iOS devices refer to any of Apple’s hardware that runs the iOS mobile operating system which include iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Historically, Apple releases a new iOS version once a year, the current version is iOS 10. Here is the complete list of iOS 10 compatible devices.
The New York Times reports that Facebook has been working on an iPad application for approximately the past year and is closing up their testing ahead of a launch in the “coming weeks.” The Facebook for iPad project, which is said to be “carefully designed and optimized for the tablet,” has been overseen by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Yep, the same person who said Apple’s tablet is not a mobile device.
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.
The feature set of Facebook for iPad is said to include everything from the Facebook website but will add mobile-optimized features like taking and uploading pics and flicks. The report also says that Facebook for iPad will be free, which seems pretty obvious, and does not offer a release date more specific than “in the coming weeks.” Facebook currently serves their iOS users with their wildly popular iPhone and iPod touch application.
As a part of Apple’s MobileMe-to-iCloud transition, Apple will be bringing expired MobileMe accounts back to life. We have gotten our hands on login information for a long-expired MobileMe account and have discovered that Apple has already migrated these accounts over to the free iCloud service (shown above). In order to setup these newly resurrected accounts you need to be running Apple’s upcoming iOS 5 and OS X Lion (with iCloud beta installed). Your old MobileMe username and password will now function as your iCloud Apple ID.
The reason being is that these new iCloud e-mail, calendar, and other accounts no longer work at me.com. That’s right, for the time being, users who have their old MobileMe accounts migrated over to the iCloud service can no longer access their email on the web. We got our expired test MobileMe account up and running as an iCloud account on a Mac running OS X Lion (with iCloud installed) and an iPhone running iOS 5. Mail, contacts, calendar, and the rest of the suite work perfectly with native apps, but not in Apple’s me.com web apps. Find my iPhone is the exception.
There has been a lot of talk lately over whether or not iCloud will support the MobileMe web apps, usher in their own redesigned web apps, or leave the web in the dark. Our discovery points to no web app compatibility, but that is likely because the iCloud web apps do not exist yet. The Loop and others say that iCloud web apps are, in fact, in development. We’ll likely see those when iCloud is ready to launch this fall. Thanks, Kristian!
Bloomberg has a story about New York-based books publisher John T. Colby suing Apple in federal court today over an alleged infringement of their ‘iBooks’ trademark:
Colby bought in 2006 and 2007 the assets of various entities owned by New York publisher Byron Preiss, who had published more than 1,000 hardcover and paperback books under the “ibooks” name starting in September 1999, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan today.
Patently Applepointed in April of 2010 to Apple’s ‘iBooks’ and ‘iBookStore’ trademark applications with the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Back then, Apple asserted a claim of priority for iBooks based on Trinidad and Tobago application number 41872, filed earlier that year, probably in an effort to have their ‘iBooks’ trademark claim granted ahead of any possible lawsuit.
An Apple patent application which surfaced this morning in the United States Patent & Trademark Office’s database envisions advanced proactive measures that are likely to end up utilized in the free Find My iPhone service (which can locate stolen Macs, too). Entitled “Proactive Security for Mobile Devices” and credit to Apple engineer Hooman Borghei, the patent application sets the stage with the following description:
Mobile devices, such as phones and media devices, have a high risk of being lost or stolen. If a mobile device is stolen, the information contained on the device can be accessed. Various security methods have been developed to prevent unauthorized access of information stored on mobile devices. Some methods will encrypt the data to prevent access. Simple encryption ciphers can be broken and more secure encryption techniques are also more complex and thus require more resources that may not be available on some devices. Other security methods allow a remote wipe command to be sent to the mobile device over a network. The remote wipe command, however, wipes out all the data on the mobile device accept a boot file. This forces the user to have to restore the wiped data, which can be inconvenient and time consuming for the user.
