Apple's iTunes multimedia application has been updated to version 11.0.3, the highlight of which is a redesigned and improved MiniPlayer that now includes rich album artwork and a progress bar. Songs view also brings album artwork into the fold, and now multi-disc albums appear as a single album rather than taking up multiple entries in your library. Here's the rundown list of what's included in the update.

This version of iTunes comes with several new features and improvements, including:

• New MiniPlayer. MiniPlayer now includes a beautiful new view that showcases your album artwork In addition, a progress bar is now built right into MiniPlayer.
• Improved Songs View. You can now enjoy your album artwork while in Songs view.
• Multi-Disc Albums. Albums with multiple discs now appear as a single album.

This update also provides performance improvements when searching and sorting large iTunes libraries.

Read More | Apple ]]> 2013-05-16T22:33:52+00:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/mophie-juice-pack-plus-iphone-5-battery-q213/ Accessories, Apple, Cell Phones

Following up on the Juice Pack Helium ($71) and Juice Pack Air ($92), Mophie has announced the Juice Pack Plus for iPhone 5. This is the highest-capacity iPhone 5 battery case offered by Mophie, the company that made these accessories a common purchase for Apple smartphones. On the inside of the Juice Pack Plus you'll find a 2100mAh battery that the company says will add a whopping 120% of extra battery life to your iPhone 5, which is good enough for 10 additional hours of talk time, 12 hours of Wi-Fi Internet usage, and 12 hours of video playback.

The Mophie Juice Pack Plus is available in black right now, with white and Product (RED) versions shipping within the next two weeks. All models cost $120.

The new Google Hangouts has arrived, bringing together Google's Talk, Hangouts, Voice, and Google+ Messenger under one app and umbrella. Google Hangouts offers unified, synchronized chat that retains history across all devices, allowing you to dig into your history wherever you are, delete messages, and check out files, photos, etc. Hangouts naturally includes the previous Google Hangouts video chat features, which allows multiple people to video chat with each other, again, from a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

Hangouts it now available on iOS, Android, Chrome, and within the Gmail web client. Get a look at the video promo after the break.

Google has just announced Google Play Music All Access at its Google I/O 2013 developer conference, the company's new subscription music service. Aside from givng you access to the millions of songs in Google's new streaming catalog, it will also incorporate tracks that you have stored in your Google Play Music account. The service launches today, and will cost $9.99 per month. Google offers a 30-day trial--sign up for the free trial by June 30th, you'll lock in a $7.99 per month rate, making it 20% cheaper than competing services like Rdio and Spotify.

It is expected that Apple will announce it's own streaming music service, possibly at WWDC 2013 in June, but rumors point to it being more akin to a Pandora Internet radio competitor than a full on streaming service where you can pick and choose individual tracks and albums that you want to listen to.

Microsoft co-founder, former CEO and current Chairman, Bill Gates, described his last conversation with the late Steve Jobs (among other topics) during an interview with Charlie Rose on 60 minutes. Watch the video after the break:

Read More | 60 Minutes ]]> 2013-05-14T23:07:00+00:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/rumored-applecare-changes-worse-apple-service-q213/ Apple, Editorial, Rumors

The rumor mill has been buzzing with regards to significant changes that will be coming to AppleCare, Apple's popular standard and extended warranty program. Interestingly, it appears that AppleCare support for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad is about to become much more of a pain for customers. This marks a significant change where Apple will seemingly make a decision to make the customer service experience worse rather than better, all in the name of saving a ton of money.

1Password is one of our favorite apps here at Gear Live, and today version 4.2 for iOS was released with a slew of new features. Let's talk about some of our favorites.

On the iPad, you get a newly-optimized browser (called 1Browser) that now includes the Strong Password Generator. You can also autofill your logins if you prefer, and the browser even recognizes a URL that you have waiting in your clipboard and offers to take you there. The iPad also picks up the Go & Fill bookmark feature, that let's you bookmark your favorite sites, and when you visit, 1Password will automatically log you in.

Search has been expanded, now allowing users to search across all 1Password data fields, and you can even share password items using Messages and email--1Password offers to let you share either in plain text, or in an encrypted format.

We've got the full changelog for you after the break. You can download 1Password 4.2 now.

Despite being the last major carrier to pick up the iPhone, T-Mobile is still seeing massive success thanks to the Apple smartphone. In fact, the company revealed that it has sold over 500,000 iPhone 5 units since the device went on sale on April 12th, less than a month ago. On that day, T-Mobile locations had lines out the door, which is almost unheard of for the carrier. Technically, the iPhone 5 went on sale after the end of the first quarter, so those 500,000 sales weren't accounted for. We will have to wait until next quarter to see how the iPhone is affecting T-Mobile revenue.

