Meta Watch has officially released a new smartwatch development system with Bluetooth 4.0, capable of integrating with both iOS and Android devices. A previous beta was limited to Android only. In iOS, an app pushes basic notifications to the watch for things like calls and messages. Developers have access to an API, though, which will let their own apps push virtually any information.
Long-time Mac software developer Panic will be launching a major new version of its web-coding tool, now called Coda 2, along with an iPad companion app called Diet Coda on Thursday. The company describes Coda 2 as an "overhaul of every facet" of the editor, while Diet Coda is seen as a portable tool for making quick fixes to code when a developer is on-the-go. Both programs will be sold at half-price on Thursday, May 24 only.
Automatic app downloads are being integrated into OS X Mountain Lion, checks show. The feature is present in the latest Developer Preview of the OS; under the new option, titles bought at the Mac App Store should, in theory, appear on any other Mac signed in with the same Apple ID. In practice though, the store is marking titles as "installed" on secondary Macs without actually copying any files. The function will likely be turned on in future Developer Previews, or at least the final version of Mountain Lion, due sometime this summer.
Brainshark has announced the launch of an update for its free iPad app, SlideShark, which includes tools for viewing, sharing, and tracking PowerPoint presentations. Version 1.6 introduces a new Presenter Mode that allows users to connect to an external display and simultaneously view slide notes, times, and the current, previous, and next slides. Other new features include faster conversion times, advanced reporting on presentation viewing activity, and enhanced administrative controls.
Apple has released a fourth preview of Mountain Lion Server to developers. The code is also listed as build 12S219n, and follows just a day after a third update of the main Mountain Lion preview. A number of known issues are listed in the Server preview; among others, there are several problems each in the use of FileVault, Time Machine, and Game Center.
Earlier today, Apple updated its OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion Developer Preview 3 for developers, though no significant changes or additions were listed by the company. For reasons unknown, Apple has excluded the mid-2007 MacBook Pro (identifier 3,1) from this build, but says it will restore support for the model in future releases. Numerous known issues from the previous build remain unaddressed, though a minor enhancement has already been spotted.
App developers got a brief glimpse into the workings of the review process yesterday when photos emerged of what appeared to be the work desk of an App Store reviewer. As ReadWriteWeb discovered, the photos -- posted on a test Facebook account -- showed an iMac, several Apple products, and what appeared to be app review guidelines.
The beta version of iCloud.com is now displaying Reminders and Notes apps, users observe. At the moment, the regular iCloud.com site is limited to Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Find My iPhone, and iWork. 9to5Mac notes that the beta code contains hidden strings asking a person to "first sign in to iCloud with the iOS 6 Beta," which may hint that iOS 6 and an updated iCloud.com will premiere simultaneously, possibly at WWDC in June.
Apple, which has been working and gaining patents for 3D and face-recognition technologies for several years, was awarded another one yesterday for a novel way of creating 3D models out of two-dimensional data. The work in this area started in earnest when Apple purchased Swedish firm Polar Rose in 2010, and has wide implications for commercial applications. One application could be for future iOS or Mac security logins.
Quark has announced that all customers using QuarkXPress version 3 or later can now upgrade to QuarkXPress 9 for $349. QuarkXPress 9, which is regularly priced at $849, is a page layout and design tool that can help developers create content to be published on digital devices. In order to upgrade customers must have a valid, registered, and activated serial number, however those who are unable to locate their serial number may be able to upgrade by providing proof of purchase or completing an online missing serial number form.
The developers over at the XDA Developer's Forum, and kennethpen in particular, have now released a one-click root for the HTC One X. This time around, however, the AT&T, Rogers and other carrier-locked versions got the attention, and users still need to plug it into their computers to copy the needed files, be they Linux-, Windows-, or OS X-powered. The bootloader on the handset remains locked, however.
RIM on Tuesday announced it has partnered with TomTom to bring the latter's HD Traffic service onto the former's smartphones. BlackBerry apps including Traffic, Maps, and Locate Services will get TomTom's touch, and even developers will have access to mapping and traffic for integration into their own apps. HD Traffic provides real-time traffic information to platforms.
