Dropbox for iPhone and iPad users is getting a lot more powerful today as the latest version includes a new action extension for iOS 8. This allows you to save information from various apps to Dropbox on iOS without having to open the cloud-syncing app.
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Microsoft is today rolling out an update to its Office apps for iOS devices bringing the ability to save to iCloud and tap into storage from other services across all three apps.
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The latest build of Chrome Canary for Mac packs a great new feature that’s likely familiar to those who use Safari on a daily basis. While current stable builds of Chrome have a jaggedy pinch-to-zoom functionality that only zooms in 10% increments, the latest build of Chrome Canary provides a smooth buttery zoom experience like Apple’s browser.
As of right now, it looks like the feature works a little bit less fluidly than Apple’s offering, but that’s to expected in the most experimental public release version of Chrome. Zooming works the same way that it does in Safari and current versions of Chrome, so all it takes is pinching two fingers on the Trackpad.
If you’re sticking with Safari on your Mac for this reason or others (battery life, anyone?), it looks like this feature—once it makes its way to the stable release—will give you one more reason to switch over to Google’s browser. If you want to give it a try, head over and download the latest build of Chrome Canary.
What happens when you hook up the original 1st-generation iPod with the latest version of iTunes? YouTuber Matthew Pearce attempted exactly that, and surprisingly found that the current version of iTunes (12.1) works just fine with the old 2001 iPod, and even prompts to set it up as a new device.
It appears that Apple is supporting the first-gen iPod, rather than it just happening to work: iTunes shows an icon for the original iPod design after connecting the device. The setup required a Firewire 400 to 800 adapter, and for newer Macs you’d also need a Firewire 800 to Thunderbolt adapter.
Check out out the full experiment in the video below:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKJsl02f2BU]
Like several other professional sports teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers will now be sending out location-aware notifications to iPhone users at its games using Apple’s Bluetooth beacon iBeacon tech. The team will send out the usual reminders, video content, and promos available to those at the game.
The team announced today that the notifications (pictured above) will be sent to fans through the official Cleveland Cavaliers app. YinzCam, Inc develops the app and is using Gimbal Bluetooth beacon hardware at the Cav’s Quicken Loans Arena to get the job done.
The opt-in notifications will include the following:
The MLB was one of the first professional sports team to adopt the tech for beaming location sensitive notifications to attendees at games, while the Golden State Warriors became the first NBA team to take advantage last year followed by several others.
The Cleveland Cavaliers app is available on the App Store now.
The Yahoo app for iPhone is getting a new look today that the company says puts a bigger focus on magazine content with “beautiful images and engaging features that make content from our ten digital magazines even more fun.”
New features included in the redesigned app to make the magazine experience more interactive include the ability to vote on Yahoo Style, swipe to see Yahoo Movies info including reviews and analysis, and content from Yahoo Food.
You’ll notice the new features mentioned above in all the magazine categories in the app and Yahoo also notes that it now has “Yahoo Weather and Yahoo News Digest content above the stream for your two favorite categories, All Stories and News.”
The updated Yahoo app for iPhone is arriving on the App Store today for users in the United States.
SoundCloud today released a brand new iPad app that has been completely redesigned to offer a better experience for users uploading, sharing, and listening to music through the service.
You’ll have access to just about all the SoundCloud features available on desktop including the ability to build a Collection, explore genres, edit and view profiles, create playlists, and share tracks and artists with other users.
One feature you won’t find is audio recording, however, as SoundCloud warns users to “Please upload any locally stored sounds before upgrading your iPad app, as audio recording has been removed from this version.” As an alternative, SoundCloud said it recommends downloading one of the many audio recording apps that offer SoundCloud uploads.
You also won’t be able to add or view comments, track info, and follower/following lists, but unlike the audio recording feature SoundCloud said these features will be returning in a later version.
The new SoundCloud app for iPad, version 3.7.1, is available on the App Store now.
What’s New in Version 3.7.1
The beautifully redesigned SoundCloud iPad app gives you a simplified, more intuitive and more visual experience. Discover and hear fresh/new music & audio, and log in to build your Collection, create playlists, and be the first to share your favorite tracks & artists with friends and followers.
Please upload any locally stored sounds before upgrading your iPad app, as audio recording has been removed from this version. For future recording, we recommend downloading one of the many apps that allow you to record and post directly to SoundCloud. For your activity feed, track info and user comments, please go to www.soundcloud.com.
And for both iPhone & iPad users we made some performance improvements which give you a smoother scrolling experience!
