Apps

Image via Techcrunch

AOL has launched PLAY for iPhone, a new social experience for music as something perhaps a bit more rewarding than Apple’s Ping. The app taps right into your music hosted on the iPhone, accesses radio stations, shares music with friends and followers, and much more. PLAY has been available on Android for a couple of months, but now hits iPhone. Think Instagram — for music.

The PLAY music player is pretty straight-forward, and doesn’t veer much from Apple’s Music app. While listening to a song in the player you can click the share button, allowing you to post the song recommendation to the PLAY feed, Twitter, and Facebook. In the Feed users can play music that their friends have shared and then quickly buy it on iTunes. Lastly, the PLAY section of the app offers song recommendations, or what they call “MP3 of the Day”. We don’t see users switching to this app just to play music, but we can see the sharing features being a draw.

The app seems pretty cool overall, but who knows if there will be a community behind it. Go download the app to find out.

via TechCrunch
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIvaRD-Ugis]

Apple TV 2G bluetooth keyboard support via jailbreak

Just like Apple has done in some of its mobile devices (namely early generations of the iPod touch), Apple has included hidden bluetooth support in their second-generation Apple TV. Bluetooth support is not present within the Apple TV operating system (iOS), but Apple’s next major operating system, iOS 5, will turn on this bluetooth support. Apple is positioning this bluetooth support mainly for keyboards, but perhaps the bluetooth Apple TV will be able to connect to bluetooth iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches.

Users will be able to activate the device’s built-in bluetooth support via the standard settings menu. A standard pairing menu will then appear and users will need to connect with a provided passcode. Pretty standard stuff as far as bluetooth device setups go. The interesting and compelling part about these SDK findings is that Apple is opening the door for bluetooth, in general, in their $99 set-top-box. Additionally, this new bluetooth and wireless keyboard support opens up the door for the next-generation of Apple TV services. (Thanks, Sonny Dickson!).

Application and App Store support:

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Remember Google Wave, the search giant’s ill-fated attempt at re-imagining good ol’ email communication? The service was famously pulled due to lack of interest, but that didn’t stop others from figuring out better ways to handle email. This right here could be the solution we’ve been yearning for. Marco Triverio, an interaction designer at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, teamed up with his colleagues Ali Seçkin Karayol and Harsha Vardhan on a project dubbed Persona.

In a nutshell, Persona is their take on reinventing an email client that is “both Personal and has personality”, as the tagline says. Be that as it may, Persona has definitely gotten us excited with its focus on simplicity and on the human touch. Per description on their Vimeo page:

Persona is an email client that was designed to change the perception and experience of sending and receiving emails by focusing on People, the Conversations between them and the Knowledge shared in emails today. This is a reaction to the paradigm of emails presented in spread-sheets seen with most email clients, where a focus on presenting data prevails over the need for a personal touch.

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Apple has opened the door today for developers to submit OS X Lion applications for inclusion on the Mac App Store. These applications should be tested against the Golden Master seeds of both OS X Lion and Xcode 4.1. Mac OS X Lion is expected to ship later this week alongside new MacBook Airs and Mac Pros.

OS X Lion, the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system, will soon be available to millions of Mac users around the world. Submit your Lion apps for review now so they can be on the Mac App Store when Lion ships this month. Be sure to build, test, and compile your apps using Mac OS X Lion GM Seed and Xcode 4.1 for Lion GM seed prior to uploading your binary to iTunes Connect.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op4t3h10vMU]

iPhone Download Blog posts a nice video of Swype on Jailbroken iOS

Swype is a keyboard system for touch mobile devices that enables users to type faster in some instances because it doesn’t require as much ‘tapping’. Apple has shown little interest in putting Swype on iOS devices however.

That’s where the jailbreaking community comes in.  Andrew Liu (@WyndWarrior) is working on porting Swype to iOS. With the recent Jailbreakme.com, making it incredibly easy to jailbreak your phone, many others will try it (remember it is in beta).

If you are the adventurous type:

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Apple this morning announced that its venerable App Store has hit fifteen billion downloads, matching the number of song downloads on the iTunes Store as of last month. The company re-iterated that it has paid developers over $2.5 billion cumulatively since the App Store’s inception. This is after Apple’s standard 30 percent cut, meaning total App Store revenue before the break-down is almost $3.6 billion in aggregate.

