Friday, June 3, 2011

Steve Jobs talks iCloud, iOS 5, OS X Lion and more at WWDC, liveblog starts at 10AM PT on June 6th!

Do you love music? Do you love it in the cloud? Are you still trying to figure out if "the cloud" is "your bag?" Regardless of your mixed emotions regarding the impending iCloud service, that's just a third (based on rough calculations) of what Steve Jobs will talk about on Monday, when WWDC 2011 kicks off in San Francisco. iOS 5 and OS X Lion will also be major topics of conversation, and while we've no evidence that new hardware will be kicking around backstage, we've got history at our backs giving us a sliver of hope. Naturally, we'll be there kicking out the facts as they happen, and you're encouraged to join us at this very link.

Bookmark that and return at the times listed below, and if your neck of the woods ain't listed, shout it out in comments. Oh, and any predictions? Anything somewhat sane is welcome below.

07:00AM - Hawaii
10:00AM - Pacific
11:00AM - Mountain
12:00PM - Central
01:00PM - Eastern
06:00PM - London
07:00PM - Paris
09:00PM - Moscow
02:00AM - Tokyo (June 7th)

Podcasts down in iTunes desktop store - update: it's back!

Want to download the latest Engadget Show from the iTunes Store on your Mac or PC? Well, you probably can't -- right now, at least. That section appears to be down for most of us at the moment, with the Podcasts tab presenting a "not enough memory available" error message on each click. We've confirmed the error on iTunes 10.2.1 and 10.2.2.12 -- the latest version -- and aren't able to get past the home page. We're sure Cupertino is working on a fix, but you may need to put your podcast obsession on hold, or jump on your iOS device for all that tech talk in the meantime.

Update: We're also unable to download apps from both the Mac and iOS App Stores. After clicking to download an app in iOS, it appears on the home screen briefly, then disappears. We're also prompted to re-enter passwords with each attempt, so this may be related to an authentication issue. Jump past the break for the App Store error.

Update 2: The outage extends to all iTunes Store content, including music, movies, TV shows -- the works. Time to go out and enjoy the sunshine?

Update 3: As of 3:15pm ET things look to be up and operational again. You may now recommence stuffing your devices with datas.

Apple camera patent could stop smartphone bootleggers in their tracks

Apple is always filing patents for strange and fantastic things that never seem to find their way into actual products. But an application published today details some interesting tech that we could actually see getting jammed into a future iPhone (for better or worse). By pairing an infrared sensor with the camera already on board, portable devices could receive data from transmitters placed, well, wherever. Beyond simply blasting out text and opening links like a glorified QR code, transmitters could disable certain features, such as the camera, to prevent recording at movie theaters and music venues. If completely shutting off the cam seems a bit heavy-handed, watermarks can also be applied to photos identifying businesses or copyrighted content. Some potential uses are a little less Big Brother, like museums beaming information about exhibits to a user's or launching an audio tour. Obviously third parties would have to get behind the IR push and there's no guarantee that Apple will put this in a future iProduct. Still, we're a little worried that the days of blurry YouTube concert videos may be coming to an end.

Apple iCloud logo

Apple itself has already confirmed the name, and now Apple Insider has snapped some early pictures at the Moscone Center that reveal the iCloud logo / icon. Shockingly, it's a cloud.