Apple doesn’t mention how many users are affected, but simply that “some” users may be affected. The outages appear to be affecting multiple iCloud services including Mail, Find my iPhone, and third-party apps attempting to access iCloud credentials. Other users are simply receiving an error message when attempting to access any iCloud service.

Apple outages have been occurring quite a bit recently, with iCloud getting the brunt of most of the outages, but iMessage and FaceTime have both gone out in the recent past. We’re obviously not sure why these outages are occurring more often than in the past, but it seems users are starting to get fed up with it.

On a slighty-related note, Engadget reports that Twitter is also experiencing a slight outage, and users are reporting that tweets being sent are timing out before they can be sent off. However, it seems Twitter is aware of the issue and have top men on the case. Is this the end of the internet as we know it? Most likely not, but it seems websites are getting hit hard today.

The news was announced via Real Racing 3‘s Facebook page. Not a lot of details have been revealed about the new update, but two new cars will be joining the current fleet of vehicles: the Camaro ZL1 and the Cobalt SS — both of which are Chevrolet cars. Other than that, “100+ new events” that will be coming to the game, as well as the new “Hunter” mode, which we have yet to find out what that is.

The video above shows off the Camaro and Cobalt in action, but not much else is revealed. In the video’s description, however, we’re teased with a new “statistics leaderboard” that will allow racers to “compare and compete with friends.” Again, we’re not sure what that will entail exactly, but it seems fairly promising.

As for iCloud functionality, we’re not sure how exactly it will be incorporated into the game, but it will most likely allows Real Racing 3 gamers to switch between their iOS devices and start back up where they left off. For instance, one might play the game on their iPad, and then switch to their iPhone later on, picking up where they left off. Obviously, this feature won’t come to Android, but iOS users will certainly enjoy it.

Check out our review of Real Racing 3 to learn more about the game.

The process works similarly to other services with the feature. Users first need to enable two-step verification on the Apple ID website. After that, you can use your mobile device to receive verification codes either through a text message or using the Find my iPhone app in order to sign into Apple services.

This new feature for iCloud comes months after technology journalist Mat Honan was hacked and all of his iOS and Mac devices were erased, thanks to some clever social engineering by the hacker. Apple promised to beef up its security, and has introduced two-step verification today to prevent such things from happening again.

Currently, several companies support two-step verification, including Google, Dropbox, Facebook, Amazon, and Yahoo. Essentially the feature requires two types of verification in order to log into services, one of which is a virtual verification (like a password), and the other is a physical verification (a mobile phone in this case). This prevents anyone from accessing your account, even if they know the password.

[via 9to5Mac]

Houston mostly spoke in general terms, but he specifically called out Apple’s iCloud service and said that iCloud users can only share files across iOS devices and not over Android devices. In other words, a lot of cloud storage services that companies and manufacturers roll out are not cross-platform compatible.

Houston says that “you shouldn’t have to care about the logo on the back of your phone or computer, it should just work with everything you have.” He certainly has a point there, and it’s that kind of limitation that Dropbox wants “to help remove for people.” Dropbox is compatible on almost all platforms, and you can share files across different mobile operating systems without any trouble.

Of course, Dropbox has scored partnerships with Samsung and HTC in the past, noting that these companies are the smart ones by not rolling out their own proprietary cloud service, but rather using Dropbox, which is more widely used anyway, with other 100 million users and over one billion files being uploaded every day across 500 million mobile devices.

[via Macworld]

Once you’re in the new iTunes Store, you’ll find another complete redesign with a cleaner look and, again, recommendations galore based on your interests and past purchases. This update is also connected with iCloud intrinsically. You’ll have the ability to play purchases from iCloud, this meaning you’ll be able to stream your content – so to speak – from anywhere you can access iCloud. You can also download your content directly from iCloud to sync to a device for offline playing as well.

There’s a new MiniPlayer in the iTunes app that allows you to see what’s playing at any time complete with album art and connections to “Up Next.” With “Up Next” you’ll be seeing which sings are playing next with the Up Next icon in your center display.

This version of iTunes has an improved search ecosystem with instant results from across your content library with a click of any result bringing you in to that piece of media to play. You’ve got Playback syncing now as well, this allowing you to play the same movie or TV show from the place you left off between your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple TV – like magic!

You can download this new version of iTunes starting today – we’ll let you know as the update rolls out across the USA and abroad!

Cook says that this was the fastest update rate of any software history that the company knows of. Cook also talked about the seamless integration between iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion, specifically calling out Documents in the Cloud, saying that there are over 125 million Documents in the Cloud right now.

iMessage has also seen a huge boost in usage. 300 billion (with a “B”) iMessages have been sent since the platform was first launched, and it’s at a rate of about 28,000 messages being sent every second. Other statistics that Cook quickly mentioned were about Game Center — 160 million Game Center accounts have been created. Also, iOS 6′s shared Photo Stream feature also has seen over 70 million photos shared between iOS users.

