Today, Apple has notified authors in the iBookstore of some notable changes to the way books could be managed. Some additions include the ability to notify customers of new versions of books, improved author support in Europe, improved book samples, and the ability to include larger images. All the changes can be seen in Apple’s letter (below):
For more information about AAPL Company continue reading at 9to5Mac.
What do you think? ...
| Read more »U2 frontman and (PRODUCT) RED founder Bono told the world on Thursday that, "Apple is certainly leading the crew" of corporations raising money for the charity group. At the Clinton Global Initiative 2013, Bono said that Apple is responsible for more than $65 million of the $215 million total raised by the organization.
Former iPod engineer JP Labrosse has unveiled his company's first product: the Stir Kinetic Desk. The desk has a small touchscreen in the corner that you tap twice to activate standing mode. The desk rises so you can stand at it and do your work, instead of sitting through your day. Tap the touchscreen again to lower the desk into "sitting" mode.
But the desk is more than just a fancy mechanical thing with a touchscreen button. It also has a feature called "Whisper Breath" that enables the desk to literally give you a slight nudge to alert you to get up and walk around a bit. The desk also offers WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, so it can talk to your health apps on your iPhone, as well as tracking the number of calories you burn while sitting and standing.
The desk may be technologically advanced, but it's not cheap, coming in at US$3,890. Want one? You can register your interest here.
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| Read more »In an email sent out to authors and publishers on Thursday, Apple announced a number of new features recently added to the iBookstore, including versioning support and increased pixel limits for book images.
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It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.
You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.
No Flash? Click here to listen.
Daily Update for September 26, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 26 Sep 2013 17:45:00 EST. Please see our...
| Read more »Originally introduced in January, Netflix has rolled out its Super HD video quality option to all devices and users. Originally, the ability was restricted to certain devices connected to only a few internet service providers, but now it is accessible to anyone with the right internet speed.
All Netflix members, regardless of their Internet service provider (ISP), now have access to the highest quality HD streams available on Netflix.
This means that the great TV shows and movies on Netflix will look even better on HD screens with a higher bit rate stream, Super HD, that applies less compression to the 1080p image.
We initially rolled out Super HD in January only through ISPs with a direct connection to Netflix. Based on the performance data we’ve seen, and in...
| Read more »Evernote, the go-to note-taking app for 75 million people, has announced the latest expansion of its empire today at its EC3 conference with the unveiling of Evernote Market and a partnership with Post-It. Yes; Post-It, where people's random ideas were stored before Evernote.
The partnership with Post-It, and its owner 3M, is particularly exciting. The companies are developing a special line of Post-It notepads that will allow users to take photos of their notes for seamless transferring and searching by color coding via Evernote. So if you find your desk so cluttered with stray Post-It's that it looks like a detective's dream board in the future Evernote will be able to help you quickly search and organize those ideas.
These Post-It partnership is the driving feature behind today's update for Evernote iOS. Version 7.0.1 brings a new Post-It Note...
| Read more »Do you like your racing games better when there's less actual racing and more white-knuckle crashes? Then you'll feel right at home with Truck Stop, an in-progress crash-em-up being worked on by a former member of Criterion Games, the same studio responsible for the highly popular Burnout franchise.
Some of the most fun you could have in the Burnout titles was in "Crash" mode, where you were tasked not with reaching a finish line, but with destroying as much of the game world as possible. Truck Stop appears to continue this tradition, and while the current, unfinished version of the game is only available for Windows, it is slated to hit Mac and Linux as it crashes it way toward a proper release. If you'd like to support the game's eventual launch on Steam, you can give it a "Yes" vote on Steam Greenlight now.
[via...
| Read more »Apple's official System Status page -- used to check whether various online services are running -- has been updated to track iOS activation servers. When buying a new iOS device, the hardware has to be activated before it can be useful. If those servers are down, it can result in people being unable to use their device for hours, particular if servers fail during an iPhone launch weekend....
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A Japanese court has ruled that the Click Wheel in Apple's iPod Classic infringes on a patent owned by Norihiko Saito and has ordered the company to pay Y330 million (about US$3,334,650) in damages. Mr. Saito filed his lawsuit against Apple in 2007 and was originally asking for Y10 billion (about $101,050,000) in damages -- a figure the court didn't agree with.
The Mac Observer Spin:
If Apple is infringing on the Japanese Click Wheel patent, the company needs to step up and make it right. Expecting Y10 billion in damages, however, may be high considering the technology is showing up in just the iPod Classic.
Kopi has announced Kbar Multiple, a power strip that allows multiple iPads to be charged simultaneously. The power strip uniquely offers 2.4-Amp charging on each of its eight USB ports, allowing for full-power charging on up to eight iPads at once. …
| Read more »In a decision handed down by the Tokyo District Court on Thursday, Apple has been ordered to pay $3.3 million to a Japanese inventor for infringing on patents with technology involving the iPod click wheel.
