Amazon Instant Video for iOS update allows for streaming to Apple TV via AirPlay

Amazon has brought an update to its instant video iOS app that allows its content to play nice with Apple's set-top box hardware. Amazon Instant Video customers can now stream content to Apple TV with AirPlay for the first time.

The app allows Amazon Prime customers to enjoy a selection of video content like TV shows and movies for free. The updated instant video app comes along with improved content recommendation and what sounds like much deeper IMDB integration as well as the new AirPlay feature. You can now search down through other projects from the same director or by customer recommendations, for example.

Apple now offers last compatible versions of apps for older iOS devices

Apple is set to launch iOS 7 tomorrow, and now the company is showing some extended support for those with older iOS devices. Users with older devices can now easily download a back dated version of an app from the last time it was compatible with their device.

First posted over on Reddit, when you go to download and install a version of an app that is not supported by your current hardware, Apple will now prompt you with a handy pop-up that directs you to the last supported version of said app.

Chrome 29 for iOS availble now, brings enahanced voice search features

Google has just recently released a small but useful update to its iOS Chrome app. The now available Chrome 29 for your iPhone or iPad boasts a few new interesting features.

The app's main new additions come in the way of new search, data management and voice search features. The new search feature will allow users to get back to their search results faster: Once you do a search, click a result and then find out its not what you wanted, when you hit back "your search results will instantly appear, ready for you to choose the next one," Google's Chrome for iOS update post read.

Chrome 29 will also come with an interesting voice search enhancement. Now you can request follow up searches by using pronouns. So for example, your initial search could be “Who is the president of the United States?” and now with the new pronoun recognition, you could follow up with, “Who is his wife?”

Lastly, Google has also given users the ability to view their data savings in Bandwidth Management Settings. At this point, the feature is being rolled out slowly, but according to Google will be available to "all users over time." Other additions coming along with the update include general improvements with security and Single Sign On. You can grab Chrome 29 for free through the App Store now.

Asphalt 8: Airborne For Android And IOS Download

Gameloft has taken to the mobile industry like a duck to water, and with a wide range of different titles available for both iOS and Android, the company has built a solid reputation for high-end, graphically-intensive fare. Asphalt, a nitrous-charged racing game, has been a staple part of the company’s range for a number of years, and today, the company has released Asphalt 8: Airborne for both iOS and Android. In addition, the Paris, France-based developer has revealed that the game will soon be arriving for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, while also outlining its intention to port a multitude of titles over to Microsoft’s fledgling platforms.

Nuance brings Siri-like features to Android and iOS apps with Nina

Nuance, the company behind Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition products and Apple’s Siri voice assistant, has released a software developer’s kit and a set of APIs that enterprise clients can use to integrate voice controls into their Android and iOS apps. The new platform, known as Nina, differs from Siri since Cupertino’s voice assistant doesn’t currently work inside non-Apple applications.

All Things D recently had some hands-on time with Nina. The publication described the technology as bringing together what Nuance does best: speech recognition, text-to-speech, natural language understanding and voice-ID biometric technology. The service is designed with banks, insurance companies and other similar customer service businesses in mind where communication with the customer is key.

The Verge also spent some time with Nina, ultimately concluding that it’s Siri for apps, which isn’t exactly a bad thing. The banking app they took for a text drive reportedly lived up to Nuance’s reputation in form and function. Furthermore, they noted that Nina’s voice sounds a lot like Siri’s but don’t expect Apple to head to the court room since the two products are distinctly different in their application.

Nuance is making the SDK and APIs available to developers in the US, the UK and Australia. One of the first companies to take the technology for a spin is USAA, a financial services provider that primarily works with members of the US military and their families. USAA will be running a pilot program set to start later this month before introducing a public version early next year.

Apple to talk iOS security at Black Hat 2012 conference

Apple is set to make its first official appearance at the security-focused Black Hat conference this year. The move is both surprising given the company’s tradition of avoiding most major technology conferences, and significant as their products have become a bigger target for hackers in recent times.

Apple hasn’t made an official announcement yet and declined to comment on rumors, but Black Hat’s general manager Trey Ford told Bloomberg that Apple's platform security team manager Dallas De Atley is scheduled to give a presentation on key security technologies within the iOS platform.

