Hasta La Gadget!

Having spent a good part of our day yesterday negotiating with iTunes and downloading a whopping 666.2MB file to update our iPhone to version 4.3.3 — a version, we might add, whose sole claim to fame is the removal of things — we know well the pains of updating Apple’s mobile software. Those aches, however, may soon be coming to an end. 9to5Mac has multiple sources informing it that Apple and Verizon are scheming to start delivering iOS updates over the air from this fall, or just as soon as iOS 5 is made available. Untethered OS updates are a familiar feature to users of other smartphone operating systems and even the iOS-infused Apple TV, but getting Apple’s mobile devices up to date has so far always required going through the company’s own cable and software.

There’s no reason to believe this wireless update feature will be limited to Verizon, mind you — that’s just where the informants are coming from in this instance — though Apple will almost certainly have to alter the file sizes of its updates. We can’t think of many carriers who’ll be happy to push more than half a gigabyte of data per user per update. Additionally, since iTunes currently acts as the major backup hub, 9to5Mac speculates Cupertino must be working on a cloud backup service as well, which would seem a very sensible idea. Of course, that doesn’t paint a very happy or busy future for iTunes, but so what?

iOS 5 updates expected to be carried over-the-air, at least for the Verizon iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 May 2011 04:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the iPhone's settings menu, Location Services can be flipped off to disable location-data collection. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Apple on Wednesday morning released a software update for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices, fixing a flawed location-storage method that raised privacy concerns last month.

The update, iOS version 4.3.3, reduces the size of the file that stores geodata on iOS devices — meaning it will no longer contain a history of location data going back as far as one year ago.

Additionally, with the update installed, iTunes won’t back up the iOS device’s location database file, meaning the geodata will no longer be stored on your computer.

Last, when customers disable the Location Services setting on their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, it deletes all the information stored in the location file, according to Apple.

The software update comes in response to a security issue illuminated by two data scientists, who discovered that an unprotected file inside Apple’s iOS software stores a log of geodata accompanied with time stamps, creating a digital trail of a customer’s general moves for the past year.

The Wall Street Journal later reported that even when location services were turned off on the iPhone, the device was still collecting geodata.

Apple eventually explained that iOS devices are not actually tracking a customer’s precise movements, but rather, iOS devices are collecting information about nearby cell towers and Wi-Fi access points, which helps speed up location services.

The company added that “bugs” caused iOS devices to continue storing location data even when location services were turned off. Apple also said it made a mistake by making the location database file too large.

The iOS 4.3.3 update is a free download available through iTunes. The download is 666 megabytes large.

See Also:

• Why You Should Care About the iPhone Location-Tracking Issue …
• Why and How Apple Is Collecting Your iPhone Location Data
• Apple Promises Fix for Location-Gathering ‘Bug’ on iPhone

Spotify will now sync local music to your iPhone over Wi-Fi, embarrassing Apple in its own home

Music streaming service Spotify has updated both its desktop and mobile software to pretty much let you ditch iTunes entirely. The new desktop client will now detect any iPod you have plugged into your computer and let you sync your local tracks with it. This works with not just the iPhone and iPod Touch, but also the iPods Nano, Classic and Shuffle.

This doesn’t let you stream music from the internet to these devices, obviously. Instead, you are using Spotify to replace iTunes as music syncing software. And as Spotify will already import and play local files, it should work seamlessly.

You will also be able to sync tracks that you have bought in Spotify. Music sales is a little known feature of the service, and one the company is pushing with this update with the ability to purchase an entire playlist with one click. Users of the free service, who previously couldn’t use the iOS versions of Spotify (this is an option only for €10-per-month premium subscribers), can now use iPhone Spotify — but only to sync local and purchased music.

IOS and Android users, whether free or premium, also get a rather nifty new feature: Wireless syncing. With the soon-to-be-released update, you can wirelessly sync music from your computer to your phone (or iPod Touch). This is something iTunes should have done years ago. Previously, Spotify tried to let its iOS app play music from the iPod library on the iPhone, but the addition of multitasking in iOS 4 broke this and it had to be pulled.

These updates are rolling out in Spotify-friendly countries over the next few days. In other news, the iPad version of Spotify was recently sighted being used by Bigfoot and/or the Loch Ness Monster.

Spotify says hello to the iPod [Spotify blog]

See Also:

• Spotify Radio Puts Playlists On Physical Disks
• Spotify Further Limits Free Service: Hint of U.S. Launch (Again …
• Spotify
• U.S. Exclusive: Hands-On with the Spotify iPhone App
• Six Million Songs in Your Pocket: Apple Approves Spotify for …

A sketchy music downloader surpassed Angry Birds on Tuesday to become the best-selling iPhone app in Apple’s App Store.

Minutes after Wired.com staff bought the music downloader, Apple yanked it from the App Store.

The app, called Any Music Downloader, allowed customers to find any MP3 on the web and download it onto the iPhone drive. From there, you could play downloaded songs through the Any Music Downloader app.

It’s like having a free iTunes music store on the iPhone. On the road and aching to hear the latest Radiohead album? Visit an MP3 website such as Mp3skull.com, search for the songs, label the file and hit download, and the songs are yours to keep.

After downloading a song onto the iPhone, you can sync it to iTunes on your computer, and then you can copy the downloaded songs into your iPhone’s iPod player.

That’s nowhere near as convenient as iTunes, but it’s seamless enough for the price of $0 per track.

It’s questionable whether the app was legal: the browser inside the app allowed you to navigate to any MP3-serving website, legal or not, to grab music.

Clearly Apple wasn’t pleased, since the company quickly yanked the app. Apple hasn’t responded to a request for comment.

The Any Music Downloader app was $2 when it soared to No. 1 in the paid apps list on Tuesday. Previously, it was priced at $10.

See Also:

• Apple Doesn’t Want Coders Messing With iPhone Buttons — Sometimes …
• U.S. Declares iPhone Jailbreaking Legal, Over Apple’s Objections …
• Developer: Apple Denied Health Care App for Political Reasons …

Mobile payment systems may be gaining only gradual steam in the US, but over on the other side of the pond, Vodafone UK has launched a broad new campaign to integrate smartphone technology where Londoners may need it most — in the back of taxis. As of today, many cab passengers will be able to charge their smartphones in transit, thanks to a wide range of chargers that the mobile carrier has installed in more than 500 of London’s iconic black vehicles. Vodafone is also rolling out a new payment scheme today, whereby cash-strapped travelers can text their cab’s license number to a specific code, allowing any owed fares to be charged directly to their phone bills. The system certainly doesn’t sound as elegant as some of the NFC-based operations we’ve heard about, but it still beats having to navigate your cab driver to the nearest ATM, with the meter tick-tocking away.

Vodafone lets Londoners pay for taxis via text message, charge their phones in transit originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 May 2011 06:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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