We were just talking about how Amazon is competing with Apple and other cloud services by offering 5 GB of storage for free. Now, that turns out to be old news, because today Google announced that free storage spanning several Google services like Gmail, Google+ and Google Drive is now going to come in the extra-large economy size -- a whopping 15 GB.

Google says the changes will be rolling out over the next several weeks to all customers. All that space is shared, so if you are just using Google Drive Photo (for example), that 15 GB is shared with any other Google services that require storage. Still, 15 GB is a very competitive number since Apple and Amazon give you 5 GB with iCloud and Amazon Cloud Drive, respectively, and Dropbox provides a measly 2 GB free. A similar service from MediaFire offers 10 GB of free storage, but the free tier includes ads. All the services allow you to get more storage for an additional fee. It will be interesting to see if Apple and other services respond to Google's challenge or stand pat.

With this move, Google has unified its storage system, a similar concept to the Apple pool of iCloud storage, although at this point Apple does not count image storage in Photo Stream against your 5 GB allotment. Google has a free iOS app so you can access this storage space, and it can also be managed through a web browser on any computer.

Google Drive triples free storage to 15 GB originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 13 May 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google Drive triples free storage to 15 GB originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 13 May 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We've read countless stories about Find My iPhone and how it has helped police recover a stolen iOS device. The service is great for this type of field work, but did you know that Find My iPhone can help you find an iOS device that's been misplaced around your house?

If you are a parent of little ones, you undoubtedly have experienced that frustrating moment when you need to leave for an appointment and can't find your iPhone. You remember placing your phone on your desk, but it's now missing because your tot has snatched it and casually tossed it aside. You try to interrogate your little one to find out where he or she left your iPhone, but all they do is point to their cup or the potty.

One easy way to locate an iPhone that's been stashed in a toy box or dropped behind the couch is to use the "Play Sound" feature of Find My iPhone. It's a no-frills locator beacon for your iOS device.

To find your phone, you need to login to iCloud on your computer by going to icloud.com and entering your Apple ID credentials. After you login, you can click on the Find My iPhone icon to view all your iCloud devices, including your missing iPhone, on a map. You can also follow the same procedure described below using the Find My iPhone app on an iPad or another iPhone.

Once you have found your iPhone on the map, select it to open a small box with the name of the device and details about when it was last located. You can then click on the "i" in the corner of this box. This "i" stands for information and clicking on it opens a small window with several options to let you locate or lock down a missing device. In this article, I am focusing on the "Play Sound" option that'll let you play a sound on your missing device.

When you click or tap on "Play Sound," your iPhone immediately starts beeping with a loud, resounding beep. It continues to beep until you find your device and turn off this beacon. This beeping sound is loud enough that it won't be muffled by a couch cushion or anything else that may be hiding your iPhone.

It's not the traditional usage of the Find My iPhone service, but it works well for iPhones and even iPads that have gone missing in your house or car. I've used it successfully dozens of times since this feature debuted a few years ago.

Parenting Tip: Using Find My iPhone to locate a misplaced iOS device originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Parenting Tip: Using Find My iPhone to locate a misplaced iOS device originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Notes took a great leap forward with the introduction of iCloud and OS X Mountain Lion. Once a static app that sat on your iOS device, Notes now allows you to jot down quick messages and sync them across your Apple devices. In a post from this weekend, Sandro Cuccia of The Mac Observer takes a deep dive into the Notes app and discusses how it can be immensely useful.

Cuccia starts off with step-by-step instructions on how to enable iCloud syncing on all your devices. It's a simple, but critical step that ensures your notes are available on all your devices. The rest of his tutorial covers managing your notes, creating folders to organize notes and some basic text formatting tips. You can read the full instructions on The Mac Observer website.

Get the most out of Apple's Notes app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Get the most out of Apple's Notes app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Popup Window (US$5.99) provides an organizer utility for your desktop, enabling you to stick folders onto the edges of your screen and fold them in and out on demand. I loved the idea of this app although I ran into several problems when actually using it.

