Google Maps for iOS gets real-time incident reporting from Waze

Google has announced today on the Google Maps blog that it will be integrating real-time accident data from Waze into Google Maps for iOS. The new feature means that when Wazers report incidents, the information will get passed along to Google Maps users.

The features will ivelimited to users in certain locations, including: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Switzerland, UK and the US. Google is also integrating Google search into Waze's iOS and Android apps. As well, the Waze Map Editor now has access to Google Street View and satellite imagery.

iOS 7 Beta 6 Now Available OTA

iOS 7 Beta 5 has been out for barely a week, but Apple is apparently ready to send out a new developer beta to the newest version of iOS. Today, Apple has released iOS 7 Beta 6 to developers, which is currently available as an OTA download. The update looks to just have bug fixes, but minimal new features. Check below for the full change-log.

Address Book

Notes

• The classes in the AddressBookUI framework now explicitly disallow subclassing. For apps linked against the iOS 7 SDK, attempting to initialize a subclass of one of these classes returns nil. For apps linked against older SDKs, the only behavior change is a warning logged to the console.


• As of Seed 4, privacy support for the AddressBookUI framework is reenabled for apps linked against the iOS 7 SDK. Apps linked against older SDKs are not changed. If your app uses any of the Address Book view controllers, you should verify that it still behaves as expected.

AirDrop

Notes

• AirDrop in iOS 7 Seed 2 or later is not compatible with AirDrop in iOS 7 Seed 1.


• Contacts Only support requires that:
  
  
  
  • You are logged in to iCloud.
  
  
  • The sender and receiver have each other’s Apple ID email addresses in Contacts on their devices.
  
  
  
  

AV Foundation

Notes

AVCaptureSession now uses your app’s AVAudioSession by default.

Core Animation

Notes

When the UIViewGroupOpacity key is not present, the default value is now YES. The default was previously NO.

This means that subviews of a transparent view will first be composited onto that transparent view, then the precomposited subtree will be drawn as a whole onto the background. A NO setting results in less expensive, but also less accurate, compositing: each view in the transparent subtree is composited onto what’s underneath it, according to the parent’s opacity, in the normal painter’s algorithm order.

Exchange

Notes

In Seed 4 and later, the Exchange DeviceIdentifier has been changed back to the behavior of iOS 6 where it uses the serial number.

Fonts

Notes

New font line heights were introduced in Seed 4. If you had manually aligned your font in earlier seeds, it may move slightly up vertically in later seeds.

Foundation

Notes

• An NSMetadataQuery with ubiquitous scope can now use kMDItemContentTypeTree in predicates. For example:
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
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    NSPredicate *p = [NSComparisonPredicate
                   predicateWithLeftExpression:[NSExpression expressionForKeyPath:@"kMDItemContentTypeTree"]
                               rightExpression:[NSExpression expressionForConstantValue:@"public.rtf"]
                                      modifier: NSAnyPredicateModifier
                                          type:NSLikePredicateOperatorType
                                       options:0];

    
    
  
  

  
  

  
  


• When called on results returned by queries with ubiquitous scopes, -[NSMetadataItem valueForAttribute:NSMetadataItemDisplayNameKey] now produces the same value as -[NSURL getResourceValue: forKey: NSURLLocalizedNameKey], matching nonubiquitous queries.

iCloud

Notes

• If you use iCloud Keychain with recovery, you may see a dialog indicating recovery has been disabled due to a server change. This is intentional. To reenable functionality, follow the instructions in the notification. If you see multiple alerts or observe issues with reenabling recovery, please file a bug report.


• iCloud Keychain in iOS 7 Seed 3 or later is not backward compatible with iOS 7 Seed 2 or OS X Mavericks Seed 2.
  
  If you had iCloud Keychain and/or Keychain Restore enabled from iOS 7 Seed 2, both features are disabled upon updating to iOS 7 Seed 3 or later.
  
