Twitter

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We’re starting to get reports that Apple is sending out emails to users in Spain and elsewhere in Europe notifying them the iTunes Match service is officially available for 24,99 € per year (as shown above). One Twitter user also claims that he was able to subscribe to the service in Europe two days ago before iTunes told him it was a mistake and returned his money.

“I managed to buy iTunes Match in Europe two days ago. Now they told me it was mistake and returned the money.

The email he provides looks identical to the one above apart from the language. It’s of course possible this is a slip up on Apple’s part ahead of an official rollout in the near future. Let us know in the comments if you have access to the service, which you can try here.

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We’ve got reports coming in from Canada where it is listed at C$27.99/year and Australia where it is A$39.99.  In the UK, it is £21.99.

Last week Apple also opened up the cloud service to users in Brazil to accompany the launch of the iTunes Store in Latin America.
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The novelty of smartphone apps may have worn off since the original iPhone but every now and then an app comes along that captures our imagination. Woodcraft for iPad  ($9.99 iTunes) by software artisans at Fasterre is interesting for its novel idea and professional execution. Say you’re an amateur or pro woodworker and you want to design your next deck, bench, furniture or backyard shed on your iPad.

Niche apps like that are few and far between and Woodcraft arrives to fill the gap. It’s no toy: The program features the fully automated bill of materials, seamless switches between 2D or 3D and lets you measure distances with up to 1/64th of an inch precision.

Watching their promo clip (nice editing work, BTW) makes me wanna explore my carpenter genes (my grandpa was an adept woodworker). Woodcraft is a universal binary that supports both iPad and iPhone/iPod touch and is available in exchange for ten bucks during the launch period. Release notes right after the break.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xStZZsx6A4]

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5LOcUkm8m9w]

As we reported over on the sister blog, Google just launched Currents, their Flipboard/Pulse style reader for iPhone and iPad (and I guess Android too).  Head over for the details.  (Yes, 9to5Mac is a launch partner so look for us on the App!)

Google Currents is now available for download in Android Market and the Apple App Store for US users.

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Update: The Business Software Alliance has officially withdrawn their support for SOPA on the BSA blog. Important bits after the break.

So where does Apple stand on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)? A report from TNW gives the impression Apple is in support of the bill via their association with the Business Software Alliance, who made their stance clear by commending the introduction of the bill in a recent bulletin. However, while Apple’s stance isn’t official, they do support SOPA by proxy, and haven’t made an effort to distance themselves from it with an official statement. The BSA is also associated with Microsoft, Adobe, Dell, and 20+ other large tech companies.

According to Apple’s website, “Apple works closely with the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) to combat software piracy worldwide.” They also provide links to report piracy through the BSA and provide the following statement on copyright law and piracy on their Piracy Prevention page:

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Steve Jobs’s authorized biographer Walter Isaacson and Fortune’s managing editor Andy Serwer on stage at NASDAQ | Photo: Tanner Curtis

In a series of tweets, Fortune released some interesting new quotes by Steve Jobs’ authorized biographer Walter Isaacson, who sat down for a “breakfast conversation” with the magazine’s managing editor Andy Serwer.

“It’s good that we’ve made a big deal out of a creative business leader, rather than a celebrity,” Isaacson told Serwer, describing his rock star status as a cultural icon of our time. “There’s an emotional connection Steve Jobs made across the world – like a rock star or a prince”.

“Steve thought the digital hub had moved from the computer to the cloud,” Isaacson said. Over the years, Jobs changed as a manager in a way that “he didn’t become sweeter or kinder, he learned to channel his energy and passion.”

Walter Isaacson signing books in Times Square | Photo: Tanner Curtis

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In 2007, Loren Brichter built Tweetie, a lovely (and award-winning) Twitter client for both the Mac and iOS.  So lovely in fact that in April of last year, Twitter bought his company, Atebits and turned Tweetie into the official native Twitter clients for Mac and iOS.

