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BBC launches iPlayer Kids, a child-friendly version of its popular iPad app

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British parents have long known that handing your kids an iPad full of children’s TV shows is a good way to keep them quiet for a while appropriately entertained and informed. The BBC has made that job even easier today by launching a special iPlayer Kids app. The iPad app, which has a user-interface suitable for young children, features only age-appropriate TV shows.

The new child-friendly app is safe and easy to use. With over 10,000 episodes being made available this year alone, it has all of BBC Children’s world-class content in one place, allowing kids to discover and enjoy both new and old CBeebies and CBBC favourites including Wolfblood, Blue Peter, The Dumping Ground, Topsy & Tim and Go Jetters.

Each child in the family creates their own profile, complete with their age and a cartoon character to represent them, and the app them automatically filters the shows offered.

Pre-school children (under five) are only shown CBeebies content, while children over five are shown both CBBC and CBeebies content (customised to be suitable for their age).

The BBC says it created the app in recognition of the fact that children’s programs are the most popular genre watched through iPlayer.

BBC iPlayer iOS app updated to support Spotlight search and Handoff between devices

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The BBC has updated its iPlayer app for iOS to support Spotlight searches and allow Handoff between devices.

Spotlight support means that you to search for BBC TV shows by swiping down from the homescreen, while Handoff allows you to seamlessly pick up where you left off when switching between devices. The BBC notes that it has also fixed a nasty bug.

In addition to all that good stuff, we’ve also included a fix for a particularly nasty crash on launch, and last but not least, you can now find an entire catalogue of iPlayer programmes for a channel via the A-Z option in the channel page.

The iPlayer app made it onto Apple TV back in December.

BBC iPlayer is a free download from iTunes, but licensing restrictions means that content is limited to UK viewers.

BBC iPlayer coming to the new Apple TV

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Fellow Britons, the wait is almost over. iPlayer is finally making its way to the Apple TV. The BBC announced via its official Twitter handle that its popular catch-up and live-streaming service is making its way to the brand new Apple TV in the coming months. The company didn’t confirm exactly when the iPlayer app for new Apple TV would arrive, and from the looks of things, it won’t be coming to the current Apple TV. Although it doesn’t say explicitly that iPlayer won’t be coming to the 2nd and 3rd generation Apple TVs, the fact it states ‘new Apple TV’ suggests pretty strongly that it will only be on the new, 4th gen model.

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For UK Apple TV owners, the lack of a native iPlayer app has been a constant source of frustration. Right now, customers are forced to use AirPlay from their iPhones or iPads if they want to view iPlayer content on their Apple TVs. Once the app launches for tvOS, we’ll be able to put our iPhones and iPads down,  and just watch great programming right from the Apple TV. More important than the convenience is that we’ll undoubtedly save precious battery life.

 

Zane Lowe on Beats 1: ‘Time will tell’ if Apple Music really needs us

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In a Radio Festival interview in London by Zane Lowe‘s former boss, Lowe told Radio 1 head Ben Cooper that Beats 1 is like a new-born baby.

We’ll grow up, but right now we’re three months old, and babies make a lot of noise, they look at the world all wide-eyed and they shit everywhere. That’s kind of what Beats 1 is, it’s very, very new, 13 weeks man, it’s crazy. It’s all new and weird – and no rules man, no rules.

He said that despite the high-profile nature of the station, he wasn’t taking its future for granted. Asked why Apple Music needs Beats 1, Lowe said he wasn’t sure that it did … 
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BBC iPlayer latest app to support new Picture in Picture feature in iOS 9 [Update: MLB At Bat too]

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The BBC iPlayer app, which provides streaming and downloadable access to BBC television shows in the UK, has joined Hulu and Pocket in supporting the new Picture in Picture feature in iOS 9.

As with other apps, press the home button once while playing a show and the video window becomes a small floating window that you can resize and reposition while using other iPad apps. The functionality is available on the iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 2 and 3.

iPlayer is a free download from iTunes. MLB At Bat has also joined the party.