The app is meant for anyone who needs to balance easy folder access with the desire for a clean workspace. Drag a folder to the edge of your screen and it transforms into a tiny spring-loaded tab. Click the tab and the folder opens and closes using a clever accordion effect.

Unfortunately, material from the Popup Window does not necessarily act in the way that native folders do, as you can see in the following video where I attempted to drag to Imgur.

The developers wrote, "Popup Window imitates Finder file dragging, but of course Popup Window is not Finder. Unfortunately, we can't change how Safari works. Sorry." They pointed out that drag and drop does work with Dropbox, which I confirmed.

I also encountered problems with aliased folders (they did not work at all) and some folders on external drives. I'm not entirely sure what was going on there, but here's the screenshot. I suspect some of this is due to App Store limitations.

Popup Window shows early promise with a really intriguing underlying idea. I look forward to seeing the app mature over time.

Popup Window for OS X originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popup Window for OS X originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The encryption used by Apple's iMessage service is hindering federal drug enforcement agency investigations, says a report in CNET. CNET obtained an internal Drug Enforcement Administration document that details the problem faced by agents who are tracking suspects using non-traditional communication methods.

According to the document, the end-to-end encryption used by iMessage makes it "impossible to intercept iMessages between two Apple devices," even when there is a court order authorizing the electronic wiretap. This problem was discovered when agents noticed that messages sent from one iPhone to another iPhone via iMessage were not being captured during a surveillance.

The inability to adequately conduct surveillance is a growing problem for law enforcement. FBI director Robert Mueller recently told Congress that "there is a growing and dangerous gap between law enforcement's legal authority to conduct electronic surveillance, and its actual ability to conduct such surveillance." He asked Congress "to ensure that the laws by which we operate and which provide protection to individual privacy rights keep pace with new threats and new technology."

Apple's iMessage encryption thwarts government investigations originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple's iMessage encryption thwarts government investigations originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Audiobooks, unlike your other iTunes purchases, cannot be re-downloaded from the store. On a Mac, you can dig into your iTunes folder and move the DRM-protected files to another authorized machine. iOS devices, however, lack a file system that the user can access, so if you never sync with a Mac, you could run into an issue like I did when I had to swap out my iPhone 5.

A couple of weeks ago my iPhone 5's power button started acting strange. It appeared to be a mechanical issue, so I went to the Genius Bar at my local store and was told they've seen this happen before (it was likely shearing stress from removing a protective case).

Of course, they don't repair iPhones in the store. Instead, they give customers a new piece of hardware then use a backup to bring it back to where you left off with your old one. Since I used iCloud, PhotoStream and my iTunes purchases are available in the cloud, I figured I'd be fine. The only problem was that I had purchased a $24 audiobook via iTunes on my iPhone -- and that doesn't get backed up in any way. Worse, since the rules state you can only download the audiobook once, I would have had to re-purchase the book to download it again. I had bought the book about three days earlier and only listened to a small portion.

This was completely unacceptable, so I emailed Apple support. At first, they failed to understand what I was talking about. They thought my download had failed somehow, and suggested I download in iTunes and re-sync, and they would re-enable the download. That seemed fair enough, but the presumption that I had a personal computer to sync with struck me as a bit odd. Didn't Apple say we live in a post-PC world? Also, I don't sync my iPhone with anything. Like a fool, I thought iCloud backup and iTunes in the cloud had me covered. Clearly I was wrong.

Once I explained that I didn't sync, the support staff told me they would make it available for download on my iPhone -- but the downloads screen never showed the audiobook. In the end, I wound up buying a nano to sync with, and then Apple refunded my money for the audiobook. An expensive lesson, but a lesson learned. Apple is still addicted to iTunes as a digital hub for all your media.

While this was happening I tweeted some progress and a number of people relayed similar issues and frustrations. Apple support seems ready and willing to try to make the downloads available again, although I wish it was automatic, like everything else I encountered during my restoration process (well, not logins -- boy that's a fun way to spend your afternoon). Unfortunately, the rules about audiobooks aren't set by Apple. Still, if this happens to you, reach out to Apple support immediately. Or, better yet, buy your audiobooks somewhere else. This "post-PC" era has yet to begin.

