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iCloud

605 'iCloud' stories May 2011 - August 2012
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iCloud

The best place for all your photos, files, and more.

iCloud was launched in 2011 as the successor to MobileMe and is Apple’s current cloud service that allows iOS and Mac users to save and synchronize information. Apple includes 5GB of iCloud storage for free with all accounts and has paid options starting at $0.99/month for 50GB.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTrO2wUxh0Q

iCloud is built into every Apple device. That means all your stuff — photos, files, notes, and more — is safe, up to date, and available wherever you are. And it works automatically, so all you have to do is keep doing what you love. Everyone gets 5GB of free iCloud storage to start, and it’s easy to add more at any time.

What is iCloud?

iCloud solved a problem that we were facing in 2011. Originally, Apple pitched the Mac as the digital hub to our life. Our iPods (and then iPhones) would sync over a cable to transfer information. As we added iPads, it became a mess. Steve demoted the Mac back to just a device and made the “cloud” the center of our digital life. Using the service, users could sync all of their data over the air. As an example, a Keynote document edited on your Mac would automatically be up to date with the latest changes on your iPad or iPhone. iCloud also allowed you to back up your iOS device for an easy path to change devices without having to set everything up manually.

The problem with this original iCloud pitch is it didn’t cover all of our photos. We didn’t get that until iCloud Photos came in iOS 8. It didn’t cover iMessage, as that didn’t come until a few years ago with messages in the cloud. It didn’t cover all of our files, but only those in the iCloud folder stored inside of app folders. We didn’t get seamless syncing of files until Apple added Desktop and Document folder syncing a few years ago.

Over time, Apple has continued to add features to iCloud, and it’s turned out to be a really robust and reliable service. Users can sync files, photos, notes, reminders, and Safari bookmarks to their Mac, iPhone, iPad, and even Apple TV (photos).

iCloud Troubleshooting

If you’re having trouble using iCloud, you may want to make sure it isn’t affected by downtime. Check Apple’s iCloud Status page here.

How much does iCloud cost?

Pricing can change at anytime (view Apple’s latest pricing page), but here are the current rates for a few countries.

United States
50GB: $0.99
200GB: $2.99
2TB: $9.99

Canada 
50GB: $1.29
200GB: $3.99
2TB: $12.99

United Kingdom
50GB: £0.79
200GB: £2.49
2TB: £6.99

European Union
50GB: 0.99 €
200GB: 2.99 €
2TB: 9.99 €

Read below for all of our coverage

Apps & updates: Things 2.0, Foursquare, Pixelmator, Pomodorable, PDF Expert, more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 9 2012 - 6:29 am PT
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On top of a few great game deals, including savings on Shift 2 Unleashed for iPad and the Mass Effect Infiltrator iOS app, there are  a number of noteworthy apps and updates hitting the App Store today. We will update the list, as always, throughout the day.

Things 2.0: One of the leading iOS and Mac productivity apps was updated today to version 2.0 with a ton of new features. Included in the update is “Things Cloud”. It is a cloud service that syncs your to-dos across Macs and the iOS client. A new Daily Review feature makes important to-dos appear when you need them, and a “revolutionary scrolling Date Picker makes selecting dates more natural than ever.” The UI has also been updated along with a new engine that provides “blazingly fast Things Cloud performance.” These and other new features and improvements are included in the Things for iPad app.

Things 2.0 (Mac App Store): In addition to free updates to the iOS versions of Things, the Mac App Store client was updated today to version 2.0. The update includes the “Things Cloud” service mentioned above, allowing you to sync across platforms, while other new features include a “Daily Review” that presents important to-dos for the day, full Mountain Lion support, Retina graphics, full-screen mode, a number of other enhancements.

Pixelmator version 2.1: Popular image editor Pixelmator was updated on the Mac App Store today with a much needed Retina-ready UI and image-editing engine, iCloud support to keep projects up to date on multiple machines, as well as a new effects browser containing “new Vintage, Miniaturize, Black and White, Rain, and Snow effects.” Also included in the update is full OS X Mountain Lion support and alignment guides to “quickly position, align, and evenly distribute objects in your Pixelmator compositions with pinpoint accuracy.”

