Tim Cook Highlights 'Magical' iPad Doo-Wop Duet Between Billy Joel and Jimmy Fallon

Last night on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Billy Joel joined the talk show host in a doo-wop video so entertaining that it was singled out by Tim Cook on Twitter.
Check this out. @jimmyfallon and @billyjoel with iPad and a cool app called Loopy HD. Magical. http://t.co/dWlZr6Lsm6
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 21, 2014

The featured iPad app is Loopy HD [Direct Link], which allows you to create music by layering loops that you record yourself. Fallon and Joel sang The Lion Sleeps Tonight, a song made popular in the 1960s by doo-wop group The Tokens. The pair sang different parts of the song in an amusing exchange that features a solo by Fallon and the always powerful vocals of Joel.


This isn't the first time the musical aspect of the iPad has taken center stage on Fallon's talk shows. In a 2010 Late Night With Jimmy Fallon episode that aired shortly after the original iPad was launched, Fallon invited English New Wave band Squeeze to the stage, with keyboardist Stephen Large splitting his performance between a Roland VK-8 and an iPad.


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Apple and Google, Like Microsoft, Reserve Right to Read Customer Emails

Apple, Yahoo, and Google all have terms of service that allow them to read users' emails if necessary, according to research done by The Guardian. Apple's iCloud Terms and Conditions includes a clause that gives Apple permission to disclose Account information and Content, including iCloud email, when necessary by law, to address security, fraud, or technical issues, or to protect the rights and property of Apple.
You acknowledge and agree that Apple may, without liability to you, access, use, preserve and/or disclose your Account information and Content to law enforcement authorities, government officials, and/or a third party, as Apple believes is reasonably necessary or appropriate, if legally required to do so or if we have a good faith belief that such access, use, disclosure, or preservation is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process or request; (b) enforce this Agreement, including investigation of any potential violation thereof; (c) detect, prevent or otherwise address security, fraud or technical issues; or (d) protect the rights, property or safety of Apple, its users, a third party, or the public as required or permitted by law.
Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft's terms of service all contain similar wording granting the technology companies unfettered access to content. The Guardian initially began investigating the rights of major companies to access user email after Microsoft looked through the personal Hotmail account of a blogger in order to discover the source of a Windows 8 leak.

Microsoft employee Alex Kibkalo was found sending a tech blogger parts of Windows 8 code back in 2012, allowing the blogger to access screenshots of the operating system, which were then posted online. Microsoft fired Kibkalo, but its methods of discovery were questioned, prompting the company to make a statement on its investigation policies, pledging not to read customer emails except in circumstances where a court order would be justified and vowing to announce such searches in its bi-annual transparency report.

While it is Microsoft that's under fire for reading the email of its users, as mentioned above, Apple, Google, and Yahoo have the same rights to access content under questionable conditions. Apple does not mention whether or not it accesses iCloud email for non-security reasons in its own transparency reports and it is unclear whether the company has accessed private content in the search for leaks.

Apple is a notoriously secretive company, however, going to great lengths to protect its upcoming products. According to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, product secrecy is one of the specific tenets that has been responsible for Apple's success, and in 2012, Tim Cook said the company would "double down on secrecy on products."

Nevertheless, Apple has had a hard time keeping leaks under wraps. The iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c were both unveiled long before their release, and more recently, some significant iOS 8 leaks have come to light.

Apple and Google both opted not to comment to The Guardian on the clauses in their Terms of Services, but all customers opt-in to possible searches when signing up for an email account with either company.

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Apple in Talks for On-Demand Streaming Music Service, Considering Android iTunes App

Apple is considering launching an on-demand streaming service similar to Spotify in light of declining music sales, reports Billboard. The service would be part of a multi-prong strategy that may also include an iTunes app for Android.
Apple has opened exploratory talks with senior label executives about the possibility of launching an on-demand streaming service that would rival Spotify and Beats Music, according to three people familiar with the talks. Apple is also thinking about adding an iTunes App for Android phones, the Google rival that has been growing faster than the iPhone, these sources said.
In January, it was reported that music sales had declined for the first time since the iTunes Store opened 2003, with individual song downloads falling 5.7 percent from 1.34 billion units sold to 1.26 billion, and digital album sales dropping to 117.6 million units from 117.7 million units.

In recent months, Apple has attempted to lure more customers with exclusive album releases, such as Beyoncé's fifth album, released first on iTunes, and has been pushing record companies for additional deals of that nature.

Album sales have remained down, however, as streaming services have risen in popularity, prompting Apple to explore other options as well. A March report from the RIAA indicated Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube had generated $1.4 billion in subscription, advertising, and licensing revenues in the U.S. in 2013, a 39 percent increase from 2012.

Apple introduced its iTunes Radio streaming music service last year, but it is station-based like Pandora, limiting how many songs users can choose for themselves. An iTunes service similar to Spotify or Beats Music would allow listeners to pick and choose all of their content, which could potentially be accessed on other non-Apple platforms like Android.
"They are feeling out some people at labels on thoughts about transitioning its customers from iTunes proper to a streaming service," says one major label source. "So when you buy a song for $1.29, and you put it in your library, iTunes might send an e-mail pointing out that for a total of, say, $8 a month you can access that song plus all the music in the iTunes store. It's all in the 'what if stage."
Apple's talks with record labels about a possible expansion of iTunes Radio into a full-fledged music streaming service are still in the early stages, and the company has declined to comment.