Interestingly, Ford claims a panel of Apple insiders were originally scheduled to speak about the company's security-response team at Black Hat four years ago, but cancelled abruptly when Apple’s marketing department caught wind of it. “Bottom line — no one at Apple speaks without marketing approval,” he said, while confirming that this time around Apple marketing is on board for Black Hat 2012.

Microsoft security researchers first spoke at the conference in 1998 and the first time Google took the stage was in 2010. Now, under Tim Cook’s helm, it appears Apple is finally acknowledging the need to publicly engage with the community and discuss the security of its own platforms.

Earlier this year, the company was criticized for being to slow to respond to a Java flaw exploited by the Flashback Trojan, which ended up infecting more than 600,000 Macs between February and May. They were also in the spotlight recently over a simple hack that allowed iOS and Mac users to install premium in-app purchases from the App Store for free, which ultimately affected developers.

Apple App Store updates cause iOS OS X apps to crash

Apple's servers appear to have pushed out corrupted binaries over the last few days according to Instapaper developer Marco Arment. The issue has caused OS X and iOS users to experience app crashes as a result of updating to new versions containing the corrupted binaries available from the iOS App Store and the Mac App Store.

Arment discovered the problem on Tuesday evening after pushing an update for his Instapaper app to Apple's App Store. "I was deluged by support e-mail and Twitter messages from customers saying that it crashed immediately on launch, even with a clean install," he wrote on his blog. The problem appears to have been caused by Apple's addition of FairPlay DRM when updated binaries are submitted to the company's servers for distribution.

Specifically, an error encoding the DRM to the uploaded binary causes those downloading them to experience crashes as soon as the app is started. Error logs point to a failure within "AppleFairplayTextCrypterSession::fairplayOpen()" -- the first step required to run any app downloaded from either of Apple's app stores.

It doesn't appear to be affecting all regions according to the developer, although it's currently unclear exactly which regions are or aren't having issues, or precisely how many apps are affected. So far, Apple appears to be fixing apps on a case-by-case basis right now as Arment's app is no longer crashing.

Developers that have submitted updates to their apps between July 3 and 5 may still be affected by the problem. "I'll repeat my warning to developers: if you can help it, do not release app updates today," Arment said viaTwitter. "The corruption is widespread and ongoing."

The unfortunate situation has resulted in users assuming developers are to blame for the crashes of newly updated apps, leading to a rise in negative comments from consumers unaware of the situation. Those that are affected can restore the apps by removing it and then downloading a working version, once Apple has resolved the problem.

Apple is yet to announce when it would be resolved and did not respond to requests for further comment.

First malware ever found in iOS App Store malicious app removed

For the first time, according to Kaspersky Labs, security researchers have unearthed what appears to be malware on the Apple App Store. "Find and Call", a Russian-language app which touted contact list simplification, was discovered to be a little toointerested in its users' contact lists. Security experts discovered that Find and Call would upload the victim's entire address book and GPS coordinates to a remote server, and then proceed to spam all of their contacts.

Apple quickly pulled the app, citing guidelines which prohibit app makers from uploading contacts to remote servers. However, this is not the first time an app from the App Store has quietly stolen address books from unsuspecting iPhone and iPad users.

Path, a popular social photo-taking app, was busted last year by an observant developer who noticed the app was sending more data to third-party servers than it should have. It was discovered that Path was actually storing contact lists on remote servers in order to suggest friends its users.

While Path responded appropriately and their intentions seemed mostly benevolent, users had no idea this was occurring. Following the discovery, Path modified their app to warn users of the behavior. Apple also responded by updating its developer guidelines; however, Apple has since been criticized for not uniformly enforcing some of those rules.

Love it or hate it, Apple's walled garden has seemingly had a positive effect on minimizing malware -- at least, so far. On the other hand, the Android Market (now known as Google Play) has been portrayed as something very different. Reports of malware on Google Play have been frequent and plenty, but Google has taken steps this year to clean up their app store.

Source

Spotify challenges Pandora with free radio on iPhone, iPad

Music streaming service Spotify has announced it is adding a free radio feature to its iOS appthat will compete with the likes of Pandora, Slacker and Songza. Previously only available to desktop users, the feature will enable both free and premium Spotify users to create unlimited radio stations based on specific artists, songs, playlists or albums and stream them from an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Those under the $9.99 a month plan won’t hear any commercials and will be able to skip as many songs as they like, while free users will hear two to three minutes of commercials each hour and can skip about six songs every 60 minutes. Also, although Spotify Radio will be available for free and premium users in the US, it will be limited to premium subscribers only in the remaining fourteen markets Spotify supports.