Tweetdeck version 1.5.3: Today’s massive update to the popular Mac Twitter client brings a slew of user-interface enhancements such as the ability to use the Columns button to quickly jump to any position. Users can also navigate the arrow buttons to scroll left and right several columns at a time, use swipe gestures on the trackpad to scroll, access key user and Tweet actions from the new actions menu, and fit more columns on screen by enabling Narrow Columns in Settings. The update also boasts improved animations for tweets and column management, performance improvements, and many bug fixes.

Pomodorable version 1.0: Released on the Mac App Store today, Pomodorable is a task management app that its developers said takes a “fresh approach to managing to do lists” by taking full advantage of Notification Center, Notes, Reminders, and other Mountain Lion features. While at first glance it might appear to compete with Things, the app actually includes support for Things and OmniFocus. It allows you to view tasks from those apps within the Pomodorable, and the app is 50 percent off for a limited time following today’s launch.

PDF Expert version 4.2: Readdle’s PDF Expert app was updated recently with a new “Presentation Mode” that allows you to connect an iPad to a projector ” and make interactive non-linear presentations” with content from PDFs, videos, and images. The update also includes live annotation tools, new annotation colours, and a number of other improvements.

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AppleSeed and Mac Developers to get Mac OS 10.8.1 in coming days

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Aug 8 2012 - 12:34 pm PT
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We’ve received word from AppleSeed testers that the first 10.8.1 Betas are on the way.

There has been some concern over excessive battery drain in recent days as well as Apple’s curious new “Save as” behavior which also overwrites the current version which will hopefully be addressed in upcoming releases.

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5mac/status/233282559855976448]


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Apple comments on Gizmodo/Wired writer’s account hacking, here’s how it went down…

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Aug 6 2012 - 5:22 pm PT
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We reported over the weekend on the hacking of the digital life of Wired’s Mat Honan.

Mat Honan wrote up his whole story over at Wired. The scariest part is that they were able to reproduce the hack using two pieces of publicly available information and a phone call.

We talked to Apple directly about its security policy, and company spokesperson Natalie Kerris told Wired, “Apple takes customer privacy seriously and requires multiple forms of verification before resetting an Apple ID password. In this particular case, the customer’s data was compromised by a person who had acquired personal information about the customer. In addition, we found that our own internal policies were not followed completely. We are reviewing all of our processes for resetting account passwords to ensure our customers’ data is protected.”

On Monday, Wired tried to verify the hackers’ access technique by performing it on a different account. We were successful. This means, ultimately, all you need in addition to someone’s email address are those two easily acquired pieces of information: a billing address and the last four digits of a credit card on file. Here’s the story of how the hackers got them.

Scary. Scary. Scary.
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iPhone TV ad for Canada spotlights iCloud…and pulled book

Avatar for Élyse Betters Aug 6 2012 - 12:01 am PT
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGqqrrvctHo&feature=youtu.be]

A Canadian TV advertisement for iCloud on the iPhone, titled “Melody,” surfaced recently. The 30-second video starts with a shot of Jonah Lehrer’s “Imagine: How Creativity Works” front cover (Whoops!). Lehrer acknowledged last month that he fabricated quotes attributed to Bob Dylan, and publisher Houghton Mifflin immediately recalled and stopped sales of the popular book’s electronic and physical versions. The remainder of Apple’s ad highlights iCloud in conjunction with iTunes, iTunes U, Camera, SMS, and more.

Check it out: Melody

It is worth noting that readers have spotted the ad airing internationally over the past few weeks:


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iWork.com finally leaving beta (because it’s dead)

Avatar for Mike Beasley Jul 31 2012 - 4:26 pm PT
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Apple introduced iWork.com at Macworld in 2009 as a beta web service for sharing and collaborating on documents created in the iWork ’09 productivity suite. Since then the site has remained in a perpetual “beta” state, never becoming the full product Apple envisioned.

