Facebook has bought out Finnish firm ProtoGeo Oy and its signature product, Moves, a health and fitness tracking app for iOS and Android. ProtoGeo says it will start contributing to Facebook's own services in an unspecified capacity. Moves will continue to exist as a standalone app though, and ProtoGeo adds that there are "no plans to change that or commingle data with Facebook."
more
1 hour ago | Posted in apps
Arq is a backup utility that will make incremental backups to an online storage account. The software keeps hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month, and weekly backups for everything older than a month. An issue that caused Arq Agent’s helper program to crash when a backup error occurred and no information was available has been fixed with this update. Developers have also removed an unreliable “multi-threading processing” option.
World Clock Deluxe can display multiple clocks in a horizontal or vertical palette, in the menu bar and in the dock. Version 4.12 features an improved software update, as well as several enhancements for the report that is displayed after updating cities, time zones, and DST rules. Some OS X Mavericks incompatibilities have also been resolved and some minor interface revisions have been made.
Screens is a screen sharing and VNC client that can be used to connect remotely to any Mac, Windows or Linux computer. Support is included for controlling a computer with gestures, while a scrollable shortcuts toolbar gives quick access to other functions. The v3.0.1 update now allows for blank passwords, and includes various stability and performance improvements.
Beamer is a tool for wirelessly streaming movie files to an Apple TV. Support is offered for most major video formats, such as AVI, MOV and MKV, but subtitle support is still in the works. The latest release adds the ability to enter a Beamer 1 license to receive an upgrade offer. An ‘Export License’ button has also been added to the preferences and a few crashes have been fixed.
Porthole allows users to stream audio from their favorite music source to an AirPort Express, AirPlay speakers, or Apple TV. Version 1.6.2 has fixed a bug that could cause the software to crash when connection and disconnecting in rapid succession, which should also improve stability during network interruptions. Additionally, the new release also includes Xcode project updates and other minor tweaks.
2 hours ago | Posted in: computers
Apple could be planning to update the MacBook Air as soon as next week, according to sources for French site MacGeneration. This includes refreshes of both the 11- and 13-inch lineups. It's unclear which processors they might use; lower-end models could use recent options like the 1.4 GHz i5-4260U, 1.4 GHz i5-4350U, or 1.5 GHz i5-4360U, but Intel hasn't announced a replacement for the i7-4650U used in more expensive Airs.
more
Beyond the "big story" about Apple's analyst-beating earnings, profits and surprise stock split, financial analysts got a chance to ask some probing questions during Wednesday's Apple conference call discussing the company's fiscal Q2 results. In a Q&A session accompanying the announcements, Apple CFO Lucas Maestri and CEO Tim Cook revealed some details and their thoughts on diverse areas of the business, ranging from specifics on China to the changing US smartphone landscape.
more
With the exception of iPads and the declining iPod, the numbers coming out of Apple's conference call with analysts mirror the title of Pixar's best movie: Up. Of primary importance to analysts were the better-than-expected iPhone sales, but Mac sales were also up from the year-ago quarter. Other numbers revealed in the course of the call were also positive; growth in China and Japan, strength in developing markets and new revelations on Apple TV and iTunes numbers.
more
Movie, television and celebrity information database, IMDb, has updated its app for iOS today. The app allows users to find showtimes, watch trailers, browse photos, and create a "must-see" list of shows and films. In v4.2, users can now access US-wide television listings. Additionally, Amazon Prime is now integrated, meaning that whether a title is available on Amazon Prime is indicated upon searching. If the Amazon Instant Video app is installed, the media can be played immediately. The showtimes page design has been revamped, and a ratings history bug has been fixed. Free to download, the IMDb iOS app requires iOS 7.0 or later.
more
13 hours ago | Posted in: industry, Apple
Once again, US District Court Judge Denise Cote has denied an Apple motion -- this time asking that the court delay the class-action lawsuit brought by 33 states and various consumer groups while Apple appeals her original guilty verdict in the federal case that alleged Apple led a conspiracy to fix e-book prices. The states are hoping to get further damages from Apple, up to a possible $840 million if the judge triples the damages asked for due to a finding of willful guilt.
more
On paper, the sales of the iPad in Apple's fiscal second quarter look bad: a 16 percent drop from the year-ago quarter, rumors of which already had pundits and business sites wondering if the iPad had peaked. Statistics, however, can sometimes be misleading -- and in an unusually proactive explanation, Apple CEO Tim Cook took time at the start of his conference call with analysts to explain that changes in channel inventory accounted for most of the "lower" sales.