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New Slim 12" MacBook and MacBook Air Updates Soon

A new forum post on Weiphone.com [Google Translation] has revealed a number of details about Apple's upcoming plans for its MacBook notebooks as well as some details about its iWatch initiative. The author of the post has posted legitimate leaks and photos of un-released MacBook hardware in the past, lending credibility to this new information.



The poster writes about the upcoming MacBook Pro line as well as a new 12" notebook that has previously been predicted, suggesting the future MacBook could be released without a fan assembly and with a redesigned trackpad. A MacRumors reader provides a summary translation of the post:
1. MacBook Air updates are coming soon; MacBook Pro updates won't occur until September.
2. He discusses a new 12 inch notebook without fan assembly. It comes with a new trackpad design that doesn't include the mechanical button, as we do on current MacBooks.
3. An Apple watch device does exist but still in prototype stage, so its announcement won't come anytime soon.
It is not entirely clear where a potential 12" MacBook might fit into Apple's product line. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo first predicted in October that Apple would be releasing a 12" slim MacBook with a Retina Display this later year:
We expect the unprecedented 12" model will boast both the portability of the 11" model, and productivity of the 13" model. The high resolution display will also offer the outstanding visual experience of the Retina MacBook Pro. The offering will likely be lighter and slimmer than the existing MacBook Air to further highlight ease of portability in the cloud computing era.

The buttonless trackpad design that the author describes may be related to a recent patent application by Apple, which describes a buttonless trackpad that uses an array of sensors and an actuator to mimic the function and tactile feedback of the current trackpad.

The author of the post also comments on Apple's much-rumored smart watch, noting that it remains in the prototype stages and is unlikely to see a release soon. That is in line with other rumors, which have targeted a late 2014 release date for the product.

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China Mobile Adds One Million iPhone Users in February

China Mobile Chief Executive Li Yue confirmed on Thursday that the carrier added one million new iPhone customers last month following the iPhone's launch in mid-January, reports the Wall Street Journal. China Mobile released these subscriber figures as part of its annual earnings statement, which also included the carrier's first profit decline in 14 years.
iphone_5s_china_mobile To offset increasing competition from rival carriers China Unicom and China Telecom, China Mobile is trying to attract new customers with the combination of its new 4G network and flagship phones like the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c.
"We added 1.34 million new 4G users in February and most of them are iPhone users. We are happy with the progress as we are still building our 4G network and the coverage is only available in some major cities," China Mobile Chairman Xi Gouhua told The Wall Street Journal.
China is the world's largest mobile phone market by subscribers, and China Mobile is the country's largest wireless carrier with 776 million subscribers. Analysts predict the addition of the iPhone to China Mobile's smartphone lineup could boost iPhone sales by 15 to 30 million units in 2014. Apple sold 51 million iPhones globally in Q1 2014 and has sold 472.3 million smartphones in total as of January 2014.

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Samsung Bashes the iPad, Microsoft Surface and Kindle in New Ad

Samsung has released a new anti-Apple advertisement that highlights the perceived shortcomings of the iPad in comparison to Samsung's new Galaxy Tab Pro and Galaxy Note Pro tablets. Targeting not only Apple, the ad also criticizes Microsoft's Surface tablet and the Amazon Kindle.

samsung-ad-ipad-notepro
The ad uses three scenarios to highlight the advantages of the Galaxy Pro series over its competitors. The first is a business conference call, during which the Galaxy owner is able to talk and simultaneously send a report because of the Galaxy's multitasking feature that allows him to display multiple Android applications at once on the screen. There's also a slight jab at the Microsoft Surface, which is ridiculed for being "computer-like" because of its keyboard, battery pack and mouse.




The ad then switches to more personal uses of the tablet with a quick dig at Amazon's Kindle device, which can only read books, while the Galaxy can pull up YouTube videos during a book club meeting. The harshest comment comes at the end when two ladies at a spa are comparing their iPad and Galaxy tablets. The discourse on the lower screen resolution of the iPad (2048-by-1536 resolution) when compared to the Galaxy Pro (2560-by-1600 resolution) ends with a condescending smile from the Galaxy owner when the iPad owner retorts that her iPad has "the retina thingy."

Samsung has a history of chiding its competitors in commercials, so it's not surprising to see the Korean company take on the iPad shortly after unveiling its Galaxy Pro series earlier this year.

The Galaxy Note Pro features Samsung's S-Pen technology, while the Tab Pro is the company's standard tablet. The Galaxy Note Pro is available in a 12.2-inch size, while the Galaxy Tab Pro ships with 12.2, 10.1 or 8.4-inch displays.
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Christian Bale Top Choice to Play Steve Jobs in Biopic Written by Aaron Sorkin

Director David Fincher, who is in talks to direct the Aaron Sorkin-scripted Steve Jobs biopic based on Water Isaacson’s biography, is hoping to cast Christian Bale in the leading role as Steve Jobs, reports TheWrap.

