Apple cuts iPhone 13 output forecast on chip shortage: report

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Apple is unlikely to meet production goals for its new iPhone before the holidays because of a global electronic chip shortage, a report said Tuesday. 

The firm had planned to produce 90 million iPhone 13s before the end of the year, but will have to settle with 80 million as suppliers Broadcom and Texas Instruments cannot meet demand, the Bloomberg News said, citing sources familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous.

Apple presented a new line of iPhones last month, with four new models, including the iPhone 13 Mini, which sells from $700, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which costs $1,100.

"We estimate that overall demand has been robust globally," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said, highlighting strong demand in China and the United States especially. 

"Apple will be running into a 5 million-plus iPhone 13 unit shortage for the holiday season if consumer demand keeps up at this pace," he added.

Chief executive Tim Cook warned during quarterly earnings reports in late July that supply chain constraints would have an even bigger impact on the current quarter than it had in the previous three months. 

He pointed out that electronic chip shortages were affecting all parts of the industry, not just Apple, and stemmed from significantly higher-than-expected demand.

Agence France-Presse

Social audio app Clubhouse is no longer invite-only

Live audio app Clubhouse has removed its invite system so that anyone can join the platform, it said on Wednesday.

The social app, which saw explosive early growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, previously required people to be invited by an existing user or request to join a waitlist. It said in a blog post that it had always planned to open up the app but that invites had been a way of tempering user numbers.

Clubhouse faces new competition from social media companies, including Facebook, Twitter, as well as streaming company Spotify, which have launched similar audio chat services.

"We know there will be many more ups and downs as we scale, and competition from the large networks will be fierce," the company wrote in its post.

Clubhouse said it had added 10 million people since launching on Android in May. Estimates from analytics firm Sensor Tower found the app had reached about 7.8 million global installs in June, up from 3.7 million the previous month.

The company, which said its team had expanded since January from 8 to 58 people, launched a direct messaging feature last week.

-reuters

Developers sue Apple over app store fees

SAN FRANCISCO, United States — A lawsuit filed Tuesday by developers alleges Apple is abusing its monopoly position in its online marketplace to extract excessive fees from those creating iPhone applications.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in California, claims Apple cornered the market with its iOS App Store, collecting a 30 percent commission on all app sales and in-app purchases.

The complaint comes as Apple holds its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California and just weeks after the US Supreme Court allowed a consumer lawsuit against Apple on similar grounds to proceed.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs, who are seeking class-action status for the suit, said Apple requires developers selling products through the App Store to pay an annual fee of $99, which hurts small and new developers.

They also said that by keeping all iOS apps into one marketplace -- some two million were available last year -- consumers never see most apps.

"Between Apple's 30 percent cut of all App Store sales, the annual fee of $99 and pricing mandates, Apple blatantly abuses its market power to the detriment of developers, who are forced to use the only platform available to them to sell their iOS app," said Steve Berman of the law firm Hagens Berman, which is representing the plaintiffs.

"In a competitive landscape, this simply would not happen."

The lawsuit seeks to force Apple to end its monopoly and allow competition in the distribution of iOS apps.

It also seeks to end Apple's pricing requirement including the minimum price mandate of 99 cents for paid apps.

Apple did not immediately respond to a query on the lawsuit.

In the past, Apple has defended its control of the App Store, saying it enables the iPhone maker to protect against malicious software and maintain quality standards.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that consumers could proceed with a separate lawsuit on app pricing, rejecting Apple's argument that consumers lacked standing because the tech giant was merely an intermediary with app developers.

The class-action lawsuit from 2011 maintains that Apple abuses its monopoly position, resulting in higher prices.

source: philstar.com

WikiLeaks says it releases files on CIA cyber spying tools

WASHINGTON — Anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks on Tuesday published what it said were thousands of pages of internal CIA discussions about hacking techniques used over several years, renewing concerns about the security of consumer electronics and embarrassing yet another U.S. intelligence agency.

The discussion transcripts showed that CIA hackers could get into Apple Inc iPhones, Google Inc Android devices and other gadgets in order to capture text and voice messages before they were encrypted with sophisticated software.

Cyber security experts disagreed about the extent of the fallout from the data dump, but said a lot would depend on whether WikiLeaks followed through on a threat to publish the actual hacking tools that could do damage.

Reuters could not immediately verify the contents of the published documents, but several contractors and private cyber security experts said the materials, dated between 2013 and 2016, appeared to be legitimate.