So, what are the aggressive countermeasures Apple’s been exploring? For starters, they propose selective protection of your content stored on the device. This would kick in when someone enters an incorrect passcode. We are more excited, however, about cool remote surveillance capabilities, such as transmission of the images and sounds that your device secretly captures. This could go a long way towards helping one figure out the thief’s surrounding without them suspecting anything. Yeah, kinda like this guy. Warning: This article will self-destruct in T-minus thirty seconds…
Apple’s App Store is a nice venue to discover iOS software, but it’s far from perfect – especially when browsing its virtual shelves on your device. The iTunes Preview site – as well as other web and smartphone tools like AppShopper – all help find that needle in a haystack, but they also impose annoying limitations.
Not surprisingly, Google and Microsoft wouldn’t drill through their index in order to create a dedicated search page for mobile warez so Yahoo! took it upon themselves to fill the void (after all, they don’t have a mobile platform of their own to protect). Today, Yahoo! unveiled new search tools that help seek apps for your iOS device easier than ever before. The initiative consists of a dedicated search engine called Yahoo! App Search and an iOS app dubbed Yahoo! AppSpot.
With flat music sales and booming app ecosystem, iOS app revenue should zoom past song sales by 2015 the latest.
By one estimate, iOS developers and record labels together have pulled some $16.6 billion in cumulative revenues on Apple’s iTunes content store since its inception, according to an interesting analysis by Asymco’s Horace Dediu. Even if it involves a lot of guesswork and peering inside the crystal ball, the author’s thinking is determined by known iTunes milestones and revenue data from Apple’s quarterly findings. For example, Steve Jobs told us at WWDC 2011 that Apple so far paid out $2.5 billion to app developers.
The combined “sales rate” is a remarkable $665 million per month. By the slope of the trend lines, it would appear that app income will exceed music income within three years. Another perspective is the number of downloads per device per month. This shows that the rate of consumption of apps is increasing and is now about six apps per device per month.
“Each iTunes account has ‘consumed’ about 67 songs but also 62 apps. Remarkable parity in such a short time. And the trend speaks for itself”, Dediu concludes. Plus…
MacRumorspoints to an interesting new patent application from Apple describing a new kind of social experience on your iPhone which includes location-based interest matching. “When two strangers meet, it may take a long and awkward conversation to discover their common interests or experiences,” Apple writes. Indeed. So what is the company proposing then?
Common interests and experiences of two or more users located close to each other can be identified from content, including automatically created usage data of the mobile devices. Usage data of a mobile device can be created based on activities performed on the mobile device (e.g., songs downloaded), a trajectory of the mobile device (e.g., places traveled), or other public data available from the mobile device (e.g., pictures shared).
In other words, your iPhone could help your find a matching friend, business partner or your next wife or husband. This could be a fit for Apple’s social network for music dubbed Ping, especially when combined with your real identity Apple has on file in iTunes. The document credits Apple engineer Shuvo Chatterjee with the invention. You can browse the patent application by typing in its ID (20110142016) into the United States Patent & Trademark office search engine.
Not sure how this one went unnoticed, it’s a lovely tweak to Google’s mobile search page on iOS and Android devices. It is also noteworthy as Google rarely alters the look of its mobile landing page. Now, when you visit google.com from your mobile browser, you’ll notice four big icons sitting right below the search field: Restaurants, Coffee, Bars and More (which includes shops, ATMs, fast food and attractions).
Each icon takes you to a location-based listing with corresponding places, taking the pain out of finding the nearest place to eat or have a quick drink, wherever you happen to be. You can browse places in either list or map view, as well as check photos, reviews, business phone numbers and star ratings from credible sources such as Trip Advisor.
TechCrunch continues their profiling of Facebook (once) secret projects with news that Zuckerberg and company plan a web-based alternative web store to Apple’s App Store for iOS devices.
Dubbed Project Spartan, the project is a framework for apps that would use social hooks and work inside of Facebook’s ecosystem.