Read More | T-Mobile ]]> 2013-05-08T20:52:26+00:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/bill-gates-ipad-owners-frustrated-q213/ Apple, Handhelds, PC / Laptop, Videos

Former Microsoft CEO, current mosquito-wrangler and public donator of his vast wealth, Bill Gates, was talking on CNBC about how he feels iPad users are frustrated about not having a physical keyboard and the lack of Microsoft Office. Curious among many where he is getting his data. Bill didn't waste any time proposing the Microsoft Surface tablet, which has Microsoft Office, as a better alternative, despite sales indicating the contrary. Perhaps, it might behoove Microsoft to go to its roots and start selling software instead of trying to sell an ecosystem. After all, we're in the 'Post PC-era' as coined by the late Steve Jobs. On the other hand, Bill is saying tablets are growing in popularity, and that, eventually, they'll be hard to distinguish between them and PCs. Catch the video after the break.

"With Windows 8, Microsoft is trying to gain share in what has been dominated by the iPad type device. A lot of those users are frustrated. They can't type. They can't create documents. They don't have Office there. So we're providing them something with the benefits they've seen that have made that a big category but without giving up what they expect in a PC." - Bill Gates

Apple is set to show off OS X 10.9 at WWDC 2013 (which sold out in less than two minutes this year) and the current rumors point to the inclusion of a tabbed Finder and iOS-style multitasking that will allow background apps to pause, freeing system resources up for the apps you are using at the time. Additionally, the Mission Control complaint that users with multiple monitors have been complaining about since the release of OS X 10.7 Lion will finally be addressed--if you have multiple monitors, you'll be able to have a space open on each one.

Other rumor mill nuggets point to both Siri and Apple Maps making their OS X debuts as well. We'll know more on June 10 when WWDC kicks off!

Read More | 9to5Mac ]]> 2013-05-04T00:43:50+00:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/belkin-thunderbolt-express-dock-available-299-q213/ Accessories, USB, Apple, PC / Laptop

Belkin has finally announced the release of its Thunderbolt Express Dock. Originally set for release in July 2012, Belkin's Thunderbolt Express Dock has seen multiple delays, but is now available to order beginning today. To refresh your memory, the Dock allows you to connect multiple peripheral to it, and then connect one Thunderbolt cable from the Dock to your Mac, giving you access to all of the devices connected to the dock. Here a list of all the ports that the Thunderbolt Dock sports:

• 2 Thunderbolt ports (1 upstream, 1 downstream for daisy-chaining up to 5 additional Thunderbolt devices)
• 3 USB 3.0 ports (Belkin added USB 3.0 ports back in June 2012)
• 1 FireWire 800 port
• 1 Gigabit Ethernet port
• 1 3.5mm audio-out port
• 1 3.5mm audio-in port

In total, you get access to 8 different devices on your Mac by simple connecting on cable to a fully-stocked Thunderbolt Dock. Not bad at all. You can pick up the Thunderbolt Express Dock now for $299.99 by using the link below.

Read More | Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock ]]> 2013-04-30T12:55:05+00:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/video-samsung-s-iv-galaxy-s-iii-iphone-5-drop-test-q213/ Apple, Cell Phones, Design, Handhelds, Videos

GizmoSlip has done a drop durability test of Apple's iPhone 5, Samsung's Galaxy S IV and Galaxy S III.  See how they fair in the video. Hint: the protruding camera design was a bad idea.

Read More | YouTube ]]> 2013-04-30T00:52:14+00:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/wwdc-2013-sells-out-in-3-minutes-q213/ Apple, Corporate News

We told you that WWDC 2013 tickets would go quick, but we didn't think it would be this fast. WWDC tickets last year sold out in under two hours. Today? They sold out in under 2 minutes. Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference is now officially sold out, so if you missed it, you'll have to settle for videos of the conference program. There's always next year.

Read More | Apple WWDC ]]> 2013-04-25T17:07:24+00:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/wwdc-2013-tickets-on-sale-1599-q213/ Apple, Corporate News

Tickets for Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference are now on sale. Last year, WWDC tickets sold out within two hours of going on sale, and that was without a pre-announcement of when they'd drop. This year, in an attempt to make sure everyone is ready, the company announced yesterday that tickets would go on sale this morning. Apple will show off both OS X 10.9 and iOS 7 at the event, with developer preview betas being available that same day. If you want to be there, we suggest you go get your tickets. Like, right now. In fact, it may already be too late.

In order to buy a ticket, you've gotta me a member of Apple's iOS Developer Program, iOS Developer Enterprise Program, or the Mac Developer Program as of yesterday's announcement. You can buy one ticket per person, or five per organization, and they cost $1,599 each.

