Apple is nearly finished decorating the Moscone Center for WWDC 2013. Work began two days ago with giant Apple logos on the outside of the building, as well as large horizontal and street pole banners.
Spotted on some of the banners inside the Moscone Center is the tagline 'Where A Whole New World's Developing'.
Workers are also preparing the banners that have sometimes been covered with black sheets pre-Keynote in past years.
Update: MacStories has taken a new photo that appears to show a first-floor banner concealed with a white sheet instead of the black sheet that has been seen in prior years.
New this year are banners on the newly renovated Metreon shopping center across the street from Moscone West. The building houses a popular movie theater complex, a newly-added Target store, and a number of restaurants.
Hulu Plus for iOS was updated to version 3.0 today, notably offering a redesigned iPad interface intended to facilitate easier content discovery. With the updated app, users can minimize videos with simple pinch gestures to navigate through the app while the videos continue to stream.
There's also a discovery panel that offers up details on both shows and individual episodes, along with a new selection of curated shows, clips, and movies.
We're excited to introduce you to an entirely new Hulu Plus experience for iPad. In addition to hundreds of internal optimizations, the Hulu Plus app has been redesigned to make browsing more enjoyable than ever and help you discover new and exciting shows with ease. Some things to look out for:
- Minimize a video during playback by tapping the minimize icon or "pinching" the video. The video will continue playing at the bottom of the screen while you use the app to browse, search, or do anything else you can think of.
- Tap on an image of any episode, show, or season to take a peek at what's inside using the new discovery panel. Have fun casually exploring old episodes within a season or learning more about a new show with as little effort as possible. (Want to get straight to watching content? Just double-tap any image).
- Check out collections of editorially curated shows, clips, and movies. We recommend starting with the "Trending Now" collection of the day's hottest clips – it's a great way to see what everybody's talking about right now.
- Watch clips and short-form content inline, just one tap away. We've made sure to keep all of your favorite features intact, including the popular Kids Lock (iPad-only) which limits the app to ad-free, safe and enjoyable content from our selection of Kids programming.
Hulu Plus is a universal app that can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
While many had expected Apple to follow last year's pattern and release a developer preview of OS X 10.9 early this year ahead of a summer public launch, the company has so far remained essentially silent about its plans for its next-generation Mac operating system. That silence does not, however, mean that Apple has not been working hard on the project since it first started showing up in web logs last fall.
As spotted by an AppleInsider reader, circumstantial evidence of Apple's work showed up in a WebKit bug report early last month revealing that version of OS X 10.9 in testing was Build 13A451. According to Apple's build number scheme, "13" refers to OS X 10.9, "A" refers to the 10.9.0 version, and "451" is part of a sequential numbering of compiled builds.
Apple Senior Vice President Craig Federighi introducing OS X Mountain Lion at WWDC 2012
AppleInsider speculates that the relatively advanced "451" build number as of early May could indicate that Apple would be able to deliver a fairly mature version of OS X 10.9 to developers at its Worldwide Developers Conference next week, although there is no formal evidence for such a claim.
OS X Mountain Lion's initial developer preview arrived as Build 12A128p in February 2012, with Apple releasing several additional builds to developers before releasing it to the public as Build 12A269 in July of that year. OS X Lion apparently spent a longer time in overall development but a similar amount of time in developer testing, beginning developer seeding with Build 11A390 in February 2011 before being launched to the public as Build 11A511 roughly five months later.
Apple had indicated when it launched its first developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion last year that it was shifting to a more rapid yearly development cycle for OS X in order to bring more features to consumers more quickly. But with Apple yet to have begun seeding developers with versions of OS X 10.9 and the company reportedly having pulled engineers from OS X to work on iOS 7, there have been some questions about how closely Apple will be able to stick to its yearly release plan.
Vesper is a new note taking app that also incorporates to-do elements, allowing users to capture thoughts, tasks, and ideas quickly and efficiently. The app comes from newly minted company Q Branch, which includes Apple blogger John Gruber, developer Brent Simmons, and designer Dave Wiskus.
Vesper offers a simplistic user interface that focuses on both quick input and customizable organization, utilizing tags to group items into collections. As the app description states, Vesper allows users to organize and curate notes in "whatever way comes naturally."