As we understand it, Project Spartan is the codename for a new platform Facebook is on verge of launching. 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. Why? Because it’s the one area of the device that Facebook will be able to control (or mostly control).
Project Spartan will also be available on Android but according to TechCrunch, Facebook has Apple in its sights first.
As of right now, there are believed to be 80 or so outside developers working with Facebook on Project Spartan. These teams are working on apps for the platform that range from games to news-reading apps. Some of the names should be familiar: Zynga and Huffington Post (owned by our parent AOL), for example. The goal is to have these apps ready to roll in the next few weeks for a formal unveiling shortly thereafter.
US Senators Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) took it upon themselves to prevent future Locationgates. Today, Franken and Blumenthal proposed new data privacy laws focused on smartphones and tablets, aiming to prevent Apples and Googles of this world from collecting location data before obtaining explicit consent from users, reportsCNN Money.
The bill introduced Wednesday would require device makers and app developers “to receive express consent” from mobile users “before collecting or sharing information about those users’ location with third parties.”
Yup, you read that right. They want new laws in place ensuring we accept privacy statements nobody ever reads anyway. They even coined a splashy name for it: The “Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011”. From where we’re standing, it’s pretty much in line with Verizon’s way of tackling location woes. Senator Franken’s statement right below.
Interesting screenshots from SpeechTrans Ultimate Powered By Nuance just hit our inbox. Some of the screenshots seem to depict an iPhone with a 4-inch screen.
Nuance is widely believed to be working deeply with Apple on their speech recognition technology but this is a third party app so the chances are slim that SpeechTrans knows something. Maybe they just pasted screenshots that were too big on their App..Another beauty below: Expand Expanding Close
Über-cool iPhone-controlled quadricopters from Parrot are finding some interesting uses in New Zealand where Opus engineers sent an iPad-controlled drone to examine and film the front of Christchurch’s Roman catholic cathedral which has been damaged in Monday’s quake and is now pretty unstable, 3News.co.nz explains:
It’s a type of toy called a ‘quadricopter’ and was bought from Dick Smith. Controlled by an iPad, it can fly and film. Opus engineers have put a polystyrene reinforcing around it. The drone recently crept its way inside the cathedral for a test flight. The whole area’s too dangerous for engineers to get close.
They have a nice video of the drone so go ahead and click on the above screenshot to watch it via 3News.co.nz. Sorry, we couldn’t find the embed code for the clip. Flash? Talk to3News.co.nz.
TechCrunchreceived numerous screenshots and documents outlining a brand new iPhone app from Facebook focused solely on photo sharing. The program is allegedly code-named either “Hovertown” or “WithPeople” and could be released either as a standalone download for iOS devices or integrated into Facebook’s existing iPhone app. Author MG Siegler says the screenshots look “amazing”, adding:
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 an astounding six billion photo uploads each month and a total of staggering hundred billion photos (or about 150 photos per user on average), a photo sharing app from Facebook would easily become a smash hit. Count us officially thrilled.
Apple now sells unlocked GSM iPhone 4 in America, but AT&T and Verizon still don’t offer authorized unlocking for a fee to existing subscribers.
This article has been updated with comments from Verizon and AT&T at the bottom.
Yesterday Apple began selling unlocked GSM iPhone 4 in the US. Lacking carrier subsidies, prices are $649 for the 16GB model and a hundred more for its 32GB counterpart. Unlocked iPhones arrive without a micro-SIM card so you can use them with any supported GSM carrier worldwide and without pledging to a lengthy service contract.
It’s a life-saver when travelling abroad because you can simply pop in a local carrier’s micro-SIM to temporarily use your iPhone on their network. America isn’t the only country where unlocked iPhones are being offered. Per this support document highlighting iPhone carriers around the world, some or all carriers or authorized Apple distributors in each of the following 34 markets offer contract-free iPhones:
Found deep inside the iOS 5.0 SDK are graphics for an iPad capable of displaying a 2048 x 1536 resolution on its display. That amount of pixels also happens to be exactly double the resolution (four times the pixels) of the current iPad (1024 x 768), making said graphics compatible with a future iPad that features an Apple “Retina Display.” These graphics include a “2X” marker within the file name and have been found in Apple iPad file systems before.
