Mark is an award-winning journalist who worked at 9to5Mac for over six years. He covers Apple and other topics related to the consumer technology industry.
Nearly two months after a licensing issue arose between the creators of the open-source VLC platform and creators of the VLC iOS application, Apple has removed the application from their App Store. The conflict even broke an Apple-created policy on the App Store regarding DRM and applications built off open-source projects. One of the original creators of the VLC open-source platform announced the app’s removal on their blog and had this to say:
At last, Apple has removed VLC media player from its application store. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved – the hard way. I am not going to pity the owners of iDevices, and not even the MobileVLC developers who doubtless wasted a lot of their time. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone.
Update: Remi decided to lighten up his quote we put above with this (notice the differences):
On January 7th, Apple removed VLC media player from its application store for iDevices. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved – the hard way. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone, given the precedents.
He also wrote up a nice post about Apple’s involvment (very interesting). It’s posted after the break in case he decides to change that up a bit too.
On his blog today, Kevin Rose claimed on good authority that Apple’s second generation iPad will debut in “3-4 weeks” and will feature a Retina Display in addition to dual cameras. An iPad 2 announcement within a month would not fit Apple’s typical yearly product cycle (for devices of iPad’s class: iPhone, iPod etc.) as the first iPad went on sale early April 2010. The iPad 2 also having a Retina Display seems unlikely as the term “Retina” (in Apple’s case) means the doubling of pixels.
I have it on good authority that Apple will be announcing the iPad 2 in the next “3-4 weeks”, possibly Tuesday February 1st. The iPad 2 will feature a retina display and front/back cameras.
Apple doubling the pixels of the current iPad (1024 x 768) would make the iPad 2 have a screen of a 2048 x 1536 resolution. That resolution seems way too high for Apple to put in a 9.7 inch display while keeping costs down. A higher resolution display does make sense though, and this could be what Rose is referring to. Of course we have heard many rumors about the next iPad including two cameras including some evidence from case leaks and physical iPad 2 mockups.
Rose has been very hit-and-miss over the years in terms of his Apple predictions. Prior to the launch of the first iPhone he incorrectly predicted the device having a physical keyboard and most recently, Rose claimed the new Apple TV would be called the “iTV” and would include an App Store as well as ad supported TV stations. On the other hand, Rose was correct about the Apple TV’s September launch date, iPad remote feature, and $99 price point and was also correct about the fourth-generation iPod nano’s features and even posted a photo of it. Rose was also correct about copy/paste in iOS 3.0 as well as new iTunes features.
Update: Rose updated his blog post to say it’s not a Retina Display but instead is higher resolution screen with more dots per inch (DPI).
Fox has announced that this year the award screeners for the Screen Actors Guild awards will be placed on iTunes. Award screeners are copies of films given to the Screen Actors Guild prior to the awards to they could vote for winners. Traditionally, studios send out copies of films on watermarked DVD’s but this year, they worked with Apple to place them on iTunes.
The films Black Swan, Conviction, and 127 Hours will be available for the nearly 100,000 Screen Actors Guild members via iTunes from January 7th until January 28th. The SAG members will be given special redemption codes to download their movies, which they can then play on their supported device (Mac, PC, iOS Device, Apple TV etc.).
Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Services Eddy Cue had this to say:
We’ve worked with Fox to bring their films to SAG members in an innovative way. We think the voting members will enjoy being able to view these films however they choose, whether on their iPad, iPhone or with Apple TV.
Apple.Proposts some images claiming to be drawings of the next-generation iPhone. The drawings are said to originate at a Foxconn iPhone manufacturing plant and it is unknown whether these represent a Verizon iPhone 4 or the fifth-generation iPhone. It’s difficult to decipher anything new from the drawings but they are still intriguing. The rest of the drawings are after the break.
Although iWork ’11 is yet to be announced, Apple’s Mac App Store promotional images reference an updated version of the productivity suite. Typo? Or is it still coming? Discuss!
Update: Some readers let us know they saw the above reference on the actual Mac App Store at some point today too.
A couple days ago we reported on a physical iPad 2 mockup that was spotted at CES, which showed a thinner, tapered design along with dual cameras. Today, iLoungespotted another iPad 2 physical mockup, from a different case manufacture, at CES. The physical mockup shows a new, larger speaker grill on the back’s bottom, the thinner, tapered design, and dual cameras.
Of course this mockup is fake, and Apple would never write iPad 2 on the back of the next iPad, but it is from a different case manufacture. The combination of physical mockups and cases from various places and manufacturers represents a similar consensus of the iPad 2’s design. Now, all we have to do is see if Apple’s product is the same design. Check out more pictures after the break.
This morning we posted some pictures and a video hands-on of some purported next-generation (or Verizon) iPhone parts. Apple quickly filed a claim for the videos removal and it’s now gone. When Apple has “leaks” removed that is usually an indication of some legitimacy. Discuss! (Thanks, Adam)
AppAdvice reports that some United States airports are dishing out 30 minutes of free WiFi when you download Google’s official iOS search application. They took the screenshot at Logan International Airport in Boston and let us know the comments if you’ve seen this anywhere else.