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Valve's ultra-convenient Steam Family Sharing program has just entered beta, with the first 1,000 participants receiving emails instructing them on how to get set up on the service. Steam Family Sharing allows up to 10 additional users to access any individual's Steam game library, though each game collection can only be accessed by a single user at a time.
If you're interested in participating in the Family Sharing program, all you need to do is join the Steam Family Sharing group on Steam. Additional users will be chosen to help test the program as Valve moves the feature through the beta phase, so good luck!
Steam Family Sharing program hits beta originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 26 Sep 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our...
| Read more »2K Drive ($5) from 2K Sports has updated to version 1.6. The new British car pack brings four new cars from Land Rover, Vauxhall, and Jaguar to the game. New events have also been added to 2K Drive, and users who were completely unable to play the game before…
| Read more »With over 2,400 votes from iLounge readers, our latest poll – “Do you plan to purchase one of the new iPhone models this year?” – has now ended. With the release of not one, but two new iPhone models this month, we asked our readers to let us know whether…
| Read more »Square has sent an email out to its users noting that they may have to make some slight settings changes if they want to continue using the Square credit card reader on their iPhone. The changes come from a new security setting in iOS 7 in which the user needs to grant each app access to the microphone or else the app will not be able to use it -- or anything that's plugged into it, like the Square reader.
The email lays out the steps users must take to approve Square Register for microphone access:
When you update your Apple device to iOS 7, you may need to adjust your microphone in order to swipe payment cards with your card reader.
If you have already updated to iOS 7, please allow Square Register to access the microphone. Here's how:
1. Go to Settings > Privacy > Microphone
2. Turn on the Square Register slider...
Apple's contributions to the Global Fund against AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, made via (Product) RED, have amounted to somewhere over $65 million since the company joined the program in 2006, according to Bono, U2 singer and founder of the RED initiative. He made the comments during today's annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative. "Apple is certainly leading the crew," he added, indicating that the company is so far generating the most money amongst RED participants....
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Apple’s iCloud service has had its share of outages and issues, but the latest problem, while apparently limited to a subset of accounts, just might be the most frustrating yet for those affected.
Starting on or around September 18, some iCloud customers found that apps that use iCloud to sync data between devices could no longer do so—they either no longer sync or appear to have lost their data completely. The apps otherwise function normally, but simply don’t show any saved information or cannot update or sync existing info.
The issue doesn’t just affect third-party iOS apps—it also affects Apple’s own software, including some OS X apps. For example, some users are reporting that OS X apps that store documents in the cloud, such as TextEdit, Pages, and Preview, currently show no documents available when you choose File > Open and switch to iCloud view; similarly, iCloud-saved documents no longer appear in the File > Open Recent menu.
Apple’s...
| Read more »Diit Media brought NextGuide to iPhone on Thursday. I've been following this app closely, because I often forget to watch some new show that caught my eye. NextGuide 1.6 is a hybrid app, the first time it's been available for the iPhone. With it you can track TV shows, get reminders for new episodes (push and email), track which season you're on for shows you're catching up on, track season premiers, and much more. It's a very cool service, and if you enjoy TV, you should check it out.
When he's not working behind the scenes at AOL to make sites like Engadget, TUAW and Joystiq look great, Brett Terpstra spends his time writing books and developing amazing apps. Today Brett announced the availability of Marked 2 (US$11.99), the latest iteration of his Markdown preview application for OS X.
To start with, here's what Marked is all about: if you use a text editor to write formatted documents in Markdown, Marked provides a real-time preview of how that formatting will look once your document is posted online or printed. The original version of the app is still supported and available on the App Store for $3.99, but longtime users of Marked will definitely want to point themselves in the direction of the Marked 2 website and get the new version with all of its many features:
We tend to think of using FaceTime for a face-to-face video and audio call to a smiling face. But did you know that iOS 7 introduces the ability to make audio calls only? Here's how to do it.
Apple TV may still just be a hobby for Apple, but the company sure has been devoting a lot of time in recent months shoring up the channel selection on its nimble little black box.
Earlier today, Apple issued an over-the-air update for the Apple TV which adds two new channel selections for users; an Major League Soccer (MLS) channel and a Disney Junior channel.
If you're an avid soccer fan and need your MLS soccer fix while not watching international play, the MLS channel really delivers the goods. The channel offers free on-demand video highlights, game analysis, news updates, fantasy soccer advice, player profiles and more.
If you sign up for a US$14.99/month subscription to MLS Live, you'll also gain access to live game streams in addition to archival game footage from past matches. Naturally, an MLS Live subscription can be purchased via...
| Read more »Fast Company has spent months in behind-the-scenes research to bring you the never before heard history of the iPhone. In this article, an extract from the new book, Design Crazy, describes how the iPhone evolved from a Mac tablet (not unlike Microsoft’s Surface) to the sleek design we eventually saw. Only a select few Apple employees were allowed to see the actual iPhone interface, the rest had to test against an intentionally hideous decoy, until Scott Forstall convinced Steve Jobs otherwise.
