In the aftermath of the devastating tornado that cut a path of destruction through Oklahoma City on Monday, wireless carrier AT&T announced that overage charges would be suspended for the area until June 30 as part of an effort to assist victims, many of whom lost everything. Due to high call volumes as friends and family check on their loved ones, the company said it would add additional resources to relieve cell congestion....  ...

Designers of operating systems can't think of everything that should be in their programs. Utilities are a testament to that. Utilities are software programs that do things that should have been included in an operating system, but weren't. They can help you keep your system performing at top speed, solve irritating problems or just keep valuable information at your fingertips. For example, you might want to have the windows on your desktop placed just so when you're working.

As you have come to expect from your two favorite geeks, this show brought to you with real-time logistics: Dave flew in just in time to make the recording of the show, coordinating with John and prepping the agenda from the car while Dave's wife drove him straight to the studio. Good stuff in this show, too, as you'd expect with the kind of frantic energy that went into the prep! Download today (it's free, after all) and enjoy!

Apple is preparing to open a new Apple Store in Adelaide, Australia on May 25 at 10AM. The Rundle Place outlet will not only be Apple's first in Adelaide, but also by extension the first in the state of South Australia, which is otherwise sparsely populated. The company has 19 other stores in the country, most of which are in New South Wales or Victoria....   ...

In an update to its website on Monday, Apple revealed its newest retail location in Australia, at Rundle Place Centre in Adelaide, will open its doors on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time.  ...

Peter Molyneux's studio 22cans has been working on a Populous followup game called Godus, and the company has just announced a deal for a publisher. DeNA, the Japanese company behind the Mobage social platform, will be publishing Godus on iOS. And the game will also connect up to Mobage in Western companies and in Japan and Korea.

DeNA is an interesting choice for Molyneux -- the company is usually known for casual games, and the audience is largely Japanese so far. But DeNA has definitely been looking to expand to the west and seeking well-known developers to do that with, including a game they're working on with former EA designer Ben Cousins. Plus, Molyneux has released Curiosity on iOS...

Facebook on Monday brought its Share Dialog out of beta which, once adopted by iOS app developers, will allow users to share content in-app without first having to sign in to the social network.  ...

Today, Google made it known to its array of merchants that it is discontinuing the Google Checkout functionality, and migrating some existing users to Google Wallet. In a blog post announcing the move, Google called the Wallet product "a platform that enables merchants to meet the demands of a multi-screen world where consumers shop in-stores, at their desks and on their mobile devices." Users have six months to find an alternative solution, if not migrated automatically....  ...

Apple's chain of retail stores continue to be the most profitable retail outlets in the world on a square-foot basis. According to Asymco, Apple hit yet another record in the March quarter for dollars-per-visitor, getting US$57.60 on average from the hordes of ravenous Apple fans that frequent Apple Stores.

The Mac Observer Spin:
Looking at these charts, it's hard to fit the Apple-hater narrative that the company is on some kind of downhill trajectory. Maybe we just need more time, and then surely it will come to pass?

Sony and Apple are at loggerheads over streaming music, AT&T gets ready to open the floodgates on video chat over its network, and the head of Turkey drops in on Silicon Valley. The remainders for Monday, May 20, 2013 are up a stream without a paddle.

One issue holding up Apple iRadio: The economics of skipping songs (CNet)

If you were expecting Apple’s rumored music streaming service to roll out at next month’s WWDC, you might be disappointed. CNet reports that Sony Music is at odds with Cupertino over what Apple will pay for songs that users skip or rate poorly. Here’s a tip, Sony: Make better music. That one’s free!

AT&T says ‘any’ mobile video chat app will work on its network...

It's official: Yahoo! CEO Marissa Meyer has gone completely bonkers, as the Yahoo-owned Flickr has just announced that all users now have a free terabyte of storage. That's a thousand gigabytes, folks. For free.

As the Flickr website touts, 1 terabyte will hold 537,731 photos at an average size of 6.5 megapixels each. No more are you going to need to scale down the size of your images to fit 'em on Flickr -- just upload them at their native resolution.

It's worth remembering that Flickr has a free iPhone app available to facilitate uploading, viewing, and sharing your images.

Yahoo raises the stakes for free Flickr storage: 1 terabyte originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple...

You can make your own filters for reducing or otherwise adjusting images when exporting in OS X's Preview application.

A Congressional panel has found that Apple avoided billions in taxes, the New York Times reports, thanks to an intricate network of subsidiaries throughout the globe. The structure of some of these sub-companies in certain countries made them exempt from paying or filing taxes or record-keeping laws.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that kept $74 billion from the IRS between 2009 and 2012. Apple is not charged, however, with breaking any laws.