Like MobileMe, which was shut down one month ago, most of iWork.com’s features have been moved to iCloud, thus removing the need for iWork.com to exist any longer. As of tonight, Apple no longer will allow users to login to the web interface, and although the iWork apps were updated to support iCloud last week, the option to login to iWork.com through the Mac version still exists.

Considering the fact that the current suite is over three years old, many are hoping to see an updated version launch later this year. Apple’s next media event is rumored to be on September 12, and while it will likely be focused on the next-generation iPhone, it’s possible that Apple could surprise us with iWork ’12.


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Small number of users report total iCloud email loss, Apple working on the problem (Update: Apple acknowledges)

Avatar for Élyse Betters Jul 31 2012 - 10:24 am PT
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A discussion thread on Apple’s support forum appeared last night from a user who claimed all of his iCloud content disappeared without warning. A further glimpse at the following comments revealed the same situation occurred for a number of iCloud users.

One commenter, npascual, said an Apple support representative “acknowledged last night’s outage,” and then suggested the user “turn off all iCloud-related services on my iPad (Mail, Contacts, Calendars, etc.), wait a bit then turn them back on.”  The representative apparently indicated “everything would return after a short period of re-synching.” However, npascual noted it had been a few hours since the call without any repair.

Check out the full thread here.

9to5Mac reached out to Apple on this matter, and we will update when more is known.

UPDATE: Well, Apple is owning up to the problem, according to its System Status page, but the company is neglecting to give an explanation as to what is happening.

More thread comments are below.


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Apple brings PowerNap to Retina MacBook Pro with firmware update

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 27 2012 - 1:51 pm PT
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Just like it did earlier this week for the 2011 and 2012 MacBook Airs, Apple, today, has released a new firmware update for the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display to enable the PowerNap feature. PowerNap allows your Mac to update iCloud files, emails, software updates and more while in sleep mode. Users can get the update via the Mac App Store software update section.

After updating users will see the following option in System Preferences:

Full PowerNap info below:
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OS X Game Center launches with few, yet notable, game titles

Avatar for Mark Gurman Jul 25 2012 - 8:21 am PT
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One of the big new features in OS X Mountain Lion is the Game Center. This Game Center is cross platform between OS X and iOS. Unfortunately, only a few compatible titles have made their way into Mac App Store for today’s launch. However, some of them are very notable. Some of our favorites include Real Racing 2, Sky Gamblers, and Cut the Rope.

Oh, and don’t forget about… Chess!


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iCloud up 25M users to 150M in Q3

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 24 2012 - 2:22 pm PT
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Today, at Apple’s Q3 2012 earnings call, the company provided some updates on numbers for the quarter. Apple Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer shared iCloud is now up to 150 million users. Last time Apple checked in in April, it reported 125 million users for Q2. This marks an increase of 25 million users during Q3. Hit up the links below for all of the updates from today’s conference call:

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Apps & updates: Tweetbot Alpha 3, IM+ Pro, Viber, more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 24 2012 - 6:40 am PT
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There are more than a few apps and updates today worth mentioning, starting with the latest update for the recently launched Tweetbot for Mac Alpha:

Tweetbot Alpha 3: After rolling out a huge update a couple of days ago for notifications, keyboard shortcuts and other performance enhancements, Tweetbot Alpha 3 is officially available for download/update today. It brings the ability to switch usernames/accounts from within the New Tweet compose window. Clicking a small profile image within the “new tweet” pop-up lets you switch between accounts on the fly. The update also included a hashtag popover fix.

IM+ Pro version 7.0: Perhaps the biggest new feature included in today’s update to one of the most popular iOS IM clients is “Metacontacts,” which is the ability to “merge multiple accounts of one contact into a metacontact” and reduce clutter while increasing efficiency for multiple account users. Another big new feature is iCloud support for syncing IM+ settings across multiple iOS devices, as well as support for additional IM services like Gadu-Gadu and MeinVZ. Unfortunately, version 7.0 will also drop support for iOS 3.x, and it now only works on iOS 4 and up.

