Hasta La Gadget!

Today it’s become apparent that Amazon’s recent purchase of the social networking website Goodreads has blocked another heavy hitter from teaming up. The report comes from a source who says none other than Apple was about to sign a deal with Goodreads for book recommendations with their iBooks program through Goodreads when Amazon showed up with a large sum of cash. This breakup is said to have knocked out a deal that was in the works for over a year.

The tip comes from an inside source speaking with the Wall Street Journal, saying Apple’s plan was to have Goodreads data utilized inside iTunes. With Goodreads collection of data on book recommendations, the iTunes search interface would have become much more pointed in the way of customers finding books they’d find interest in based on their known interests. While the amount of cash exchanging hands in the deal between Goodreads and Amazon is not known in full, cash sums of over $200 million have been tipped.

While this report suggested that Apple “tried to stop the deal”, it’s also quite possible that the data mined by Goodreads could remain open for use by Apple in a separate deal once Amazon has finalized theirs. While it would seem that Amazon’s own interests should remain squarely on their own library of media and their Kindle series of eReaders and tablets, when it comes to Apple, anything is possible.

Rumors continue to persist that Amazon is bringing their own smartphone to the market as well. With suggestions from Goodreads and their own extremely vast ocean of media continuing to expand, tablets may be too small a boat for Amazon to continue to row in through the rest of this year. The battle will continue one way or another!

[via Apple Insider]

Amazon blocks Apple in Goodreads purchase is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

One of the main reasons why anybody jailbreaks their iOS device is due to the fact the jailbreak community has come up with some amazing applications to help make the most of your device in ways Apple would most likely reject if they were ever attempted to be made available in the App Store. But not many people like the idea of jailbreaking, which is why an app store clone in China is making it possible for iOS users to download and install pirated OS apps without the need to jailbreak.

The service is called KuaiYong, has been around for nearly a year and is only accessible within China, which people speculate may be so they aren’t caught by Apple. Although it looks like KuaiYong may be working on making its service available internationally to English-speaking customers. The way the service works is by using bulk enterprise licensing to bypass Apple’s safeguards, essentially distributing the same exact app over and over again. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: The i-Flashdrive Is A Thumb Drive For Your iOS Device, Does Not Come Cheap, Google ‘Would Still Really Like’ Apple To Use Its Maps, Says Eric Schmidt,

As we revealed a few days ago and Time Warner Cable announced yesterday, its iOS app has been updated with the ability to stream video even when away from subscriber’s home networks. There’s video on-demand available from 10 networks, and ten live TV channels ready for streaming. While the company’s blog post only referred to access over WiFi, its about page confirms our initial information that 3G / 4G access is limited to Verizon Wireless customers. Our tipster indicted this exclusive would run out later this year, and the feature is also coming soon to the company’s Android app and web portal for PC / Mac users. Today’s update on iOS also tweaks the app’s guide, with a new ability to filter by category, as well as sort alphabetically by network or show title. Subscribers can grab it at the link below — let us know how well it works and if you’ve run into any unexpected restrictions.

Update: Time Warner Cable has also published a few videos to go along with the launch, check after the break to see SVP and GM of programming Mike Angus discuss the latest update.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Mobile, Apple, Verizon

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Source: iTunes, Time Warner Cable, TW Cable Untangled

Hopscotch is an app designed for the iPad that has been released in beta and is free for download. It has been created with the purpose of teaching kids from 8-12 the joys of rudimentary coding where they try to make programming concepts as visual, bright and fun as possible, rather than boring with actual code and strict syntax. While developed for both boys and girls in mind, Hopscotch’s founders, Jocelyn Leavitt and Samantha John, are hoping that this app will help bring more girls to the world of programming. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: The i-Flashdrive Is A Thumb Drive For Your iOS Device, Does Not Come Cheap, Google ‘Would Still Really Like’ Apple To Use Its Maps, Says Eric Schmidt,

Today the Facebook Home universe has begun to jump in to iOS for the iPhone, starting with Chat Heads and likely stopping there as well. While the Android version of Facebook Home commands your entire smartphone experience from the first lock screen to the place where you launch apps, this update to the iOS version of Facebook simply adds the Chat Heads feature to the app itself. This means you’ll be chatting with your friends from anywhere – just so long as you’re still inside the Facebook app.

What you’ve got here is Facebook’s Chat Heads messaging environment stuck inside the Facebook app itself – as long as you never leave the Facebook app, you’ve got the same thing as you’d have been working with in Android (essentially). See our full Facebook Home review for Android right this minute! While the Android version of Facebook’s messenger experience in Chat Heads allows that little head to appear on top of basically any app or screen, here you’re only getting it inside Facebook.

This update comes from within the basic Facebook app for iOS for iPhone first. We’re expecting the iPad version to follow soon after, while the Facebook Messenger app appears to have been completely unaffected. Though it would make sense for there to be one cohesive messaging experience here, it’s understandable that the Messenger app wouldn’t need a modification – you’re only chatting, that’s it!

Other than this Chat Heads addition, we’re seeing some stickers added to messages – cute! We’re also seeing the addition of Music Feeds, Photo Feeds, and Game Feeds – new ways to interact with each of these is included with the iPhone version while the iPad version gets essentially a total revamp. Based on the newest version of the web browser-based Facebook experience, the iPad app has now been brought into the massive future.

Also important: Facebook has made it clear in the app update notes we’re seeing here that Chat Heads will be made available to all users (on iOS, we must assume) in the coming week. Just wait your turn, iPad users!

Chat Heads hits Facebook for iOS: we go hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.