Though Fincher has not yet officially signed on to direct the film, he has allegedly said that he will take on the project if Christian Bale plays Steve Jobs. Bale has not been approached about the possible role, but he has reportedly been a front runner for the position due to his undeniable resemblance to Jobs.

christianbale
While Steve Jobs is a long way from Batman, Bale has been considered a prime contender to play the tech superhero since the project was first announced due to his physical resemblance to the Apple co-founder.

Bale has not been approached to play Jobs yet, as the actor is taking a step away from the business to spend time with his family now that he has wrapped the role of Moses in Ridley Scott’s "Exodus," which is expected to have him back in the awards conversation after "American Hustle."
David Fincher, who may direct the yet unnamed biopic, was the director behind The Social Network, another Silicon Valley-based film that won three Academy Awards and was nominated for five more, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Sorkin completed the script for the upcoming Jobs movie back in January, and the film is said to take place across three continuous 30-minute scenes at three different Jobs-led product launches.

The movie, which is still in the casting stages, has no set launch date at the current time.

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iPad Lifecycle Mirrors Macs and Maybe Even TVs Rather Than iPhones

A new report by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) suggests iPad owners replace their tablets less frequently than their iPhone-owning counterparts, who upgrade almost every two years. The longer iPad replacement cycle may be more like the Mac, which tends to be replaced every 2-4 years, or possibly even televisions which have a five to 10-year ownership span. (Via Fortune)

cirp-2104-ipad-replacement
The CIRP report, which surveyed 2,000 U.S. customers who purchased an iPhone, iPad or Mac in 2013, shows that almost half of iPad owners will go without their tablet, waiting a week or more to replace a broken, lost or stolen device. They also are twice as likely as iPhone owners to give their older iPad to friends or family members.
"We think Apple would prefer the iPad become a big iPhone," the report concludes. "We suspect, though, based on recent CIRP data about how buyers use them, that it's as much like a Mac, TV, or iPod, with less frequent replacement."
This replacement rate could affect future sales, driving them down as the tablet market becomes saturated. In this scenario, consumers would hold onto an iPad for a longer period of time, and future first-time iPad owners would be more likely to receive an older iPad than buy a new one.

Even as competition increases and the tablet market slows, Apple still is the top tablet vendor worldwide with 36 percent market share, according to Gartner's March 2014 report. The Cupertino company sold a record 26 million iPads in Q1 2014 and 195 million tablets overall.
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iBeacon Technology Begins Moving Into the Home and NBA Arenas

Apple's iBeacon technology is poised to influence the retail sector by offering a personalized shopping experience to customers, but it may also have personal benefits by interacting with apps when a user is at home.

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As spotted by TechCrunch, new iOS app Placed gives us a glimpse into personal iBeacon usage, linking an incoming iBeacon signal to apps associated with common household activities. With appropriately placed iBeacons, you could enable the remote when you sit on the couch or start a timer when you step up to the oven to cook.

It's an early implementation of iBeacon technology as the app integration is only partially automated, sending a notification to your phone that requires you to manually launch an app before anything happens. It an interesting use of iBeacon technology, though, and a small step towards a wider use of iBeacons the automated home.

Besides personal and retail use, iBeacon technology also is being used in sports to assist fans and add to the overall game experience. The Golden State Warriors became the first NBA team to adopt Apple's iBeacon technology, installing the Bluetooth transmitters in the team's home arena, reports Business Week.

The iBeacon technology is being used to boost ticket sales by prompting fans to upgrade their tickets as they make their way to their nosebleed seats inside Oracle Arena. The Warriors, as well as other sports teams, already offer seat upgrades through their mobile apps, but this is the first time iBeacons have been used to boost ticket sales in this way.
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Apple Named Most Valuable Billion Dollar Brand in America

Apple has been named the most valuable billion-dollar company in the United States by brand identity firm Brand Finance, reports the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

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The standing was revealed in a new rankings report done by the firm which listed the top 50 billion-dollar brand names in the U.S., as Apple's $104.6 billion valuation was ahead of other technology companies including Google, Microsoft and Verizon which were valued at $68.6 billion, $62.8 billion, and $53.5 billion, respectively.

Throughout the past year, a number of other sources have also regarded Apple to be among the world's most valuable companies, with brand identity firm Interbrand putting the company's value above Coca-Cola and American business magazine Forbes heralding Apple as the world's "Most Admired Company" ahead of Amazon.
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Apple Projected to Set New March Quarter Record with 42 Million iPhones Shipped

Apple appears poised to continue its string of setting new year-over-year records for quarterly iPhone sales, based on new data from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty. According to Huberty's "AlphaWise" smartphone tracker, Apple is on track to ship 42 million iPhones during the January-March quarter, topping the March quarter record of 37.4 million iPhones set last year.

Morgan Stanley's AlphaWise tracker follows Google Trends data, and the firm touts that it has been more accurate than analyst consensus in recent quarters. Analyst consensus and Morgan Stanley's own supply chain estimates have been pegging Apple's iPhone shipments for the quarter at 38 million units, but demand numbers appear likely to push that number up.

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The strong demand appears in nearly all geographical regions, with U.S. carrier and retailer promotions in particular being cited for increasing customer interest.

