AdAge has an interesting article on the risks and challenges advertisers face when displaying ads on mobile devices. Besides the potential that users may never actually tap on your ad, there's also the risk that an advertiser's ads may not display correctly on various devices. If you're an advertiser and that keeps you up at night, you only have one real option for choosing a reliable ad network: Apple's iAds. That's because iAds are the only major mobile ad network yet to be accredited by the Media Ratings Council. As AdAge explains:

Apple's iAd earlier this month became the first major mobile-ad network to be fully accredited by the Media Ratings Council as adhering to the standards the Interactive Advertising Bureau and Mobile Marketing Association jointly released earlier this year.

During the auditing process, iAd demonstrated accurate reporting of impressions, taps, tap-through-rate,...

Apple has officially confirmed that its annual Worldwide Developers Conference will kick off with a keynote presentation on Monday, June 10, where it is expected to showcase iOS 7 and OS X 10.9.   ...

Evernote has added one of the most requested features to its iOS, Mac and Web apps, reminders. Available for all Evernote customers, the new option is represented with an alarm clock icon in the top-right corner of the web and Mac interfaces, and at the bottom of a note in the iOS apps. Reminders saved within the app will provide users with in-app alarms, as well as optional e-mail alerts when a reminder is due. Additionally, notes with reminders are automatically sorted into a new section at the top of the Note list, and can be reorganized by simply dragging them up or down.... ...

Security researchers have identified multiple samples of the recently discovered “KitM” spyware for Mac OS X, including one dating back to December 2012 and targeting German-speaking users.

KitM (Kumar in the Mac), also known as HackBack, is a backdoor-type program that takes unauthorized screen shots and uploads them to a remote command-and-control (C&C) server. It also opens a reverse shell that allows attackers to execute commands on the infected computers.

The malware was initially discovered last week on the Mac laptop of an Angolan activist at the Oslo Freedom Forum, a human rights conference in Norway, by security researcher and privacy activist Jacob Appelbaum.

The most interesting aspect of KitM is that it was signed with a valid Apple Developer ID, a code-signing certificate, issued by Apple to someone named “Rajinder...

Yesterday TUAW showed you how voice search on Chrome for Mac has improved, now providing eerily Siri-like functionality in Google Search. According to a post yesterday on the Google Chrome Blog, the next target for voice search is iOS -- and we should see the update in just a few days.

The update won't require users to point Chrome at the Google home page. Instead, whenever you tap on the omnibox (the combination address/search field), a microphone appears. Tap it, speak your search query, and your results appear in a flash. As with the Chrome for Mac update yesterday, some of the results come back in the form of both a screenful of information and a spoken response.

The Googlers say that the update will also enable "faster reloading of web pages by using the cache more efficiently when...

Following up on its ad from yesterday claiming that the iPad is not a productivity device, Microsoft has posted a new ad pitting Windows 8 tablets against the iPad. Today’s ad focuses on expressing that Windows 8 tablets are better productivity devices with the full Microsoft Office suite rather than just OneNote and multitasking capibilities. Additionally, the Redmond-based company pits a single ASUS tablet’s weight and thinness against the iPad. Additionally, Microsoft shows how that single ASUS tablet includes an SD card reader, and the company claims that Windows 8 printing is more versatile than Apple’s AirPrint. Thanks, Matthew!

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Pandora has updated its iOS app with Facebook Open Graph support, allowing users to share their listening activity directly on the social network. A new "Publish" option has been added to the settings of the iOS app and the web-based player, allowing users to share music from wherever they are. Users are also provided with a number of controls that let them customize what information is shared. Finally, the update also offers an enhanced track menu that can be used to create a new station, as well as share, purchase, and bookmark music.... ...

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is just over the horizon, and many of us are expecting to hear something about the future of Mac OS X. With that in mind, we cast our minds back to last year’s introduction of Mountain Lion. At the time, many of us were excited about features like integration with iMessages, Notification Center, and AirPlay Mirroring, but a year later, how much have they really impacted our lives?

We’d like to hear what you have to say: Do you use these features? Often? Occasionally? Never in a million years? Let us know by filling out the poll below before 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday, May 27. We’ll compile the results and present them next week.

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MacBook Air models, including Apple's popular 11.6-inch, sub-$1,000 offering, continue to go out of stock at Amazon ahead of an anticipated product refresh that's expected to add Intel's latest-generation Haswell processors.  ...

On the heels of Apple CEO Tim Cook's testimony in Washington on the subject of tax policy, Apple is being seen as doubling its spending on lobbying in Washington -- though it would still be a minor player when it comes to tech companies and money flowing to Congressional representatives. According to Reuters, Apple will boost spending to $4 million, about the same as what Facebook spends on lobbying....  ...

