Following on the heels of Google launching its Google Drive cloud storage service, Amazon has released Mac and Windows clients for its Cloud Drive service, which launched last year. Previously, Cloud Drive was only accessible through a web browser.
Like Dropbox and Google Drive, Cloud Drive includes 5GB of free storage. The Cloud Drive app requires Snow Leopard or Lion.
The Next Web points to a recent thread in the Dropbox support forums revealing that a number of developers have been seeing their iOS apps with Dropbox integration being rejected by Apple. The apps have been rejected because users without the Dropbox iOS app installed on their devices who attempted to set up Dropbox integration were being redirected to a webpage where users could sign up for the service and purchase additional storage space.
That functionality runs afoul of Apple's review guidelines, which do not allow signups for paid services other than those available through Apple's In App Purchase to be accessible directly from the app. The rule makes it more difficult for creators of subscription and other paid content to avoid Apple's 30% cut of In App Purchases.
As noted by MacStories, the Rule 11.13 Apple is citing in rejecting these application is not new, but developers running the Dropbox SDK version 1.2.1 which offered a way for users to get to paid signup pages were just recently beginning to experience issues with App Store review. As cited in one rejection notice sent to a developer:
11.13
We found that your app provides access to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines.
Specifically, your app enables to user to create accounts with Dropbox and Google.
For its part, Dropbox has moved quickly to address the issue on an interim basis, rolling out a new SDK version 1.2.2 that eliminates access to both account signups and paid subscription packages directly from apps with Dropbox integration. In terms of a longer-term solution, Dropbox reported to The Verge that it is "working with Apple to come up with a solution that still provides an elegant user experience."
Based on comments from Dropbox representatives in the developer support thread, it appears the company would at a minimum like to have a way for new users to create free Dropbox accounts so that they can be used in association with the Dropbox-enabled apps using the SDK. Dropbox appears to be very willing to make sure users signing up through this mechanism are not provided with a means to sign up for additional paid storage capacity, thereby avoiding the primary Apple's primary objection to mechanism circumventing In App Purchasing.
One week ago, we noted that former Dixons Retail CEO had officially started his job as senior vice president of retail at Apple. Browett's start date of April 20 was revealed by securities filling revealing that he had received stock rights currently worth $60 million as of that date.
At the time, we pointed out that Browett had not been added to Apple's leadership page on its website, but that issue has now been addressed and Browett has received his own dedicated page with the standard headshot photo and a brief biography.
John Browett is Apple's senior vice president of retail, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. Browett serves on the company's executive team and oversees Apple's retail strategy and the continued expansion of Apple retail stores around the world.
John joined Apple in April 2012 from European technology retailer Dixons Retail, where he was CEO since 2007. Prior to joining Dixons Retail, Browett held a series of executive positions at Tesco plc including CEO of Tesco.com. Earlier in his career he advised retail and consumer goods clients at Boston Consulting Group.
He holds a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and an MBA from Wharton Business School.
Given that Apple lists its executives in alphabetical order with the exception of CEO Tim Cook, Browett holds a prominent position on the main page directly next to Cook. With Browett's arrival, the senior executive leadership team now includes ten members, all of whom with the exception of Browtt and general counsel Bruce Sewell have been with the company for at least ten years.
Availability of the new iPad continues to improve, as evidenced by shipping estimates for new orders now registering at 3-5 business days in Apple's online stores for the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The change comes less than two weeks after shipping estimates improved to 5-7 business days.
The shorter timeframes have not yet propagated to Apple's other online store distribution channels, with stores in the Asia Pacific region continuing to list estimates of 5-7 business days and stores in Europe maintaining estimates of 1-2 weeks that have been in place for some time now.
Apple CEO Tim Cook noted during last week's earnings conference call that supplies of the new iPad had been constrained for the entirety of the the three weeks the device was available during the company's fiscal second quarter, and that supplies remain constrained even today.
Streaming music service Spotify, which gained a loyal following in Europe before debuting in the United States last July, has launched its highly-anticipated iPad app. The app arrives in the form of a universal version of Spotify's free existing app, although like the iPhone version a Premium subscription is required for mobile access after a brief trial period.