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...
| Read more »Apple has contributed more than $65 million to the fight against AIDS in Africa. This according to U2 singer and (RED) charity head Bono, who said Friday that “Apple is certainly leading the crew” of fundraisers with its (Product) RED Special Edition iPods and accessories.
| Read more »Omni Group has released OmniGraffle 6, an update of its graphing and diagramming software for the Mac. New in this version are integrated Inspector and Stencil windows with improved tools and steppers, and a dedicated Resource Browser, which collects stencils and templates. Shapes and text can now be scaled, and a resolution-independent Display Scale can be set for an Apple point, PostScript point, or pixel....
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A German court has declared an early Apple photo-management patent invalid because of evidence in a video in which Steve Jobs presented the original iPhone, back in January 2007.
Apple had won injunctions against both Samsung and Motorola using its patent in different European jurisdictions, according to patent blogger Florian Mueller, who observed the proceedings today in the Munich-based Federal Patent Court of Germany. The problem was that Apple disclosed the "bounce-back effect" when Jobs demonstrated the photo gallery back in 2007—but the...
| Read more »Lodsys has become infamous for patent trolling small iOS developers, but they might have bit off more than they can chew when they set their sites on Martha Stewart. Yes, that Martha Stewart. While most app developers don’t have the resources to fight Lodsys in court, the powerful and popular ex-con is fighting back, asking a judge to not only declare that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s apps haven’t infringed on Lodsys patents, but to invalidate all Lodsys patents cited in the suit, which would put a swift end to its reign of terror. And that’s a good thing.
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...
| Read more »Just for the hell of it, let's say that Apple's iPhone unit was a separate company. Businessweek has done a bit of speculation and determined that the iPhone unit would be the ninth largest company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average based on revenues. Those revenues, which currently reach over US$88 billion annually, are alone enough to beat out those of entire mega-corporations.
Think that consumer goods Procter & Gamble is huge? iPhone revenues just exceed that company's revenues (about $85 billion). Surely all of those huge aircraft rolling out of Boeing's plants have to be worth more than a pile of iPhones, right? Wrong. Boeing's revenues are less than those of the mythical iPhone-only company. And remember, Apple also has other product lines -- the iPad, Macs, and various services including iTunes -- that also contribute to the bottom line...
| Read more »Projected iPhone sales for the current September quarter continue to edge upward, with the latest survey data suggesting Apple could sell more than 34 million handsets in the soon-to-conclude period.
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Google has introduced an updated search experience for mobile devices, along with several new features for its Knowledge Graph tool. An upcoming update to the company's iOS app will provide notifications across any devices, regardless of platform, enabling users to add a reminder from an iPad and then receive the alert later in the day on their Android smartphone....
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In this issue, Philip Michaels takes a humorous look at bad songs from otherwise great artists; Michael T. Rose looks at raising children in the modern day of TV; Marcus Mendes wonders why people aren’t as fanatic about what guitars people play as they are about what gadget you use; Chris Domico surveys friends and family to see what they do for backups; and Matt Dusenbury gives us a guide to coffee shop co-working.
| Read more »Apple has contributed to Bono’s (PRODUCT)RED charity for quite sometime by donating a portion of profits from sales of special red editions of iOS devices and accessories. Today, the official PRODUCT(RED) Twitter account (via TheLoop) revealed that Apple’s contributions to fighting AIDS through the charity have now topped $65 million, making it the largest contributor to the charity out of all participating companies.
U2 singer Bono, who cofounded the charity back in 2006, commented that “Apple is certainly leading the crew” when it comes to donations from (PRODUCT)RED partners.
Apple currently sells red versions of the iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPad Smart Cover, and iPhone 4S bumper under the (PRODUCT)RED branding.
Bono at...
| Read more »Apple has updated its iCloud Status page to allow users to check if iOS Device Activation servers are active. These are the servers that allow customers to start using iOS Devices and connect them to carrier networks.
We have noted activation server outages several times, and these outages could be some of the most frustrating ones for customers who purchase a new iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Additionally, Photo Journals (Apple’s iPhoto for iOS cloud photo sharing feature) has disappeared from the Status Page, but the reason is currently unclear. The feature still functions normally in iPhoto.
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| Read more »The iMac refresh earlier this week wasn't apparently the only change to the Apple lineup. 9to5Mac is reporting that all Mac mini configurations are now more expensive in a number of countries, including Australia, Brazil, Portugal and Malaysia.
As an example of the price bumps, the prices of the Intel Core i5 2.5 GHz, Intel Core i7 2.3 GHz, and Mac mini with OS X Server models are currently A$749, A$999, and A$1249. Previously, the same three models sold for A$699, A$899, and A$1099.
Some accessories are also a bit more expensive in certain countries, with MacRumors reporting that UK customers are now paying £2 more for an Apple Wireless Keyboard, £8...
| Read more »I am happy to welcome Smile back as this week's sponsor here at TMO, and especially so this week because they've asked me to talk about their brand new product, PDFpen Scan+. Your iPhone's got a great camera, and it also has a really killer processor. Put those two things in the hands of the smart folks at Smile, and they turn out an app that will use the camera to scan documents and the processor to perform optical character recognition (OCR) on the text contained therein. The result can be a PDF with real text, not just a picture, or the raw text itself for you to edit.
