Reality Bites
Windows: Backup utilities that save your user profiles (including documents and application data) usually only do so from one user account at a time. If you want to back up multiple user profiles without having to log into each account, check out DataGrab. More »
It looks like Apple has decided to make some pretty major changes to its App Store Review Guidelines — and, in particular, to its controversial in-app subscription policy. Under the new guidelines, publishers will be able to offer subscriptions to content outside of the App Store, as long as their apps don’t include a “buy” button that directs users away from Apple’s marketplace. Under the previous version of the policy, which was set to go into effect at the end of this month, app owners offering subscriptions outside of App Store were required to sell equivalent, in-app services at the “same price or less than it is offered outside the app,” while giving a 30 percent cut to Cupertino. Now, however, they can price these in-app subscriptions as they see fit, or circumvent the system altogether, by exclusively selling them outside of their apps. Apple will still receive 30 percent of the revenue generated from in-app subscriptions, but won’t get any money from purchases made outside of its domain. Theoretically, then, publishers would be able to offer in-app subscriptions at higher prices, in order to offset Apple’s share. This is how the new rules are worded:
11.13 Apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, such as a “buy” button that goes to a web site to purchase a digital book, will be rejected
11.14 Apps can read or play approved content (specifically magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, and video) that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app, as long as there is no button or external link in the app to purchase the approved content. Apple will not receive any portion of the revenues for approved content that is subscribed to or purchased outside of the app.
It’s important to note, though, that Apple hasn’t made any changes to its policy on sharing user information. Publishers had been lobbying to gain access to subscribers’ credit card data and other personal information, which they see as critical to applying a TV Everywhere model to online publishing. With today’s concessions, though, these demands may become less insistent.
Apple gives in to publishers, changes policy on in-app subscription prices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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If you’re a chronic neglecter of your watering duties, you may have looked into finding ways to have your plants watered automatically. Enter the glass bottle, or more specifically, the cool looking glass Coke bottle that we all love (unless you’re a Pepsi fan, in which case you can go that route, too). More »
Mark took this photo at the Albany Rifle and Pistol Club Machine Gun Shoot last month.
Well, Lulz Sec may have overstated its level of success by declaring it had stolen 1,000,000 passwords from Sony Pictures — turns out the number is closer to 37,500. Now granted, any breach of user data is unacceptable, but when a hacker collective’s haul is less than four percent of what it claimed, everyone can breathe a little easier. The troublemakers may have made off with email addresses, phone numbers, and passwords, but Sony says no credit card or social security numbers were compromised. The company issued a statement, which you’ll find after the break, and is working with the FBI to track down those responsible. Hopefully this finally closes the door on Sony’s security woes, and we can go back to bringing you stories about Angry Birds ports and Kinect hacks.
Continue reading Sony Pictures breach affects 37,500 users, far less than Lulz Security claimed
Sony Pictures breach affects 37,500 users, far less than Lulz Security claimed originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 02:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Live transit updates in Google Maps help you plan your romantic bus-catching sprint originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Do not be alarmed, your Netflix.com experience has been updated today “with a new look and feel to make it easier for you to find something to watch instantly.” While the header introduced late last year remains and sticks on screen as you scroll vertically, box art of queued movies fills the screen horizontally. The redesign takes significant cues from the HTML5 UIs recently rolled out to most streaming devices, but it’s not clear if this related to some of the queue shuffling we’ve been seeing recently. Responses on the Netflix blog have been mostly negative, although just like Facebook and Twitter revamps some complaints about any change are normal.
That said, we’re not fans either because it still requires an additional click to find out if a movie is in HD or has subtitles, a misdirected click starts playing the wrong movie too easily and selecting “your queue” still takes us to our discs first instead of Watch Instantly. If the new front page isn’t working there’s always alternatives in Netflix queue managers like InstantWatcher.com and FeedFliks, or any number of mobile apps. Let us know if you’ll be riding with the redesign or hitting the back button in the comments here.
Netflix.com’s new look is focused on streaming, cribs UI elements from connected TV apps originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 23:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are crediting fan support for a 2010 football season that has generated $6.6 million in profits for the community-owned club.
Whoa. Every so often, a giant in Round Rock pokes it head up above water long enough to put forth a truly mesmerizing design, and while it’s no Adamo, this is most definitely the freshest take we’ve seen on tablets in a very, very long time. The gallery below showcases a prototype that’s lounging around within Dell’s top secret labs, a 7-inch slate that’s adorned with a slide-out keyboard. Said keyboard, however, is hardly typical — it’s rocking a split-key design that’s not at all dissimilar to the virtual layouts recently showcased within iOS 5 and Windows 8. So far as we can tell, the entire alphabet’s present and accounted for, and there’s a rear camera that’ll be more than happy to make your child’s next birthday party a bit more awkward. Outside of that, we’ve no other details to pore over, but it’s safe to say that we’ll be doing our darnedest to change that. Oh, and if you’re doubting that this thing has a future as a real-deal product, there’s a shot just south of these very words showcasing what looks to be a commercial / press render. Delicious.
