Update: 8PM ET – Just 4 short hours after we first started hearing issues, iMessage and FaceTime are back
Update: 8:45PM ET – Apple’s status website also saying the issues are resolved
As many have reported on Twitter, iMessage and FaceTime have been down for the past half hour, but Apple just updated its Services Status page. Meanwhile, Apple is aptly offering the opportunity to complete a survey regarding its online Apple Support quality.
Amazon just announced it would expand in-app purchasing to games on Mac, PC, and Web-based platforms, according to a press release, letting folks use their Amazon accounts to buy “virtual goods and currencies”.
Amazon’s customers can use any credit card, Amazon gift card, or Amazon credit when buying in-app items. The online retailer also offers its in-app purchasing API and services to Android and Kindle Fire, so developers from a variety of platforms can offer a “trusted and secure buying experience.”
When Amazon launched in-app purchasing for Android and Kindle fire last year, the company’s appstore director, Aaron Rubenson, explained it would take a 30-percent cut from transactions, similar to how Apple and Facebook does, but Amazon can also set pricing so developers can still receive 30 percent of the list price.
Amazon noted other benefits to today’s expansion include opening its fraud detection technology to developers, providing transaction and customer service support, and offering marketing options like in-app items available on Amazon.com via best seller lists, recommendations, campaigns, etc.
Get more information at Developer.amazon.com/games/in-app-purchasing, or check out the press release below. Amazon’s introduction video from last year on in-app purchasing is also after the break.