Previously believed to launch in late 2013, Apple’s iWatch should arrive in late 2014, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo claims that the iWatch will use a 1.5- or 2-inch display and GF2 touch technology, components similar to ones previously found in the iPod nano and iPad mini,…

The uber popular live music recognition app Shazam has received a major update today. The most noticeable change is a new mapping feature. Now users can explore a map and see what songs are being tagged in what areas of the world. Another major change is that Shazam is now a universal app. Previously there was Shazam for iPhone and Shazam for iPad, but now both apps have been rolled into one.

The iPad side of the new Shazam app has seen significant upgrades as well. Users are now greeted with a beautiful new home screen that allows them to flip through recently tagged songs. Another new feature is Auto Tagging, which tags any audio from TV shows our music playing around you without you having to tap a button. Shazam will even continue to run in the background and continue tagging songs when you leave the app. When you launch it again, everything that was tagged when you were outside the app appears on the...

This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published 26 newly granted patents for Apple, and among them were the Cupertino company's take on a push-to-talk feature and a double-sided touch-sensitive panel, both of which could possibly appear in future iPhones.  ...

The popular Gmail client app Mailbox started life as an iPhone and iPod touch app, but now has iPad support, too. Mailbox hit the App Store earlier this year and proved to be so popular that users had to sign up on a waiting list to get access to its features. The app has since been bought by Dropbox and the waiting list days are behind us. The app gives users more email organizational control that Google offers, can set reminders to check specific messages later, and more. Mailbox is free and is available at Apple's iTunes-based App Store.

Speaking of changing the guitar industry.

Version 2.0 of TextExpander touch, the iOS version of Smile’s text expansion software, offers fill-in snippets, date and time macros, rich text support, and other features familiar to users of the Mac version.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Grover Jackson is one of the pioneers of modern guitars. If I could go pick up any guitar today, it would be one made by Grover.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Evernote on Thursday unveiled a new update for the Web, iOS, and Mac versions of its note-taking service: a new reminders function, which prompts users to make updates and add new notes.

Evernote now lets users prompt themselves to record information.

Macworld was able to take a gander at the Mac version of the new features ahead of launch. Regardless of how you’re used to viewing your notes—card view, expanded cards, snippets, or list view—the Reminders section always shows up in the top of the app’s note list, with a different reminder section available for each of your notebooks. The reminders themselves can be organized by date, by completed items, or by upcoming tasks.

Adding a reminder is simple: Just tap the alarm clock icon in the upper right-hand corner of each note,...

Well, here's something I thought we would never see -- a minor update for Twitter for Mac, which finally brings Notification Center support to the client. You know, it only took just shy of 10 months after the release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion for that to happen. The 2.2.1 update also fixes Growl notifications in Lion and Mountain Lion and squashes several other bugs. But reviews are already coming in saying that the Growl fix doesn't work.

Yes, Twitter for Mac was updated in April, but it languished for a couple years (Twitter for Mac 2.1 was released in May 2011 with a minor update shortly after). The focus is on the iOS and web experience, but here's a golf clap for Twitter for tossing a bone at the Mac app's way as well....

Shazam has updated its iPad app [App Store] to automatically recognize and tag songs, TV shows and music in adverts, without the user needing to prompt the app to do so. The background process, though not turned on by default, will add anything it can hear and identify to its home screen carousel, ready to be viewed at a later time by the user....  ...

Image: The Next Web

Update: The iPad version is now out on iTunes as a universal app. 

The promised iPad version of the email management app Mailbox recently acquired by Dropbox is launching today,...

Mailbox, the Gmail-based iOS email client that encourages a tidy inbox, was updated on Wednesday with native support for Apple's iPad lineup.   ...

Ireland has a special message for United States senators convinced the country gave Apple a special tax deal: You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Remarking on a U.S. Senate investigation that claims Apple avoided taxes on tens of billions of dollars by holding significant profits in three Irish subsidiaries, Ireland’s Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the country did not work out special corporate tax rate of only 2 percent with Apple. “I do not want to be the whipping boy for some misunderstanding in a hearing in the U.S. Congress,” Noonan said during a parliamentary committee meeting Wednesday.

In other words, if Apple was able to markedly reduce its tax bill in the United States and the rest of the world, it was because of a gap between different tax jurisdictions, not some magic deal with Ireland.

“Maybe there was a magician, but the magician wasn’t living down in Cork,” Noonan...

A patent application published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday reveals Apple is actively researching methods to ensure a video's multi-channel audio is always played back correctly, no matter how a user holds the device.  ...