Apple has released a minor iOS update, v7.0.2. The patch copes exclusively with lockscreen issues, above all one that let people bypass iOS' passcode protection. Apple also notes that it has restored a Greek keyboard option for entering passcodes....
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I've not found a ton of bugs in iOS 7, some weird behaviors (mostly in older apps) and visual artifacts, sure. Bugs? Thus far the biggest one I've found is the Decline button for incoming calls disappears, seemingly at random. I've had two calls from the same number over the course of a couple of days and sometimes the Decline button is there, and sometimes it isn't.
Of course, 7.0.2 hit just as I was writing this, so maybe it's fixed. Are you seeing it?
Is the Decline button missing from incoming calls in iOS 7? It's not just you originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 26 Sep 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Google is celebrating its 15 birthday and today announced a number of improvements to search on mobile devices including an incoming Google Search app update for iPhone and iPad that will enable notifications for reminders & more across platforms:
With this update, you can get notifications across your devices. So if you tell your Nexus 7, “OK Google. Remind me to buy olive oil at Safeway,” when you walk into the store with your iPhone, you’ll get a reminder. We’ll also show you Google Now notifications so you’re not late to your cooking class.
You’ll start noticing many new improvements to search on Android and iOS today, but Google says the cross platform notifications will arrive within a couple weeks through an update to the Google Search iPhone and iPad app.
More on all of Google’s new features...
| Read more »In the past, Google has created alternatives to widely used networking protocols such as SPDY in order to deliver search results as fast as possible. Apple is now doing something similar by having Siri use Multipath Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP). MPTCP is an extension to the TCP protocol that's used for about 85 percent of all Internet traffic. Generally, it allows TCP to operate over multiple paths at the same time. However, Apple seems to use MPTCP for one very specific purpose: to allow Siri to switch between Wi-Fi and 3G or LTE as quickly and seamlessly as possible.
An interesting difference between Google's and Apple's approaches to networking improvements is that Google came up with SPDY first and then went to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to have SPDY adopted as a standard. Apple wasn't involved in the development of MPTCP, but the company...
| Read more »U2 frontman Bono's Product Red charity took to Twitter to announce that Apple has raised more than $65 million to benefit The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
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Evernote used its annual conference on Thursday to show off the usual array of updates to its signiture apps and services. But its most
significant announcements were a series of partnerships aimed at further bridging the digital and analog worlds.
The digital notetaking software maker partnered with 3M for a line Evernote-compatible Post-It notes and expanded a deal with notebook maker Moleskin. The company has already sold hundreds of thousands of the Moleskin notebooks, Evernote said. Now there will be a broader array of Moleskin products including lower-cost journals.
“We realized that paperless is not the goal,” CEO Phil Libin said, kicking off the company’s EC3 conference in San Francisco. “Great experience is the goal. We want to eliminate the stupid uses of paper.”
But there are lots of good and convenient uses for paper that Libin says Evernote is...
| Read more »An anonymous reader writes "Today the Federal Patent Court of Germany shot down an Apple photo gallery bounce-back patent over which Cupertino was/is suing Samsung and Motorola. A panel of five judges found the patent invalid because the relevant patent application was filed only in June 2007 but Steve Jobs already demoed the feature in January 2007 (video). While this wouldn't matter in the U.S., it's a reason for a patent to be invalidated in Europe. For different reasons someone thought the iPhone presentation was a mistake. It now turns out that when Steve Jobs said "Boy have we patented it!" his company forgot that public disclosure, even by an inventor, must not take place before a European patent application is filed. But Apple can still sue companies over the Android photo gallery: in addition to this patent it owns a utility model, a special German intellectual property right that has a shorter term (10 years) and a six-month grace period, which is just enough to make sure...
| Read more »Apple has released iOS 7.0.2 for all iOS devices — unlike the previous iOS 7.0.1 update, which was only for the iPhone 5c and 5s. The release fixes bugs that could allow someone to bypass the Lock Screen passcode. Also included…
| Read more »Apple released iOS 7.0.2 and fixed the lock screen bug that made headlines earlier this week. This hack allowed unauthorized users to access to photos, contacts and more without entering a passcode. It also brought back the greek keyboard for passcode entry.
Folks running iOS 7 can download the update over the air by going to Settings>General>Software Update. You can also manually install it by connection your iPhone or iPad to your computer and launching iTunes.
Apple release iOS 7.0.2, fixes lock screen bypass bug originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 26 Sep 2013 13:13:00 EST. Please see our...
| Read more »A new video shows what are allegedly redesigned Smart Covers for the fifth-generation iPad. To demonstrate this, two of the covers, obtained by Unbox Therapy, are attached to a leaked chassis for the fifth-gen tablet. The covers fit exactly, even though the chassis is narrower than the current fourth-gen iPad. Gray, black, red, pink, orange, blue, white, and green colors are reportedly in production....