At CES today, Pioneer announced a new accessory for the iPhone which is meant for your car. It boosts the GPS signal (perfect for navigation apps), has a speakerphone with mic, and charges your device. The accessory is also very safety conscious as it blocks your iPhone’s app features from working unless you are fully parked. The Pioneer SmartCradle’s pricing and availability will be announced at a later date and the press release is after the break. (via Engadget)
There have been rumors of an iWork ’11 launch happening around the time of the Mac App Store launch and today’s update to the Keynote Remote app just adds fuel the fire. Traditionally, when Apple updates their Keynote app in iWork, they update the icon with the year of the release. Above is a graphic found in Keynote remote’s binary file: it says “2011.” This might be a slight leak on Apple’s part but then again it’s just an icon and Apple could have updated an ’09 product’s graphic to say ’11 just because we’re in 2011 now. Below is Keynote 11’s application icon.
RazorianFly got a leaked screenshot out of the Mac App Store of Twitter for Mac. This is essentially Tweetie 2 but rebranded by Twitter. We assume Twitter for Mac will be free and it looks pretty neat. It has native retweeting support, realtime updates, and drag and drop tweets. Look out for it tomorrow on the Mac App Store.
Apple has opened a new support profile website that allows users to track technical support activity, check warranties, manage your account, manage Voice Pass, and of course nickname your Apple products. You can also manage and check repair status, which is quite helpful, and overall this new site should streamline a lot of your phone time with AppleCare. (via Macworld)
SmartPhone Medic has posted some pictures (below) of what they are claiming to be the frame of the rumored Verizon iPhone 4 or of the fifth generation iPhone. The difference between this purported frame and the current iPhone 4 frame is the top cut in the band is missing and a new cut is present towards the top-side of the phone. The controversial cut on the iPhone 4 is still present but they may be moving that function to the new band on the upper side to avoid people causing reception issues while holding their iPhone. Above is a video from another repair shop of a hands on of the frame and internal parts.
iPad 2 cases have been popping up everywhere lately and today Engadgetfound an iPad 2 case with a little surprise from Dexim at CES. The surprise is a real-life, physical mockup of the iPad 2 and re-affirms our drawings showing a thinner, tapered design with dual cameras. The tapers look very similar to the ones found on the Apple’s latest iPod touch line and that larger port is still present on the bottom left of the device’s back. Check out more pictures of the physical iPad 2 mockup after the break.
The iPhone alarm clock issue was supposed to auto-fix for all on January 3rd but that simply didn’t happen for everyone. The still-existing issue has apparently cost someone their job and today ESPNreports the glitch made three Lakers late to their pre-game shoot around. NBA all-star Pau Gasol claimed he missed the practice because he overslept due to the iPhone alarm clock issue. Gasol also was “sleep-walking” through most of the game and the Lakers ended up losing. How dare you make my Lakers lose, Apple. Luke Walton (meh) was the second Lakers affected by the iPhone alarm clock glitch with the third player staying unknown.
TidySongs, a popular iTunes organization application, has taken a look at around one million iTunes libraries over the last two years and has reported their findings.
The number of songs in an average customer’s iTunes library is 7,160.
The average number of songs missing album artwork is 4,230
The average number of songs in an iTunes library missing the name of the artist is 490.
The average number of songs missing track or year information is 1,984.
The average number of duplicate songs is 814.
It would be interesting to see how many of those 7,160 songs per library are from iTunes, or for that matter, paid for. Remember the average person who needs to tidy up their music probably has more iTunes than the overall average Mac user.
Eye-Fi today announced they will updating their X2 wireless memory cards in 2011 with a new ‘Direct Mode’ feature. This new mode sounds pretty neat and helpful and it uses resources from the wireless memory card technology and the mobile Eye-Fi apps. Basically, the mode lets you instantly, wirelessly transfer pictures you take on your camera to your phone, tablet, or devices with supported Eye-Fi apps (App Store).
Eye-Fi also announced a new feature that allows users to wireless backup videos and pictures saved to the wireless Eye-Fi x2 card to their online Eye-Fi accounts. This will really help out folks who need to quickly get pictures onto their computers and mobile devices and will also eliminate the need for constantly transferring photos of SD cards. Look out for the backup feature starting today and the free direct mode upgrade later this year. If you’re at CES, Direct Mode is being previewed there.
Apple has released software updates to their iMovie and Garageband applications, which are a part of the iLife ’11 suite. The iMovie update brings scrolling performance improvements, and bug fixes for stabilization and Facebook uploading. The Garageband update brings bug fixes as well as the return of the ability to Quantize Note Timing for tracks with Groove Matching. Apple updated iPhoto with emailing enhanments recently and the updates are available in Software Update.
