MacRumors

Users of Apple's online services may be experiencing yet another outage today, with the company's system status page showing issues with both iCloud account sign-in and the iTunes Store over the past several hours. Apple's status page does not reveal the percentage of users experiencing issues, noting only that "some" users are affected, but we have received a number of reports about the services being down.

Outages of Apple's services have been relatively common occurrences, with occasional iMessage outages being among the most noticeable for users.

Update: Apple has now expanded its outage list to include Apple ID and Game Center, although it indicates that iTunes Store issues have been resolved.

Update 2: As of 10:30 AM Pacific Time, Apple indicates that the last of the outages have been resolved.

Apple has added a new 'download later' prompt to large media purchases made in iTunes or on the mobile iTunes Store, reports Macworld.

The new prompt appears when purchasing movies, TV shows, TV Season Passes, full TV seasons, movie bundles, and music box sets.

When purchasing any of the above items using iTunes 11 on a Mac or Windows PC, or an iOS device running iOS 6 or later, you’re now presented with Later and Download (or Download All) buttons. Tap Later and the purchased items will be added to your iTunes account and accessible to stream or download in the future via Apple’s iTunes in the Cloud feature. It’s a handy feature if you, say, want to buy a movie on sale while you have a spotty data connection; you can make sure to get the cheaper price, then download the item when you get home—or even just play it from the cloud.

The prompt only appears for users in countries that support iTunes in the Cloud for the type of media they are purchasing.

Following a devastating earthquake that struck in Sichuan, China over the weekend, Apple has donated 50 million RMB or approximately $8 million to affected victims.

In addition to the donation, Apple has also updated the front page of its Chinese website to express its condolences and to offer schools in the area new Apple devices. Tech In Asia has a translation of the message:

At this difficult time, our hearts are with the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. Aside from the cash donation to help the affected people to tide over their difficulties, we are committed to providing new Apple devices to schools in the disaster area, and Apple employees in the locality are on stand-by at any time to help.

Donations during disasters are not uncommon for Apple, with the company previously offering relief money to victims struck by tragedy on several occasions.

Apple has had a strained relationship with China in recent months, after the company's iPhone warranty policies were highly criticized in the country, though the tensions were relieved in early April when Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a letter to customers announcing changes to the warranty policy.

The earthquake, which measured between 6.6 and 7.0, struck the city of Ya'an in the Sichuan province on Saturday, causing hundreds of casualties and widespread destruction.

Back in September 2010, our sister site AppShopper launched a dedicated iOS app offering users easy access to app-tracking features such as updates and price changes. But after two years on the App Store, Apple removed AppShopper in late 2012, citing a rule against apps that could be confused with Apple's own App Store app.

Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.

Since that time, several other developers such as AppGratis have seen their apps removed from the App Store, reportedly as part of a broader crackdown on app discovery apps.

Over the past several months, the AppShopper team has been reworking the app to add a more social component, and that effort is now showing up with today's launch of a brand-new app, AppShopper Social.

The Next Web has more on the return of AppShopper:

The new app, called App Shopper Social, makes social recommendations indispensable, rather than optional. When you launch the app, in fact, there is no list of apps waiting for you. Instead, the app recommends that you follow the App Shopper account, which is one of several curated lists ready at launch. Others include Macrumors, 148apps and Toucharcade, all of which provide a steady stream of apps that can be ‘owned’ or ‘want listed’. Each of the apps has a rating from one or more of those feeds, as well as an App Store rating. This allows users to say, get a friend’s rating, Toucharcade’s rating and the App Store rating all side-by-side.

A blog post at AppShopper notes that this 1.0 version of AppShopper Social brings back much of the core functionality of the original AppShopper app but that a number of features such as native iPad support and Top 200 lists are not included. Those features will be brought back in future updates.

In the 1.0 version, we’re aware that there are several obvious features that are absent. Top on our priority list is the ability to browse friends’ lists individually by tapping on their name. Also, an easier method for friend discovery and friend recommendation are also something that is clearly necessary. Even without these features, AppShopper Social is an incredibly useful tool for App Discovery, but there’s a lot of potential to be even better.

We lost a lot of momentum with the removal of our App Store app, so we’d ask you to spread the word on AppShopper Social. A large user base will guarantee future updates and improvements.

AppShopper Social is available now as a free download in the App Store. [Direct Link]

Earlier this month, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that various production issues will likely result in launches of Apple's iPhone 5S, lower-cost iPhone, and second-generation iPad mini coming somewhat later than many observers have been expecting. In particular, Kuo claimed that issues with color coatings for the fingerprint sensor said to be included on the iPhone 5S are likely to push back that device's launch from a June/July timeframe to perhaps September or later.

Reuters today published a new report highlighting how Apple's suppliers are working hard to reduce their reliance on Apple as uncertainty about demand for Apple's products presents challenges for these companies. As part of the report, Reuters shares word from Apple's iPhone suppliers painting a nearly identical picture to that shared by Kuo earlier this month.

Supplier sources in Japan and Taiwan, home to dozens of Apple suppliers, said they initially expected mass-production of the next iPhone to begin in June.