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Product lines tend to expand as the technology evolves. The user base grows to include people with new needs. Competition heats up. And so it's only logical that Apple would introduce, after this long hiatus in iPads, a model with a larger display than 9.7-inches. John Martellaro explains.
The fact that Apple is on the receiving end of more lawsuits than any other company in tech is hardly surprising. In contrast, the fact that patent disputes pertaining to the iPod are still being litigated is somewhat surprising.
Kyodo News is reporting that Apple recently found itself on the losing end of a $3 million judgement for patent infringement. Specifically, the Tokyo District Court found that the click wheel on Apple's now iconic iPod infringes upon patents owned by a man named Norihiko Saito.
Saito's damages come more than five years after he filed the patent lawsuit, during which time he demanded damages of ¥10 billion ($101 million), based partly on the number of iPods Apple had sold during that period. Fortunately for Apple, the final figure was substantially less...
| Read more »In a tweet from its official Twitter account, Product (RED) revealed today that Apple has raised more than $65 million to support the fight against AIDS. U2 lead singer, Bono, commented that “Apple is certainly leading the crew,” referring to the Product (RED) partners.
| Read more »Apple on Thursday delivered a promised fix for the lock-screen bypass vulnerability discovered in its iOS 7 operating system last week. Included in iOS 7.0.2, it shores up a security flaw that, if exploited, could have given attackers access to an iPhone’s stored photos — and the email and Web services accounts used to share them.
| Read more »Another week, another iOS update: Apple’s pushed out iOS 7.0.2, which it recommends for all users. The update fixes a few security vulnerabilities and a bug. (iOS 7.0.1 came out last week, but it specifically fixed issues with the iPhone 5c and 5s.)
Among the security flaws in question is one reported on last week, where a little bit of manual dexterity lets you bypass the lock code on the homescreen. Version 7.0.2 also patches another bug, which allowed a user to make phone calls to any number from the Emergency call screen. In addition, the update brings back a Greek keyboard option for passcode entry.
iOS 7.0.2 is a free download and is available by going to Settings > General...
| Read more »The Apple TV’s home screen is getting right crowded. And on Thursday, Apple squeezed two new channels into its roster: MLS Live and (a favorite in my house) Watch Disney Junior.
MLS Live lets fans of Major League Soccer (yeah, that’s what we call it in ‘Merica!) follow household names like Landon Donovan, Quincy Amarikwa, Fabián Espíndola, and Hunter Jumper with live matches, scores, standings, highlights, and more. Current MLS Live subscribers can log in with their account info, while new watchers can subscribe via iTunes directly on the Apple TV for $25 right now (a ‘playoff chase price cut’). A subscription also gets you access on iOS devices. As with similar professional sports services, there are blackout restrictions that will prevent you from watching your local team (assuming there is one) or any nationally televised games.
| Read more »After investor Carl Icahn made a big splash by purchasing about US$2 billion worth of Apple Stock last month, he said via Twitter that he was going to have dinner with Tim Cook to discuss the "magnitude" of Apple's share buyback program. CNBC is reporting that the two will be meeting Monday in New York City, although it may not be over dinner.
Icahn isn't a "top ten" shareholder in the company, but his stake -- and influence -- is still impressive enough that Cook wants to meet with him.
For more on the "date" and other breathless banter by CNBC's morning team, check out the video embed below.
It's a date! Carl Icahn and Tim Cook to meet next Monday originally appeared on ...
| Read more »Installing iOS 7.0.2. Andrew Cunningham
Apple has just released iOS 7.0.2, a minor patch for the iOS 7 update that was made available to the general public a bit less than a week ago. The update appears to fix two lock screen bugs we've previously reported on: one that allows access to an iOS device's Photos app (and, by extension, its Contacts list and some other information) and one that allows calls to any number to be made from the Emergency Call screen. We were able to reproduce both bugs in iOS 7.0 and 7.0.1, but neither exploit worked in iOS 7.0.2 on our iPhone 5S.
iOS 7.0.2 also allows the use of the Greek keyboard on the passcode screen, a...
| Read more »With the new iPhone 5s and 5c rolling in and many users wanting to upgrade to the new devices, it might be wise to increase the value of your phone by unlocking it. Chronic Unlocks, the go-to company for unlocking iPhones (and various Nokias, LGs, BlackBerrys and other smartphones), offers a quick, reliable, and low-cost unlocking service.
An unlocked phone means that the device is no-longer connected to the carrier for which you purchased the device. You can then put in any SIM-card and use the phone worldwide. With international pre-paid SIM-cards and an unlocked phone, you do not have to worry about international roaming charges. For those in the U.S., unlocking an AT...
| Read more »The update fixes a bug that allowed someone to bypass the lock screen and reintroduces a Greek keyboard. The update is available by going to Settings > General > Software Update on your iPhone.
| Read more »New supplemental update fixes a security hole that let anyone gain access to iOS apps without having to enter the passcode.