Although this is not confirmation for the rumored Verizon iPhone, it looks like Verizon Wireless may have acquired the domain names iPhoneonVerizon.com and iPhoneforVerizon.com. The domain names appear to have been originally registered through GoDaddy to Jack Benton then later transferred to the Mark Monitor domain service. Benton owns the domain names iPhoneonSprint.com and iPhoneonATT.com and judging by the those site designs being the same as iPhoneonVerizon.com’s design, he was the one who transferred or sold the Verizon iPhone domain to Verizon.
The new registration information for the iPhoneonVerizon.com and iPhoneforVerizon.com domains are identical to other domain registered to Verizon. Because domain registration information can be faked, this rumored domain transfer is still unconfirmed. We are skeptical of its legitimacy as it seems odd that Verizon would register such a high-profile domain with their actual information.
Even if Verizon did purchase those domain names this is still not proof of a soon-launching Verizon iPhone as they could have purchased them for a later date (not an early 2011 iPhone launch) or could have purchased them simply due to rumors and for potential traffic. Verizon could also be scooping up potential brand infringing domains like Bank of America owns bankofamericasucks.com
Also, at this time, the two domain names still forward to Benton’s website, not to anything from Verizon. Verizon may still forward to his site in order to stay under the radar. Thanks, Anonymous for the lead.
Update: First to point out how skeptical we were from the beginning and second, MacRumors says they were transferred in 2008.
According to multiple users expressing their frustration through Twitter, come New Years 2011 (where ever you are) your iPhone alarm clock won’t function correctly. You may recall a similar bug in iOS when daylight savings time switched on but this is exactly the opposite. This New Year’s 2011 iPhone alarm clock bug shows its face to users without recurring alarms.
This means that anybody who sets an alarm just for tomorrow won’t be woken up by the iPhone’s built-in alarm clock application. To avoid this issue you need to set a recurring alarm by tapping repeat to select the days you want the alarm to go off on. Apple is yet to say anything and it is still unknown whether this is iOS 4.2.1 only or if it affects past system versions too. Be sure to tell everyone you know with iPhones! (via Engadget)
Update: We just ran a few tests and the above iPhone alarm clock issue fixes itself on January 3rd. You should follow our steps to avoid the issue above until then. Reader Aaron F. has let us know that the issue is occurring on his iOS 4.1 iPhone 4 as well (iOS 4.0.2 t00). Let us know if you see the issue on anything earlier. The issue does not appear to be present on iOS 3.x devices.
Over the past few weeks I have been testing out Exogear’sExolife battery case for the iPhone 4 and I have to say it’s not like any battery case you’ve used with your iPhone before. That’s because it is the thinnest and lightest offering on the market. The Exolife hardly adds any weight or thickness to your iPhone 4 so it’s like you’re using a regular case- but you get a battery with it too.
The case itself is made from durable polycarbonate and does a good job of protecting the bottom, top, back, and sides of your iPhone 4. The case is two pieces: a back piece with the battery system and a piece that goes around the iPhone 4’s stainless steel antenna band. This holds the two pieces together in addition to providing protection to the antenna band. Click read more for the full review:
Skype just updated their Skype application for iOS to include video chat functionality. It works both over WiFi and 3G networks and two-way video calling is supported by the iPhone 4, iPod touch 4, and iPhone 3GS. The iPad and third generation iPod touch support one-way video calling. Just like on Apple’s FaceTime application Skype for iPhone will video conference in both portrait and landscape orientations.
Seth and I just tested out the application and it looks very smooth on both ends. It even works in the background but your face gets frozen for the person on the other end (audio still works). Just like with FaceTime there is an option for the iPhone user to display either the front camera’s view, back camera’s or no camera. We have more screenshots of Skype video chat after the break.
We also ran some tests over 3G and it looked very smooth. I was on 3G and Seth was on WiFi and he saw me as crisp as I looked over my WiFi network. My view of him was also smooth and when he pointing his camera at a moving fan that looked smooth as well. Also, we tested it on an iPad (which still is blown up, not a universal binary) and it looked as expected without the camera. When used with an iPhone 3GS you should get the option to see the user’s back camera. Release notes, official promo video, and more screenshots are after the break.
Update: Skype video calls over 3G will use around 3.4 MB of data per minute. We calculated this by looking at our usage info on our iPhone 4 before and after a one minute (timed of course) call. Below are our screenshots:
LG just announced their upcoming Apple TV competitor called the ‘Smart TV Upgrader’. The device will be officially unveiled at CES next week and will go on sale during the second quarter of 2011. It will bring a TV web browser (ugh) as well as “premium content” (shows and movies) to your TV including ‘LG apps’. If this works out for LG we are probably not to far away from an App Store for the Apple TV.
“The market for Smart TVs is set to take off this year, and the ST600 offers a perfect entry point,” said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG Home Entertainment Company. “With the LG Smart TV Upgrader, we’re taking the excitement and convenience of Smart TV and adding in LG’s trademark ease-of-use because we see a significant audience who are interested but not interested enough to buy a whole new TV.”