Today we’re extremely proud to present our native iPad app in all its green-hued glory. Features include:
- Retina graphics for iPad - dazzling display, razor sharp images, richer colors
- Even easier to browse and explore Spotify’s entire 18 million* song catalogue
- New ‘Now Playing’ full-screen view with high-definition cover art
- Search for playlists, users and music - all from the same view
- Check out what's hot and find trending playlists & songs amongst your friends
- Inbox grouped by user for easy searching
- Gapless playback and crossfade
- AirPlay integration
Apple issued a software update for OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3 this evening. Apple released Developer Preview 3 to developers. The update brings the build number of Mountain Lion up to 12A193i (from 12A178q).
If you already have Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3 installed, choose Software Update from the Apple menu to download the update from the Mac App Store. Download Xcode 4.4 Developer Preview 4 from the Mac Dev Center to continue building apps for Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3 Update.
One change noted by 9to5Mac is the addition of a "Do Not Disturb" setting to Mountain Lion's Notifications Center:
Besides the Notification Center, Mountain Lion also borrows a number of other features from iOS, such as Reminders, Messages, and Game Center. Apple first previewed Mountain Lion back in February and promises deliver to customers in late summer 2012.
Following last week's leak of home buttons claimed to be for the next-generation iPhone, parts vendor SW-BOX.com has just posted information on a claimed iPhone 5 SIM card tray fresh from one of its parts suppliers.
The tray appears essentially identical to the SIM card tray found in the iPhone 4S and 4, and if the part is indeed legitimate it suggests that Apple may retain a similar flat-edged form factor for the forthcoming device. Such a design would be opposed to a tapered or rounded-edge design that would likely require a somewhat curved exterior surface for the tray or at least a thinner tray profile as was seen in earlier iPhone models such as the 3G and 3GS.
Apple has been pushing for its own "nano-SIM" standard, but has so far been unable to win approval as competitors have objected to the proposal and offered their own designs for a smaller next-generation SIM card. Unsurprisingly, it appears that a smaller nano-SIM design will not be ready in time to be included in the next-generation iPhone.
Apple is expected to introduce its next-generation iPhone later this year, with many observers suggesting that Apple will once again target the September-October timeframe for the launch. Many users have been hoping for a significant redesign following Apple's pattern of maintaining a similar form factor for two generations between major design overhauls, but part leaks that might reveal Apple's plans have yet to begin surfacing.
Update: As several observers have pointed out, the SIM card tray does have some subtle differences compared to the tray used in the iPhone 4S and 4, with a slight tapering of metal frame pieces and an extra metal shelf not seen in current trays. Consequently, the part certainly appears to not simply be an iPhone 4S SIM card tray, and while it could be a knockoff part, SW-BOX.com and its supplier seem to believe that it is genuine.
(Thanks, CydiaBlog.com)
Apple has released a number of updates to several of its apps for the iPhone and iPad. The iLife apps, iPhoto, Garageband, and iMovie, all received minor updates, while Apple also pushed out bug fixes to the Cards greeting-card app, and to iTunes U.
None of the updates offer any significant new features -- the updates mostly offer "performance and stability improvements" or fix other bugs. All the updates can be obtained via the App Store app on the iPhone and iPad.
MacRumors is pleased to announce the third annual MacRumors Blood Drive, for the month of May 2012. We encourage forum members and site visitors to donate blood or platelets at any hospital or blood donation center in their city. We want to increase the number of life-saving donations by our online community for the benefit of people in their real-world communities. We also ask donors to post photos or stories in our Blood Drive thread. Saving a life is its own reward but accepting recognition as a donor helps spread the message to others. Please join us in showing the spirit of our community by donating blood or platelets this month and letting us know. Details are in the MacRumors 2012 Blood Drive thread.
Most blood drives are specific to a physical organization at a particular location. Ours is online and worldwide. You can help people in your city who are in need of life-saving blood and platelets in less than an hour of your time. If you are eligible to donate blood you can go to a hospital, community center, the Red Cross, or an independent donation center near you. If you are not eligible to donate yourself, please help the Blood Drive by encouraging other people to donate; see the Blood Drive thread for ideas.