Via Engadget

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BBC iPlayer Radio app for iOS and Android gets offline listening at last

 

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The BBC announced in a blog post this morning that mobile downloads are coming to its iPlayer Radio app just in time for the BBC Proms. For the first time – using the iPlayer Radio app – customers will be able to download radio shows (and the Proms) to listen offline and keep them for up to 30 days.  To make use of this new service, all you need to do is ensure you have the latest version of the BBC iPlayer Radio smartphone or tablet app for iOS, Android or Kindle.


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Apple Music WWDC launch roundup: iOS/Android/Mac apps, DJs, social, pricing & availability

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Apple is ready to show the first fruits of its Beats acquisition next week. As we first reported in early March, Apple is planning to introduce its long-awaited Beats-based streaming music service at its Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday, June 8th. Blending Apple interface design and features from the Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine-created Beats Music app, Apple’s service, known internally as “Apple Music,” is built to take on Spotify and Pandora with several new features and a subscription model. Additionally, Apple is working on overhauling its widely panned iTunes Radio service by striking deals with popular artists and DJs. Below, we detail Apple’s plans for both Apple Music and the new iTunes Radio in an extensive roundup.


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Apple reportedly hires additional BBC Radio 1 producers for upcoming streaming music service

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A new report from Music Business Worldwide claims that Apple has recently hired four producers from BBC Radio 1. This report comes two months after it was announced that Zane Lowe was leaving the British radio station to take a new position at Apple. According to today’s report, the recent Apple hires include James Bursey, Natasha Lynch and Kieran Yeates, as well as one other.


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BBC updating iOS news app with personalized feeds, most-read stories, local news & more

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The British Broadcasting Corporation has announced that its BBC News iPhone and iPad apps are being updated, with a lot more video, local news, ‘most popular’ links and–most interestingly of all–users able to add their own personalized news feeds.

In addition to pre-existing sections – including Top Stories, UK and Politics – users will be able to add specialised feeds of their choice, for example: Apps, Taylor Swift, Genetics, and Oban.

A new ‘My news’ section allows users to enter keywords which will be matched against tags entered by journalists to populate the personalized feed.

The BBC says that the UK version of both iOS and Android apps will be rolled out this week, with global editions to follow.

The Beeb and its fans tend to be somewhat conservative, with protests every time it changes something, so this time it’s taking a preemptive strike, aiming to soothe the likely objections.

“We know we have got a very large number of people who used the existing app and they really like it,” said Robin Pembrooke, general manager of news products at BBC Future Media.

“It will be a big change for a number of people, so we are trying to provide a warning up front. We’ve got easy guides on how to use the new app, and there’s in-app tips to help people use it.”

The current versions of the iPhone and iPad apps are free downloads in iTunes, then watch out for the updates.

Watch the full BBC documentary on iPhone factory working conditions while you can

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A screengrab from the documentary showing workers sleeping on the production-line

A screengrab from the documentary showing workers sleeping on the production-line

The full BBC documentary on working conditions in iPhone factories has been unofficially uploaded to YouTube. It probably won’t be too long before it gets pulled, so if you want to see it, watch it while you can – we’ve embedded the full video below … 
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Tim Cook “deeply offended” by BBC allegations of poor working conditions in iPhone factories

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In a letter to UK staff, Tim Cook is said to have been “deeply offended” by allegations made in a BBC undercover documentary that Apple had broken promises over the working conditions in Pegatron’s iPhone factories in China, reports the Telegraph.

In an email to around 5,000 staff across the UK, Apple senior vice president of operations Jeff Williams said both himself and the chief executive were “deeply offended by the suggestion that Apple would break a promise to the workers in our supply chain or mislead our customers in any way”.

“Panorama’s report implied that Apple isn’t improving working conditions,” he continued. “Let me tell you, nothing could be further from the truth.”

