Calendar Events Have Different Icons Between OS X Yosemite and Mavericks

I think this is a neat little fact. In Finder, if you have events created before you installed OS X Yosemite, they have their old icons. If you have them after, they're simplified icons. This is probably something missed by the installer when it was parsing icons. Check it out.

iPad Air Plus Blueprints

The iPad Pro, now dubbed the iPad Air Plus, now has potential blueprints. It should be noted that it has a new A9 processor. It is also expected to launch between April and June of 2015. The blueprints are below. Check them out!

Apple Releases Voice Text Ad

Not long after releasing two iPhone 6 ads, Apple has released yet another ad. It advertises iOS 8's ability to send voice texts. It notes how it's useful for sarcasm, singing, and avoiding spelling errors. Check it out!

Black Friday Deals 2014

Happy Thanksgiving! I've found some good ways to compile Black Friday deals! First, I believe MacRumors did a great job on their compilation so be sure to check it out here. Also, the official Black Friday app is a great way to find shopping deals [Direct Link]. Check out your favorite software sites (VMWare, Steam, etc.) as they will probably have some offers available. Finally, be sure to check out Amazon's Lightning Deals and Deal of the Day as there are often great deals for popular products on any given day of the year. Check back frequently! Happy Black Friday! 

New 'Iconic' Coffee Table Book Gets A Backlight

Iconic, a book that has beautiful images of Apple products over the years, has been updated. Upgraded books now feature a slick backlight. You can check them out on Amazon ($99 with backlight).

Apple Announces Apps For (RED)

Have your apps been turning red lately? If they have, then that app is supporting World AIDS Day 2014. From now until December 7, if you make a purchase (or in-app purchase) of a (RED) app, the proceed will go to the World AIDS Day fund.

“Apple is a proud supporter of (RED) because we believe the gift of life is the most important gift anyone can give,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “For eight years, our customers have been helping fight AIDS in Africa by funding life-saving treatments which are having a profoundly positive impact. This year we are launching our biggest fundraising push yet with the participation of Apple’s retail and online stores, and some of the brightest minds in the App Store are lending their talents to the effort as well.”

Image Credit: MacRumors

Apple Releases New iPhone 6 Ads: 'Gamers' and 'Reservations'

Apple released two new advertisements for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. "Gamers" advertise the game, Vainglory, and the A8 chip. "Reservations" shows off continuity between iOS and Mac. They're pretty funny, so I suggest you watch them in the embeds below.

How to Rename an iMessage Group Chat in iOS 8

In iOS 8, you can rename iMessage group chats. It's simple, but a little hidden. Just go to (or create) an iMessage group chat (not SMS nor MMS) and tap "Details" in the top right corner. Now, swipe down (scroll up). You should be able to change the name (or topic of the group chat). I hope this helps!

You Can Now Post Photos On iCloud.com To Your Photo Stream

In a previous post, I noted how developers could upload photos to their photo streams. Two weeks later, that same feature is available to the public. Like the beta version, you can only upload JPG files. Hopefully, this feature will be updated to support more file types. But for now, we at least have the ability. It's not like people use the feature much (That wasn't sarcasm.)

Image Credit: MacRumors

Things is Now Free (App of the Week)

Things is a great task manager that helps you get stuff done and manage your time. It also blends simplicity with functionality. It can use the reminders app as a reference. This lets you use Siri to enter reminders into Things. These are just a few features of Things. For the real experience, get Things [Direct Link] from the Apple App Store for free this week (Regularly $9.99).

Beats Music Will Be Included In iOS Next Year

According to the Financial Times, Apple will bundle Beats Music in iOS next year. This is a particularly strange move for Apple as they have iTunes Radio. Will Beats Music turn into iTunes Radio or will it be a standalone product? I would guess that it would evolve into iTunes Radio as Apple's streaming service hasn't performed well and adapting a popular music service would be a very good move by Apple. Well, those are my thoughts. Here's what the Financial Times had to say about it.

"Apple will bundle the subscription music service it acquired from Beats into its iOS operating system early next year, instantly making it available on hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads – and ramping up pressure on Spotify, the market leader in music streaming. The inclusion of the paid-for Beats service in an iOS software update could happen as early as March, according to people familiar with the situation."

Sync Solver: Sneaking Fitbit Data Into Apple Health Since 2014

If you're like me, you were about to add an UP by Jawbone onto your Christmas wish list and put a Fitbit on eBay. But wait! There's another way to get your Fitbit data into Apple Health and it only costs 99¢! It's called Sync Solver and I suggest you get it before Apple removes it from their App Store for some reason. In short, Sync Solver gathers all your data from your Fitbit account and pushes it to Apple Health. In addition, the logic it uses is as sound as it can get. It's kind of hard to explain, but because the app syncs at midnight, the steps (and other data) are gathers all at once, once a day. This is opposed to gathering data every time it is updated, which causes an undesirable user experience. Basically, it allows you to get a quick overview of your data in an easy to view way. This makes Sync Solver worth every cent. Sync Solver is available from the Apple App Store for $0.99 [Direct Link].