Audiobooks are not backed up by iCloud, can only be downloaded once originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Audiobooks are not backed up by iCloud, can only be downloaded once originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Late last week, several iOS developers were hit with a denial of service attack that used Apple iMessages as the vector. According to a report in The Next Web, Grant Paul (chpawn), iH8sn0w and a half-dozen other developers were flooded with text messages that crashed the iMessages app on iOS.

The person or group behind the attack is not known, but The Next Web believes it originated with a Twitter account that sells UDIDs and provisioning profiles to iOS owners who want to sideload pirated apps. The attacker likely used the OS X Messages app and Applescript to automate the sending of text messages. When the attack was in full swing, the recipient is forced to clear a non-stop stream of notifications and messages.

Unforunately, there is no way for a user to stop an influx of messages destined for their inbox. Once your iMessage ID is known publicly, anyone can send you an iMessage. Because there is no option to block messages from a specific iMessage sender, you are forced to either read every incoming message or turn off iMessages completely.

This problem is compounded in iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion as Apple allows you to associate both your phone number and your email address with your iMessage ID. Phone numbers are usually kept private, but an email address can be easy to find with just a bit of Googling. If a malicious person discovers your iMessages email, there is no way to stop him or her from clogging your inbox with messages. Hopefully, Apple reads these reports and develops a way to detect and shut off this bulk spamming before it hits the recipient's devices.

For a user, the best way to avoid this type of attack is to keep your iMessage email and phone number out of the public realm. If possible, use a public email address for your website and a private one for your iMessage ID. If your iMessage email is already out there, you can always disable receiving iMessages to that email address.

On iOS, you can go to Settings > Messages > Send & Receive to change the numbers and email addresses that can receive a message. On OS X, open the Messages app and select "Messages" from the menu. Then select Preferences and click on the Accounts tab. Click on your iMessage ID and make sure your email address is not selected under the "You can be reached for messages at:" heading.

Prank crashes iMessages originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Prank crashes iMessages originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple's new two-step verification process has already been put to the test, thanks to a (now apparently offline) exploit that allows anyone with your email address and birthday to reset your Apple ID. The Verge confirmed the exploit after the site was made aware of a tutorial posted on a Chinese-language hacking site. The hack involves pasting a modified URL while answering the question about the account's date of birth info.

The Verge did further exploration on the hack and found that accounts that were told they needed to wait three days to enable the two-step verification are also vulnerable to the exploit. The only way to change it for those in the waiting period is for people to change their birthdays in their Apple profile.

Apple's password reset tool is in maintenance status right now, which means there's no way to use the exploit. Chances are it will remain offline until Apple gets this hole patched.

Apple maintains its Product Security page, including a contact email, to allow users, researchers or media organizations to notify the company of emergent security issues and concerns.

Update: Apple has confirmed the exploit to The Verge and says it is working on a fix.

Exploit (now offline) allowed bogus reset of Apple ID passwords (updated) originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Exploit (now offline) allowed bogus reset of Apple ID passwords (updated) originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Niles Mitchell has a variety of Apple devices, including an iPhone with Siri, an iMac and a vintage Mac 512K. Using a combination of the old Speak program, AppleScript and iCloud Notes, Mitchell was able to send files from his iMac to his Mac 512K via Siri. It's a clever mix of old and new technology that's worth a watch, even just to hear the antiquated sound of a floppy drive working hard to copy files.

You can check out this Siri-mediated conversation in the YouTube video embedded below.

Watch a vintage Mac 512K talk to an iMac via Siri originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Watch a vintage Mac 512K talk to an iMac via Siri originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 11 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Speaking at Mobile World Congress last week, Dropbox CEO Drew Houston said users should be wary of using cloud storage solutions that are provided by a single manufacturer of a smartphone. His statements were aimed at the concern that users could become locked into a device because that company's cloud solutions wouldn't run on any other devices.