Donated blood and platelets are needed every few seconds, all year, not just when calamities occur. They save the lives of people recovering from accidents, undergoing surgery, or struck by illness, including MacRumors forum members who have let us know that their lives were saved by donated blood. There's no gift more precious than the gift of life.
Specific donor eligibility requirements vary by country. For links and general information see our Blood and Platelet Donation Guide. You can also save lives by registering to donate your organs and tissue and by registering to be a bone marrow donor; see our Organ, Tissue, and Bone Marrow Donation Guide.
Apple's health, relief, and charity efforts over the years have included donations for 9/11 workers in 2001, the fundraising Songs for Sudan effort in 2004, (PRODUCT) RED participation since 2006, help for victims of the Haitian earthquake in 2010 and Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, and most recently a $50 million donation to Stanford University hospitals and a charitable donation matching program that are part of Apple's recent emphasis on corporate philanthropy.
Last year, the Financial Times, a major business newspaper, announced it would discontinue its iOS app in favor of an HTML5 based web app. The move was in response to Apple's requirement that it get a 30% cut of any subscription sold through iTunes, as well as Apple's refusal to pass along the personal information of subscribers without their permission.
The FT's sleek HTML5 web app has been very well received. The FT said it had no difficulty driving users to the mobile app, noting that "the world outside the App Store is not cold and desperate."
Though the FT's native iOS app continued working for customers who had already downloaded it, that support will be discontinued as upgrades the FT is making over the next month will render the app unusable, according to PaidContent.
It is taking the step because only a relative handful of users remain and because it can no longer continue to maintain features inside the app.
The HTML5 web app has been a success for the Financial Times, with mobile accounting for 12% of new paid subscriptions and 19% of FT.com web traffic.
In the early '90s, one of the premier PC games was 7th Guest. It was the first game to use full rendered 3D animation and navigation, and Bill Gates called it "the new standard in interactive entertainment". Trilobyte, the company that made 7th Guest and its sequel, The 11th Hour, eventually went out of business.
However, some members of the original Trilobyte team have ported The 7th Guest to iPhone and iPad, as well as the Mac App Store. For May Day, Trilobyte is offering both the iOS and Mac versions of their games for free, down from $4.99 and $9.99. Also free is 7th Guest: Infection, a specially rebuilt puzzle built for the iPad.
"Welcome to my ... house!" Old Man Stauf built a house and filled it with his toys. Six guests were invited one night, their screams the only noise…
In the world of The 7th Guest, you are an active and mysterious entity known only as "Ego". Your role, identity and purpose is not known or explained, rather, it is experienced as a seamlessly integral part of the total environment that is the Stauf mansion. Because you are looking out from within, you cannot see yourself, but your inner spirit has a voice. Listen to it.
The house of The 7th Guest is filled with 19 devilishly clever puzzles that will test your wits and scare you out of them as well. To complete the game you must solve every puzzle in the house - only then will the secrets of the madman Henry Stauf be revealed to you.
The 7th Guest is available as both a universal iOS app (normally $4.99, Direct Link) and on the Mac App Store (normally $9.99, Direct Link).
The 7th Guest: Infection is available for the iPad, normally $2.99. [Direct Link]
In March, a number of regulatory organizations announced they were looking into Apple's advertising claims surrounding the 4G capabilities of the new iPad. The Advertising Standards Authority in the United Kingdom has announced it doesn't feel Apple has adjusted its iPad 4G advertising to comply with local laws, reports the BBC.
Apple's UK site still offers consumers the chance to buy a "wi-fi + 4G" version of the iPad.
A footnote explains that "4G LTE" is supported only on certain networks in the United States and Canada.
The ASA said it had since been contacted by several complainants who had identified other "potentially problematic claims" about the iPad and 4G on the website.
"If it appears that the problem claims we asked Apple to remove are still appearing," the regulator said, "we will investigate these new complaints."
