MacRumors

American television network ABC has updated its iOS app with new live streaming television from local stations in Philadelphia and New York City. The change is an attempt to encourage viewers to keep their cable subscriptions as more and more users are ridding themselves of pay television and "cutting the cord", reports The New York Times.

Viewers will need to establish eligibility by verifying that they have an eligible pay-TV account with a local cable or satellite television company, and that they are within the local viewing area.

ABC Live Stream
ABC may be expanding viewership on its iOS app, but it will be stepping back the availability of its shows through Hulu and ABC.com, limiting access to paying cable and satellite subscribers.

The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, says its live stream will be available in six cities where Disney owns the local affiliates later this summer, plus 13 more markets where Hearst Television owns the local stations including Boston and Pittsburgh.

The company is negotiating with the conglomerates that own the more than 200 ABC affiliates to livestream those channels as well.

The Watch ABC app is available free for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Networking company Sandvine has released a new report that breaks down North American iTunes traffic on fixed networks, examining how iTunes customers are using the service. Surprisingly, the largest portion of iTunes traffic is not generated from streaming, but from the App Store.

Direct App Store downloads account for 38.1% of total iTunes traffic, while 36.15% of traffic comes from iTunes streaming, which includes movie and song previews, along with iTunes Match.

With iTunes Match, customers can stream music and video purchases to both mobile devices and Apple TVs. Apple's streaming traffic may increase in the coming months with the introduction of iRadio, the company's rumored streaming radio service.

itunestrafficcomposition
Media downloads, which are non application purchases such as music, movies, and books make up the third largest portion of iTunes traffic at 20.47% and the final 5.33% of traffic is generated from iTunes Browsing as users visit various App Store and iTunes pages.

As Tim Cook noted in Apple's Q2 financial results call, iTunes has been experiencing phenomenal growth with record quarterly billings of $4 billion. Apple's App Store is nearing 50 billion downloads and has paid out more than $9 billion to developers.

Sandvine's report also points out that Apple manufactured devices generate 35% of all streaming audio and video on fixed access networks, with the iPad generating the most traffic at 10%.

To generate its report, Sandvine examined a cross-section of customer data, gathered over a one-month period and compiled a 24-hour profile of each network normalized by the number of active subscribers at each hour of the day.

analogcameraRealmac Software, part of the team behind the intuitive gesture-based to-do app Clear, has just announced a new iPhone photography app called Analog Camera.

Analog Camera has been designed as the iOS version of the company's Analog photo editing app for the Mac. Like Clear, Analog Camera will feature a gesture-based interface along with a number of different filters and camera modes.

For Analog Camera, we've really focused on the core features that were important to us - stunning filters, incredibly fast and easy to use, and most importantly, FUN! With a beautiful fluid interface, and all your favourite services ready to share a photo to, Analog Camera is all about making photography fun again - and coming soon to your iPhone!

As can be seen in the preview video above, Analog Camera uses a simple, no-frills design with easy access buttons for both filters and photo sharing. The app is expected to be released later this month and interested users can sign up to be notified of its debut.

Groupon has launched Breadcrumb POS, new point-of-sale app designed for small business owners that will compete with offerings from companies like Square.

The Breadcrumb name comes from the hospitality point-of-sale system that Groupon acquired last year. Breadcrumb POS will exist alongside the company's recently renamed Breadcrumb Pro app, which is targeted at larger retailers like restaurants and cafes.

breadcrumb
With Breadcrumb POS, merchants can accept payments and manage finances on the iPad. The app works with the Breadcrumb card reader, which is purchased directly from Groupon.

To compete with services like Square Register and PayPal Here, Groupon is offering low rates, charging just 1.8 percent per credit card swipe or 2.3 percent for keyed-in purchases, with a $0.15 fee for each transaction. The app has several additional features, including functionality for printed receipts, menus, and discounts.

- Easy Account Creation, Simple Setup, Fast Customer Checkout
- Multiple Tax Rates, Custom Items, Flexible Discounting
- Employee Roles, Menu and Tip Customization
- Beautiful Real Time Sales, Product Mix, Till Reports
- Email Receipts, Custom Printed Receipts, Prints Kitchen Tickets
- Supports One or More Printers, Optional Cash Drawer
- Just 1.8% + $0.15 per swipe for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover (Amex rates vary)
- $5000 in Free Processing with purchase of secure card reader (limited time)
- Free Live Support

Breadcrumb POS is an iPad-only app that can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

firefoxMozilla has launched Firefox 21 for Mac, Windows, and Linux, adding a number of improvements, namely to the browser's Social API.