Apple and Verizon have admitted to (and fixed) an issue with iPhone 5 that makes data charges go through the roof, while Apple was busy blocking in-app ads for digital stores other than the App Store. A recently discovered Twitter security flaw allows the less favorable people of the world to steal your account, and we found out today that one of The Pirate Bay’s founders is still in jail without any charges. User adoption of Windows 8 seems to be lower than it was for Windows 7, and we caught wind of a new rumor that claims the next Nexus phone could be right around the corner, along with a new version of Jelly Bean.

Mark Zuckerberg visited Russia today to talk about setting up a Facebook research center there, and a particularly funny glitch was seen telling former MobileMe users that their free iCloud storage wouldn’t expire until 2050. There were a couple different team ups today, with Samsung and Peel coming together to offer interactive content during the upcoming presidential debates, and NETGEAR and Qualcomm joining forces to offer a new developer program. The US Navy has helped a team of scientists at Indiana University come up with a particularly scary new bit of malware, while Ten One Design announced the new Pogo Connect Bluetooth 4.0 stylus.

Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition has officially hit 4 million sales, and things aren’t looking too good for the ultrabook. The new MSN portal is taking some design cues from Windows 8, and Netflix has added its “Just For Kids” section to its iPad app. A Google buyout of Viewdle is said to be closing soon, and our old friend the CD turned 30 years old today. Finally tonight, we have a review of the new Vizio All-in-One PC by Chris Burns, so be sure to check it out! That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up – enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

Apple reminded MobileMe users last week that the 20GB they received for free when the iCloud transition took place would be taken away and would go back to 5GB of storage space, unless users opted for a paid plan that starts at $20 a year for 10GB. However, users are seeing that they still have their 20GB of extra storage in their account, but with an expiration date of “9/30/50″.

However, the expiration date is showing up on iOS devices as well as Macs in System Preferences, so it’s definitely not a bug that’s isolated to just one platform — it’s showing up everywhere. Even though it would be amazing to keep 20GB of storage for another 38 years, we think it’s only just a bug in Apple’s iCloud subscription database.

Apple also seemed to have issues with iTunes yesterday as well, which was also the same day that the company officially shut down its music-centric social network Ping. It could be that Apple’s servers are just having some issues whenever they’re shutting down something specific and making changes, but we’re interested to see how Apple responds to the expiration date bug.

[via The Mac Observer]

We know taking photos on an iPad is pretty ridiculous, but if you absolutely have to, you have no reason to not use Camera+ anymore. The new iPad version takes advantage of the iPad’s 10-inch display and offers all the great features that iPhone users have been taking advantage of for a while now. Plus, the iPad now makes a great editing suite for your photos thanks to Camera+’s advanced editing features.

iCloud syncing is also now supported, which means any photos you take on your iPhone can be automatically synced to your iPad, and vice versa. This allows for an easy and productive workflow for mobile shooters, since users can take photos with their iPhone and have them automatically appear on their iPad, where they can then edit the photos using the iPad’s more-ideal larger display.

9 million people have downloaded the Camera+ app for iPhone so far. Developer of Camera+, Tap Tap Tap, says that the iPad and iPhone apps should pose as a challenge to Adobe, which offers their own suite of Photoshop apps for editing photos on the iPad, and has their own cloud storage service as well.

Camera+ for iPad is on sale for $0.99 and is available now in the iTunes App Store.

[via The New York Times]

Originally, MobileMe users were scheduled to lose their 20GB of extra iCloud storage on July 30, but Apple pushed that date back to September 30 not too long ago. If you have less than 5GB of stuff stored in your iCloud account, you don’t have to do anything – the roll over to the new 5GB limit will likely happen without you ever knowing. If you’re using more than 5GB of storage space, however, nothing will be deleted, but backups to iCloud will stop and you won’t be able to add more stuff to your iCloud account until you either do some housekeeping to get down below the 5GB limit or purchase more storage space.

If you elect to take the latter route, you’ll find that Apple’s rates for additional space are actually pretty reasonable (for the most part). The company charges $20 a year for an additional 10GB of storage, $40 for 20GB, and $100 for 50GB. That $100 price tag may be hard for some users to swallow, but paying $40 a year for an extra 20GB doesn’t seem bad at all.

Apple claims that most users don’t use the full 5GB of space that is provided for free, so if that’s true, many of you probably won’t have to do anything with this incoming downgrade. It’s also important to remember that any purchased space is added on top of the free 5GB, so if you plop down that $40 for an extra 20GB, your total storage space will come in at 25GB. Will you need to buy some extra space when September 30 rolls around, or are you all set?

