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What Apple's latest rules change means for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo e-reader apps

Apple giveth and Apple taketh away.

Today, Apple decided to give a little, as it made some significant tweaks to its in-app subscription rules that impact the fate of e-reader apps.

Apple had reportedly set a deadline of June 30 for developers to alter their apps to reflect the new terms for subscriptions in the Apple Store, which required companies to give Apple a 30 percent cut on sales their apps generate.

In the past, e-reading apps Kindle, Nook, and Kobo have avoided paying the cut by sending customers to a Web-based interface outside the app. When Apple issued its … Read more

The 404 836: Where it's big, round, and shaped like a spaceship (podcast)

We enjoyed yesterday's show with Joey Kaminski so much that we invited him back to sub for Jeff again today. He weighs in with us on Apple's new spaceship-shaped campus, Chinese prisoners allegedly mining MMO gold, Steve Jobs' freakiest Apple patents, and muffing the ball.

The 404 Digest for Episode 836

Steve Jobs proposes a new Apple campus--shaped like a spaceship. Steve Jobs' freakiest patents. China reportedly forces prisoners to mine MMO gold. Richard Dreyfuss reads the iTunes EULA on tomorrow's Reporters' Roundtable!

Episode 836 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

iOS 5 code points to two iPad 3 models

A peek into the code for Apple's upcoming iOS 5 reveals two new iPad 3 models potentially in the works, according to sources at tech site TUAW.

Checking out the code files for USB devices in the iOS 5 firmware, TUAW uncovered references to an iPad3,1 and an iPad3,2.

The current iPad is identified as three separate models internally--iPad2,1 (Wi-Fi version), iPad2,2 (GSM version), and iPad2,3 (CDMA version). So the two models found in iOS 5 may be for a Wi-Fi version and a cellular version, suggesting to MacRumors that the iPad 3 cellular … Read more

iOS 5 beta jailbroken in less than 24 hours

The next major version of Apple's iOS has been exploited less than a day after its beta release to developers.

A member of the iPhone Dev Team--a group of hackers that targets Apple devices and is not to be confused with Apple's group that designs the iOS software--announced through a tweet last night that the developer beta release of iOS 5 was susceptible to limera1n, an exploit that targets a vulnerability in the iOS boot software.

As a result, iPhone Dev Team member "MuscleNerd" said that it was possible to install third-party application installer Cydia, which lets users download applications not offered through Apple's App Store. The device used was a fourth-generation iPod Touch running the beta of iOS 5, software Apple offered up to developers following yesterday's WWDC keynote address and iOS 5 unveiling.

For proof, MuscleNerd has posted two photos of the jailbreak, one of which includes the iPod's home screen, which prominently feature the Cydia logo. Another is a screenshot from the third-party SSH iOS application, iSSH, which shows that root level access to the iPod's file system has been obtained. … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1484: The Wii U explained (kind of) (Podcast)

Brian Tong joins us live from the E3 show floor to try to explain this cool-looking new Wii U console/controller thing. Even Cooley seems at least slightly impressed. Also, Sony delivers an apology but kind of a snoozefest of a press conference, 25% of U.S. hackers may be informants (including Antuan Goodwin) and reasoned discussion of Apple's iCloud, iOS, and OS X updates. No, really. --Molly

Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (640x360) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS (640x360)… Read more

Which iOS 5 feature excites you the most? (poll)

Unless you were sleeping under rock a yesterday, you heard that iOS 5 is official and coming to an iDevice near you this fall. (Here's a brief tour of what's inside.)

Although CNET's Kent German thinks Apple took only "baby steps" with the new OS, I think there's a lot to like. In fact, at the risk of sounding like a gushing fanboy, I'd say iOS 5 offers an embarrassment of riches.

I mean, Wi-Fi syncing? There's nothing babylike about cutting the cord (hmmm--OK, bad analogy) that has long tethered the device … Read more

How well does iOS 5 run on iPhone 3GS?

Update 10/13: We've been running iOS5 on a iPhone 3GS for the last 24 hours and have had no problems with it. It runs smoothly and the experience doesn't seem noticeably different from running iOS4. We'll let you know if we encounter any bugs as they come along, but for now it seems safe to say iOS5 works fine on the 3GS. To be safe, backup your iPhone (sync) on your computer and save any photos you have on your device to iPhoto before downloading and installing the update to iOS5.

Just a few weeks ago, … Read more

A brief tour of Apple's iOS 5

Apple's WWDC keynote is now behind us and if they're not at E3, tech journalists around the blogsphere are taking a rest. We didn't get a new iPhone or any new hardware, but Apple rolled out the company's new iCloud service, its Lion OS, and iOS 5, the latest version of its mobile operating system.

We've detailed the full list of changes in our iOS 5 first take--and frankly, they aren't terribly extensive--but we also downloaded the developers version of the update for a test drive. Keep in mind that the final consumer … Read more

First Take: Apple's iCloud service

The introduction of the iCloud at today's WWDC keynote symbolizes Apple's shift to cloud-based backups, syncing, and moving files seamlessly among all your devices, whether you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Mac, or PC. Just like Google's offerings (Doc and Calendar syncing, and Picasa, as examples), iCloud lets you sync media, apps, music, documents, calendars, and more automatically. It's important to note that Android has had the download and sync features since February of this year.

As usual at Apple's keynote events, Steve Jobs was not the only person on the stage demonstrating the latest and greatest from Apple. Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, came up to talk about multitouch gestures on the Mac, for example. Craig Federighi, senior vice president of Apple software, then came up to demo some of the new features of full-screen apps. But when it was time to talk about iCloud, it was Steve Jobs who did the talking. In other words, however you feel about iCloud, it seemed to be the "main event" that Apple seemed to be most excited about.… Read more