MacStories has published a detailed review of Vesper, comparing it to several other note taking apps available:
Vesper is about collecting thoughts with minimal friction. And not about doing so with a certain specificity in the UI – say, Day One’s emphasis on journaling or TaskAgent’s notebook motif – but in a generalized manner that revolves around one key aspect: speed. I have pondered over the motivation behind Vesper for days, and I’ve concluded that Vesper doesn’t want to be the new Drafts or Day One – rather, its aim is on Apple’s Notes app. The way I see it, Q Branch didn’t want to make an app that identified itself with one facet of note-taking: they wanted one that could scale flexibly for a more generalized use. And this, I believe, has been accomplished quite well.
In addition to offering tags for organizational purposes, Vesper also incorporates drag and drop functionality to allow users to rearrange notes and older notes can be archived with a swipe for storage to create an uncluttered inbox. Both the archive and notes that have been tagged and arranged can then be accessed from the sidebar.
The app supports photos in addition to text, along with an in-app browser. It does not, however, support syncing as it is currently limited to the iPhone.
Vesper can be downloaded from the App Store for $4.99. [Direct Link]
Bloomberg reports that Apple will for the first time begin accepting trade-ins on iPhones in its retail stores, encouraging users to upgrade to the latest models and seeking to boost sales. Apple will be partnering with recycling firm Brightstar to offer the program.
Used iPhones collected in the U.S. will only be resold in emerging markets, where Apple’s share is lower and demand for cheap devices is greater, said one of the people. That way, the resale of Apple’s older models won’t cannibalize iPhone 5 sales in the U.S., the person said.
Since 2011, Apple has partnered with third-party firm PowerON in the United States to offer Apple gift cards to users seeking to recycle their used iOS devices through the company's website, moving last year to expand the program to other countries where it has offered cash back. With the new program, the trade-in program will expand to Apple's popular retail stores.
The new trade-in program with BrightStar will only be available at Apple’s retail outlets, letting consumers receive payments instantly and avoiding the hassle of shipping their older gadgets, the people said.
Apple's web-based recycling and trade-in programs have so far been relatively hidden away on the company's site, resulting in low consumer awareness. The new retail store effort is, however, likely to make a significant difference in trade-in usage, appealing to consumers looking for hassle-free credit toward new devices.
Airplane manufacturer Airbus has previewed an iPhone-enabled smart luggage prototype called 'Bag2Go' that uses a number of new technologies to help airlines and flyers keep track of baggage, reports Australian Business Traveler.
The bags include RFID chips for next-generation airline baggage handling and a barcode that syncs with an iPhone app that includes a 'Find My Bag' feature that hooks into airline databases to give you up-to-the-minute data on the bags location. They also have a digital scale built into the handle of the bag that talks to the iPhone's app.
Flyers simply lift up on the handle and the digital scale makes sure the bag is beneath an airline's weight limit. The airline believes the bags would cost some 20% more than comparable 'dumb' bags.
Christened 'Bag2Go', the concept has been developed in partnership with mobile carrier T-Mobile and German luggage maker Rimowa.
An RFID chip inside the bag lets it work with the increasing number of automated airport and airline baggage-handling systems which can 'pair' smartchipped bagtags with your itinerary and frequent flyer number.
A barcode on the bag’s trip-specific label syncs it against your iPhone and can be passed on to your airline booking.
Airbus says it would not sell the bags directly but could license the technology to partner airlines.
Intel introduced a 128GB Thunderbolt thumb drive at the Computex trade show in Taipei today, reports PCWorld. The drive, which Intel is calling the "world's fastest thumb drive," is similar in size to a standard flash drive and does not require an expensive Thunderbolt cable to connect to a Mac or PC.
This is one of the first thumb drives demonstrated using Thunderbolt connectivity, which is the fastest technology available to transfer data between computers and peripherals, said Oren Huber, a Thunderbolt engineer at Intel Israel.
Thunderbolt can transfer data at a speed of 10Gbps, which is faster than USB 3.0 and USB 2.0. Right now USB 3.0 is about half the speed of Thunderbolt.
Intel's thumb drive uses a SanDisk SSD for storage, though that may change if the product goes into production. At this point, the thumb drive is just a prototype, with no potential price point provided.
Given the high prices and limited adoption of Thunderbolt, it may be quite some time before a consumer version of the Thunderbolt thumb drive is available for purchase. Earlier this week, Intel officially announced the next iteration of Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt 2, which will begin production in late 2013.
Last month, BlackBerry announced that it would be bringing its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service to iOS and Android this summer, seeking to strengthen its existing network of 60 million monthly active users with a broader cross-platform messaging solution.
SlashGear now points to a Tweet from T-Mobile UK claiming that BBM will be launching on iOS and Android on June 27.
