbles – I’m fine with the default color set but I can see why some users would like to tweak it a little.

Together with several “small refinements and improvements”, Chirpy 2.0 features two new important functionalities: Dropbox image sharing and inbox search. The latter is pretty obvious (it lets you search for keywords in all your conversations), whilst Dropbox uploads will require you to log in with your account, and create a sub-folder in your Public directory. After this you’ll be able to upload pictures, share them with your contacts and even preview them inline in the conversation view. Other minor additions include email sharing for entire conversations (nicely formatted for the iPhone’s screen, too), possibility to delete DMs from your account, and copy & paste. In my tests, I’ve noticed Chirpy’s push notifications were a few seconds slower than Boxcar – which remains the fastest way of being notified of new Twitter DMs on the iPhone and iPad.

Overall, Chirpy 2.0 is a solid and stable update for an app that targets Twitter power-users who spend a lot of time DM’ing people on a daily basis. For those who need a “Twitter DM client” living outside the main “timeline client”, Chirpy is the best option available on the App Store.

OS X Lion Server to be a Separate Download from the Mac App Store

In light of today’s events, Hardmac reports that the server component to OS X Lion will be offered as a separate download through the Mac App Store. In the Lion betas, developers had to decide whether or not to install OS X Server during the initial Lion installation, but a Help menu in Lion suggests that users will need to download the Server app from the App Store, before running additional setup from the applications folder that will pull in a “Server Essentials” software package to configure their Macs as a server.  It’s not yet known how much Lion Server will cost as an addition to OS X Lion, but Lion’s competitive pricing should make the Server compliment affordable to anyone who needs VPN, wiki, or file sharing for the iPad and iPhone.

[via Hardmac]

iCloud Detailed: Initially Free with iTunes Purchase, $25 a Year Subscription

The Los Angeles Times details the undisclosed features of iCloud, which has been reported by Apple to be a significant staple in Monday’s WWDC keynote. The LA Times reports that iCloud will initially be offered free with a purchase from the iTunes Store, meaning a digital download may fetch you free online storage or perhaps a free subscription, similar to Amazon’s current offering where they offer free cloud storage for a year with an album purchase (many took advantage of Lady Gaga’s $.99 album for this additional deal). Users will want to build their libraries relatively quickly, and the subscription is said to be available at as little as $25 per year. CNet previously suggested that the service wouldn’t be free, but could be around $20 a year. This looks like it’ll be a little of both as Apple introduces users to the service.

The LA Times says Apple initially plans to allow consumers to store their data on Apple’s servers, and would like to offer much more than music in the realm of movies, television, and and other digital content through iCloud’s publishing platform. Whether that storage involves uploading your own media or having iTunes scan your library is currently unknown, but we’re hoping for the latter.

The agreements, finalized this week, call for Apple to share 30% of any revenue from iCloud’s music service with record labels, as well as 12% with music publishers holding the songwriting rights. Apple is expected to keep the remaining 58%, said people knowledgeable with the terms.

The report comes when Apple’s network devices are reported to be ready for an upgrade, perhaps providing some form of iCloud caching for media playback. Apple just sealed the deal with Universal Music Group, and now with iCloud details leaking (as well as iCloud branding), it’ll be hard to keep the Lion in its cage over the weekend.

[via Los Angeles Times]

Kickstarter Project: Red Pop - A Big, Red, Juicy Camera Button For Your iPhone

We love iPhoneography at MacStories. Accessories, apps, pictures of our pets, you name it, we’ve probably seen it or tried it. Until now. Beep Industries was created in early 2011 by Brendan Dawes and Lou Cordwell in Manchester, UK. Lou and Bren decided to form this new product focused company, along with 2 others, and they design their own original products which they make and sell.

Their newest product is called Red Pop, an iPhone accessory that adds a physical shutter button and grip to your iPhone 4 - simply plug the iPhone 4 into the 30-pin dock connector. Beep created the Red Pop because they believe the experience of using the iPhone 4 as a camera could be improved. It’s not perfect: it’s very flat and there’s no physical shutter button to give you that feel of a traditional camera. Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to tap the on screen button without looking so Beep thought they would bring the button back.

See the promo video and more pictures after the break. Read more

Apple Seals the Deal with Universal Music for iCloud

Greg Sandoval on CNet reports that Apple has sealed the deal with Universal Music Group this afternoon, which gives the Apple the biggest selection of content from their previous deals. With Universal on board, Apple now has all four of the major record labels including EMI, Sony and WMG,  available for its upcoming iCloud service, and all that’s left is to pull the trigger on the upcoming service. Universal Music contains many popular artists such as Kanye West and Lady Gaga, and while Apple still has some work to do when it comes to publishers, they’re all but guaranteed to be offering a huge music selection in the cloud. As Peter Kafka explained earlier, publishers own various compositions, and require different terms and payment in terms of online distribution.

[via CNet]

iCloud Logo Spotted at Moscone Center

 

Apple started the WWDC 2011 preparations at the Moscone Center a few days ago – we tweeted pictures of the Apple logo and outside banners going up, though we weren’t able to see what Apple was working on inside the conference building. As tweeted by @stop, the photo above shows the official logo / icon of iCloud that Apple will unveil at the WWDC keynote on Monday.

What do you think? Judging from a first photo, it looks like iCloud is going to replace MobileMe entirely – several rumors in the past weeks claimed iCloud would be a service within MobileMe, but from the looks of the icon it appears iCloud will simply replace Apple’s previous cloud offering.

We should receive more photos from Moscone Center later today and we’ll update this story with the new shots. Look past the break for more updates!

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App Stores and iTunes Showing Trouble Worldwide [Update: Back Online!]

If you wanted to download Angry Birds, take a gander at Apple’s new WWDC app, or download Lady Gaga’s newest album, you may have noticed that iTunes and the App Store ecosystems are failing to download or accept purchases worldwide. While content may still be accessible to browse, Engadget first noticed that the podcast section of iTunes has gone offline, followed by failure by many to download apps from the iOS and Mac App Stores. The most common issue right now is that users can’t download apps from the iPhone or iPad, with symptoms of slow loading times, download failures, and general errors popping up in several countries worldwide. Several users are reporting problems, so either Apple is working on the backend (perhaps this service disruption as something to do with iCloud), or a server or two have decided to bite the dust at the wrong time. Apple Discussion forums such as this one are starting to crop up during this moment of inconvenience, and we’ll keep you updated as the afternoon progresses.

[Updating…]

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