The company is betting that free, ad-supported radio will attract users who can turn into paying subscribers later. The model is also cheaper to operate because it doesn’t require agreements with record companies — which Spotify has for its on demand service — thus royalty rates are lower and set by Congress.

Spotify has about 3 million paying subscribers globally and 10 million registered users worldwide as of November 2011.  Pandora, which was founded in 2005 and has yet to expand outside of the US, has 150 million registered users with 49 million listening within the last 30 days.

Apple to release iPad 3 in March, iPad 4 following in October

Apple could be preparing to release two new iPads this year. The iPad 3 may be unveiled in March and a secondary tablet, dubbed the iPad 4, could arrive in October, according to Taiwan component makers via DigiTimes.

Update: In addition to the information divulged earlier by DigiTimes, 9to5mac has found references about quad-core processing in iOS 5.1 which is currently in beta. This upcoming OS update from Apple is supposed to be paired with a next-generation iPad 3 and potentially the iPhone 5.

The iPad 3 is expected to ship with a QXGA (2084 x 1536 pixels) display and improved battery life but other than these two enhancements, we are told not to expect much more from the tablet. Previous rumors had pointed to two iPad 3 models, a mid-range and high-end product, being unveiled at iWorld on January 26.

The latest speculation indicates that the iPad 2 will receive a price cut to $399 with the introduction of the iPad 3. The lower price would allow Apple to compete with other vendors such as Sony, Motorola and Samsung that offer tablets at a lower price point.

Sources expect the real battle for market share to take place in the second half of 2012 when Apple ships their iPad 4. This would be around the same time that Microsoft releases Windows 8 and Intel introduces its Clover Trail-W platform. These sources suggest that the iPad 4 would feature the same 9.7-inch display as the iPad 3 but would include upgraded hardware specifications and new applications. This could perhaps include the Samsung-manufactured quad-core A6 processor that has been rumored to be the successor to the dual-core A5 SoC.

DigiTimes has a mixed track record, especially when it comes to Apple rumors. As such, we suggest you take this latest dose with a grain of salt.

Legal Siri port for iOS 5 devices released, proxy still needed

Following weeks of efforts reverse-engineering Apple's Siri personal assistant feature, a trio of developers have come up with a solution that's said to work on any jailbroken device running iOS 5 and avoids the copyright infringement inherent in previous hacks.Dubbed Spire, the new Siri port is available for free on Cydia and was tested to work on the iPhone 4 and 3GS, third- and fourth-generation iPod touch, and first generation iPad.

Spire is the work of well-know iOS hacker chpwn (aka Grant Paul) along with developer Steven Troughton-Smith and Ryan Petrich.

Unlike previous Siri ports, Spire obtains the files necessary for Siri from Apple's own servers, so technically this is a "legal" hack since the files are not being widely distributed by a third party. However, because Apple only officially supports Siri requests coming from the iPhone 4S, you'll still need access to a 4S' authorization token and must route that information through a proxy server.

Chpwn explains the limitation in the Spire Proxy FAQ, "Apple has made it very likely impossible to defeat the authorization requirement. I reverse engineered it, and it does not appear possible to connect Siri to the cloud without information from an iPhone 4S." He goes on to suggest you could ask and iPhone 4S-owning friend for their authentication tokens, or perhaps someone will come up with a for-pay service where you can rent some space on a Siri proxy attached to one of their iPhone 4S devices -- though if you really want Siri that bad maybe you should consider getting an iPhone 4S and avoid jumping though hoops.

At least until the iPhone 4S is jailbroken and hackers find a way around the proxy server issue, this is the best Siri port so far. That said, if you already own an iPhone 4S and just want Siri on another device of yours you can download the 100MB app and give this a hack try.

Remember you'll need a jailbroken device to install Spire. Conveniently enough, the iPhone Dev Team just released an untethered jailbreak for devices running iOS 5.0.1 (not including the iPhone 4S and iPad 2).

