iOS

In its quest to get developers on Apple's iOS platform more friendly with Microsoft technologies Microsoft this morning released a new toolkit that helps developers integrate the company's Azure platform into the guts of iOS applications.

The open-source kit, which Microsoft has posted to Github, helps iOS developers build Windows Azure integration into applications at a very low level. Microsoft says this works on both the iPhone and the iPad, giving applications a way to plug into data and notifications from services running on Azure.

"Today, it's not just about how quickly a developer can create an experience, but how quickly that developer can build apps that work with unique devices across a dozen platforms," wrote Jamin Spitzer, the senior director of platform strategy for Microsoft, in a TechNet post.

Spitzer said that the solution is to use cloud services as the "common back-end" to simplify those efforts.

"Using the toolkits, developers can use the cloud to accelerate the creation of applications on the major mobile platforms. Companies, including Groupon, are taking advantage to create a unified approach to cloud-to-mobile user experience," Spitzer said.

Microsoft has set up the system to let developers plug their Azure account information directly into apps, or run that authentication through a proxy server. That first method is the easier and more self-contained of the two, but hinders access controls and authorizations, the company said. By comparison, the proxy method, which has applications validating access to Azure keeps the username and password information from residing within the app. … Read more

Fewer than three months since Apple's introduction of in-app subscriptions for the iPad, publisher Conde Nast has hopped on board with the digital version of The New Yorker.

A new version of The New Yorker app, which went out as an update last night, adds the capability to subscribe to either a month or a year of the publication through Apple's recently-introduced subscription program. This option joins the existing $4.99 per issue option that's been available since the app was introduced in October, and now lets current print subscribers of the weekly magazine plug in their … Read more

Most everyone has probably heard about the controversy over the location-tracking behavior on iOS devices since last June. Recently, when a developer made a program to show users' location data on a map, people were understandably concerned that their whereabouts could be tracked through their location logs without their knowledge. Apple promised in an open letter that it would resolve the issue, though the company claims it was not using the information for anything.

On Wednesday, Josh Lowensohn reported that Apple made good on its promise with the release of iOS 4.3.3, reducing the size of the "crowdsourced" location cache, and the device no longer backs up the cache to iTunes.

Even though I downloaded the software and checked out the map to see that my iPhone did indeed track my location, I was never terribly worried about it and took Apple at its word that the location data wasn't being used for anything nefarious. Still, I'm glad to see the company has listened to user concerns. Hopefully this will lay this latest Apple controversy to rest.

What do you think? Were you nervous that your information was being used without your consent or do you even care? Let me know in the comments.

This week's apps are a piano app that lets you play hit songs and a flying disc game that's both graphically beautiful and challenging.… Read more

One of the longstanding knocks on Apple's iOS is its lack of independence when it comes to downloading new updates. Currently all iPhones, iPads, and iPods require a hard tether to a computer running iTunes in order to be updated to the latest software.

According to a new rumor reported by 9to5Mac, that could soon be changing. Citing "multiple sources," 9to5Mac says that iOS 5 incremental updates could be the first Apple mobile operating system updates to be synced over the air, joining Google's Android and Palm's WebOS in the phone-only update game.

Keep in … Read more

Will Verizon iPhone users finally be able to update their devices wirelessly without the need for iTunes?

Multiple sources have told Apple news site 9to5Mac that Apple and Verizon Wireless will soon offer over-the-air updates to the iPhone following this fall's expected release of iOS 5. Although iOS 5 itself won't be available wirelessly, 9to5Mac reports that any future updates to the OS will come over the air. With such a change, people would no longer need a PC and iTunes to act as the middlemen to keep their smartphones current.

If the reports are true, Apple would join rival Google, which already offers Android users the ability to update their devices sans computer. Apple reportedly also has the technology to update its devices over the air already, but the company has apparently been cautious about opening it up everywhere. However, Apple has been chatting with Verizon about unleashing this technology since early this year, said 9to5Mac.

The sources didn't say whether wireless updates would also be available on AT&T or international carriers of the iPhone. No specific mention was made to the iPad or iPod Touch, but the same technology logically should extend to all of Apple's iOS devices.

Though over-the-air updates would provide a convenient, mobile way to keep the iPhone updated, there are a couple of potential pitfalls.… Read more

iOS notifications concept from Andreas on Vimeo.

On our list of iPhone 5 most wanted features, at No. 13 we have "improved home screen" with a better notifications system. A lot of people have been hoping Apple would come up with a more modular home screen that's more Android-like and has something akin to customizable widgets.

We suspect we'll get something like this when Apple rolls out iOS 5 next month at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), but in the meantime, take a look at this concept for a redesigned notifications system/home screen that the folks at 9to5 Mac have highlighted. It's pretty slick.

… Read more

If you have ever wanted to be able to create your own iPhone game, Piclings gets you a step farther, offering users a way to use their own photographs to make custom levels for Picazzo, a little flying Picling that must gather coins and special objects while avoiding buzzing enemies.

Piclings uses a floating joystick to control Picazzo as he flies his way around one of their several levels, or ones that you create. The Piclings custom level creation analyzes your selected photo and creates ledges and walls using lines within your picture.

The level creation technology seems to be … Read more

Apple today released, as promised, an iOS update addressing location-tracking behavior, and the security of that information on its portable devices.

iOS 4.3.3, which is a free update delivered through Apple's iTunes software, reduces the size of the "crowdsourced" location cache, no longer backs up the cache to iTunes in the form of a device recovery image, and deletes the cache when a user turns Location Services off.

Two of those issues--the size of the database, and the failure to delete the cache from the device--Apple had called "bugs" when addressing the issue … Read more

The apps people buy on their mobile phones continue to bring in big business, and there are few signs of it slowing down according to IHS iSuppli.

In a report released today, the research firm says revenue from app stores owned by Apple, Google, Nokia, and Research In Motion is set to grow 77.7 percent, reaching $3.8 billion by the end of the year and eventually rising to $8.3 billion in 2014. By comparison, 2010's mobile app store combined revenues stood at $2.1 billion, up from $830.6 million in 2009.

"With consumers continuing … Read more