Originally posted at News - Apple
| Read more »Two more app channels have been silently added to the Apple TV. The first is Major League Soccer, which includes the ability to watch matches live in addition to pre-recorded features. Live games do, however, require a subscription plan, with options beginning at $15 per month. Subscriptions can be bought through an Apple TV or at the league's website....
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Apple released iOS 7.0.2 on Thursday, a maintenance release that fixes an important issue that allowed someone to bypass the Lock screen on iOS devices and access some aspects of your device. The problem was first reported over the weekend, making this a quick fix for the company.
Apple on Thursday released iOS 7.0.2, a security and maintenance update for its mobile operating system that addresses bugs related to secure lockscreen password entry.
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Ad Hoc Labs today updated Burner, its popular disposable phone number app, with a handful of new features that'll make it easier for users to manage their calls and text messages.
Burner is a disposable phone number app that debuted on iOS in early 2012. It climbed in popularity on iOS, expanded to Android earlier this year, and received $2 million in VC funding to expand the service even further.
The app allows people to create a disposable number they can use to send text messages and make calls. It works just like a regular phone number, except everything is filtered through the Burner app. The latest update refreshed the app with an iOS 7 look and feel. The new design makes it easier to manage multiple burner numbers, adds phone-book lookup and improves text messaging. I've used it a few times for Craigslist sales, and it works wonderfully.
You can download...
| Read more »Apple has released iOS 7.0.2 over-the-air for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This is a bug fix release that focuses on rectifying an issue that could allow users to bypass the passcode unlock on the Lock screen. Another fix in this release is to re-add the Greek keyboard options for pass codes.
iOS 7.0.2 brings iOS 7 parity across all supported devices. Alongside the launch of the new iPhones, Apple released iOS 7.0.1, but this release was exclusive to the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.
Today’s over-the-air update requires a WiFi connection to download and install, and the file size ranges from between 17MB and 20MB depending on which device you are using.
Apple...
| Read more »A new video released on Thursday by Unbox Therapy claims to show a number of Smart Covers designed for Apple's slimmer fifth-generation iPad. The magnetic covers fit perfectly on leaked components that also match the dimensions expected for the next iPad, though an unusual design choice casts doubt on the products' authenticity.
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An over-the-air update for Apple TV has added two new channels to the device — Major League Soccer and Disney Junior. MLS has experienced a recent spike in popularity, and the new channel will let users watch live games and highlights. Disney…
| Read more »The addition of Control Center to Apple's iOS platform opens up new possibilities with regard to ease of operation on iPhones, iPods, and iPads, but it also makes it more necessary for iOS users to better understand the security implications that accompany that increased accessibility.
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VideoLAN has released a major update of VLC, its open-source, multi-platform media playback software. Version 2.1 -- codenamed Rincewind -- is the first to support 4K "Ultra HD" video, and has been given quicker video decoding and a rewritten audio system, the latter with improvements like higher fidelity, new effects, and better volume and device management. OpenGL output has been ported to OpenGL ES, which should make it easier to port to iOS and Android, and MKV playback has received faster seek performance and enhanced subtitle metadata support....
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Apple may be forced to abandon its proprietary 30-pin dock charger (shown above) if European politicians get their way.
Members of the European Parliament’s internal market committee on Thursday voted unanimously for a new law mandating a universal mobile phone charger. The MEPs want all radio equipment devices and their accessories, such as chargers, to be interoperable to cut down on electronic waste.
German MEP Barbara Weiler said she wanted to see an end to “cable chaos”.
This is not the first attempt to set a standard for universal phone chargers. In 2009 the European Commission, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and leading mobile phone manufacturers drew up a voluntary agreement based on the micro USB connector.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click...
| Read more »As usual, the actions of a few are why the rest of us can't have anything nice... The Los Angeles Unified School District recently began rolling out a plan that would eventually provide iPads to every student in the LAUSD. However, within a week of handing out the first units, 300 students had figured out how to bypass school district restrictions that blocked sites including YouTube and Facebook.
The district has now put an end to home use of the devices, and district sources say the misbehavior may delay the rollout of the full program. The restrictions were put into place to keep students from accessing a number of sites and services, including Pandora and Twitter. Those restrictions -- tied to a student profile on the iPad -- were also in place for off-campus use,...
| Read more »May the force be with you
Angry Birds Star Wars II is out. Should we tell you about other apps, or do you already know how you're spending all your waking hours this week?
Angry Birds Star Wars II
The original version of Angry Birds Star Wars had a profound effect on my then 4-year-old son. He started singing the Star Wars theme all the time. I’d wake up to hear him launching himself from his bed at an imaginary pile of space pigs. His birthday cake? An Angry Birds Death Star. Which is why I’m begging you: Let’s keep the arrival of Angry Birds Star Wars II, a $1 app for iPhone and iPad, to ourselves. OK?