In response to a "bug report" filed by a developer, Apple has for the first time acknowledged that the lack of multi-user support in iOS for the iPad is a "known issue" which is "currently being investigated by engineering," AppleInsider reports. While developers have often used bug reports to ask for or promote system features, the developer who submitted it says normally Apple doesn't reply to such requests.
VeriFone will release a new card reader that plugs into the iPhone or iPad's 3.5mm headphone input to process payments. A step up from its PayWare solution for hardware, the new device, called SAIL, will be very close to Square's hardware. VeriFone already makes card payment hardware for larger businesses and stores, and is trying to protect this client base from smaller up and comers like Square, BusinessInsider reported.
A rummaging through the source code of the dev alpha handset RIM distributed to developers at its BlackBerry World event last week has revealed 7 new codenames for upcoming BlackBerry handsets. According to N4BB, J. Duke from the OSBB site found a reference to Nevada, Winchester 2, Colt, London, Blackforest, Nashville, and Naples in the viewable file system. The London was reported on before and is the second version of the dev alpha phone, with Colt the name for the first-revision of the device.
Apple is now preparing a pair of Java 6 runtime updates for OS X 10.6 and 10.7 that will mark the last Apple-custom versions of Java, handing over all future development and responsibility for Java on the Mac platform directly to Oracle. Apple had already stopped shipping a default version of Java with new Macs beginning with the release of Lion last summer, but had made in-house versions available to Lion users as well as continued supporting the Snow Leopard version.
Apple has updated the App Store localization support in iTunes Connect with 10 more languages, a developer bulletin indicates. These include Norwegian, Turkish, Finnish, Danish, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, Greek, and traditional Chinese. Through the expanded support, the metadata, keywords, and screenshots on App Store pages can now be rendered more appropriate to a region.
Earlier today, Apple posted a new developer build of OS X Lion 10.7.4 for both Client and Server editions, coming just one week after the previous update. In addition, the company has updated the last Developer Preview 3 of OS X 10.8, Mountain Lion, and also posted Developer Preview 4 of Xcode 4.4 for developers. The Mountain Lion update is notable for a new "Do Not Disturb" mode in the built-in Notifications Center, which may portend a similar feature in a future iOS version.
At its currently ongoing BlackBerry World 2012 conference, RIM revealed a guarantee for developers as a motivation to get them to create apps for its upcoming BlackBerry 10 OS. According to Engadget, the Canadian smartphone maker will make up the difference between $10,000 and the money a certified app made from sales in App World, though this only applies for its first year of existence. Also, the app will need to generate at least $1,000 on its own.
A second, more official image of the recently leaked BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha unit surfaced on Tuesday. The image is accompanied by some specs, with the smartphone sporting a 4.2-inch touchscreen with 1280x768 resolution. The handsets are expected to be distributed to developers for the BlackBerry 10 platform at the BlackBerry World conference that started in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday.
The BlackBerry 10 developer device RIM plans to give away next week at BlackBerry World has been spotted days in advance. A CrackBerry forum poster got a quick, power-off look at the experimental smartphone, which is a relatively simple, brick-like design reminiscent of the BlackBerry PlayBook. Other than seeing both front and back cameras, little was discernible without turning it on.
Following the disruption caused by an unpatched vulnerability in Mac versions of Java SE 6 that played havoc with the Mac community for several weeks until Apple finally posted the patch, Oracle has announced that it will take the lead in supplying both Java SE 7 and its runtime environment to Mac users who need it. For developers, the Java SE 7 Update 4 and its JDK as well as JavaFX 2.1 are both available now for download, marking Oracle's first direct delivery) for Mac OS X.
Advertisers who are affected by Apple's ban from using the Unique Device Identifier (UDID) information on individual iOS devices will lose as much as 24 percent of their ad revenue, according to claims from mobile ad server MoPub, reports MacWorld UK. The use of UDID information is a widespread tool for measuring the performance of advertising and developing pricing models for paying app publishers.
Among the other announcements related to the 2012 Worldwide Developer Conference, Apple has also opened nominations for the annual Apple Design Awards for Mac and iOS applications. In addition to apps that are nominated by developers themselves, Apple may opt to nominate an app itself if the company believes the app upholds the best examples of design, technology and innovation. Developers do not have to be present in order to win.