A longtime intelligence contractor with expertise in U.S. hacking tools told Reuters the documents included correct “cover” terms describing active cyber programs.

Among the most noteworthy WikiLeaks claims is that the Central Intelligence Agency, in partnership with other U.S. and foreign agencies, has been able to bypass the encryption on popular messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal.

The files did not indicate the actual encryption of Signal or other secure messaging apps had been compromised.

The information in what WikiLeaks said were 7,818 web pages with 943 attachments appears to represent the latest breach in recent years of classified material from U.S. intelligence agencies.

Security experts differed over how much the disclosures could damage U.S. cyber espionage. Many said that, while harmful, they do not compare to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013 of mass NSA data collection.

“This is a big dump about extremely sophisticated tools that can be used to target individual user devices … I haven’t yet come across the mass exploiting of mobile devices,” said Tarah Wheeler, senior director of engineering and principal security advocate for Symantec.

Stuart McClure, CEO of Cylance, an Irvine, California, cyber security firm, said that one of the most significant disclosures shows how CIA hackers cover their tracks by leaving electronic trails suggesting they are from Russia, China and Iran rather than the United States.

Other revelations show how the CIA took advantage of vulnerabilities that are known, if not widely publicized.

In one case, the documents say, U.S. and British personnel, under a program known as Weeping Angel, developed ways to take over a Samsung smart television, making it appear it was off when in fact it was recording conversations in the room.

The CIA and White House declined comment. “We do not comment on the authenticity or content of purported intelligence documents,” CIA spokesman Jonathan Liu said in a statement.

Google declined to comment on the purported hacking of its Android platform, but said it was investigating the matter.

Snowden on Twitter said the files amount to the first public evidence that the U.S. government secretly buys software to exploit technology, referring to a table published by WikiLeaks that appeared to list various Apple iOS flaws purchased by the CIA and other intelligence agencies.

Apple Inc did not respond to a request for comment.

The documents refer to means for accessing phones directly in order to catch messages before they are protected by end-to-end encryption tools like Signal.

Signal inventor Moxie Marlinspike said he took that as “confirmation that what we’re doing is working.” Signal and the like are “pushing intelligence agencies from a world of undetectable mass surveillance to a world where they have to use expensive, high-risk, extremely targeted attacks.”

CIA cyber programs
The CIA in recent years underwent a restructuring to focus more on cyber warfare to keep pace with the increasing digital sophistication of foreign adversaries. The spy agency is prohibited by law from collecting intelligence that details domestic activities of Americans and is generally restricted in how it may gather any U.S. data for counterintelligence purposes.

The documents published Tuesday appeared to supply specific details to what has been long-known in the abstract: U.S. intelligence agencies, like their allies and adversaries, are constantly working to discover and exploit flaws in any manner of technology products.

Unlike the Snowden leaks, which revealed the NSA was secretly collecting details of telephone calls by ordinary Americans, the new WikiLeaks material did not appear to contain material that would fundamentally change what is publicly known about cyber espionage.

WikiLeaks, led by Julian Assange, said its publication of the documents on the hacking tools was the first in a series of releases drawing from a data set that includes several hundred million lines of code and includes the CIA’s “entire hacking capacity.”

The documents only include snippets of computer code, not the full programs that would be needed to conduct cyber exploits.

WikiLeaks said it was refraining from disclosing usable code from CIA’s cyber arsenal “until a consensus emerges on the technical and political nature of the C.I.A.’s program and how such ‘weapons’ should be analyzed, disarmed and published.”

U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Wikileaks has ties to Russia’s security services. During the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, Wikileaks published internal emails of top Democratic Party officials, which the agencies said were hacked by Moscow as part of a coordinated influence campaign to help Republican Donald Trump win the presidency.

WikiLeaks has denied ties to Russian spy agencies.

Trump praised WikiLeaks during the campaign, often citing hacked emails it published to bolster his attacks on Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton.

WikiLeaks said on Tuesday that the documents showed that the CIA hoarded serious security vulnerabilities rather than share them with the public, as called for under a process established by President Barack Obama.

Rob Knake, a former official who dealt with the issue under Obama, said he had not seen evidence in what was published to support that conclusion.

The process “is not a policy of unilateral disarmament in cyberspace. The mere fact that the CIA may have exploited zero-day [previously undisclosed] vulnerabilities should not surprise anyone,” said Knake, now at the Council on Foreign Relations.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they did not know where WikiLeaks might have obtained the material.