FIFA 14
As with EA Sports’s other games, FIFA 14, the latest version of the popular futbol game, arrives on iPad and iPhone in “freemium”...
| Read more »Customers are up in arms as news comes that the SIM-unlocked version of Samsung's latest Note "phablet" features DVD-style region locking, meaning that frequent intercontinental travelers must pay carrier roaming rates to use their devices on a cellular network overseas.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook will meet with controversial billionaire investor Carl Icahn on Monday, according to CNBC. CNBC’s report speculates that Icahn — who made a large Apple investment in August — may consider adding to his stake in the company; he frequently takes positions in companies…
| Read more »The VideoLan Organization has released a major update to the VLC media player for OS X. VLC 2.1 adds a number of significant updates to the popular open source media player. For starters, VLC now supports "Ultra-HD video," otherwise known as 4K. That means VLC is now capable of outputting video that is over twice the resolution of BluRay. This, of course, requires you to have video files of 4K quality.
In addition to 4K support, VLC 2.1 now also offers OpenGL ES, which will make outputting video to iOS and Android devices much easier. The update has also added support for over a dozen other video codecs. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. VLC 2.1 offers dozens more new features in all areas including audio, formats, inputs, mobile, and for developers. On top of all the new features, over 1,000 bugs were also fixed.
VLC 2.1 is a free...
| Read more »Apple CEO Tim Cook and influential investor Carl Icahn have set a September 30th date in New York City for their long-planned meeting, according to CNBC. The pair are expected to talk primarily about Icahn's push for an expanded buyback of Apple stocks. The company is already in the middle of a buyback plan that will cost it $60 billion by the end of 2015....
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Skype for Mac has received a new update that simplifies the sharing experience and fixes a couple of bugs. Now when screen sharing on a Mac, users are given the choice to share either the entire screen or only a specific window. Support for three new languages has also been added, and a bug that caused some chat messages to not display has been fixed. A full list of changes can be found on Skype's blog page....
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Leading up to Apple’s rumored October iPad event, Youtube user UnboxTherapy has posted what he claims to be the next generation Smart Cover for the upcoming iPad 5.
Although design-wise, the cover appears to be similar to the current 9.7″ iPad Smart Covers, upon closer inspection, the dimensions are smaller than that of the current cover, and fit perfectly onto leaked parts from the iPad 5,...
| Read more »iOS 7.0.2 beefs up Passcode Lock security, eliminating access to the Camera Roll and recent apps, preventing non-emergency calls from being made at an iPhone’s Lock screen, and restoring a Greek keyboard for passcode entry. It’s a 21 MB download via Settings > General > Software Update.
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.
| Read more »When Apple announced on Monday that it had sold a record 9 million iPhones during the launch weekend for the new iPhone 5s and 5c, it also said that around 200 million iOS devices have been updated to iOS 7 since the update was released less than a week before on Sept.18. Apple said it was the “fastest software upgrade in history”, but didn’t compare iOS 7 adoption to previous releases.
Mobile app marketing platform Fiksu has been tracking millions of iPhones hourly since the launch of iOS 7 and it’s latest numbers show iOS 7 adoption is much higher than previous releases. Fiksu has iOS 7 usage at almost 58 percent just 7 days after release, compared to under 47 percent iOS 6 had in the same...
| Read more »It's time to save some of that hard-earned cash with our Daily Deals, featuring exclusive TUAW Deals, a handy list from Dealnews and our own hand-picked iOS and OS X selections.
TUAW's Daily Deals
1 Year of Award Winning Web Hosting w/ Dreamhost [On sale for $19, down from $119]
DreamHost is an award winning web hosting service that serves over 1.2 million apps, blogs, and websites. DreamHost guarantees 100% server uptime, while providing unlimited Diskspace, Bandwidth, E-Mail Account, and Domain Hosting.
Plus, with 24/7 E-mail support, you can get help whenever you need it. Ever wanted to build a website? Hosting is an essential part! No matter what kind of site, you always need a web hosting service. Now, you can get 1 year of web hosting PLUS 2 free domains for 85% off. That's less...
| Read more »The built-in compass feature in iOS isn't anything new, but in iOS 7 it does have a handy new feature: a digital level. The level is great for doing exactly what its name implies, and it'll help you take more accurate compass readings, too.
An Apple TV content update supplied on Thursday has added video from Major League Soccer, as well as the Disney Junior channel.
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This morning, Apple has sent an over-the-air update to the Apple TV to add two new apps of content: Major League Soccer (MLS) and Disney Junior. The MLS app allows Apple TV users to watch soccer games live, and Disney Junior includes several shows oriented toward young children.
The new soccer app will surely be a big bonus for sports fans, while Disney Junior will continue to attract kids to the Apple’s living room appliance.
Last week, Apple added iTunes Radio and many new features to the device. A few weeks ago, the company added a couple of Disney Channel apps, The Weather Channel, Vevo, and a Smithsonian app. Thanks DJ!
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| Read more »Standing desks are old news. How about a desk that breathes?
