Apple’s iTunes Store is closed for some users, with the download store experiencing patchy availability according to the Cupertino firm. “Users may be unable to make purchases” Apple’s system status update reports today, though only certain users are being affected. There’s no explanation for the downtime, which according to the status page began at roughly […]
Like to tempt fate? Then you might want to check out Send Me To Heaven, the Android app that uses your phone’s accelerometers to track how high it travels when thrown upward. Assuming you don’t fumble your handset on its return trip, its distance will join that of other daredevils on the game’s leaderboards. That’s all there is to it. Really. According to Kotaku, Apple pulled the game from iTunes because it encourages “behavior that could result in damage to the user’s device.” We’ve reached out to developer Carrot Pop for comment on Apple’s actions and will update this post if we hear back. In the meantime, do you feel lucky?
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Mobile
Via: Kotaku
Source: Carrot Pop, Google Play
We’ve all heard the problems where parents accidentally let their kids rack up huge bills in in-app purchases using their parents’ account, so we can only imagine the havoc kids could raise if they owned their own iTunes account with a parents’ credit card linked to it! While abuse of the card is possible, at the same time it can be helpful if a kid has their own iTunes account that is used for educational purposes, and in the latest iTunes Store’s terms and agreement, Apple has revised it so that kids aged 13 years and older are now allowed to sign up for their own iTunes account.
However this will only be possible if an approved educational institution sends in the request. This revision in the terms and agreement is in conjunction with a new mobile device management option that allows teachers more capabilities along with the ability to control iOS devices used by kids in an educational setting. Teachers will be able to control the way the iPad is setup, along with the ability to prevent students from switching apps, meaning that switching out of an educational app in favor of Angry Birds will not be possible.
Apple Revises iTunes Store T&C, Kids Above 13 Can Now Register Their Own Account original content from Ubergizmo. 
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On Monday, Apple TV beta software was made available, and within it are signs that the company will be restoring iTunes music purchases to its set-top media box. While present users can only buy TV shows and movies via Apple TV, with the feature found in the latest beta release, those same users will be able to browse, preview, and buy songs and albums as well.
You can see the feature for yourself from the screenshots below from the folks over at Apple Insider, who took the feature in the beta software for a run. When opening Music, users are presented with scrolling panes and a variety of albums and artists to browse through, with a song (for example) being shown with relevant information (artist, album, title, etc.), as well as the purchase price and a preview option.
Music can be browsed by category, as well, and purchased based on either song or entire album. According to the source, the feature functions and is presented much in the same way as OS X users experience iTunes, with some obviously necessary changes to accommodate the medium upon which it is being displayed. When content is attempted to be purchased, a verification request will be required, helping prevent accidental buys.
Furthermore, pulling up an album causes the featured track or hit from the album to be highlighted from the start, perhaps to make it easier for users looking for popular content to find what they want. Selecting the song then brings up the preview and purchase options. Likewise, the free weekly singles are also available through the feature.
Finally, there’s the purchasing aspect of the feature, which works as you’d expect, and ends with an option to keep the media on Apple TV, or to download it to a different device, such as an iPhone. Purchases made in recent times are then auto-updated with syncing the device to iTunes. It is expected this feature will be available with the next software release slated for later in 2013.
SOURCE: Apple Insider
Apple TV beta brings iTunes music buying functionality is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Right on the heels of iOS 7 beta 4 for developers comes the release of iTunes 11.1 in beta mode, appearing this afternoon with iTunes Radio ready for action. Announced at Apple’s developer event WWDC 2013, iTunes Radio is a personalized streaming music internet radio station service that becomes more personalized the more the user listens to it. This system will also be built-in and/or available to the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, and Apple TV.
With iTunes Radio comes the requirement for OS X 10.7 or later, and usability limited to the USA for for time being. Inside you’ll see such categories as ’80s Dancy Party, Artists on Tour, Decade of iTunes, and simple concepts like “Alternative.” There’s connectivity with Twitter’s “#music” initiative with a category called Trending on Twitter as well.
You’ll be able to make your own radio stations with music you own, this service connecting with iTunes Match for advertisement-free streaming. There’s also a free version of iTunes Radio with “the occasional ad”, as Apple notes. With iTunes Match, music is all uploaded to Apple’s iCloud where it can be streamed with a web connection.
While there will be exclusive iTunes Radio songs and Siri will be able to work to command the changing and updating of stations, at the moment the service is limited. It’s time for developers to test this service out well before the public is able to get their hands on it. Time to connect Apple TV-based iTunes Radio to the desktop.
IMAGE VIA: 9to5Mac
iTunes 11.1 beta arrives with iTunes Radio built in is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
When iOS 7 finally becomes official later this year, it’ll be accompanied by a brand new iTunes, complete with a much anticipated streaming radio feature. iTunes Radio, the oft-rumored, and finally announced Pandora competitor will launch as part of an updated music management app and will have deep hooks in the major mobile OS revamp currently under way at Cupertino. If you’re one of the many that maintain a developer account with Apple, you can download the beta at the source link. If, in your travels, you dig up any more dirt on the updated music app let us know in the comments.
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Software
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: Apple Developer
“You can’t deny the math,” Tony Kiewel says, with the slightest hint of defeat in his voice. “The math is bad and continues to get worse for the whole pie.” Sub Pop’s head of A&R’s not particularly bullish when asked about the state of the music industry. It’s been a rough couple of years — decades, really — and the idea of the record label going the way of its brick-and-mortar counterpart doesn’t seem like some far off prediction, as the majors continue to implode under their own unwieldy weight at an impressive clip. But Kiewel’s pessimism is tempered with a note of enthusiasm. All said, things could have been much worse for the legendary Seattle label, which has managed to weather the technological storm largely unscathed. “Our piece of the pie is so much bigger than it was two years ago,” the bespectacled executive adds.
