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.
Today, Apple announced that the App Store Subscriptions, originally found on The Daily, are now available for all developers. The subscription service is available for all content based apps such as magazines, newspapers, video, music, and basically anything else a developer could want their users to subscribe to.
Subscriptions purchased from within the App Store will be sold using the same App Store billing system that has been used to buy billions of apps and In-App Purchases. Publishers set the price and length of subscription (weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly). Then with one-click, customers pick the length of subscription and are automatically charged based on their chosen length of commitment (weekly, monthly, etc.). Customers can review and manage all of their subscriptions from their personal account page, including canceling the automatic renewal of a subscription. Apple processes all payments, keeping the same 30 percent share that it does today for other In-App Purchases.
The revenue system for developers is the same as normal in-app-purchases or app sales: 30% to Apple and 70% to the application’s developer. Perhaps the best news in today’s announcement is that Apple CEO Steve Jobs comments in the press release:
“Our philosophy is simple—when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app. We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers.”
Did Jobs comment while he was on his last medical leave? Apple does not say whether the subscription service is available for developers to implement today or if it is an iOS 4.3-only feature. The entire press release is after the break for those interested.
Although the last few days have been packed with rumors pointing to a smaller iPhone with a smaller display, Digitimes is now reporting that Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone, due in June, will pack a 4-inch display to go toe-to-toe with Android device’s larger displays. This information is said to come directly from Apple’s production lines.
Earlier today another rumor claimed that Apple is working on three prototypes for their next generation iPhone with one of them including a physical, slide out keyboard and the other being mostly an internal upgrade with a speedier chip and an eight-megapixel camera.
Digitimes is also reporting that Apple is planning to launch an iPad 2 with an “enhanced A4” processor, with no explanation as to what that means and a fifth generation iPhone with the rumored A5 processor. No word on the differences between the two chips or if the iPhone 5 will feature a faster chip than the iPad 2. At this point it looks like Apple’s next major handset is starting to take shape.
We are probably looking at a fairly major internal upgrade with a faster chip, perhaps more storage (cloud based?), a dual GSM/CDMA antenna, and probably more RAM. As for externals, Apple’s iPhone 4 was a major redesign so perhaps the exterior design will simply see a new display: A 4-inch Retina display with Super PLS technology?
Verizon today updated their popular FiOS DVR management application for the iPhone. Verizon’s new ad for it (above) tells it all. Grab it here from iTunes.
– Multiple DVR support is here! Control all of your DVRs through one application or use multiple devices to control your DVR(s)
– UI has been updated to aligned with the new Interactive Media Guide
– Update the individual settings of your parental controls
– What’s Hot on FiOS Added
– Ability to update your set-top box names
– Non-DVR users can access basic functions of the app
– Landscape orientation support has been added for the Guide view
But to do that, Apple had to figure out a way to strip away some of the components to reduce both its size and cost.
By “some” of the memory, we mean ALL of the memory. The iPhone nano will have no memory for onboard storage of media, our source says. It will have only enough memory to buffer media streamed from the cloud.
“I’m talking strictly storage memory here,” said our source.
The iPhone nano will pull ALL it’s content from MobileMe. When users buy a movie or TV show on iTunes, it’s available to stream to their iPhone or iPad. The service is based on technology from LaLa.com, a streaming service that Apple bought last spring and then shut down.
“It would be a mostly cloud-based iOS,” said our source.
The major problem with this is that you couldn’t install apps on the iPhone nano. Which sounds like kind of a bust. You have to wait 10 minutes while your email app downloads? Not likely.
We’re of the opinion that the thing will have a few GBs at least – if only for caching stuff like AppleTV. Memory ain’t that expensive – maybe Apple finally lets us use MicroSD? Naahhhhh!
According to the well-informed Wall Street JournalApple is currently working on an iPhone that is half the size of the iPhone 4 and a major MobileMe overhaul for release this summer. The report is following up on Bloomberg’s report about a smaller iPhone but adds some new details such as the device’s “N97” codename and size.
The WSJ also claims the new, smaller iPhone will be available “at about half the price of Apple’s main line of iPhones.” The smaller iPhone is said to be sold alongside Apple’s main line of phones so maybe this summer’s lineup will be the iPhone 5 at $199/$299, iPhone 4 at $99 and iPhone nano at $49.