In a press release, the group said, “The archive appears to have been circulated among former U.S. government hackers and contractors in an unauthorized manner, one of whom has provided WikiLeaks with portions of the archive.”

U.S. intelligence agencies have suffered a series of security breaches, including Snowden’s.

In 2010, U.S. military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning provided more than 700,000 documents, videos, diplomatic cables and battlefield accounts to Wikileaks.

Last month, former NSA contractor Harold Thomas Martin was indicted on charges of taking highly sensitive government materials over a course of 20 years, storing the secrets in his home.

source: interaksyon.com

GOTTA CATCH ‘EM SERVERS | Pokemon Go Australia log-in complaints grow

Growing numbers of Pokemon Go players in Australia, one of three countries where Nintendo Co’s smash-hit mobile game is available, are complaining they’re having trouble logging in, raising concerns the Japanese firm may not be able to roll the game out globally as quickly as planned.

Shares in Nintendo fell nearly 6 percent in Tokyo early on Wednesday after a three-day surge on the successful U.S. launch of the augmented reality game last week added 1.2 trillion yen ($11 billion) to the company’s market value. Based on the 1990s Japanese franchise, the augmented reality game topped Apple Inc’s free app charts.

By 0220 GMT on Wednesday, a total of about 1,300 Pokemon Go users had reported problems accessing the game in Australia over the last two days, according to website aussieoutages.com, which tracks digital service disruptions.

The game has only been released in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and Nintendo has said launches for other countries including Japan – one of the world’s biggest gaming markets – are due soon.

Both Nintendo and Niantic, which developed the game in tandem with Pokemon Co, declined to comment. Nintendo owns a third of Pokemon Co and has an undisclosed stake in Niantic.

Some gamers in Australia have speculated servers were overloaded because players in the United Kingdom, where the game is not yet available domestically, were trying to log on.

“When Pokemon Go servers experience issues, so do I,” a user with the handle @_emilymcc wrote in a post on the aussieoutages.com website.

The reported disruption adds to a flurry of headaches Nintendo is facing with Pokemon Go.

Security researchers raised concerns about the vulnerability of users’ data after finding that Pokemon Go players signing into the game via a Google account on an Apple operating system device unwittingly gave “full access permission” to Google accounts.

Meanwhile cases of armed robberies and injuries involving Pokemon Go players have also been reported.

source: interaksyon.com

Twitter brings Periscope live videos to news feed

Periscope, the live video streaming app launched in March 2015 and bought by Twitter even before the public launch, sees it this way: “A picture may be worth a thousand words, but live video can take you someplace and show you around.”

On Wednesday, Twitter announced that Periscope’s live videos shared on its news feed will broadcast itself or autoplay right within the tweet. Previously, only the link is visible and users need to tap it to play the video.

“When you tap the video, it goes full-screen and shows Periscope comments and hearts from other viewers,” Twitter said in a media release to announce the integration.

Twitter believes this will give Periscope broadcasters a window to a much bigger audience – specifically Twitter’s 320 million monthly active users worldwide.

While the Periscope app is available on both iOS and Android devices, the new autoplay feature will be available initially on iOS devices. Android users may have to wait, but Twitter gave assurances that the feature will be rolled out on all platforms as soon as they are ready.

Since its launch, Twitter disclosed that Periscope’s active users have already created over 100 million live broadcasts, and there are actually now 40 years’ worth of live video consumed every day on Periscope worldwide.

Integrating Periscope on Twitter seems to be the logical next step for the social media site which of late has been testing the waters for some radical innovations, including the reported plan to expand the 140-character word limit to 10,000 characters, which has spurred a hot debate among users.

The autoplay feature of the Periscope live broadcasts appears to be a more welcome move. A scroll through the live broadcasts for the day shows that they are indeed giving Twitter, already acknowledged as an excellent medium for breaking news, a feel and more heightened sense of the real-time.

Currently, Periscope broadcasters include celebrities and journalists, as well as media companies, especially the tech press, and major brands.

On the first day the autoplay feature went live on Twitter for iOS, ride-sharing app Uber live broadcasts a tour of Dubai aboard an UberChopper. The X-Files News live streams some parts of the Red Carpet premier of the X-Files. Periscope’s own team also broadcast live some of the scenes of the launch from its headquarters in San Francisco.