Williams said that Apple had provided both “facts and perspective” on the allegations, but the BBC had chosen not to include these in the program … 
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Apple says ‘no other company doing as much’ in response to BBC supply chain profile

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Ahead of a BBC special exploring work conditions in Apple’s supply chain airing tonight (update: video embedded below), BBC.com today published a story revealing the results of its investigation. The news outlet went undercover into Apple’s supply chain and claims “Apple’s promises to protect workers were routinely broken” while citing a number of workplace violations:
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Watch the 2014 FIFA World Cup on your iPhone or iPad

World-Cup-BBCThe 2014 FIFA World Cup is officially kicking off today and, while Google might have you covered for updates through search or Google Now, you’ll need one of a few other iOS apps if you plan on streaming live audio or video of all the upcoming games. Head below for our full list of options for video and audio including options for both those in the US and abroad. Most on the list below have streams on TV and online, but you’ll need to download some apps if you want to tune in on your iPhone or iPad:

US: For video you’ll need to download the WatchESPN apps, which will require you to sign into a supported cable provider to access all 64 games being streamed live on the network. That includes streams in English, Portuguese and Korean, but for a Spanish broadcast Univision has streams also available through its app for iPhone and iPad. Support cable providers for Univision include AT&T, Bright House, DirecTV, Optimum, Cox, Dish, Time Warner Cable and Verizon.

If audio will suffice, iTunes Radio is live streaming games from the ESPN station and TuneIn Radio is aggregating all 64 games from ESPN Radio in its iPhone and iPad app.

UK: The BBC and ITV will be broadcasting the games in the UK, which will also be available in their iOS apps including the iPlayer BBC app and the ITV Player app for iPhone and iPad.

Australia: SBS On Demand will have the games to watch in its iOS apps for Australia, but it doesn’t appear to be offering live streams.

Canada: CBC has all 64 games live through its iOS app and doesn’t require users to sign into a cable provider.

A full list of who has broadcasting rights in which countries this year is here. If there are streams in your country, they will likely be through the broadcaster’s iOS app. FIFA has a full match schedule on its website here.

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Strange bug has stopped some streaming video apps from playing content

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As noted by the BBC, some video apps on iOS have inexplicably stopped working today. Videos simply fail to stream, resulting in error messages like the one shown above. The cause of the issue is still unclear, but the bug is affecting multiple high-profile apps in the UK such as BBC iPlayer and Sky Go. Whether the issue is more widespread is not yet known.

It is unknown whether the bug is an issue with Apple’s software or with the third-party app developers. However, as both independent services have failed on the same day it seems like the problem lies with iOS itself. Setting the date on your iPhone or iPad to the past will make videos play again, which suggests the error may be related to expired digital certificates.


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BBC TV show ‘The Wonders of Life’ turned into stunning iOS app

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Two years after physicist and TV presenter Brian Cox launched the Wonders of the Universe iOS app, based on the BBC TV series of the same name, he’s done the same for Wonders of Life, reports TNW.

Wonders of Life takes you on a 3D tour of the world, serving up a visually stunning showcase of the coming together of science and nature.

The app features thirty creatures and habitats, illustrated by more than one thousand images that let you zoom in and get up-close. But it’s the more than 2.5 hours of HD video that really set this apart … 
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How to watch live streams of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics on your iPhone & iPad

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With the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics officially kicking off with opening ceremonies today at 11 AM EST/ 2 PM PST, you’re probably wondering how to watch live streams and keep up to date with events from your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. NBC will be delaying the TV broadcast of the opening ceremonies until 7:30pm tonight in the US, but you can still catch everything live on your Mac or mobile device using the apps below:
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Long-lost Doctor Who episodes recovered, available exclusively on iTunes

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The BBC have announced that several missing Doctor Who episodes from the Patrick Troughton era have been found. In total, the BBC have been able to recover and restore nine episodes of the hit TV show, which had previously been thought to be lost forever. These episodes, which span two series (“The Enemy of the World” and “The Web of Fear”) are now available exclusively on iTunes.