60beat introduces GamePad accessory for iOS gaming

Smartphones may not be as suited for gaming as traditional handhelds from Sony and Nintendo, but that isn't stopping iOS and Android from dominating the mobile games market in terms of revenue. A number of factors have contributed to this phenomenal growth, such as the high adoption rate of new smartphones and tablets, and the super cheap prices for quality titles compared to those for dedicated portable gaming systems.

But for all the convenience of smartphones and tablets, we can hardly say that relying on touch controls is ideal for gaming. With that in mind a company called 60beat has launched the 60beat GamePad, which connects through the headphone jack to enable console-like controls on your iOS devices.

It sports a similar design to Sony’s PlayStation 3 controller and the button configuration is rather similar as well -- there are a couple of analog joysticks, a D-Pad, 10 action buttons and 3 menu buttons. The GamePad draws power from your iDevice, eliminating the hassle of changing dying batteries and making it heavy to hold.

Games have to be programmed to support the new device and so far only 2 titles support it: Bugdom 2 and Aftermath. But the accessory maker says a "full collection" of supported games will be added in February 2012. The 60beat GamePad is priced at $49.99 and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Full update and round-up of Carrier IQ tracking software scandal

Update: Two new updates worth mentioning before the new week. Just a day after the Senate launched an investigation, Carrier IQ and some involved parties including Samsung and HTC are now facing a a class action lawsuit.

From the other side of the fence, Carrier IQ have started to defend themselves with a number of security experts siding with them. Dan Rosenberg, a security consultant who has discovered more than 100 vulnerabilities in the Linux kernel, FreeBSD, and GNU utilities, reverse engineered Carrier IQ's code and analyzed the tracking data collected by the company.

His conclusion in brief: "The application does not record and transmit keystroke data back to carriers... there is no code in Carrier IQ that actually records keystrokes for data collection purposes." Meaning there should be fewer privacy concerns than originally imagined. Read more here.

--- The original story is below ---

On Wednesday, news broke about a hidden application installed on most popular smartphone handsets that logs nearly everything the user does. Accompanying the news article was a 17-minute long video of developer Trevor Eckhart demonstrating how his HTC Evo 3D was tracking his key presses and even the content of his text messages.

The controversial claims resulted in the producer of the software, Carrier IQ, sending Eckhart a cease and desist letter. Digital rights group EFF jumped to his defence resulting in the company retracting its letter and issuing a formal apology.

Handset manufacturers and carriers were extremely quick to address the mounting criticism and anger from customers at the logging software, with a flurry of press statements clarifying their stance -- here is what is known so far:

Apple does use the logging software, though in an official statement to AllThingsD the company said it "stopped supporting Carrier IQ with iOS 5 in most of our products and will remove it completely in a future software update." They also reiterated that users must actively opt-in to share any information, and should they do so, it would be sent anonymously, encrypted and would not include any personal information. "We never recorded keystrokes, messages or any other personal information for diagnostic data and have no plans to ever do so." More information on how Carrier IQ works on iOS is available in a blog post by iPhone jailbreaker Grant Paul.

Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion said it "does not pre-install the CarrierIQ app on BlackBerry smartphones or authorize its carrier partners to install the CarrierIQ app before sales or distribution." The Canadian firm added that they do not develop, or comission the development or distribution of the app, but promised to investigate reports and speculation related to Carrier IQ.

HTC outright pointed the blame in the direction of phone carriers: "Carrier IQ is required on devices by a number of U.S carriers so if consumers or media have any questions about the practices relating to, or data collected by, Carrier IQ we’d advise them to contact their carrier." The company also said that they were investigating the possibility of adding the option for users to opt-out of data collection by the software.

In the same vein, Samsung released a statement saying carriers were responsible for the installation of CIQ software and it had nothing to do with them. When speaking to Engadget, they further pointed out that "Samsung does not receive any consumer user information from the phones that are equipped with Carrier IQ."

Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform is seemingly clear of any known traces of the software. Joe Belfiore, who oversees Windows Phone Program Management, confirmed as much in a Twitter message on Thursday. It's flagship handset partner Nokia also stepped up to the hot plate, releasing a statement denying the company has shipped any products with Carrier IQ's software installed.