On New Year’s Day this year, the Periscope team bared their favorite broadcasts from 2015. These include a sunset scene in an unknown island, a penguin parade, a leopard relaxing on a tree branch, tributes at the Place De La Republique the day after the Paris attacks, and interaction sessions with a neuroscience PhD candidate.

The team said it is looking forward to allowing users in 2016 to “discover more of the world through someone else’s eyes.”

source: interaksyon.com

Apple to unveil ‘iWatch’ on September 9: report

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple will unveil an “iWatch” in September with the maker of the iPhone finally embarking on its much-rumored foray into wearable computing, technology news website Re/code said Wednesday.

The California tech giant is expected to merge style and innovation, along with sensors and computing power, in a wrist-worn device that links wirelessly to iPhones or iPads.

Apple is believed to be planning a September 9 event at which it will introduce the iWatch, along with new-generation iPhone 6 smartphones with increased screen sizes.

The company has not sent out invitations to such an event, nor — as is standard Apple practice — has it commented on reports it will even take place.

Apple’s next-generation iPhones are rumored to have screen sizes stretched to 4.7 and 5.5 inches and have faster processors.

Apple typically updates its product cycle in the second half of the year, getting a lift from holiday sales.

Last year it unveiled the iPhone 5S and the lower-priced iPhone 5C in September, getting record sales at the launch.

Apple is tuning a new operating system which allows for mobile payments and includes a health platform, which could mesh nicely with an “iWatch” for tracking activity, sleep, pulse and more.

The system iOS8 is expected to be in the new iPhones.

source: interaksyon.com

Single-message app ‘Yo’ is what’s up with investors

SAN FRANCISCO — A messaging app that allows users to send the word “Yo” to friends has discovered newfound fame and fortune.

San Francisco-based startup Yo, which got its start in Tel Aviv and moved to California after becoming a hit in Israel, boasted new backers on Friday as reports estimated its value as high as $10 million.

Yo raised $1.5 million in an initial round of funding that included backing from Betaworks and Mashable founder Pete Cashmore, according to co-founder and chief executive Or Arbel.

“The value of this round goes far beyond the dollar amount that we received,” Arbel said in a release.

“Bringing such incredibly smart, talented, and experienced people into the Yo team at this stage is an incredible advantage that will allow us to accelerate the growth and provide more and better value to our users.”

Betaworks explained in an online post that it was pumping cash into Yo due, in part, to a fascination with the potential of simple tools for single word smartphone notifications such as “yes” or “no.”

The Yo app has been woven into communications at Betaworks, according to founder and chief executive John Borthwick.

“We Yo with co-workers alerting them that a meeting is starting; I Yo with my wife as a ‘hi’ during a busy day,” Borthwick said in an online post announcing the investment.

“I Yo with friends, without any more expectation or need than a Yo back.”

US media reports indicated that backers included founders of China-based Tencent, but Yo did not disclose the entire list of investors.

The app lets users say “Yo” to their friends, sending them a text notification accompanied by a recorded voice shouting the greeting. Arbel has insisted the deceptively simple app has a lot of potential.

“People think it’s just an app that says ‘Yo.’ But it’s really not,” Arbel told The New York Times.

“We like to call it context-based messaging. You understand by the context what is being said.”

Convinced his app has big prospects in line, he left his job as chief technology officer of stock trading platform Stox, which he helped launch last year, and moved from Tel Aviv to San Francisco to focus on Yo.

Arbel said the app could allow newspapers and blogs to notify subscribers that a new article has been published or posted, using a Yo.

Yo took advantage of World Cup frenzy by letting users sign up to get Yo notifications when goals were scored.

Reviews on Apple’s App Store were positive, but some veered into sarcasm.

“Yo cured my cancer! Yo ended world hunger, Yo also helped me find the women of my dreams because when I yo’d her for the first time she asked me if I wanted to mate and produce spawns, yo is the reason I live and the reason I wake up in the morning,” read a review featured along with a description at the App Store on Friday.

Applications available free for iOS or Android powered devices have reportedly been downloaded more than two million times and is used to fire off “yo” a similar number of times daily.

“Yo has been pushing forward at a rapid pace, focusing both on user acquisition and developing an API for businesses, brands, and other apps,” Arbel said.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Smart ring’ now in the works

MANILA, Philippines — A crowdfunded device wearable on one’s finger and is able to act as a remote control and notification platform to one’s smartphone is now set to be manufactured.

