iOS

Updated Facebook Camera App for iOS Working as It Should

Facebook released last week the 5.0 version of the Facebook app for iPhone and iPad, an update that aims to turn the popular, yet problematic iOS app into a better, faster, and stronger one.

Now, I cannot say how many of you were curious to see if the 5.0 version works faster than the older one, taking into account that the app was supposed to be a brand new one, but you should surely grab the 1.1 update for Facebook Camera for iPhone.

The new version of Facebook Camera was released yesterday and comes with bug fixes and with new features that improve the user experience.

• Notifications for tags, likes and comments
• It’s possible to add photos to an album you choose, or create a new album
• Likes and comments are available for posts with multiple photos
• Likes are available for individual comments
• Names and profile pictures display for everyone who liked a photo
• Long captions are easier to read when you expand photos to fullscreen
• Translated to 10+ languages including French, German, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, and Spanish

If we are to judge by the improvements, Facebook seems to have taken into account the users’ complaints. The Facebook Camera 1.1 version is free and is worthy of a download as never before.

Apple, News/Rumors

First Signs of Retina Graphics for Apple Store

Apple is on its way of revamping the online store with powerful, high-resolution graphics. Callum Strong, front-end developer with Fat Media, has discovered the signs of Retina graphics on Apple’s server.

On Wednesday, the Apple Store got closed for an update that, as Callum claims, was aimed for the new Retina-graphics support, meaning that the update hasn’t got live. Third generation iPad and new MacBook Pro owners still have to deal with pixelated images when browsing the Apple Store.

The updated graphics can be differentiated by the regular ones after the tag “2x” thus, retina graphics can be identified by the name store-header-footer-sprite@2x.png.

Apple began to silently upgrade the resolution of the images in the Apple Store before the third generation iPad was launched and the yesterday’s update is the proof of a wonderful work in progress.

Source: AppleInsider

iOS

iOS 6 Beta 2 Released to Developers

On Monday afternoon Apple released a significant update for the mobile operating system 6.0 to developers. The update features some issues fixed and improvements and has 322 MB download for iPhone 4S, 299 MB for iPhone 4 and 497 MB for iPad 3.

Apple had announced iOS 6 at this year’s WWDC and until its release this fall the company shared to developers the first beta version of the operating system. The last night notification was send only to the developers running iOS 6 beta 1.

The release notes describe new features such as new Twitter icon, new TweetSheet in Siri UI, Shared Photo Streams toggle, podcast section in iTunes, and bugs fixes such as the wrong repositioning of the keyboard when switching from normal to landscape mode and the SpringBoard crash during a phone call.

Only the users owning the new iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 4 and 4S, iPhone 3GS, and the fourth-generation iPod touch can update their iOS 6 beta to beta 2.

Source: AppleInsider

Mac, News/Rumors

Thunderbolt Software Release 1.2.1. Update for boot problems

Apple has recently come with an update for Thunderbolt software for fixing bugs that caused boot-related problems to multiple Mac users.

The new update, 1.2.1 comes with support for the Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter. One needs 520 KB space and OS X Lion 10.7.4 or later for coping with the Mac. Various posts on Apple’s Support Communities website highlight the fact that the previous update has caused frozen at the gray boot screen with the apple logo and swirly circle.

* I’m on an early 2011 MBP running Lion with all the latest patches/software except for the Thunderbolt update. The laptop has an SSD with whole disk encryption enabled.
I installed the patch, came back a few minutes later, there was an error saying it wasn’t able to apply it.. And the machine was frozen at that point, nothing else to do. I hard rebooted, and it’s in this frozen state since. Safe boot does not boot.

* Same thing here, after applying it is displaying the same screen on my early MacBook pro 2011.

A remedy for the bug consisted in a reapplication of the combo updater, being able to restore from a backup or even better from a reinstall of OS X. It seems that only OS 10.7.4 Lion users have come across the issue.

The new software has the proper features for coping with the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

iOS, News/Rumors

iOS 5.1.2 release instead of iOS 6 at WWDC?