T-Mobile is seemingly continuing with its “Un-carrier” parade, as the company just announced a new program called “SCORE!” that lets customers add $5 per month to their bill to get some steep discounts on smartphone upgrades. Essentially, enrolling in this program lets you subsidize one of your own future smartphone purchases, but it looks like T-Mobile is going to try to make the investment worth your time.
Twitter this evening has announced in a blog post that it is rolling out a new “While you were away” recap feature to its mobile apps. Starting today on iOS and “soon” on Twitter.com and Android, a “While you were away” banner will appear in your feed, showing you the top tweets that you missed since you last opened the app. The company initially announced plans for a feature like this in November.
Google is today rolling out Chrome 40 for iOS and with it introducing a redesigned UI, OS X Handoff support, and optimizations for iOS 8 and the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
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Microsoft today released a minor update for its Xbox One SmartGlass app with long overdue support for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The latest version of the companion app for Xbox One now supports the native resolution of both smartphones alongside bug fixes.
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Amazon has released an update to its Cloud Drive Photos app introducing a new name alongside iPhone 6/6 Plus support and new features. The updated, now called “Amazon Photo,” also includes support for full resolution photo downloads, iPad landscape support, and more.
Full resolution photo downloads – You can now download your photos to your device in full resolution so you no longer have to worry about losing details when you print your downloaded photos or display them on a larger screen… Improved iPad Landscape support – Navigate through the app without ever needing to switch back to Portrait mode.
In addition, version 3.3.0 of the app includes duplicate photo detection that will detect matches and avoid uploading duplicates, and a new “report problems” feature directly through the app.
The updated Amazon Photo app is available on the App Store now.
Google is rolling out an updated version of its Google Drive app for Mac and PC this week with a few handy new features. First, you’ll find (as you can see above) that Google has updated the status menu to show much more information than before. Now, you can see the files that are being synced up to the cloud as well as a check mark next to them that will appear as they do so. The app will also make it clear which files are currently syncing and which files are yet to be synced. Additionally, hovering over an item will let you share it straight from the menu.
Yahoo has released an updated version of its Yahoo Mail app for iPhone and with it comes the ability to track packages for online purchases without leaving the app. The feature arrives as the latest addition in Yahoo’s mission to integrate some of its other key services— news, weather, magazines— as features in its Mail app.
The package tracking feature works for online purchases through a long list of popular retailers (but not all) and appears in the app’s Today view:
Tracking online shopping purchases can be tricky. To make your life a little bit easier, we’re adding package notifications to the latest release of the Yahoo Mail app for iOS in the U.S. Now, you can view and track shipped packages in the “Yahoo Today” section of the app from sites including Amazon, eBay, Zappos, Target, Best Buy, Macys.com and more. We’ll notify you when your package has shipped, when it’s scheduled to arrive, and what’s in your shipment.
In addition, the updated app gains the ability to customize the Today view, horoscopes, flight notification support from Orbitz and CheapTickets, and more:
We even added the much-requested ability to sort and select the type of content in your “Today” section to make it even more personalized. By clicking on the gear icon on the top left corner, you will see a new “Edit Yahoo Today” option for you to pick and choose what you’d like to see, including News Digest, Sports, Weather, Horoscope, Finance, Screen and Flickr.
The updated Yahoo Mail app, version 3.2.12, is available on the App Store now
Yahoo announced an update to its Yahoo iOS app today that adds local news, commenting, and UI tweaks to the company’s app for accessing news and other Yahoo services.
Want to know more about what’s going on around you? Today we’re bringing local news to your fingertips with the Yahoo App. As you move around the country, you’ll be able to see what’s going on in your area.
In addition to local news stories for users in the US, readers now have the ability to comment on articles:
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Popular image editor Pixelmator has been updated today with a whole host of new features, fixes, and improvements. First on the list is something many users (myself included!) have been hoping to see for quite a while now: full support for Apple’s pinch-to-zoom gesture. The update also makes the Shapes, Gradients, and Styles palettes capable of scrolling and being resized.
Popular mapping application Waze was updated today to version 3.9.2. According to the app’s change log (below), it’s gotten several design tweaks to areas, including the location sharing interface and quick-messaging screen, which allows you to quickly notify friends that you’re on the way.
The app also gained a Today view widget that displays the estimated travel time to your home or work addresses, and allows you to quickly get directions to either location by tapping on them. You can also send your ETA to friends from the widget while navigating to your destination.
Traffic data is now improved when changing a route to avoid slowdowns, and a new setting allows the map to automatically swap between 2D and 3D styles. Of course, the usual miscellaneous bug fixes are also included.