The developers behind “Smarty Ring” has so far raised $241,483 at Indiegogo, way past the developer’s fundraising target of $40,000.

“Spending more than eight months of technical research, we have finalized the feasible prototype model,” the group wrote in their status update.

“We have confirmed the possibilities of manufacturing micro-components with the manufacturing companies and we are all set to go,” they added.

The ring is compatible on both iOS and Android, enabling its to receive notifications on calls, text, email, and social media updates from the smartphone it is hooked up with, which could either be inside a bag, pocket, or any place nearby.

It could also be used a remote control on basic smartphone functions such as accepting or rejecting calls, using the camera, and controlling the music player.

It’s default LED display is a clock and could also be used a tracking device in case of theft.

Depending on the functionality, the device can be currently bought from $50 to $175.

source: interaksyon.com

What iPhone, iPad owners need to know about iOS 7

(CNN) -- Apple is releasing its latest operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch today.

The system, iOS 7, will come installed on the new iPhone 5S and 5C models that go on sale Friday. Owners of some older Apple devices also can download it to replace their current systems. But should they?

Before you jump in and upgrade, here's what you need to know about iOS 7.  



What is iOS 7?

Apple's iOS is the software that controls all the basics of your gadget, including the look, feel, settings and hardware. iOS 7 is Apple's latest update to this system and its biggest change since iOS debuted six years ago.



What time is the iOS 7 download available?

Developers have been testing early versions of the new operating system for months, but Apple made it available to the general public at 1 p.m. ET today.

To see whether it is available, go to Settings > General > Software Update on your device, or visit iTunes on your computer.

How is it different from what's already on my iPhone or iPad?

Six years is a long time to wear the same look. Apple's iOS has received a major design overhaul in this version and now has a more streamlined, flat, abstract look. The typography is all new, and nice touches like transparency and subtle animations abound.

There are also a handful of new features, though some are not available on all older devices. Here are a few of the biggies:

• A new time-saving control center slides up from the bottom of the screen for easy access to basic settings such as brightness and Airplane Mode. It has shortcuts for the flashlight, timer, calculator and camera.

• An updated notification center now shows a summary of what you have in store for the day and details on the weather and your commute.

• The camera adds a square-photo option and new filters, while the photos app drops the map view and sorts your images into events by date and location.

• It adds AirDrop, a feature for people who use iCloud that makes it easier to move photos and files between computers and mobile devices.

• The Siri voice-search tool adds an option for male voice, defaults to Bing for Web searches and pulls in results from Twitter and Wikipedia.

• Multitasking looks different. The same double-click of the home button now zooms you out to show a carousel of mini versions of all your open apps.

iOS 7 won't require a great deal of re-learning. The basic layout and functions are the same: The home screen is still a grid of icons, there's a dock with your favorite apps at the bottom, and the gestures you've become used to work the same. There will probably be some initial confusion as you struggle to re-identify all the new icons, but a proper upgrade should leave them all in the same spots they were in before.



Can I update my iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch?

Although iOS is coming out the same time as a pair of brand new iPhone models, it can also be installed for free on some older devices.

At the press event announcing the new models, Apple CEO Tim Cook said there were 600 million devices running iOS. Just because you have a year-old iPhone 5 doesn't mean you can't freshen it up with the latest operating system. Look for your device below to see whether it is eligible.

• iPhone (original): No

• iPhone 3G: No

• iPhone 3GS: No

• iPhone 4: Yes. Does not include AirDrop, Siri or camera filters (you can add filters later in the photos app).

• iPhone 4S: Yes. No AirDrop.

• iPhone 5: Yes. Includes all new iOS 7 features.

• iPod Touch: Only the 5th-generation iPod Touch can upgrade but will include all new iOS 7 features.

• iPad (original): No

• iPad 2: Yes. No AirDrop, Siri, camera filters or square format, or Photos app filters.

• iPad 3rd generation: Yes. No AirDrop or camera filters.

• iPad 4th generation: Yes

• iPad Mini: Yes

Some of the cooler new features you may have heard about, like the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and the new camera tools -- slow-motion, burst mode and image-stabilization -- are available only on the new Phone 5S.

Should I update?

Just because your device is compatible doesn't mean it should be upgraded right away. Once you update your device to iOS 7, there is no going back to iOS 6 or whichever earlier iOS you were running. (Yes, there are unofficial ways to downgrade, but these are not recommended for regular iPhone and iPad users.)