Apple has published the full text of its upcoming testimony to the Senate congressional panel, which it's scheduled to make on Tuesday. Among those to testify include CEO Tim Cook. Cook spoke with The...

A Senate committee investigating U.S. corporate tax rates has accused Apple of using a global network of complex subsidiaries to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes. The accusation represents a rare bipartisan front in the U.S. Senate, with both Democrat and Republican senators issuing statements in the accusation.

In its continuing quest for domination in the Android market place, Samsung has announced a global contest for developers to make Samsung-exclusive apps. In particular, they're looking for apps that highlight the Group Play function showcased in the new Galaxy S4. Group Play allows users to interact and share content like music, photos, and games with other users. 10 winner developers will split $800,000 in prize money as the company looks for the killer app to help it stand out in the pack of Android handset providers.

The contest requires developers to use Samsung's Chord SDK media streaming service to be eligible for the prize money. $200,000 goes to the first prize winner, three second-place winners get $100,000 each, and the remaining six third-place winners pocketing $50,000 apiece.

Entries will be judged based on originality, design, functionality, and...

Reading this will give you a good idea of what’s going to happen tomorrow. It’s going to be messy.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Coming soon to Google Glass.

TMO cofounder and copublisher Bryan Chaffin will be speaking Monday evening at the monthly meeting of the Silicon Valley Macintosh User Group. Bryan will be talking about Apple, the high noise-to-signal ratio in coverage of the company, and what we might expect at June's World Wide Developer Conference.

Very sad.

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Yahoo has been busy. I like this look better.

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All of a sudden Flickr is back. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s Tumblr (that was quick!) post on the matter:

Photos tell the stories — stories we’re inspired to relive, share with our friends, or capture simply to express ourselves. Collecting these moments is a part of our everyday. Since 2005, Flickr has become synonymous with inspiring imagery. Today, we’re thrilled to take Flickr even further with a beautiful, completely re-imagined experience that puts photos front and center. When it comes to photography, technology and its limits shouldn’t hinder the experience. So we’re also giving our Flickr users one terabyte of space — for free. That’s enough for a lifetime of photos — more than 500,000 original, full-resolution, pixel-perfect, brilliant photos. Flickr users will never have to worry about running out of space.

1TB is “I no longer have to think...

This is along the lines of what I would expect in iOS. Not throwing everything away, but more updating and modernizing the interface.

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Apple has already made its planned remarks before a Senate committee on Tax Reform known.

Here’s what the other side has to say via Michigan’s Carl Levin (Democrat) on the senator’s view of Apple’s tax avoidance strategy:

“Apple wasn’t satisfied with shifting its profits to a low-tax offshore tax haven. Apple sought the Holy Grail of tax avoidance. It has created offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere. We intend to highlight that gimmick and other Apple offshore tax avoidance tactics so that American working families who pay their share of taxes understand how offshore tax loopholes raise their tax burden, add...

Apple released the testimony CEO Tim Cook will submit to a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, including some of the details of a proposal to overhaul the U.S. corporate tax system. In a 16 page PDF, Apple asked that Congress eliminate all corporate tax loopholes, lower the corporate income tax rates, and to implement a "reasonable tax" on foreign earnings.

Tim Cook’s taking on the tax man. On Tuesday, the Apple CEO will appear before the U.S. Senate’s permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to discuss that body’s look into multinational companies and how they pay taxes. As a special preview to those who really can’t wait to hang on Cook’s every word, Apple on Monday released its head honcho’s testimony.

Those searching for even the merest hint of Apple’s future plans will want to find another tree up which to bark: the 18-page testimony deals almost exclusively the relatively dry subjects of Apple subsidiaries, the company’s corporate structure, and its broad suggestions for overhauling the federal tax system. Given that, it’s no surprise that Cook will be joined by Peter Oppenheimer, the company’s CFO, and Phillip Bullock, Apple’s head of tax operations.

Apple acknowledges that a corporate tax overhaul may may mean that it pays more, but says...

At its event last month Facebook showed us a native Share Dialog as part of its Facebook SDK 3.5 for iOS update, and today Facebook announced on its blog that the feature is now available to developers.

Now officially out of beta, the native Share Dialog will allow developers to implement easier sharing features into their apps using a single line of code. Facebook said it provides “a lightweight and consistent way to enable sharing from your apps,” allowing users to share data from apps without first having to login into Facebook. The result is the elimination of 1 – 3 extra steps required for login when sharing via the feed dialog and an experience similar to using a Facebook Like button.

The Share Dialog further improves upon the...

