Top AppAdvice News & Apps Of The Past Week

Apple's cloud program got closer to reality, while the Time Warner prepared for battle. Verizon customers received good and bad news this week, but nothing looked rosy for Rupert Murdoch’s The Daily. Meanwhile, rumors continued about next-generation iDevices, while reports surfaced the existing iPhone 4 was spying on its owners. But, it wasn’t the white iPhone 4, which looked dead and buried. Camera+ received an amazing update, as Bloons TD 4 HD came to the iPad. Finally, we figured out Apple still loved Best Buy, but You Don’t Know Jack. These stories and more made news during the last week. Apple: We're Investigating Verizon iPad 2 3G Connectivity Issues A "small number" of iPad 2 customers have been encountering connectivity issues with Verizon's 3G network, prompting Apple to investigate. In a statement released to the press, Apple confirmed that it is investigating a series of complaints made by iPad 2 customers regarding Verizon's network. Apparently, some users of the Verizon iPad 2 - which have new Gobi chips, as opposed to the AT&T iPad 2 - are having to reboot their device in order to connect to Verizon's 3G network. The Apple Discussion Board is abuzz with Verizon customers complaining they cannot connect to 3G. The problem, according to Business Insider, happens when they turn off the data connection and try to reconnect later. Future iPhone Buyers Likely To Select Verizon Over AT&T - Report Meanwhile, a new ChangeWave survey indicates Verizon iPhone owners are happier with their handheld service and received fewer dropped calls than AT&T users. Plus, new iPhone customers will mostly likely select Verizon over AT&T. The poll collected data from 4,068 consumers from the Verizon iPhone debut in early February through March 28. Next-Gen iPod Touch Leaked: Future iDevices Could Include A Button-Free Face, More Memory Future iDevices will come with a button-free face, aluminum backing, and more memory, according to alleged iPod touch photos, first published by CrunchGear. Do not worry: The actual home button is staying, only now as a nonphysical one. Marked with a “DVT-1” badge, which is code Apple uses for prototype products right before release, the purported iPod touch includes front and back cameras and 128 GB of memory. Most significantly, it includes a non-physical home button, which would probably reduce wear and tear on the iDevice over time. Is Your iPhone's Camera Spying On You? Discussion of a disturbing FaceTime glitch is ongoing in the Apple Discussions Forum. Some iPhone/iPod touch users report random photos popping up during a call. Strangely, the photos aren’t located on the iPhone’s camera roll. Rather, the camera itself took them without the user’s knowledge, in news first reported by 9 To 5 Mac. Imagine waking up one morning, reading that morning’s news on your iPhone, while lying in bed. Later in the day, you make a conference call via FaceTime to one of your business associates. Unfortunately, instead of seeing you smartly dressed in business attire, they see a photo taken earlier in the day of you lying in bed. Is The White iPhone 4 Dead And Buried For Good? Remember the white iPhone 4 model first expected in June 2010? Forget about it. Apple has quietly removed all references to the infamous handset from its worldwide websites, according to news first reported by Apple Rumors. Earlier in the day, Apple’s online store was offline. When it returned, instead of finding something new to buy, users found something else: no further mention of the white iPhone 4. Apple Storage Buy; Is iTunes In The Cloud Upon Us? Apple has ordered as much as 12PB of capacity from Isilon Systems, according to news first reported by Storage Newsletter. This amount of storage space (1 petabyte equals 1024 terabytes) is huge and naturally, curious minds want to know what Apple plans to do with all of that space. Although nothing is official, one could assume the Cupertino, California-based company is using it for its planned iTunes cloud storage project. Seattle, Washington-based Isilon is a global leader in storage technology. Its clients include Adobe, NBC Universal, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Apple is already its largest customer, with 20 percent of its business in Europe, according to Storage Newsletter. Apple’s latest buy solidifies the company’s position at No. 1. Time Warner, Viacom Prepare For Battle Over iPad Streaming Time Warner has asked a court to determine whether it has the right to stream channels it carries using its month-old TWCable TV iPad app. In kind, Viacom has filed a lawsuit of its own against the cable giant. This sets up a classic battle between leaders in the entertainment industry. The cable company, according to a press release, has asked the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for a declaratory judgment relating to Viacom cable networks. This request asks for the court to decide whether its carriage agreements with networks allows it to deliver programming on “devices of its video customers’ choosing, including iPads, in their home.” People Read Murdoch's The Daily, But That Number Could Be Falling Rapidly - Report It debuted in February with