Apple also said it sold over two hundred million iOS devices (iPhones, iPod touches and iPads). Unfortunately, the company wouldn’t say how many of those are devices in active use. The number of apps on the App Store has swelled to 425,000 items, of which a hundred thousand are native iPad apps – but we already figured out the iPad App Store. The App Store now operates in ninety countries worldwide, Apple notes. The company quoted its marketing honcho in a statement:

In just three years, the revolutionary App Store has grown to become the most exciting and successful software marketplace the world has ever seen. Thank you to all of our amazing developers who have filled it with over 425,000 of the coolest apps and to our over 200 million iOS users for surpassing 15 billion downloads. 

Apple in May actually approved 500,000 apps in total, but the store contains less apps because of withdrawals, replacements and so forth. Google confirmed at their developer conference in May that Android Market is approaching the 200,000 apps mark, having topped four and a half billion downloads since the store launched on October 22, 2008. Check out a one-minute clip showing off the App Store wall Apple installed at last year’s WWDC which depicts software downloads in real-time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfCxVE3A84E]

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The infamous browser-based jailbreak service, JailbreakMe.com has officially returned in its full glory. The jailbreak, which was leaked this past weekend, promises to hack any iOS 4.3.3 (iPad 2 included!) device with the touch of a button in iOS Safari. Head to www.jailbreakme.com to try it out. As with all methods of jailbreaking, you are at your own risk.

Thanks, Kris and Sonny!

Update: Video, courtesy of iPhone Download Blog, of the jailbreak process is after the break; check it!

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Facebook is having an event tomorrow which many believe is a Skype tie in, which could lead to a Skype iPad app or a Facebook iPad app, or both! in one?!  That’s well and good, but  TechCrunch takes a look at some of the upcoming features of a bigger project that might also receive a mention tomorrow: Project Spartan.

It seems a bit sensationalized, but it comes off like this: Sometime in late July (soon!), Facebook will reveal a HTML5 platform with automatic Facebook logins using a new set of APIs which make a great iOS/Android social gaming platform.  Facebook has a few developers signed up already, Zynga is probably one of them.

Notes one developer:

Facebook wants a cut of the Apple’s mobile app market, that’s been clear this entire time. Perhaps it’s not war against Apple — maybe Apple is just going to ‘gift’ Facebook the share of their market (the HTML5 share) in exchange an alliance being formed whereby Apple get’s some exclusive access to Facebook’s 600 million-plus users and thereby cutting out Google (exclusive to some degree, Facebook is too open for it to be fully exclusive). In this theory, it’s not Facebook Spartans vs. Apple, it’s Facebook/Apple Spartans Vs Google.

The Spartans have been told to code specifically for the iOS flavors of Safari — both iPhone and iPad.

So, it sounds like Facebook is going to build a nice HTML5 platform (like Chrome) for social gaming. Hopefully one of the games is 300.

Well, not quite obsolete but sure enough Microsoft is issuing a challenge to Apple’s trademark gesturing with a new search shortcut called Lasso. Instead of holding your finger on a block of text in order to bring up the loupe and painstakingly dragging little blue dots to select the beginning and end of your selection, the Lasso tool has you draw freely around text on web pages, which triggers a quick search from that selection.

Bing group program manager Tony Chor says the Apple method requires up to nine steps versus simply drawing an arbitrary shape in the case of the updated Bing for iPad app, which hits the App Store later today. From the usability point of view, Microsoft’s Lasso beats the Safari search box anytime, especially the tedious process of copying and pasting a text selection,  if you ask us…

via CNET
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First Officer Kelly Caglia with an iPad in a Boeing 777. Credit: The New York Times

The Federal Aviation Administration has certified Apple’s iPad for use in pilot cabins. Pilots won’t be playing Angry Birds: The approval paves the way to replacing some forty pounds worth of dead trees in pilot bags with shiny apps. Printed manuals, safety checklists, logbooks, navigation charts, weather information, airport diagrams – iPad will obsolete all of this paperwork with elegant apps, a true paperless cockpit, reports The New York Times:

The Federal Aviation Administration has authorized a handful of commercial and charter carriers to use the tablet computer as a so-called electronic flight bag. Private pilots, too, are now carrying iPads, which support hundreds of general aviation apps that simplify preflight planning and assist with in-flight operations.

We take it the FAA approval means iPad has been cleared as a device that doesn’t interfere with airplane electronics. Battery life? The iPad has a ten-hour rated battery so pilots should be able to use the device on long flights without hooking it to a power socket in the cabin. Steve Jobs kinda thought about that. He remarked at the iPad unveiling on January 27 of last year how Apple’s engineers had been able to achieve ten hours of battery life, illustrating that “I can take a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo and watch video the whole way”. If it’s good enough for US Marine Corps and Singaporean enlistees, it should do the trick for commercial airliners.