Viber version 2.2.0: A huge update today goes to the iOS client for the 90 million-strong Viber service, which allows users worldwide to make free calls and send texts and photos without advertising. Included in the update is a completely refreshed UI that brings group messaging, custom backgrounds for any conversation, profile photos in the Contacts list, and a time stamp for every message. In addition, you will now be able to view recently joined users from the Contacts screen. Viber also promises better sound quality and a new voice engine.

Sky News International for iPad: Released today on the App Store to join the already available for iPhone version, Sky News now has a dedicated iPad app for its international edition with breaking news, top stories, and live streaming of Sky News TV in full screen.

Plesk Manager version 1.2.0: Parallels’ app for monitoring and controlling servers running Parallels Plesk Panel 10.4.4 and Plesk Panel Power Pack was updated today with push notifications, a logs viewer, a new skin, an embedded panel view for iPad, an “improved user experience for VPS owners,” and a troubleshooting section.

Sparrow version 1.3.1: A small update for Sparrow’s iPhone app today includes several bug fixes.

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Fox movies finally available for re-download in iTunes in the Cloud

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Jul 19 2012 - 7:13 pm PT
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Multiple tipsters wrote in this evening saying 20th Century Fox movies are appearing in their purchased movie iTunes accounts ready for re-downloading over iCloud. Sure enough, Fox’s Horton Hears a Who! is on my kid’s iTunes account ready for downloading on iCloud (above, left). There is also no longer a disclaimer saying, “This movie is not available for iCloud downloading,” in iTunes (above, right) which existed before.

When Apple launched Movies in Cloud in March, both Fox and Universal held out. Universal went live on iCloud in April, and it appears Fox is going live today. The deal has been expected for awhile, as HBO allowed iCloud users access to both studios’ catalogs in March. The reasons for the delay aren’t specified but they often involve complicated contract negotiations with multiple rights holders.

Today has been a big day on the iTunes Store with Poland and Hungary both getting iTunes Match, while 37 different countries got iTunes in the Cloud for movies.


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iTunes in the Cloud for movies rolling out in 35+ countries (Updated)

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 19 2012 - 11:05 am PT
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Following the launch of iTunes Match in Poland and Hungary today, Apple also appears to be opening up its iTunes in the Cloud for movies in at least the United Kingdom, Canada, and Colombia, which previously only had access to music, music videos, apps, and books (and TV shows in Canada and the U.K.). There are also various other reports coming from Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland that claim the feature is going live.

Apple’s list of supported countries for the feature has not been updated to reflect the new countries. Let us know in the comments if you notice the feature rolling out in your country.

[tweet https://twitter.com/betterthan/status/226009325544558596]

MacRumors has been tallying the updated list:

Australia, Argentine, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.K., Venezuela, and Vietnam


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iTunes Match rolling out in Poland, Hungary and others today?

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 19 2012 - 7:27 am PT
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[tweet https://twitter.com/Fallen_Zen/status/225881467727773696]

We received several tips that Apple started rolling out the iTunes Match service in Poland, Hungary, and possibly a few other unconfirmed markets. Apple’s official list of availability for iTunes Match by country has not been updated to include Poland, Hungary, or any additional markets, but currently lists 55 countries with access to the service. Local reports claim the service is available for 24.99 euros in Hungary, which is on par with pricing in other markets.

Let us know in the comments if you notice iTunes Match available in your country.

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Greenpeace gives Apple two thumbs up, well—one thumb up

Avatar for Élyse Betters Jul 12 2012 - 9:00 am PT
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In a post titled “Apple’s clean energy plans still cloudy despite coal-free pledge,” Greenpeace praised Apple on its blog for significantly improving clean energy policies, but the environmental organization still gave the company low scores for its energy choices.