[via CNET]

This update makes iCloud a place where you’re able to get a full range of Apple-based update and schedule apps: Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, and Reminders. You’ll also be able to work with Find My iPhone with both your iPhone and your iPad, and iWork allows you to stay up to date with your documents as well. Find My iPhone also works with newer MacBook Pro models and will almost certainly be working with other future Apple devices galore as well – keep them all up and safe!

For those of you new to this environment, inside iWork you’ll still have to purchase the various apps for them to work inside iCloud. Keynote, Pages, and Numbers are each ready to work with the iCloud universe just so long as you’ve got them and have them connected. The entire iCloud suite is made to keep you updated with your notes, mail, documents, and schedule no matter which device you’re on, just so long as it’s an Apple device or has a web browser.

Have a peek at our recent iCloud news bits in the timeline below and get pumped up about the iPhone 5 hitting shelves very, very soon. Do you have yours pre-ordered like the 2 million other people out there in iLand? Stick around SlashGear for more iPhone 5 action as more bits appear in the trenches!

[Thanks for the tip, Jack!]

It was a pretty big day for NASA’s Curiosity rover, as it lifted its head for the first time and sent back new images of the surface of Mars. It appears that the Galaxy Note II – which is expected to be announced at the end of this month, remember – will come complete with a flexible display that makes it more resilient than typical smartphone displays. Speaking of the Galaxy Note, T-Mobile finally received the phablet today (along with the myTouch and myTouch Q), so if you’re a T-Mobile user, you might want to check that out.

Starbucks made a multi-million dollar investment in Square today, and we tell you all you need to know about using Square to pay for your coffee. Tickets for Microsoft Build 2012 went on sale today, but don’t expect to get any now, as they sold out just one hour later. Between the two of them, Android and iOS now make up 85% of the smartphone market, with Android taking 68.1% market share for itself. Apple did a couple of things to boost security today, temporarily freezing over-the-phone password resets and announcing that it will soon bulk up identity verification measures for iCloud.

Today OUYA announced that it is in talks with Namco Bandai as its Kickstarter winds down, it was revealed that Google voice search will soon land on the iPhone, and we caught wind of a rumor that claims the new iPhone will be 7.6mm thick. RIM’s stock enjoyed a little jump after one analyst claimed that Samsung was considering buying the company, and Valve revealed today that Steam will soon begin offering non-game software, complete with support for Steam Cloud. Finally, Warner is thinking about holding limited showings of The Hobbit at 48 frames per second, which has us excited since we have a tendency to go nuts whenever The Hobbit is mentioned.

That wraps up the news, but be sure to check out our interview with Kate Beckinsale of Total Recall fame, and also spend some time with our review of the HP ENVY 4 Ultrabook. Enjoy the rest of your evening, everyone!

“We’ve temporarily suspended the ability to reset AppleID passwords over the phone,” Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris said in a statement. “When we resume over-the-phone password resets, customers will be required to provide even stronger identity verification to reset their password.”

Concerns about Apple’s policies arose when journalist Mat Honan saw his digital life deleted in front of his eyes, after hackers used nuggets of personal data culled from different cloud services to convince iCloud customer care to grant them access. A temporary iCloud password was handed out after the hackers provided the final four digits of Honan’s credit card, a detail which Amazon customer services had freely given them access to.

Exactly what Apple’s policies will be when the service is restored is unclear, though Amazon has already apparently changed its system so as to reduce the likelihood of a repeat attack. Nonetheless, good data and account practices are still advised; there are suggestions as to how to stay safe amid the cloud here.

[Image credit: Louis Argerich]

At fault – at least in part – was the inexact overlap between recovery policies for Apple and Amazon accounts, Honan writes. Although he himself shoulders the blame for the ensuing permanent loss of data – which comes down to not doing enough backups – a difference in opinion on how important the final four digits of a credit card number can be between Apple and Amazon proved the key with which the hack was achieved.

“Apple tech support gave the hackers access to my iCloud account. Amazon tech support gave them the ability to see a piece of information — a partial credit card number — that Apple used to release information. In short, the very four digits that Amazon considers unimportant enough to display in the clear on the web are precisely the same ones that Apple considers secure enough to perform identity verification” Mat Honan

Apple gave Honan’s hackers a temporary password to iCloud after they supplied his billing address and the last four digits of his credit card; the former was accessed from a WHOIS search, as Honan had used the address to register his personal site, and the latter through a manipulation of the Amazon account recovery system which reveals those digits of each saved card. The iCloud email account in question was identified via Gmail which, as Honan did not have two-factor authentication turned on, showed the partial recovery email address – m****n@me – which proved easy to guess in its entirety.

