Jordan Kahn

• iOS
• Fitbit
• investigation
• recall
• statement

Fitbit issues recall of Force fitness tracker and stops sales over skin irritation complaints

Jordan Kahn Feb 21 2014 - 11:37 am PT

2 Comments

Fitbit, the company behind popular iPhone-connected fitness tracking wearable Fitbit Force, today announced a recall of the product due to complaints of skin irritation from users. Instead of the refund or replacement it was offering customers previously, it will now stop selling the Force and conduct a voluntary recall while it investigates the problem with medical experts. The company said in its statement today that only a small number of users have experienced the skin irritation and that “affected users are likely experiencing an allergic reaction to these materials.”

Fitbit also mentioned that it’s working on a “next-generation tracker and will announce news about it soon,” so it remains to be seen if Force will ever return. The full statement from Fitbit and more info on the recall is below (via TechCrunch):

We wanted to provide an update on our investigation into reports we have received about Force users experiencing skin irritation.

From the beginning, we’ve taken this matter very seriously. We hired independent labs and medical experts to conduct a thorough investigation, and have now learned enough to take further action. The materials used in Force are commonly found in many consumer products, and affected users are likely experiencing an allergic reaction to these materials.

While only a small percentage of Force users have reported any issue, we care about every one of our customers. We have stopped selling Force and are in the process of conducting a voluntary recall, out of an abundance of caution. We are also offering a refund directly to consumers for full retail price. We want to thank each and every member of the Fitbit community for their continued loyalty and support. We are working on our next-generation tracker and will announce news about it soon.

For additional information, please contact our support line at: 888-656-6381, or visit http://www.fitbit.com/forcesupport.

• Apps & Updates
• Apps
• iPhone
• App Store
• update
• Camera

Camera+ iPhone app adds 16×9 widescreen shooting mode, improved filters & editing

Jordan Kahn Feb 20 2014 - 12:26 pm PT

3 Comments

The popular Camera+ iPhone app from developers tap tap tap was updated today with a number of new features and improvements. On top of a “a bunch of refinements to The Lab” and photo editing, the app gains a new BOOST feature for setting filters to 200% intensity and widescreen 16×9 shooting mode. The update to version 5.1 also includes a number of bug fixes.

Camera+ for iPhone is available on the App Store now for $1.99.

Full release notes for the update below:

What’s New in Version 5.1

For Camera+ 5.1 we’ve made a bunch of refinements to The Lab, making the best photo editing on a mobile phone even better. We’ve made several usability tweaks to further streamline the whole experience. One slightly hidden, but handy addition is that you can now tap & hold an adjustment to reset it.

We’ve added a new setting so that you can choose whichever section you’d like to begin in when you edit your photos. This is nice if you always want to go straight to The Lab, for instance.

For those times when you want to go more intense with filters, we’ve added a new BOOST feature. You can now bump the intensity up to 200%.

You can take widescreen photos with the new 16×9 shooting mode. Bring out your inner Scorcese. Or Fellini.

Many of you were hitting a pipe too often while flapping, causing you to lose all your photos. That’s now fixed, thankfully.

And we’ve spent a good amount of time fixing bugs for this version. Many were esoteric and only occurred on particular hardware, but we did our very best to try and resolve all known issues for this release. If any of you experience any further issues, please report them to us.

Take 2: The API issue that was causing apps like Day One to not work properly with Camera+ is fixed now. For realsies this time. Thanks to the chaps at Day One for helping us to resolve this.

• Apps & Updates
• Apps
• App Store
• Google
• update
• calendar

Waze app gets Calendar integration for navigating to upcoming events

Jordan Kahn Feb 20 2014 - 9:29 am PT

4 Comments

Waze, the navigation app maker that Google picked up last year, announced today that its updating its mobile apps with calendar integration. With the updated app, iOS and Android users will now see “events with location info will automatically appear” in the navigation list within Waze. That means any events in your calendar that have location info associated with them will be viewable from within Waze.

The company notes that only two upcoming events from your Calendar will be displayed in the navigation list. Users that want to disable the Calendar integration can do so from the iOS Settings app.

The updated app isn’t yet live on the App Store but should be rolling out any minute.

• iOS
• Google
• app
• Canada
• wifi

Google testing app that lets you automatically join WiFi hotspots, plans to roll out hotspots in US/Canada

Jordan Kahn Feb 20 2014 - 8:38 am PT

3 Comments

Engadget reports that Google has been testing a new iOS and Android app at its Mountain View campus recently that would allow users to automatically join public WiFi hotspots without going through the usual log-in process. Google is apparently considering using the app in connection with its recently announced deal to provide WiFi to 7000 Starbucks locations in the US:

According to our sources, the search giant has built Android and iOS versions of an app that automatically authenticate and connect to its free hotspots inside Starbucks stores or wherever they are available. Google is currently trialling the Android app at its Mountain View HQ and has plans to offer an iOS app too.