One area that has not fared as well is China, which is seeing weaker momentum this quarter due to the earlier launch of the iPhone 5s/5c in that country. New iPhones have typically debuted in China several months after the first wave of launches, but Apple made strong efforts to ensure that China was included in that first wave for the latest iPhones. The January addition of China Mobile as an iPhone partner is offsetting that loss of March quarter momentum in China somewhat, but not enough to turn the overall trend for the country positive.

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iOS 7.1 Causing Issues With Personal Hotspots

Introduced earlier this month, iOS 7.1 appears to be causing issues with personal hotspots for quite a few iPhone users around the world. Following the update, some users appear to be unable to save APN settings for personal hotspots, which have vanished following the update from iOS 7.0.6 to iOS 7.1.

While information can be entered into the APN fields of the Cellular Data Settings menu, the values do not save, and attempting to establish a tethered connection results in an error message. Apple's Support Communities currently features a 15-page thread on the issue that was started shortly after iOS 7.1 was released, with many users reporting the same problems with tethering.

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Apple's support staff appears to be confused by the root cause of the issue, with several customer service representatives suggesting the problem lies with carriers. Carriers that have been contacted have indicated that it is an issue with Apple, however.
Same here. Hotspot not working since I upgraded to 7.1. Such an annoying issue. I phoned my carrier this morning and they didn’t want to get involved since “it's a device issue since settings can’t be saved". No carrier updates either when I installed 7.1. So right now, no hotspot and no one wants to get involved.
Other users have heard that it is a problem limited to carriers that do not currently have a contract with Apple. The iPhone 4, 4s, 5, and 5s all appear to be affected by the issue, and there is currently no available fix. Users in Germany, India, Austria, Spain, Serbia, Thailand, Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, Italy, Brazil, and more have reported issues with hotspots.
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Flappy Bird to Return to the App Store

Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen has plans to return his hit game to the App Store, according to several interactions the app developer has had with fans. In a recent tweet discovered by Gawker, a fan asked Nguyen if he would return Flappy Bird to the App Store, and he answered "Yes. But not soon."

A second fan ran into Nguyen at the Game Developers Conference currently taking place in San Francisco, and also received confirmation that Nguyen will re-launch Flappy Bird.

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Creator of Flappy Bird found and he told me he is going to repost it to the App Store!!! pic.twitter.com/odmKbWaTw8
— Todd Moore (@toddmoore) March 19, 2014
Nguyen first hinted that he might reintroduce Flappy Bird during an interview with Rolling Stone earlier this month, where he said he was "considering" the move. In the same interview, Nguyen revealed that he pulled the app from the App Store back in February both because of the attention it was garnering and because it was overly addictive.

At the height of its popularity, Flappy Bird was earning Nguyen more than $50,000 per day, and even removed from the App Store, the game has continued to earn money. In its absence, hundreds of Flappy Bird clone apps have been released on the App Store, each one attempting to earn some of the revenue Nguyen was able to pull in.

It is unclear when Flappy Bird might make its way back to the App Store, but Nguyen has said that when he re-releases the app, it will come with a warning: "Please take a break."

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Future iPhones May Offer More Realistic Lighting and Shadows with New Ray-Tracing GPU

Apple's graphics partner for iOS devices, Imagination Technologies, has announced a new version of its PowerVR graphics architecture that includes ray-tracing capabilities. Apple currently uses the PowerVR G6430 graphics package from Imagination in its latest A7 chip that powers the iPhone 5s, iPad Air, and Retina iPad mini, so Imagination's new technology is likely of interest to Apple.

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Offering more realistic lighting and shadows, the new GPU design known as "Wizard" marks a significant leap forward by bringing ray tracing to mobile devices.
For the better part of the last eight years, we have been busy developing unique hardware and software technologies to radically lower the cost and dramatically increase the efficiency and performance of ray tracing.

This work culminates at GDC 2014 with the official launch of the PowerVR Wizard GPU family, a range of IP processors that offer high-performance ray tracing, graphics and compute in a power envelope suitable for mobile and embedded use cases. This opens up the potential of highly photorealistic, computer generated imagery to a host of new real-time applications and markets not previously possible.
AnandTech has more on the developments, which are an extension of the Series6XT graphics profiled last month, noting that Imagination is combining ray tracing with traditional rasterized graphics.
Rasterization is still the fastest and most effective way to implement a number of real-time rendering steps – rasterization has been called the ultimate cheat in graphics, and over the years hardware and software developers have gotten very, very good at this cheating – so the idea is to continue to use rasterization where it makes sense, and then implementing ray tracing effects on top of scene rasterization when they are called for. The combination of the two forming a hybrid model that maintains the benefits of rasterization while including the benefits of ray tracing.
imagination_rasterizedimagination_hybrid
Comparison of traditional rasterized (top) and hybrid rasterized/ray-traced (bottom) scenes

Alongside the upcoming mobile GPU designs that will support ray tracing, Imagination's expertise in ray tracing will include an impact on game developers in the nearer term with yesterday's unveiling of version 5 of the popular Unity game engine. Unity 5 will leverage Imagination's ray-tracing technology to allow game developers to view lighting changes in near real time, accelerating the development process.