  After updating to iOS 7 Seed 3 or later, go to Settings > iCloud > Keychain and reenable iCloud Keychain on your devices.
  
  See OS X v10.9 Release Notes for more details.


• Activation Lock, a new feature of Find My iPhone, is turned on automatically when Find My iPhone is enabled on any device running iOS 7. Activation Lock requires users to enter their Apple ID and password to turn off Find My iPhone, sign out of iCloud, erase the device, or reactivate the device after an erase. It’s important to do one of the following before transferring a device to a new user:
  
  
  
  • Sign out of iCloud.
  
  
  • Turn off Activation Lock in Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone.
  
  
  
  

Known Issues

Password fields are not displayed in alert views for apps in landscape (for example, Game Center authentication or In-App Purchase). Text entry still works, though you can’t see what you are typing.

MapKit

Notes

If the calls to renderInContext on the layer backing an MKMapView are made off the main thread, they should be eliminated or moved to the main thread. Failure to do so can cause an app crash. Instead of using renderInContext, use the new MKMapSnapshotter APIs.

Media

Notes

iOS now remembers the last used media app across reboot and app crashes. Media apps that can receive remote control events should be prepared to be launched in the background and potentially receive a remote control event to begin playback. Additionally, it’s important that media apps monitor and handle the media server reset event, since the media app may receive a remote request to resume playback after a reset. Notifications to monitor these media server events are available in AVAudioSession and proper handling is described in General recommendations for handling kAudioSessionProperty_ServerDied.

Multipeer Connectivity

Notes

The MCSession APIs function as they were presented at WWDC. Major changes and enhancements include:

• The following new method on MCSession has been implemented:
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  • 
    

    - (NSOutputStream *)startStreamWithName:(NSString *)streamName toPeer:(MCPeerID *)peerID error:(NSError **)error

    
    
  
  

  
  

  
  
  This delegate method has been implemented:
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  • 
    

    - (void)session:(MCSession *)session didReceiveStream:(NSInputStream *)stream withName:(NSString *)streamName fromPeer:(MCPeerID *)peerID

    
    
  
  

  
  

  
  


• The following new method on MCSession has been implemented:
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  • 
    

    - (NSProgress *)sendResourceAtURL:(NSURL *)resourceURL withName:(NSString *)resourceName toPeer:(MCPeerID *)peerID withCompletionHandler:(void(^)(NSError *error))completionHandler

    
    
  
  

  
  

  
  
  The delegate method to start receiving a resource from remote peer has been implemented as:
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  • 
    

    - (void)session:(MCSession *)session didStartReceivingResourceWithName:(NSString *)resourceName fromPeer:(MCPeerID *)peerID withProgress:(NSProgress *)progress

    
    
  
  

  
  

  
  
  The delegate method to finish receiving a resource from remote peer and save the content in a temporary location is implemented as:
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  • 
    

    - (void)session:(MCSession *)session didFinishReceivingResourceWithName:(NSString *)resourceName fromPeer:(MCPeerID *)peerID atURL:(NSURL *)localURL withError:(NSError *)error

    
    
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  Note: The app is responsible for moving the file to a permanent location within its sandbox.
  
  


• MCAdvertiserAssistant is a convenience class for implementing an Advertiser, which handles invitations and connections to an MCSession.


• MCSession has a new initWithPeer: method.


• sendResource has added “with” to the completionHandler.


• The timeout has been removed from connectPeer:withNearbyConnectionData.

For more information on these APIs, watch the video for WWDC 2013 Session 708, “Nearby Networking with Multipeer Connectivity.”

Multitasking

Notes

• AVAudioSession can no longer become active by apps in the background that wake due to Background Fetch, Background Transfers, and Remote Notification events.


• The policy for the task completion API has changed back to match the iOS 6 behavior, but the time limit for task completion has decreased from 10 minutes in iOS 6.

Networking

Notes

• The cellular fallback technology present in previous seeds has been removed as of Seed 5.


