Apple has released a new television ad showcasing the iPad and the iPad mini with a young girl singing Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" to her grandfather over FaceTime.
I'll be home for Christmas. You can count on me. I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.
Last year, Apple released a holiday ad featuring Santa talking to the then-new Siri to get directions and weather.
A day after a Kickstarter project was killed because of restrictions on Apple's MFi program that prevented Lightning and 30-Pin connectors from appearing on the same device, Apple has changed its guidelines to allow third-party devices to have 30-pin and Lightning chargers on the same accessory, reports CNET.
"Our technical specifications provide clear guidelines for developing accessories and they are available to MFi licensees for free," Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told CNET. "We support accessories that integrate USB and Lightning connectors, but there were technical issues that prevented accessories from integrating 30-pin and Lightning connectors so our guidelines did not allow this."
The company added that the guidelines have since been updated to allow accessories to work with both types of connectors to charge devices.
A number of MacRumors commenters felt Apple's decision to prevent the Kickstarter project from moving forward was a poor one, both for consumers, and for the company behind the project.
There is no word from Edison Junior on whether the company will move forward with the POP portable power station now that Apple has reversed course.
Google, via its newly acquired Motorola Mobility unit, is developing a "stand apart" phone to compete with the iPhone, reports the Wall Street Journal. The phone, which the company aims to release next year, is designed to compete more strongly with the iPhone, and Samsung's Galaxy line, than Motorola's current lineup.
This new "X Phone" project is being led by former Google product manager Lior Ron. Possible features seemed to be ambitious with exploration of bendable screens, ceramics, image and gesture-recognition software.
The company is running into development issues, however. Google is having problems with supply-chain management, a speciality of Apple CEO Tim Cook.
But while Google is known for swift execution on the Web, its new hardware unit has run into obstacles associated with manufacturing and supply-chain management that have caused the company to rethink some initial plans for the X phone, these people added. Meanwhile, Google must manage complex relationships with smartphone makers that use its Android mobile-device software—particularly with Samsung Electronics Co., a Motorola rival that has become the No. 1 smartphone maker with Google's help.
Google does have ample amounts of cash to invest in the phone project, which the WSJ says the company will follow up with a tablet based on the same platform.
Google's acquisition of Motorola was controversial as it puts Google in direct competition with their Android licensees. Apple and Samsung, however, have captured the lion's share of smartphone profits, and Google is reportedly concerned that Samsung could "fork" Android and preventing Google's applications from being installed by default. This could have a large impact on Google's mobile reach if it doesn't develop its own handset.
Nielsen yesterday released its digital "Tops of 2012" statistics, which included the top 10 iOS apps of 2012, based on average unique users. The study took place from Q1 2012 to Q3 2012 and also happened to find that this was the first year where smartphone owners became the majority of mobile phone users with 56% by the end of Q3.
Four of the top 10 iPhone apps are stock iOS apps, as YouTube and Maps are likely referring to the versions of the app bundled in with iOS 5 and earlier rather than the newer versions that launched in the past couple of months, as the new versions likely wouldn't have had the time to make a significant impact on the statistics. Nielsen notes that Facebook Messenger was the fastest growing iPhone app.
In fact, Facebook controlled three of the top 10 in Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram while Google, at this point, controlled none of the top 10.
Maps averaged 32 million unique users a month while YouTube averaged 22 million, Stocks averaged 21 million and Weather averaged 20 million uniques a month.
The study also found that Android sits atop smartphone marketshare with 52% with iOS in second at 35%. Blackberry OS came in third at 7%, Windows Phone with 2% and the rest made up the remaining 5% of the marketshare pie. The statistics come from Nielsen's Smartphone Panel, which uses on-device meters at the aggregate level to find out mobile web and app activity level.
When Snapchat launched a video update last week, AllThingsD reported that Facebook was planning on releasing its own photo and video sharing app to compete with Snapchat. Facebook’s new standalone app, Facebook Poke, was released today, expanding on Facebook's original "poke" concept.