Apple has not been explicitly mentioned as interested in taking advantage of the new Wizard GPU designs, but the company has used Imagination GPUs in all of its iOS devices and is a minority investor in Imagination, holding an approximately 10 percent stake in the company.

As for timing, it seems that Wizard GPUs will not be making their way into products until 2015, indicating that they are not candidates for the iPhone 6, which is expected to debut later this year. Future iPhone models could, however, incorporate Wizard GPUs for more realistic graphics, and it appears that Imagination is banking on this technology becoming the standard for mobile GPUs in the future.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook Calls New 'Haunted Empire' Book 'Nonsense'

Yesterday, we highlighted Haunted Empire, a new book from former Wall Street Journal reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane examining the transition Apple has undergone with the death of Steve Jobs. While the book includes a few interesting tidbits, our view was that Kane had selected anecdotes to support a predetermined conclusion that Apple is in decline.

With the book debuting today, Apple CEO Tim Cook has taken the unusual step of issuing a statement about the book, calling it "nonsense", according to CNBC. Cook's statement reads:
This nonsense belongs with some of the other books I've read about Apple. It fails to capture Apple, Steve, or anyone else in the company. Apple has over 85,000 employees that come to work each day to do their best work, to create the world's best products, to put their mark in the universe and leave it better than they found it. This has been the heart of Apple from day one and will remain at the heart for decades to come. I am very confident about our future. We've always had many doubters in our history. They only make us stronger.
The book's release comes as Apple fans continue to wait for the first major product releases of 2014. Earlier today, the company brought back the 16 GB fourth-generation iPad as a low-end model to replace the iPad 2 and released a new 8 GB iPhone 5c in several countries to offer a cheaper option compatible with LTE networks.

Update 3/18 2:22 PT: Yukari Kane has given a statement to Re/code on Cook's condemnation of her book.
"For Tim Cook to have such strong feelings about the book, it must have touched a nerve,” Kane said. "Even I was surprised by my conclusions, so I understand the sentiment. I'm happy to speak with him or anyone at Apple in public or private. My hope in writing this book was to be thought-provoking and to start a conversation which I'm glad it has."

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Next Version of iTunes Restores Local Contact and Calendar Syncing

Apple today seeded a new version of 10.9.3 to employees, reports 9to5Mac, but more importantly, the company also launched a new iTunes 11.1.6 beta, which includes an important syncing feature that has been missing since the launch of Mavericks.

According to the release notes, iTunes 11.1.6 "restores the ability to sync contacts and calendar information to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch from your Mac running OS X 10.9.3."

When iOS 7 and Mavericks were introduced back in September, Apple removed local syncing in favor of cloud syncing, allowing users to sync calendars, contacts, bookmarks, and notes only via iCloud. Many users were unhappy with the feature removal and their inability to sync information to their iOS devices using their Macs.

Apple's Support Communities has a 212 page thread on the issue, and MacRumors has received multiple complaints about the removal of local sync since Mavericks was released. It appears that the next version of Mavericks and iTunes 11.1.6 will restore the feature, once again allowing users to sync locally.

At the current point in time, iTunes 11.16 and the newest version of OS X 10.9.3 are only available to Apple employees, but the betas should be seeded to developers in the near future.

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Google Launches 'Android Wear' Project for Wearable Devices

As promised, Google today announced its "Android Wear" project, which is designed to bring Android to wearable devices. To begin with, Android Wear will be focused on watches that will come in a range of styles from several different manufacturers.


Most of us are rarely without our smartphones in hand. These powerful supercomputers keep us connected to the world and the people we love. But we're only at the beginning; we've barely scratched the surface of what's possible with mobile technology. That's why we’re so excited about wearables—they understand the context of the world around you, and you can interact with them simply and efficiently, with just a glance or a spoken word.
Android Wear for watches is designed to offer several functions over basic time telling. The app will provide notifications, messages, and updates from social networking apps and it will include Google Now capabilities allowing users to say "Ok Google" to ask questions, send texts, set alarms, and more. The "Ok, Google" function can also be used to control other devices, pulling up a music playlist on a phone or casting a movie to the TV.

Android Wear is also designed to be health-oriented, providing reminders for exercise goals and fitness summaries. Fitness apps designed to be compatible with Android Wear will be able to give real-time speed, distance, and time information.

Google's Android developer site has gained a new section focused on wearables. Developers can obtain a Developer Preview of the software, designed to allow them to tailor existing app notifications for watches that will be powered by Android Wear.



Google has plans to release additional developer resources and APIs in the near future and has announced partnerships with several different electronics manufacturers including Asus, HTC, LG, Motorola, and Samsung, which could see a range of wearable Android-based devices appearing later this year. LG, for example, will launch a watch next quarter with Android, and Motorola has its own Android Wear watch in the works.