Apple is making some moves to make its iPhone line more affordable in India. Deals sponsored by Apple with partners include credit card rebates, trade-in discounts, subsidies, and modified payment plans. As a result of the plans, analysts expect "significant growth" in the region....  ...

Nozbe is a tool that helps busy professionals and teams organize time and manage their projects to get things done efficiently and effectively.

Nozbe keeps your tasks in sync. Featuring not only a powerful web app but also apps for the iPhone, iPad, Android (phones and tablets), Mac and Windows PC. (WP8 and BB10 apps in June).

Nozbe also keeps your team in sync. Easily share projects with anyone to delegate and comment on to-dos.

Nozbe also works with your favorite apps — you can comment on tasks with your Evernote notes and Dropbox files. You can also sync your date sensitive Nozbe tasks with Google Calendar.

Nozbe is Freemium. When you upgrade, use coupon code FIREBALL and get 20% off on any Nozbe plan (this week only!).

AT&T has announced that all mobile video chat applications, including Apple's FaceTime, will work over its cellular network by the end of this year.   ...

Apple has introduced incentives to make the iPhone more affordable for customers in India. Indian students who trade in an old smartphone will get 7,777 rupees ($144) toward a new iPhone. Non-students will earn the equivalent of $130 toward an iPhone purchase. Additionally, customers who use an American Express credit…

There have been a number of mixers that utilize iOS devices that I never really liked, but this looks promising. It’s the first one I’ve seen that I’d like to try.

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Back in January, AT&T decided to open up Apple’s FaceTime video chat service over its cellular network to all users on its new tiered plans. Unfortunately, that left those still on grandfathered unlimited data plans out in the cold. According to a statement from the carrier (via TheVerge), by mid-June all customers with LTE devices will have access to the feature on its network:

For video chat apps that come pre-loaded on devices, we currently give all OS and device makers the ability for those apps to work over cellular for our customers who are on Mobile Share or Tiered plans. Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry have chosen to enable this for their pre-loaded video chat apps. And by mid-June, we’ll have enabled those apps over cellular for our unlimited plan...

Asa Mathat / AllThingsD.com

Apple CEO Tim Cook will testify Tuesday before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation as part of its examination of U.S. companies’ offshore tax practices, and he’ll defend the company’s handling of its international holdings while urging corporate tax reform here.

Cook’s travelling to DC well-armed. He’ll present some 18 pages of prepared testimony touching on everything from the “extraordinary” sums Apple pays annually in corporate income tax to the rationale for its massive foreign cash holdings and a careful rebuttal to allegations that it uses its Irish subsidiary to avoid US taxes. On that last issue, which has drawn scrutiny in the media, the company’s argument is...

Spring means migration and the return of birds to many parts of North America. It also means warmer weather and sunny days that are perfect for birding. Here is a list of apps to help you get outside and start learning about our feathered friends (all prices are USD).

Field Guide for birds [iOS Universal; $0.99 to $19.99]

There are several big name field guides that include photos and illustrations to help identification, bird calls, range data and other information about each bird species. Included in this list of guides is Audubon, Peterson, Sibley, and the all-digital iBird.

Audubon Birds is a digital version of the popular paperback field guide. It has excellent images of the birds, range maps and multiple calls and songs for each bird. It also includes NatureShare which allows you to find and share local bird sightings. The Audubon Birds app is on sale now for $3.99, down from $...

Apple today has published its testimony proposing corporate tax reform and detailing the company’s tax practices ahead of CEO Tim Cook’s appearance at a Senate hearing on offshore tax practices scheduled for tomorrow.

In the testimony, Apple proposed what it called comprehensive corporate tax reform that should: Be revenue neutral, eliminate all corporate tax expenditures, lower corporate income tax rates; and implement a reasonable tax on foreign earnings that allows free movement of capital back to the US.

While some Subcommittee members may have differing views on these tax policy matters, Apple hopes the Subcommittee will see that these recommendations aim to create meaningful change and go well beyond what most US companies propose. As both a pioneer...

A new report from market analysts NPD Group indicates that US Mac sales for the month of April were about even with the same month last year, which some analysts see as a positive sign for Apple. However, NPD's data -- which is normally considered reasonably accurate -- only covers US sales, meaning the higher percentage of Mac sales overseas is making meaningful predictions difficult....  ...

Apple is continually trying new methods to get its products into the hands of Indian consumers, and the Cupertino company recently rolled out a range of new offers to attract iPhone buyers in the world's second-most populous country.  ...

"Wait, who's Brett Terpstra? Does that guy still write here?" Yes, he does, on special occasions. The release of Lick of the Day 2.0 seemed like a decent reason to come out of hiding.