Developers Can Now Develop Apple Watch Apps

Today, Apple developers can now access WatchKit, a set of API tools for developing for the Apple Watch. It is part of the Xcode 6.2 beta seed. You can download this from Apple's developer site. Apple has also released resources, such as the human interface guidelines, for getting started with WatchKit. So if you're an Apple developer, head on over to the developer site and get coding!

iOS 8.1.1 is Now Available for the Public

Today, Apple released iOS 8.1.1 to all iOS users. It addresses several bugs and improves performance for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4s.

"This release includes bug fixes, increased stability and performance improvements for iPad 2 and iPhone 4s.

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222" 

This is a minor update, so nothing big is here, but it doesn't hurt to update for those who have been skeptical about iOS 8 in the past. This should be a very stable release as it mostly addresses bug changes. Even so, I suggest you follow my instructions to updating an iOS device. 

Easter Egg in Calculator App in OS X Yosemite

Yosemite brought many different changes to the design of OS X. One of those changes were the icons. The calculator icon now looks like the app in iOS 7. There's also an Easter Egg in this icon. Can you see it? It's pi (the number)! 3.141593 is what is displayed. You may notice that it is rounded. Unrounded, it's 3.141592. You'll find this in your Applications folder or your Launchpad. Check it out!

Apple Store Gift Cards Based on iPhone Colors

I know this is pretty insignificant, but I find this kind of cool. In addition to Apple having a completely independent gift card display at my local grocery store, the Apple Store gift cards are based on the colors of the iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and the iPads. The custom priced gift card is based on the iPhone 5c's white color. The $25 gift card is based on the iPhone's silver color. The $50 gift card is based on the iPhone's space gray color. The $100 gift card is based on the iPhone's gold color. It's an interesting Easter Egg. Check out the pictures below.

The Silver, Space Gray, and Gold iPhones Respectively

The Display for the Gift Cards

iPhone 5s/6 Gold Gift Card

iPhone 5c White Gift Card

iPhone 5s/6 Silver Gift Card

iPhone 5s/6 Space Gray Gift Card

Apple Pay Doubled Smartphone Transactions at Walgreens

Thanks to Apple Pay, smartphone transactions have doubled at Walgreens. This is just one milestone after a long line of success. Whole Foods processed 150,000 Apple Pay transactions. Half of all smartphone transactions at McDonald's were Apple Pay transactions. Recently, Staples started accepting Apple Pay. Apple Pay has had quite a streak so far since its release.

Staples Now Accepts Apple Pay

About a year ago, it seemed like Staples never had anything Apple related. Now they sell Apple accessories in store and Apple products online. They take it a step further today with Apple Pay. That's right! You can now buy your office supplies, back-to-school products, electronics, and more with your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. Just tap your iPhone to the NFC terminal and put your finger on your iPhone's Touch ID sensor. It's that simple. Be sure that your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus has iOS 8.1 as well.

Beats' First New Pair of Headphones After Apple Acquisition Announced

Beats had just introduced an new version of their Solo2 headphones. This is the first new product of Beats since Apple bought Beats earlier this year. Not that big of a deal. They're just wireless now. No Apple logo on it, nor any acknowledgement of Apple with it. They are available in blue, white, black, and red. They cost $299.95 and the older wired version costs $199.95.

Masque Attack

If you often download apps outside of the Apple App Store, like GBA4iOS, you might want to hold off on it for a while. A new vulnerability, called Masque Attack, can install an app directly over an app already installed on your iOS device, making it hard to notice. Say this writes over a banking app. The app can potentially read your banking information or credentials. iOS 7 users can check if they've been affected by going to Settings > Generals > Profiles and check if there is a malicious profile installed. Remember, you're only affected if you download apps outside of the Apple App Store on an iOS device. Check out the video below to learn more.

Data Calc

If you're an Android user, then today is your lucky day! I made a new Android app that can help you choose a cellular data plan and can help you save cellular data on YouTube videos. From the main app, you can input variables and get an instant estimate as to how much data you would use a month. However, from the YouTube app (not the website), you can tap the action button next to any YouTube video (the three little dots), tap "Share", and select "Data Calc" from the prompt. After that, you'll get an instant estimate as to how much data that video would use over cellular data. Data Calc is available from the Google Play Store for free [Direct Link].

Apple Makes Tool To Deregister iMessage

In an interesting move by Apple, they have created a web tool that allows non-iPhone users that have switched from an iPhone to deregister iMessage. Without this, people that send messages from an iPhone to someone who switched from an iPhone won't be able to carry on a conversation. This is because the messages from the iPhone are going to the non-iPhone user's iMessage conversations.

How Apple Pay Works At NFC Terminals Not Optimized for Apple Pay

Although Apple Pay only has a small number of partners, there are many more locations to pay with NFC terminals. However, these non-optimized NFC terminals don't have the same security features as Apple Pay. You may still have to provide a signature. Other than that, you're only problem is a lack of knowledge from the cashier as they probably didn't have any special training for Apple Pay.