The Social API is designed to allow social providers to integrate directly with Firefox, displaying selected content on the browser's sidebar or toolbar.

With the update Mozilla has added several new partners, including Cliqz, Mixi, and msnNow. Cliqz and msnNow are news aggregation services, while Mixi is Japan's largest social network.

Firefox 21 brings an enhanced UI for the Do Not Track Feature and preliminary implementation of the Firefox Health Report, which is a system that is designed to log browser health information like start up time, total running time, and number of crashes. It is designed to monitor browser performance and provide tools to fix potential problems. The update also includes a number of small changes and bug fixes, which can be found in the release notes.

Firefox 21 for the Mac is available for download from the Mozilla website.

Credit card processing company Square has added another product to its growing repertoire of small business solutions, today announcing the Square Stand -- a $299 iPad stand with a built-in credit card swiper and USB ports to add peripherals like a cash drawer, receipt printer and barcode scanner.

The stand is meant to pair with the Register checkout app that the company unveiled last year to give retail stores a cheaper option than pricey full-featured point-of-sale systems. Square updated its Register app with barcode scanning last month.

Square Stand
Though existing Square customers can purchase other stands, or simply use a free-floating iPad with Square's card swiper, AllThingsD spoke to Square CEO Jack Dorsey about the unserved market that he believes the Square Stand serves:

But that, Dorsey said, is where the point of the product comes in. There’s basically two areas being served by POS systems right now — the very small merchants, who use the company’s existing card reader software out there (or ones from competitors like PayPal or Intuit), and the big, cumbersome (and rather ugly) POS systems used by restaurants and others that cost somewhere in the area of ten grand or more. For Square’s setup, you could slap a $500 iPad on a $300 stand and, perhaps buy one or two of the ticket-printing peripherals to go with it, and be set up for under a grand.


The stand is available for $299, with a USB-compatible cash drawer ($199), receipt printer ($199), and barcode scanner ($99) available as add-ons. Retailers can add an entry-level iPad 2 and have a full register setup for under $1,200.

The Square Stand is available for preorder now, shipping July 8th.

Apple has quietly given Siri the ability to answer user responses with quotes, citing famous passages from notable people like William Strunk and Thomas Jefferson. First noticed by iLounge, the quotes are used when Siri is asked a question that is excessively long, tactfully reminding the user of the value of brevity.

When Siri is given a request that is too lengthy, she will now respond with one of several different quotes that suggest that the user shorten the question. For example, one quote from Thomas Jefferson reads, "The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."

siriquotes
Siri has a range of different quotes in her repertoire, including one from the 1970's television show MASH.

It is unknown when the change to Siri was implemented, but a Reddit thread from last week appears to contain the first known instance of the phrasing, suggesting that Siri's new quoting ability was added within the last week or two.

BlackBerry has announced that it will bring its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) platform to iOS this summer. BBM was one of the first proprietary mobile messaging services -- not unlike Apple's iMessage service -- and remains hugely popular.

The company reports that BBM has 60 million monthly active users and that BBM users send 10 billion messages per day. In January, Apple claimed iMessage users were sending 2 billion messages per day.

Bbm
Moreover, there are a number of popular so-called 'over-the-top' messaging services including WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger -- both of which move billions of messages a day.

BBM set the standard for mobile instant messaging with fast and reliable service and an added layer of engagement with delivered and read statuses. You’ve shared with us your stories about how BBM has kept you connected when it mattered most to you. Upon release of the multi-platform BBM service, you can broaden that real-time connection to friends and colleagues on other supported mobile platforms.

In the first version of multi-platform BBM, iOS and Android users are expected to be able to experience the following BBM features:

- The immediacy of BBM chats
- Multi-person chats
- Voice note sharing
- BlackBerry Groups, where BBM users are able to set up groups of up to 30 people and share calendar, photos, files and more

The team here at BlackBerry has definitely been working hard to bring the much-adored BBM experience to a wider group of mobile users.

It was rumored back in 2011 that BlackBerry was planning to port BBM to iOS.

