Michal Ždanský We got a lot of news this week. Seized counterfeit iPods, the Smurfs iPad game with a final cost of $1400 or the gripping story of a legendary rugby player and his stolen iPad. You will learn all this and much more in our Apple Weekly.
The iTunes store on iOS received a Genius recommendation (February 6)
Mac users may have known the Genius feature since iTunes 8. It is a service that, based on your music, will recommend artists and songs that might suit your tastes. The App Store also got this feature later and offered it both in iTunes and in the App Store application on iOS. The only place where Genius was lacking was the mobile version of iTunes. However, that is now changing and she got the job. Although most Czechs and Slovaks will not use it due to the absence of the entire iTunes Store, it is good to know that it is here.
PhoneCopy is freely available in the Mac App Store, awarded by Softpedia (February 6)
PhoneCopy backup app, from the developer team e-Fractal, is already one of the few Czech software freely available in the Mac App Store, which significantly contributed to the expansion of the user base and a record increase in the database by more than 1 contacts. These days, PhoneCopy also won SOFTPEDIA's "400% CLEAN AWARD", which means the app is 000% clean, free of malware, spyware viruses, trojans and backdoors. The developers also promise a new powerful platform or an improved version for the iPhone.
They deployed iPads at The Plaza Hotel in New York (February 7)
When you check in at the five-star The Plaza Hotel in New York, you'll automatically receive an iPad in your room. However, the Apple tablet will not be used for entertainment, but for controlling room lights, air conditioning, ordering food and many other useful activities. The company developed a very successful application directly for The Plaza hotel Intellects. According to the hotel manager, several devices have already been tested for this purpose, but none fully met the expectations, and only now the iPad has fulfilled all of them. You can see how such an application works in the attached video.
Advertisement for The Daily magazine (February 7)
Many advertisements are traditionally associated with the popular SuperBowl, and there were several Apple-themed advertisements this year as well. Undoubtedly, one of the most interesting and successful spots was the new iPad magazine The Daily, which was launched by News Corp. a few days ago. However, I wish the current version of the app worked as fast and error-free as shown in the attached video.
Inbox priorities in Gmail and for iPhone (February 7)
Some time ago, Google introduced the so-called Priority Inbox in Gmail, where your most important messages should be collected, and now it has pleased all smartphone users. If you access your Gmail account via iPhone, you will also find Priority Inbox in the mobile interface, which until now was only available on the desktop.
Valentine's Day update for Angry Birds Seasons (February 7)
The popular game Angry Birds Seasons has received another update. Now, an update has hit the App Store regarding the ever-approaching Valentine's Day. The application also got a new icon. Previously, I could already play the Christmas or Halloween editions. In the Valentine's Day version, we will get 15 new levels.
The game is available for iPhone even in the HD pro version iPad.
Los Angeles Police Seize $10 Million in Counterfeit iDevices (8/2)
During a police raid in a warehouse in Los Angeles, police officers discovered an incredible amount of fake Apple products and other popular products. electronic devices. The most common counterfeits were iPod imitations, which, according to the intervening police officers, were very faithful to the original. The counterfeits came from China and their value was around 10 million dollars, while the counterfeiters could take 7 million net profit from their sale. Police have arrested two brothers involved in this fraudulent business and will face a total of four different charges for selling counterfeit goods in court.
The Smurfs Confused an American Family for $1400 in In-App Purchases (8/2)
iDevices in the hands of small children can become very expensive. The mother of eight-year-old daughter Madison, who borrowed her iPad to play her favorite game Smurf`s Village, knows about this. Although the game itself is free, it offers so-called In-App Purchases, i.e. purchases directly in the application. Some upgrades can be bought for incredible amounts, for example, $100 will get you a whole bucket of berries.
Madison's mother made a mistake when she told her daughter the password to the App Store. This left Madison with a free hand and bought a lot of equipment and other things to make the game even more enjoyable. The amount for these purchases reached an incredible 1400 US dollars. After the American woman received the bill from iTunes, she was not surprised enough and immediately complained about the purchases, hoping that Apple would comply with her request.
But the fault lies not with Apple or the game developer, but with Madison's mother. While it is true that purchases can be facilitated by a 15-minute window, when the App Store does not require a password for the next purchase, giving an eight-year-old child access to the account while not securing the device with the parental controls that iOS has is naive and reckless, to say the least. Hopefully, this story will teach other parents so that a similar situation does not happen again and the family budget is not destroyed thanks to such stupidity.