Earlier this year, iPad 2X graphics were found in the iBooks application and were immediately assumed to be for the iPad 2, which does not include a Retina display – as exclusively confirmed by 9to5Mac months before the device’s announcement. Those very iPad 2X graphics found in the iBooks application were in fact created months before their public discovery and the graphics were soon dismissed as an Apple graphic designer thinking into the future.
Today, we have iPad 2X graphics found in the Twitter frameworks portion of the iOS 5 SDK. These graphics were quickly dismissed by some as another Apple graphic designer thinking ahead due to rumors, but we think the opposite. See, iOS 5.0 is the first SDK to even support the 3rd generation iPad, as previously revealed, so it would make sense that some iPad 3 strings would be present.
Second, iOS 5 will be the base operating system that the next-generation iPad will support, so it makes sense that we would find iPad 3 graphics in the iOS 5 SDK, not the iOS 4 SDK – in which iPad 2X graphics were previously found. Additionally, the Twitter framework is something only present in 5.0, so next-gen graphics for a planned iPad 3 being found in this portion of the SDK would be no surprise.
As previously mentioned, some are making the case that Apple designers are making iPad Retina graphics with no direction from Apple’s elite managers. Nearly two months prior to the white iPhone 4’s release, iTunes 10.2 housed graphics representing this phone. Some may say that is because the white iPhone 4 was supposed to launch months earlier alongside the black version, but these graphics happened to also display the yet to be revealed – at the time – redesigned proximity sensor.
Due the circumstances in which these new iPad 2X graphics were found, we feel that these icons are not just a coincidence or a designer thinking ahead, but rather a strong indication that the next iPad will feature a 2048 x 1536 Retina Display.
Update: The iOS 5 iPad Newsstand application shows 2X images as well. This same image was uncovered in January, but in iBooks:
Apple wrote in the official court documents pertaining to its legal spat with Samsung that its key supplier “attempts to harass us” by demanding to see unreleased iPhone and iPad devices. Samsung’s request, of course, came as a response to a federal court ruling granting Apple access to the already released Samsung smartphones and tablets that the gadget maker from California alleges infringe on its patents and copy their look and feel. Apple in court documents calls Samsung “the copyist”, author Florian Mueller writes on the FOSS Patents blog. Here’s a juicy excerpt from Apple’s filing in opposition to Samsung’s Motion to Compel the surrender of samples of the iPad 3 and iPhone 5:
At the Display Taiwan show one of the display vendors, CPT, is showing off what looks like an iPad 1 with a prototype 3D display which requires special eyewear with polarizing lenses. The Apple logo and product labels on the back are covered with stickers, but the device does resemble an iPad, as shown in the included video clip (sorry about the Android intro, folks). Not that it means anything or that NetbookNews.com has a decent track record of accurate Apple reporting. Expand Expanding Close
As noted yesterday, Apple has begun selling unlocked GSM iPhone 4 in the United States. The 16GB black model starts at $649 and the 32GB version costs a $100 more. An unlocked handset offers all of the features without a contract commitment and can be used on supported GSM networks, Apple notes:
If you don’t want a multiyear service contract or if you prefer to use a local carrier when traveling abroad, the unlocked iPhone 4 is the best choice. It arrives without a micro-SIM card, so you’ll need an active micro-SIM card from any supported GSM carrier worldwide.
Both black and white models are being offered contract-free. Wondering how the unlocked iPhone 4 works? Apple provides this explanation:
Sources within United States Apple Stores have told 9to5Mac that shipments of four new iPhone models have reached their respective Apple Store locations today. As originally reported by ChronicWire, the model numbers are in fact MC603 (16GB, Black) MC604 (16GB, White) MC605 (32GB, Black) MC606 (32GB, White).