Great news - BlackBerry Messenger will be available to download on iOS and Android from June 27th! :) #BBM
In an interview with CNET yesterday, BlackBerry Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear also revealed that the company is in talks with other handset makers to offer BBM preloaded on their devices. Apple obviously would not agree to such a deal, but it seems that certain Android handsets may soon come with built-in support for the service.
BlackBerry is working with other handset manufacturers to get its BlackBerry Messenger service preloaded on to their phones, according to a top executive.
"There is interest from other handset makers," BlackBerry Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear told CNET in an interview on Wednesday.
BBM's expansion comes as Apple has gained traction with its Apple-centric iMessage service and other cross-platform services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger have accumulated significant user bases of their own. BlackBerry has clearly decided that the potential benefits of opening up BBM to more users outweigh the risks of BlackBerry device customers defecting to other platforms, but it remains to be seen whether the smartphone pioneer can help stabilize itself with such a move alongside its new BlackBerry 10 operating system.
Update 8:46 AM: Business Insider reports that the June 27 date is incorrect, with a source calling the claim "bogus".
Update 11:25 AM: BlackBerry has confirmed to Mashable that the June 27 date tweeted by T-Mobile UK is incorrect.
As noted by MacStories, Dropbox yesterday unveiled new beta versions of its desktop clients, bringing several new features to Mac users including a streamlined method for storing and sharing screenshots.
The first one, an automatic screenshot sharing feature, is somewhat reminiscent of tools like Droplr and CloudApp: once enabled in the Preferences, it will allow Dropbox to redirect every screenshot taken on OS X to a /Screenshots folder in your Dropbox, sharing that file and putting a public link in your system clipboard. While not as full-featured as the aforementioned third-party tools, automatic screenshot sharing could indeed make for a nice solution to quickly share screenshots on Twitter and IM — retaining control over files that are simply located in the Finder.
Another new feature is an "Import from iPhoto" option that will allow users to easily see whether they have photos in their iPhoto libraries to upload to Dropbox and create separate Dropbox albums to correspond to iPhoto albums and events.
Finally, the beta brings a new "Move to Dropbox" contextual menu item to make it easier for users to transfer files to Dropbox from elsewhere on their systems.
As MacStories notes, features in Dropbox's beta builds do not always make it into final shipping versions of the software, but the new features in testing are likely to be welcomed additions for many users of the popular file hosting and syncing service.
While quite a few low-cost cases based on the alleged design of the fifth-generation iPad have been circulating for a number of months, bigger names are now getting into the act. The news comes from CNET, which reports that Gumdrop Cases has developed its own $35-$65 cases and is in fact betting that the new iPad will make an appearance at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
[Gumdrop Cases founder and CEO Tim] Hickman wouldn't say who his sources are, but he's confident enough in them to start producing new cases for the iPad 5 and put them up for pre-order. In fact, a press sample of the $59.99 Gumdrop Drop Tech is due to arrive later today, and we'll update the post with new pictures once we get it. Gumdrop is also manufacturing the Gumdrop Bounce ($34.95) and Gumdrop Drop Tech Designer Series ($59.99). They're scheduled to ship on June 10.
The fifth-generation iPad is widely rumored to be taking design cues from the iPad mini, adopting narrower side bezels while coming in roughly 15% thinner and up to 33% lighter that the current full-size iPad.
The vast majority of reports have, however, indicated that the new iPad will not be appearing at WWDC, with Apple instead said to be launching updated iOS hardware later in the year. Relatively reliable KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed that Apple will begin ramping up production of the new full-size iPad in the August-September timeframe, with an updated iPad mini with Retina display perhaps coming several months later. Digitimes has offered similar estimates of launch timing for the new iPads.
Case makers have traditionally had a fair amount of success basing their designs on leaked measurements for new and redesigned Apple devices, although many were fooled by rampant rumors of a tapered iPhone design that failed to appear when Apple launched the iPhone 4S in 2011.
The Fashion Show Apple Store, one of Apple's earlier stores opened in 2002, is set to undergo a major expansion that will nearly triple the store's square footage, reportsifoAppleStore, taking it from 3,900 square feet to over 10,000 square feet.
As ifoAppleStore notes, the store sits in front of the Fashion Show mall's key feature: a lighted stage where fashion shows are held every weekend. The expanded store, which will also boast a storefront almost four times as big as the current store, will be more ready to accommodate the mall's 13 million annual visitors at the busiest part of the mall.
In the photo above the size of the expansion is visually apparent, with the red showing the original store and the purple indicating the expansion space. The yellow indicates the temporary store Apple will open until the expansion's construction is completed in September.