BlackBerry Messenger for iOS and Android is expected to be released this summer.

Late last year, Philips launched its "Hue" lighting system, offering sets of wireless-enabled LED lightbulbs that allow users to remotely control their lighting, including adjusting to a rainbow of colors, from an iOS app. Hue has been exclusively sold through Apple's online and retail stores, and Philips has been working hard to both bring more features to the system and to open it up to developers to build even more functionality.

philips_hue_starter_pack_iphone
Philips today announced the "next phase" of Hue with a major update bringing a number of new features. Perhaps most interesting is integration with If This Then That (IFTTT) protocols to allow Hue to provide visual alerts for a wide variety of situations.

The next generation of the Hue app (version 1.1) can now hook up to your essential internet services via your smartphone or tablet, meaning your bulbs can act as indicators for weather, stock quotes, sports scores, email, social media and more. They can be set to behave in any way you choose. For example, to change color if it’s going to rain; to blink if you receive an urgent email, Facebook message from someone special; illuminate gradually as the sun sets; or even flash in your sports team’s colors when they score.

The new Version 1.1 of Hue also adds geofencing, automatically turning lights on as the user approaches their home and turning them off as they leave, as well as other customizable options. The update also brings recurring schedules, allowing users to simply set a schedule once and have it repeat each day.


Philips is also announcing an expansion in availability for its Hue lighting system, with a number of new outlets including Apple resellers and Amazon.com now offering starter packs and individual bulbs.

The Hue starter pack ($199.95) with core hardware and three bulbs and single bulbs ($59.95) are available through Apple. The Philips Hue universal app for iOS devices is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Cult of Mac points to a report [Google translation] from Taiwanese site TechNews claiming that Apple will be including a sapphire-covered capacitive home button on the iPhone 5S in order to accommodate the fingerprint sensor rumored to be coming as a differentiating feature for the device.

Apple is expected to do away with the traditional physical home button, which has long been one of the most unreliable components on iOS devices. It’s thought that using sapphire crystal, which has a hardness second only to diamond, will prevent the button from getting scratched and ruining the fingerprint sensor. [...]

They insist Apple will employ a capacitive touch home button for the first time with the iPhone 5S, eliminating one of the most unreliable components in an iOS device (the physical home button has a tendency to fail after long periods of use).

TechNews has not, however, been a regular source of Apple rumors, and thus it is difficult to place much faith in this rumor. Rumors of a capacitive home button to replace the physical button that has been a staple of iOS devices since the launch of the original iPhone in 2007 have circulated for several years, but have never gained serious traction.

iphone_sapphire_camera_button
Reports of a fingerprint sensor for the iPhone 5S have been gaining steam following Apple's acquisition of mobile security firm AuthenTec last year, with high-profile Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo repeatedly predicting that the device will include such a feature "under" the home button, although details on exactly how it will be incorporated into the device remain unknown.

Sapphire crystal as a scratch-resistant covering has also been a popular topic of conversation since Apple began using the material for the rear camera on the iPhone 5 and fifth-generation iPod touch last year. Earlier this year, we noted that the material may someday replace glass as the protective layer for mobile device displays, although it will take some time before costs become reasonable for such an expansive use of sapphire.

Related Forum: iPhone

galaxy_s4_whiteJust weeks after the launch of Samsung's latest Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone, FOSS Patents reports that Apple is seeking to add the device to a patent lawsuit already underway against Samsung in the United States.

Judge Lucy Koh has already ordered Apple and Samsung to narrow their case, which is expected to go to trial in March 2014. Each side will ultimately be required to limit their cases to ten targeted devices, although the current stage is seeing the companies pare their lists to 22 devices each.

The filings reveal a major new disagreement: Apple has analyzed the Galaxy S4, Samsung's new top-selling product, and "has concluded that it is an infringing device and accordingly intends to move for leave to add the Galaxy S4 as an infringing product". Apple's current list of 22 accused products does not include the S4, but a footnote contains the statement from which I just quoted. Apple says it will drop another product from its list of 22 accused products once it has permission to add the S4 to this litigation.

The two sides are also continuing to disagree over what constitutes a single product, with Samsung arguing that each carrier version of its devices should count as a separate product, seeking to shift the balance by taking advantage of its significantly larger number of devices compared to Apple's lineup.

