Hasta La Gadget!

Apple has been arguably more generous when it comes to software sneak peeks than it has been with hardware, but while dues-paying developers are given the go-ahead to download operating systems ahead of their release, consumers have had to sit tight until after each iteration hits GM status. Some internet entrepreneurs have taken it upon themselves to game Apple’s system, however, which until recently appeared to have been loosely guarded, with third parties selling beta access for years without intervention. iOS 6 is shaping up to be the end of the line — Apple has reportedly begun targeting businesses selling early access, citing copyright infringement and contacting hosting providers to shut down sales sites. The operations can be quite profitable, with income approaching six figures for iOS 6 alone, so it’s likely that we’ll see businesses open up shop under different domains in an attempt to continue to collect. Still, if you’re running such an operation of you’re own, it may be worth your while to peruse Apple’s non-disclosure agreement in full — a site shut down could be but the beginning of the company’s actions to control OS releases, and prevent third parties from illegally capitalizing on Cupertino’s creations.

Apple reportedly shutting down unauthorized third-party beta sales, restricts iOS 6 to licensed devs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 09:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Almost without fail, BitTorrent downloads have had to spread through a dedicated client, whether it’s on the desktop or a router. Thankfully, BitTorrent Torque has just come in alpha form to liberate the peer download service from its software chains. All that’s needed now is a web browser that can parse a JavaScript app. Going the new route gives some freedom to enable sharing that hasn’t always been practical: among the tricks in the company’s Torque Labs are drag-and-drop sharing, conversion of torrents into traditional downloads and easing the burden on a server for video streaming. The alpha stage leaves Torque with awhile to go before it’s ready for the limelight, but experimenters can hit the source link to start tinkering with distributed file sharing today.

BitTorrent Torque alpha puts file seeds on the web, makes desktop apps look stale originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 06:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though this week we’ve heard a bit of an outcry in regards to the iTunes store issuing a few apps that ended up crashing due to no fault of developer, Apple has pushed a set of tiny statements on the matter. This information comes from developers speaking on responses they’d received from Apple’s Developer Forums from an Apple service representative (or someone cleverly posing as said representative) with a couple of relatively bottled replies – have a peek below at their content.

The issue appears to be stemming from Apple’s FairPlay DRM and/or corrupt app store binaries, but the end result appears to always be the same: crashing apps. This sort of situation is serious because users purchasing apps across the globe are responding to the situation with bad reviews of the apps affected rather than sending in help requests to iTunes, this is then affecting the developers’ good name.

Responses to this issue coming from the Developer Forums from username iTunesConnect are as follows:

“We are aware of the issue related to apps crashing after update. We are currently working on resolving the issue. Stay tuned for updates.”

“If a customer reports receiving an error when downloading your app from the App Store, he or she can receive direct help from the iTunes Store Customer Support team:

If the iTunes Store Customer Support team determines that the issue lies with your app and not with the App Store or the customer’s account, Apple will contact you to resolve this issue.

Please let us know if you need additional assistance regarding your app.”

What will likely happen relatively soon is that Apple will fix the bug and will retroactively change out negative reviews and/or refunds for developers and affected users. We’ll continue to stay on top of the subject – stay tuned for more updates and let your users and/or developer friends know of the situation!

[via TechCrunch]

Apple iTunes app crashes get official response is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you saw Microsoft unveil Windows Phone 8 and were disappointed that it only had a handful of conspicuous new features to show, such as that new Start screen and NFC support, don’t worry: that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Senior product manager Greg Sullivan (not pictured here) tells Pocket-lint that much of the information provided so far had to be revealed early to please developers and IT managers, many of whom can’t wait until the last minute. Unlike a certain rival in Cupertino, Microsoft has a range of partners to work with and can’t just be ready to go “hours after” the OS is announced, like those that control both the hardware and the software. That split is good news to us, as it sounds like there’s a raft of public-facing Windows Phone 8 features waiting to surface between now and the end of the year — whatever impressions we had in June may have been conservative.

Microsoft: our nature makes it tough to show everything Windows Phone 8 can do just yet originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Facebook developer by the name of Tom Waddington stumbled across something completely new within the latest version of the Facebook SDK, hinting that the social networking giant may be working on a new “Want” button similar to the ever so popular “Like” button. Waddington managed to insert it into his website, which similarly resembles the Like button. Anyone signed in to Facebook can press it to “want this.” What results from there is a red error message.

What’s interesting is that the button also displays a small plus sign icon on the left of it, which could suggest additional actions with the button. Developers have had the opportunity to create their own versions of a Want button and it’s always called for authorization of a third-party app to allow actions to show up on any user’s timeline. A direct Want button would make it ridiculously easy for everyone to embrace and start using right away.

Facebook hasn’t made a public listing on the Facebook’s developer site where other social plugins can be found, so it’s likely Facebook wasn’t expecting to reveal the idea just yet, if at all. A button like this will probably make a lot of advertisers pretty darn happy, but who really knows if the majority of Facebook users will be able to properly distinguish between the use of the Like button and a new Want button when or if it ever rolls out.

[via LA Times]

Facebook ‘Want’ button discovered in latest SDK is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.