Griffin Technology has teamed up with Crayola to launch a line of kid-friendly headphones and cases for the iPod touch. The Crayola MyPhones are fully adjustable, volume-limiting earbuds and headphones that have been designed to comfortably fit children. The earbuds are offered in four colors, purple pizzazz, cotton candy, caribbean green, and blue berry at a cost of $15 each, while the headphones are sold in two color combinations for $25. Meanwhile, two case designs, Color Clickers and Crayon Classics, are being offered online for $25 each.
Apple has already sold out of tickets for WWDC 2012, checks show. Even though each ticket was priced at $1,599, access closed roughly two hours after it began earlier today. The event is scheduled for June 11th through the 15th in San Francisco.
As a part of its WWDC 2012 announcement, Apple has also revealed details of a scholarship program for the event. Roughly 150 students selected by Apple will be able to go to the event for free, skipping the $1,599 ticket price. Candidates must apply by May 2nd however, and fulfill a number of different criteria.
Apple today announced details of the 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference. The event will run from June 11th through the 15th in San Francisco, and take place at one of Apple's favorite venues, Moscone West. The company is promising to share "the future of iOS and OS X," as well as 100 technical sessions, and an Apple Design Awards event promoting both Mac and iOS apps.
Google Drive wasn't Google's only release today. With less fanfare than the cloud storage announcement, Google also released the Google Drive Software Development Kid (SDK). The SDK allows developers to implement Google Drive integration and further allows an application to take advantage of Google's sharing, identity management, and storage.
RunRev has announced the next course in its series of free online mobile app development classes, LiveCode Small Business App Academy. The course will run from May 1 until the 31 and provides students with short daily videos that are delivered via e-mail. Topics covered will include database and cloud access, monetization, working with rich media, push notifications, and more. In addition to the videos, signing up for the course also provides users with a free 30-day trial of LiveCode.
Just ten days after the previous release of build 11E46, Apple has posted a later version of the upcoming 10.7.4 update for developers, listing no known issues. The developer-only 11E52 breaks the pattern of around two full weeks between updates, and features a version number smaller in difference than the previous release, which suggests that final release may be nearing. This is the fourth version of OS X 10.7.4 to be offered to developers for testing.
Developer Two Lives Left has published Cargo-Bot, a new game for the iPad. The title is perhaps most significant for the way it was created; Two Lives claims that the game is the first to have been programmed entirely on an iPad using Codea, its own iOS utility. The project is said to have taken several months, and a special Codea Xcode Template which will only "soon" be available to the public.
Apple has quietly posted a new sub-section on its iPhone pages dealing with business and enterprise uses for the iPhone, including tips, profiles, integration solutions and more. The section is broken down into five main pages, with the overview promising users that they can organize their day, view their business, manage projects, meeting anywhere and travel light. The section showcases both Apple products like the iWork apps as well as third-party solutions.
Valve CEO Gabe Newell was asked directly about rumors that placed Tim Cook at the company's headquarters, presumably for a meeting with Newell, but he flatly denied the story and said he has never actually met Cook. Newell dispelled the story in a podcast interview for Seven Day Cooldown. According to Newell, executives at Valve were e-mailing each other asking if any of them were meeting with Cook, but it was just a rumor, reports gaming site Kotaku.
The first handsets to be powered by Mozilla's Boot2Gecko OS, which we tried out at Mobile World Congress, will reportedly arrive in Brazil via Telefonica as early as the end of the year. Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs made the timing announcement today in São Paulo, confirming that the platform will make it past concept development and into the retail smartphone market.
Sony has made good on its promise made last month and launched the PlayStation Suite SDK beta for developers. Any interested party can download the software, letting them create software for all PlayStation-certified hardware. This includes the PS Vita console and the Xperia line of phones and tablets.
AT&T is aiming to bring speech recognition technology to a greater array of devices, and the company is turning to outside developers to realize that aim. The telecom giant is opening up the speech APIs for its Watson technology to the developer community.
Hot on the heels of the day's earlier release of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion (Developer Preview 3), Apple has released a new beta of the forthcoming Safari 5.2 as well as a preview of programming tool Xcode 4.4, reports AppleInsider. Both updates bring noticeable new features to the programs, but both are only for developers and require an Apple Developer account to access. Safari gains SVG filters and other improvements, while Xcode now supports 3D documents.