With only a few days until the Worldwide Developers’ Conference and rumors wonder around that the expected iOS 6 may turn out to be iOS 5.1.2. This could come as a response to the fact that iOS 5.1.1 has come with so many problems that need a fix as soon as possible.  With so many users running iOS 5.1.1 they wish for an update to fix their issues. The biggest issues include crashing with Safari, apps crashing when updating in App Store and also email client crashing. Other bugs include battery life decreasing after 5.1.1, Wi-Fi setting bugs, keyboard disappearing with difficulty and other.

Problems don’t just appear on iPhone but also on the new iPad so Apple must come with a suitable update as quick as possible for not letting their fans down.

iOS, News/Rumors

iOS 5.1.1 is new in town

Along with the release of the iOS 5.1.1, there were included some major fixes concerning AirPlay and Safari.

There were also encountered bugs that didn’t allow switching between 2G/3G in different versions of iPad. Users can now update the device via WiFi or iTunes.

Devices that encountered issues were iPhone 4, 4S, iPad 2 and new iPad:

It was discovered by David Vieira-Kurz of MajorSecurity and the associated advisory details an error in how Safari handles the JavaScript window.open() method (which opens a new browser window). This could potentially be used to “trick users into supplying sensitive information to a malicious web site.”

Thanks to the new update, major bugs were fixed:

Source: Apple

Mac, News/Rumors

Another new Java update for OS X Lion

Apple implemented few days ago a Java security update 2012-001, due to the Trojan BackDoor.Flashback that infested more than 550K Mac, mostly in the U.S., Canada and UK.

According to the reports received by 9to5 Mac, it seems that Apple is pushing forward a new version of Java update, as noted in the Software Update. The new update, 2012-002, displaces the previous –001, though it appears in the KB article still as -001.

Specifications about the aim of the new update are not mentioned yet. Maybe the first update was meant to close the vulnerability in Java 1.6.0_29 that caused the Macs infection, while the latter comes with security improvements.

Mac, News/Rumors

Xcode 4.3.1 Released

Xcode is a complete IDE for buiding Mac and iOS applications. Starting with Xcode 4, the tools have been redesigned to be faster, more accessible and useful to developers, helping them to write better code.

Along with the new iPad, Apple also announced iOS 5.1 which means developers need updates on development tool features for iOS 5.1 and for the new hardware. The latest version of Xcode, 4.3.1, is now available for free in the Mac App Store. It needs 900MB hard disk space, patience and a good internet connection.

What’s new in Xcode 4.3.1:

  • Includes SDKs (Software Development Kits) for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and iOS 5.1
  • New code signing workflow supports signing OS X apps with Developer ID
  • Adds installation of command-line tools to the downloads preference pane
  • Open Developer Tool menu launches Instruments, File Merge, and other tools
  • ARC migration tool converts both retain/release and garbage collected code
  • Additional bug fixes and security improvements

Have fun coding!

iOS, iPad, iPad 3, iPhone, News/Rumors

iOS 5.1 update rumored to be released on March 9th

Many speculations about the date when iOS 5.1 would be launched, came out since the first, 5.0.1, update released for developers. According to YourDailyMac, Apple recently published 11 new profiles for different iPhone operators. The career profiles updates  are required in order to assure the proper network connection functionality for each iOS build. They were sent for operators in Japan, Greece, Finland and Sweden and seem to be compatible with iOS 5.1, being set to release on March 9. This could indicate that iOS 5.1 will be released close to that date.

This new version will be available on following devices: iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, IPhone 4S, iPad, iPad2 and iPod Touch. There are also many rumors which sustain that iOS 5.1 update will be launched same time with the new generation of iPad which will likely take place early next month.

“If Apple were planning on having these ready for the weekend of March 9, it seems relatively possible that they could choose that date…perhaps with a catchy theme like ‘It’s time to leap ahead,’” said Joshua Topolsky from The Verge blog referencing the launch of next-generation tablets.

It is not known if the iOS 5.1 release will solve the battery drain problem so much complained by the users as the three beta versions released to developers showed no difference. Anyway, this update and the new iOS devices are expected to amaze and impress again the tablets world.