more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will circulate new "open" Internet regulations internally on Thursday. The new proposal will allow companies to pay Internet providers a fee for "special access" to customers and boosted speed of delivery of the paid content, on a "commercially reasonable" basis, paving the way for more deals like the one Comcast struck with Netflix. The FCC will determine what the terms will be on a case-by-case basis.
more
16 hours ago | Posted in: Investor, Apple
In a surprise announcement, Apple will do a 7:1 stock split on June 6, giving stockholders of record as of June 2 an additional six shares for every one share of stock they currently hold. Trading will resume on June 9 at the split-adjusted price, which CEO Tim Cook has said the company wants to be more affordable so that smaller investors can get into the stock. Given today's closing price of $524.75, the average price of a share would drop to $75 if the split were happening now.
more
17 hours ago | Posted in: industry, Apple
Former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts will be joining Apple as its retail head "next week," Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed today during the company's Q2 conference call. Ahrendts has been confirmed as making the switch since last year, but until now neither Apple nor Burberry would give an exact timeframe. In the interim Ahrendts has been helping Burberry transition to her successor, CCO Christopher Bailey.
more
As a part of announcing its second-quarter results, Apple has also posted a detailed breakdown (PDF), exposing further facts. They reveal, for instance, that Apple's iPad revenues dropped 16.4 percent year-over-year, shifting from roughly $8.7 billion to $7.6 billion. The company has typically seen continuous growth for the iPad, but units fell from just under 19.5 million to 16.3 million. Cook later clarified that inventory changes made the drop seem much more dramatic than it actually was in terms of end-user sales.
more
Apple has posted $45.6 billion in revenues in its second fiscal quarter, up from $43.6 billion the same period a year ago. Net profits rose from $9.5 billion to $10.2 billion, or from $10.09 per share to $11.62. The company sold 43.7 million iPhones, an increase from the 37.4 million in Q2 2013. iPad sales came in at 16.3 million units, below a Wall Street consensus forecast of 19.7 million. The company also recorded 4.1 million Macs.
more
19 hours ago | Posted in: software
Google Play Music on Android can be used to stream music through AirPlay devices, thanks to a release from doubleTwist. MagicPlay: AirPlay for Android, downloadable from Google Play and works with the existing doubleTwist Player, will act as a bridge between Google's Cast API for streaming to the Chromecast and AirPlay, granting the music service AirPlay support.
more
Calling and messaging app, Viber, today has announced an update for its iPhone app featuring a redesign for iOS 7. Viber facilitates free world-wide calling and messaging over a WiFi or 3G connections to other Viber users, with calls made to non-Viber landlines and mobile numbers possible at low rates. Viber v4.2.0 features a revised aesthetic to compliment iOS 7, and the added ability to send up to 10 photos and videos at one time to reduce redundancy in file transfer. Users can now send longer video messages, and contacts can see when a user is typing a message to them from an Android tablet, Linux, Mac, PC, or Windows 8 device. Viber is free to download through iTunes for devices running iOS 6.0 or later.
more
21 hours ago | Posted in: industry
US-based game retailer GameStop is planning to add 23 Simply Mac locations this year, and as many as 400 Spring Mobile and Cricket locations, says the Star-Telegram. The company bought out Simply Mac and Spring Mobile last year in an attempt to diversify its revenue. Simply Mac is an authorized Apple reseller, whereas Spring Mobile sells AT&T products; Cricket is based on the AT&T network. The expansion is expected to cost up to $140 million, based on a mix of buying existing outlets and constructing new ones. GameStop says it expects to add 200 to 250 Spring locations and 100 to 150 Cricket outlets.
more
The Samsung Galaxy S5 might be the phone that Android users have been craving for some time. Information coming out of Mobile World Congress painted the phone to be the next leap in innovation spearheaded by Samsung to breathe life back into their smartphones. From changes in the camera and adding pieces of technology to aid a healthy lifestyle, on top of a powerful set of internals, the phone has been set up by Samsung marketing to be the next must have phone for consumers at all levels. But is Samsung creating a phone that will indeed work for everyone, or are they stretching themselves too thin to cover so many ideas? Read our review and find out.
more