4G networks haven't arrived in Britain yet, and when they do, the networks won't be supported by the new iPad. The iPad only connects to 4G LTE networks in Canada and the United States. Apple has been offering refunds to consumers who feel misled by the company's 4G claims.
The UK has strict regulation of advertising claims and Apple's marketing has been the subject of several decisions from the ASA. In 2008, the agency banned an iPhone ad over misleading claims, while a more recent decision regarding claims of the world's thinnest smartphone came down in Apple's favor. The ASA also ruled in Apple's favor earlier this year in a dispute over advertising for Siri on the iPhone 4S.
The Travis County Commissioners Court has just given official approval for a package of tax incentives designed to secure Apple's commitment to expand its Austin, Texas campus and add over 3,600 new jobs at the site. The approval comes after development officials expressed concern last week that the deal was "in peril" as concerns over loopholes in the contract delayed approval by the county.
Apple governmental affairs representative Jason Lundgaard was on hand for the session and answered several questions for the county commissioners.
Travis County is the final governmental entity to approve its portion of the total tax incentive plan, which is estimated to yield $35-36 million for Apple in exchange for adding the jobs and facilities. The State of Texas and the City of Austin previously approved their pieces of the deal.
Antivirus firm Symantec has published a new blog post examining how the Flashback malware affecting hundreds of thousand of Macs has been generating revenue for its authors by hijacking users' ad clicks. According to the report, the widespread nature of the infection means that malware authors could have been generating up to $10,000 per day from the scheme at its peak based on previous analysis of malware click redirection.
The Flashback ad-clicking component is loaded into Chrome, Firefox, and Safari where it can intercept all GET and POST requests from the browser. Flashback specifically targets search queries made on Google and, depending on the search query, may redirect users to another page of the attacker's choosing, where they receive revenue from the click . (Google never receives the intended ad click.)
Symantec's work on the ad-click hijacking aspect of Flashback comes after Russian firm Dr. Web, which was responsible for the initial publicity about the malware, published its own report examining some of the early data on infected computers seeking to connect to command-and-control servers.
The report looks at nearly 100,000 connections that came in on April 13, finding that close to two-thirds of the infected machines identified themselves as running Mac OS X Snow Leopard, which was the last version of OS X to ship with Java enabled by default. OS X Lion does not include Java by default, and thus was responsible for only 11% of infections seen during the survey period.
[W]hile Snow Leopard's and Leopard's infection rates are higher than their usage shares, the opposite's true of OS X 10.7, or Lion. The 2011 OS accounted for 39.6% of all copies of OS X used last month, yet represented only 11.2% of the Flashback-compromised Macs.
Dr. Web's data on OS kernel versions being reported from infected Macs also demonstrates that many Mac users do not keep their systems up-to-date, with roughly 25% of Snow Leopard and Lion systems seen in the survey reporting themselves as at least one version behind Apple's most recent updates (10.6.8 for Snow Leopard and 10.7.3 for Lion).
Research firm IDC today released its estimates of global mobile phone and smartphone shipments for the first quarter 2012, revealing that Apple set a record high in taking 8.8% of the overall mobile phone market. The performance just barely topped Apple's 8.7% share in the previous quarter, which was the launch quarter for the iPhone 4S.
"The race between Apple and Samsung remained tight during the quarter, even as both companies posted growth in key areas," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Phone Technology and Trends program. "Apple launched its popular iPhone 4S in additional key markets, most notably in China, and Samsung experienced continued success from its Galaxy Note smartphone/tablet and other Galaxy smartphones. With other companies in the midst of major strategic transitions, the contest between Apple and Samsung will bear close observation as hotly-anticipated new models are launched."
Samsung's shipment numbers suffer from significant uncertainty, however, as the company no longer releases official data on its sales for competitive reasons. Consequently, analysts have had to resort to rough estimates for Samsung's numbers, and IDC believes that Samsung registered 42.2 million smartphone shipments to easily top Apple's publicly-released number of 35.1 million units.