Apple's list of 22 products currently covers a number of Samsung's smartphone and tablet devices, while Samsung's own list includes virtually every device and service offered by Apple, including all iPad and Mac models, all iPhone models dating back to the iPhone 3G, the last three iPod touch generations, 1st and 3rd generation Apple TV models, and even iTunes and iCloud. While the battle between Apple and Samsung has focused mainly on mobile devices until now, Samsung's counterclaims have sought to bring Apple's Mac lineup and services into the dispute by asserting infringement of a patent related to multimedia synchronization across devices.

Apple has been beefing up its iWork team since early February, and has posted several new job listings in recent weeks.

The latest job posting, which was added this morning, seeks a software QA engineer. As noted by Apple Bitch (via AppleInsider) the position specifies that the engineer will work on "the next generation of Desktop, Mobile, and Web application/services."

iwork
Apple is currently hiring a number of employees for its iWork team, including three QA software engineers, a Production Specialist, a Technical Production Ninja, a Verification Engineer, a Visual Motion Designer, and a HiDPI Image Specialist to focus on Retina displays.

Apple's iWork suite includes Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, for both iOS and Mac. The software is overdue for an update as it was originally released in 2009 and has seen only minor improvements since that time.

While early iWork job hirings focused on senior software engineers, the newer listings for quality assurance software engineers suggest that the company might be inching closer to releasing a new version of iWork.

facebookFacebook today updated its iOS app with more options when viewing photos, including sharing a photo on a users' timeline, saving a photo to the iOS camera roll, or saving a photo as a profile picture, in addition to other improvements.

Prior to the 6.1 update, users could only Like, Comment or tag users in a photo within the iOS app.

What's New in Version 6.1

- Photo viewer button lets you save, share or make profile picture
- Improved places editing when checking in on iPhone
- Events load faster on iPhone

Facebook for iOS is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]

1passwordAgileBits has updated its password management app 1Password to version 4.2, adding several enhancements to 1Browser along with improvements to search and sharing.

Go and Fill bookmarks have been added to the 1Browser on the iPad, along with the ability to use the Strong Password Generator. An auto-submit option for login filling has also been added.

The update includes the ability to share items through Messages or email, and the app's search capabilities have been improved to allow for expanded search results across all fields. Here's a full rundown of the changes:

1Browser
- Added Go and Fill bookmarks in 1Browser on iPad.
- Added the ability to use Strong Password Generator in 1Browser on iPad.
- Added the ability to auto-submit on login filling.
- Added fill animations to make it easy (and fun) to see where fields are filled.
- Added Copy to Clipboard in the Share menu to copy the current URL to the clipboard.
- Closing the last tab will now direct you back to vault mode.

1Browser Settings
- Added 1Browser settings menu.
- Added the ability to adjust auto-submit and fill-animation defaults.
- Added the ability to clear the Web Data (eg. Cookies) from 1Browser.

Sharing
- Added the ability to share items through Messages or email.
- Shared items include a special 'Add to 1Password' link which allows you to directly add them to 1Password.

Search
- Added the ability to expand search results across all fields.
- Search results now includes the primary URL of the item.

Other
- 1PasswordAnywhere (1Password.html) will now display custom fields.
- 1Password will prompt to open in the web view when launching 1Password with a URL in your clipboard.
- Improved translations and the addition of Greek.
- Improvements to Dropbox syncing.
- Many bug fixes and improvements.

1Password is a universal app that can be downloaded from the App Store for $17.99. [Direct Link]

With one day to go before bidding closes, the CharityBuzz auction for coffee with Apple CEO Tim Cook is at $605,000. Bidding has slowed considerably since the first couple of days, with only one bid -- the current winning mark of $605,000 -- since April 26th.

The current high bid for coffee with Tim Cook is worth twice as much as the total of the current high bids on all 118 other auctions supporting the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights in the current campaign on CharityBuzz. The site running the auction was also forced to implement financial verification checks for bids on the Tim Cook listing after a bid was placed using a stolen credit card.

Charitybuzz 1
The auction's bidding quickly rose to $500,000 in the first two days with a number of bidders affiliated with third-party accessory makers looking for publicity or simply a business meeting with the Apple CEO.

Bidding closes tomorrow, May 14, at 1:08 PM Pacific Time.