If you are not in a rush, wait a few weeks or months until Apple releases the first updated version of iOS 7. The early releases of the operation system can include bugs that should be addressed with subsequent iOS 7 updates. Let other eager people spend the next few weeks finding and reporting these issues so you don't have to deal with them.

Older devices can experience frustrating performance issues when upgraded to a new OS. The iOS 7 software was designed specifically for the hardware that's faster than your trusty old iPhone 4. If your device is anything older than the most recent generation, it might suddenly slow down, and battery life can suffer.

This should not be as much of a problem for newer devices, such as the iPhone 5, 4th generation iPad and iPad Mini, or the latest iPod Touch. If you are worried about performance issues, skip the update.

Updating immediately is recommended only for tech-savvy early adopters who are comfortable with the risks.

Are there any downsides of not updating?

Immediately, not much. You won't have the new features to play with, but your phone will continue to work as it always did.

In the long run, there could be a few drawbacks. Apple has been pushing developers to update their apps to be iOS 7 compatible. The updates can be as minor as changing the look of an icon or as major as adding all new features. Many developers may stop updating and supporting older versions of their apps as they move their focus to iOS 7. That means eventually, you could be stuck with out-of-date (or even non-working) versions of your favorite apps.

I'm going for it! How do I upgrade?

1. Back up: Before you make the leap, it is very important that you back up your iPhone or iPad. There is always a small chance your device could be wiped clean in the upgrade process, so make a full backup of everything. To back up, plug your device into your computer, open iTunes, and if it does not start backing up automatically, click the "Back Up Now" button.

If your photos are not set to back up automatically, use Image Capture or iPhone on a Mac and Windows Explorer on a Windows PC to make copies of all your pictures.

Another option is to skip the cord and back up to iCloud over Wi-Fi. On your device, go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup. Tap the "Back Up Now" button.

2: Download the new iOS: You can get the update by plugging into a computer and opening iTunes (this is the faster option) or over a Wi-Fi connection directly to your phone.

If iTunes doesn't automatically ask whether you'd like to upgrade when you plug in, click "Check For Updates" in the Summary tab. It will do the rest automatically.

From your phone, go to Settings > Software Update and click the install button. Make sure your phone is fully charged and connected to a Wi-Fi network, not your cellular network.

source: CNN

iMessage Comes To OS X

MANILA, Philippines — In a rather surprising new behavior, Apple announced the next generation Mac operating system, 10.8 aka Mountain Lion, by giving press folks a developer preview *before* the developers. In addition, Apple made an announcement outside of their usual venues - the Apple campus, Moscone or Yerba Buena. Personally, I think that Apple's next public announcement will be huge (think iPad 3!).

Anyway, Mountain Lion developer preview is now available to developers, of course. I have yet to download it, but one new feature has been made available as a beta, and that is Messages. Messages is Mac OS X iChat and iOS iMessage combined.

Not too long ago, I wrote about bringing FaceTime support on both iOS and Mac OS X and that happened. Next thing I wrote was about bringing iMessage on iOS to interface with iChat, and Apple simply did that. You can now download Messages as a beta app, only if you are running Lion.

Messages is definitely on beta, i.e., there are bugs and lots of it. First thing to notice, if you hide or minimize the app, your message history gets cleared. Not good. Second, unlike Facetime, you will not get a notification when you receive messages unless Messages is running.

Third, launching Facetime from within the application will fire the FaceTime app instead of having an integrated service. The same goes true for other instant messaging protocols (iChat will fire up).

Despite these bugs, it is functional. I have tried sending from one Mac to another, from iPhone to the Mac and Mac to iPad, and all worked perfectly fine -- getting replies as well.

What does this mean? First off, SMS will definitely get hit. One can send messages to an iPhone without resorting to the carrier's SMS -- mobile data connection required, of course. iMessage already saved me money, and with desktop SMS capability, it definitely will save me more. This is akin to Chikka, remember that desktop IM service that sends and receives SMS messages?

One flaw of Messages is that it is exclusive to iOS devices and Macs only. I am confident that Apple will release Messages for Windows as well. When this happens, it will be encouraging users to buy an iOS device or two.

So, if you are running Lion on your Mac, download the beta app and help Apple test it. They are testing the infrastructure, for sure. Apple needs to tweak their servers to be able to scale up once Messages comes out of beta.

article source: mb.com.ph