After connecting to Facebook Poke with a Facebook account, users can take a video or photo, write a message, or send a standard poke notification to friends who are also Facebook users. Each message lasts only a few seconds before expiring, after which time it is no longer visible.
If a screenshot is taken, users are notified with a bright orange icon on the feed, which is the same functionality found in Snapchat. Users can browse through sent messages in Poke by tapping and holding on a message.
Media sent via Facebook Poke is not visible in the standard Facebook app, but people will get a Facebook notification to download Facebook Poke to see Poke messages. Like the rest of Facebook's apps, Poke has a menu for reporting inappropriate content.
Facebook Poke is a free download on Apple's App Store. [Direct Link]
The Wall Street Journal is now offering in-app subscriptions on the App Store, and has added its newspaper to Apple's Newsstand automatic subscription delivery service, reports All Things D.
The move is worth noting because up until now the Journal was one of the highest-profile print publishers that wasn’t selling app access via Apple. Earlier this year, Time Inc., which had been the most prominent holdout, also signed on.
The move means that Apple will retain 30 percent of all subscription revenue the Journal receives from "in-app" sales, and it will retain control of customer billing information like credit card numbers and billing addresses.
WSJ's biggest competitor, the Financial Times, dropped its iOS app last year because it didn't want to give Apple 30% of subscriptions purchased through the App Store. Instead, it developed a well-received HTML5 web app that replicated much of the functionality of the iOS app, including offline reading.
Newsstand support means readers can have their papers update automatically in the background.
Italy fined Apple $1.2 million in late 2011, after its Competition and Market Authority found that Apple was not providing customers with sufficient information about the two years of free product warranty that is required under Italian law.
Instead, Apple was pushing the sale of AppleCare, which overlaps with the inherent Italian product warranty. After being fined and losing an appeal, Apple added disclosures to its Italian online store, but authorities were not satisfied and considered additional fines and even a potential ban on Apple products in the country.
Apple today was fined another $264,000 by Italian regulators (via setteB.IT) after not fully complying with the Consumer Code set place in 2012, from March 28 to November 10.
Authorities have released a statement detailing Apple's exact violations.
From March 2012 onward, the above measures continued to trigger additional requests for intervention that reported the repetition of the unfair commercial practices. In specific, consumers complained that they were meeting with difficulties when seeking to apply the legal guarantee and were encountering incorrect procedures in the promotion of the App.
Though Italy levied another fine against Apple, regulators have since determined that after sufficient modification, Apple's website is no longer confusing for Italian customers. The changes went into full effect on November 10, and Apple also ceased selling its AppleCare products in Italian stores.
Apple may have settled its differences with Italian regulators, but it is still facing potential fines from other European countries, which also have a two-year warranty rule. In October, European Union officials called on member states to scrutinize Apple's warranty advertising practices, stating that the Cupertino-based company may not be adequately informing EU customers of the extra warranty.
Apple is now carrying the Nest Thermostat in its retail stores through the United States and Canada. The development comes as Apple has been carrying it online for several months.
The Nest thermostat is priced at $249.95 in the U.S. online store and is just one of a number of products featured in Apple's App-Enabled Accessories section. The thermostat can be controlled via a free universal iOS app [App Store], with access to controls also available through web browsers.
The Nest Learning Thermostat helps you stop wasting energy, while providing control using your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. Consider that your thermostat controls about half your energy bill—more than TV, appliances, and lighting combined. But it's wasting energy every time it turns on the heating or cooling system in an empty house. The Nest Learning Thermostat solves this problem by programming itself, turning itself down when you're away, and keeping track of your energy use.
Apple features a number of such app-enabled products in its stores, including the iGrill cooking thermometer and Withings blood pressure monitor and body scale.
Last month, research firm Kantar Worldpanel reported that Apple had retaken the lead in U.S. smartphone sales from Android over the August-October timeframe, topping Android by a 48.1%-46.7% margin on the strength of the iPhone 5 launch.