• Two low-level networking APIs that used to return a MAC address now return the fixed value 02:00:00:00:00:00. The APIs in question are sysctl (NET_RT_IFLIST) and ioctl (SIOCGIFCONF). Developers using the value of the MAC address should migrate to identifiers such as -[UIDevice identifierForVendor]. This change affects all apps running on iOS 7.

Objective-C Runtime

Notes

Due to changes in how the isa field is implemented, *self may change during enumeration (for example, if the container is retained).

Workaround: When implementing countByEnumeratingWithState, do not set state->mutationsPtr = self.

Passbook

Notes

• As of iOS 7 Seed 4, Passbook has added support for the major and minor fields to better match the rest of the iBeacon ecosystem. The new major and minor keys are independently variable optional alongside proximityUUID (required) in each dictionary in the beacons array.


• In previous versions of the iOS SDK, Passbook did not validate the back fields on passes completely. The validation rules have not changed, but validation is now including back fields. Please check the console log for additional logs.


• As of iOS 7 Seed 3, PKPassLibraryDidCancelAddPasses is a new status code in the PKPassLibraryAddPassesStatus enum. It signifies that the user tapped Cancel in an add-passes alert.

Photos

Notes

Upon upgrading from an earlier seed, photo thumbnails in the Photos app will not appear for a short while.

Security

Notes

• -[UIDevice uniqueIdentifier] is no longer accepted in submissions to the App Store. In iOS 7, apps that are already on the store or on users’ devices that call this removed API will no longer be returned the UDID. Instead, -[UIDevice uniqueIdentifier] will return a 40-character string starting with FFFFFFFF, followed by the hex value of -[UIDevice identifierForVendor]. It is important to consider how this will affect existing apps. Consider submitting updates that no longer access the UDID.


• iOS now requests user consent for apps to use audio input on all iOS 7 devices. For devices sold in China, iOS will also request user consent for apps to use the camera hardware. The operating system will present the consent alert when you set the category of the instantiated AVAudioSession. The AVAudioSession categories that will present the alert areAVAudioSessionCategoryRecord and AVAudioSessionCategoryPlayAndRecord.
  
  If the user doesn’t allow access, the audio session data will be all zeros (silence). For devices where camera access is requested and denied by the user, the video capture session is a black screen.


• The API gethostuuid() has been removed and will not be accepted for submission to the store, regardless of the targeted OS. For existing apps running on iOS 7, the function will return auuid_t representation of the vendor identifier (-[UIDevice identifierForVendor]).

Siri

Notes

This seed includes development versions of new male and female Siri voices for U.S. English, French, and German.

Social

Notes

• Through iOS 6, when using TWTweetComposeViewController and SLComposeViewController (the latter only for Twitter and Weibo, but not Facebook), if the caller supplies acompletionHandler, the supplied completionHandler is responsible for dismissing the view controller. As of iOS 7, if the app links against the iOS 7 SDK, the view controller will dismiss itself even if the caller supplies a completionHandler. To avoid this, the caller’s completionHandler should not dismiss the view controller.


• When using the iOS 6.1 SDK on OS X v10.8 Mountain Lion, if you use the iOS 5.0 or iOS 5.1 Legacy SDK in iOS Simulator, you will not be able to use Twitter features: attempting to sign in to Twitter via the Settings pane will fail, and Twitter.framework will not work correctly. If you need to test Twitter features, you will need to choose either an iOS 6.1 or iOS 6.0 Simulator run destination, or you can test with iOS 5.x on a device.

Springboard

Notes

• Active touches are no longer canceled when the user takes a screenshot.


• Dynamic wallpaper is not available on iPhone 4.

Sprite Kit

Notes

+[AVPlayer playerWithPlayerItem:] returns an AVPlayer object, but the current item will return nil if the player was created on another thread.

Stores

Known Issues

App downloads can get stuck in the “Waiting” state.

Workaround: Reboot your device once or twice to resolve the issue and allow subsequent downloads to continue.