Those model numbers match up with unlocked iPhone 4s sold internationally. Retail sources say the delivery of these new phones was unexpected and the current plan is for availability starting Wednesday. Separately, MacRumors reports that the unlocked iPhone 4s will cost $649 and $749 for 16GB and 32GBs, respectively.
A jailbroken app called ‘iUsers’enables the iPad to behave a little more like your Mac by supporting multiple user profiles.
The tweak puts a user profile button on the iPad’s homepage, where users can be switched fairly simply. For now only apps, music, and other content are shared between users, but the data inside the apps (game hi-scores, etc.) are user specific. iUsers’ developer is currently working on implementing more granular user data. The tweak is making its way to the Cydia marketplace, but if you’re eager you can find the instructions to installing iUsers over atBlogdoiPhone.
Hopefully we’ll see this natively in the iPad soon, and maybe Apple will decide to Sherlock it at some point in the future.
Steve Jobs isn’t afraid to publicly admit that “good artists copy, great artists steal”. He purposefully reflected on that Picasso adage numerous times in the past, as shown in a short video snippet taken from a 1984 interview included for your reference below the fold. This very saying instantly popped into our mind when we saw the new Notification Center Apple debuted in iOS 5. As anyone knows, lock screen notifications are hardly a novelty to avid jailbreakers (or Android users). In fact, we were glad to see Apple wasn’t too proud to pull Android’s notifications. Though, of course, they can never say that Android has stolen the iOS look and feel from Apple again. But Notificaton Center via a pulldown gesture isn’t the only thing Apple borrowed from others…
Nuance, a company behind Dragon Dictation software and cloud-based voice recognition technology that the rumor mill says will power advanced voice commands in iOS 5, today released a brand new app for your iPhone. Dubbed Dragon Remote Microphone, it turns your handset into a wireless microphone for use with their Dragon Desktop software and Dragon NaturallySpeaking for the PC (v11.5 and higher). “Instead of using the microphone that comes in the retail box, users can now opt to use their iPhone as a microphone instead“, Nuance writes in iTunes release notes.heck, you can even use it with the just updated Dragon NaturallySpeaking app to update your Facebook and Twitter accounts by speaking, how cool is that? Go ahead and grab iDragon Remote Microphone, it’s a free download from the App Store.
Here’s an unconventional use of the iPad: Time Magazine profiles Condition ONE, an app to provide a new form of storytelling.
it combines “the power of the still image, the narrative of films and the emotional engagement of tactile experiences to create a new language that is so immersive, it will shake viewers out of their numbness to traditional media and provide them a powerful emotional experience. Instead of opening a window to glimpse another world, we are attempting to bring the viewer into that world as an active participant.”
Condition ONE, under development for the Apple iPad and other tablets, uses a custom camera system developed by Dennis that “fuses the ethics, method and aesthetics of photojournalism with the tradition of cinematic filmmaking with virtual reality,” he says. “The entire human field of view is captured on these camera systems, and the stories are edited specifically for the tablet application to create a truly immersive experience.” Expand Expanding Close
Philip Elmer-DeWitt relayed on the Fortune blog a survey that Piper Jaffray’s resident Apple analyst Gene Munster conducted during Apple’s annual developer conference which took place in San Francisco last week. He compared the results to a similar survey conducted in 2008, when Android wasn’t on the map yet. Speaking to 45 iOS developers attending this year’s conference (versus the twenty developers he surveyed at WWDC 2008), Munster wrote in a Monday note to clients that only seven percent of respondents write Mac apps these days. That’s a notable drop from 50 percent in 2008 and a major shift towards favoring Apple’s mobile operating system. Perhaps Apple should rename the conference as iWWDC? Go past the fold for more takeaways…