Today via, yes…wait for it…Twitter, Brichter announced he was leaving the company to discover the next big thing.

Want to build an iOS app like Tweetie and sell your company to Twitter?  Check Brichter’s half hour Stanford developing iOS apps lesson, below…
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Apple likes to maintain tight control over its image and that extends to any outwardly-facing public social network, especially Facebook.

Sure, the Cupertino firm maintains its own Facebook pages and Twitter channels, basically outlets to spread news about new iTunes content, product updates, support documents, etc. in a tightly controlled manner. But If you thought each Apple employees is his or her own person and entitled to express opinion about the brand, you’re in for a surprise: Tweet/post/blog negatively about Apple and you’ll get fired. Period.

One employee in the UK went on to berate Apple “privately on Facebook”, arguing the posts were not public. ifoAppleStore.com has the story of an Apple employee named Crisp who appealed to the UK labor after being fired for “gross misconduct”:

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Apple has posted the full video of the Steve Jobs memorial and celebration of his life at the Cupertino, California campus. The event was held on October 19th and was only streamed to Apple employees who were not physically attending the event. The full video can be viewed at Apple’s website.  Don’t come wearing any browser except for Safari.

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Yesterday we posted a story about the possibility of new features being implemented in a future update to Siri. However, if you don’t feel like waiting, today the guys over at Techland have put together some tips and tricks for getting the most out of Siri and accomplishing tasks that aren’t currently built-in.

While text message charges will of course apply, here are a few tips for updating Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ by redirecting them through SMS. You can head over to Techland for many more Siri related tips and tricks including searching with Bing and Yahoo!, dictation tips, and how to “teach Siri hard-to-pronounce names”.

For Facebook:

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You might remember Jonathan Mann from the opening of the ‘Antennagate’ conference (and Patent songs).  Well, he’s back and he has a partner…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hckrig2BwNY]

This guy really puts himself out there. via DF
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As the iPhone 4S launched worldwide today, Apple’s stock just closed at $422 a share — an all-time high for the company. Pretty amazing for a phone “that only has a better camera”, right?

Right after releasing iTunes 10.5, Apple has begun seeding developers with the iTunes 10.5.1 beta, which also includes the latest iTunes Match beta. Like before, the release notes mention iCloud libraries will be deleted at the end of the beta. Of course it also comes with the usual bug fixes and enhancements, but we’ll let you know if we find anything interesting. Full release notes after the break.

The official Twitter iOS client has also been given an update today (via MacStories), bringing an “enhanced sign up experience”, the ability to upload photos to pic.twitter.com, and a redesigned direct message UI for iPad. The improved sign up experience comes courtesy of iOS 5’s ability to access Twitter account data from the Settings app, opposed to re-authenticating manually. You can grab version 3.5.0 from the App Store now.

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Have to say that as a 9to5Mac reader, there were no surprises for you today. On the other hand, the market isn’t so happy with AAPL shares currently trading at 356, down almost 18 points.

Update: Check that. AAPL is making a comeback, but judging by the comments, all is not well.

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As noted by The Next Web, Twitter has announced two developer conferences coming up on October 12th, in New York and London, to discuss Twitter’s integration into iOS 5. Twitter’s Jason Costa describes the event:

There’s a lot going on in the ecosystem and we’d like to take this chance to share the highlights with you – including the latest developments with the platform, areas of opportunity that we’re seeing, and a heavy focus on the iOS 5 Twitter integration for developers. We’ll also be holding a Q&A session with members of the platform team, plus time to hang out with each other.

If rumors are true, these events will be shortly after the announcement of the iPhone 5 or/and iPhone 4S, and most likely after the release of iOS 5. There’s only 150 spots for developers, so grab your spot fast!
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Apple CEO Tim Cook at the January 11 Verizon iPhone presser

We received an interesting tip in July that AT&T would be changing its iPhone tiers on October 4th. At the time, we said,

AT&T raises iPhone device tier on October 4th, perhaps signaling launch date?