UIKit

Notes

• Before Seed 4, the snapshot API (snapshotView and resizableSnapshotViewFromRect:withCapInsets:) would defer taking the snapshot if the view had never been committed or had been added to the view hierarchy in the current transaction. This behavior has changed.
  
  Snapshots now always represent the current, committed state of the view. Attempting to snapshot a view that has never been committed logs a message and now returns nil.


• Snapshotting methods have been updated and now take an argument: afterUpdates. When set to YES, this instructs the snapshot to wait until all pending changes to the hierarchy have been committed. To maintain the pre-Seed 4 behavior, pass NO and the snapshot will capture what is currently on screen. See UIView.h for more details.


• When there isn’t enough room in the navigation bar layout for the full text of the back button title, the navigation bar will substitute a generic short back title (in English, “Back”). If even that string is too long, the bar will show the back indicator chevron with no title.


• +[UIPasteboard pasteboardWithName:create:] and +[UIPasteboard pasteboardWithUniqueName] now unique the given name to allow only those apps in the same application group to access the pasteboard. If the developer attempts to create a pasteboard with a name that already exists and they are not part of the same app suite, they will get their own unique and private pasteboard. Note that this does not affect the system provided pasteboards, general, and find.


• Starting with Seed 2, apps default to using the new view controller-based status bar management system. To opt out of this, add a value of NO for theUIViewControllerBasedStatusBarAppearance key to your Info.plist.


• When using Auto Layout to position a UIButton, if you set the content compression resistance or content hugging priority to minimum, the button will have ambiguous layout.
  
  Workaround: Don’t use a content compression resistance or content hugging priority of less than 2 for UIButton.


• UIScreenEdgePanGestureRecognizer allows you to perform actions in response to swipes over the edge of the screen using the same heuristics that the system uses for its own gestures. Use this if you have a navigation semantic of your own that doesn’t use UINavigationController but should include this gesture (e.g., Safari).
  
  This gesture recognizer has a property that describes the edges on which it’s active. UIRectEdge is a new enum type that this property and -[UIViewController edgesForExtendedLayout] can share. UIRectEdge replaces UIExtendedEdge, which will be removed. The members of both have the same values. Use Xcode to replace all instances of “UIExtendedEdge” in your project with “UIRectEdge”.


• UIButtonTypeInfoLight, UIButtonTypeInfoDark, and UIButtonTypeDetailDisclosure buttons all look the same.


• Blurred layers are not available on iPhone 4.


• Parallax is not available on iPhone 4.


• Letterpress text is not available on iPhone 4.

Known Issues

Password fields are not displayed in alert views for apps in landscape (for example, Game Center authentication or In-App Purchase). Text entry still works, though you can’t see what you are typing.

Weather

Notes

Weather conditions are not animated on iPhone 4.

WebKit

Notes

• Previously, when the viewport parameters were modified, the old parameters were never discarded. This caused the viewport parameters to be additive.
  
  For example, if you started with width=device-width and then changed it to initial-scale=1.0, you ended up with a computed viewport of width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0.
  
  In iOS 7, this has been addressed. Now you end up with with a computed viewport of initial-scale=1.0.


• Previously, when using <meta name="viewport" content="initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=1">, the scale could be incorrect after rotation.
  
  Now, if a user has not scaled the page explicitly, the page is restored to its initial scale. Also, the current scale is now correctly restricted within the min-scale, max-scale bounds.


• Some images for Retina display devices appear at twice the size that they should instead of being scaled down 50%. This issue can also occur with any image to be scaled that is larger than its container and that uses either the background-size property or the -webkit-background-size property. This issue affects both native apps that display web content and web pages viewed in Safari for iPhone.
  
  The background CSS shorthand property now resets the value of the background-size property to auto when background size is not specified. This new behavior is per the CSS spec, and the old behavior is available only for apps linked to an SDK prior to iOS 7.0 when running on iOS 7 or later.
  
  Workaround: Specify the background-size property or the -webkit-background-size property after the background shorthand property in the CSS stylesheet for the web content being displayed.


