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Apple teases Samsung in new environmental print ad: ‘There are some things we want every company to copy’

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As part of its recent environmental campaign, Apple has taken out some tongue-in-cheek full-page print advertising in newspapers around the world today. The ad reads ‘There are some things we want every company to copy’. The ad was first spotted by David McClelland on Twitter. (Hi-res version below:)


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Housecleaning: We’ve moved to WordPress comments

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Just a quick note that we’ve moved our comment system to WordPress. You can log in with your WordPress, Twitter or Facebook accounts and you will need manual approval by mods the first time you comment (so prepare to wait a few minutes/hours). Previous stories will continue to contain  previous comment archives.

Why didn’t we go to Disqus or Livefyre? If it was only comments, we probably would have. But we’re building something kind of cool behind the scenes with WordPress and this is just the start.

As always, we read and appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

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iCloud hasn’t had its coffee yet today folks, multiple services remain down

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After experiencing some outages earlier this month, iCloud users continued to experience service disruptions across a number of services today. Earlier this morning, Apple reported on its System Status page, which at the moment appears to be experiencing some hiccups, that 11 percent of iCloud users were affected, and it listed all iCloud services as impacted by the outage (pictured above).

Apple later updated the system status page and listed only three services with outages: Photo Stream, Documents in the Cloud, and Backup. It also changed the 11 percent of users affected for all services to “Multiple iCloud Services- Some users affected.”

Unfortunately, Apple’s system status page doesn’t seem to be functioning properly, and it is not displaying values for outages tracked for each hour of the day. As witnessed on Twitter, many users continue to experience issues with several iCloud services including some not currently listed as being down by Apple.

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Upper West Side NY Apple Store closes due to adjacent building fire (Gallery)

Apple-Store-Ny-Fire

As noted by several New Yorkers on Twitter, a fire in a building next to the Upper West Side NY Apple Store has caused the retail store to close temporarily. There was some confusion on Twitter from people who first reported that the fire was actually at the Apple retail location, but several have since reported the smoke is coming from an adjacent building. An Apple employee at the location confirmed to us that the fire is in a neighboring building, but he also said the Apple Store has been evacuated with all appointments cancelled for the time being.

[tweet https://twitter.com/TVMarci/status/286851827381698560/photo/1]

https://twitter.com/gregcmartin/status/286847786144653312

[tweet https://twitter.com/EtienneDMartel/status/286847511325446145]

[tweet https://twitter.com/MusicMumbler/status/286853102122962945]

Shit's on fire behind the store.

Fire on 67th st? Strangely no sirens from fire dept on 66th st...#UWS

So this is happening right now...the store itself isn't on fire but an adjacent building is

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Facebook iOS app updated with new messaging features, multiple photo sharing, & Facebook Gifts

Update: As noted by commenters below, you might want avoid this 5.1 update. It appears to have made the app unusable for some.

Update 2: Facebook gave us this statement: 

Facebook found the issue and have addressed it server side. It should be working fine as of 30 minutes ago.

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5mac/status/265767333723791362]

Facebook updated its iOS app today to version 5.1 with a number of new features including the ability to send real “Facebook Gifts” (for U.S. users)—a feature previously only available through the desktop app. There are also a few new messaging and sharing features included:

• Swipe left anywhere in the app to quickly see who’s available and send a message
• Add friends you message most to the top of your Favorites
• Share multiple photos fast
• Give real gifts to your friends using Facebook Gifts (US-only)
• When sending messages, see who’s active so you and your friends know how soon to expect a reply

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S. Korean court rules that Samsung and Apple infringed on each other’s patents

A Seoul court ruled Friday that Apple infringed on two of Samsung’s technology patents and “must stop selling the infringing products in South Korea.” In addition, the judge said Samsung infringed on Apple’s “bounceback” design patent but not its icon design patent. These only apply to older model Apple products (perhaps pre-Qualcomm, now Apple is indemnified?), from the sound of it, and the damages are in the tens of thousands of dollars, which is meaningless.

Bloomberg, WSJ and Reuters have more. Tweets below:


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NY Times reporter David Pogue’s iPhone was stolen, enlists Twitter to help ‘Find my iPhone’

Are there any readers in Maryland that want to help? It could be fun/interesting (and probably dangerous, so do not blame us if you get shot)! Map center is here.