The company is also partnering with chip makers Broadcom, Imagination, Intel, Mediatek, and Qualcomm, plus fashion brands including the Fossil Group to introduce watches powered by Android Wear in 2014.
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8 GB iPhone 5c Intended to Boost Mid-Tier Markets Where LTE Is Growing

With today's launch of a new 8 GB iPhone 5c, much discussion has been centered around the observation that the new model is available in only a handful of countries: the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and China. In a statement to Re/code, Apple reveals that its strategy is to offer a lower-cost option that is compatible with LTE networks in countries where those networks are seeing rapid growth.
“The mid-tier iPhone segment is growing year-over-year and the 8GB model provides a more affordable option for markets where LTE is becoming more established,” an Apple representative told Re/code. The iPhone 5c, unlike the iPhone 4s, which is also still sold, supports LTE networks.
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The report notes that Apple may prefer not to sell the 8 GB iPhone 5c in the United States because of the popularity of subsidized phones, which sees the 16 GB model being offered for $99 or even less on a two-year contract. There are, however, plenty of other countries where subsidies are not common and where Apple has elected not to offer the new 8 GB model. The business model is even changing in the United States, where T-Mobile has led a charge to decouple device pricing from service plans. Under the new models, carriers are offering interest-free payment plans on devices and charging users separately for their service.
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Apple Announces iPad 4 Relaunch, Confirms 8 GB iPhone 5c Limited to Select Countries

After the fourth-generation iPad reappeared on Apple's online storefront earlier today, the company has issued a press release confirming the return of the device to the company's product lineup. The iPad with Retina Display will replace the iPad 2 as the company's entry-level full-sized tablet option.
“Now for $399 customers can get iPad with a stunning 9.7-inch Retina display, fast A6X chip, and 5MP iSight camera, offering a dramatic upgrade in power, performance and value compared to the iPad 2 it replaces,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The iPad line sets the gold-standard in mobile computing and all iPads have access to the largest and best ecosystem of more than 500,000 iPad optimized apps from the App Store.”
The 16 GB WiFi-only iPad 4 is available for $399, while the WiFi + Cellular model starts at $529 in the U.S., with both black and white color options available. The iPad with Retina Display will be sold through the Apple Online Store, Apple's retail stores and select Authorized Apple Resellers. Customers looking for additional storage capacity beyond 16 GB must purchase the iPad Air, which is available in 16, 32, 64 and 128 GB options.

In line with earlier rumors, Apple today also started selling a new 8 GB iPhone 5c in select countries. The new 8 GB model with five color options is available in Apple's UK online store for £429 unlocked, making it £40 cheaper than the comparable 16 GB model.

Distribution of the new lower-capacity model is, however, rather limited, with Apple confirming to Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt that the 8 GB model will only be available in the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and China.

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Apple Launches 8 GB iPhone 5c, Relaunches 16 GB iPad 4

As indicated by multiple reports yesterday, Apple has officially launched an 8 GB version of the iPhone 5c and relaunched a 16 GB version of the previously-discontinued fourth-generation iPad. The 8 GB iPhone 5c is currently being sold in Apple's European Online Stores for £429 unlocked in all of the existing color options, where it is £40 cheaper than the 16 GB model and is expected to become available in the U.S. later today. The 16 GB iPad 4 is available worldwide and retails in Apple's U.S. Online Store for $399, while customers may also purchase a cellular version for $130 more at $529.

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The relaunch of the 16 GB iPad 4 has resulted in Apple discontinuing the three-year-old iPad 2, although the company's European stores still currently show the iPhone 4S being sold alongside the new 8 GB iPhone 5c.

Apple's iPhone 5c has seen lower-than-expected sales since its debut last September due to high demand for the flagship iPhone 5s. The move also comes amid a renewed push by Apple to promote the iPhone 5c, as the company has debuted a new set of playful dot-centric for the phone on popular blogging platform Tumblr as well as the front page of Yahoo.com and in recent issues of The New York Times.

Meanwhile, the iPad 4 has been brought back into Apple's lineup after being removed in favor of the iPad Air last October. However, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in February that the company would shift from the iPad 2 to the iPad 4, as the latter sports Apple's A6X chip and 1GB memory compared to the former's A5 processor and 512 MB of memory.

Both devices are available to order from Apple's Online Store or through the company's retail locations.

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Apple's Manufacturing Partner Starts Preparing for iPhone 6 Production

Apple supplier Pegatron is expected to start production on the iPhone 6 in the second quarter of this year at its new Kunshan, China plant, reports the Commercial Times [Google Translate].

Pegatron is already opening up a new factory space and recruiting workers in China in an effort to meet orders to manufacture the new phone, says Reuters. In early January, it was reported that Pegatron was expected to win a new contract to manufacture half of the iPhone 6's supplies. Previously, Pegatron was responsible for assembling the iPad mini and iPhone 5c, while Apple's main supplier, Foxconn, assembled many of the iPhone 5s units.

While the newspaper reported production would start ramping up in the second quarter, it did not report when the phone could come out, how many units Pegatron would manufacture, or how many workers the company was hiring. However, they do note that fellow Apple supplier Hon Hai would be the other primary manufacturer of the phone.

In 2013 Apple shifted iPhone 5c production to Pegatron in order to improve supply chain risk management, allowing Apple to expand its supply lines and minimize risk of potential supply chain disasters.

The iPhone 6 has been rumored to launch with two different versions of the phone, one with a 4.7-inch display and one with a 5.7-inch display. While there is no rumored release timeframe for the device, Apple typically releases its new iPhone models in the fall.

