Thanks to your amazing support, we feel confident that Apple might revise its position on the Push API. We’ll submit a first version of Sparrow 1.2 including it. This might delay Sparrow 1.2 validation but we’re already working with some partners to include Push in future versions of Sparrow without needing Apple clearance.
Push is coming. With or without Apple.
The team also said version 1.2 will include localization in nine languages, landscape mode when composing, and swipe up and down gestures to move between messages.
A screenshot gallery and version 1.1 updates are below.
Apple’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has only held his title for 10 months, but he is already the world’s Highest-Rated CEO.
Careers community Glassdoor gave Cook a 97 percent rating in its “Top 25 Highest Rates CEOs” list for 2012. Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs only boasted 95 percent during his last year as chief executive.
Google made less than $550 million in revenues for Android between 2008 and 2011, while making four times as much revenue during the same period with Apple products that employ Google services like Search and Maps.
According to The Guardian, the settlement offer provided yesterday by Google to Oracle depicted Android’s revenue streams. Settlement discussions ordered by Judge William Alsup were derailed when Oracle rejected Google’s low offer to pay royalties on Android if alleged patent infringements deem true in court.
With the Intel CPU news today, a 9to5Mac commenter posted the above fake commercial in our comments.
The joint mechanism is obviously a fake, but it would not be out of the realm of possibility to see a 360-degree hinge on the next generation of MacBooks coupled with a touch display —especially because Apple has taken the Mac OS in the same direction as iOS during the last few years.
More usability is made available in the MacBook with a 360-degree hinge, but it also creates less need for an iPad, which does not bode well for this concept.
Lets talk about Aereo—the service that streams over-the-air local TV to any Mac, iOS device, or PC running Safari for $12 per month.
The decidedly McGyver tech behind this venture relies on fingertip-sized TV antennas in data centers that allow servers to live-stream channels with high-definition reception through a speedy Internet connection. Aereo also works with Apple TV via iTunes’ AirPlay and a source iOS device, and Roku-lovers can use the Aereo channel through set-top boxes. The service even flaunts 40 hours of DVR storage space and an HTML 5 experience. That’s right, no apps—nor cords, cables, and boxes. Hence the startup’s “It’s TV made simple” badge.
Aereo is currently an invite-only 90-day free trial to New York City residents. Oh, and the behind-the-scene gurus verify billing and IP addresses, so there is no fooling Aereo when requesting login credentials.
That’s enough with the basics; now time to spill the juicy details:
The author’s own online Pottermore Shop displays all seven titles in ePub format, and prices vary between $8 each and $10 each, per copy. Fans can also purchase the entire series for $57.54.
The ePub files are unprotected and compatible with most iOS devices, Android devices, and any other eReader, tablet, or smartphone that accepts ePub format. In addition, the Harry Potter eBooks are available in Amazon Kindle formats. A full list of compatible devices and reading services is also available on the Pottermore Shop website.
Conspicuously, Rowling did not make the eBooks available through Apple’s iBookstore.
Sina Technology News on March 26 morning news, according to informed sources, Apple iOS operating system next month will be formally introduced Baidu search, Baidu and Apple between cooperation component in the China region.
Google’s Susan Creighton revealed last fall that two-thirds of the Mountain View, Calif.-based Company’s mobile search comes from Apple iOS devices.
Meanwhile, recent speculation claims Apple is moving to an in-house Mapping solution that would replace Google Maps. The firm also recently removed its publish to YouTube option in QuickTime for Mountain lion. If these latest rumors deem true, Apple’s move to Baidu would further indicate a significant effort to reduce Google’s presence in iOS.
With that said, the move to Baidu might be more than a snub to Google. As SearchEngineLand noted, Baidu holds 80 percent of the search market in China, and it would make sense for the Chinese to carry the same search on their mobile devices as they have on their desktop.
. Some waiting in line in Italy having fun via SetteB.it
As we originally predicted, Apple released the new iPad in 25 additional countries today, just a week after the original launch.
The third-generation iOS tablet went on-sale internationally at 8 a.m. PST and became available in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.
The U.S. Congress is querying an iOS developer for information about whether it satisfies Apple’s privacy policies for apps and how and why it collects data from users. (The update is after the break.)
The Next Webreceived an information request sent to developer Tapbots from House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairmen Henry Waxman and Fred Upton. Tapbots is the brain behind the popular “Tweetbot” Twitter client for the iPad and iPhone.
“We are writing to you because we want to better understand the information collection and use policies and practices of apps for Apple’s mobile devices with a social element. We request that you respond to the following questions regarding the Tweetbot app,” explained the representatives in the letter’s introduction…
Hard-drive maker Western Digital is the first-ever to unveil a 2TB capacity 2.5-inch portable external hard drive.
Western Digital announced the drive will first be put into the My Passport family, which previously only offered up to 1TB of storage, but the doubled-capacity external is still a condensed single-volume drive. 9to5Mac reviewed the Western Digital My Passport Studio in September 2011 and walked away very impressed with the 1TB 2.5-inch flavor.
