Federico Viticci

10804 posts on MacStories since April 2009

Federico is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of MacStories, where he writes about Apple with a focus on apps, developers, iPad, and iOS productivity. He founded MacStories in April 2009 and has been writing about Apple since. Federico is also the co-host of AppStories, a weekly podcast exploring the world of apps, Unwind, a fun exploration of media and more, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about portable gaming and the handheld revolution.
@viticci@macstories.net
@viticci.macstories.net
viticci@macstories.net

This Is What The Daily Looks Like [Updating]

Live from The Daily announcement, here’s what The Daily looks like. First screenshots below and after the break.

The app features lots of photographs and videos, social integration with Facebook and Twitter feeds inside the articles, breaking news during the day. One  cool feature that was demoed on stage was “360 photography”, which allows you to move around a scene with your fingers – it looked very impressive and immersive at the same time. The Daily comes with several sections accessible through a “carousel” interface, which is a mix of Apple’s Cover Flow and the classic bookshelf. Online video can play inline the carousel, and the process of scrolling through the sections looks very smooth.

The app is now live in the App Store. Check for our first impressions in a few minutes.

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The Daily Launch Event Will Be Live Streamed, App Launches Today

It looks like The Daily’s launch will be live streamed on the app’s official website:

Watch at 11 a.m. Eastern Time today as News Corporation unveils The Daily, featuring special guest Eddy Cue, vice president of Internet Services from Apple. Check back later today for our full web site. The Daily will be available on the App Store starting at 12 p.m. EST.

The app will also be available later today in the App Store. Check for updates on MacStories as the launch happens. In the meantime, enjoy the countdown on thedaily.com.

Apple Confirms Verizon iPhone Available for Pre-Order Tomorrow

Press release just went out confirming that the Verizon iPhone 4 will be available for pre-order tomorrow on first come, first served basis through Apple’s online store and Verizon’s store. The Verizon iPhone 4 will be sold at $199 for the 16 GB model, $299 for the 32 GB model with a two-year contract. Sales in Apple retail stores and 2,000 Verizon Wireless stores will begin on Thursday, February 10th and 7 AM – just like AT&T did for the iPhone 4 last year.

We have seen iPhone accessories have started appearing on Verizon Wireless’ website last week, and the February 3rd pre-order date was previously reported as well.

Press release embedded below.

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QNAP’s NAS Streams Media To iOS via WiFi and 3G

If streaming music and movies remotely to iOS devices is your thing, QNAP’s latest NAS offering is something to keep an eye on. The new series, which will be available for sale later this month, comes with up to 8 TB of storage, 1.2 GHz CPU and 256 MB of RAM. Other than these interesting specs, the TS-x12 model can stream all kinds of media to iOS devices via WiFi or 3G, or to your PS3 and Xbox 360 with UPnP. Sounds pretty cool.

The Mac platform doesn’t lack media centers that through mobile companion apps can stream content to the iPhone and iPad. But if you don’t want to install apps like Plex on your Mac and you prefer having a solution like a full-featured NAS, QNAP’s upcoming products might just be what you need. [via Gizmodo]

Third Build of OS X 10.6.7 Seeded to Developers

A new build of Mac OS X 10.6.7 hit the Developer Center last night, the third one since Apple started seeding 10.6.7 to developers three weeks ago. Build 10J850 mentions, again, Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB and Graphics Drivers as focus areas for developers to test.

The second build of 10.6.7 was released on January 25th, and it appears that Apple is quickly issuing new builds with the same focus areas and no “known issues”.

Angry Birds’ Next Level: The Super Bowl

It finally happened: Angry Birds is officially going mainstream. And not in yet another TV show that briefly mentions the app – in a Super Bowl commercial. As reported by AdAge, 20th Century Fox has teamed up with Rovio, makers of Angry Birds, to launch a commercial about the upcoming animated film Rio which will feature Angry Birds and a code to enable a secret level in the game. Fox and Rovio will also launch a special version of the popular iOS app called “Angry Birds Rio” in March, where characters of the movie and the game will merge into a single storyline.

The code that will be given in the Super Bowl ad will grant access to a level that, once completed, will further enable users to enter a contest to attend the premiere of the movie “Rio” in Rio de Janeiro on March 22nd. AdAge also reports about the spot:

Fox said the spot will be the first Super Bowl ad that requires viewers to pause the spot and watch frame-by-frame to capture an embedded code. Other marketers are adopting somewhat similar tactics, however, in their Super Bowl ads this year.

The Angry Birds social phenomenon looks unstoppable and, frankly, it seems like it’s moving even too fast for a game that was nothing a year ago. Still, what Rovio is doing is impressive marketing-wise, but I hope the infamous birds won’t end up on McDonald’s happy meals anytime soon.  Rovio is also rumored to be working on a real sequel to the original game, which should feature a “pigs point of view” and a brand new gameplay.

Verizon 4G LTE Modem Now Supports Mac OS X

Earlier today, Verizon Wireless released an update to their VZAccess Manager software for Mac that brings compatibility with one of the 4G LTE modems sold by the company, the Pantech UML290. Mac users can now connect to Verizon’s LTE network using the new 7.2.4 version of the app, which is available for download here.

The Pantech UML290 will cost you $100 with a two-year contract, with a 4G data plan available at $50 per month for 5 GB of data. The other 4G LTE modem, the LG VL600, doesn’t have OS X support yet. From the system requirements:

  • OSX 10.4.72 or higher (Tiger), OSX 10.52 or higher (Leopard) 32-bit, OSX 10.62 or higher (Snow Leopard) 32-bit

  • PowerMac G3 or newer with appropriate device interface

Apple’s “Integrated” In-App Purchases, eBooks and iOS Users

Jason Snell, reporting for Macworld about Apple’s statement regarding ebook reading apps and in-app purchases:

For a couple of years now, Apple has been boasting about how many millions of iTunes IDs are linked to credit cards. Recent rumblings suggest that the company is seeking to expand the footprint of its financial services, too. It’s clear that Apple is tired of seeing companies make money on content served to iOS devices without using its system or cutting it in for a piece of the action. The current 30-percent cut of all content purchases would seem to be an impediment to getting partners to embrace Apple’s system; on the other hand, Apple’s the gatekeeper to its platform and if other companies don’t want to play ball with Apple, they’ll be on the outside looking in.

That’s exactly the point. You have to look at this whole Sony / Apple / everyone else story in two separate ways: the business perspective and consumers’ expectations. Apple does business, and it wants publishers selling content on its iOS platform to pay the fee all developers pay. The fee is 30 percent. Whether or not Apple will ease this fee and allow for lower revenue cut on ebook content is unclear, but it’s a possibility. Maybe tomorrow’s event won’t just be about The Daily, who knows. Read more

Apple Releases iOS 4.3 Beta 3

A few minutes ago Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 4.3 to developers. It’s available now in the iOS Dev Center. Build number is 8F5166b . Updated versions of the iOS SDK and Apple TV pre-release software have been released as well. The release comes after nearly two weeks after the previous beta; iOS 4.3 beta 1 was seeded to developers on January 12. iOS 4.3 is expected to introduce a rather small set of new features like AirPlay video streaming for third-party apps, HTTP live streaming statistics and full-screen iAds. In the developer betas Apple also enabled support for multitasking gestures on the iPad, although the feature won’t be part of the public release of iOS 4.3. The software update has also been rumored to carry support for the iTunes subscriptions that will power The Daily, but no references of such functionality have been found in the SDK so far.

Last week, several reports indicated that Apple is already accepting iOS 4.3-compatible apps in the App Store. We will update this story as we find out more about the new beta. Read more