Google also made it perfectly clear to everyone that it had nothing to do with Carrier IQ, and insisted its new Google Nexus phones were free of the tracking software, according to a reliable source as quoted by the Verge. Questions have been raised about how Carrier IQ's software was able to make its way on Android devices given the various compatibility tests required in order to use Google's Android OS, though.

U.S. network carriers Sprint and AT&T have come clean, admitting they use the software in devices they sell. The official word from Sprint is that it helps "analyze network performance and identify where we should be improving service," claiming it is an integral part of the Sprint service. Similarly, AT&T's offical line is, "we solely use CIQ software data to improve wireless network and service performance," according to the Huffington Post.

T-Mobile also confirmed it uses the Carrier IQ "diagnostic tool" to troubleshoot device and network performance with the goal of enhancing network reliability. Meanwhile, Verizon, the largest U.S. carrier clarified they don't use Carrier IQ's software, and according to an email addressed to Gigaomfrom Verizon spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson, any statement saying otherwise is false. 

Users in Canada, as well as Europe and elsewhere across the world so far appear to be unaffected.

Seagate intros mobile wireless HDD for iOS, Android devices

Seagate has announced an interesting new addition to its GoFlex range of external storage devices. Dubbed GoFlex Satellite, it's the first battery-powered hard drive to wirelessly connect to any Wi-Fi-enabled device, including iOS and Android tablets or smartphones. Priced at $200 for 500GB of storage it's certainly not for everyone, but Seagate believes that since most mobile devices are limited in storage, it can be a handy companion to take on the road.

The device's wireless radio supports up to three connections and lets you access any media on the drive through a web browser. There's also a dedicated GoFlex Media app for iOS that will let you transfer files between your device and the hard drive -- the Android version is said to be coming soon. Battery life will last about 5 hours of operation and about 25 hours when idle, and like other GoFlex drives, you can still hook it up to any computer via USB 2.0 or USB 3.0.

"With the GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage, we wished to create an elegant solution that provides real value to the multitude of iPad users out there by delivering a seamless connection to local storage," said Patrick Connolly, VP and general manager of Seagate's retail group. "No longer will a consumer feel as though it is a compromise to purchase a lower capacity tablet or iPad. With GoFlex Satellite, people will be able to carry their entire media library with them without the need for wires or the web at a fraction of the cost of adding 3G or purchasing or a higher capacity tablet."

The new device is basically a portable external hard drive, almost exactly the same as the GoFlex Pro or the GoFlex Ultra-portable, but with the addition of a built-in battery and Wi-Fi. Despite the additions is not too bulky for a 2.5-inch hard drive at 4.72 x 3.46 x 1.26 inches and weighing just over half a pound.

The GoFlex Satellite is available for pre-order now from Seagate.com, Amazon and BestBuy.com. It should arrive in retail stores this July, and an eventual global roll out is planned for later this summer.

In 2015: iOS still first for tablets, Android second, BlackBerry third

Last year, Apple began to dominate the tablet space with the iPad. In 2015, it will have a significantly smaller worldwide market share, but will still be in first place, despite mounting competition from other operating systems. Android will gain significant share, but will still be nipping at iOS' heels, and will have to settle for second place in the next four years, according to Gartner.

Where does that leave the rest of the market in 2015? Gartner believes Research In Motion's QNX, which powers the BlackBerry Playbook, will be in third. Meanwhile, webOS, which powers the HP TouchPad, will be in fourth. MeeGo will take fifth, but it will barely have any users. Gartner does not even mention Microsoft's Windows.

Last week, Gartner declared that for smartphones, Android would be first, Windows Phone be second, and iOS would be third in 2015. It appears the advisory firm is much more confident in Apple staving off competition to iOS in the tablet space than in the smartphone market.

These are predictions based on current data, but they will of course change as we learn more about the competition Apple is going to be facing. For example, Microsoft will likely push hard with Windows 8, and we already know the OS is expected to include a second, tile-based shell just for tablets.

"Seeing the response from both consumers and enterprises to the iPad, many vendors are trying to compete by first delivering on hardware and then trying to leverage the platform ecosystem," Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner, said in a statement. "Many, however, are making the same mistake that was made in the first response wave to the iPhone, as they are prioritizing hardware features over applications, services and overall user experience. Tablets will be much more dependent on the latter than smartphones have been, and the sooner vendors realize that the better chance they have to compete head-to-head with Apple."