Those details allowed for unofficial iCloud access, and then everything in Honan’s OS X and iOS connected life was up for grabs. The hackers locked him out of his devices and then wiped his data using the very tools provided in Find My Mac intended to help legitimate owners protect their information.

“If you have an AppleID, every time you call Pizza Hut, you’ve giving the 16-year-old on the other end of the line all he needs to take over your entire digital life” Mat Honan

Although each company with a cloud service worth mentioning has its own data protection policies, few users stick solely to one provider. Apple claims that some aspects of its security polices “were not followed completely” but would not say if it was reconsidering how Find My Mac or other aspects of its iCloud security works; Amazon is yet to comment.

The takeaway for most users is to backup – preferably using local and/or separate cloud storage from other cloud data services relied upon – and to turn on two-step verification on Google accounts. Don’t link important accounts together, and consider having a completely separate account for recovery purposes.

Apple noted today that Apple retail sales were $4.1 billion dollars with $11.1 million in average per store during the quarter. This quarter also yielded a 12% increase in store visitors across the country. Apple has had iPad adoption for enterprise triple over the past year, with everyone from British Airways to a Japanese home building group using iPads in their everyday work schedules.

In all there have been 410 million iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches sold altogether across the entirety of Apple’s history, with 45 million of these sold in just this most recent quarter. With 17 million iPads sold, Apple is seeing very strong youth growth, educational usage growth, and spread, with the device now being sold in 97 countries across the earth.

With all of this greatness coming down, Apple has projected a $34 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of this year – prepping for big releases and massive sales indeed.

Check out the timeline below as well as the rest of our [Apple portal] to stay up to the minute with breaking Apple news bits, hands-on looks, and reviews as well!

The feature has expanded to multiple regions including Europe and Asia, with countries including Argentina, Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Some regions have been left out, however, such as Germany, Spain, and Japan. The full list of countries that can take advantage of iTunes in the Cloud is available on Apple’s website.

iTunes in the Cloud allows you to download any previously purchased content to your various Apple devices, such as Macs, iPhone, or iPads. Movies were added to the cloud earlier this year, including an option for 1080p. Not all the studios were onboard the plan originally, with Universal and Fox movies missing from the Cloud scheme thanks to viewing deals with HBO. Universal movies made the jump to the cloud not too long ago, and certain Fox movies also recently appeared on the service.

[via MacRumors]

Greenpeace gives Apple credit for its ambitious turnaround, but wants to see detailed plans as to how the company actually intends to deliver on the promises before it gives it a full pass. That includes using power actually from renewable sources, rather than just buying “green” offsetting credits from dirty providers, and “adopt a data centre siting policy that prioritizes access to renewable energy for any future iCloud data centers.”

However, it’s the longer-term commitment to earth-friendly tech that Greenpeace really wants to see, with Apple leveraging its strength within the industry to drive a more holistic change in energy production:

“Ultimately, if Apple wants to get serious about its commitment to a coal-free iCloud, the most important thing it can do is to use its buying leverage with Duke Energy and other utilities to push for cleaner electricity options … Just as Apple has been widely asked to actively engage with other aspects of its supply chain to push for fairer labour standards, Apple must do the same with its electricity supply chain. As a large and rapidly growing energy user, Apple cannot be a sustainability leader if it remains a passive recipient of the electricity it is provided from dirty utilities. To show true leadership, the company has to be willing to use its influence to change the electricity ecosystem outside the walls of its data centers as well” Greenpeace

Earlier this week, Apple encountered criticism after it announced it would be pulling its products from EPEAT certification. The decision has already forced some US government agencies to reconsider Apple hardware purchases, but Apple argues that its own standards are more comprehensive and, in some cases, more stringent than EPEAT’s

You can access the full Greenpeace report here.

Nothing appears to have changed in the Calendar app, except Reminders has been removed and given its own app. Reminders looks very similar to what’s currently on offer in iOS, with a reminiscent layout and the same options. The Notes app, meanwhile, again looks remarkably similar to the iOS version.

Find My iPhone has been given some visual polish. The web app still uses Google Maps to track down devices, but now users will be able to see the battery icon in the top right that will give them an idea of how long devices will stay alive. All of the new web apps will be available on a wide basis when iOS 6 goes live later in the year, and should sync seamlessly with the same apps found on iPhones.

It never really came out of beta, but documents could be shared online using iWork.com since it was introduced in January 2009. iCloud was introduced nearly a year later in October of 2011 with all those features from iWork.com being rolled right into it. And with the future release of Mountain Lion, there won’t really be any reason to use iWork.com any longer at all.

Apple sent out an email Monday with instructions on how to download documents. Anyone with an iWork account can sign in before the last day of the month and press the down arrow buttons found beside documents, which can be chosen to be downloaded in Pages ’09 format, PDF format or Word format.