At the time, the firm suggested that Apple's share would continue to rise as the 12-week window of sales data shifted to include the iPhone 5 for its entirety, predicting that Apple would set a record high for market share within the following two periods.
Kantar Worldpanel has now released its data for the September-November period, and Apple has indeed set a record high with 53.3% of the market. Apple's share is up dramatically from 35.8% in the same period last year, although the iPhone 4S did not launch until later in the corresponding timeframe.
Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, comments: “Apple has reached a major milestone in the US by passing the 50% share mark for the first time, with further gains expected to be made during December.”
Apple continues to fare less well in Europe, where even with growth of 2.5 percentage points year-over-year to reach 25.3% of the market, Android has surged farther ahead with a 9.2 percentage point gain and now holds 61% of the market.
Among the markets tracked by Kantar Worldpanel, Apple's best performance was in the United States, while its worst performances were in Brazil, Australia, Spain, and Italy, all countries where it lost share over 2011.
The IMDb app is one of the most popular apps on iOS, with the Internet Movie Database yesterday noting in a press release that its iOS app has been downloaded 25 million times. Along with the milestone comes a redesigned Version 3.0 of the IMDb iPad app, with the goal being to focus on discovery features and allow users to see more content. The iPhone version has also received a few more features and enhancements.
What's New in Version 3.0One of Macworld's 20 Best Apps for 2012!
The IMDb iPad app has been completely updated with a new look & feel that showcases more movies, TV shows & celebs than ever before.
New iPad features include:
- Tap the plus sign (+) on any movie or TV show poster to add it to your Watchlist
- Sign in to get personalized movie and TV recommendations
- New full-page Watchlist and custom lists with updated sort and edit features
- Top 250 rank added to movie pages
- Tap the history or Watchlist icons to open previews from any page in the app
- Browse featured photo galleries & lists, most popular by genre, and charts
- Tap the IMDb logo to browse from any page in the appAlso new for both the iPad and iPhone:
- iOS 6 users can take advantage of native Facebook sharing
- Filmographies now include TV episode details
- Navigate to the entire image gallery from any photo or poster
The universal IMDb app is a free update on the App Store. [Direct Link]
DutchNews.nl reports on articles from the Dutch media noting that Steve Jobs' yacht Venus, which launched nearly two months ago, has been impounded by authorities due to a dispute with famed French designer Philippe Starck over design fees for the ship.
Baliffs boarded the brand new yacht Venus last Wednesday with an Amsterdam court order and it is now literally chained to the dock, the FD said. Port service companies have been instructed not to help it to leave.
The dispute centres on a €3m unpaid bill from Starck, known for his minimalist interiors, who worked with Jobs on designing the yacht for years. His fee had been established at 6% of the cost price, Rotterdam lawyer Roeland Klaassen told the paper.
The dispute seems to be related specifically to the cost of building the boat, with Starck claiming that the yacht was slated to cost €150 million while the Jobs family says that it only cost €105 million. The €45 million difference in prices means that Starck believes he is missing out on €2.7 million ($3.57 million) in design fees.
The original report from Dutch financial newspaper Financieele Dagblad claims that there was no formal contract between Jobs and Starck, and that an out-of-court settlement of the dispute is likely.
Zell Interactive's Joypad Game Controller was originally released in mid–2011. As a standalone app, it turned the iPhone into a wireless virtual controller for several Mac and iPad games.
Unfortunately, finding games that worked with the iPhone app was a pain, requiring gamers to visit the Joypad website for a list or to stumble across a compatible app on the App Store.
That changed this week, with the release of the Joypad Game Console. The Game Console turns the iPad into a dashboard that lists all of the Joypad enabled apps. It's like an iOS version of Xbox Live, containing a list of featured games, a list of games that are already installed on the iPad, and a full list of all games that Joypad supports.
Users can tap on one of the apps listed in the Game Console to get more information on it, including an app description, YouTube trailer, and a link to purchase said app on the App Store.
