All of Apple's Online Stores are Down

Apple is reporting that the App Store, Mac App Store, iTunes Store, iBookstore, iTunes in the Cloud, iTunes Match, and Backup are all down.

Users may be unable to make purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store, Mac App Store, or iBookstore. Users may also be unable to download previously-purchased content, use iTunes Match, or successfully restore Apps and Music from an iCloud backup.

iTunes Store Experiencing Some Issues

Some people around the world appear to be having issues with connecting to the iTunes Store or download apps. Apple is currently reporting problems with the iTunes Store, but not yet the App Store. Click here to go to Apple's status page.

MTA App Quest Hackathon Recap

Wow, what an amazing hackathon! There were great apps built this weekend; I am very impressed with what was built. These developers only had 24 hours to build their apps and have something ready to show off. Congratulations to the first, second, and third place prize winners; SubCulture.Fm, MTA Sheriff, and ACCESSWAY. These apps will truly impact the New York City's mass transit in a bright way. Check out below for a quick summary of what's cooking in the app division of NYC public transit.

SubCulture.Fm is an iOS app that allows you to interact with subway musicians. The app mostly works through QR codes. Each artist would have a QR code that the user would scan. This would give the user information about the artist; such as social media, albums and songs, etc. You can share information about the musician using Facebook or Twitter. The app also allows you to track nearby musicians, and even where your favorite musician will be playing. SubCulture.Fm won first place at the hackathon.

MTA Sheriff is a quick and easy gamified way to report issues within the MTA's system. As you report more issues, your character upgrades until you become the "MTA Sheriff".

ACCESSWAY is an iOS way-finding app to help visually-impaired or wheelchair-assisted New Yorkers find their way in the NYC Subway. It allows you to track elevator and exit status. The app currently looks pretty good, but should try and implement real time status updates.

Snooze: The iPhone turned Alarm Clock

Snooze: The iPhone turned alarm clock. Literally. Snooze, an iPhone alarm clock dock is an alarm clock for your iPhone. It comes with a charging cable, so your phone won't die over night. The accessory also has a large snooze button on top, that you can just slap if you feel like going back to sleep. The alarm clock uses a free app by Snooze as the alarm clock. It's Snooze on the app store. So, if you hate your old 1990s alarm clock, this may sound like something for you. See you tomorrow!

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