iDownloadBlog.com |
- FTC investigating children’s apps over privacy concerns
- Time names the iPhone 5 its ‘Gadget of the Year’
- Reuters scolds Americanos for spending way too much money on Apple gear
- Microsoft pressing Apple to take smaller cut on Office for iOS sales
- Google News improves iPad experience with cleaner UI and new gestures
- Twitter app update with Instagram-like filters now available for download
- Apple researching way more visual caller ID with deeper context
- Shazam redesigns its fugly apps: larger artwork, Google+ sharing, offline tagging
- Find My iPhone, now with driving directions to lost devices
- Reports of an iPhone 5 jailbreak releasing on December 22nd are probably fake – updated
| FTC investigating children’s apps over privacy concerns Posted: 11 Dec 2012 05:27 PM PST
The US Federal Trade Commission released a report yesterday regarding mobile apps that are aimed at children. It has been investigating kids titles from both the App Store and the Google Play marketplace, and has found that there has been little done over the past few years to address privacy concerns. These apps are still collecting kids’ data, and sharing it, without their parents’ knowledge or consent…(...) "FTC investigating children’s apps over privacy concerns" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
| Time names the iPhone 5 its ‘Gadget of the Year’ Posted: 11 Dec 2012 03:01 PM PST
The year is winding down, and like clockwork, TIME Magazine has released its annual collection of 55 lists showcasing the best and the worst of the past 12 months. And as you’ve probably already gleaned from the title, the publication has named the iPhone 5 its ‘Gadget of the Year.’ Apple’s handset beat out several rival products from Samsung and Microsoft, including the Note II and the Surface tablet, as well as Nintendo’s new Wii U gaming console. In fact, author Harry McCracken says that it’s is one of the most artfully polished gadgets anyone's ever built… (...) "Time names the iPhone 5 its ‘Gadget of the Year’" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
| Reuters scolds Americanos for spending way too much money on Apple gear Posted: 11 Dec 2012 02:45 PM PST
Whenever one parts with one’s hard-earned cash in order to get one’s hands on a shiny Apple device, there’s always people questioning the buyer’s sanity. The inevitable ‘Apple tax’ every now and then raises its ugly head through click-bait blog posts. Even more worryingly, this non-topic somehow manages to find its way into write-ups of traffic-hungry newspapers. You can now totally put Reuters on your list of sensationalist media outlets. The otherwise respectable news gathering organization yesterday published an article titled ‘Your Money: The “Apple Tax” – America’s costly obsession’. Here’s what’s wrong with their story and why I’m bitching about it on a lazy Tuesday afternoon…(...) "Reuters scolds Americanos for spending way too much money on Apple gear" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
| Microsoft pressing Apple to take smaller cut on Office for iOS sales Posted: 11 Dec 2012 02:23 PM PST
Apple has just rejected the latest update to Microsoft’s iOS SkyDrive app, a client for its popular cloud-based storage service. The reason for this is that the update includes the ability for users to purchase more storage through the app, and Microsoft isn’t giving Apple its 30% cut of the sales. Apparently the two companies are at serious odds over the commission fee, and the situation may not be resolvable. Microsoft has even offered to remove all subscription options from the app, but to no avail. And according to a new report, the beef has spilled over into Office for iOS discussions…(...) "Microsoft pressing Apple to take smaller cut on Office for iOS sales" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
| Google News improves iPad experience with cleaner UI and new gestures Posted: 11 Dec 2012 02:10 PM PST
Google today announced some welcome (if not way overdue) changes to its free news aggregator platform, Google News. The enhancements are aimed specifically at Apple’s iPad and, of course, Google’s own Nexus tablets and include new gestures and more breathing room between articles, which de-clutters the interface. If you used to dislike Google News because it threw every link it could at you, give the updated web app another try as it does feel more natural and fluid on iPads than before…(...) "Google News improves iPad experience with cleaner UI and new gestures" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
| Twitter app update with Instagram-like filters now available for download Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:23 PM PST