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Pictured above: CrispApp’ free phone app that lets you call your Facebook friends for free

Hot on the heels of Shape Services’ acquisition of Hong Kong-based CrispApp, the news on the street is that a brand new video calling application is due on App Store withing the next ten days, reports technology blog TechCrunch. Called IM+ Video, the app should leverage CrispApp’s proprietary video technology to enable the fourth major video calling choice, in addition to iOS versions of multi-platform apps Skype and Fring, as well as Apple’s own FaceTime technology bundled since iOS 4.

Exclusive – SHAPE Services, the company behind the immensely popular, cross-platform IM+ messaging applications (and then some), has agreed to acquire CrispApp, the Hong Kong based developer of the fone app for iOS. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but we’ve poked around and learned that the purchase price was approximately $200,000.

There’s a catch however…

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQbJ7IsWIak]
From 9to5Toys.com

When Skrappy for iPad debuted in May priced at four bucks, it was deemed money well spent for all the bang and wow it provided. The program takes photo slideshows on iPad to the next level, allowing you to create gorgeous mouth-watering presentations that incorporate music, movies (with multi-line text editing), voice memos, web pages, text and photos. It takes clues from Apple’s Keynote app, mimicking its approach to sticky guidelines, shadows, borders, crop shapes, detailed object properties.

Additionally, Scrappy for iPad ups the ante with fancy scrapbook themes and iBooks-like flipping through pages. The latest version comes with dozes of enhancements and is being priced at 99 cents for a limited time. It’s a steal so grab it before the deal expires. More screenies and features after the break.

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Apple has seeded the golden master version of OS X Lion to developers ahead of its public release sometime this month (July). The golden master download is available from Apple’s Mac Developer website. The build number is 11A511. In addition, Apple has seeded Developer Preview 7 of Xcode 4.1.

OS X Lion brings many innovations from iOS including home screens (called Launchpad in Lion), autosaving, full screen application interfaces, and auto resume in apps. This is in addition to native support for the Mac App Store, Mission Control, an all new email client, built-in FaceTime, and interface and feature  improvements through out the operating system. Lion also includes AirDrop file sharing, multi-user remote computer access, and Find my Mac (through iCloud).

Apple is yet to announce a release date for OS X Lion, but we do know that it is coming sometime this month on the Mac App Store (exclusively) for $29.99. Apple is gearing up to ship an upgraded MacBook Air line in mid-July – with OS X Lion preinstalled. Perhaps Apple’s next-generation Mac operating system will launch then, too.

This golden master download is also available for the OS X Lion Server edition. For developers, both golden masters can be found on the Mac App Store. You will need to grab your redemption code form the developer program to access the download.

In addition to OS X Lion golden master and Xcode 4.1 Preview 7, Apple has also released beta 3 of iCloud for Mac. This update is required for OS X Lion GM users who wish to use iCloud with their Macs.

If you find anything, let us know at tips@9to5mac.com

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Using Apple’s set of APIs, the New York Times has opened up in-app subscriptions in their iPhone and iPad app reports Macstories. After setting a paywall not too long ago the New York Times has been looking for ways to get their users to sign up for the subscription. It appears the Times has found their way, through the app store, offering subscriptions for website, iPhone, and iPad access. The Times is charging users $15 for access to the website plus iPhone, $20 for website plus iPad, and a combo of all three for $35. If you’re interested download the apps here and here.

In this digital age, do you agree with the New York Time’s subscription model?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYuUP6-xotw]

According to Reuters, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told reporters, yesterday, that Facebook is planning to “launch something awesome” next week. The product developed in Facebook’s Seattle-based engineering center can obviously be anything from a new site feature or a new mobile application, but with multiple iOS-related products coming very soon, we’re thinking this awesome launch might be their long-awaited iPad application.

Facebook has reportedly been readying a native iPad application for sometime now and according to a report from two weeks ago, the application is essentially complete and is undergoing final testing. This application is said to bring some unique features to the 9.7 inch tablet – and have an interface that goes way beyond what is currently available to Facebook.com and Facebook for iPhone users.

People who have seen the application said it has a slick design that has been tailored for the iPad and its touchscreen interface. Facebook developers and designers have also overhauled the Facebook Chat and Facebook Groups features for the application. And the app will go beyond the features available on the Facebook Web site by allowing users to shoot and upload photos and videos directly from the iPad’s built-in cameras.

Also on the table is Facebook’s “Project Spartan.” The project, originally detailed by TechCrunch, is essentially a web-based application store platform – focused on the iPad.

