If you’re not a fan of Apple’s built-in Mail app, you’ve no doubt discovered Sparrow for iPhone, which just got a little better with version 1.2 on Monday — and there’s some good news and bad news about push being added to the app as well.
The creators of the Sparrow email app have released version 1.2 for the iPhone on Monday, which adds four very welcome features to the third-party email app that has quickly found a loyal base of iOS users.
Let’s get the good news/bad news scenario out of the way first. Push is not included with version 1.2, but it’s coming as a paid in-app upgrade. Unfortunately, Apple continues to refuse to budge on Sparrow tapping into the iOS VoIP API to offer push email from within the app, so the developers now have to resort to offering it as a paid option.
“You were more than 16,000 helping us on our Apple quest to get the VoIP privilege,” the Sparrow blog notes, referring to the number of users who signed the company’s online petition. “We can’t thank you enough for your support. Unfortunately, Apple has confirmed that they are not willing to do any exception to the rule and that Sparrow will NOT be granted with the privilege. This means we’ll have to do Push on our side and that it will be integrated as a yearly subscription into Sparrow’s future update.”
No word on when push will make it into Sparrow for iPhone or what it will cost, but at least it is indeed coming. Meanwhile, the developers have beefed up the existing app with four new features users can get their hands on today.
Message navigation allows users to navigate all mailbox messages simply by swiping up or down, with a special separator that pops up to clearly indicate you’re swiping to a new conversation. Labels and folders can now be renamed, created or deleted right from within the app as well.
Sparrow now allows composing messages in landscape mode, and the app is now fluent in nine languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Russian, and Chinese.
Sparrow for iPhone 1.2 is now available from the App Store as a free update for existing users and a .99 purchase for everyone else; the app works with all devices running iOS 5.0 or later, but is not universal for native iPad support.
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We have liftoff! As promised on Monday with the news that Creative Suite 6 was shipping, Adobe has taken the wraps off Creative Cloud, its .99 per month subscription service which includes all CS6 products along with a host of others.
Adobe Systems Inc. announced the immediate availability of Adobe Creative Cloud on Friday, the beginning of a new era in the company’s long history which provides a radical new way of providing tools and services for its customers.
“A subscription-based offering, Adobe Creative Cloud is a hub for making, sharing and delivering creative work and it is centered around a powerful release of Adobe Creative Suite 6 software, packed with innovation across its industry-defining design, Web, video and digital imaging tools,” the company explains in a press release.
Adobe Creative Cloud features the entire Creative Suite 6 product line for Mac and Windows, which includes the latest versions of Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, Flash Professional and more — all available for a monthly .99 subscription, based on annual membership.
When purchased separately, Creative Cloud also introduces Touch Apps into the mix for both iOS and Android, today adding Adobe Proto and Adobe Collage, as well as new features and additional language support for the existing Photoshop Touch and Adobe Ideas apps. Creative Cloud members on an annual plan will receive a complimentary month of membership upon signing into Creative Cloud from three qualifying Touch Apps. The service tops off these great tools with 20GB of free cloud storage.
“Adobe Creative Cloud members receive full access to the entire portfolio of Creative Suite 6 tools, integration with our touch tools, file storage and sharing services and Web hosting — everything they need to go from idea to finished work, at a breakthrough monthly subscription price,“ said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media Business, Adobe. “Creative Cloud will allow our product teams to unleash a constant stream of innovation, releasing new features, apps and services as they are developed.”
Also available today is Adobe Muse 1.0, the company’s new software that enables designers to create HTML5-based websites without writing code. The software just exited a successful beta period which saw 700,000 downloads from developers who gave it a spin, and best of all, Muse is included with Adobe Creative Cloud.
Adobe Creative Cloud is now available for .99 per month with an annual subscription, and for a limited time, CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 customers can receive special introductory pricing of .99 per month for the first 12 months. Month-to-month plans are also available for .99 per month for occasional use.
(Updated to clarify that Touch Apps must be purchased separately from the App Store and are not included free with Creative Cloud.)
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There’s no denying that Apple makes a fascinating subject for authors, and it seems more books are being published attempting to demystify the company’s secrets and methods than ever before. Author Ken Segall has just debuted another one entitled Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success.