• Web apps and web clips created prior to Seed 4 will not stay in folders across reboot.
  
  Workaround: Delete the old web app or web clip and recreate it in this seed by loading the content in Safari, tapping the Action button, and then “Add to Home Screen.”

Wi-Fi

Notes

Seed 4 and later include changes to AWDL such that technologies that use it—such as AirDrop and the MultiPeerConnectivity APIs—will not work properly with older seeds.

Verifone's Way2Ride app lets riders NYers pay for their cab via Ultrasound

VeriFone has launched a new amenity for NYC taxi riders this week, letting customers pay for a cab by tapping their smartphone. Way2Ride uses Zoosh ultrasound technology, allowing secure transactions via the mic and speaker in your smartphone and the terminal on the other end. The app for iOS and Android let's you pre-select payment information and even include a tip. To start a transaction, just tap your phone at anytime during the ride and then just hop out of your cab when you reach your destination. You will get a receipt in the app once your transaction is complete. You can also use the app to hail a cab, estimate your fare, and report a lost item.

Textbooks Arrive on the Google Play Store

Google announced earlier in the summer that textbooks would be arriving this summer via Google Play Books, and they are now available. Books are available for purchase or for 6-month rent. Prices are very reasonable, and frequently undercut paper editions. Google has also updated its Google Play Books iOS app to allow for equal purchasing and renting opportunities with iOS and Android. This announcement is another stick in the coffin of summer, signaling that the school year will be beginning soon. Click here to go to the Google Play textbooks store.

Firefox 23 Launches with share button, content blocker, new logo, network monitor, and more

The Mozilla Foundation has launched the next version of Firefox for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android: Firefox 23. There are several improvements, including an addition of a share button, mixed content blocker, and a network monitor on the desktop versions.

Firefox 23 also comes with a new logo, see below for Firefox's logo evolution:



 

Firefox 23 has been officially released on Firefox.com and all existing users should be able to upgrade to it automatically. The Android version is available on Google Play.

The biggest addition to Firefox 23 is the share button and the browser's Social API. Developers can  let users share content with friends with only one click.

Here is the social button in action:



 

Also included is the mixed content blocker, which prevents nonsecure (HTTP) content on a website being read or modified by attackers by blocking the nonsecure content from being compromised. In case you’re wondering, mixed content occurs when a webpage containing a combination of both secure (HTTPS) and nonsecure (HTTP) content is delivered over a secure data channel to the browser. Here’s how it looks in action (more details are available here):



Firefox for Android also includes the new logo, but it has a slew of its new features specific to Google’s mobile platform as well.

The full Android changelog isn't available yet.

Firefox 24 is expected to come out in September.

Firefox Changelog:

 

NEW: Mixed content blocking enabled to protects users from man-in-the-middle attacks and eavesdroppers on HTTPS pages (learn more).

NEW: Options panel created for Web Developer Toolbox.

CHANGED: “Enable JavaScript” preference checkbox has been removed and user-set values will be reset to the default.

CHANGED: Updated Firefox Logo.

CHANGED: Improved about:memory’s functional UI.

CHANGED: Simplified interface for notifications of plugin installation.

CHANGED: Enabled DXVA2 on Windows Vista+ to accelerate H.264 video decoding.

CHANGED: Users can now switch to a new search provider across the entire browser.

CHANGED: CSP policies using the standard syntax and semantics will now be enforced.

CHANGED:  rendering improvements (see bug 838675).

CHANGED: Replace fixed-ratio audio resampler in webrtc.org capture code with Speex resampler and eliminate pseudo-44000Hz rate.

CHANGED: “Load images automatically” and Always show the tab bar” checkboxes removed from preferences and reset to defaults.

DEVELOPER: HTML5  form control implemented.

DEVELOPER: Write more accessible pages on touch interfaces with new ARIA role for key buttons.

DEVELOPER: Social share functionality.

DEVELOPER: Added unprefixed requestAnimationFrame.