A new Greenpeace International analysis released today, and it claims—despite Apple’s commitment to make its data centres coal-free and 100-percent renewable energy operated—the folks in Cupertino still lack “a plan that outlines a realistic path to eliminate its reliance on coal to power its iCloud.”

Check it out (PDF): Greenpeace Report — A Clean Energy Road Map for Apple


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Quick Review: Tweetbot for Mac finally arrives in public alpha, download now!

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 11 2012 - 10:08 am PT
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We reported late last month that Tweetbot for Mac, a desktop version of the popular third-party iOS Twitter client, would likely come soon after the company’s graphic designer, Mark Jardine, tweeted an image of the client running on a MacBook. Today, Tweetbot developers decided to make things official with the release of a public alpha, and we recently got a chance to play around with it. (Blog post here.)

The Tweetbot alpha, which at this point runs on 10.7+ and 10.8 Mountain Lion, has a lot going for it despite warnings of “Bugs! Lots of them.” According to Tapbots, the main goal of the alpha was to replicate the core functionality of the iOS client. Like tapping a tweet in the iPad app, hovering over a tweet in the Mac client provides you with the same Reply, Retweet, Favorite, Share, and Actions button to get access to details, conversations, retweets, and etc.

In addition, like the iPad app, you will find a button to quickly switch lists in the upper right, while a Lists button on the left sidebar will let you manage and edit your lists within the app. The app also bakes in the familiar “Mute Filters” for your main timeline. However, only the ability to mute “Clients” appears to be an option now—with the option for muting keywords greyed out. You will also get Twitter, bit.ly, CloudApp, and Droplr URL shortening options, and all the same image and video-uploading options as on iOS, including: CloudApp, Droplr, img.ly, Lockerz, Mobypicture, Pikchur, Posterous, Twitgoo, TwitPic/TwitVid, and yfrog. Syncing options only feature Tweet Marker currently (iCloud coming soon), while all the Read Later services are present such as bitly, Instapaper, Pinboard, Pocket, and Readability.

We have had a lot to say about the Twitter experience on the new Retina MacBook Pros. The official Twitter for Mac app is unfortunately not Retina-ready and almost unusable on the new Retina displays. Fortunately, we have a Retina update to Twitterific to tie us over, but the Alpha Tweetbot release today is also built for the new Retina display. We have no complaints. It looks great, but Tapbots said further improvements are coming…


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Apps & updates: Vimeo, Facebook Messenger, more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 6 2012 - 1:11 pm PT
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We already told you about a big recent update to Scanner Pro that brings iCloud integration and new iPhone interface, and below is our usual roundup of other noteworthy apps and updates released today. In other app news, sources told VideoGamer that Activision Leeds will be heading development of new new Call of Duty titles for iOS devices, which we can only hope means a full-blown COD game is coming to iPhones and iPads sometime soon. There are also a ton of developers on our list extending their 4th of July day sales into the weekend.

Vimeo version 2.0.5: The universal Vimeo iOS app received a decent update today that “adds initial support for vimeo:// url scheme” with support for projects, camera, featured, my_videos, likes, watch_later, feed, stats, and help. The update also includes fixes for bad localizations and the usual bug fixes.

Facebook Messenger version 1.8.1: Facebook Messenger was updated today with a few small fixes following updates to many of Facebook’s iOS apps in recent weeks. Version 1.8.1 includes a bug fix that was causing profile photos and friend pages to load slowly, something many FB iOS users have been complaining about. You will also now be able to see more of your top friends from within a compose window.

Yelp version 5.9.1: Yelp received a minor update today that includes a fix causing issues for Italian users.

Analytiks 2.0: Analytiks was recently updated to version 2.0. The app is an iOS-based hub for Google Analytics stats, and it provides a unique, stylish user interface unmatched by any other Google Analytics application.