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Microsoft Office for iPad to Launch on March 27

Microsoft will launch its Office suite on the iPad at a media event on March 27 according to a report from The Verge. The suite -- including Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- has been in the works for years, with recent reports saying the lack of Office on the iPad was costing Microsoft as much as $2.5 billion per year.

The company released a version of Office on the iPhone last year, part of its Office 365 subscription service, and The Verge says the iPad version will also require a 365 subscription.

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Microsoft has been working on the software for a number of months now, having first introduced an iOS version of Office for the iPhone in June last year. We understand the iPad variant of Office will be similar to the iPhone version, and will require an Office 365 subscription for editing. We’re told that document creation and editing is fully supported for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps. Overall, the interface and features are expected to be similar to the existing iPhone version.
The site says new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will expand on his "mobile first, cloud first" strategy, something demonstrated by the free launch of the Mac version of OneNote earlier today.

Microsoft is also said to have an update for Office for Mac coming in the Spring of 2014.

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Facebook 8.0 voor iOS is sneller en iPad

Facebook heeft vanavond een update van de gelijknamige app uitgebracht. In Facebook 8.0 voor iOS vind je een klein aantal verbeteringen die het gebruik nog prettiger maken. Zo kun je voortaan vanaf je iPhone of iPad makkelijker aangeven welke vrienden een fotoalbum mogen bekijken. De app is sneller en betrouwbaarder geworden op alle toestellen vanaf iOS 6.0, de minimale systeemeis voor deze app. Speciaal voor de iPad zijn er ook wat verbeteringen doorgevoerd, zoals een iets andere indeling van de schermen, die het plaatsen en delen van berichten, foto’s en video’s nog makkelijker maakt.

Facebook brengt in rap tempo nieuwe updates uit. De vorige update 7.0 verscheen nog maar kortgeleden, op 21 februari, vlak na de overname van WhatsApp. Sindsdien zijn er geen kleine tussenversies uitgebracht. Dat is opmerkelijk, want eerder had het bedrijf de neiging om veel kleine updates uit te brengen: van versie 6.0.1 en 6.0.2 in april vorig jaar, oplopend naar versie 6.9.1 afgelopen januari. De grote sprong van 7.0 naar 8.0 wekt een beetje de indruk dat Facebook onderhand wel klaar is met de snel opeenvolgende releases. Van de andere kant kun je je afvragen of deze relatief kleine update wel versienummer 8.0 heeft verdiend: er zitten een paar verbeteringen in, maar geen baanbrekende nieuwe functies.

Downloaden: Facebook 8.0 (gratis, universeel, iOS 6.0+)

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Apple Expands Animated iPhone 5c Ads Beyond Tumblr

After debuting a range of playful iPhone 5c ads on Tumblr in early March, Apple has expanded its campaign to the The New York Times and the front page of Yahoo.com. The Yahoo homepage currently features an ad block on the right side hand of the page that houses eight different iPhone 5c ads with the tagline "Find your colors."

Each ad features a short animation, mirroring some of the original Tumblr ads. There's a spot called "Catwalk," for example, which features a series of lens flashes, "Baaaa," which mimics a herd of sheep, and "99 Luftballoons," which offers floating red dots with music from the popular song.

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In each video, a series of dots are depicted in different arrangements that eventually come into line as the same dots on the back of the iPhone 5c case, which then zoom out to show the full iPhone 5c. Apple has approximately 17 different animated iPhone 5c ads that are being displayed on the web, both on Yahoo's properties and on The New York Times site earlier this week.

According to a Times representative, Apple's grid-based ad was a customized format offering "a transparent overlay to depict a rich brand experience" that was indeed designed by the company though it featured a Sprint logo.

Apple has aggressively advertised the iPhone 5c since its release, but the move to social media sites like Tumblr is new territory for the company, which typically sticks to billboards, television commercials, and other types of traditional advertising formats. Web ads are not new for the company, however, as Apple has recently shown its Your Verse ads on a range of websites.

It appears that the campaign on the Times website may have ended, but it is likely that Apple will expand the animated advertisements to other websites as well in an effort to further market the iPhone 5c to a wide range of consumers.

During the company's Q1 2014 earnings call, Apple revealed it had seen lower than expected sales of the iPhone 5c due to high demand for the flagship iPhone 5s. Some reports indicated that the iPhone 5s was outselling the iPhone 5c by a two-to-one margin and Apple scaled back production of the mid-tier phone shortly after launch.

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iOS 8 May Streamline Notification Center, Remove Game Center App, and More

Besides adding new Healthbook, TextEdit and Preview apps, Apple may also change existing pre-bundled applications in iOS 8, claims 9to5Mac. Apps slated for improvement include Notification Center, Voice Memos, Messages, Game Center and CarPlay.

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Apple may be simplifying existing apps like Notification Center, doing away with the "All" and "Missed" views and combing them into one “Notifications” view. The new Notification Center will contain "Today" and "Notifications" views, making it easier for users to keep track of items that are immediately important. Voice Memos also will see a redesign with controls that distinguish between recording and playback functions.

Messaging may be tweaked with an optional auto-delete function that will remove older messages after a certain amount of time. This new feature would be useful for iOS owners who have older devices with less storage space and prefer not to use that valuable space to store old messages.