Verizon's iPhone Has Not Avoided the "Death Grip", Added the "Death Hug" (9/2)
If you thought Apple had completely solved the antenna problem with the new iPhone 4 for Verizon, we have to disappoint you. The iPhone didn't completely get rid of its "Death Grip", on the contrary, a new problem called the "Death Hug" appeared, which occurs when the phone is held horizontally with both hands. In addition, it affects not only CDMA antenna reception, but also WiFi reception. Will "Antennagate" be repeated? You can see a demonstration of the "death" hold in the following video:
Will iWork officially also for iPhone? (9/2)
Editors 9to5mac.com after a tip from one of their readers, they discovered an interesting find in the source folder of Pages for iPad - icons in retina resolution. Of course, these are not double-sized icons for the iPad, which would otherwise stir up further speculation about the display of the apple tablet, but icons intended for the iPhone 4. There is therefore a possibility that the next update of the iOS package iWork will make applications available for the latest iPhone and iPod touch. Although there are many text editors on the iPhone, Pages would be an interesting addition.
Find My iPad in practice: How the rugby legend got back to his tablet (10.)
Find My iPhone is responsible for another successful finding of a lost device. Former England rugby player Will Carling forgot his iPad on a train, but eventually found his device again thanks to Find My iPhone. The best part of the whole story was that he regularly tweeted about it, so fans could follow his hunt almost live. One of his tweets looked like this: “Hot news! My iPad has moved! He is now at the station! It's like in Enemy of the State (film Enemy of the State - editor's note)."
Sony plans to pull music under its label from iTunes (11/2)
According to rumors, music publisher Sony is planning to pull all music from iTunes that falls under it. The reason should be the new music streaming service Music Unlimited, which Sony launched last year and which it intends to continue to expand in the near future. This service streams music directly to sony devices such as Playstation 3, Sony TV or phone and other mobile devices that we should see more of this year.
It would certainly be a loss for Apple and its iTunes, Sony has big name artists under its wings – Bob Dylan, Beyonce or Guy Sebastian. On top of all this, Apple is about to launch its own music streaming service, for which it previously bought the company Lala.com. The following weeks will probably show whether these rumors are true.
New MacBooks in March, MacBook Air already in June? (February 11)
The MacBook Air, which Apple introduced in October last year, is experiencing a huge success and there is already speculation about when the next update will come. Server TUAW came up with the fact that Apple plans to update its thinnest notebook already in June, while the most important innovation would be the deployment of Sandy Bridge processors from Intel. Sandy Bridge is the third generation of Intel Core processors found in most Apple computers. However, we could expect Sandy Bridge processors even earlier than June. As early as March, a new line of MacBook Pros equipped with Intel's latest creation is said to arrive.
And what are the new processors so good at? The main advantage will be a large increase in performance and significantly lower consumption. What is also important is that it is practically at the same price.
Lady Gaga's Latest Single Becomes Fastest-Downloaded Track in iTunes History (12/2)
If you're wondering who is the most popular singer on the iTunes Store lately, we have a definite answer for you. All previous records were broken by Lady Gaga with her latest single "Born This Way". Within the first five hours of its release on the iTunes Store, the song topped the charts in 21 countries, becoming the fastest-selling single in history. The latest hit from Lady Gaga's workshop is also available on YouTube.
Amazon hinted that Lion could be released in late July (13/2)
Several manuals for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, due out at the end of July, have been discovered on the UK version of Amazon. That would mean Apple's new operating system would be out by then, and since the traditional WWDC developer conference is scheduled for July 5-9, everything would fit. It is at WWDC that Apple should show the rest of Lion, which it already marginally introduced to users at last year's 'Back to the Mac' keynote.
Nice summary of the week..
Unfortunately, I also have experience shopping with smurfs. Of course, I didn't reveal the password to anyone, but my 8-year-old niece took advantage of the fact that the app store didn't ask for the password within the first 15 minutes and made a purchase for 50 euros. I was sitting next to her, but you can't do anything when you see how (without her understanding what was in English on the display) she clicks on the enable button.
Thanks to this, I now at least know about the 15-minute deadline and also that it can be suppressed by shopping during this time...
how can it be suppressed - that interests me. daughters are exploratory:0
It's in settings/general/restrictions. There you will find the "Allowed content" menu and there are in-app purchases.
Do you guys think the new air will have a backlit keyboard?