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Full Jony Ive BBC video reveals ‘out of the box’ thinking on product naming, David Beckham connection

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9to5Mac showed you a clip just last week from a recent BBC special of Sir Jony Ive receiving the prestigious gold Blue Peter badge (known as the highest accolade given out by the BBC’s Blue Peter program). We got our hands on the full Jony Ive clip from the technology special today, where we learn, among other things, about Apple’s ‘out of the box’ thinking on product naming and a little-known connection to David Beckham.

If we’re thinking of a lunchbox, we’d be really careful about not having the word ‘box’… already give you bunch of ideas that could be quite narrow. Because you think of a box being a square and like a cube. And so we’re quite careful with the words we use because those can sort of determine the path that you go down.

Perhaps you could replace ‘Box’ with ‘watch’ and be on to something.

Earlier this year, Apple’s design guru assumed software design responsibilities from former longtime iOS chief Scott Forstall. CEO Tim Cook said in a recent interview that Ive “has the best taste of anyone in the world” and looks forward to his new role designing the “look and feel of the software.”
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Reader eBooks by Sony, Angry Birds Star Wars, BBC iPlayer, Facebook, Instagram rolls out Web profiles, app sales, and more

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9to5Mac compiled another list of the top app news, updates, and launches in our usual roundup below. The highlights from today includes statistics on how the newly Web-geared Instagram helped capture Hurricane Sandy in real-time, a new eBook app by Sony, and a shiny teaser trailer for Rovio’s Angry Birds Star Wars (above). Oh, and a few app sales—check it out:

News

1. Angry Birds Star Wars
After releasing a string of teasers for its title landing on iOS Nov. 8, Rovio posted the first official full-length gameplay trailer today for its new Star Wars edition of Angry Birds.

Angry Birds Star Wars will be out on November 8, but until then, watch this gameplay trailer and scream “OH MY GOODNESS!!!!” to yourself in the mirror

2. Instagram | Free
Hurricane Sandy barreled through the East Coast last week, and those in its stormy path made sure to document all of the havoc in real-time with the help of Instagram. Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom revealed to GigaOM today that folks uploaded over 800,000 photos tagged with the #Sandy hashtag. Systrom specifically noted Sandy was “probably the biggest event to be captured on Instagram.” The news from Systrom this morning came as the Facebook-acquired company also announced the rollout of new Web profiles with a very Facebook-esque look (via official Instagram blog):

You’ve asked for Instagram on the web and we’ve listened. Over the next few days, we’ll be rolling out Instagram profiles on the web!

Your web profile features a selection of your recently shared photographs just above your profile photo and bio, giving others a snapshot of the photos you share on Instagram. In addition, you can follow users, comment & like photos and edit your profile easily and directly from the web. It’s a beautiful new way to share your Instagram photos!

Just launched
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Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung and others meet with UN’s ITU for patent peace talks

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Update: While the meeting apparently didn’t result in any resolution, ZDnet reports the ITU’s Malcolm Johnson said the ‘heated debate’ “has gone a long way to help clarify the positions” of the companies involved:

“Today’s event has gone a long way to help clarify the positions of various stakeholders in determining the effectiveness of FRAND commitments and the impact of litigations surround standards-essential patents,”

ZDnet also reported Motorola argued “Apple was misunderstanding the way FRAND works in the telecoms industry”:

“For 20 years the [FRAND] licensing commitments made by innovators in the communications industry have been sufficient,” Warren said. “Past experience would indicate that [FRAND] has been effective… but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement to improve the present situation.”

The world’s biggest tech companies are meeting today for a Patent Roundtable with the United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union to “assess the effectiveness of RAND (reasonable and non-discriminatory) – based patent policies.” The meeting will take place at the ITU headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland; and according to several reports, it will include Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Google, Microsoft, and many of the industry’s other biggest players. The discussions follow high-profile, patent-related cases and failed settlement talks between Samsung and Apple, while the European Union continues to probe Motorola, Samsung, and others over potential abuse of the patent system. It also comes as Google’s legal chief David Drummond issued statements to the press calling for a reform on software patents.