That’s the idea behind the Stir Kinetic Desk, a new adjustable standing desk dreamed up by a former Apple iPod engineer.
The desk has a small touchscreen on the lower left-hand side of the desktop. Tap it twice, and the desk rises. Tap the screen again, and it sinks to sitting mode. A thermal sensor detects your presence.
Pressing a button on the desk cues up “active mode,” which every so often reminds you to get up and slave away while standing, not sitting. It does this by breathing. It is seriously called Whisper Breath, not to be confused with Whispersync, Amazon’s content-syncing feature. The desk rises and falls just slightly, as a nudge to stand up.
And the Stir is also Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-connected, so it has the potential to sync with health and wellness apps like Fitbit.
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| Read more »Apple has won its appeal against IGB Electronica in Brazil regarding "iPhone" name in that country, according to BNAmericas. The company had been locked in a lawsuit with Brazilian company IGB Electronica, which was granted the Brazilian iPhone trademark in 2007. IGB originally applied for the iPhone trademark in 2000 and since 2007, it has been selling an Android smartphone by the name of "Iphone" under its G-Gradiente brand.
In February Apple lost the trademark dispute with IGB, but now a judge has thrown that verdict out and ruled that both companies may use the iPhone name. In his ruling, the judge said that though IGB owned the trademark in the country first, they did nothing with it until after Apple's iPhone went on sale elsewhere in the world. He credited Apple with creating a...
| Read more »The Tokyo District Court has ordered Apple to pay $3 million in damages to a Japanese inventor, Norihiko Saito. Saito first filed a lawsuit against Apple five years ago, alleging that the clickwheel found on the Classic and some older iPods violates a patent of his. He originally called for 10 billion yen in damages, or about $101 million, based on the strength of iPod sales at the time....
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The first three apps to support the iPhone 5s’s M7 motion co-processor — Strava Run (free), MotionX-24/7 ($3), and Argus (free)—are now available in the App Store. All of the apps are fitness-based, though features differ from app to app. Due to these apps now using the…
| Read more »Put an iPad in a teenager's hands and the adolescent will quickly try to figure out the limits of what can and can't do with it; send a school-provided iPad home from school with that teenager and there's a good chance it will come back with its security...
| Read more »As the iPhone's popularity continues to soar, Apple's mobile handset revenues alone place the business among the largest in the world, exceeding companies like Microsoft, Intel and Coca-Cola.
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The LA Times is reporting that the distribution of iPads to all 640,000 students in the LA school district may be temporarily halted after high school pupils worked out how to bypass the restrictions placed on the devices. Apple announced back in June that an initial start to the rollout was worth $30M.
While the school networks block apps such as facebook while at school, a personal profile was used to limit usage of the devices when taken home. Within a week, children at Theodore...
| Read more »BlackBerry lost an ally in the United States on Thursday when T-Mobile revealed it won't sell the company's smartphones any more. The news follows BlackBerry's own announcement that it plans to stop offering consumer-oriented products to focus instead on the business market -- and it underscores the company's inability to compete in a market dominated by Apple's iPhone and Google Android-based smartphones.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn will meet with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook in New York City on Monday to discuss Icahn potentially adding to his stake in Apple, according to a new report.
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A recently leaked promotional poster shows that China Mobile will get both the iPhone 5c and 5s. As the world’s largest cellular carrier, China Mobile has long been rumored to receive the iPhone, but network incompatibilities and contract issues have apparently held the offering up. China Mobile now has its…
| Read more »Nest has announced that it will be releasing an API for its Nest Learning Thermostat. The new API was first announced at the CEDIA Expo in Denver, Colorado and later confirmed in a blog posting on Nest's site:
What if Auto-Away could turn off your lights? What if your dryer knew not to run when energy prices were high? What if your robot vacuum knew when you were gone and cleaned up before you got home?
Starting today, we're looking for partners to bring this vision to life.
The Nest Developer Program will offer a real-time Web API for the Nest Learning Thermostat in early 2014. The API is not only launching so other apps can integrate with the Nest thermostat, but also so the device can talk to other smart home systems, such as those that control lighting. Developers who want to get in on the API can register their interest...
| Read more »Photo: Huffington Post
CNBC has tweeted that Tim Cook and Carl Icahn are to meet in NY on Monday.
Carl Icahn and Apple’s Tim Cook to meet Monday in New York City. (via @davidfaber)
— CNBC (@CNBC) September 26, 2013
There’s no more information than that, but Icahn is known to favour further expansion of Apple’s...
| Read more »Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 won’t work outside of its geographical region. Just like your old DVD player. What a piece of shit.
| Read more »iOS 7's Notification Center can be a great way to see notifications at a glance, but when every app on your device suddenly decides to join the party, things can get a little hectic. In today's iOS 7 video tip, we'll show you how to turn off notifications from specific apps or delete them from your Today screen.
The video, as always, can be expanded to full-screen for clarity.
iOS 7 video tip: Organizing Notification Center originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 26 Sep 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