Jeff Carlson wanted to use Dropbox’s Camera Upload feature for automatically copying photos from iOS devices, cameras, and memory cards, but doing so would fill up his 256 GB SSD with image files. Instead, he created a symbolic link (symlink) in Mac OS X to relocate the Camera Uploads folder to a separate volume.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Crowdsourced review service Yelp has come under attack again over reports of business owners complaints that reviews are "too self-centered and not trustworthy" and that the company hides reviews to its own benefit. A blog post by Yelp's Vice President of Communications Vince Sollitto refutes the claims which have been reported to the media, and hopes to clear up the service's reputation....  ...

Microsoft is airing a new TV ad for Windows 8 tablets targeting their main competition, the Apple iPad. The spot points out that the iPad is missing equivalents to Windows 8 features like Live Tiles and true multitasking, and that at $449, a 64GB ASUS VivoTab Smart tablet is far cheaper than a comparable 64GB iPad, which is $699. Narrating everything is a Siri-like voice trying to defend Apple....  ...

We're still a few years away from the self-opening home front door of the Jetsons. But that's okay -- we're making progress. A few weeks ago we told you about Unikey and Kwikset's Kevo, a keyless entry system for your own front door. Now the fine folks at Engadget have had a chance to work with the system hands on, and they seem to be impressed.

The system uses the iPhone's Bluetooth LE to connect with the smartlock. Simply walk up to your front door with your phone in your pocket, tap the lock, and turn the knob. Users and security are handled via iPhone and desktop apps that allow you to share keys with family and friends as administrative, normal or scheduled users.

Having someone house sit for you? Register their iPhone with the house for the week and never worry...

Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer testified before a U.S. Senate committee on the company's tax practices and the need for tax law reform. Jeff and Bryan dive into that and take a look at Samsung's delusions of relevance in the smartphone market at Google's expense.

In what seems to be a response directed at rumors saying upcoming smartphones, including Apple's iPhone, will switch from Gorilla Glass to sapphire as a cover material, Corning put its latest generation product to the test in a bid to show the material is comparatively superior.  ...

With Google Reader fading into the sunset in July more and more users are looking to replace its functionality. Zite for iOS (free) has some solutions that should please many news hounds. The app was originally born out of a desire to replace Google Reader with something that learned your interests and had a more compelling display. In a new release, released today, Zite is trying to go further to embrace what's good in Google Reader and add some bells and whistles.

First, Zite has increased the prominence of sources. Those sources now appear in a topic drawer after you mark an article that you like. Another welcome feature is that articles grey out ofter you read them. One of the best additions is the ability to highlight sources that are obscure. Google Reader always had a bit of a signal to noise problem...

An an unusual show of solidarity, leaders of the US Congress intellectual property and antitrust subcommittees submitted a letter to the US International Trade Commission (ITC) reiterating the prior request that "the Commission carefully assess the substantial public interest considerations that exist with regards to this and other cases at the ITC in which SEPs are at issue."...  ...

Apple is yet again pursuing patent infringement claims against Samsung (and Samsung is counter-suing Apple too). The pair's newest patent battle is happening in the US District Court of Northern California and it's a similar lawsuit to the infringement case heard last year that resulted in a $1.05 billion verdict in favor of Apple. However, this time around Apple and Samsung are pursuing claims against the latest generation of products.

Last week, Apple added a footnote to a filing, saying it hoped to include Samsung's Galaxy S4 in its infringement suit. Now, the company has ...

A longtime industry watcher moves to Cupertino, Steve Jobs’s email to James Murdoch is marked as read, and Tim Cook dodges an inane “rumor.” The remainders for Wednesday, May 22, 2013 are live, in the flesh.

Longtime Tech Industry Analyst Michael Gartenberg Joins Apple (Forbes)

Occasional Macworld contributor Michael Gartenberg—who has served as an analyst at Gartner, Jupiter Research, Altimeter Group, and Interpret, in addition to a brief stint at Microsoft—has joined Apple in a role that reports to Apple senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller. Let the iBagel rumors begin!

Here’s That Steve Jobs ebook Email...

I don’t think being the perfect device for stalkers is what Samsung was going for, but who knows.

∞ Read this on The Loop

‘iWatch’ Concept (many more here)

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has provided seemingly accurate information about previous Apple hardware releases (timing non-withstanding), claims that Apple’s much-rumored wearable wrist device will not arrive until late 2014. The analyst pinpoints production to begin sometime in the second half of the year:

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Apple may not have...

From 9to5Toys.com:

A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites that feature a couple exceptional deals for just 24 hours. We know you can’t be at your computer every second of the day, so we’re going to roundup the best daily deals to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want.

Be sure to follow Follow 9to5Toys so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook

Today’s Featured deals:

• 16GB Apple iPod nano 7th Gen/Current...