As I reported yesterday, Twitter has updated its Android app with the promised Instagram-competing photo filters, a first for the micro-blogging service seeking to supplant Instagram as your favorite photo sharing service. That, my friends, is a pretty tall order given Instagram’s popularity, the Facebook backing and a growing number of new features Instagram’s gaining. Be that as it may, Twitter has waited until this morning to roll out filters to its iOS client. You’re gonna love the ability to snap a scene, edit the photo with the filters supplied by Aviary and tweet out your work without jumping back and forth between Twitter and your go-to iPhoneography app. You can grab the free download right now from the App Store. More on other features right after the break…(...) "Twitter app update with Instagram-like filters now available for download" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
| Apple researching way more visual caller ID with deeper context Posted: 11 Dec 2012 01:12 PM PST
Apple has been granted a patent for a sort of intelligent visual caller ID. Like usual, the patent application carries the mundane title of “Image selection for an incoming call”. In reality, the technique Apple proposes could alert you to the caller’s identity and give you some contextual clues where they are calling from, even their time of day. We can already get an image of a caller, based on the incoming phone number. But the patent could display an image based on additional filters. For instance, suppose you receive a mid-morning call on the West Coast from someone in Japan. The technology would determine the caller’s location and timezone, and show a photo of the person in the middle of the night. Does this mean I can’t call in sick when I’m actually at the beach?(...) "Apple researching way more visual caller ID with deeper context" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
| Shazam redesigns its fugly apps: larger artwork, Google+ sharing, offline tagging Posted: 11 Dec 2012 12:27 PM PST
Shazam, a music identification service popular with smartphone owners, today issued a nice update to both its free and paid iPhone apps. For starters, Shazam version 5.5 integrates better with iOS 6 by invoking the standard system sheet when sharing tags to Facebook (really, what took so long?). More importantly, you can now record audio snippets offline for later matching, something I’ve been yearning for since the dawn of time. Google+ sharing is also supported, as is searching by name, title, tag date or location. Last, but certainly not the least, the app’s fugly interface has been overhauled with larger artwork for music, TV ads, or shows, a prettier listening screen and generally nicer-looking interface that’s easy on the eyes and more in line with Apple’s iOS Human Interface Guidelines. These features are in addition to September’s update (when Shazam raised $32 million in funding), which has brought out the interesting ability to tag any television show on any channel in the United States…(...) "Shazam redesigns its fugly apps: larger artwork, Google+ sharing, offline tagging" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
| Find My iPhone, now with driving directions to lost devices Posted: 11 Dec 2012 11:55 AM PST
A small but noteworthy update to Apple’s Find My iPhone software has just surfaced on iTunes. The iPhone and iPad app which lets you locate stolen or misplaced devices on a world map has gained ability to provide driving directions to your lost gear. This capability requires the new Find My iPhone app version 2.0.1 or later and iOS 6 or later. Apple has also enabled another tweak where Play Sound, Lost Mode and Erase buttons appear separately from the main map view. Unfortunately, the repugnant stitched leather theme is still all over the app…(...) "Find My iPhone, now with driving directions to lost devices" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
| Reports of an iPhone 5 jailbreak releasing on December 22nd are probably fake – updated Posted: 11 Dec 2012 11:39 AM PST
Over the last few weeks there’s been a slight buzz about a so-called iPhone 5 jailbreak from some unknown and unproven entity. So as not to draw attention to the folks behind what is almost assuredly a hoax, we’ll refrain from linking or name dropping. The bottom line is this, if you don’t see word from a respectable member of the community, a member from proven teams like the Chronic Dev Team or the iPhone Dev Team, then it’s almost always fake. Please don’t get hyped up over something that isn’t real, only to be highly disappointed in a few weeks…(...) "Reports of an iPhone 5 jailbreak releasing on December 22nd are probably fake – updated" is an article by iDownloadBlog.com. |
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