As previously reported, developer The Corpora has commenced pre-orders of its Q.bo open source robot. Ten individual items are available for pre-order, including three models of complete robots either assembled or ready-for-assembly, along with seven individual components available separately for the hobbyist. All orders are expected to ship in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Apple is now seeding a third developer preview of OS X Mountain Lion. The new build is listed as 12A178q, as opposed to the previous one's 12A154q. The OS is still saddled with a number of known issues, including several related to FileVault. Canceling the preview installer's restart, for instance, may prevent people from entering a password until Disk Utility is used to unlock and repair a volume; some installations on top of OS X 10.7.2 may fail if the older OS has FileVault enabled. FileVault accounts created before Lion won't work at all at in the current Mountain Lion preview.
The Pebble e-paper watch project covered last week and featured on crowd-sourcing website Kickstarter has now raised over 31 times more capital than it was originally intended. The initial pace was certainly impressive, as the project met its goal within just two hours of it being posted on the site. The device, once manufactured, promises to bring with it iOS and Android compatibility over a Bluetooth connection.
Apple today released a new build of the forthcoming 10.7.4 for developers, asking them to focus on interactions with the App Store, graphics, e-mail, QuickTime, Screen Sharing and Time Machine. The new version, build 11E46, comes two weeks after the previous one (11E35) and barely a month since the first external beta (11E27). The new version has no known issues, and developers are asked to focus on the same areas as in the previous build.
April 12th marks 20 years exactly since Bare Bones Software announced the first public release of BBEdit, its programmer-oriented text editor that was originally offered for free and ran on the Mac's System 6 and System 7 OS versions. Remarkably, the program is still the text editor of choice for many developers and web coders, with the same lead developer. The company has noted the occasion by releasing version 4.0 of BBEdit's "little brother," Text Wrangler.
Courts have finally allowed Apple to involve itself in an ongoing lawsuit filed by Lodsys against a number of app developers. Apple in June filed a motion to intervene, however the request was met by opposition from Lodsys and further stalled as the case was swapped to Judge Rodney Gilstrap.
Splashtop has launched a remote deskop app ($25, App Store) for the iPad that lets users experience Windows 8's Metro UI. Meant for developers, Win8 Metro Testbed supports gestures and swipes with low latency, as demonstrated in the demonstration video, below. It does require a wireless connection to a host computer, however.
When the full Corpora website goes live on April 18, it will allow visitors to pre-order the Qbo open-source robot. Qbo runs Linux operating on its x86 component hardware, letting developers experiment with their code. It will be available in three models, with the entry-level one coming as a kit buyers will need to assemble on their own.
Windows Phone 8 may be already running on some smartphones, if the latest report from WPCentral proves true. It includes mention of Apollo, or build 8.0.9662.0, in the social networking app I'm a WP7. The app's developer said the device ID is difficult to fake, though it is running through an emulator. The ID also originated from the Pacific coast, making it more likely to be Microsoft's Bellevue, Washington headquarters or a San Francisco Bay Area office.
Amazon gave Appstore developers an important catch-up on Tuesday through support for in-app purchases. Its custom Android store now uses the same 1-Click engine to handle buying content as for the apps themselves. The switch preserves the typical 70 percent royalty paid to developers and only restricts things such as solely extra-app purchases, illegal or "offensive" material, and virtual currencies that could be exchanged between users.
RIM's Developer Relations VP Alec Saunders on Monday clarified his position on restricting sideloading on the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 10. He noted that, rather than blocking a manual transfer of an app from PC to device, RIM would be encrypting apps to prevent bootlegged copies while still allowing legitimate sideloads from developers and end users who'd downloaded the title. He indirectly positioned it as a balance between Apple's mostly locked down view and the loosely checked Android method.
Thanks to the recent launch of the HTC One V and the work of one resourceful developer over at the XDA Developers forum, owners of the Desire S and Desire HD can port over the ROM from the new phone. The project is a work in progress, but most of the ROM was successfully ported over to the older handsets. The data and voice radios with the new ROM are fully functional for either phone, so users can use it daily.
