Apr 26
How to Make iTunes Awesome Again
Posted in: Today's Chili
A decade ago, iTunes was amazing. Now the music/app/video/iOS wrangler is a bloated mess.
Apr 26
Along with its refresh of the Featured section in the iTunes App Store, Apple has added a section dedicated to educating people about in-app purchases and what they are exactly. This was most likely added to address the recent fiascos with users accidentally purchasing in-app content on their iOS device.
The user guide, called “Learn more about in-app purchases,” explains what in-app purchases are exactly, and how they work. Plus, it teaches users how to prevent their kids from gaining access to in-app purchases where they might spend a crazy amount of money on virtual goods otherwise.
While kids obviously don’t really know what in-app purchases are, a surprising number of parents are also ignorant on the subject, especially new owners of an iOS device. Of course, that’s not necessarily the parents’ fault, since Apple or other developers have never really explained what in-app purchases are in detail.
However, Apple’s new user guide aims to clear up any confusion on the subject, and it even teaches parents on how to add parental controls to various apps, including the ability to restrict kids from downloading additional content without the parents’ permission. We’re not sure how much of an effect this will have in the future, but at least the Cupertino-based company is doing their due diligence.
Apple educates users on in-app purchases with new user guide is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 24
The tenth anniversary of the iTunes Store is looming on April 28th, and Apple wants to do more for the occasion than treat itself to a nice dinner. It just launched an interactive Decade of iTunes timeline (within iTunes itself, naturally) to remind us how far its music service has come since 2003. While the retrospective includes the expected sales milestones, media links and plugs for iPods, it’s surprisingly detailed: you, too, can learn that Morcheeba rocked the album charts when iTunes reached Scandinavia. Apple has fiercer competition these days that not surprisingly goes unacknowledged, but it’s good to have at least some context for Cupertino’s more recent achievements. Catch a taste of that early iTunes Store vibe after the break.
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Internet, Software, Apple
Via: The Loop
Source: iTunes Store
Apr 24
Apple has launched a special tribute to its iTunes Store today, with a ten-year-long interactive timeline called “A Decade of iTunes.” Users can flip through each year since 2003 to see what were some of the popular songs back then, as well as look over some of the milestones that Apple and iTunes have passed along the way.
Throughout the timeline, Apple touches on major iPod launches, as well as download milestones for the iTunes Store, including the most recent 40 billionth app downloaded from the App Store, 25 billion songs sold through iTunes, and one billion courses downloaded from iTunes U. If you’ve been an iPod user since the early days, this will definitely bring you way back.
However, this doesn’t mark the 10th anniversary of iTunes. The popular music player and music store combo app was actually launched back in 2001 along with the very first iPod, which would make iTunes around 12 years old now, which means the app has already been around for about two years when the timeline begins.
Nonetheless, it’s a fun thing to scroll through to kill some time, and it even lists the top-selling songs and albums for a given year, and they include a link to buy the song or album if you feel like getting some nostalgia built up. So, what was the top-selling song on iTunes back in 2003? “Hey Ya!” by OutKast.
Apple celebrates “A Decade of iTunes” with interactive timeline is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 23
It seems that Apple’s iCloud service and the iTunes Store are experiencing yet another outage. Apple’s system status webpage confirms that some users may experience issues with account & sign in for iCloud as well as purchases for iTunes. Other users are also reporting problems with Game Center and Apple ID.
Apple doesn’t mention how many users are affected, but simply that “some” users may be affected. The outages appear to be affecting multiple iCloud services including Mail, Find my iPhone, and third-party apps attempting to access iCloud credentials. Other users are simply receiving an error message when attempting to access any iCloud service.
Apple outages have been occurring quite a bit recently, with iCloud getting the brunt of most of the outages, but iMessage and FaceTime have both gone out in the recent past. We’re obviously not sure why these outages are occurring more often than in the past, but it seems users are starting to get fed up with it.