[via Ars Technica]

The biggest takeaway from the article is that Apple is planning to add a new sharing feature. Sources talking to Bloomberg indicate that Apple is negotiating with the record labels to allow users to send songs to each other and listen for free. The company has also been requesting additional photos and pictures of bands to expand on multimedia features in iTunes.

Interestingly, the record labels have been asking Apple to provide an unlimited music streaming subscription service similar to what Spotify offers, but one source believes Cupertino “isn’t likely to announce that type of service.” Bloomberg notes that Apple’s recent move to separate Podcasts from the main iTunes app on iDevices is part of the company’s shift to more organized content. Any changes that are made to iTunes will reportedly come towards the end of the year.

First we’ll start with iCloud Tabs – it syncs your tabs across devices. Press the button and you can see what tabs are open on your iPad with ease. This will sync across all iOS devices. Then we have unified search just like iOS devices all inside the search bar on Safari, sort of like Google Chrome.

Then the next new feature we are excited to see and have is Tab View. Being able to access tabs across multiple devices is a good trick, and we’ve seen similar actions with Chrome and Android. Now users will be able to see, sync, and follow tabs across multiple devices all wirelessly — including bookmarks and history. Work all day on your MacBook and then suddenly have to run? Sync with Tab View to your iPad or iPhone and continue right where you left off.

Again make sure to follow along at our liveblog for all the details as they come in, or hit our Apple Hub for all the latest coverage.

Mac OS X Mountain Lion will also be getting three new apps, which include Messages, Reminders, and Notes. These apps will integrate your documents with the iCloud. Other apps that will also suppor the iCloud, include Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. Apple will also be furnishing developers with an SDK to hook their third-party apps into the iCloud as well.

As an example of the iCloud integration into OS X Mountain Lion, Apple demonstrated the Messages app. It lets you respond to messages you receive on your iPhone, directly via your Mac computer. Documents can also be easily dragged and dropped to the iCloud for easy access on your Mac or iOS device.

What Jeanette Horan, IBM’s chief information officer has said this week is that she’s not seeing a whole lot of savings in the program they’ve stared with employees carrying their own store-bought devices. Instead they’re seeing 5,000 people (in Horan’s department) using software IBM simply cannot entirely control. Because she’s in charge of information control, it’s got to seem rather like an impossible series of roads in and out of the business, so to speak, with 80,000 workers currently accessing IBM’s internal network using smart phones and tablets total, just half of these using BlackBerry devices IBM has been assured will be secure enough with no additional app cuts.

There’s a banned list out there, therefor, passed by Horan’s team which includes applications such as Apple’s Siri (on the iPhone 4S) and Apple’s iCloud interface as well – users can shut these titles off via their settings but IBM has reportedly overridden some systems entirely. Another application banned by IBM are Dropbox, a cloud storage system, and several email services which allow forwarding of internal IBM email services. We must assume services like Box and Google Drive are either on the chopping block or have been banned already as well.

What is allowed is IBM’s own cloud storage service MyMobileHub – a service consumers can take advantage of as well. Horan’s team has created software that can be loaded onto several different kinds of phones for added security as well. One example of these secure app additions is a program which can encrypt information as a device (and a user) travels in and out of secured areas in IBMs network. Cool stuff!

[via Technology Review]

But after increasing how much it charges customers for access to its rentals and its streaming, and watching its content partners turn their backs on it unless it paid up, everything has changed. Now, Netflix is a shadow of its former self, and a company that, as far as I’m concerned, could very well be on its way to outright obsolescence.

The single thing saving Netflix right now, however, is the fact that it’s not really faced with any tough competition. Vudu is fine, but few people know about it. And although Amazon is trying its own streaming service, it’s not something the company has promoted effectively. At this point, Netflix is still a household name when it comes to streaming.

But before long, that will change. Based on what we’ve seen with Apple over the last several months, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the company is warming to the idea of streaming. And when that happens, expect movies and television shows to accompany it.

Don’t believe me? Let’s first start with the fact that, years ago, Apple bought out Lala’s music-streaming service. Sure, that hasn’t really been used in anything yet, but Apple has been known to pick up companies for the sole purpose of using their technologies years after.

Moreover, the company’s iCloud platform seems ripe for streaming content. Most people expect it to offer users the chance to stream their own content across multiple products, but what if Apple delivered a Netflix-like offering that includes not only what customers own but also what they don’t?

Out of all of the companies operating in the technology space right now, only Apple has the cash, the infrastructure, and the user base to deliver a solution that could take on Netflix. Even more concerning for Netflix, Apple is the only company with somewhat strong ties with Hollywood studios. The right deal might just get those studios to play ball — and in the process, hurt Netflix.