Houston called out iCloud's "bizarre limitations," saying that no iPhone or iPad user can easily share iCloud documents with an Android device. "There will never be an engineer in the Apple cafeteria who's like, hey I made the Android version of iCloud," Houston told attendees, according to MacWorld UK. "You shouldn't have to care about the logo on the back of your phone or computer, it should just work with everything you have. That's the kind of limitation we want to help remove for people."

Houston specifically pointed to Samsung, which, like Apple, originally created its own proprietary cloud storage solution for its mobile devices. However, Samsung quickly came around and decided to partner with Dropbox, which works on almost every major mobile and desktop platform.

Since its inception, iCloud has taken a number of criticisms from its users and its competitors. Besides the lock-in to iOS devices and Macs, the service goes down from time to time, and users have also criticized the way its file management system works. As opposed to iCloud, the Dropbox file system works like a traditional computer's file system. Interestingly Apple tried to buy Dropbox in 2009 but Houston turn down the offer.

Dropbox CEO criticizes iCloud's "bizarre limitations" originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dropbox CEO criticizes iCloud's "bizarre limitations" originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Back in November, InfoWorld's Robert Cringely told the story of a Hollywood screenwriter's travails involving his iCloud email account. It appeared that iCloud was unable, or unwilling, to deliver messages with a PDF attachment containing the words "barely legal teen."

Granted, that's not an issue most people should have to worry about, but the disappearance of emails without warning (rather than filing them to spam, as one might expect) did warrant some investigation.

As Macworld reports today, Apple has been filtering email based on certain keyword combinations as spam for some time. Rather than move the flagged messages to a spam folder as most services do, in some cases iCloud email simply erases all existence of them.

Macworld was told by an Apple representative that "occasionally, automated spam filters may incorrectly block legitimate email." In admitting that there is some filtering going on behind the scenes, the company also advised those who've encountered problems with said filtering to contact AppleCare.

Of course, as Macworld authors Lex Friedman and Dan Moren point out, there are a few problems with this: how do you report not getting an email that you never knew was sent, because you never got it? Should we be following up by fax, skywriting or carrier pigeon? And, if you do have occasion to call AppleCare to report that your emails about "barely legal teens" aren't showing up, Friedman & Moren note that there's probably no more awkward conversation you'll have that week -- unless by unfortunate chance the AppleCare rep is a relative, former grade-school teacher or mandated reporter.

The unsavory combination of keywords at the center of all this will apparently cause an email to never arrive at an iCloud recipient if they're contained in the message body, within an attached PDF or even within a compressed file. Encrypting the attachment, however, defeats the filter -- since the attachment can't be decoded, it can't be matched for content. Macworld also noted that outbound iCloud email with problem phrases is not filtered, nor are replies to a message with a filter trigger if the original email was sent from iCloud.

The simple fix, should you wish to correspond comically about a young relative's recent 18th birthday? Change the "teen" to "teens," plural.

For what it's worth, the iCloud terms of service have granted Apple the right to determine what content is appropriate -- and censor it without notice -- for some time.

[Hat tip Ars Technica]

Overzealous spam filter causes never-delivered iCloud emails originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 01 Mar 2013 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Overzealous spam filter causes never-delivered iCloud emails originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 01 Mar 2013 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has rolled out movie support for iTunes in the Cloud for 11 new European markets, notes TNW. Customers in Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden can now download past and future movie purchases from iCloud whenever they want.

In addition to the movie rollout, Apple has also enabled iTunes in the Cloud for TV shows in France.

iTunes in the Cloud originally rolled out in the United States in 2011 with support for music. Movie and TV shows were added in 2012. Apps and iBooks had been available for re-download since the launch of their respective stores.

A full list of countries and their supported iTunes in the Cloud services can be found here.

iTunes in the Cloud for movies hits 11 new European countries originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iTunes in the Cloud for movies hits 11 new European countries originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filesharing service Box is offering up 25 GB of free cloud storage in a new promotion (supposedly for "Gameday," but it seems to still be in effect anyway). To qualify, you must be a new customer on a free plan, or just sign up for a new account with a new email address. The deal is also for non-commercial use only, and because it's free, there's a file-size cap of 250 MB that you'll have to duck in under.