Update: So it turns out that these photos were actually taken by Tweakers, who met up with the crew from Dell’s Austin Design Center to gaze upon this prototype tablet earlier this week. Tweakers says that the concept is about three to four years old, and it eventually led to the development of the eccentric Inspiron Duo. Unsurprisingly, Dell also confirmed to us that this device will never make it to the market; but of course, there’s still the Streak 10 Pro Android tablet to look forward to.
Dell’s prototype 7-inch tablet touts slide-out split QWERTY keyboard (update: just a concept) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We had a sneak peak earlier today but Samsung Canada has officially put “coming soon” on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (16GB version). They note the addition of Touchwiz along with Social, Music and Reader Hubs and its blazing speed 1Ghz Dual-Core processor. The Wi-Fi version is scheduled to arrive sometime in July, while Rogers, Bell and TELUS have this on deck for an August release.
“It’s time to Tab”.
More here at Samsung
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China is strutting its stuff and showing off the latest addition to it military — an old Soviet-era aircraft carrier. The Admiral Kuznetsov-class Varyag is one of two ships that were built in the early 80s. More »
That’s the finding of a new study examining the link between cognitive ability and handedness. Lefties score consistently lower on aptitude tests than righties, and left-handedness is cognitively equivalent to being born prematurely. Yeah…this one’s going to be controversial. More »
The nearest form of extraterrestrial life in the solar system may be “only” a billion miles away.
There are a lot of great places to discover software these days, but if you’re looking for an app that does something specific, look no further than Quixey. Its surprisingly good search engine will dig out every app that could possibly fit your needs. More »
Continue reading HP TouchPad to be available June 22nd, starting at $500 for 16GB?
HP TouchPad to be available June 22nd, starting at $500 for 16GB? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Canadian singer Shania Twain is heading to Las Vegas for a two-year residency at Caesars Palace, starting in December 2012.
Even before WIND Mobile launched their wireless service other competing carriers had concerns about the amount of foreign ownership they have. Globalive, WIND’s parent company, is heavily backed by Egyptian-based Orascom and was given the green light in December 2009 to operate. They first launched in Toronto, but quickly expanded to Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Ottawa and now have a subscriber base of 300,000.
In February, Public Mobile and TELUS asked the Federal Court to look deeper into their structure, which once again questioned WIND’s future. WIND appealed the decision and good news has come today as the Federal Court of Appeal ruled in their favour and can stay in business for good.
I’m just reading over the court documents here’s the official wording:
Conclusion
[59] The appeals will therefore be allowed, and the Order in Council will be restored. Globalive and the Attorney General are entitled to their costs throughout. No costs will be assessed for or against the interveners.
In addition, a press release just went out from WIND that states that “the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Government of Canada and Globalive by allowing their appeals and restoring the Order in Council that permitted Globalive to launch in December 2009. In overturning the decision, the Federal Court of Appeal recognized that Cabinet acted properly both in varying an earlier CRTC decision and in finding that Globalive meets the Canadian ownership and control test in the Telecommunications Act. The decision was unanimous.”
Anthony Lacavera, Chairman of Globalive said “We and our 300,000 customers are thrilled with this decision. Now we can continue delivering value and choice to Canadian consumers without the distraction and expense of challenges by our competitors to our right to operate. We have always maintained our compliance and with the restoration of this Order-in-Council we look forward to getting back to competition in the marketplace- where it belongs”.
Related posts:
Calgary and Edmonton are the latest targets in the revolving postal strike as union representatives consider their next moves, including a full-blown national walkout.
SAHO has boosted its contract offer to the union representing 3,000 Saskatchewan health care workers.
Dutch tech site All About Phones claims that Google Maps Navigation will get a true offline mode later this summer. In December the Android app received an update that cached routes and the surrounding areas, but without a data connection you still couldn’t enter a new destination. A source inside the Dutch telco industry said that Goog would removing the requirement for coverage — an obvious next step for the nav tool, especially with Ovi Maps bringing its turn-by-turn prowess to WP7. The move is also bound to be another thorn in the side of standalone GPS makers like Garmin and TomTom. After all, it’s tough to compete with free.
Google Maps Navigation to get offline mode? Garmin and TomTom on notice originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 13:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.