We’ve been hearing for years that Apple is a hardware company that wants nothing more than to generate huge profits off of computers, iPhones, and other products. However, in recent years, Apple has warmed to the idea of being more well-rounded, thanks to the launch of its App Store, MobileMe, and yes, iCloud. The days of Apple caring solely about hardware are long gone.

And that alone could be dangerous for Netflix. Apple realizes that today’s consumers want to be entertained, and it understands that cornering the streaming market is a key ingredient in maintaining its control well into the future.

Look for Apple to take aim at Netflix in the coming years. And when it does, expect Netflix to crumble under the pressure.

This new information has Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer speaking with Rueters on the situation, saying two new solar farms will cover 250 acres in Maiden, North Carolina, their core data center for iCloud. This solar farm will provide 84 million kWh of energy annually, this more than enough for the whole data center’s inner workings. Apple also plans on creating a new bio-gas fuel-cell plant by the end of 2012 as well.

“I’m not aware of any other company producing energy onsite at this scale. The plan we are releasing today includes two solar farms and together they will be twice as big as we previously announced, thanks to the purchase of some land very near to the data center in Maiden, which will help us meet this goal. … We haven’t finalized our plans for on-site generation, but any power we need to run our center in Prineville that we get from the grid will be 100 percent renewable and locally generated sources.” – Oppenheimer

The expansion and creation in Apple’s iCloud data centers here has Apple purchasing equipment from SunPower Corp as well as startup Bloom Energy. SunPower shares jumped 9 percent earlier today at news that Apple would be picking up equipment from them in the near future.

This upgrade would have Apple once again working to become its own social networking hub as it has several times before with such programs as Ping. Apple’s Ping network was revealed back in September of 2010 as “A social network for music” and still exists today inside iTunes. Ping is relatively in-house as far as how share-friendly it can be, but does connect with such networks as Twitter in part – Apple also has Twitter essentially built-in with new iPhones, it’s important to note as well.

The iCloud update being tipped this week for a summer release has also been said to be working with socially sharing videos filmed with the iPhone and iPad much in the same way it’ll have users sharing photos. This iCloud update will also have new access for users to Notes and Reminders, two iPhone and iPad staples that’ve gained heavy traction inside the last couple of years with the newest releases of the iPhone 4S and the iPad 3rd generation (with Retina-quality display.) WWDC 2012 has also been tipped to be the launch point for an early version of iOS 6 which will likely be released in full on 2012′s next iPhone, tentatively code-named iPhone 5.

That will mean, finally, that third-party app developers and services will be able to hook their functionality into Siri. Currently, only a limited number of Apple-led services can be used with the natural language voice-command system, but with an accessible API developers will be able to augment it considerably.

Siri for iPad, meanwhile, has apparently been held back more for concerns around the interface than from the functionality itself. The new iPad already has the same dictation system as in the iPhone 4S, powered by the Siri systems, but Apple has supposedly finally reached a UI design that it approves of.

Still, even with an API and broader Siri availability, the likelihood is that there’ll be some limits on what, exactly, Apple allows developers to do with the technology. Expect similar API lockdown as when developing regular iOS apps, for instance, perhaps even more so given all of the processing of voice commands has to be done remotely at Apple’s vast server-farm. The Cupertino company may have a bulging bank account, but it’s unlikely to want to subsidize profligate and inefficient use of voice.

Deeper iCloud integration and stronger ties with OS X Mountain Lion are also tipped, though that comes as little surprise. Apple is expected to show off iOS 6 officially at WWDC 2012, its annual developer event in early June.

As Apple extends their services in so many more ways than one, the cloud grows and the iCloud services that come along with it do as well. What’s also being shown in the code for the beta version of iCloud’s web browser portal are the words “To use beta.icloud.com, first sign in to iCloud with the iOS 6 Beta.” This basically points toward WWDC as it comes up next month, a fabulous place for Apple to bring on such functionality before it lands on the next iPhone (and subsequent iPad, of course.)

This site shows off just the elements you see above, but will likely also be integrating the new version of maps for iOS 6 and the iPhone 5 as tipped earlier today and and shown in a very pre-Apple video by the company that will likely be developing this next-generation software as well. Have a peek at the timeline below to see where this maps business is going and how it all ties into iCloud and iOS 6 as well. We’ll be seeing final versions of this beta business soon, very soon!

[via 9to5mac]

Seven Greenpeace activists took to the train tracks used by Duke Energy and Apple for shipping coal. Four of the protestors locked themselves to the tracks near Marshall Steam Station in Catawba County, while two others hung a sign that read “Save Our Mountain Clean The Cloud.” The protestors also branded the trains with the Apple logo to show that the Maiden data center will only be using more coal as it expands.

Police were called in and disbanded the protestors shortly. All seven were taken into custody and charged with trespassing.