After purchase, the Console can be linked via Wi-Fi to the Joypad Game Controller, which was recently updated with Game Console compatibility and all new skins. The Game Console app can also be connected to the Apple TV so that gamers can play their favorite titles on the big screen.
Joypad Game Console is a free download from the App Store for the iPad. [Direct Link]
Joypad Game Controller is free for the iPhone. [Direct Link]
Last year, Signal Snowboards made a board with an embedded iPad to honor Steve Jobs. This year, the guys have made a custom snowboard that can charge an iPhone on the slopes, thanks to a top sheet made of thin solar panels from PowerFilm Solar.
The board isn't for sale, but Signal's Marc Wierenga told MacRumors that the panels are extremely durable and the company has some ideas to incorporate them into their extensive lineup of made in the USA snowboards. He says the panels are more than powerful enough to charge something like a GoPro camera, making it easy for boarders to film an entire day of shredding without worrying about battery life.
Apple has long supported VESA mounting brackets for its larger displays, including the 27" iMac, the 27" Thunderbolt and 24" and 30" Cinema Displays. With Apple's adapter bracket, the desk stand can be removed and the display can be attached to any VESA-compatible mount.
However, the new, thinner 27" iMac, does not support VESA mounting according to an email from Apple obtained by MacTrast. This is also noted in a compatibility note for the Apple VESA Mount Adapter Kit on the Apple Online Store.
Hi Glenn,
Thank you for your inquiry. The new iMac is not VESA mount compatible at this time.
We appreciate your feedback on this feature and will take it into consideration.
Thanks,
Laura
iMac owners frequently mount their machines to wall brackets for use as kiosks or other commercial displays, or to attach them to an articulating wall mount for flexible placement.
(Photo courtesy Flickr/Jaysin Trevino)
Kickstarter project POP, a portable power station, has been shut down by Apple, after the Cupertino-based company refused to license its Lightning charger to Edison Junior, the design lab behind the product.
POP, which was tagged by the creators as "The Intersection of Charging and Design" aimed to combine a variety of charging cables into one product, including the Lightning connector, Apple's 30-pin connector, and a micro-USB connector for charging non-Apple devices.
Edison Junior CEO Jamie Siminoff spoke to VentureBeat and had this to say about Apple's decision:
We are pissed. I think they are being a bunch of [jerks], and I think they're hurting their customers.
The issue, it seems, was the use of a Lightning connector alongside a 30-pin connector, as Edison Junior explained in a note to Kickstarter backers.
When Apple officially announced the move to Lightning we determined the best course of action was to incorporate two Lightning chargers, and two 30-pins (along with the four micro-USB's). After applying to Apple (which is now required for Lightning), we learned that they are no longer willing to approve a product that uses the Lightning charger alongside any other charger (including their own 30-pin – seriously). Just like that, POP could no longer fulfill its true promise.
Edison Junior is planning to provide full refunds to all of its 1,000 backers, who pledged a total of $139,170, even though it will cost the company more than $11,000 in Kickstarter and credit card fees. The company is hoping to recover some of the cost from Kickstarter, which does not have a mechanism for refunds, forcing Edison Junior to seek help from their own crowdfunding site, Christie Street.
According to Siminoff, Edison Junior plans to continue developing a similar product that will indirectly support Apple iDevices with a Lightning-to-USB connector or a 30-pin connector.
Ad network and analytics firm Chitika claims it has seen no significant increase in iOS 6 adoption in the U.S. and Canada. A company analyst believes the MoPub data (which was international, rather than domestic) we wrote about earlier today was affected by the recent launch of the iPhone 5 in China, rather than the release of Google Maps.
This past weekend, Apple issued a press release bragging that it had sold more than two million iPhone 5 units in China over the first three days of availability.
In the chart above -- which only looks at data from the U.S. and Canada, rather than the international data that MoPub examined -- the iOS 6 adoption slope following the release of Google Maps for iOS remains practically unchanged from before the release, suggesting a sea change in iOS 6 adoption rates resulting from Google Maps release is inaccurate.
