What we thought was a static file in iOS that correctly predicted the previous Saturday iOS 5 Beta 5 update turns out to be one that Apple can change remotely. Yesterday, it changed from Wednesday August 17th to Thursday, August 18th. We can only assume that Apple can change this on a whim so the date appears to be a target date, which we know can change. As of this writing, the target is in a week. We’ll keep you updated. (Thanks to iCloudil.com for notifying us of the change) Expand Expanding Close
Google has just pushed an update for the official Google+ app for iOS, bringing with it support for iPad and iPod touch, two devices the app was previously unavailable for, among a few other features including aggregated circle add notifications, huddle settings, and the usual “Performance and stability improvements”.
Unfortunately, this iPad support is not completely native as the app will just be a pixel-doubled iPhone application. This choice by Google is still better than no iPad support at all, though. You should be able to update the app now via the App Store or swing by iTunes and grab the new version now. We’ll keep you posted with any other discoveries we might make in this latest update.
Looks like we’re going to have to keep waiting for an Netflix-killer from Apple… Rumors were floating around last week that claimed Apple was on the verge of launching a new “iTunes Replay” service, which would allow users to re-download and/or stream TV shows and movies. Unfortunately, a new report from CNET claims Apple does not have the agreements in place to offer content from the big film studios via the cloud.
While we all know Apple is working on some type of on-demand service for iTunes content via iCloud, apparently sources have confirmed the company has failed to sign the majority of the six major film studios and “negotiations could drag on for months” before they eventually acquire cloud streaming rights.
There were also rumors that Apple could introduce a video subscription streaming service to rival Netflix and Amazon. However, the report confirms this was probably just speculation, most likely stemming from discussions Apple has had with studios regarding a video-on-demand service in the past.
Why is Apple having trouble signing the studios? Greg Sandoval from CNET claims HBO’s exclusive distribution rights with Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, and Universal, as well as support for the new UltraViolet streaming service may be preventing Apple from landing deals with the big studios. Expand Expanding Close
We know you are just rooting through iOS Beta 5 now, but we’re think we’ve cracked the OTA update date code.
Apple plans to release their next developer seed of iOS 5, Beta 6, on Thursday, August 18th according to some codes a few developers sent our way. The sources, who provided us with the exact date and time of today’s iOS 5 beta 5 release (which we were skeptical of – because it was a Saturday), warns that because we are still days away from the planned release, the seeding can be delayed due to bugs or other reasons out of our control.
Anyway, you might want to block out your calendar for Thursday evening.
We’re hearing reports from @gruber backed up by iOS Firmware that AppleTVs are getting updated today with some enhanced new firmware. Early reports indicate that you can now stream any items purchased ever to AppleTV and Apple is now supporting Vimeo.
Purchase TV shows on Apple TV. Shows purchased on Apple TV can be re-downloaded on other iOS devices. Shows purchased on other iOS devices or with iTunes automatically show up as available to play on Apple TV.
Vimeo
Browse and watch millions of user-uploaded videos found on the Vimeo service, for free.
Apple’s purchase of Siri in early 2010 and their partnership with Nuance in 2011 has many hoping that Apple has something like speech-to-text or voice-navigation up its sleeve for iOS 5. One of the remaining advantages of Android over iOS is its system-wide Voice Actions technology.
Unfortunately, WWDC and the iOS 5 announcement came and went and nothing related to voice-navigation had been announced. Even so, the Apple-Nuance partnership has been confirmed by way of Nuance voices in Apple’s OS X Lion and Nuance speech-to-text functionality that is referenced in Apple’s internal settings modules.
But that doesn’t mean Apple isn’t hard at work at this very moment trying to cram some native OS level voice recognition technology into iOS 5 before launch.
Coupled with Nuance speech-to-text, Apple appears to be planning to take the fruit of their Siri purchase and fully integrate it into this fall’s release of iOS 5. Because these new features have yet to appear in iOS 5 on the iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS, Apple might be saving these new features as an iPhone 5 exclusive. This would be akin to Apple’s decision to make Voice Control and video recording exclusive features to the iPhone 3GS, even though they could technically function on earlier models of the iPhone. As you can see in Siri’s promotional video above, the company advertises itself as “your virtual personal assistant.”