That date may have begun to slip beyond June, the sources said. The phone, widely referred to as the iPhone 5S, is expected to include new features such as a fingerprint sensor. A supply chain source in Taiwan said Apple was trying to find a coating material that did not interfere with the fingerprint sensor, and this may be causing a delay.

Regarding Apple's lower-cost iPhone, a Japanese supplier informed Reuters that "small-scale production" of displays for the device will begin in May, with mass production beginning the following month. As has been reported by other sources, Reuters' sources claim that the lower-cost iPhone will use the same 4-inch display as the iPhone 5S, but lack the fingerprint sensor and use a plastic casing.

Mac software developer Delicious Monster has informed MacRumors that a major new version of its popular OS X cataloging app Delicious Library is being released very soon.

Delicious Library is a media and gadget cataloging application that hasn't been in the news in recent years, but garnered very positive reviews upon its first release. The first version and its followup both won Apple Design Awards for Best Mac OS X user experience in 2005 and Best OS X Leopard Application in 2007. The flashy design elements were notable at the time, and is likely to have inspired a "generation" of Mac App developers as well as (indirectly) Apple's own iBooks iOS app.

One of the most notable features of Delicious Library's initial release was the use of Apple iSight camera as an inexpensive barcode scanner, so users could scan and inventory their products. As a followup to that feature, the company will be releasing an iOS app that offers this behavior using the iPhone's camera, allowing quick mobile cataloging.

According to Delicious Monster CEO Wil Shipley, Delicious Library 3's major shift is from being just a "know what you own" app to a recommendation engine based on the products you own:

We're centered on the idea of your books (movies, cds, whatever) being an aspect of your unique personality, and our app does neat things with your personal data—like give you cool graphic summaries, or really good composite recommendations.

Aside from the new recommendation engine, Delicious Library 3 will offer a 3D cover-view interface, interactive charts mode, flexible smart shelves, and more. It should be available in the Mac and iOS app stores soon.

According to reports over the weekend from China Business [Google translation] and China Times [Google translation], Apple last month returned at least five million and perhaps as many as eight million iPhones to manufacturing partner Foxconn due to defects in either appearance or operation.

The reports indicate that it will cost Foxconn roughly 200 yuan ($32) per device to correct the issues with the defective iPhones, resulting in a charge of as much as 1.6 billion yuan ($259 million) to address the problem. It is unclear which iPhone models are affected by the issues, but Apple does not appear to be suffering from major shortages of any of its current devices.

The iPhone 5 suffered from quality control issues following its launch, with a number of customers complaining of scratches and other issues with their devices even right out of the box. Foxconn executives acknowledged that the iPhone 5 was a difficult device to assemble, with increased quality control standards contributing to production output below the company's goals.

As a result, it took Apple two and a half months to achieve supply-demand balance for the device, although the company was also pursuing its most aggressive worldwide rollout yet.

Case company Tactus, which last week shared a photo of what was claimed to be the polycarbonate rear shell of Apple's rumored lower-cost iPhone, has now posted a new photo allegedly showing the inside of the fifth-generation iPad's rear shell.

The photo is of fairly low resolution, but is consistent with the first photos of the shell that leaked in late January. At a minimum, the photo indicates that these parts are continuing to surface from the supply chain some three months after their initial appearance, although there has yet to be any firm indication on when Apple is planning to launch the new full-size iPad that appears set to carry a slimmer design based on the iPad mini. The photo also shows for the first time the entirety of the rear shell's interior.

Most reports have indicated that the fifth-generation iPad will be launching around the September timeframe, although there have been sporadic reports that Apple could update its iPads any time now if the next-generation devices are ready.

On a separate note, Japanese parts shop Moumantai has posted [Google translation] a pair of photos showing what is said to be the nano-SIM tray from the iPhone 5S. with the trays reportedly identical in shape to those used on the iPhone 5. The report identifies the iPhone 5S trays as showing up in gray and bronze/gold colors, although it is possible that the photos may show somewhat inaccurate colors given expectations of slate and silver as seen on the iPhone 5.

It is, however, difficult to place too much stock in these SIM tray photos, given that they are identical to the current design and that third-party versions in various colors are prevalent.

Alleged parts for the iPhone 5S have begun surfacing in recent weeks, although there has been some uncertainty about which parts might be for the iPhone 5S and which ones might be destined for Apple's rumored lower-cost iPhone.

RadioShack has begun offering Mac accessories both online and at its retail stores. The electronics retailer has an existing partnership with Apple, having sold the iPhone, the iPad, and their accompanying accessories since 2010 and the iPod since 2005.

Mac products available on the RadioShack website include the Apple Wireless Keyboard, the Magic Mouse, and the Magic Trackpad. Items can be ordered online or purchased in a local store.

At this point in time, it appears that RadioShack is limited to selling accessories, but an accessory deal could lead to the full line of Mac products at RadioShack stores in the future.

RadioShack currently offers computers from manufacturers like Hewlett-Packard, ASUS, and Toshiba. With more than 7,000 stores worldwide, the electronics retailer could represent a significant expansion of Apple's Mac distribution chain.

Apple recently struck a similar deal with Staples, allowing the office supply retailer to offer Apple products in the United States.

Thanks, Stephen!