Apple also may remove Game Center as a standalone app from both iOS and OS X, opting instead to embed the functionality into games that support the social gaming service. The company also is considering improving inter-app communication by creating a new API that allows apps to share data.
For example, a future photo editing application could have the ability to push the edited content for upload via the Instagram or Facebook apps. The debut of the API has been in development for the past couple of years, and it had been removed from the launch version of iOS 7 last year for unspecified reasons. With that in mind, it is plausible that Apple could, again, choose to hold back the functionality.
As hinted by Volvo, CarPlay may be updated to support WiFi connections instead of relying on the lightning cable to link an iOS device to the car's in-dash system. Also expected are underlying improvements that boost the performance of iOS 8.
In addition to the in-app tweaks, Apple has been working to speed up iOS 8 in comparison to iOS 7. Applications are said to launch more quickly, close more quickly, and overall system navigation is said to feel much smoother and more stable. Apple sped up animations and improved stability in the recent release of iOS 7.1, but the enhancements in iOS 8 are said to go a bit further.
From these early iOS 8 rumors, Apple appears to focusing on the overall iOS experience by improving key apps like Maps, Siri and Notification Center and speeding up performance of the operating system. The company is expected to unveil iOS 8 at WWDC later this year, with a release possible this fall.

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Apple's 'iPad Pro' Plans Reportedly on Hold

Apple has "shelved" its plans to produce a larger-sized tablet, according to a report from Digitimes. Nicknamed the "iPad Pro", the 12.9-inch tablet was rumored to be under development with a launch date possible early next year.

Apple's alleged move comes as these larger tablets face hurdles because the form factors are not compatible with the existing ecosystems, forcing manufacturers to scale back on their plans, claims Digitimes.
However, most of the large-size tablet projects face difficulties because of lack of support from related platform developers and ecosystems. Apple has also been said to shelved its large-size tablet project.

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Mockup of a 12.9-inch iPad next to a 13-inch MacBook Air

It is unclear whether Apple having "shelved" the iPad Pro is a permanent move or if the company is simply taking a wait-and-see attitude with the project for the time being.

Rumors of the iPad Pro first surfaced last May with a claimed early 2014 launch timeframe, but while a number of other sources have weighed in with their own claims about the device including word that production on the device's display had already begun, targets for the device's launch have slipped over time. Most recently, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has frequently offered accurate information on Apple's product plans, suggested last month that while the iPad Pro remained under development, its launch would likely not come this year.

As rumors of a larger iPad gained steam throughout the latter half of 2013, Samsung moved to introduce its own product with the launch of a 12.2-inch tablet early this year.

Digitimes has a mixed track record with its reporting, frequently obtaining accurate information from within Apple's supply chain, but on occasion seeming to misinterpret that information.

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Microsoft Losing Next Generation of Office Users by Delaying iOS Release

Microsoft has a complete version of Office ready for release on the iPhone and the iPad, according to a new report from Reuters. The software is said to be ready to go as soon as new CEO Satya Nadella decides on a launch date.

The lack of Office software on Apple's devices is becoming a serious issue for Microsoft as it hemorrhages both users and revenue to simpler apps, losing its grasp on an entire generation of users. According to one analyst estimate, Microsoft is losing approximately $2.5 billion per year avoiding an iPad version of Office.

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As Microsoft fails to bring its productivity software to Apple's mobile platform, companies are switching from the Office suite on computers to a cheaper, simpler, touch friendly solution. Reuters gives Artivest Holdings, a New York financial services startup, as an example of one company that has begun to shun Microsoft Office.

At Artivest Holdings, Office has been largely replaced by Quip, a simple and free word processor that allows users to create documents and send messages on any platform, including iPhone, iPad, and desktop. Hundreds of similar productivity apps that mimic Office features are available in the App Store at little or no cost.
"There are no more Microsoft Word documents being circulated. If someone emails me a Word document, I'll tell them to put it in Quip," said Artivest Chief Investment Officer David Levine.
Microsoft has positioned its products, including PCs and tablets, as productivity tools that outshine the iPad's capabilities, but the company's moves to keep its software largely on its own platforms have not been paying off as the iPad has soared in popularity despite Microsoft's efforts to paint it as a device solely for consumption in an extensive anti-iPad advertising campaign.

The slew of Office-style apps available for users has begun to motivate Microsoft to ramp up its deployment efforts, in the hope that it's not too late to win back some customers. Office for iOS could come at any time, and news leaked earlier this week that Microsoft has plans to release a free version of its OneNote note-taking app on OS X to increase cross-platform compatibility and to compete with apps like Evernote.
The speed with which apps like Quip have been adopted is forcing Microsoft to intensify its efforts to bring the powerful but aging Office software suite to tablets and smartphones, according to people close to the company.

"We have some pretty exciting plans," said John Case, the top Office marketing executive, without giving any details. "Certainly, interest in Office on the iPad is extreme. When they (customers) want to do real work, they are going to want to use Office."
Recent rumors have suggested a version of Office for the iPad will be available soon, though an exact release date is unclear. Microsoft is also working on an updated version of Office for Mac that should debut later in the year.

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