But even with those catches, who couldn't use some extra storage, right? Box's deal is as up for as long as they leave it up, so definitely jump on it soon if you're interested.

[via Engadget]

Box offering 25 GB for free in promotion originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Box offering 25 GB for free in promotion originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now that Scott Forstall is no longer in charge of iOS and Jony Ive is overseeing both product design and user experience, signs are pointing to a major overhaul of the user interfaces for iOS, OS X and the Apple-created apps that are part of the operating systems. Wired's Christina Bonnington thinks a significant redesign is on the way, although it might not happen in the near future.

Bonnington points to several recent events that point the way to revamped Apple user interfaces. First, there's a job listing for senior software engineers for Apple's iLife suite that lists "help us re-imagine how user interfaces should be built and work" as a requirement. That's a big task, considering that iLife is a core application included with every Mac. Next, the company is looking for someone to give Siri a more distinct personality. There's a third job listing for a person who can create a new set of APIs and frameworks for iOS.

In addition to those job listings, there's Ive in his new position and Craig Federighi's new oversight of both iOS and OS X development teams. All of this appears to point in the direction of a major overhaul that will eschew skeuomorphic UI elements, which Wired's Clive Thompson referred to as "metaphors of the past."

This year's WWDC is probably too soon to expect a dramatic change in Apple's approach to user interfaces. Change is not only inevitable for the company, but a necessity.

The future of Apple UI originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The future of Apple UI originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Avoid opening obvious spam emails

First and foremost, you should not open an email that you recognize as being spam. Sometimes, the act of opening an email will alert the sender that the email has been viewed by the recipient. If the spammer knows that he has a fresh set of eyes, he will send even more spam your way.

Enable junk mail filtering

The Mail client built into OS X Mountain Lion has a Junk Mail filtering option that you should enable, especially if you get a lot of spam. You can access the settings by opening Mail > Preferences > Junk Mail (icon) and selecting "Enable junk mail filtering." The default settings should capture most of your spam, but you can tweak the settings if you want more control over you junk mailbox.

If you enable the Junk Mail option, make sure you take the time to mark messages as junk mail. Every time you mark an email as junk, the entry is added to the junk mail database and the next message from this sender will be pushed into your junk mail folder. Over time, the amount of spam hitting your inbox will gradually drop.

Manage your junk mail folder

Apple's mail server is good at filtering spam, but it is not perfect. You can improve its filtering by marking inbox spam as junk. You can either Choose "Mark as Junk Mail" from the Action pop-up menu at the top of the window if you are using iCloud email in a web browser. You can also manually drag an email and drop it in the junk folder.

All email messages in the junk folder are flagged as spam and stay in this folder for 30 days. After 30 days, they are deleted. It's a good habit to remember to check this folder on a regular basis. Sometimes, important emails are accidentally identified as spam and routed to this folder. Select a message, then click the Not Junk button to move this and subsequent emails from that sender to your inbox.

Disable automatic image loading

Besides not opening suspicious emails, you should also disable automatic image loading in emails. I know that it's great to be able to view your cousin's cute cat pictures as soon as you click on an email, but some spammers will use this automatic image loading feature to determine whether an email account is active. You can turn off images in the OS X Mail app by selecting Mail > Preferences > Viewing (icon) and deselecting "Display remote images in HTML messages." Don't worry, this won't strip the images from your incoming emails. You will just have to manually choose to load the images instead.

Use an alias email address

Signing up for a new online service or joining a new online mailing list is another surefire way to get additional spam. To keep your primary iCloud email in pristine condition, you should use your primary account to email only your close friends and create an alias email account for all your online ventures.

Users are allowed to create three email aliases per iCloud account. To create an alias, you should open the web-based version of iCloud email by logging in to iCloud.com. Open iCloud email and click on the gear-shaped Action pop-up menu in the top-right corner of the window. Click on Accounts to open the account management console and then select "Add an Alias."

