Tag - ICloud

Mail, Notes syncing on iCloud hit by outages [u]
[Update: now fixed] According to a report from Apple, approximately 0.86 percent of users are currently seeing some problems with Mail and Notes, such as the inability to send or receive email from an iCloud account for the former program, and the inability to sync and in some cases create notes in the latter program. The outage which at press time has lasted for four hours, began shortly after 8AM Eastern time. While affected users can still access the web portal of iCloud if needed, syncing appears to be the biggest issue.

Pointers: Get video onto iMovie for iPad
If you'd asked us two weeks ago how to get a lot of video onto your iPad for editing, we'd have said iCloud Drive or Dropbox, and admitted that we'd never had to do it ourselves. Now we've had to do it ourselves, and discovered that the answer is ... iCloud Drive or Dropbox. It took us a few steps to get there, though, and since we could not find any advice about this online, let us make this Pointers be clear about it for you, and for us when we come to do all this again.

Apple outage prevents some users from accessing iCloud services
A number of users are having issues with accessing iCloud services, with reports of an inability to connect to Apple's servers for a limited number of people. Starting a few hours ago, multiple iCloud services went down, affecting iMessage, calendars, iCloud email services, and other items iCloud supports, with users seeing a "connection error" warning message when their devices failed to connect to the server.

Apple's cloud shift may be part of larger self-hosted program
Apple has made two moves over its iCloud business recently: it has taken a significant amount of it away from Amazon, and moved it to Google. Additionally, there are reports of Apple's already large server effort growing its own. A new initiative, said to be called Project McQueen internally, appears to be Apple's in-house plan to store all of its customer-facing data on its own server data center.

Apple reportedly moving some iCloud services from AWS to Google
Apple may be preparing to switch some of its online services from being hosted by Amazon's infrastructure to Google's, according to a report. It is claimed Apple has reduced its reliance on Amazon Web Services, which is said to be used to operate aspects of iCloud, in favor of using Google Cloud Platform, in what could be an attempt by Apple to reduce its reliance on Amazon, and in turn potentially save money as part of the changeover process.

WSJ: Apple considering increased security for iCloud storage
Apple is continuing to improve the security of its devices and services, despite the ongoing battle over encryption the iPhone producer has with the FBI, according to a report. Appearing to confirm rumors last month that Apple is continuing to increase the level of encryption of customer data, sources of the Wall Street Journal claim Apple is trying to get to a position with iCloud where data is encrypted, but it will not be able to decrypt it for law enforcement.

Pennsylvania man pleads guilty in iCloud, Gmail celebrity hacking
If you've ever received an email that claims your account is suspended or in danger of being revoked, and requiring you to click a link to go to a website where you can "verify" it, the chances are close to 100 percent that it is a scam. As revealed by the man responsible for the late-2014 leaking of dozens of celebrities' private and often pornographic pictures on the web, such emails were the key to his obtaining passwords to Apple iCloud and Google Gmail accounts that allowed him to obtain the celebrity nudes and other material.

Apple provides dead husband's iCloud password after tussle
Apple is saying that a "misunderstanding" caused it to briefly advise a Victoria, British Columbia woman seeking to transfer her late husband's digital account to her own name that she would need a court order, rather than the usual proof of death. Peggy Bush, 72, and her daughter Donna sought to have the Apple ID password of her deceased husband's account transferred to Mrs. Bush, in part because she wished to continue playing a freemium card game (and presumably access other data) on his iPad.

Apple launches iCloud for Windows 5, adds iCloud Photo Library access
Earlier today, Apple released the latest iteration of its iCloud for Windows functionality. Now on version 5, the utility allows users of Windows 7 and newer access to and allows modification of photos, videos, mail, calendar, files, and other data stored in Apple's cloud storage service.