As you can see in the screenshot above from an Apple iPhone test unit, Apple is currently developing and testing a new iOS feature called “Assistant.” This screenshot, from a reliable source, is corroborated with our own SDK findings (below). The source did warn, though, that development is not yet completed – and just went into testing – and may not even be finished by the time the next iPhone ships.
As Apple prepares for its official iOS 5 launch in the fall (likely in September), the company has unleashed their latest iOS beta as on over-the-air update. This over the air process will only work for those running iOS 5 beta 3. Apple warns that doing an OTA update will delete your photos and will require a physical re-sync:
NEW: If you are doing a OTA software update from beta 3 to beta 4, you will need to re-sync your photos with iTunes.
iOS 5 also includes all new notifications with Notification Center, iMessages, Newsstand, and more. OTA updates will come over 3G, as we revealed a few weeks ago.
Update: As expected, it works over 3G (on Verizon!!!) Video below:
On the earnings call Q&A just now, CFO Peter Oppenheimer said that a ‘September Quater product transition’ would affect the revenues for the upcoming quarter. Obviously, that screams iPhone, which is now Apple’s biggest product.
To be clear, the September Quarter spans three months so it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘September’…but that isn’t unreasonable either.
On that note, he also mentioned in the opening statement that 220 million iOS devices have been sold all time. We’re not sure if that includes AppleTVs.
Apple released iOS 4.3.4 (build 8K2) fixing a PDF exploit which makes possible wireless jailbreaking by visiting the JailbreakMe.com web-tool in mobile Safari. The exploit could also be used to inject and execute any code on iOS devices. The iOS 4.3.4 download is now available through iTunes for the iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad 1 and 2 and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch. Verizon iPhone users will get the same fix via the iOS 4.2.9 update (build 8E501). Contents of the Verizon iPhone firmware update is outlined in this support document (here for iOS 4.3.4 for all other devices).
Last month, we documented code within iOS 5 which contained references to some new panoramic camera functionality for iOS devices.
The latest build of iOS shows that Apple continues to do work on this functionality. They’ve added a few more strings which weren’t in the earlier Beta:
Here’s what happens when you jailbreak and enable panoramic
Apple has already announced that they will be building a new mapping service based on crowd-sourcing, and in iOS 5 Apple is more clear about this. Apple is also more clear about their use location in iOS 5 beta 3, putting in a clear and descriptive boot screen (on first setup) that discusses the device’s location services. This screenshot is shown above. (Thanks, Devin and PiratX!)
In addition, we are noticing speed improvements and bug improvements throughout the operating system. Notably, the camera application is much faster to boot with the iPhone 4. More snappiness is present in Safari. Also, a slight user interface tweak in the iTunes WiFi sync menu is present. That is shown after the break. Let us know if you find anything else… tips@9to5mac.com.
Update: Reminders.app got a new icon! Shown after the break.
Update 2: New location services preferences! After the break..
Update 3: You can now disable/enable voice roaming. Neat.
Amazon today announced unlimited storage for music in its cloud drive. The catch is you have to upgrade your overall Cloud storage (also includes Docs, Pictures, movies, etc) to the 20GB plan which is $20 per year. Once you do that, you can upload “Unlimited” amounts of music and play it anywhere. So, this appears to be taking on Spotify, Google and Apple’s iTunes Match (though each service is slightly different).
Speaking of Apple, the Amazon Cloud web experience is now also optimized for the iPad. Full press release below:
A new report by Global Equities Research says Apple’s iTunes will hit $13 billion in revenue in fiscal 2013. To reach that point, GER says iTunes will grow at a rate of 39%, or 13% a year. This report cites all parts of the Apple store ecosystem including music, apps, and books, will contribute to the growth. GER believes the iBookstore will have a major role.
Our research with students indicates that they would rather have books on iPad vs. Kindle.