The report also claims Apple is “exploring a major overhaul of its MobileMe online storage service.” MobileMe is said to become a free “locker” for all of your personal media like photos and videos. This would allow Apple to provide less physical storage on their mobile devices and pull all your media from the cloud.
Perhaps this is Apple’s North Carolina data center’s true purpose in life. The report also claims MobileMe could tie into Apple’s rumored cloud-based music service. Steve Jobs said in a customer email that MobileMe would get a lot better this year.
On a final note, the report claims that both products are tracking summer 2011 launches (probably a WWDC launch) and Steve Jobs has made them his top priority. There will possibly more details about this story, so be sure to check back later today for updates.
Update: The WSJ has updated their report to include some new, specific information about the new, smaller iPhone. According to the report’s sources this new iPhone will be lighter and will have an “edge-to-edge” screen (no home button?!), and wait for it… have voice-based navigation. They also claim the new MobileMe revamp was due for release last year and will allow users to stream their iTunes libraries to their phones so they won’t need to actually sync through the iTunes desktop application. The report also says Apple is working on an update to their main iPhone (iPhone 4) and Steve Jobs declined to comment via email.
Update: Woops! this was a store update 2 weeks ago, not 4.3. Sorry about that
A cool new feature that is now in 4.3 is the ability for the App Store to check your account for applications that aren’t yet installed, but have been bought in the past. The App Store will now show “INSTALLED” rather than the app’s dollar value and then displaying the message “You have already purchased this item. To download it again for free, select OK.”
Apparently an Atlanta man purchased an “Apple iPad” from his local Walmart store only to discover the iPad to be a store prop. The fake looks just like an iPad with an outer shell identical to the real thing, but it’s hollow inside with a screenshot of the iPad home screen sitting under the fake glass display. The kind you’d normally find at a Walmart.
The man has requested a refund from Walmart for the fake, but Walmart is refusing and is sort of blaming Apple about the issue. The local news speculates that somebody purchased an iPad, swapped it with the fake, and returned it. Walmart is blaming Apple since Apple apparently handles the exchanges for the popular reseller’s Apple product sales. The man claims he will be filing a lawsuit against Walmart if the situation does not get properly resolved.
While you might think the Verizon iPhone’s biggest problems are its inferior data speeds, no talking while using data, or minimal international usability, we have discovered an even bigger issue, and its a true killer for consumers and business users alike. That’s the lack of being able to have a conference call with more than three people (including yourself), being able to switch between phone calls or to be able to hang up on just one person in a conference call. 9to5mac reader Eric F. worked with us on the above video that demonstrates the flaw in Verizon’s iPhone 4.
As business users in particular can imagine, not being able to have a conference call with more than two other people can be detrimental for an important deal you are trying to make over the phone, and can even be an issue for families who are trying to connect over their iPhones together. Another issue is the Verizon iPhone’s inability of handling call swapping. This means you cannot take one of your conference callers on private, like on the AT&T iPhone, and when you touch end call both calls will automatically hang up. Thanks, Eric F. and Julie!
T-Mobile has released a new commercial bashing both AT&T and its iPhone 4 for not having 4G connectivity. We figure all T-Mobile can do at this point is run ridiculous ads and discount all their smartphones with Verizon and AT&T having the iPhone and Sprint having their magical new Echo phone with two screens.
GreenPois0n has just been upgraded to release candidate 6 and it includes support for the second generation Apple TV. GreenPosi0n will give your Apple TV an untethered jailbreak and will also install the popular NitoTV software on it. Let us know how it goes for you, in the comments. Get it here.
According to the Korea Herald, Apple’s new iPad will likely utilize Samsung’s newly revealed Super PLS technology. The current iPad, as well as the iPhone 4, use a technology called IPS, which provides outstanding viewing angles. Samsung’s PLS technology is superior to IPS in many regards. The viewing angles provided by PLS are improved as the display actually shifts the shape of the individual pixels so they are displayed brighter and with better contrast from more angles.
In addition to better viewing angles, the Super PLS display is also generally 10% brighter than the IPS technology. Perhaps the best part about these displays is that they cost around 15% less to manufacture than IPS displays. Apple typically uses multiple display manufactures for their products so it wouldn’t be a surprise for LG to have developed a similar technology. That might explain why our leaked iPad 2 screen is manufactured by LG is better quality than the first iPad display.
