Apple New Cloud to Be Storage, On Subscription
Seems like Apple’s cloud is motioning to be used for stateless storage rather than a streaming subscription service. According to the Financial Times, the folks in Cupertino have “clarifed” its intent for the use of storing music files in the Cloud. Reportedly, Apple is planning to use the Cloud as a means to back up user’s music collections and sync music to Apple devices rather than a music streaming service.
Apple, which rocked digital music services such as Pandora, Rdio and MOG last week by announcing plans to keep 30 per cent of all revenues from subscriptions taken out through its App Store, has clarified its plans for using remote storage, known as the cloud, according to several music industry executives.
BigPhone: Google Voice for Mac
Tired of accessing your Google Voice account through your desktop? Well, there’s a full-fledged app available for your mac that allows you to access Google Voice straight through your menu bar! Say hello to BigPhone.
Google Voice is a service that allows you to unify all of your telephones with one number. If someone calls your Google Voice number, it will ring whatever phones you have connected to it. That means your cell phone, home phone, and work phone can all ring at the same time if you have your settings set to do so. Google Voice also includes free voice mail which is transcribed for easy access, and texting. Check out two of our previous articles on the Google Voice iOS app.
FaceTime for Mac Released Out of Beta for $0.99
A couple days ago Apple released FaceTime for out of beta for $0.99 on the Mac App Store. This occurred just in time for the release of the new MacBook Pro’s with HD FaceTime cameras. FaceTime for Mac allows you to video conference with a bunch of Apple’s devices whether that is another Mac, an iPhone, or the latest iPod Touch. To find out more about FaceTime for Mac, check out our preview here.
FaceTime for Mac comes free on every new MacBook Pro and is available to earlier machines on the Mac App Store for $0.99. Click here to check it out here.
Apple Releases First Developer Preview of Mac OS X Lion. New Features
There has been rumors going around the Web stating that Apple is planning to do a major overhaul in the interface of Mac OS X for the next major installment, Lion. With the introduction of the new MacBook Pros and Thunderbolt, otherwise known as Light Peak, Apple has also released the first developer preview of Mac OS X Lion entailing features that were not seen last year when Cupertino gave a demo of the product in it’s beginning stages.
Subscriptions Don’t Apply To “Software as a Service”
Apple in-app subscriptions announcement has been of major debate on the Internet. The issue seems to be that Apple is requiring publishers to provide the same content that they offer outside of the App Store at the same or better price. With the in-app purchasing approach, users will have ease finding and acquiring new content, but the publishers would have to give Cupertino a thirty percent cut of the revenue. Steve Jobs stated,
RipIt: The Simple DVD Ripper for Macs
Buying movies on the iTunes Store and watching them on your Apple devices is easier than ever. For most of them you don’t even need a computer! But what about your entire DVD library sitting on your shelves? Feel like using that shelf space for something else? There’s a bunch of apps out there designed to import your DVDs into a format you can play on your computer and even into iTunes, but what Disco did for CD Burning, RipIt does for this.
Warner Brothers Launch Movie Apps
Warner Brothers have begun launching applications which contain a flurry of features and streaming video content of extra footage and the film itself. The initiative will be starting with Inception and The Dark Knight providing in-depth content such as additional footage, off-line viewing, and full film content including interactive features such as photo snapshots and Facebook/Twitter integration.
“App Editions provide a fully-loaded, connected viewing experience that gives consumers the first five minutes of a feature film and a portion of bonus content that can include games, trivia, soundtracks and soundboards. The entire feature film can be unlocked via an in-app purchase, which enables downloading and unlimited streaming, as well as access to the entire array of bonus content available within the App.”
AT&T Allows Hotspots with iOS 4.3
One of the most talked about features that was presented in the revealing of the Verizon iPhone was the ability of the iOS software to enable the iPhone to become a Wi-Fi hotspot, connecting up to five Wi-Fi devices at once to use the iPhone data connection . Since then, many have been asking will other carriers, more specifically AT&T in the US, will allow the hotspot function to operate on their network.
Apple Releases Mac OS 10.6.7 Build 10J858
Cupertino has released the latest installment of the Mac OS X Snow Leopard update betas. Mac OS 10.6.7, this build being termed 10J858, comes just one week after build 10J855 was released to developers. The software gained 20MB bringing it to a weight a little over 460MB.
In this build, Apple asks developers to focus their attention in Safari, which could possibly mean that they made some tweaks to the software. In addition to that, Apple has continued to ask for attention to the usual areas: AirPort, Bonjour, Mac App Store, SMB, and Graphics Drivers. There are still no known issues in the software.
Apple’s New App Review Guidelines
With the announcement of the in-app subscription, Apple also introduced new guidelines for applications being submitted for review by the App Review Team. Along with provisions made to accommodate the new in-app subscription function, Cupertino also laid out several new guidelines. The most highlighted is one that helps Apple crack down on developers who try to “cheat the system”. The new language is displayed as a bullet point in the introduction of the document as a point stressed by Apple.