Apple has been denying the claims in the Greenpeace report, saying that the environmental group’s estimate of the iCloud’s energy usage was five times more than its actual draw. Apple says that their Maiden data center uses only 20 megawatts at full capacity and calls it “an industry-leading project that will be the greenest data center ever built.”

Solar energy currently isn’t enough to power Apple’s data center, meaning that a majority of electricity still comes from coal-fired power plants. In North Carolina, electricity happens to rely up to 62% on coal and the topic is rather controversial in the state.

[via Cult of Mac]

Featured: Here are some of this week’s featured articles:
The Pirates key animator speaks claymation machines forward
Nintendo’s nightmare: “Just Good Enough.”
Twitter update hands-on with push notifications galore
Why there’s no stopping iTunes
Dark Meadow: The Pact THD for Android Review
Google Drive mini review for desktop
You want a Galaxy S III, not a Google Galaxy Nexus

Other Stuff: Of course, lots of other stuff made news this week as well. HTC is working on a Facebook phone, but will it be terrible? And we have even more news on the Nexus front, which is that Samsung is rumored to be making Google’s next Nexus.  A nice bit of news for all you Google people out there – Gmail gets 10GB bump plus Google Drive bonuses. Speaking of cloud-based things, Apple is also doing quite well in that space: Apple’s iCloud hits 125 million users since launch. And finally, in other Apple news, we have a new bit of info about what could be a new entry in the iPhone family – iPhone mini will be half the size

Pretty impressive stats for something that has only been available for around 7 months, since first launching back in October of 2011. With revenue up, and reports of 35 million iPhone’s and around 12 million iPad’s just this past quarter things are looking bright for Apple. We are expecting more iCloud features to be unveiled at this years WWDC conference in June, but have no additional details at this time. They’ve integrated it deeply with iTunes, and we can expect more coming soon.

It would appear that the only sales that seem to be declining is that of the iPod, dropping 15% from last year, but since the iPhone has that covered we can’t really complain. In case you missed the full revenue numbers or reports earlier be sure and check out our Apple Hub for all the details.

Speaking on both centers, Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet noted that “[the Maiden facility will be] the greenest data center ever built, and it will be joined next year by our new facility in Oregon running on 100 percent renewable energy.” The 10,000 square-foot data center in Maiden will be going online by August of 2012 at the latest. Jason Carr, Prineville’s Economic Development Manager is part of the committee working with Apple to create a long-term agreement which will give Apple massive property tax breaks if it goes through with creating its data center outside of the town on the 160-acre plot announced today.

“They’ve started construction already on a small 10,000-square-foot data center. That’s just an initial phase and Apple has plans to build a much larger facility, similar to what Facebook has already built.” – Carr

This data center is set to work primarily with iCloud data for now, but certainly could expand over time to head up future Apple remote server needs.

“There is some demand with a lot of the new iCloud stuff that they’re doing. There’s just a lot of technology they’re rolling out; they really need to get some data centers up and rolling and this allows them to do that by the summer.” – Carr

We’ll see how quick they can get it up this summer – super speed for the iPhone 5!

[via Wired]

Updating all the way to Lion is required for people to be able to use iCloud. Apple really wants people to use iCloud, so it’s giving away Snow Leopard, and then you have to pay for the update to Lion at $29.99. Interestingly, Lion is listed on the Apple Store website for $29 even. I don’t think many people will complain about an extra $.99.

An e-mail offering the update went out to MobileMe customers. The free Snow Leopard update is sent out on DVD. To get the update you have to be logged into MobileMe, and then hit this link and offer up your mailing info and your free update will be on its way. The free upgrade program will last until June 15.

[via Macgasm]

“The Apple cloud is heavily powered by dirty energy, particularly coal and coal that is coming from mountain-top removal in Appalachia,” report author Gary Cook wrote. “It is certainly not what you would expect from a company like Apple that challenged us to think differently. Here they bought into energy that is old industry and technology.”

On the contrary, Apple insists, a spokesperson saying the new iCloud center uses a fifth of the power the environmental group estimates. “Our data centre in North Carolina will draw about 20 megawatts at full capacity,” they said. “We believe this industry-leading project will make Maiden the greenest data centre ever built.”

Eventually, 60-percent of on-site power will come from renewable sources, Apple continued. However, report author Cook remained skeptical. “I do feel that’s a bit of a lowball number” he told the newspaper. “That would be a very empty building they are putting there in terms of power demand if it’s only 20MW. That seems disproportionally small.”

Twitter, meanwhile, reacted to observations by Greenpeace that it had expanded operations from areas using renewable energy to others where fossil fuels were still dominant. “We continue to strive for greater energy efficiency as we build out our infrastructure” spokesperson Carolyn Penner said in response to the report, “and we look forward to sharing more on our efforts in this space in the coming months.”