Just because the screen itself is better quality and has better viewing angles, does not mean it has a better resolution. According to our own findings in the SDK, and reports by the well-informed John Gruber and Wall Street Journal, the iPad 2 will utilize the same 1024 x 768 display as the current iPad. It seems like these display rumors are starting to come together well, and the iPad 2 is expected to launch sometime this quarter. More comparison shots of the displays are after the break.
Cult of Mac claims that Apple is working to revamp its long-critized notification system in iOS. This comes as no surprise with many rumors pointing to an iOS notification redesign, but the juicy part is that the report claims Apple has its eyes set on purchasing an App Store developer’s company to revamp their notification system.
Cult of Mac‘s source reportedly did not say which developer Apple will be buying to revamp the iOS notification system, but some possibilities include the widely popular Boxcar service by AppRemix. This all seems highly unlikely, but still possible with Apple’s large cash reserve and knack for buying companies, with Apple’s recent pickup of a leading HP webOS architect.
AT&T is continuing to say thank you to their iPhone users who are sticking with them. Last week was a 20% off an accessory coupon and this week is a free extra 1000 rollover minutes. Some readers have sent in screenshots of the above, let us know if you received one, too. Thanks, Vinod.
Update: We are hearing that if you did not recieve the text just send the word “yes” to the 11113020 number and you will recieve a text that says your account has been credited! Anyone want to verify?
Update 2: Confirmed below!
Update 3: There was some concern it was a scam but we’ve now verified it with AT&T – It’s legit.
iPhoneDownloadBlog points to an upcoming jailbreak-only tweak, which promises turn-by-turn voice navigation for the native iPhone Google Maps application. The tweak is said to be “coming soon” to Cydia with no specific launch of pricing information being available at this time. Turn-by-turn voice navigation in iPhone Google Maps has long been a popular feature request, and hopefully Apple brings it natively in future iOS upgrades. (via RazorianFly)
In an interview with TheAgeSony executive Michael Ephraim hinted that Sony may pull its iTunes music content from Apple’s store over a fallout with the company. At the end of January Apple rejected the Sony ebook reader application from the iOS App Store leading to this fallout between companies.
Sony is planning to launch a new music service called ‘Music Unlimited’ that will stream a library of over 6 million tracks to many devices including Sony TVs, Playstations, and Blu-Ray players. Ephraim said Sony’s new approach to the online music service is more open than Apple’s because it can be streamed directly to multiple devices and won’t have to be synced via a cable through a computer-application (iTunes).
Sony removing their music content from iTunes would be a big deal as Sony’s library includes popular artists like Bob Dylan (Steve’s favorite), Beyonce, and Guy Sebastian. The big hints also come through these quotes from the Sony executive:
If we do [get mass take up] then does Sony Music need to provide content to iTunes?” Mr Ephraim asked. ”Currently we do. We have to provide it to iTunes as that’s the format right now.
”Publishers are being held to ransom by Apple and they are looking for other delivery systems, and we are waiting to see what the next three to five years will hold.
Today’s Bloomberg article was about as interesting as they get in terms of what’s next for iPhone. With $600 phones, Apple is priced outside of what most Americans will pay for a mobile device. Obviously the carriers subsidize phones but then you end up paying way more than you should per month. What does a $200 iPhone on a ‘pay as you go’ plan look like?
If you want to look at what a $200 iPhone would look like, I think the best current example is the LG Optimus V on Virgin Mobile, a Sprint Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). It is a 3.2 inch screen Android device with a speedy 600MHz ARM processor and 512Mb of RAM. The resolution of the screen is the same as the iPhone 3GS even though it is .3 inch smaller. This is important because you want to have legacy iPhone app pixel compatibility. It has Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, a 3 Megapixel camera and just about everything the iPhone 3GS had… Expand Expanding Close
Opera has announced that their popular ‘Opera Mini Browser’ will be making its way soon to the iPad with a formal announcement at the upcoming Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain. Anyone at the conference who wants a peek at the iPad version should stop by Hall 1, Booth C44.
105 million people might use Opera’s browsers today, but Opera Software cares even more about tomorrow. At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, new versions of the Opera Mini browser on Android, iPhone, J2ME, BlackBerry, Symbian and even the iPad will appear.