On a slighty-related note, Engadget reports that Twitter is also experiencing a slight outage, and users are reporting that tweets being sent are timing out before they can be sent off. However, it seems Twitter is aware of the issue and have top men on the case. Is this the end of the internet as we know it? Most likely not, but it seems websites are getting hit hard today.
iCloud and iTunes hit by another outage is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 23
Apple’s iCloud service seems to be having a less than optimal 2013 as two months ago, the service experienced ongoing issues which resulted in nearly all of its services being completely down. Today, iCloud users are once again complaining they’re unable to access various services such as Mail, third-party applications which attempt to access iCloud credentials and Find my iPhone. Other iCloud users are reporting simply receiving an error message when they attempt to access any iCloud service as well as receiving requests to reset their passwords.
Apple updated its System Status page earlier this morning to reflect the issues its having with not only its iCloud services, but its iTunes Store as well. In regards to iCloud, Apple says some of its users are experiencing issues with account & sign in, while its iTunes users are experiencing issues by being unable to access the iTunes Store or complete purchases. Hopefully Apple can resolve the issues its experiencing today soon as we know how many of you probably rely on both iCloud and iTunes.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Match.com Survey Finds That iPhone Users Go On More First-Dates Than Other Smartphone Users, FocusTwist iPhone App Gives Your Phone Lytro-like Capabilities, 
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Apr 22
Apple has just added a new download option to the iTunes Store that will allow users to buy content and download the content later. The option is available for users who have iTunes 11 installed on their computers, or users who are running iOS 6 on their iPhone, iPad, or iPod devices. The option is only available when you purchase TV episodes, movies, TV seasons, season passes, movie bundles, or music box sets.
For those of you running iTunes 11, you will have three options available to you when you’re downloading TV seasons, season passes, and movie bundles. You have the standard download button, which will download the first unseen episode or movie in the series, the Download All button, which lets you download your entire package in one go, or the Later button, which lets you choose when you want to download your files (perfect for those of you who don’t want to lag your fellow housemates with your downloads).
For music box sets, or individual TV show/movie downloads, you will only be given the standard Download button and the Later button. For those of you downloading files on your iOS 6 devices, you will only be given the standard Download button and Later button, even if you purchase an entire season on your device. You should note that in the “complete your season pass or TV season” options, the download button will download the latest episode available, not the episode you left off at.
The new download options aren’t available in every country just yet, mainly in countries that do not have iTunes in the Cloud support, so unfortunately, those users will have to download their files once they complete their transactions. The new Download Later option is a feature that users have been asking for for quite some time. It allows users to download their shows and music at their own convenience.
iTunes Store adds option to postpone downloads is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Apr 22
While we like the convenience of shopping the iTunes Store from any device, that doesn’t mean we want the download wherever we happen to be — just ask anyone trying to buy the Beatles Box Set using a flaky coffee shop hotspot. As of a quiet update noticed by Macworld, customers won’t have to risk a long wait for some of their impulse purchases. Buy from iTunes on any device and you now have the option to defer very large downloads, whether they’re music box sets, movies or TV shows. Shoppers have to live in an area where iTunes in the Cloud is up and running for downloads elsewhere, but that’s about the only major catch. Swing by the source link for Apple’s explanation of how its delayed gratification works for each format.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Software, Apple
Via: Macworld
Source: Apple
Apr 22
Don’t let the name fool ya — “WhereverTV” wasn’t on any iOS devices until this morning when the Neuros-powered streaming global television service got an App Store launch. It’s intended for a wide variety of iOS devices — the iPhone 3GS through the 5, as well as iPod Touches and iPads running iOS 4.3 or newer — and offers access to WhereverTV free international TV streaming options, as well as paid options for Greek, Moroccan, and Arabic programming (the app’s been available on Android devices for some time now).
Users aren’t limited by connection, either, as even 3G signal is supported by the app; of course, we wouldn’t suggest you go depending on that option, but it will function should you try. WhereverTV is also promising updates in the future, such as DVR scheduling and playback, as well as more free channels. That is, in addition to the company’s ongoing quest to make good on its name.
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Tablets, Software, HD, Mobile
Source: iTunes
Apr 20
With the recent launch of Mega, Kim Dotcom has been on the upswing lately, at least when he’s not getting stranded by a busted helicopter. Recently, he sat down with the Financial Times to discuss his status as a hero/villain, the future of content delivery, and the $20,000 he claims to have sunk into iTunes downloads. More »
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