much fanfare, but The Daily is losing its audience rather than gaining it, according to a new study by Nieman Journalism Lab. The Harvard-based organization looked at Twitter patterns to reach its conclusion. The Daily, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, debuted for the iPad on February 3, becoming the tablet’s first daily newspaper. It includes sections on global news, sports, opinion, entertainment, and technology. Houston, We’ve Got A Problem: When A Good App Goes Bad Behind every app are hardworking programmers that sometimes don’t get it quite right and send out a faulty update. Unfortunately, Apple’s own app approval process makes resolving these irregularities slow and place well-meaning developers in a direct line of fire of angry customers. Shouldn’t there be a better way? Lose It! by FitNow is a best-selling app in the App Store. Recently, it submitted to Apple an update that included a serious bug. Unfortunately, even though they recognized the error before Apple actually approved the update, FitNow could do nothing to stop it from being released to the general public. The Monkeys Are Back And This Time They’re Bursting Onto iPad: Bloons TD 4 HD Bloons TD 4 HD ($4.99) by Digital Goldfish Ltd has finally arrived for iPad and it was worth the wait. The much loved tower defence game that hooks everyone from kids to gamers looks gorgeous, and plays beautifully on iPad. If you’ve been around iOS gaming for a while, you probably know Bloons. It was a hit bubble popping Flash game, which was ported to iPhone in the spring of ‘09. It was followed later that year by equally iconic Bloons TD. But while the prices jump around, the games have been long-abandoned in terms of updates. So fans were delighted late last year when the fourth installment of the franchise launched for iPhone. Despite Shortages, Toys "R" Us Will Reportedly Sell The iPad 2 In May The North American toy retailer, Toys "R" Us, will reportedly start selling the iPad 2 starting in May. Images of employee training materials for the second generation iPad have hit the Web. As you can see in the above and below images, Toys "R" Us employees are asked to work through an iPad 2 quiz, and study from a detailed information sheet. Never Mind - Apple Still Loves Best Buy According to CrunchGear, Apple has stopped selling the iPad 2 to electronics retailer Best Buy until further notice. This decision was based on Best Buy’s reluctance to sell the second-generation tablet to customers once a store had reached its limit of sales for the day. But, not so fast: it looks like this rumor has been debunked. This story, published earlier in the week, stated an anonymous tipster who worked for Best Buy said Apple was angry with the Minnesota-based retailer for not stocking its shelves of iPad 2s, even when they were available. It got so bad, Apple COO Tim Cook himself made the decision to stop iPad 2 sales to Best Buy. You Don't Know Jack Is Coming For iPad, iPhone, And iPod Touch If you're a trivia fan than you've likely heard of the game You Don't Know Jack. Jellyvision has announced they will be bringing their acclaimed party game to the App Store in the not too distant future. You Don't Know Jack for iPhone / iPod touch and You Don't Know Jack HD for iPad will include all of the excitement that fans have come to expect from the franchise. Angry Birds Seasons' Easter Update Will Be Amazing If you are a fan of the Angry Birds apps, you'll be excited to hear that Rovio, the apps' developer, has noted that Angry Birds Seasons will be getting a "great," "amazing" update this Easter. Previous versions of Angry Birds Seasons included a Valentine's Day version, and a St. Patrick's Day themed version. Camera+ Finds Its Social Side And It Looks Great One week after releasing a significant update to its Camera+ app, the folks at tap tap tap made noteworthy changes to the website behind the popular app. Users can now upload photos and share them on their favorite social network seamlessly. Plus, Twitter customers get something even more noteworthy: Their own personal photo site. Camera+ has always been committed to one central task: Allowing its users to take incredible photos. Now, its creators have taken a huge step in revamping the app’s social capabilities. When In Madrid, Rent An iPad A new service makes it easier for visitors to Madrid, Spain to rent iPads. For €39 per day ($55), travelers receive an iPad, unlimited 3G Internet access, and nearly 30 tourist and business-related apps. Developed by PadInTheCity, the service looks straightforward and convenient. The Financial Times Puts Apple In A Corner The debacle surrounding Apple's subscription plan is once again making the headlines as a major publisher refuses to play by the rules. Apple's latest controversial edict was issued in late February. The gist of it is that iOS content publishers were pushed into a new subscription plan, which allows them to draw recurring fees from their users. Yet, 30 percent of the revenues would go to Apple and users wouldn't have to give their personal details unless they want to. Confident of their powerful position, which would allow them to extract such a tax, Apple's decision was a real tour-de-force.