The analyst also believe the rising number of iPad apps will contribute to the growth. Six months ago the average iPhone and iPad user only had 15 apps, and now they have 45. Who knows, maybe with the announcement of the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 these numbers could shoot even higher. Expand Expanding Close
Last week we told you that Apple was going to unleash its Back to School sale today and would include a $100 gift card to the App Store. We’ve seen the artwork and the packages were supposed to be opened today to be displayed. That’s what the outside packaging said anyway.
Late last night, @chronic tweeted that there was going to be a slight delay in the unveiling. We’re not 100% sure if/why the delay happened. It could have been the abrupt departure of Apple Store Head Ron Johnson or some other issues with the rollout.
But that doesn’t mean that the event isn’t going to happen and that the $100 in credit that we called didn’t happen.
Macrumors posts the image (below) which shows the $100 gift card that we’d heard about. Apple Stores are rolling out the imagery now (so technically we weren’t off on rollout ;) and the $100 begins tomorrow and goes until September 20.
Remember, Lion is free with any Mac purchased now and there are already significant educational discounts for Apple products.
For those wondering when Apple’s in-house apps will go 64-bit, we have some good news and some bad news. In Lion, the developer release of iTunes 10.5 is 64-Bit (finally). The developer version of iPhoto with Photostreaming to the iCloud however, is still 32-Bit, at least currently.
The Mac/PC is no longer the hub of your digital world according to Steve Jobs and while the traditional computer was demoted to just a ‘device’, iOS devices did get some promotions at WWDC this week as well.
One notable addition is that you can set up an Apple Airport or Time Capsule from an iOS 5 device, like in the screenshots above.
Before we even start, obviously this is something that isn’t covered by warranty and may destroy your phone. Once you go to iOS 5, you cant go back. APPLE WILL LIKELY FIX THIS IN AN UPCOMING iOS 5 UPDATE AND YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO USE YOUR DEVICE (until iOS 5 final is released or a developer adds your phone to his or her device list).
Gizmodoposts a video on how to activate an iPhone on iOS without having your device ID provisioned by a developer/Apple. The exploit uses a combination of Voiceover and the pull down notifications to activate the phone. The user that found this exploit says the device continues to work after restarts (so you won’t need to activate it every time you restart). The steps are below:
1. Download the iOS 5 IPSW file from the web (it’s easy and readily available. Just Google it and torrent it down). 2. Update your iPhone using iTunes. To do this, connect your iPhone to your computer, click on the Check for Update button with theOption (Mac) or Shift (PC) key pressed. Select the iOS 5 IPSW file from the place you downloaded it to. 3. Wait until it upgrades. A new activation screen will appear.
Activate iOS 5
1. Triple click the home button. This will activate the Voice Over. 2. Triple click the home button and Emergency Call will appear. 3. Click on Emergency Call and, while it’s switching, swipe with your three fingers down. 4. The Notification Center will appear! 5. Click on the Weather widget. The Weather app will load. 6. Click on the home button to exit to the iPhone’s springboard.
iTunes Tone Store has been outed on this slide from yesterday’s keynote.
In addition to the big ones, iOS 5 includes dozens of nice-to-haves that have been given little air time during Apple’s WWDC keynote talk yesterday, excluding passing mention on a group slide. So, what do you see in the above snap? Yeah, it’s Apple’s iOS software chief Scott Forstall zipping through the iOS 5 segment of the keynote. See the iTunes Tone Store mention on the slide? Given Apple already sells 99-cent ringtones on iTunes and they let us create our own 30-second snippets from iTunes purchases, we can’t help but wonder – why do we need yet another store? Plus, a Paal, Belgium-based reader creates a YouTube video as a comment to this article, found at the bottom.
It wasn’t talked about much but it is an often requested feature (and might have made it into a few jailbreak apps if I am not mistaken): The iPhone’s LED flash will now light up on incoming calls and alerts. Obviously, only if you choose.
It is good to see Apple working their way through these often requested and jailbroken type features.