Lick of the Day is an app from Agile Partners for iPhone and iPad which teaches guitar players new skills in an easy to digest video and interactive format (see previous coverage by Matt Tinsley). With each lesson you get a high-quality video that includes explanations, fast and slow versions as well as tips for making the most of picking patterns and finger positions. Each lick also includes tab/notation, text narrative and backing tracks for practicing. The live fingerboard representation as the tab plays for you is one of my favorite parts of the app.

In version 2, Agile partners with TrueFire to include 20 new Lick...

The latest data from the NPD Group shows that domestic sales of Mac computers were about even year over year in the month of April, which one analyst interprets as potentially a positive sign for Apple.  ...

“I give them two years before they’re turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake.”

That’s what David Goldstein, president of research outfit Channel Marketing, said of Apple after the grand opening of the company’s first retail stores in 2001. Yet 12 years later, the lights in Apple’s stores remain lit, there are 406 of them spread across 14 countries, and they boast hands-down some of the most valuable retail space in the world.

In the first quarter, Apple’s average revenue per store topped out at about $13 million, reaching its highest level ever for a non-holiday quarter, according to Asymco analyst Horace Dediu. And the company collected a record $57.60 in revenue per visitor, with about $12 of that being profit.

Impressive numbers for Apple, which continues to...

Michael Lopp:

The cap on WWDC tickets means it won’t go the way of SXSW – a wildly successful conference that has grown consistently since its inception. I used to go every year until one late night we looked around a huge sea of strangers and decided that we no longer knew this conference. The experience had become diluted. It had become unfamiliar, full of strangers, and unknowable.

There is a lot of truth to that. A lot of people go to WWDC to meet up with old friends — the socializing is just as important as the sessions for many people. Lopp provides some other great insights in the article too.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Users of iOS file management apps File Lite and File Lite Pro might want to delete the apps from their iOS devices for now (or at least turn off Wi-Fi sharing). That's because the Vulnerability Laboratory has discovered three vulnerabilities in the latest versions of the apps, according to iMore.

The worst vulnerability allows an attacker to upload files to a user's account without any interaction, while the other two permit code injection in the user's browser while they are viewing file listings. All three exploits require that a user has the apps' Wi-Fi sharing option turned on.

Since the vulnerabilities were discovered on May 17th, the app has not been...

The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been touring Silicon Valley companies this week, on the heels of a similar tour by Turkish President Abdullah Gül last month. Both men received VIP tours of facilities at Microsoft and Google, and met privately with officials from Apple. All three companies are hoping to land a contract to supply the country with at least 10.6 million tablets for the country's students....  ...

Ahead of a planned purchase of more than 10 million tablets, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Apple's campus to hear the company's pitch for the iPad's use in education.  ...

We showed you images of what we expect the fifth generation of the iPad to look like back in January, and today Digitimes reports that the updated hardware could be 25-33% lighter than the current full-sized iPad.

We expect the next 9.7″ iPad to resemble the design of the 7.9″ iPad mini, but dropping a third of its weight is certainly a tall order as it would bring it just under a pound.

Current iPads without cellular connectivity weigh in at 1.44 pounds while the iPad mini is much lighter at 0.66 pounds, but the iPad mini doesn’t require as much LED backlighting as the larger, Retina display full-sized iPad, though the report claims the next full-sized iPad will use a...

Handbrake, Eric Petit’s incredibly useful open-source DVD ripping/conversion utility, has been updated to version 0.9.9.

The new version, a 9.1 megabyte download, offers the following fixes and changes:

General:
- Improved HandBrake pineapple icon by Matt Johnson.

- Improved Retina-resolution icons within the application, by Nik Pawlak (http://nikpawlak.com).

Core:
- Blu-ray (PGS) subtitle support.

- Works with Foreign Audio Search.

- Can...

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was seen visiting Apple's headquarters in Cupertino over the weekend, reports The Hurriyet Daily News. The visit was part of a series of stops to major technology companies in Silicon Valley, including Google and Microsoft. The visit wasn't just out of casual interest on the PM's part, however. Turkey is seeking to purchase 10.6 million tablet computers for use in its schools.

Even for a company as large as Apple, an additional 10.6 million iPads sold would be massive. It's unknown who Erdoğan met with at Apple, but this was not the first time a Turkish government official stopped by. Way back in 2011, Turkish Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan visited Apple to discuss the same tablet education...

A report in the Taiwanese trade paper DigiTimes -- which has a mixed track record of accuracy -- claims that Apple will begin large-scale production of the fifth-generation iPad in July, with a possible launch in September. The new model is said to be significantly thinner than the previous full-size model, which was unveiled last September. The report also claims the unit will be a third lighter than the current model....  ...