DEVELOPER: Implemented a global browser console.

DEVELOPER: Dropped blink effect from text-decoration: blink; and completely removed element

DEVELOPER: New feature in toolbox: Network Monitor.

FIXED: Various security fixes.

Iconic.al: Bringing Life to App Icons

IT ALL WAS AN ACCIDENT

Darren Jones, developer of several iOS apps, was trying to solve a problem. One of his apps, dd-wrt lets you monitor your dd-wrt enabled routers. One of the buyers of the app suggested in the comments to add a URL scheme, allowing you to reboot your router or send Wake on LAN commands through a URL in Safari. However, there was no way to save them with a custom logo. There was either saving them on the home screen via Safari or using Launch Centre Pro. Jones thought it would be an amazing app on its own, and thus Iconic.al was born. As he was developing the app, he realized the potential in the app.

CHANGE THE ICONS

Iconic.al is an app that allows you to create shortcuts on the home screen of your iOS device, and also allows you to change the logo of other apps on your phone. Currently, 14,000 apps are supported in the logo changing aspect of the program, but more apps will be added. If you want to add your app to the list, just contact Jones and he will show you how to add the functionality.

CREATE SHORTCUTS

As well as creating the new logos, the create shortcuts feature is just as important. You can create a shortcut to call Mom or Dad. You can create a shortcut to Facetime your best friend, message your wife, and do so many other things. Over 200 apps support the creating shortcut feature. To import images, just type in the URL of the image.

SHARING

Iconic.al also allows you to share your custom icons via Facebook, Twitter, Email, and SMS. Emails and SMSes include a link which will allow the recipient to download the icon and use it him/herself. Jones hopes to be able to create a gallery of icons in the future, but that road still remains unpaved. For the icons used in the demo screenshots, check out iconic.al/themes.

DEVICE SUPPORT AND PRICING

When the app launches tomorrow, it will cost $0.99/£0.99/€0.99. That pricing will continue for the app's first week, but, after the app will take a price hike. After the first week, the app will cost $1.99/£1.49/€1.99. Iconic.al will be available on all iOS 6+ devices, but not iOS 7 Beta 4 due to a bug that blocks URL scheming. Hopefully the bug will be fixed in Beta 5, or the public release of the operating system.

SUMMARY

In conclusion, the app sounds amazing and definitely allows a new level of customization previously unseen with iOS. Iconic.al will be launching tomorrow on the App Store.

Lastly, check out below for some awesome screenshots of the app in motion.

[gallery ids="1032,1035,1034,1033,1031,1030,1029,1028,1027,1026,1025,1024,1023,1022,1021,1020,1019"]

Google Takes on Apple TV with Chromecast

Google is trying to take on Apple TV with ChromeCast, a $35 HDMI dongle that allows customers to stream videos and music to their TV. This device turns every TV into a Smart TV, but there is no walled garden from which to control it from .You can control it from iOS, Android, and the Web.

The Chromecast doesn't mirror your screen, but allows you to send TV shows, movies, and music to your TV via the cloud. You can queue up media to play after the current media is done playing. Also, you can have the Chromecast mirror your Chrome tabs and windows as well as using apps. Netflix is the only current player, but Google has released the Google Cast SDK, to allow more apps in. iOS, Android, and Chrome developers are allowed in on this, there is no walled garden to limit Chromecast development to just one platform.

With the purchase of Chromecast, you will also get three months free of Netflix.

Chromecast is available on Google Play, Amazon, and Best Buy today, but more retailers and international expansion will be coming son.

App 'Rounds' Lets You Have Mobile Hangouts Jam-Packed with Features

Rounds, a new video chat hangout mobile app for iOS and Android, threatens to blow Google+ hangouts out of the water.

The app allows many new features that Google and other competitors dream about at night. The latest update includes a co-browsing feature, allowing chatting friends to share web pages. Other popular features include watching YouTube videos and using different camera effects. Rounds is compatible with iPhone, Android, Web, Facebook, Desktop, and Chrome.

