Google launches web ad promoting its iOS Dev team, encourages iOS developers to do work that ‘matters’

Since the removal of YouTube, and Maps as preloaded Google apps within iOS, Google has been especially adept at developing its own set of iOS apps. We previously detailed how Google wants to own the iOS ecosystem on the apps level, providing users with an alternative universe to most of the core features of Apple’s mobile operating system. It appears Google now has a dedicated iOS app team which builds cohesive apps rather than having each business unit build its own apps.

Even with its dominance on the App Store top charts as of late, Google has launched a web ad campaign, including on the 9to5 sites, promoting its presence throughout iOS. Google detailed what its iOS apps have to offer in the video above, including: Google Search, YouTube, Chrome, and Gmail. Google Maps is noticeably absent (we assumed that is because of when this ad was made).

The focal point of the advertisement is Google’s attempt to recruit software engineers for its iOS mobile apps team. “Do cool things that matter” the advertisement brags, almost as if Apple’s set of apps doesn’t bring any benefit to iOS users. The advertisement links to a page with a full breakdown of what the Google iOS mobile apps team has to offer and a chance for prospective employees to apply for a job. “It’s fun. People have misconception that we just copy and paste existing Google products to the iOS platform. But we have a lot of freedom and try to innovate beyond anything that Google’s done so far,” the page states. “We are always working on ideas to push the envelope on mobile search, and we collaborate closely with Google Web Search engineers to implement new features.” Interestingly, the iOS mobile apps team appears to be working as one unit now, rather than each app being done by a separate group.

It is true that Google’s iOS apps have their own distinctive design language, much different from their Android counterparts. As an example, critics claimed that the Maps application on iOS is better than the Android app—something that Google doesn’t dispute.

[Source: 9to5Mac]

MacBook Air, MacBook Pro refreshes expected June 2013 with same designs, new processors

Digitimes expects Apple to unveil refreshed MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models in June 2013. The report claims that Apple has already issued requests to its supply chain partners to prepare to build the revised notebooks. Digitimes frames the news as concern for Ultrabook vendors.

Digitimes also says that the new MacBook Air models will include new processors, but the computers will likely retain the current industrial design. The current MacBook Air design was introduced with the late 2010 model. Apple last updated the MacBook Airs in June 2012 with faster processors, new RAM and storage options, USB 3.0, and a FaceTime HD camera.

Separately, the report also believes that current MacBook Air models could see price drops ahead of the product refresh, but this would be unlike Apple’s typical Mac upgrade strategy. Apple’s common Mac update strategy is to succeed a current Mac model with the refreshed version without providing official price drops ahead of these refreshes.

[Source: 9to5Mac - Click here to ready the full story]

Tim Cook on the Urgency of Solving Problems, Unpredictability of Apple, and Industry Disruption

Following yesterday's announcement that Apple CEO Tim Cook had been named to the shortlist for TIME's annual Person of the Year feature, the magazine has published a lengthy profile of Cook today covering his runner-up status. 

Much of the information in the profile has been discussed in other settings, but it offers a good overview of Cook and his time at Apple. The piece also offers a few fresh quotes from Cook about his perspective and his role in leading Apple. The report touches on Cook's combination of calm demeanor and intense focus, noting that he can just as easily lighten the mood with his manner as light fires under others to spur them to action.

[Source: MacRumors - Click here to read more]

Apple Reminds Developers of App Store Freeze During Holidays

Apple has sent reminders to App Store developers that the annual shutdown of iTunes Connect is scheduled to take place from Friday, December 21, 2012 to Friday, December 28th, 2012. 

iTunes Connect is the portal for developers to submit app updates and changes. As a result, no new apps, app updates or price changes will be reflected in the App Store during that time.

We strongly recommend that you do not schedule any pricing changes in iTunes Connect that would take effect between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012. Pricing changes scheduled to take effect during this date range will not be reflected on the App Store and your app or In-App Purchase will become unavailable for purchase until after the shutdown. 

We also recommend that you do not schedule any apps to go live during the shutdown. Releases scheduled with a start date between Friday, December 21, 2012 and Friday, December 28, 2012 will not go live on the App Store until after the shutdown.

As a result of the shutdown deadline, a large number of App developers have been cutting prices today as they compete for top ranking on the App Store Top Charts during the lucrative Christmas sales period.

[Source: MacRumors]

iOS 6 Adoption Up 29% After Google Maps Hits App Store

Google Maps was released for iOS on December 12, and in the five days after it hit the App Store, ad management platform MoPub noticed a 29 percent increase in unique iOS 6 users. 

The data from MoPub, which supports 12,000 apps and monitors 1 billion ad impressions daily, suggests that quite a few iDevice owners were waiting for a better mapping solution before upgrading to Apple's newest operating system.

TechCrunch spoke to MoPub CEO Jim Payne, who had this to say:

"We observed since the launch of Google Maps for iOS 6 a 30 percent increase in unique iOS 6 users, and we think it's related to Google Maps. It verifies that hypothesis that people were actually holding back to upgrade until Google Maps was available."