Briefly: Find My Friends on iCloud, iOS 9 adoption at 61 percent
Apple on Wednesday added its selective friends-and-family tracking service Find My Friends to its iCloud.com site, letting users sign in on any Internet-connected device to locate friends or loved ones who have the app on their mobile devices and have agreed to have their location revealed to the user. Participants can opt to change status at any time or enable (or disable) the tracking for select periods, such as when a family is visiting a theme park and wants to each go their separate ways.
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Cirrus creates Lightning-headphone dev kit
Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has introduced a MFi-compliant new development kit for companies interested in using Cirrus' chips to create Lightning-based headphones, which -- regardless of whether rumors about Apple dropping the analog headphone jack in its iPhone this fall -- can offer advantages to music-loving iOS device users. The kit mentions some of the advantages of an all-digital headset or headphone connector, including higher-bitrate support, a more customizable experience, and support for power and data transfer into headphone hardware. Several companies already make Lightning headphones, and Apple has supported the concept since June 2014. http://bit.ly/29giiZj

Apple Store app offers Procreate Pocket

The Apple Store app for iPhone, which periodically rewards users with free app gifts, is now offering the iPhone "Pocket" version of drawing app Procreate for those who have the free Apple Store app until July 28. Users who have redeemed the offer by navigating to the "Stores" tab of the app and swiping past the "iPhone Upgrade Program" banner to the "Procreate" banner have noted that only the limited Pocket (iPhone) version of the app is available free, even if the Apple Store app is installed and the offer redeemed on an iPad. The Pocket version currently sells for $3 on the iOS App Store. [32.4MB]
Porsche adds CarPlay to 2017 Panamera
Porsche has added a fifth model of vehicle to its CarPlay-supported lineup, announcing that the 2017 Panamera -- which will arrive in the US in January -- will include Apple's infotainment technology, and be seen on a giant 12.3-inch touchscreen as part of an all-new Porsche Communication Management system. The luxury sedan starts at $99,900 for the 4S model, and scales up to the Panamera Turbo, which sells for $146,900. Other vehicles that currently support CarPlay include the 2016 911 and the 2017 models of Macan, 718 Boxster, and 718 Cayman. The company did not mention support for Google's corresponding Android Auto in its announcement. http://bit.ly/295ZQ94

Apple employees testing wheelchair features
New features included in the forthcoming watchOS 3 are being tested by Apple retail store employees, including a new activity-tracking feature that has been designed with wheelchair users in mind. The move is slightly unusual in that, while retail employees have previously been used to test pre-release versions of OS X and iOS, this marks the first time they've been included in the otherwise developer-only watchOS betas. The company is said to have gone to great lengths to modify the activity tracker for wheelchair users, including changing the "time to stand" notification to "time to roll" and including two wheelchair-centric workout apps. http://bit.ly/2955JDa

SanDisk reveals two 256GB microSDXC cards
SanDisk has introduced two 256GB microSDXC cards. Arriving in August for $150, the Ultra microSDXC UHS-I Premium Edition card offers transfer speeds of up to 95MB/s for reading data. The Extreme microSDXC UHS-I card can read at a fast 100MB/s and write at up to 90MB/s, and will be shipping sometime in the fourth quarter for $200. http://bit.ly/294Q1If

Apple's third-quarter results due July 26
Apple has advised it will be issuing its third-quarter results on July 26, with a conference call to answer investor and analyst queries about the earnings set to take place later that day. The stream of the call will go live at 2pm PT (5pm ET) via Apple's investor site, with the results themselves expected to be released roughly 30 minutes before the call commences. Apple's guidance for the quarter put revenue at between $41 billion and $43 billion. http://apple.co/1oi1Pbm

Twitter stickers slowly roll out to users
Twitter has introduced "stickers," allowing users to add extra graphical elements to their photos before uploading them to the micro-blogging service. A library of hundreds of accessories, props, and emoji will be available to use as stickers, which can be resized, rotated, and placed anywhere on the photograph. Images with stickers will also become searchable with viewers able to select a sticker to see how others use the same graphic in their own posts. Twitter advises stickers will be rolling out to users over the next few weeks, and will work on both the mobile apps and through the browser. http://bit.ly/29bbwUE