AT&T is planning to discontinue the HTC First, better known as the "Facebook Phone," reports BGR. Released on April 12, the HTC First was touted as the first device to come with Facebook Home preinstalled, a feature that has not enticed buyers to purchase the phone.

Our source at AT&T has confirmed that the HTC First, which is the first smartphone to ship with Facebook Home pre-installed, will soon be discontinued and unsold inventory will be returned to HTC. How much unsold inventory is there? We don't have an exact figure, but things aren't looking good. According to our source, AT&T sold fewer than 15,000 units nationwide through last week when the phone's price was slashed to $0.99.

When contacted, an AT&T spokesperson gave MacRumors the following statement in regards to BGR's report: "As mentioned previously, we do pricing promotions all the time and have made no decisions on future plans."

The Facebook Home software, which can be installed on a number of Android devices, has also proven to be unpopular with Android users. The app has a two star rating in the Google Play store and has seen just a million downloads since it was released last month.

home
Facebook is hoping to drive additional downloads with an upcoming software update, which was demoed last week at a small press event. The upgrades are intended to make Facebook Home less intrusive, reports the LA Times, namely by making apps easier to find with a quick access dock at the bottom of the home screen.

The upgrades were designed to address the chief complaint from users: that Facebook takes over the phone at the expense of every other app on it.

Facebook's director of product, Adam Mosseri, said Chat Heads -– little bubble pictures of friends -– have proved popular but users have complained it's tough to initiate a conversation. He showed off a new feature that will let users more easily access a buddy list from Home.

According to Engadget, a large portion of Facebook Home's installs can be attributed to early adopters. At the aforementioned press event, Facebook execs declined to reveal how many active Facebook Home users exist, but did reveal that Home encouraged users to spend 25% more time on Facebook.

Facebook has brought limited Home functionality to iOS with the introduction of Chat Heads into its iOS app, and has talked to Apple about the possibility of bringing additional Facebook Home features to the iPhone in the future.

flipboardFlipboard for iOS has been updated to version 2.0.2, adding profile pages for its users along with a new "Friends" category and the ability to share articles via SMS.

Profile pages are designed to work in conjunction with the Magazine functionality that was introduced with the 2.0 update, allowing Flipboard users to create and share personally curated content. Profile pages are meant to give insight into "readership and curation activity."

The new Friends category in the Content Guide also enhances personalized magazine discovery, making it easy for Flipboard users to find magazines created by their friends.

Update 2.0.2 offers improved sharing tools as well, with the ability to share stories through SMS and save Flipboard images to the camera roll.

What's New in Version 2.0.2
- Get a window onto your readership and curation activity with new profile pages.
- Discover magazines by friends quickly in new Friends category in the Content Guide.
- Select a social network and access options more easily in the improved share menu.
- Share magazines and stories with friends and family via SMS text messaging.
- Save images directly to your device. Tap item's share icon, then "Save to Camera Roll."
- Improved navigation for Google Reader RSS folders

Flipboard can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

NewImageWith New York City seeing significant increases in the theft of Apple products in recent years -- up 40 percent in 2012 from the prior year -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has written to a number of smartphone manufacturers to ask what the companies are doing to combat the thefts of their devices, reports Bloomberg.

San Francisco district attorney Georce Gascón has previously pressed Apple about the possibility of a 'kill switch' in iOS devices to disable them if stolen, but said he was 'underwhelmed' by Apple's response.

A national stolen phone database that was rolled out recently has reportedly had little effect on smartphone thefts.

In his letter to the companies, Schneiderman cited the April 2012 murder of a 26-year-old chef at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan who was killed for his iPhone on his way home, and a February incident this year in which three people were stabbed on a subway platform in the Queens section of New York in a fight over an iPhone.

Schneiderman said he would be “especially concerned” if the companies, which may have failed to live up to representations to consumers about safety and security, have benefited from increased sales of replacement devices.

While Apple and other smartphone makers would receive some minor monetary benefit from victims purchasing replacement phones, the revenue would be a drop in the bucket compared to the overall smartphone market.

Additionally, the goodwill generated by disabling stolen phones would more than outweigh any fiscal impact. Apple does offer a free service called 'Find My iPhone' that can erase or lock stolen phones, but erasing a phone does not render the phone unusable.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.