In recent years, Apple has been focusing on building new Apple Stores across the world while also expanding existing stores to increase square footage and accommodate increased foot traffic. In May, Apple revealed that it is seeing an average of 250,000 visitors per store per quarter, up from 170,000 in 2010.
Earlier this week, we noted that Apple had begun in-store repairs of iPhone 5 displays, a $149 procedure that is part of an effort by Apple to revamp its AppleCare and warranty services.
We had been told that Apple had sent new equipment to the stores in order to allow Geniuses to calibrate the replacement displays once they had been installed, and 512 Pixels has now shared a photo of one of those machines installed in the back-of-house area of an Apple retail store.
From what I’ve heard, Apple Stores have been instructed that the iPhone is the “top priority” for the Genius Bar, and this new repair — and crazy machine — surely reflects that. In addition to the program changes, many stores have Geniuses that are dedicated to iPhone repairs for sections of their shifts. In short, Apple is pouring resources in to in-store iPhone repairs.
Apple's standard price for out-of-warranty iPhone 5 repairs is $229, so the new display replacement program may save some customers a bit of money and ensure that they receive their original devices back rather than receiving new units and having to restore backups onto them.
9to5Mac has received information from a source that suggests the MacBook Air updates that are expected at WWDC will ship soon after the keynote, perhaps with updated AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule wireless base stations that support a new, faster wireless standard.
These leaks line up with a report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who said in April that the MacBook Air update expected at WWDC would ship very soon after the event, while the Retina MacBook Pro would ship later due to production bottlenecks on the advanced displays.
Today, we have received specific pricing for the aforementioned SKUs, and the price-points correspond to Apple’s current pricing for the 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air models. We have yet to receive pricing information that points to the imminent availability of new MacBook Pros (as some had hoped), but perhaps the next refresh to Apple’s Pro portables will arrive in the coming months. Supply constraints to the Retina MacBook Pro line seems to infer that…
The site also says it received pricing for three new accessories that could be new AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule models. If accurate, these would likely support the new 802.11ac-wireless standard.
As we wrote in our WWDC rumor roundup earlier today, the notebook updates are likely to be the hardware highlight of WWDC, with new MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro models announced.
Expected upgrades include a shift to Haswell processors, a possible slimmer design for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro, a new full HD (2.0-megapixel) FaceTime camera on the Retina models, and a dual-microphone system on the MacBook Air.
According to Joseph Brown, one of the developers behind the iTweakiOS site that provides hacked carrier updates for iOS users, Apple is purposely throttling iPhone data speeds to "even out" the network as Apple's phones consume more data than other smartphones.
Brown states that AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint limit the iPhone's data speeds and provides evidence in the form of snapshots of network settings. For example, AT&T limits the iPhone 5 to Category 10 (14.4Mbps) HSDPA despite the fact that the network is able to support up to Category 14 (21.1Mbps) HSDPA+ and the iPhone supports Category 24 (42.2Mbps) DC-HSDPA+.
Brown goes on to point out similar throttling code present in the LTE and 3G network settings of both Verizon and Sprint, for the iPhone and the iPad. His theory is that Apple (or the carriers themselves) are throttling data speeds in order to cut down on the iPhone's data usage.
- AT&T limits HSPA+ and permanently throttles LTE (unless hack is applied) - Verizon permanently throttles LTE (unless hack is applied) - Verizon and Sprint throttle down 3G (unless hack is applied) - Apple has band preferences set for T-Mobile and AT&T causing signal issues (very much fixable by Apple and the carrier and is currently being looked into, from I've been told)
T-Mobile, the last network to receive the iPhone, is the only carrier that does not appear to throttle iPhone data usage. Though Brown places the blame for the network settings on Apple, it is unclear whether it is Apple or the carriers themselves at fault, and the reasoning behind the alleged throttling is equally unclear. Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon have all historically throttled the data speeds of high volume users.
To thwart the apparent throttling, iTweakiOS offers a number of carrier hacks that are designed to increase data speeds.
Update:AnandTech has debunked this claim and says that neither Apple nor the carriers are throttling data speeds.
The new Mac Pro model, expected later this year, is "something really different" according to a video professional who says he spoke with the Mac Pro product manager.
Writing on the RedUser.net forum, Andrew Baird says he spoke to Mac Pro project manager Douglas Brooks on the phone after emailing CEO Tim Cook with his concerns about the lack of a new professional tower from Apple over the past few years.
Baird told MacRumors that the call didn't include any specific details about when the new machine would be released, nor its specifications -- however, he was assured several times that the new Mac Pro would be worth the wait. Brooks told him that the machine would be released later this year.