A dozen years ago, around the same time the first iPods, now big, boxy anachronisms, began to find their way into the hands of early adopters, Sub Pop experienced a renaissance, after years spent wandering forests of obscurity. In the ’90s, the label was the epicenter of one of the most important music movements in recent memory, coming a long way from its humble beginnings as a zine published a few hours south of Seattle in Olympia, Wash. For a few heady years, it seemed that every record of note sported the label’s iconic two-tone block label on its rear — but Sub Pop’s reign, like the grunge music it championed, wasn’t long for the charted world.
By the time the early 21st century rolled around, however, something happened. “We didn’t know what the hell was going on,” Kiewel recalls, with audible excitement. “At one point, there was so much [traffic] that it was breaking everything. It was people downloading ‘Such Great Heights,’ the Postal Service song. There were thousands and thousands of kids that had soundtracked their MySpace page with the MP3. It became a debate for years — maybe we should take down that free MP3. We left everything alone and backed away slowly.” Between the Death Cab for Cutie mail-order side project and the haunting indie-pop of Albuquerque’s The Shins, Sub Pop was relevant again — thanks in large part to the magic of social networking.
Filed under: Internet
Just over eight years ago, Apple introduced podcasts as an integral part of iTunes, and along the way, it helped shape how we consume information and entertainment. Now, the company’s announcing a rather significant milestone in the field: something to the tune of 1 billion subscriptions. Of course, the road to this achievement has been marred with some unpleasant bumps, but today’s all about celebration. In that spirit, Apple’s highlighting some of its most popular podcasts of all time, such as This American Life, TWiT and All Songs Considered, along with up and coming programs such as The Alton Browncast. Granted, it’s not quite the fanfare as you’ll find when Apple celebrates App Store milestones — the most recent being 50 billion downloads — but it’s hard to get bent out of shape given all the free content. So grab your earbuds and do some celebrating. Cupcakes are entirely optional.
Via: Macworld
Many apps require users to make certain in-app purchases to achieve a certain level of functionality, the concept is widely applied in games when require users to make purchases to advance levels or buy enough coins to upgrade. The story […]
Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It Original content from Ubergizmo. 
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With the release of the final set of episodes in the controversial multi-season television series Breaking Bad comes an Apple iBooks-exclusive piece of media: Alchemy. This title is appearing this week with content exclusive to the book stemming from each of the show’s seasons, culminating in a full history of the Breaking Bad epic. Breaking Bad: Alchemy will also – of course – be updated after the final episode airs: August 11th.
This title is one of a rather complete set of wares set up by Sony Pictures Television in a Breaking Bad iTunes collection where they’ve also pushed the entirety of the show, music from the show, podcasts from insiders with the show, and apps – The Cost of Doing Business, that is. That same title, in a sentence encapsulating the dark undertone of the show, also sits atop a timeline of deaths in the iBook.
Breaking Bad: Alchemy – Table of Contents
• Chapter 1: Catalyst – A full interactive timeline of the entire series, highlighting pivotal moments, characters and iconic props from the series
• Chapter 2: Breaking Down Breaking Bad – Explores the influences of Breaking Bad and features “The Cost of Doing Business” timeline
• Chapter 3: Tweak of Chemistry – Explore the chemical compounds, devices and forces used throughout the series.
• Chapter 4: Visualize This, B*****es – Dedicated to the visual style and art of Breaking Bad both within and inspired by the series
SIDENOTE: Don’t forget to check SlashGear’s Bryan Cranston interview from earlier this year to have a listen on how the show’s special effects play a part in the production of the show.
• Chapter 5: Crystal Clear – Dynamically experience the unique camera angles and color techniques cinematographers used throughout the series to achieve the visual style of Breaking Bad
• Chapter 6: Amplitude – Explore the music of Breaking Bad
• Chapter 7: Composition Cartel – Exclusive interviews with Vince Gilligan and executive producers, insider cues behind the special effects and production design
• Chapter 8: Payoffs – Highlights the critical-acclaim of the series and provides fans continued opportunities to engage with the series
The Cost of Doing Business delivers exactly what you’d expect a fully interactive “death timeline” to deliver. Breaking Bad is certainly no stranger to the evil bits in buying and selling illicit cargo, and here in this piece of the app you’ve got interviews, show footage, and character evolution data to do full justice to each character that’s met their untimely end over the span of the show.
Also included here are “reflections” from show creator Vince Gilligan. This includes video chats, looks at 3D models, blueprints, special effects, and even camera angles on key shots.
“Breaking Bad: Alchemy is a comprehensive anthology that will allow viewers to experience and interact with the show in unprecedented ways. In the creation of the Breaking Bad book, we wanted to deliver to fans a unique and dynamic experience and unparalleled access into the production of the series that they will enjoy long beyond the final season.” – Chris Van Amburg, Senior Vice President, Marketing for Sony Pictures Television
This iBook exists as a unique offering at this time in history due to its promise of added content once its subject matter – the TV show – is done being delivered. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an app delivered before its full payload was sent out to the public, but given the relative popularity of similar “Second Screen” deliverables over the past year, we won’t be surprised to see more iBooks – and similar media – like this in the future.
At the moment the public will be able to pick the Breaking Bad: Alchemy iBook up for $7.99 USD as part of a limited-time pricing structure. Expect that amount of cash to go up once the world gets stunned into silence over the final chapter of the television show, hitting AMC on the 11th of next month.
Spoilers get dealt with!
Breaking Bad: Alchemy hits iBooks as exclusive with series finale promise is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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