You will have to create a new iCloud email address that includes between three and 20 characters. You can also add in your full name, assign a label color and add a description like "online shopping" for this alias.

Once you create a alias, you can send and receive email from the account. You can also disable it when you don't want to use it for a while and turn it back on when you do. When an alias is disabled, all incoming email is returned to sender. You can also delete an alias, but deleting an alias is permanent. If you think you may use the alias again, you should simply turn it off.

Mac 101: dealing with iCloud email spam originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mac 101: dealing with iCloud email spam originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cultured Code has a treat for Mac owners looking for a new task manager. Starting today, Things 2 for Mac is on sale for US$24.99, a 50 percent discount off the app's normal $49 price tag.

Things is a fantastic to-do manager that appeals to a wide range of users. With tags, projects and areas of responsibility, it's robust enough for power users looking for a nimble task manager. At the same time, it's not loaded down with lots of extra options, so even beginning users can jump right in and start managing their tasks with minimal effort.

This limited-time sale applies only to the Mac version and ends January 31. This is only the second time Cultured Code has discounted Things for the Mac, so grab it while you can.

Things 2 for Mac now on sale for 50% off originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Things 2 for Mac now on sale for 50% off originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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During yesterday's Q1 2013 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned several times that the iCloud storage service now has more than 250 million users.

That's not particularly surprising, since signing up for a free iCloud account is part of the setup process when you purchase any new Apple product. What is surprising is how quickly the service has grown, jumping from 85 million in January of 2012 to triple that number in 2013.

The company is investing in the data centers used for iCloud. Part of the discussion with analysts yesterday afternoon dealt with capital expenditures, with Apple planning to spend money on three primary targets -- retail stores, equipment for suppliers and data centers.

Apple's iCloud user base breaks 250 million originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple's iCloud user base breaks 250 million originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 24 Jan 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple was a prominent part of CES even though it didn't have a physical presence at the trade show. Not only were there a large number of iOS and OS X vendors on the show floor, Apple was also awarded a Technology & Engineering Emmy for its iCloud service.

As reported by The Loop, the Emmy recognizes "an individual, company or to a scientific or technical organization for developments and/or standardization involved in engineering technologies which either represent an extensive improvement on existing methods or are so innovative in nature that they materially have affected the transmission, recording or reception of television."

Apple won the award for its ""Eco-system for Real Time Presentation of TV Content to Mobile Devices without the use of Specialized Television Hardware." It's not entirely clear what ecosystem the award recognizes, but we presume it has to do with iCloud.

The Emmy was awarded at an event at the Bellagio Ballroom in Las Vegas.

[Via Macgasm]

Apple wins Emmy for technology, engineering originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple wins Emmy for technology, engineering originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 11 Jan 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the wake of some high-profile outages affecting its iCloud, iMessage and other online services, Apple has rolled out a new design for its system status web page. The new page offers a more detailed report on the current health of 32 different resources, broken down by Services, Stores and iCloud.

In addition to showing the current status of these services, the page features a timeline showing recent outages, with details on which services were specifically affected, how long the outages lasted, and what percent of users were affected. The data in the timeline goes back to December 2011. No services are experiencing issues at present, so it remains to be seen how (or if) Apple will provide details on outages, such as when they're expected to be resolved, as they occur.

[Via Apple Insider]

Apple launches more detailed online services status page originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple launches more detailed online services status page originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the recent shakeup of Apple's executive leadership, all eyes are now on Eddy Cue, vice president of Internet Software and Services. Cue was known for negotiating deals with media moguls that brought new content into iTunes, but now the 48-year-old executive has taken on the high-profile role as the new overseer of Siri and Maps.

The Wall Street Journal has a lengthy article that sheds some light on Cue and his behind-the-scenes role at Apple. The article gives us a brief insight into Cue's personality and discusses some of the challenges Cue faces as the man in charge of iTunes, iCloud, Siri and Maps.

The Wall Street Journal profiles Eddy Cue originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal profiles Eddy Cue originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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