You can grab the updated Waze app for free on the App Store.
What’s New in Version 3.9.2
– Sending “I’m on my way” message is simpler than ever! With a new design and layout, you can easily keep your friends & family posted on the progress of your drive.
– New Waze Today Widget for iOS 8! Quickly view your ETA for Home or Work, navigate with one tap, and easily send your current drive & ETA (when navigating). Pull down your Notification Center and tap Edit to add the extension.
– Updated look and function for sending a location.
– ETA & route changes now include richer traffic information.
– New map display setting automatically switches between 2D and 3D view.
– Bug fixes and performance enhancements.
Gartner today published its third quarter numbers, showing overall growth in the smartphone market and a strong quarter for Apple. Mobile devices overall saw as many as 456 million sold with smartphones taking a 301 million slice of that pie, which comes out to a solid 66% (up 20% from last year). This shift in the market seems to be hurting Samsung and Nokia the most, because while the Korean giant is still leading the pack, this year smaller companies with slimmer margins seem to be taking some of its foothold.
Shazam for iOS received a major update on Wednesday with a redesigned home screen and music player for more conveniently keeping up to date with the latest artists you have identified, finding out what songs friends are listening to and accessing the latest Shazam charts. A brand new Shazam.com was also launched with a Hall of Fame for artists and other new features.
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While the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were released nearly three months ago, some high-profile developers have taken incredibly long to update their apps with native resolution for the larger screens. Look no further than Snapchat, which has finally been updated with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus support in an update released today.
The latest version of the popular ephemeral messaging app, in which users can share photos, videos and instant messages with others that disappear after a customizable length of time, also received enhancements in other areas, including improved captions, the ability to change the color of, pinch to resize and drag around special text and stacked filters.
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Apple has today added 9 new locations to its Flyover feature in Maps (via MacRumors), including three in France, a landmark in Sweden, one in New Zealand, two in Arizona, and a couple more United States landmarks in Wyoming and Arkansas. Flyover allows users pinch to zoom and pan around high resolution views of more than a hundred different landmarks, and today’s additions bring the total number of supported locations up to 101.
Update: Apple appears to have pulled this update. Apple previously pulled a Safari update when it accidentally released a beta to the general public, but this doesn’t seem to be the same type of situation. The security document for the update is still live.
Apple has released a small patch for the three most recent versions of Safari running on OS X Yosemite, Mavericks, and Mountain Lion. The new versions are 8.0.1, 7.1.1, and 6.2.1, respectively.
The updated builds include fixes for features like WebGL graphics running on Macs with Retina displays, and problems with iCloud Keychain and syncing of browsing history. There is also a new option for importing saved usernames and passwords from the Firefox browser.
You can download the updates from the Software Update tab of the Mac App Store. There are no standalone installers, as Safari is now bundled with OS X.
Apple has updated Final Cut Pro with support for native import, editing, and export of MXF video files, along with the capability to edit video encoded with Panasonic’s AVC-LongG codec. Several issues are fixed in this update as well, including problems importing certain clips from specific cameras, App Nap stopping long import operations, and errors in handling of 240fps video.
Xcode was also update with fixes for common SourceKit crashes when using the new Swift language. The full change logs for both apps are included below:
Dropbox announced today that an incoming update hitting the App Store today will offer the ability to rename fils and folders and more.
Today’s update to the iOS app includes a new “more actions button” that will let users rename files, folders and access other functions: We’ve added an easy-access more actions button next to the sharing icon in the upper right-hand corner that leads to a set of file options so you can quickly do things like rename or move a file…To rename files straight from the Dropbox, simply choose Rename from the more actions button as you’re previewing. Rename folders by swiping to the right from the file list view and tapping the rename icon.
Dropbox also points out that the latest apps have a new disappearing toolbar that provides more screen real estate when viewing files and folders in addition to a few other new features. Our new toolbar disappears (and reappears) as you need it, leaving valuable screen space for a full view into your photos or important files. Simply tap once anywhere within your photo or file to toggle between the toolbar and full screen.
That new disappearing toolbar (which was present in the last version of the app as well) includes an edit button for Microsoft Office files as part of the company’s recent integration with the Office mobile apps.
The updated Dropbox app for iOS, version 3.6, will be arriving on the App Store today.
• You can now rename your files and folders!
• Swipe right on a folder to see more actions, including rename.
• We’ve moved a few things around – there’s a new more actions button (⋯) when viewing files
• On iPhones, the more actions button (⋯) also includes the full file na