Author Ken Segall has announced the release Thursday of his new book, Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success. Available now at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, iBookstore and other vendors, the tome attempts to get to the heart of how Apple continues to “consistently outthink and outmarket monoliths who possess greater resources or market share.”
“To Steve Jobs, Simplicity was a religion,” the author explains on his website. “He built a company based on its principles, in which the complexities of traditional business were simply not tolerated. Simplicity was also his most powerful weapon — a means of humbling category leaders once thought to be invincible.
“Insanely Simple is a fascinating read for anyone curious about life in Steve Jobs’s world,” the description continues. “It’s a must-read for anyone who wishes to leverage the power of Simplicity to propel their own organization — or their own career.”
Author Segall isn’t just another outsider — he worked as an advertising executive under Steve Jobs for more than 12 years, first at NeXT and then during the iconic CEO’s triumphant return to Apple. While there, Segall was the guy who named the iMac (thus starting the whole “i” frenzy) and also helped develop the company’s legendary “Think Different” advertising campaign.
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iTunes in the Cloud got way cooler with the launch of the new iPad last month, when Apple announced that movies could now be re-downloaded from any device using your iCloud account. Unfortunately, HBO restrictions held Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox back from joining the party — but progress is finally being made.
AppleInsider reported over the weekend that feature films released from Universal Pictures have quietly become part of iTunes in the Cloud’s new ability to re-download from any device logged into a user’s iCloud account. That leaves 20th Century Fox as the only major studio sitting on the sidelines, despite a recent report that HBO restrictions preventing the studio from participating have been lifted.
“Universal and Fox were initially absent from iCloud as a result of content deals with premium cable network HBO, though those issues were resolved last month,” the report reveals. “Universal Pictures films became available this weekend on iCloud, and users who have previously purchased the films from iTunes can re-download them at no cost.
“While Universal’s films are now available through iCloud, customers looking to re-download 20th Century Fox must still wait for that content, even though HBO was said last month to have reached an agreement,” the report continues. “The Wall Street Journal said at the time that Fox expected to have its content on iCloud ‘within weeks,’ suggesting it may not be a much longer wait.”
iTunes in the Cloud allows users to not only re-download movies they have purchased from iTunes, but also Digital Copy content from iTunes which is included with many Blu-ray and DVD discs these days. Rather than having to store gigabyte-plus files on your local hard drive, iTunes users can simply delete the file after viewing and have the ability to download it again later, from either iTunes on a Mac or PC or any iOS device running iOS 5 or later.
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If you’re an iPhone 4 owner who was unhappy with Apple’s offer of a free bumper to resolve your “Antennagate” related woes, you’ll now be able to cash in on that despair thanks to a class action settlement — but don’t fill your eyes with dollar signs just yet.
Engadget Mobile is reporting that the website for the iPhone 4 “Antennagate” settlement is now live, first pointed out via Twitter by Ira Rothken, the co-lead counsel on the class action lawsuit which was settled by Apple. The original lawsuit sought to resolve the pain and suffering felt by iPhone 4 users who “experienced antenna or reception issues.”
So you’ve got a big fat check waiting for you, right? Not so fast, greedy guy (or gal). First you’ll need to make sure you qualify. Did you experience “antenna or reception issues” with your iPhone 4? Have you “been unable to return your iPhone 4 without incurring any costs”? Were you “unwilling to use a case or free bumper for your iPhone 4”? Finally, have you “completed certain troubleshooting steps or are unable to complete the troubleshooting steps because you no longer own your iPhone”?
That third one seems to be the “gotcha,” since most of us probably scarfed up the free bumper/case, which appears to disqualify us from the big payout of… . Yes, like all great class action settlements, it ends not with a bang, but with a whimper. Oh well… 15 bucks is 15 bucks, and in today’s economy that’s nearly four gallons of gas!
For the few, the proud who are able to meet all four qualifications above, head over to the iPhone 4 settlement website and follow the instructions to claim your do-re-mi. Just know that somewhere in Cupertino, an iPhone engineer is probably weeping over each one that’s filed…
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