A report from BBC noted others attending the roundtable include: Qualcomm, Cisco, Research in Motion, Intel, Philips, Huawei, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard. BBC also provided statements from the companies that submitted pre-event arguments (below).

According to the ITU, the meeting will have the following objective:
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Apps & updates: BBC iPlayer, imo.im, MOG, Adobe Proto, more

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Aside from our full list of interesting apps and updates hitting the App Store this morning, Hulu is making “Kill Bill: Volume 1” available to stream free (you can get Hulu Plus free for two months here). We will continue to update the list of apps below throughout the day:

BBC iPlayer version 1.3.2: BBC’s streaming app for its TV and radio networks received a nice update today that brings updated graphics for Retina iPads, improved video playback performance, enhanced Voice Over controls, and the usual bug fixes and performance updates.

imo instant messenger version 3.2: The popular instant messaging app with more than 700,000 users and 50 million messages sent daily was updated this morning with one big new feature previously only available to Android users: voice calling over Wi-Fi, 3G and 4G. All users running iOS 3.1 and up can now make free calls to their imo contacts with no usage of cell minutes and no data usage over Wi-Fi.

TweetBot version 0.7.0: TweetBot for Mac beta has been given a nice update, adding the ability to edit your Twitter profile within the app, animated .gif support, and Storify support among even more features. Due to Sandboxing issues, you will need to manually install the update.

MOG version 2.1.33: Online music subscription service MOG, home to roughly 16 million songs and 500,000 paid subscribers, was recently acquired by Beats Electronics. Its iOS app received a decent update today, with the ability to create and edit playlists, as well as a new album reviews section, and a “better, stronger, faster interface.”

Adobe Proto version 1.5: Adobe’s prototyping app for creating wireframe prototypes of apps and websites was updated today with a few notable features. A full list of what’s new in the update including email and Dropbox sharing, navigation improvements, and more is below:


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How to watch official BBC Olympics coverage from the US

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For Americans, coverage of the Olympics in London is mainly limited to NBC’s video stream offerings. Unfortunately, the network’s coverage, especially online, is receiving a ton of complaints as witnessed by the #nbcfail hashtag on Twitter. Fortunately, there is a way to bypass NBC altogether and take advantage of the BBC’s official live stream coverage from inside the U.S. of almost every major event. There is not much to it; all you have to do is use a DNS routing service to get around the BBC’s region blocked streams. Below is a quick guide courtesy of Lifehacker that uses the Unblock Us service. It is free for a week, and then it is $5 for the month.

[tweet https://twitter.com/MiaFarrow/status/230373185923710976]

First, you will have to sign up for the service on its website. Once that is finished, you can configure the service for BBC using the steps below:


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Apps & updates: Podcasts, AutoCAD WS, Opera Mini, BBC iPlayer, more

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We already had a number of updates to Apple’s own apps today, including iWork for iOS, Apple Remote Desktop, iTunes U, Xcode 4.4, Safari 6, and OS X Server, but below is our usual list of popular apps and updates hitting the store today:

Update: Apple has now updated its Podcasts app with the expected bug fixes. Release notes below:

What’s New in Version 1.0.1

Podcasts 1.0.1 provides a number of improvements, including:

• Significant improvements to performance and stability
• Podcasts in your library now show the number of unplayed episodes
• Top Stations now show the podcast title if artwork is missing
• Playback speed is now remembered when playing the next episode
• Fix for a problem where the Subscribe button is inactive
• Resolution of an issue where Top Stations artwork may not appear

Podcasts: If you have experienced issues with Apple’s Podcasts iOS app that released last month, as many have, you will be happy to know Apple plans to release an update today that brings a number of fixes to common bugs. According to a report from AllThingsD, Apple has been hard at work tweaking the app to fix the problems that currently plague it” and the update expected today should “vastly improve it.” 

AutoCAD WS version 1.5: Autodesk’s app for viewing, editing, and sharing AutoCAD drawings on iOS devices was updated today with two new “powerful collaboration tools that transform design creation, review, and approval into a social experience.” The two features include:

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