Perhaps more interesting is Engadget’s claim that Google has “specific plans” to roll out more Google WiFi hotspots in the US and Canada as part of the ongoing “Google WiFi” effort it first launched in Mountain View back in 2006.

The report adds that the app could link to a user’s Google account and “install a dedicated security certificate on their device to automatically authenticate devices when a connection is available.” Engadget says an expanded partnership with Boingo is also a possibility:

Google may also expand its partnership with Boingo, extending logins to locations where it’s footing the bill for free wireless.

Google plans to have its WiFi rolled out at all 7000 Starbucks locations by the end of the year.

(image via ABC)

• iOS
• iPad
• iPhone
• Square
• mobile payments

Square and (RED) team up for special edition card reader to fight AIDS

Jordan Kahn Feb 19 2014 - 9:36 am PT

1 Comment

Mobile payments company Square is teaming up with Bono’s Product RED organization for a special edition credit card reader that benefits charity. Square has become one of the leaders in processing credit card payments on mobile devices with a small credit card reader available for iPhone and iPad as well as point-of-sale software and hardware kits for merchants. The special SQUA(RED) Reader will be available for a $10 donation with 97.25% of the amount going directly to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. Customers swiping their cards will also get the opportunity to donate through a link on their emailed receipts:

The impact doesn’t end there. When you swipe (RED), your customers can donate right from their emailed receipts to help deliver an AIDS FREE GENERATION. Every swipe can make a difference.

Last year the official (Product) RED Twitter account revealed that Apple’s contributions to the charity had reached $65 million, making it the largest contributor out of all participating companies. 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 and donates a portion of profits to the charity. Most recently, Apple design guru Jony Ive and designer friend Marc Newson teamed up to assemble a one-of-a-kind collection to auction off for the charity.

• AAPL Company
• server
• David Smith
• background app refresh
• Background Refresh

Developer warns iOS 7’s Background App Refresh increases server load dramatically, may be costly

Jordan Kahn Feb 18 2014 - 11:38 am PT

8 Comments

With the introduction of iOS 7, developers gained access to a new feature often referred to as “Background App Refresh” or “Background Fetch” that allows apps to update data in the background periodically. Users can control which apps fetch for data in a new Settings pane and developers can control the frequency of updates to craft an ideal experience for their specific apps. The result is supposed to be a faster, always up-to-date experience for users, but one developer warns it could also have a significant increase on server costs.

Pod Wrangler developer David Smith posted the chart above showing a huge spike in API requests and server costs after implementing background refresh in his weather app:

My first example of this was when I added Background Fetch to Check the Weather. A weather app’s primary function is displaying up-to-the-minute, constantly changing data so in my initial iOS 7 update I experimented with adding highly frequent background updates. The result was far more dramatic than I’d expected. Here are my weather API requests (which cost 0.01¢ per request) per day once the update went live. I saw an immediate jump in traffic, roughly 16x normal. Suffice to say I immediately had to scale back on my requested update frequency.

Smith also took a look at some other popular podcasting apps after running into similar issues with background fetch in Pod Wrangler and offers tips for developers to get rid of unnecessary background downloads. The full article is here.

• Apps

MLB completes installation of iBeacons for Dodgers & Padres ahead of Opening Day

Jordan Kahn Feb 14 2014 - 10:07 am PT

0 Comments

After reports that Major League Baseball was running a trial of Apple’s new iBeacon technology to provide fans with a personalized, interactive experience at ballparks, Recode reports today that the league is about to announce it’s completed installation of the beacons at two stadiums. As reported previously, the league is hoping to have around 20 stadiums equipped with iBeacons by Opening Day in March. The first two teams to have ballparks equipped include the Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers:

The installation of 65 iBeacons at Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego’s Petco Park, home of the Padres, will be followed by similar work at more than a dozen and a half other MLB stadiums, the league said. The plan is to have more than 20 ballparks in total equipped with the technology by Opening Day in late March. The Padres host the Dodgers on Opening Night on March 30.

With iBeacons installed at the parks, fans arriving with their iPhones will be automatically presented with notifications that include info related to the game and stadium through the MLB At the Ballpark app.

Image via Qualcomm

• iOS

Many developers unable to submit or update apps due to iTunes Connect outages

Jordan Kahn Feb 13 2014 - 10:45 am PT

1 Comment

It appears that some of Apple’s developer services are experiencing outages as a growing number of developers complain about problems submitting and updating App Store apps through Apple’s iTunes Connect. Apple has not updated its developer system status page to reflect the outages, but developers have reached out to 9to5Mac and there are several pages of complaints on Apple’s developer forums. For some developers the outages are approaching around 24 hours and a quick look at the forums shows many devs from all over the world are having the same issue.

We’ve reached out to Apple about the iTunes Connect problems and we’ll update if we hear back.