Nonetheless, Greenpeace is scathing of the approach tech companies have to energy. “Most IT companies are currently choosing to buy their electricity off the rack,” the report concludes, “at the lowest possible price, with the focus on its quantity, not its quality.”

Apple has announced that it lost the bid to restore its push e-mail services after the appeals court upheld the original court decision to restrict iCloud push e-mail service inside Germany. Users of iCloud within German borders can still get e-mail using iCloud, but the messages won’t be delivered until the e-mail app is opened.

The German court is forcing Apple to pay damages to Motorola Mobility. At this point, there is no indication of how much the damages Apple pays out will add up to. Interestingly, both Apple and Microsoft have filed complaints with the European Commission claiming Motorola is using standard-essential patents distort competition, which is a breach of antitrust rules in Europe.

[via TheNextWeb]

Sources say that iTunes 11 will support iOS 6 and upcoming iOS devices. Although you would expect Apple to release iTunes 11 in tandem with a major mobile OS update, one source says that there will be a 10.x revision to support iOS 6, with iTunes 11 coming at a later date.

Meanwhile, 9to5mac believes that an iTunes Store and App Store refresh is coming this year, between the summer and the fall. Apple purchased Chomp earlier this year in order to help with that refresh, with the company overhauling content discovery in order to help users find the apps or entertainment they’re looking for more easily.

Finally, iTunes 11 will feature tighter iCloud integration, with a dedicated iCloud panel being included. This panel will apparently be a centralized hub that will allow users to control iCloud related features from within iTunes. Controllable iCloud features would include iTunes Match, iTunes in the Cloud, and the ability to manage iOS iCloud backups.

The issue, it was revealed, was a prior deal between HBO, Universal and Fox which gave the cable provider an exclusive window for movie availability. However, hope was at hand, with HBO saying it was willing to renegotiate so as to provide more flexibility for iCloud users looking to seamlessly access their content.

Those negotiations have apparently freed up Universal Studios to join the iCloud party, with movies no longer showing the “When purchased, this movie will not be available from iTunes in the Cloud” warning. Fox content, meanwhile, still shows the message; back in mid-March, insiders suggested a Fox agreement could be reached “within weeks.”

For more on the new Apple TV – which includes a refreshed user-interface and support for 1080p Full HD content – check out the full SlashGear review.

[via MacRumors]

Given the increasing popularity of turning smartphones and tablets into universal remotes, that’s no small improvement. Previously, if you had multiple Zapper IR adapters, you’d have to set them up individually: no great headache with one or two, but more of a chore if you add new kit to a multi-remote system.

With iCloud sync, however, setup on one device can be pushed to multiple others, as long as they’re logged into the same account. We’ve already seen iCloud used for Apple’s own email, contacts and media, but the company also opened up the APIs to third-party developers to access.

The VooMote Zapper is available for order in multiple color options, priced at $69.95.

ZDNet decided to take a closer look at the Dictation feature including Apple’s terms of use and privacy disclosure. While it shouldn’t come as any surprise that your voice is being sent to Apple’s servers in order to determine what is being said, there are some notable pieces of information that can be gleaned from Apple’s privacy form.

First, its not just your voice that floats up to the cloud to be processed: other information about you is also uploaded, such as the names of your contacts, and song names. That’s so that the Dictation service can understand what it is you’re asking for, as well as gaining context.

What about if you decide to turn off Dictation? Is your information stored at all? Yes and no. Apple say that user data, like contacts and song names, will be deleted from their servers, as well as recent voice samples. Apparently not everything is though:

Older voice input data that has been disassociated from you may be retained for a period of time to generally improve Dictation and other Apple products and services. This voice input data may include audio files and transcripts of what you said and related diagnostic data, such as hardware and operating system specifications and performance statistics.

The question then is what does Apple consider to be “disassociated” data, and how long do they keep it for? We’re waiting for a response from Apple.

Apple included a Notification Center in Mountain Lion, offering similar functionality to what services like Growl provide. In the first developer preview, only Apple built apps were able to make use of notifications, but now 9to5Mac have discovered that you can receive Twitter notifications for mentions and direct messages.

The second new feature is iCloud support for tabs. Mountain Lion will keep track of what tabs you have open in Safari, then upload that data to iCloud so the same tabs will be synced across other Mac machines and iOS devices. Right now you manually activate the feature with the iCloud button added to Safari.

Finally, Apple have added a warning notification when an app is trying to access user and contact information. This is most likely in response to the way iOS app Path accessed and uploaded contact information to their servers without asking permission first.

At its core, Mountain Lion has been designed to bring features from iOS over to OS X in order to unify both operating systems. Features that have been worked into Mountain Lion include tight iCloud integration, iMessage support, the Notifications Center, and Twitter integration. Check out our full Mountain Lion preview here.

[via Cult of Mac]