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.