MoPub's data does, however, conflict with another report from mobile ad network Chitika, which saw just a 0.2 percentage point increase in iOS 6 users in the first 36 hours of Google Maps availability. MoPub seems to include a wider set of data than Chitika and which was taken over a longer period of time, and MoPub's inclusion of weekend data in particular seems to have contributed significantly to the observed increase in adoption, as people may have been waiting to do the lengthy update to iOS 6. 

An increased iOS 6 adoption rate following the launch of Google Maps not only benefits Google, but also Apple, which naturally wants as many users as possible on its latest operating system version. With Google's mapping solution now taking some of the pressure off of Apple's own flawed product, one major reason holding some users back from updating to iOS 6 has been addressed.

[Source: MacRumors]

Apple releases iOS 6.0.2 update for iPhone 5 and iPad mini, promises fix for WiFi bug

It doesn't look to bring with it any major changes, but Apple has just released its latest iOS update, which takes things up to version 6.0.2. According to the company, this one primarily addresses a bug that "could impact WiFi." An issue that, incidentally, has been at the center of a number of previous iOS updates. You should be able to find the update now or in the near future in either iTunes or Software Update on your iOS device.

Update: As MacStories notes, this particular update appears to only be for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini.

[Source: Engadget]

Apple releases WiFi compatibility update for late 2012 Macs

Earlier today, Apple released a WiFi update for late 2012 Mac systems. The new software improves compatibility for devices on the 5GHz band and requires that your machine be running OS X 10.8.2. Qualified users looking to expand their system's connectivity can snag the 1.49MB update through the Apple Menu's Software Update tab, or by visiting the source link below.

[Source: Engadget]

Apple's New Causeway Bay Retail Store in Hong Kong Unveiled

Earlier this week, we noted that this weekend's group of Apple retail store grand openings would be headlined by the company's Causeway Bay flagship location in Hong Kong. The store features three levels, with a 30-foot tall glass curtain wall making a significant impact on the shopping center. 

With the store set to open to the public tomorrow, Apple has been putting the finishing touches on it and has unveiled the store for passersby to see. ifoAppleStore's Gary Allen pointed to an image posted to Flickr showing showing the full scale of the store's glass facade.

[Source: MacRumors]

Redesigned and Expanded Third Street Promenade Apple Store Opens in Santa Monica, CA

Apple's old Third Street Promenade location was one of the early Apple Stores and was an extremely popular location that was almost always crowded to capacity. The new store should allow considerably more foot traffic.

Apple proposed the new store to the Santa Monica planning commission more than a year ago, with the new building gaining approval without so much as a discussion.

[Source: MacRumors]

Apple debuts new, more detailed status page for iCloud and other services

As those affected by recent iMessage outages no doubt noticed, Apple's status page for its various services hasn't exactly been the most detailed around. That's changed a bit today, however, with the company rolling out a new page that promise to offer a better look at what's working and what's not across iCloud, iTunes and Apple's other services. As you can see above, that includes a grid that provides a quick look at any outages currently occurring, below which is a more detailed timeline that lets you look back at any past outages and how long they lasted.

[Source: Engadget]

Custom enclosure designs shove 160 Mac minis into a single rackmount tower

When the Xserve joined the great server farm in the sky, Mac-minded datacenters everywhere were left without a true rackmountable computer; even the current Mac mini wasn't designed for those kinds of tight spaces. Enter the purposefully anonymous Steve, who just filled the gap with one of the cleverer solutions we've seen yet. He and vendors have developed custom 1U shelving, cooling from car radiators and four-in-one power cables that, combined, fit 160 Mac minis (and a managing Xserve) into one enclosure without cooking the machines to death. With each Mac mini carrying a quad Core i7 and an SSD, Steve now has twice as many cores (640) as an equivalent Xserve cluster despite lower power consumption and a 45-second, network-controlled reboot -- all big helps to his unnamed employer's software development, even with the lack of built-in redundancy for Apple's tiny desktop. As many gritty details as Steve can share are available at the source.

[Source: Engadget]

Apple quietly hires security guru who may have saved Windows Vista

Apple has had to take security more seriously when a larger user base and the cloud have opened up greater risks. Thanks to a just-discovered hire, we now know 1 Infinite Loop isn't messing around. While many of us were fixated on new iPhones in September, the company was quietly recruiting Kristin Paget as a Core OS Security Researcher. She's had stints at eBay and Google, but she's best-known for helping Microsoft while she was a security researcher at IOActive: not only did her team burst the bubble of Windows Vista engineers who thought their code was airtight, the group ultimately delayed the entire OS release to get security up to snuff. Given that Vista avoided most of the malware chaos that affected Windows XP even after Service Pack 2, Paget bodes well for the future protection of Apple's platforms. Just don't expect her to talk shop when she's a security expert at a firm that tends to really, really value its secrecy.

[Source: Engadget]