[tweet https://twitter.com/pogue/status/231047069647904768]
[tweet https://twitter.com/pogue/status/231053778411991040]

Update: With help of Gizmodo, Pogue got his phone back

[tweet https://twitter.com/PGPDJulie/statuses/231128575150002176]

[tweet https://twitter.com/pogue/status/231133334200270848]

[tweet https://twitter.com/PGPDJulie/status/231132656505593857/]

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Amusing tweets from the Apple vs. Samsung Trial: Google and Apple employees not yet vetted

With Apple and Google having such a large presence in the Bay area, there is bound to be some ties to the companies represented on the jury…but both Apple and Google employees have made it to the Jury selection process. Imagine having to write the request to the HR department on this (Thanks, Dan Levine):

[tweet https://twitter.com/9to5mac/status/229997136362754048]

[tweet https://twitter.com/inafried/status/230000222753923074]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229990099675398145]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229988410557865984]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229994305555685376]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229993879498260480]

[tweet https://twitter.com/FedcourtJunkie/status/230002149491363840]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229995864632983553]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229993086082756608]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229992090958954496]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229991527789772800]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229987025078595584]

[tweet https://twitter.com/fedcourtjunkie/status/229995473744826368]

[tweet https://twitter.com/inafried/status/229997431763369984]

We’re hearing word of sporadic iMessage outages this weekend

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Although Apple’s iCloud System Status thinks all is good, clearly not all is well in Maiden. We received a load of tips over the past day or so claiming iMessages are randomly not going through, people are not able to sign in (“activation issues”), and messages are randomly deleting. Others are not having any issues (or are not aware of any). Here are just a few of our readers’ responses:


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Twitter updates TweetDeck to be more ‘swift’ [Video]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZuGdsjo44k&feature=player_embedded]

Twitter is keeping busy this summer with a slew of updates to its line of products, and now the microblogging service is tidying up TweetDeck.

The desktop application updated today with a new layout for “swifter navigation,” featuring refreshed columns, expanded actions for tweets, and even a revamped Twitter bird icon.

TweetDeck explained:

  • Today you can more easily discover and react to the information you care about with new navigation features in TweetDeck. You have given us some really useful feedback after using these features on web.tweetdeck.com, and now you can use this swifter TweetDeck on other platforms too.
  • This swifter version of TweetDeck is available now at tweetdeck.com, where you can download TweetDeck for Windows, access the Chrome app or sign in to web.tweetdeck.com. The updated TweetDeck for Mac will be available in the Mac App Store shortly.

Go to the TweetDeck Posterous page for a full breakdown on the latest version, or just check out the video above.

TweetDeck is free at the Mac App Store.


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Apple adds Avenir typeface to iOS 6 in Maps

[tweet https://twitter.com/NathanBowers/status/212803875114201088]

Apple seems to now feature the Avenir typeface in iOS 6.

An interesting Reddit discussion popped up about the discovery of the font in both Maps and Siri, check it out:

Avenir is completely new to iOS, because it does not appear in Apple’s font list for earlier versions of the mobile operating system. According to Fonts.com, designer Adrian Frutiger first released the sans-serif typeface nearly 25 years ago.

What do you think of the typography choice?


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Say hello to the 9to5Forums and new comment system

TL;DR: By popular demand, we are rolling out 9to5Forums.com built on the Vanilla platform. As part of this new structure, we are moving our comments going forward to Vanilla, as well. Single sign up for both is quick and easy (including login with Twitter/Facebook/Open ID, etc.). Oh, and there will be prizes!

Long version:
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Tweetbot updated to version 2.0 with revamped single-tap UI and new features (+ iPad version!)

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[slideshow]

Update: Tapbots followed up with a separate iPad version of Tweetbot that is a different purchase (also $2.99), but it implements many of the new features and UI elements introduced in the v2.0 update for the iPhone app earlier today. It has a new two-pane iPad UI and other features specific to the larger display. For anyone holding off on Tweetbot to avoid having to use another client on iPad, the iPad version is probably worth the extra $3 with this mornings update. BI and Rene at iMore has the review:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3oEjHrvzUEg#!]

Developer Tapbots just dropped an updated version of its popular third-party Twitter iPhone client. Tweetbot version 2.0 [iTunes $2.99] is a significant update with dozens of new features and changes, and its first impressions seem to be positive.

Perhaps the biggest enhancement in the new Tweetbot is the updated timeline view that refines the UI making links (now colored), profile images (thumbnails now appear in timeline), and usernames just a single tap away. Another nice addition is the tappable “Retweeted by” bar now appearing in the timeline. Other improvements made to the app include adjusted cell colors for better contrast, a redesigned direct message UI, and a new “New Tweets” bar that can be hidden with a tap or through Settings…


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Facebook iOS app gets monster update to 3.5

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Facebook’s iOS app just got a monster update, including the following:

  • – Made it easier to share with who you want
  • – Added the ability to tag friends and places in posts
  • – Added the ability to share external links from a web view
  • – Added new design for Profile and Group Walls
  • – Improved the sharing tool to add privacy controls on posts and match your settings on the web site

Improvements and bug fixes:

  • – Improved Notifications speed
  • – Fixed a number of Chat bugs
  • – Made it easier to select filters in News Feed
  • – Fixed a bug with the Notifications bar disappearing
  • – Fixed a number of Photos bugs
  • – Improved performance and stability overall

Still no iPad version, however. In fact, @Chpwn warns:

Facebook removed iPad support in their latest app update. It’s not possible for FaceForward to enable something that’s no longer in the app.

Check out the new Check-in screen (which was hinted at 1:51 in the video on this page) below:


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