Like the earlier version, the larger My Passport is available in various colored finishes that make its shell resilient to abrasions. The device is NTFS reformatted but easily reformatted to Mac OS, and it supports USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 for trucking large amounts of data.
Verizon is set to announce shared family data plans for smartphone and tablet users.
PhoneArenaobtained a leaked screenshot (above) that indicated Verizon plans to launch its shared family data plans soon. The service will allow customers to pay one data fee for the entire family and all their devices.
As seen in the screenshot, family data usage is calculable for e-mail, web surfing, and other data tasks extending to 30 GB and beyond. Pricing and other details are not revealed in the leak, but it seems like Verizon is just weeks away from debuting the new system. Now let’s hope fair rates launch with the carrier’s upcoming strategy.
In related carrier news, Sprint plans to offer its Total Equipment Protection coverage for the iPhone.
The fourth feature highlighted with the new iPad is voice dictation—definitely a taste of Siri. It supports U.S. English, British, Australian, French, German and Japanese:
“The iPad, like all great iOS devices, has a great keyboard. And now you’ll see there’s a new key on the bottom: a microphone,” announced Apple exec Phil Schiller.
Apple’s presser for the new iPad is occurring now at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
Mobile device manager Aerohive introduced Enterprise Bonjour Gateway today for enabling Apple’s Bonjour protocol to work across multiple network segments in a corporate setting.
Bonjour allows networking hardware to automatically configure (zero-configuration), while Bonjour Gateway (PDF) essentially adds support for iPad and iPhone users to employ components like AirPrint for wireless printing wherever an AirPrint-capable printer is accessible. The feature intends to aid the growing trend of users who bring their iOS devices into work.
A new national study indicates the iPad nearly quadrupled among the small business market in 2011.
The Business Journal is a Charlotte N.C.-based solutions platform for companies targeting business resolution makers. Its recent study, which is fully available on March 31, highlights Apple’s iOS tablet as “the fastest growing technology among the SMB market” due to usage growing from 9 percent in 2010 to 34 percent in 2011.
The Internet is abuzz with stats about iPad trade-ins going through the roof as the March 7 iPad 3 unveiling in San Francisco looms closer, and while percentages and graphs are vaguely interesting, the real meat to the story concerns where and how people can get the most bang for their buck.
Look no further as 9to5Mac compiled a list of places to trade in an ole’ dusty iPad for cash or credit to buy Apple’s upcoming toy. Before perusing the options, identify the condition, features, and model of the swappable iPad. This knowledge will help decide its maximum value, because most of these online programs use a survey to determine the slate’s estimate. Moreover, it is prudent to act now as some reports indicate retailers are steadily dropping prices with Apple’s event drawing nearer.
Trade-in websites and their prices are available below.
Marvel announced today that comic fans around the globe could now launch the iBooks app and buy its classic graphic novels.
The publisher said it “entered a bold new era in digital comics” with the release of iconic Marvel stories and characters on the free iOS e-book application:
“With an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, Marvel fans across the world can now purchase over 80 graphic novels with fan-favorite characters like Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man and more by launching the iBooks app,” wrote the company on the Marvel Comic News website.
Fanatics can visit the Marvel Graphic Novels section on the iTunes Store to start downloading the graphic novels today. Prices currently range from free to $24.99.
The publisher promises to add more titles to the choice each week for a “truly digital comic book reading experience that customers will never forget.”
Moreover, “New Avengers Vol. 1: Breakout” is available free of charge for a limited time. As of press time, the e-book had a 4.5-star rating. There are also literary-adapted graphic novels available for children (“Wonderful Wizard of Oz“) and adults (“Pride & Prejudice“) alike, including a pre-order option for “Marvels.”
Fluent is a web-based workflow stream that works with existing Gmail accounts to bring a Sparrow-like user interface to email.
Users can stream email threads and replies, preview aggregated attachments in a tab, quickly reply or compose inline, archive messages, and even add a to-do list with the new design concept that claims to run on any web browser.
Sparrow is a great success as a Mac-only application, and now Fluent hopes to balance the playing field and snag users whom are in dire need of a new Gmail look and functionality. Fluent’s website specifically praises its workflow ability, multiple accounts options, and “blazing” fast search-as-you-type filter.
The streaming email UI is the work of three former Googlers who quit the Mountain View, Calif.-based Company. BusinessInsidersaid Cameron Adams, Dhanji Prasanna, and Jochen Bekmann left because designers were “less valuable” than engineers at Google, and they felt disconnected from Google’s culture while operating from across the world in Sydney, Australia…
Let’s take a quick break from the hordes of Mountain Lion OSX news to talk about privacy issues within apps…again. However, this time the spotlight is on children’s apps in both Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Marketplace.
The Federal Trade Commission released a report today (PDF) based on a survey that found apps for children do not fully disclose the types of data collected nor do they adequately educate parents about data harvesting.