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iTunes Store launch in Hong Kong plagued with translation issues

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jul 5 2012 - 6:43 am PT
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Apple officially opened up the iTunes Store and iTunes Match in 12 new Asian countries late last month, bringing the total to 155 countries worldwide. Perhaps the most notable addition was Hong Kong. Apple said at the time that the local stores would include “an incredible selection of local and international music from all the major labels and thousands of independent labels,” but many Chinese users are disgruntled with the method Apple is using to translate the titles and descriptions of some content in the store. The Wall Street Journal published a story today highlighting the problem with translations in the Hong Kong store:

On accessing the iTunes store for the first time, some Hong Kong users were irritated to find that the store was listing a number of song titles by the city’s popstars in Mandarin pinyin, a system that transcribes Chinese characters into phonetic Latin script, instead of displaying titles transliterated for the Cantonese language, which is spoken by the majority of the population.

For example, the popular Cantonese pop song titled “Autumn Wind, Autumn Rain” would be written and pronounced as qiu feng qiu yu using Mandarin pinyin. Though there is no broadly accepted official system for rendering Cantonese using the Roman alphabet, a transliteration for Cantonese speakers would be closer to cou feng cou yu.

“Those are CANTO pop [songs],” wrote one Hong Kong-based user on Twitter. “Use cantonese [sic] phonetics.”

In other Chinese Apple news, Bloomberg reported today that Apple is using China-based AutoNavi to power its new iOS 6 Maps app in China. Apple is already confirmed to be using TomTom and various other sources for map data in the United States and elsewhere, and Bloomberg noted today that AutoNavi signed a joint venture with TomTom in China in 2010.

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Former Mac OS X chief Bertrand Serlet working on cloud startup with ex-Apple colleagues

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 29 2012 - 10:08 am PT
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In March 2011, Apple officially announced that Mac OS X chief Bertrand Serlet would leave Apple after 22 years with Steve Jobs at NeXT and Apple. At the time of the announcement, Serlet said he wanted “to focus less on products and more on science,” but we did not have any other information on what was in the cards for the man Apple credited with the “definition, development and creation of Mac OS X.”

Today, BusinessInsider reported on what Serlet has in the works:

Business Insider has learned that Serlet has spent much of the time since his departure from Apple working with at least two other former Apple employees to launch a cloud computing startup in downtown Palo Alto called Upthere

Some of these job postings also allude to the fact that the startup was founded by high-profile ex-Apple employees.

We have since learned that this is a reference to Serlet (the brains behind Mac OS X) and Roger Bodamer, a former VP of product operations and development at Apple who previously worked at Oracle.

Based on the job postings we’ve seen, it’s clear the startup is looking to rethink the way people store files in the cloud, though just how this service will compare to options like Dropbox or Apple’s own iCloud feature remains unclear.

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Apple to launch iTunes Store in 7 Asian regions (Update: Apple confirms 12 new countries)

Avatar for Élyse Betters Jun 26 2012 - 12:15 pm PT
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Update: Apple confirmed with an official press release (below) the store is launching in not only seven, but  twelve new countries including: Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

A new rumor claims Apple will host an event tomorrow for the launch of iTunes Store content in seven Asian regions.

e27 just published a report, which cited a “trusted source in the industry,” about Apple planning to host a launch event in Hong Kong for iTunes Store video content going live in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. While the current location is not confirmed, it is “close to the airport,” and the publication previously noted Apple invited Asian music label reps to Hong Kong for an unspecified June 27 launch event. Another report from Philippine-based blog Mister JonJon claimed access to movies, music, books, and movie rentals has already gone live for some.

According to MacRumors:

A review of the localized iTunes Stores for the various countries reveals that movie listings have already gone live, and the navigation bars also contain listings for music, although the are not yet functional. TV shows are not listed as an option in the navigation bar, so it appears that they may not be included in the launch.

Movies and music in Apple’s iTunes Store are available in over 50 countries, with the most recent addition including Latin American countries in December, while App Store apps expanded just last week to 32 new territories.


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iOS 6 Beta 2 roundup: Here’s what’s new

Avatar for Mike Beasley Jun 25 2012 - 12:00 pm PT
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Earlier today, Apple released a new iOS 6 beta to developers, introducing the usual “bug fixes and improvements”. Below is a list of all the new buttons and changes we’ve found so far. If you happen to spot any more, send them our way at tips@9to5mac.com.