Fast forward to today. AllThingsD reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook will unveil a fifth-generation iPhone at a media event scheduled for Tuesday, October 4:

Tuesday, October 4. That’s the day Apple is currently expected to hold its next big media event, according to sources close to the situation, where the tech giant will unveil the next iteration of its popular iPhone.

Author John Paczkowski mentions Apple could change plans at any time. The time frame jibes with the publication’s previous report calling for a mid-October launch of the next iPhone. Kara Swisher, another author with AllThingsD, wrote on Twitter last month that there will be no iPhone event “until Oc … to … ber”.

This will obviously be a huge event for Tim Cook, his first in the CEO role. AllThingsD notes that pressure is on Tim Cook to perform well.

Cook is certain to preside over the iPhone 5 rollout. He has to, of course. To pass the presentation on to anyone else — even one of Apple’s key executives such as Phil Schiller, who has handled the Macworld and Worldwide Developers Conference keynotes in 2009 — would undercut Cook’s new role and reinforce public perception that its legendary outgoing CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs is Apple and that it will be a different company without him.

Update: This isn’t likely real

The image above was posted on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter clone of sorts, showing what is thought to be components of Apple’s yet to be released next-gen iPhone.

Clearly showing the familiar Apple “A5” stamp, the chipset is mysteriously not from an iPad 2, and as Phone Arena points out, closer resembles that of the current iPhone 4’s A4 chipset layout. Curiously, the visible part of the battery reads “430 mAh”, which leads us to believe a similar battery to the iPhone 4’s 1420 mAh battery may be included in the next-gen iPhone.

There is reason to be skeptical of these images. Apart from the overall blurriness of the shot, the A5 logo itself seems a little off and the source of the image cannot be confirmed.

We still expect two variations of a next-gen iPhone to be unveiled late September and becoming available for purchase sometime around October 7th. You can get all the details here.

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As noted by SetteB.it, the Steve Jobs bio “Enhanced eBook” is now set by Simon and Shuster at 656 pages. That’s over 200 additional pages more than the previous page count which may have been a very low estimate. Recently, Walter Isaacson said that Jobs’ resignation would be added to the book, but it seems like a stretch that that chapter would add 50% more content.

Also, the publication date has move from November 21st, to “on or around November 21st”, signaling that there may be some movement in the release date.

You can pre-order the book at Amazon or on Apple’s iBookStore where it still is listed at 448 pages.

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Banj Medina…

my son said he accidentally dropped his mommy’s phone while playing Angry Birds:(

poor kid is so sorry he wants iFixYouri to help him get his mom’s phone back to the way it was:(

Need your iOS device repaired? Read below to enter the contest.

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Apple just passed Exxon in Market Cap to become the world’s most valuable company. Quite a turnaround for a company that was on its last legs just over a decade ago.  AAPL passed the 400 mark last month on the back of monster earnings news but fell sharply as the US market plummeted over the last week.  Luckily for Apple, it didn’t fall nearly as sharply as Exxon, in the face of lowered oil costs.

The markets are still open and volatile today but at this moment, 1:19PM EDT, Apple’s market cap is at $341.53B while Exxon Mobile’s is at $341.51B.

Congratulations Apple!

Update 2:00EDT: Apple is now on top by over $1B (image below)

Update2 4PM ET. AAPL closed at $346.74B, Exxon rallied at the end of the day to $348.32B

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Get out your jailbreaker baseball cards and see if you can match some of the guys above. @Jaywalker9988  via iJailbreak
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Apple briefly hit 400 during after hours trading following the blowout earning release last week, but then fell into the 380s for the open the following day. Since then, it has been on a swift rise back up to 400 where it briefly hit at 12:54 ET today. It has fallen slightly since.

Apple’s market cap is nearing $370B, second only to Exxon who is currently near $410B. (thanks York!)

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