The consumer protection agency scrutinized privacy policies, recommended each developer give comprehensible disclosures on how data is accrued and shared, including whether children’s data is linked to social network apps, and it even mentioned conducting a six-month review on disclosures and using enforcement if needed. The report focused on the two main app stores themselves and requested more be done to tell children and their parents about privacy concerns…
Apple’s Chief Information Officer Niall O’Connor visited Bangalore in January, according to The Economic Times, and the senior officials at technology firms Infosys and Wipro made sure he received the full-treatment upon landing in India.
Apple is supposedly looking to “quadruple the amount it spends in India, making it all the more covetous for Infosys and Wipro.” The CIO will decide which Indian companies get software outsourcing orders and maintenance work worth about $100 million USD (490 crore), which is roughly 20 percent of the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company’s total global outsourcing spending.
O’Connor started with Apple in 1991 and took the reigns as CIO in 1997. Two of his primary achievements include the global deployment of SAP software and the development of a full-suite of retail systems for Apple…
Instagram, Apple’s 2011 “App of the Year,” just released an update to its iOS application that includes a sleek user interface, tappable notifications, a new filter, and an enhancement feature.
The app is a free photo-manipulator that allows users to snap pictures, apply hip vintage filters, and then share their edited images through a built-in social network. Users can also share their creations through other services, such as Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr.
The newest version allots a much-needed facelift and provides a more modern appearance than the previous variant by displaying an overhauled header and menu buttons (as seen in the image to the right).
“We’ve simplified the look of Instagram,” announced the San Francisco-based Company in a blog post.
American politicians are in a hullabaloo over the 500,000 Foxconn low-wage jobs in China that they claim could be stationed in the United States, but no one seems to pay attention to the booming “App Economy” that created roughly the same amount of decent jobs stateside. Both sides of the aisle have made public statements on how the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company should bring its grueling $0.31-an-hour factory occupations home.
President Barack Obama reportedly once asked the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs, “What would it take to make iPhones in the United States?” at the Silicon Valley Summit last year, and Jobs allegedly responded: “Those jobs aren’t coming back.” The New York Timesdescribed why those positions are not returning last month. You can watch the Republicans, perhaps besides Ron Paul, be just as dumbfounded about the labor issue in the video above.
Bureaucrats can toy with the idea of stimulating employment, but innovation —the creation of new goods and services— is already boosting industries and small businesses capable of employing hundreds of thousands of workers at respectable wages. For example: According to Indeed.com, the average app developer salary in Palo Alto, Calif., is $119,000 a year.
“Nothing illustrates the job-creating power of innovation better than the App Economy,” contended a new NetTech sponsored study (PDF) released today. “The incredibly rapid rise of smartphones, tablets, and social media, and [apps] that run on them, is perhaps the biggest economic and technological phenomenon today.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is currently unable to track App Economy employment numbers. TechNet is a “bipartisan policy and political network of technology CEOs that promotes the growth of the innovation economy,” and it enlisted Dr. Michael Mandel of South Mountain Economics to conduct analysis from The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine database and track accurate employment statistics.
Dr. Mandel’s conclusions illustrated that the industries housed under the App Economy’s wide umbrella are responsible for an estimated 466,000 jobs (including spillovers not depicted in the above graph) across the states…
Apple just updated its End User License Agreement for the iBooks Author application, and the changes clearly outline the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company only requires .iBooks formatted products created in iBooks Author to sell through the iBookstore.
With that said, Apple aims to sell the packaged format without claiming the content nor restricting where else authors can distribute the content.
AT&T has a grudge with the Federal Communications Commission, and during the mobile carrier’s quarterly earnings call today, CEO Randall Stephenson criticized the FCC over spectrum availability and the bombed acquisition of T-Mobile USA, with him further claiming that AT&T’s spectrum crux could cause jacked prices against its highest data users.
The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, founded in 1876, once held a monopoly on wired phone service in the United States, but the U.S. Department of Justice broke up Alexander Graham Bell’s company into seven “Baby Bells” with an antitrust lawsuit that turned into a settlement in 1982.
Since then, the company has slowly reassembled. Six of those seven “Baby Bells” merged into two single companies: AT&T, Inc., (Ameritech, BellSouth, Pacific Telesis, and Southwestern Bell) and Verizon Communications, Inc., (NYNEX and Bell Atlantic). The acquisition of the fourth largest wireless service provider in the U.S., Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA, would have poised AT&T to gain a monopoly once again, but this time through its 3G GSM service in the U.S., while garnering the No. 1 spot in the U.S. wireless market. However, the FCC stepped in this time and dashed the company’s monopolizing hopes.
The FCC requested a formal administrative hearing into AT&T’s proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA last fall, subsequently causing the U.S. carrier to withdraw the pending approval applications in November 2011. The decision rolled into a killed bid and garnered a $4 billion pretax charge on AT&T’s Q4 2011 accountancy sheet that includes a $3 billion default payment due to Deutsche Telekom over the deal’s non-completion and an additional $1 billion in spectrum value that AT&T would have to forgo.
AT&T CEO Stephenson released his frustrations concerning the debacle at the company’s Q4 2011 financial conference call today. He set his sights on the FCC and lambasted the agency while decrying it of choosing “winners” and “losers” in regards to approving and regulating deals…