No other information has been revealed so far about the browser so far. The browser should look fairly similar to the iPhone version, but will probably have some tweaks and new features that take advantage of the iPad’s larger display.
Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is working on a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone for sale off contract. The prototype was about one-third smaller than the iPhone 4, said Bloomberg’s source. (kinda like a HP Veer?)
To keep prices down, the smaller phone will use a processor, display and other components similar to those used in the current iPhone 4.
As we already found out, Apple’s also has a Dual Mode iPhone in the pike for the summer time:
Apple is also working on a so-called dual-mode phone, two people said. This device would be able to work with the world’s two main wireless standards — the global system for mobile communications, used by AT&T and overseas carriers including Vodafone Group Plc, and code division multiple access, used by Verizon Wireless. It is not known whether Apple intended to include this capability in the cheaper iPhone.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the report is that Apple is working on a Universal SIM which would allow users to jump from network to network. A move like this would really hurt the carriers who have been able to corral their customers with long term contracts against expensive phone subsidies.
It would also be a significant drop in price. Currently, an iPhone 4 costs $600 off contract.
Assuming you save your passwords on your iPhone (iPod touch and iPad as well), you don’t remote wipe it and assuming the person who finds it is a pretty astute hacker, you may want to reset your passwords. PCWorld details how an iPhone can be jailbroken and give up passwords in just 6 minutes.
The attack, which requires possession of the phone, targets keychain, Apple’s password management system. Passwords for networks and corporate information systems can be revealed if an iPhone or iPad is lost or stolen, said the researchers at the state-sponsored Fraunhofer Institute Secure Information Technology (Fraunhofer SIT).
It is based on existing exploits that provide access to large parts of the iOS file system even if a device is locked.
Maybe Apple should make remote wipe a free option. Oh they just did! Expand Expanding Close
The popular BBC iPlayer service has finally made its way to the iPad, and is now available for free on the UK iTunes App Store. BBC iPlayer allows you to watch live TV from the BBC television station in addition to live radio broadcasts from the network. You can even select your “favorite” programs and these episodes will be “ready and waiting for you to watch.” We assume this means you will get an alert when a new episode is about to air, or it will be somehow saved for you to watch.
Browsing through iPlayer’s program guide is supported over 3G, but actually watching video will require connection to a Wi-Fi network. For those of you who are on tablets, or plan on getting tablets, other than the iPad, BBC says they will eventually release versions for you, too. BBC also says that HD video is not available on the iPad, but will be added at a later date.
The new device will be thinner, lighter and will come with a faster processor, more memory and a more powerful graphics processor, said the people familiar with the matter. It will have a front-facing camera for the first time for features like video-conferencing, but the resolution of the new iPad’s display will be similar to the first iPad, they said.
The report also claims the device will work with AT&T and Verizon 3G out of the box, but will not support Sprint and T-Mobile networks. The report says the iPad 2 is “in production” leaving no indication at a public release date. For those who don’t remember, the iPad 2’s front camera is expected to have a 0.3 megapixel resolution, which is common for video chatting cameras, and the back one will likely be close to 1 megapixel.
And we thought the iPhone 4 antenna issues were over… iLounge has put their Verizon iPhone 4 to the test (video above) and has determined the device has anntenuation issues like the AT&T version of the phone. In this case, it’s not the “death grip” but is the “death hug” and affects both the cellular and WiFi antennas. The issue appears to be on webpage loading times when gripping the iPhone 4. Another example of the “death hug”, below:
It looks like the AC/DC luving crew over at iPadDevice figured out how to take the leaked iPad 2 FaceTime files from the iOS 4.3 beta SDK and install them onto a first generation iPad. Because the files are from the SDK, we may be looking at the new iPad’s actual FaceTime application. The interface is very similar to the one found on FaceTime for Mac.
As we previously noted, the new iPad will feature an updated FaceTime logo, that is different than the one currently found on iOS 4.2-rocking iPod touches. When a FaceTime call comes in, your iPad 2 will ring and you will get a popup alert on your lock screen, or on top of the application you are currently working on.
Back to the actual interface, the FaceTime controls (end, mute, etc.) will be found on a floating window towards to bottom of the device’s display. The current iPad 2 does not have a camera and that is the reason for the lack of a camera preview on the lock screen when a FaceTime video call comes in, and when the user is actually FaceTime chatting. You will notice the above video is in Italian, but the concept is relatively the same.