Currently, the app is free with zero advertising.

Apple WWDC Coverage

• What a day! Check out below for our full coverage of Apple's World Wide Developer Conference Keynote Address:
  
  
  
  • Apple Retail Update
  
  
  • Apple Releases New Line of Macs
  
  
  
  

Viber Releases a Desktop App with Video Calling

[gallery ids="451,452"]

Viber is taking a stand on app messaging; they are releasing a desktop app for their wildly popular messaging platform. Starting today, Viber’s 200 million+ users will have access to their Viber contacts from both mobile and desktop.

Viber is also releasing new updates to its mobile apps, but the bigger story is the desktop app.

The ambitious company is breaking ground on video calling today; but unfortunately, only from desktop to desktop. Hopefully, mobile to mobile, and then even mobile to desktop will be arriving on the scene soon.

Other than that, the desktop version has just about everything the mobile version has, including messaging, stickers, etc.

To start, you must be a mobile user of Viber, so if you don’t have a number that’s already associated with the service, the desktop app will ask you to download the mobile application. From there, you simply input your number into the desktop app, enter a pin which is sent to your mobile device, and you instantly have access to all the contacts you know on Viber.

All of the Viber apps will sync messages with each other as well. This is yet again another weakness in Apple's iMessage: It doesn't sync. All of these app messaging services are fighting with iMessage as well as regular SMS for market space.

Viber is also taking a leap forward with its mobile apps, but Android and iOS, as always, are the main focus of this mobile updgrade. Both will receive video messages, a new assortment of stickers, a new photo experience, a new voice engine, and then some other minor stuff.

Viber has been growing steadily, announcing growth to 200 million users, up from 175 million in February.

This latest advance really only works for those with multiple devices, but it will be interesting to see how the market responds to this new leap forward in app messaging.

MTA Hackathon Photos

Congrats again to the winners of the MTA and AT&T Hackathon this weekend. Check down below for photos from the event.

 

[gallery ids="438,440,439,441,442"]

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.

Time Warner: I built a mini Aereo all by myself!

Time Warner Cable announced today that they will be pushing an update to their TWC TV app tomorrow. This will allow subscribers to watch live TV from their iOS devices. TWC appears to be creating their own version of Aereo in house. However, this replica is very dummed down. If you aren't watching TV on your home wifi network, the number of channels you can watch takes a staggering drop. If you want to watch TV on the road, you will hit a red light. Only Verizon 3G/4G LTE customers will be able to stream live. But even that will have to wait until Quarter 4. The idea of watching live TV with real channels is coming closer; just at a snail's pace.

Dropbox + Mailbox = ??

Mailbox was just acquired by Dropbox. Many of us are wondering whether Mailbox will be killed by Dropbox the way Google killed Sparrow. Mailbox was purchased by Dropbox for approximately $100 million. Check out the Dropbox blog post for more info.

The Jailbreak has arrived: Evasi0n

Let the great news be heard throughout the kingdom: the jailbreak for iOS 6.1 has arrived! The name is Evasi0n, and it is really pretty cool. It will work on the following devices:

-iPhone 5
-iPhone 4S
-iPhone 4
-iPhone 3Gs
-iPad with A6X chip (4th gen)
-iPad 3
-iPad 2
-iPad mini
-iPod touch 5
-iPod touch 4

Woohoo! You can check it out for yourself here: evasi0n.com 

iOS 6.1: Is it really necessary?

So, as we know iOS 6.1 came out yesterday. iOS 6.1 is a MINOR update. Check out below to see if you should get it...

There are several reasons for why you should get it:

• If you have an 4G LTE iPhone 5 or iPad and want better "Coverage and Support"


• If you want interact with Fandango with Siri


• Ability to reset advertising identifier

Basically, if you don't have an LTE iPhone or iPad, there is no reason AT ALL to upgrade other than if you want to be able to control advertising identifying thingies on your device.