For what it's worth - a couple of months ago I received a call from Douglas Brooks, Apples project manager for the new Mac Pro to address my concerns about the new machine. Obviously he didn't tell me anything about the new MP, but asked me what I wanted to see. I told him expandability for extra graphics cards support, and memory expansion were at the top of my list amongst other things. His reply was simple:
"You are going to be really glad that you waited [to buy a new tower]. We are doing something really different here and I think you're going to be very excited when you see what we've been up to. I can't wait to show this off".
That conversation gave me enough confidence to wait for the new machine. I'm looking forward to the announcement. Hopefully the wait will be worth it.
Somewhat corroborating Baird's phone call, Lou Borella -- administrator of the 'We Want a New Macpro' Facebook group -- wrote on the page that he heard the new professional Mac would be "heavily reliant on Thunderbolt" with "no internal expandability", and would have support for dual-GPU's and no FireWire or optical drive.
Following a report earlier this week that suggested Apple's iAd staff would be responsible for securing advertising deals to support Apple's upcoming streaming music service, AdAge has confirmed the rumor and released new details on how the upcoming service, dubbed "iRadio," will function.
AdAge claims that iRadio, which Apple plans to offer to users for free, will incorporate both audio ads and standard mobile ads, all of which are highly targeted. Numerous reports on iRadio have suggested that Apple has tried to negotiate lower rates and more flexibility than has been offered to competitors like Pandora, leveraging its advertising reach and its iTunes store.
Selling interstitial audio ads – ones that play between songs – will allow Apple to offer the service free to users as is typical with most streaming music services. One music industry executive familiar with the negotiations between Apple and the major record labels said the terms of iRadio are more favorable for record labels than other streaming services because iRadio is expected to drive more song downloads.
iRadio users will be able to purchase the song they are listening to through iTunes. Syncing with iTunes Match ($24.99 per year) will allow users to own those songs forever, keep them in Apple's cloud-based storage service and access them on any iOS device. However, the service will not allow users to search for and play a specific song on-demand, like with Spotify.
While 70% of current iAd revenue is given to developers who utilize the service, Apple will be able to keep 90% of revenue from audio ads, sharing just 10% with music companies. Presumably, audio iRadio ads will function similarly to those offered by Pandora, playing in between songs.
An example of the ads found in the Pandora app
Apple will also be able to charge higher advertising rates than competitors like Pandora, as Pandora's ads can only be targeted to users based on sex, area code, and listening habits, while Apple can target users based on several other factors, including entertainment tastes that include movie, television, and app preferences.
Last week, it was reported that Apple is considering launching an ad exchange, possibly within iAd, which is in line with the advertising information provided by AdAge. With an ad exchange, Apple could allow advertisers to target Apple users based on a number of data factors that Apple has collected about its customers. Companies like Google and Yahoo currently operate ad exchanges and an Apple exchange could greatly increase the popularity of its iAd program.
According to the latest iRadio rumors, Apple is pushing to complete deals with record labels in order to launch the streaming music service at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which is scheduled to begin on June 10.
Apple has released an update to its iTunes Festival London 2013 app to add Passbook functionality and support for landscape photos. With Passbook, ticket winners can download event tickets directly to their iPhones.
What's new in version 3.8:
- Passbook functionality - Photos with landscape perspective - Various bug fixes
The annual 2013 iTunes Festival in London was announced last week, and will include performances from Justin Timberlake, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jack Johnson, and Jessie J, with additional performers to be revealed in the future. The festival is scheduled to take place in September, and offers 30 nights of free music.
The festival app allows users to browse available performances and enter to win tickets. It also provides live streaming access to selected gigs.
iTunes Festival London 2013 is not available in the United States, but U.K. iTunes users can download it from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Apple today released Aperture 3.4.5, bringing fixes for several issues related to the handling of memory card and camera import and handling, as well as general stability improvements.
What's New in Version 3.4.5
- Addresses an issue that could cause Aperture to quit unexpectedly when deleting items from a camera or memory card after import - Memory cards are now ejected correctly when using the Delete Items option after import - Includes stability improvements
Aperture 3.4.5 is a 523.15 MB download and requires OS X 10.7.5 or 10.8.2 or later, along with Aperture 3. Apple has also made the updated version available in the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]
Hulu Plus for iOS was updated to version 3.0 today, notably offering a redesigned iPad interface intended to facilitate easier content discovery. With the updated app, users can minimize videos with simple pinch gestures to navigate through the app while the videos continue to stream.
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According to Joseph Brown, one of the developers behind the 
Apple today released 