Chitika Data Solutions Engineer Gabe Donnini:
Thursday, December 20th marks the first full week of Google Maps' availability in the Apple App Store. To determine the impact of Google Maps on iOS 6 adoption, Chitika Insights conducted a research study analyzing the trend in adoption rates since the applications' release, along with mapping the OS' adoption rates since its debut on September 19th, 2012 for added context. Following Google Maps' release, Chitika Insights observed iOS 6 usage remain fairly flat from midnight on December 13th to midnight on December 17th 2012.
On Monday, Google reported that Google Maps for iOS had been downloaded more than 10 million times.
MyScript Calculator from Vision Objects has been available on Android devices for several months now, but as of today, the math app that lets users handwrite mathematical expressions is available for iPhone and iPad as well (via Mac4Ever).
Instead of typing equations into the app, MyScript Calculator accepts written input. Write out an equation with a finger or stylus and the app reads the handwriting. It will translate written work into numbers and digital text, and then solve the problem.
The whole process is quick, intuitive, and easy. It’s perfect for small calculations or more complex mathematical equations, supporting the following operations:
-Basic operations: +, -, x, ÷, +/‒, 1/x
-Misc. Operations: %, √, x!, |x|
-Powers/Exponentials: ℯx, xy , x2
-Brackets: ( )
-Trigonometry: cos, sin, tan
-Inverse trigonometry: acos, asin, atan
-Logarithms: ln , log
-Constants: π, ℯ.
Apple, Microsoft and Google are all potential buyers for home automation firm R2 Studios, part of the id8 Group founded by Blake Krikorian, according to the Wall Street Journal. He was the founder of Sling Media, makers of the SlingBox that was later sold to EchoStar/Dish Network.
R2 Studios sole public product is an Android client for Crestron whole-home control systems. Crestron released its own clients for the iPhone and iPad several years ago.
R2 Studios, which is developing home-media and automation technology, has remained largely mum about its plans but last year released an app that turns Android phones into touch panels for controlling heating and lighting systems wirelessly. R2 Studios also holds some patents related to controlling electronic devices and interfaces.
The status of the discussion and terms under consideration remain unclear. A deal may not happen and some talks may be preliminary.
The WSJ reports that R2 also owns some patents related to "controlling electronic devices and interfaces", in addition to its existing app work. R2 could fit in nicely with Apple's rumored expansion plans, including its efforts to remake television viewing.
Priority Notifications, visual intelligence for iPhone 15 Pro, new emoji, and more.
Apple Intelligence is what Apple is calling its artificial intelligence feature set. Here's everything we know.
Image Playground is Apple's dedicated image creation app that can build cartoon-like pictures based on text descriptions.
If you're experiencing issues with iPhone Mirroring, follow these steps to get it working again.
Apple's annual developer conference where it will unveil iOS 19, macOS 16, and more.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7, new Apple Intelligence features, and more.
Apple's next-generation iPhone models with a new "Air" or "Slim" model replacing the current Plus model.
12 hours ago by Joe Rossignol
12 hours ago by Joe Rossignol
17 hours ago by Tim Hardwick
17 hours ago by Tim Hardwick
21 hours ago by Tim Hardwick
Priority Notifications, visual intelligence for iPhone 15 Pro, new emoji, and more.
Apple Intelligence is what Apple is calling its artificial intelligence feature set. Here's everything we know.
Image Playground is Apple's dedicated image creation app that can build cartoon-like pictures based on text descriptions.
If you're experiencing issues with iPhone Mirroring, follow these steps to get it working again.
Apple's annual developer conference where it will unveil iOS 19, macOS 16, and more.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7, new Apple Intelligence features, and more.
Apple's next-generation iPhone models with a new "Air" or "Slim" model replacing the current Plus model.
12 hours ago by Joe Rossignol
12 hours ago by Joe Rossignol
17 hours ago by Tim Hardwick
17 hours ago by Tim Hardwick
21 hours ago by Tim Hardwick