Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s decision to junk the iOS 6 YouTube app has prompted no small degree of surprise from iPhone and iPad owners, more used to platform upgrades adding functionality than removing it, but the multimedia outlook isn’t grim. Google is already working on a replacement app – which this time it will maintain and distribute itself – while Apple highlights that YouTube video playback already works within Safari and doesn’t demand the standalone software anyway. However, rather than just pushing Google’s services further to the periphery, there’s also the chance that Apple could move to fill the ensuing gap with a video offering of its own.

Those sticking with older versions of iOS – either by choice or because their Apple gadget won’t support the new OS – won’t have to worry. Phones and tablets on iOS 5 and earlier will keep the existing YouTube app, as Apple’s license with Google apparently continues to cover it; the player won’t be deleted remotely or disabled.

Meanwhile, as our own Chris Burns suggests, there’s the possibility of an altogether more interesting YouTube app from Google itself – and distributed through the App Store rather than as a pre-load – now that the game has changed. Meanwhile, Apple’s own rules about third-party apps not replicating standard functionality should now no longer affect other developers wanting to deliver YouTube content in more interesting ways.

Since Android’s arrival, the relationship between Apple and Google has been a tense one, and shifting the search giant’s wares from the core ROM and to a more optional status comes as little surprise. For the end-user, it means YouTube won’t be at their fingertips from the get-go, though it also means Google can update and improve the app more frequently.

What remains to be seen is whether Apple attempts to bite into YouTube’s market share with an iCloud-hosted video service of its own. We already know that iOS 6 will make sharing photos stored in the iCloud Photo Stream more straightforward, but a similar system for video sharing could significantly undermine how many people choose to upload straight to YouTube from their iPhone.

That would involve a significant server investment on Apple’s part, but then again the company is already including user-recorded video in among the iCloud backup (though not as part of Photo Stream). Making that available to share might be more a case of deciding how to monetize it so as to cover the bandwidth costs – something which Google has historically struggled with – than providing raw space to each iOS user.

iOS 6 YouTube loss opens door to iCloud video share rival is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

After more than 20 days since Apple released iOS 6 beta 3 to its developers, we are now hearing reports that iOS 6 beta 4 has already been seeded via OTA update. Build 10A5376e for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad includes a couple of bug fixes and it is now available in the iOS Developer Center. Although the developments are pretty much expected, what we didn’t expect is the removal of YouTube apart from Google Maps in iOS 6.

Apple has confirmed this saying, “Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store.” Apple did not, however, explained the reason for kicking YouTube in iOS 6 beta 4 apart from the expired license. So, if you rely on YouTube a lot on your iPhone or iPad, you’ll have to use the web app via Safari for now, or wait for Google’s new YouTube app that Apple says will be made available in the App Store. Google’s YouTube already existed on iOS since the first generation iPhone was released in 2007.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: YouTube adds highlights view option and improved homepage feed, YouTube clocks up 4 billion hours of video watched each month?,

Apple just got in touch with us regarding the removal of the YouTube app in the latest beta of iOS 6, and while it wouldn’t say much, it did confirm the obvious: it’s not there for a reason. The licensing deal it had with Google “has ended, but users can still use YouTube via the Safari web app.” The company did affirm, however, that Google “is working” on another version — presumably a standalone app that’ll have to survive the same App Store approval process as Google Drive, Gmail for iOS and the rest of the bunch.

Interestingly, we were told that the YouTube app “would remain on iOS 5 and older,” and that includes iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Granted, the amount of iOS 5 users will dip dramatically in the months following iOS 6’s release this fall, but it leaves open the question of compatibility — will the forthcoming YouTube app for iOS 6 be installable on iOS 5 and older?

All things considered, it’s probably a good thing for consumers. Yes, it’s another play by Apple to distance itself from its biggest mobile OS rival (Maps, anyone?), but it also gives Google the chance to reimagine the YouTube app, and perhaps even design it to showcase a great mobile experience around the company’s huge original content push. Apple wouldn’t comment on the status of Google’s new YouTube app, nor would it speak to whether or not it had even been submitted for approval, but we’re guessing the clock watchers know that September 12th is drawing near.

Update: A YouTube spokesperson has provided us with the following quote: “We are working with Apple to ensure we have the best possible YouTube experience for iOS users.” Not much to go on, really, but reassuring that the company’s actively forging ahead with a new effort. Something tells us it’ll take every opportunity to trumpet the awesomeness of its standalone app after being quietly pushed / left out of the latest iOS 6 beta.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs

YouTube app removed from iOS 6 but not iOS 5 and older; Google working on a standalone version originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Right around 20 days after iOS 6 beta 3 was beamed out to developers, beta 4 is now making its way into those same hands via an OTA download. We’ve just confirmed that the files are indeed being pushed out, with the changelog showing fixes related to Facebook integration, the Address Book, authorization statues, and Apple TV / Bonjour workflows. You’ll also get a patched-up Dictionary, iTunes and Maps, amongst other things. The entire list of updates is embedded after the break, but we’d recommend a stiff cup of coffee before trying to digest ’em all.

Update: For the eagle-eyed, yes, this update does indeed remove the YouTube app from the iOS homescreen. If you’re out of the loop, Google owns YouTube. And Apple hasn’t shied away from doing its best to distance iOS from Googlefied apps…

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Apple seeds iOS 6 beta 4 to developers: here’s the changelog

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Apple seeds iOS 6 beta 4 to developers: here’s the changelog originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s hard to believe its been just three months since we were here last, but it’s true. It’s already earnings season again and, in the feast of financial conference calls, Apple is an entree. Not surprisingly, Cupertino was raking in the big bucks yet again, but it wasn’t quite the windfall of revenue the company has seen in the past. All told the company pulled in $35 billion in revenue, pocketing $8.8 billion of that as pure profit, a record for both in Q3. But, just cause it wasn’t quite as lucrative a quarter doesn’t mean the boys in Cupertino aren’t happy with the results. Profits were up $1.5 billion from Q3 of 2011, once again allowing the company to declare yet another cash dividend for its share holders. During the last three months the company shipped 17 million iPads, an 84 percent increase over the same quarter last year — a simply staggering number. And don’t think that its other premier gadget has plateaued. 26 million iPhones were also sold, representing a 28 percent increase year-over-year. Interestingly, Mac sales slowed, increasing just two percent over last year, largely thanks to a 13 percent drop off in desktop sales.

The biggest money maker for the company continues to be the iPhone and its related products and services, however. More than $16 billion of the total revenue is directly attributable to the smaller member of the iOS family. The iPad is quickly closing the gap, netting Apple over $9 billion in this quarter alone. As a percentage of revenue, the iPod continued to decline, marking the slow death of the once flagship product line.

While revenues were down sequentially, it’s the year-over-year numbers that tell the real story and that explain why, for the second quarter in a row, Apple is able to award its investors a $2.65 per-share dividend. Revenue was up $9.5 billion from Q3 of 2011 and net income by $1.5 billion, as the company has continued to increase its market share and open up to niches to itself. For the next quarter Apple actually expects a small drop in both revenue and earnings per-share, but not enough that we expect Wall Street types to start yelling, “sell, sell, sell!”

Continue reading Apple announces Q3 2012 earnings: $35 billion revenue, $8.8 billion in net profits, declares another dividend

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablet PCs

Apple announces Q3 2012 earnings: $35 billion revenue, $8.8 billion in net profits, declares another dividend originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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