A new study from BookNet Canada notes that the ebook market may be in trouble. Paperback books, says BookNet, made up 58% of all purchases last year, with hardcover taking 24%. But ebooks were only 15% of total sales last year, a figure that's down overall from 2012's first quarter, where they made up 17.6%. In other words, ebooks are selling, but they're hardly taking over the market.

Now, those numbers reflect sales in Canada. In the US, ebooks make up 22% of the market, so the numbers are higher here. But still, given how ubiquitous ebooks now are, it's surprising to not see them taking more of the market. BookNet says buyers cite the convenience of shopping for other items at the same time and pricing as two reasons they're still looking for books in brick-and-mortar stores rather than online.

Finally, Apple's iPad only made its way up to number three on the list of the most popular ebook readers in Canada....

Nearly a year after Apple introduced its own Maps service in iOS 6 with Flyover 3D satellite views, Google is expanding its own online Maps to support similar 3D satellite imagery, with the same sorts of buckled roads and visual distortions Apple was castigated for last summer.  ...

Today on TUAW TV Live, cohost Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd and I will be conversing about a number of topics. Yesterday saw Apple CEO Tim Cook being grilled by a Senate committee about corporate taxes and at the same time passing along a hint that a "refreshed Mac line" will be manufactured in the Great State of Texas, so both of those are worthy of banter. There are also some new products that have made it to the TUAW Labs in recent days, so we'll have some quick unboxings for your viewing pleasure.

To view the livestream and join the chat, visit the TUAW TV Live page here. Be sure to bookmark that page on your browser for future TUAW TV events. Past episodes can be found on our YouTube channel, and today's show will also appear on this page within 24 hours.

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Otterbox and LifeProof executives announcing the deal at CTIA

At CTIA, notable case maker Otterbox announced that it has closed an acquisition deal for competing iPhone case maker LifeProof. Both companies offer similar cases with a focus on durability.

During a question and answer session, executives from both companies revealed that the deal was 120 days in the making.While LifeProof will be embedded into Otterbox, the companies shared that the LifeProof...

In case you needed some proof that the rumors of Apple switching from Corning glass to sapphire crystal are unlikely, Corning has posted a video on its website showing how its current Gorilla Glass is superior to sapphire for mobile devices.

Recently, speculation has arisen that manufactured sapphire crystal might become an alternative to Corning’s Gorilla Glass.  “Sapphire’s performance as a cover for high-end watches probably leads to the current speculation.  But those covers are much smaller than a mobile phone and are two to three times thicker than Gorilla Glass.  In one of our commonly accepted strength tests, sapphire breaks more easily than Gorilla Glass after the same simulated use.  Additionally, sapphire’s cost and environmental hit are huge issues,” Steiner said.

There have been a couple rumors floating around that smartphone makers...

Apple released three updates for its Windows products on Tuesday. The company released iTunes 11.0.3 for Windows and Windows 64, as well as QuickTime 7.7.4 for Windows. The iTunes update brings the new MiniPlayer features released for Mac last week, while the QuickTime update includes security patches.

Following Apple's testimony before the US Senate, Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan declared that neither he nor his country would be the "whipping boy" for US tax loopholes. The US-led investigation demonstrated that Apple had paid two percent of $74 billion in international income, assisted by Irish tax law -- in particular, one holding company including Apple's retail effort throughout Europe had paid zero tax in five years....  ...

Pandora Radio is the granddaddy of streaming music apps, and for years now, the company's iPhone app has been one of the most popular ways to use and interact with the service. Just today, the app has nabbed a big update, bringing it to version 4.3. The new update adds a redesigned interface, which lets you tap an album to see lyrics, artist info, or other notes. You can also publish information directly to Facebook and share recommendations with your friends.

The update has been able to share tracks to Twitter and email for a while now, so the Facebook integration just adds to the functionality. The Pandora app itself is free, and you can subscribe to a premium service, called Pandora One, from directly inside the app.

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German users have noticed one other change from the Apple Store downtime last night, and that is that Apple will now accept Paypal payments their Apple.com store. You could previously use Paypal as a payment service on the iTunes and Mac App Stores, but you can't (in most places) on the official Apple website. The German store, however, has now implemented Paypal. So German users can now use that extra eBay money to pick up a new accessory or charger cable.

Odds are that this is a pilot program over there, and it will likely make its way out to the rest of the world very soon. I just checked, and unfortunately this option isn't yet available on the American Apple.com store. But if German users can use their Paypal accounts to buy Apple products, there's no reason why the rest...

Veteran tech analyst Michael Gartenberg is jumping the fence to work for a company he has spent decades covering during stints at Gartner, Altimeter and Jupiter Research. Forbes reports, and AllThingsD has independently confirmed, that Gartenberg has recently taken a job at Apple. Details on his role at the company are slim, though sources say he’ll be working for Apple’s marketing group, a division overseen by SVP Phil Schiller.