The first thing you’ll see when installing beta 2 is actually a change that was technically made in beta 1: when installing an OTA update, the cogs in the Settings icon on the Software Update page spin (not the ones on the actual home screen, though).

Check out even more changes after the break.
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Apple’s iTunes Connect Mobile app updated with new features

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 14 2012 - 9:47 am PT
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Apple updated its iTunes Connect Mobile app today that allows developers to keep an eye on their app sales stats and related data from iTunes Connect. Among the new features are “enhanced product detail views for your entire catalog,” the ability to view app ratings and reviews from customers, a new advanced search feature, and user-interface refinements on the iPad. Developers will also now be able to reject apps submitted for review and release approved updates from within the app. The updated iTunes Connect Mobile app is available on the App Store now.


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iPhone goes prepaid in the US on Cricket starting June 22

Avatar for Seth Weintraub May 31 2012 - 5:26 am PT
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Update: Apple commented on the move:

“By making iPhone available on pre-paid plans through Cricket Wireless, we are making the best smartphone more accessible to an even broader market in the US,” Apple representative Natalie Harrison said.

Apple took a big step today in the United States by aligning with Cricket prepaid Wireless. While you can buy an iPhone off-contract (for significantly more than the above Cricket prices), and then go on AT&T, T-Mobile, or any GSM carriers’ network, this is the first time Apple has let the iPhone play in the prepaid market.

Cricket’s monthly fee for unlimited anything (data throttled after 2.3GB) is $55 per month, which is very low for all things considered. You can also quit at any time, take months off, or trade phones. However, you need to buy the iPhone at an “unsubsidized rate.” But is it really unsubsidized?

What is interesting is that Cricket offers the iPhone 4 for $399 and iPhone 4S for $499. Look at Apple’s prices for unlocked iPhone 4S (iPhone 4 costs $549):

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There is a $150 gap somewhere. Perhaps Cricket is subsidizing some of the cost by thinking buyers will eventually make up that $150 difference in service fees. Apple may also offer Cricket a discount as it buys large quantities of iPhones, because Apple is hoping to spread its customer base.

We are not sure how many prepaid customers will shell out $400 to $500 up front for an iPhone. However, there are probably some jailbreaker/unlockers or otherwise who would like to take a Cricket iPhone and use it off-network (or without a network).

Sprint, which carries the iPhone, and owns two big prepaid networks in Virgin and Boost Mobile, will likely have an iPhone prepaid offering in the coming months too.

The press release follows:
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Developers begin seeing iOS 6 hits in App Store application usage logs

Avatar for Jordan Kahn May 15 2012 - 9:17 am PT
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Last week, we revealed Apple’s decision to drop Google Maps in iOS 6 in exchange for its own in-house solution branded simply as “Maps.” At the time, we told you many versions of iOS 6 have been floating around Apple’s campus, which indicated Apple is likely on track for a mid-June unveiling at this year’s World Wide Developers Conference. Shortly after, references to an upcoming iOS 6 beta were found in the code strings of the iCloud.com beta website.

One app developer informed us today that it has recently noticed users running iOS 6 using its app. The developer observed the “iOS6” string when collecting the OS version from analytics software. It has not been able to trace exactly when the iOS 6 users started appearing, but it was sometime over the past week. Other developers that we spoke to began seeing hits in late April. There is a good chance that this means Apple is amidst iOS 6 compatibility testing with higher-profile applications from the App Store. The process of next-generation versions of iOS appearing in developer usage logs occurred last year too.

Although Apple’s new Maps app and its 3D mode will likely be pushed as a major feature of iOS 6, we noted previously that anyone anticipating major home screen changes or Android-style widgets will likely be disappointed. Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported Apple was preparing to unveil an upgrade to iCloud at WWDC that would include new sharing and commenting features for photos, as well as video syncing capabilities that will likely be the Video Stream feature we told you about last year.

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