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All Things Digital: Don’t Hold Your Breath For iTunes Cloud Tomorrow

Uh oh, here’s what Peter Kafka from All Things D has to say about Apple’s teaser on its homepage and the big iTunes announcement tomorrow:

I’ll be very surprised if it is music related — like a new music subscription service, or even one that lets you stream music you already own to multiple devices. The music industry sources I’ve talked to so far today don’t know of any new deals between Apple and the big music labels. So that would rule out a new subscription service, which would definitely require a new rights deal.

And that also makes it very unlikely that Apple does the next best thing: Letting users upload their iTunes catalog to the cloud, and letting them access it anywhere they want.

It’s getting trickier. Speculation continues.

How To Change Your iPhone’s Default Browser

Last week I installed a new universal browser for iPhone and iPad called “iCab” which I’m going to review soon here on MacStories. The browser is so good I wondered if there was a way to force iOS to open links from any app using iCab instead of Safari. I know it’s not a recommended move and it might turn out to be pretty problematic in the future, plus I actually had tried to override Safari a few times in the past.

I didn’t know a tweak to change the iPhone’s default browser had been released in Cydia until I stumbled upon iCab’s excellent feature and decided to google that again. Browser Changer, available for free in Cydia, does just that: it replaces Mobile Safari as your iPhone default browser. Read more

Filopanti: Simple Time Zone Conversion Tool for iPhone

Being based in Italy, I have to deal with the fact that stuff happens in the US and I’m in a different time zone. I stay up late at night, and news keep coming in. Also, I have to consider time zone differences when setting up online meetings with developers, writers and casual contacts. Up until today, I used a neat web app called Every Time Zone which comes with an iPad-specific viewport and allows me to quickly check on various time zones worldwide.

Filopanti, however, might be a simpler solution I can fire up at any time to quickly check on U.S. time zone –namely San Francisco’s time. With a straightforward and elegant UI Filopanti lets you pick two different cities and compare their time zones. Read more

“Exciting Announcement from iTunes” Coming Tomorrow

Oh, look what we have here. Apple just updated its homepage on apple.com to include this banner, which states an “exciting announcement” from iTunes is coming tomorrow at 7 AM PST. “Tomorrow is just another day. That you’ll never forget” – that’s quite a thing to write up on Apple’s homepage.

We know that iOS 4.2 should drop tomorrow at 10 AM PST, and we know that iPhone and iPad users will be able to download the software update using iTunes. Will Apple change the system underlying the whole software update process? But then again, how would that be something we’ll never forget? It definitely must be something else than iOS 4.2-related rumors.

What comes to mind if the long-awaited “iTunes in the cloud”, based on that huge data center Apple is building in North Carolina. Apple could deploy a cloud-based sync and streaming solution for apps and media, or the rumored iTunes subscription service for music. The possibilities are really endless, and it’s just up to Apple and how much they’re willing to deploy in the first version of “the new iTunes”. What we’re sure of is, Steve Jobs doesn’t hype something so much unless it’s totally revolutionary and breakthrough. So the cloud would be, in my opinion, the most plausible answer.

We’ll check back tomorrow at 7 AM PST. Is there going to be a live streaming of the announcement, anyway? Or just text and screenshots? We’ll keep you posted as we find out more.

Update: more speculation here.

The iPadification of OS X – Part II→

The iPadification of OS X – Part II

iOS and OS X may share some DNA, but irreconcilable differences remain. The two OSs serve two different usage models. As a result, Apple is likely to grow them separately instead of trying to bastardize iOS into a one-OS-fits-all. If we have doubts, we can go back and look at what happened with Windows shoehorned onto a Tablet PC.

So: Now that I’ve taken both sides—Yes, iOS will be the Apple OS; No, it won’t—what do I really believe? I think it’s a matter of numbers and layers of software silt.

Think about it: iOS 5 and Lion could come out together sometime next summer.

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Steve Jobs: iOS and OS X Keynote Presentations Coming To Apple TV

According to a recent email from Steve Jobs to a user asking whether the Apple TV would be able to display Keynote presentations at some point, iOS and OS X presentations are coming “soon” to the Apple TV.

“Soon”, as in Keynote ‘11 for Mac and an updated iPad version? That would be an option, or maybe a simple update to the existing iWork suite to support the feature. Speaking of which, that would be something like AirPlay for presentations, right? It makes perfect sense to be able to output presentations on a bigger screen powered by the Apple TV in an Apple-focused office environment, although the functionality wouldn’t obviously be that big of a deal for “home workers”.

Anyway, we’re looking forward to new AirPlay feature, iWork ‘11 or whatever a Steve Jobs email can tell us about new things coming to Apple devices.

The Future Of Writing On Tablets→

The Future Of Writing On Tablets

iPad is often described as a “lean-back” device, which is wrong. It’s a lean-back device, if you are in a lean-back situation where you read. But it also works as a lean-forward device. It works for writing if it’s optimized.

The lean-forward/lean-back change is hard on the iPad, but if you have a program that helps you just do one certain task, iPad can be useful. It’s that single-mode atmosphere that makes the iPad fun and strange at the same time.

Reading works well, but writing works well too if it’s just input and not editing.

The first wave of iPad apps was mostly made of bigger iPhone apps. The second wave saw Flipboard, Writer and OmniFocus coming to our tablets. The third wave is going to be real fun.

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