Last years WWDC saw the reveal of major features of OS X Mountain Lion, iOS 6, the introduction of the MacBook Pro with Retina display.

Apple has confirmed that its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) will take place June 10-14th at Moscone West in San Francisco. During yesterday's Q2 2013 Apple earnings call, Tim Cook made sure to set expectations by indicating that the company looks forward to releasing new hardware, software, and services this fall, and throughout 2014. In other words, don't expect any new iPhone or iPad to be announced at the summer blockbuster event. That said, Phil Shiller says that its "developers have had the most prolific and profitable year ever, and we're excited to show them the latest advances in software technologies and developer tools to help them create innovative new apps," adding, "we can't wait to get new versions of iOS and OS X into their hands at WWDC." So there you have it--WWDC will see the unveiling of Mac OS X 10.9, and iOS 7, both of which should be made available to developers on June 10 in preview form. Tickets for WWDC go on sale tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM PDT.

Just before today's Apple Q2 2013 earnings call, the company released a new beta version of OS X 10.8.4 Mountain Lion to developers. Build 12E36 is now available to download through the Mac App Store if you're a developer, with focus areas on Wi-Fi, graphics drivers, and Safari.

Apple is in the midst of its Q2 2013 earnings call, highlighted by 37.4 million iPhones and 19.5 million iPads sold. This represents record Q2 iPhone and iPad sales. Overall, Apple posted $43.6 billion in revenue, of which $9.5 billion was profit. While many analysts were predicting a crash-and-burn quarter, this is, instead, still growth. However, the growth rate has definitely slowed to the lowest it has been in years. To compare to last year, Q2 2012, Apple earned $39.2 billion in revenue and $11.6 billion in profit.

As for other products, Apple sold 3.95 million Macs, compared to 4 million last year. iPod sales continue to slow, with 5.6 million Q2 2013 sales compared to 7.7 million as the same time last year.

Analysts are reporting that the Apple iPhone 5S is set to be delayed because of problems Apple is having with integrating a fingerprint sensor. The issue seemingly stems from the color coating of the paint and getting it to work with the rumored fingerprint sensor that will be a part of the iPhone 5S. The end result is that the next iPhone, the lower-cost budget iPhone, and the next iPad mini will all launch closer to September rather than the June/July timeframe.

One important note here: Apple has never specified a release date for the iPhone 5S (or even the existence of the device itself,) so to call this a delay seems disingenuous. These delays are really based on the best guesses of the analysts in the first place. In other words, this "delay" really is the analysts saying their guesses were wrong, but not taking the blame.

Read More | Reuters ]]> 2013-04-22T19:55:52+00:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/rear-plastic-shell-upcoming-budget-iphone-leaked-q213/ Apple, Cell Phones, Handhelds, Rumors

The big iPhone rumor this year is that Apple will release a lower-cost model with a polycarbonate plastic backing, similar to the one found on the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Today, an image has cropped up that purports to show the rear shell of the budget model iPhone. As you can see, it's similar in size to the iPhone 4, and is mostly flat, rather than the rounded 3G/3GS design. Tactus, the company that is making the claims, also has other details:

I’ve also heard on the grapevine that the alleged budget iPhone will have an A5 processor like the iPad Mini with a 32nm diecast. It’s also rumoured it will have a 3.5 inch retina screen, much like the 4S, but not as big as the iPhone 5 … I’ve also discovered the factory producing this secretive project have confirmed the device will be available in Black, White, Blue, Red and Yellow.

A multi-colored low-cost iPhone? What do you think?

Read More | Tactus ]]> 2013-04-18T22:56:49+00:00 http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/twitter-music-service-launches-web-iphone-q213/ Apple, Internet, Music, Software

The rumored Twitter Music service has become a reality, launching this morning. Twitter #music seems to be a natural step for the service, which sees hundreds of millions of users regularly discussing music on the service, as well as a bunch of  popular musicians as well. Twitter #music aims to help you find music you'll like, based on your Twitter activity. You can access #music through a web browser, and there's also a new dedicated #music iOS app that lets you easily view and listen to music that's popular and trending on Twitter, undiscovered artists, music that it knows you like, and a #NowPlaying area that shows what others are listening to.

One important note here is that Twitter #music isn't a streaming music service. Instead, it's a layer that allows you to access your Rdio, Spotify, and iTunes tracks, using Twitter #music as your navigation mechanism. You simply connect your accounts to #music, and you are all set. The iOS app is slick, and we hear the Android version will be on its way soon. You can download Twitter #music for iPhone now.

Read More | Twitter #Music ]]> 2013-04-18T19:10:52+00:00