Fitbit Are Officially No Longer Sold in Apple Stores

After Fitbit has said that they won't be adding HealthKit functionality, Apple made plans to stop selling Fitbit products in their retail and online stores. They will still sell the UP by Jawbone and other HealthKit-enabled products. It hasn't been determined whether Apple will still sell HealthKit-enabled products after the release of the Apple Watch. Either way, if you want to use the Health app in iOS 8, do your research and know that Fitbit products aren't compatible.

Fitbit Surge

You Can Now Post Photos In The Beta Version Of iCloud.com To Your Photo Stream

The beta version of iCloud (available for developers), now allows the ability to upload photos to your iCloud Photo Library. Although the regular site doesn't allow for this at the moment, we can expect it soon. In addition, you can only upload JPG files and no movies. I'll update when this feature is available for all users with polished features.

Image Credit: MacRumors

For Those Times That You're Too Lazy To Write...

Do you ever need some filler text for an example or to test something out? Like if you're giving an example of something, like a blog template, and you need some text to fill an example post? This is really hard to explain, just follow me here. Well, there's this great website called Lorem Ipsum. It generates random text in any amount. What are these random words? I don't know! It's all Greek to me! Believe it or not, a lot of science and math goes into this. The length of these words are made to look like that of real English (or any language of your choosing). You can try it out by going to Lorem Ipsum's website.

Here's some sample text:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed ornare leo vel arcu tristique, ut sagittis ex commodo. Donec venenatis sapien velit, non vulputate enim rhoncus nec. Proin pellentesque justo id auctor accumsan. Praesent et feugiat velit, sed placerat nisl. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. In viverra est nec imperdiet elementum. Sed a laoreet ex. Donec et aliquam diam. 

Donec auctor, magna ac suscipit tincidunt, elit nulla aliquet lacus, id ultricies dui mi non lorem. Pellentesque est ipsum, varius a dolor ac, consectetur luctus diam. Pellentesque lobortis nisi sit amet odio aliquam interdum sit amet quis quam. Pellentesque nisl purus, dapibus vitae diam sed, convallis commodo est. Sed in laoreet nulla. Praesent ac ante a eros faucibus pharetra nec ac ex. Sed vitae faucibus augue. Fusce vestibulum scelerisque vulputate. Aliquam ultrices nunc in molestie efficitur. Praesent id mattis sem, id ornare purus. Proin commodo rhoncus nisi, ut finibus ipsum gravida id. Quisque mattis felis eu lorem rhoncus convallis. Donec dapibus nulla sollicitudin ipsum volutpat gravida. Vivamus dignissim, nunc et posuere mattis, erat leo hendrerit mi, in pellentesque nisl erat quis urna. Nam nulla ligula, pharetra in enim at, tristique pretium sem. 

Possible Class Action Suit Towards CVS and Rite Aid

After CVS Pharmacy and Rite Aid stopped accepting Apple Pay and Google Wallet at their retail stores to avoid credit card fees, Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe are launching an investigation against them. Basically, to avoid NFC fees, the merchants developed their own mobile wallet solution, called CurrentC. CurrentC uses a generated barcode as the method of payment. That's all fine and dandy, except for one thing: people don't want to have to get another app and it's less secure! Okay, I guess that's two things. Remember when Target and The Home Depot had credit card information stolen? Personal information has already be stolen with CurrentC. Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe are "investigating whether CVS and Rite Aid violated the antitrust laws by banding together with other MCX members in a decision to boycott other payments systems, including Apple Pay."

HomeKit Gets One Step Closer To Reality With Chips

We've seen settings for it in iOS 8, finalized hardware specifications for it, and now HomeKit hardware developers can purchase "HomeKit chips" for their smart appliances. This means that we should see HomeKit-enabled devices in stores in a fair amount of time. Pretty soon. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if this means that we'll have to replace our current smart appliances with new models. Hopefully, it's a software update. We'll probably receive more information on this at Apple's Made for iPhone summit from November 12 through November 14.

Apple Finally Gives 'More Specific' Release Date for Apple Watch

Today, a video message was sent to retail employees of Apple saying the the Apple Watch will be available in... wait for it... Spring of 2015! Nothing new. We knew it wouldn't come out before Valentine's Day. We knew it would be in the first half of 2015. This just confirms speculation. Here's the message that Angela Ahrendts, Apple Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores, sent to employees.

"So, again, we do - you guys were hired because you're the best people in the world. And you know how to service customers, but we are sprinting a marathon and it's not going to stop. Right? We're going into the holidays, we'll go into Chinese New Year, and then we've got a new watch launch coming in the spring."

- Angela Ahrendts

Intel Broadwell Core M Processors Hints At New MacBook Air

Intel's Core M processors seem to hint at a 12-inch MacBook Air with Retina Display. They are intended for next-gen fan-less devices, like the unannounced 12-inch MacBook Air with Retina Display. Having a efficient processor like this would seem appropriate for a thin computer that needs a lot of power. In addition, the new laptop is expected sometime in 2015. The same expected shipping date for the new Intel processors for Macs is around the same time. All of this seems to hint at a MacBook Air with Retina Display in 2015.