It’s entirely HTML5-based and the aim is to reach some 100 million users in a key place: mobile. More specifically, the initial target is both surprising and awesome: mobile Safari. Yes, Facebook is about to launch a mobile platform aimed squarely at working on the iPhone (and iPad). But it won’t be distributed through the App Store as a native application, it will be entirely HTML5-based and work in Safari.

A third upcoming iOS product from Facebook is an Instagram-like, photo-sharing application. Tech Crunch describes:

Either way, based on the images in front of us, the best way to think about it appears to be Path meets Instagram meets Color meets (Path’s new side project) With — with a few cool twists.  And obviously, it’s built entirely on top of Facebook’s massive social graph.

With three iOS products on the table for an imminent launch, and with an iPad application that has been said to be launching in the coming weeks, we think it makes sense that at least one of these three initiatives is in store for Facebook’s “awesome” product launch next week.

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As Apple’s iPad is picking up steam, so is the user base which in turn drives the increasing number of developers to write iPad-optimized apps. Today is a special day for Apple’s tablet which now counts more than a hundred thousand apps in the iPad App Store, MacStories points out.

In April of 2010 when the original iPad launched, there were only a few apps available. At the end of March the number of software items on the iPad App Store swelled to 75,000. In other words, 25,000 new iPad apps were added since then, averaging to about 280 new apps a day. Strange how Apple isn’t making a big deal out of this milestone since the wealth and the breadth of apps are probably the biggest differentiators with Android.

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By now, most people that are interested in Apple and/or video editing have heard about the ongoing criticism towards Apple’s latest professional movie making software, Final Cut Pro X. Many are calling this total revamp of the Final Cut product an application that is not suited for professionals. Some have even dubbed it as a slightly jazzed up version of iMovie – “iMovie Pro.” Now, Apple has officially responded to this criticism with a new “answers to the most common questions we’ve heard” web page.

Final Cut Pro X is a breakthrough in nonlinear video editing. The application has impressed many pro editors, and it has also generated a lot of discussion in the pro video community. We know people have questions about the new features in Final Cut Pro X and how it compares with previous versions of Final Cut Pro. Here are the answers to the most common questions we’ve heard.

The new website posts some of the most common questions from video editors and provides answers directly from Apple. The website breaks the questions and answers down into these categories: importing, editing, media management, exporting, and purchasing. Some of the answers flat out say that a respective feature is not a part of Final Cut Pro X, some say the respective feature is coming eventually, and other answers tell users that a respective function is present and gives ways of accessing it.

Some choice answers:

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Google has announced on their Google+ information page that their new social networking service will be available as a native application for the iOS platform. Google does not provide a launch date for this application, but says it is “coming soon” to iPhones running iOS 4.0 or later. There is no mention of an iPad application at this time, but you’ll be able to run it in 2X mode like other iPhone apps. (via iPhone Italia).

Cross posted with 9to5Google.com

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgXUh1HrYOw]

TheNextWeb reports that Apple has begun returning the $299 purchase price of Final Cut Pro X to customers who are unsatisfied with the product’s features and capabilities.  Cupertino has begun issuing refunds to those who have filed an official request using Apple’s Mac App Store Customer Service form.

Some customers have received sympathetic email responses from Apple support staff, including:

“Moving forward, I understand that you are not satisfied with the app “Final Cut Pro”. I can certainly appreciate you would like a refund, and I would be more than happy to help you out with this today. In five to seven business days, a credit of £179.99 should be posted to the credit card that appears on the receipt for that purchase.

Please note that this is a one time exception because the iTunes Terms and Conditions state that all sales are final.”

This is an interesting gray area because Mac Apps purchased through the Mac App Store aren’t usually up for return so long after they are purchased (unless you re in Taiwan).  Whereas boxed software, especially Pro level stuff, usually has a longer guarantee even if there are restocking fees.
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We’re expecting Skype’s iPad client at any moment now, but old Skype collaborator and new foe Fring already has lept ahead with the ability to video conference between four people, right in the iPad 2 window, at the same time.

The 5.1.1.2 update also includes bugfixes, drag and drop navigation, Bluetooth support and connectivity improvements.

More shots below:
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We haven’t gotten official word on this but the Economic Times of India is reporting that Apple changed its return policy on Apps from minutes to 7 days.  We reported earlier this month that Taiwan gave both Apple and Google two weeks to comply withits consumer protection mandate.

An official said the lack of a return and refund mechanism violated the Consumer Protection Act. In an example of the problem the city government is trying to prevent, Yeh cited a case of software bought on Apple Store on Thursday that did not work, but left the buyer without recourse.

It appears that Apple has complied (Google, less so):
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