Research firm Strategy Analytics last week offered a similar estimate of Samsung's shipments at 44.5 million units for the quarter, but IHS iSuppli painted a very different picture with its estimate of only 32 million smartphone units for Samsung, which would have left Apple atop the rankings for the quarter.
Houston NBC affiliate KPRC reports that five businesses along Westheimer Road in Houston were hit by random gunfire early Monday morning, with Apple's new Highland Village retail store being one of the targets.
The Houston Police Department confirms it is investigating five random shootings at business in southwest Houston.
Between 4:40 and 5:40 a.m. Monday, several windows were shot out. The targets were from gas stations to swanky furniture store Cantoni, officials said. [...]
The brand new Apple store at 4012 Westhiemer was also hit.
ifoAppleStore reports that Apple is planning to open a new retail store in the Cornwall Centre shopping mall in Regina, Saskatchewan. The location is a notable one for being the first in the vast province in the heart of Canada, with no other Apple retail stores located within a 300-mile radius.
Cornwall Centre is located in city center and has 90 retailers in an enclosed mall. City planning documents mention the new store, but the exact location within the mall isn’t known. Based on construction schedules, the store could open by November 2012.
Regina, the provincial capital with a population of roughly 200,000, is the second-largest city and part of the second-largest metropolitan area in Saskatchewan, just behind Saskatoon.
Update: As noted in our forums and confirmed by The Regina Leader-Post (via iPhoneinCanada.ca), the forthcoming store is actually a reseller and not an official Apple retail store.
Regina's Cornwall Centre is getting a store selling Apple products — though, contrary to rumours that circulated Tuesday morning on the web — it won't be an Apple store.
Krista Bebeau, the downtown mall's marketing manager, said it will an outlet of a firm called iWorld Connect — the website of which (http://iworldconnect.com/) confirms the company is opening a store in Regina.
A pair of filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that Apple executive Scott Fortsall and board member Mickey Drexler each sold off tens of thousands of shares of Apple stock on Friday, netting millions of dollars each.
Forstall, who serves as senior vice president of iOS Software and has been a fixture in Apple's keynote presentations and media events, sold off 64,151 shares of Apple stock on Friday, netting roughly $38.7 million. Forstall gained 120,000 shares of Apple stock last month as a 2008 retention bonus of restricted stock units converted to actual stock. 55,849 shares were immediately sold off at that time to account for the taxes due on the conversion, and Forstall held on to the remaining shares until last Friday.
Following Friday's transaction, Forstall holds 2,988 shares of Apple stock, worth roughly $1.75 million at today's share price and the same number of shares he held prior to last month's vesting of his 2008 retention bonus. Forstall is also in line to receive a number of other stock grants should he remain with the company over the next several years, including a 150,000-unit grant that will vest in equal portions next year and in 2016. A separate grant of 100,000 units will vest in 2014.
Meanwhile, longtime Apple board member Mickey Drexler, who serves as Chairman and CEO of J. Crew and was previously President and CEO of The Gap, has cashed in on stock options dating back nearly a decade in order to reap a substantial windfall.
Drexler exercised a set of 20,000 options from 2003 priced at $9.16 each and a second set of 20,000 options from 2004 priced at $14.205 each, selling off all 40,000 shares on Friday for $24.1 million. After accounting for the exercise prices on the options, Drexler netted close to $23.7 million. Drexler continues to hold 584 shares of Apple stock worth roughly $384,000 at today's share price.
New visual intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, tweaks for notification summaries, and more.
Apple Intelligence is what Apple is calling its artificial intelligence feature set, previewed at WWDC in June 2024. 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 Tim Hardwick
12 hours ago by Tim Hardwick
12 hours ago by Joe Rossignol
2 days ago by Joe Rossignol
2 days ago by Joe Rossignol
New visual intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, tweaks for notification summaries, and more.
Apple Intelligence is what Apple is calling its artificial intelligence feature set, previewed at WWDC in June 2024. 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 Tim Hardwick
12 hours ago by Tim Hardwick
12 hours ago by Joe Rossignol
2 days ago by Joe Rossignol
2 days ago by Joe Rossignol
