• apple,  exchange server,  ios,  iphone,  microsoft,  vodafone

    3G Battery Performance May Also Be Contributing to iOS 6.1.1 Being Fast Tracked [Updated]

    February 11, 2013 /

    Following up on the Apple iOS 6.1.1 beta release to developers story from yesterday, Ars Technica has some more information about potential iOS 6.1 battery life issues.

    From Ars Technica:

    “Things heated up on Friday when Vodafone issued a warning to its UK subscribers saying not to download iOS 6.1 to their devices. The company sent a text message to subscribers and posted a notice on its forums (hat tip to MacRumors) saying iOS 6.1 “impacts performance on 3G” for Vodafone’s iPhone 4S users.” 

    “Some customers may occasionally experience difficulty in connecting to the network to make or receive calls or texts or to connect to the Internet. Apple is working on a solution to their software issue. These connection problems are intermittent,” the company wrote. “While Apple’s investigations continue, we would recommend that anyone who has not yet installed iOS 6.1 on their iPhone 4s should delay doing so until Apple has confirmed that their problem has been fixed.”

    Stay tuned. I would say that if we see the a release before the end of March and/or with four or less beta builds, iOS 6.1.1 was an emergency release to address a recurring meeting bug with Microsoft Exchange Server, something that will be a big problem for Apple customers who rely on Microsoft’s corporate email, calendaring, and messaging platform and 3G battery life issues the Vodafone mentioned.

    Update

    Apple has released iOS 6.1.1 specifically for the iPhone 4S to address “cellular performance”.

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  • amazon,  android,  app st,  apple,  ea games,  games,  google,  ios

    Real Racing 3 Will Be Free, Multi-platform on Feb 28

    February 11, 2013 /

    Electronic Arts will be launching Real Racing 3 for free on February 28 for Apple iOS and Google Android smartphones and tablets as well as in the Amazon App Store.

    From the Firemonkeys Forums:

    “Today we announced Real Racing 3 will be free. And yes, Real Racing 3 was designed from the ground up to be a free to play experience. We are so excited about this game and wanted it to be accessible to everyone so we didn’t want there to be any barriers to entry. This accessibility is also what drives the awesome new Time Shifted Multiplayer feature, in that you can play competitive multiplayer with anyone any time, and they don’t need to be online with you at the same time.” 

    “At launch we have 46 licensed vehicles covering 3 classes, a 22 car grid, real world tracks, 8 varied event types and 900+ events. This means hundreds of hours of gameplay for free making this one of the most expansive games ever on mobile. We plan to continue to add more free and exciting content with every update.”

    Bloomberg has this to add:

    “Electronic Arts will appeal to a wider audience of casual players by making the “Real Racing 3” multiplayer game free, said Nick Earl, the company’s senior vice president for mobile and social game development.” 

    “Electronic Arts Inc. will offer free downloads of its newest “Real Racing” title as the second- largest U.S. video-game publisher works to draw the increasing number of gamers using mobile devices.”

    The draw, I think, for this game, is the offline multiplayer mode that will allow you to race against your friends at different times.  Might be worth a test drive.  I’m not a big racing game fan, even though I own both Real Racing HD and Real Racing 2 HD.  (I bought them when they were on sale in the iOS App Store.)

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  • apple,  exchange server,  ios,  microsoft

    Exchange Server Bug May Be Cause of iOS 6.1 Battery Issues

    February 10, 2013 /

    Just days after Apple released iOS 6.1 to the public, iOS 6.1.1 was released to developers.  It’s not uncommon for companies to quickly begin working on the next version of their software.  What is unusual is how quickly the beta was turned over to developers outside of Apple so quickly.

    We might now know of the drivers to get iOS 6.1.1 out into customer’s hands.  A number of reports have sprung up over the last few days indicating that the battery problems reported after the release of iOS 6.1 could be related to a bug in Microsoft Exchange Server when a new recurring meeting invitation is received by an iOS device.

    AOL CIO Michael Freker, yes, *that* AOL, has written the following excerpt in an internal company email:

    “We have researched this problem and it appears to be connected to a recently identified issue that seems to cause these iOS devices to continuously loop while synchronizing a recurring calendar meeting invitation. Similar problems have been reported by a number of sources to several media outlets across the Web in the past few days.”

    There is a growing thread on Apple’s own support forms that suggests and unnamed employee working for ‘the fruit company’ suggests as a workaround fix for the issue until an official fix is released.

    “The Official Solution from an unnamed source within that fruit company in Cupertino:

    The bug in iOS 6.1 is a ping-pong infinite loop trying to talk to the Exchange server. Unfortunately, just rebooting doesn’t fix the issue. Deleting the account is necessary to remove the problematic invitation response from the queue. 

    The workaround is annoying, but effective:
    – Delete your Exchange account
    – Recreate the Exchange account
    – Do not respond to meeting invitations from the device until 6.1.1 comes out.”

    In other words, if you use your iOS 6.1 device with an Exchange Server, it is a good idea to not accept recurring meetings until a fix is released.

    I have a company issued iPhone 4S and I have not seen this issue, but then again, I don’t receive many recurring meetings, and if I do, I then to reply to those meeting invitations from Windows 7 laptop with Outlook 2007.

    For more on this store, visit iDownloadBlog.com.

    [Via iDownloadBlog.com…]

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  • apple,  ios,  ipad,  ipad mini,  iphone,  ipod touch

    Apple Releases iOS 6.1.1 Beta to Developers

    February 6, 2013 /

    It seems like it was just 10 days ago that Apple released iOS 6.1 and here we are getting word that the first beta of iOS 6.1.1 has gone out to developers.

    Unlike the iOS 6.1 maintenance update, iOS 6.1.1 seems to targeted at enhancing Apple’s Maps application.

    In a note to developers accommodating the release, Apple said iOS 6.1.1 beta 1 includes the following improvements to Maps for Japan:

    • Improved pronunciation of roads during turn-by-turn navigation
    • Optimized directions to more strongly prefer highways over narrower roads
    • Now indicates upcoming toll roads during turn-by-turn navigation
    • Added labels for junctions, interchanges, on-ramps, off-ramps, and intersections
    • Added indicators for transit station buildings, subway lines, and traffic lights
    • Updated freeway color to green
    • Updated icons for some location categories including fire stations, hospitals, and post offices Added 3D buildings including Tokyo Station, Japan Imperial Palace, and Tokyo Tower

    The iOS 6.1.1 beta is said to work with the iPhone 3GS and later, the iPad 2 and later, and the iPod touch fourth generation and later.

    [Via AppleInsider.com…]

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  • apple,  apple store,  ipad

    128GB iPad Forth Generation Begins Shipping

    February 5, 2013 /

    Got $799 burning a hole in your pocket?  You’re in luck because Apple has you covered.  The new forth generation iPad with Retina Display is now shipping out.

    The following is a snippet from Apple’s January 30th announcement of the iPad storage upgrade:

    Apple® today announced a 128GB version of the fourth generation iPad® with Retina® display. The 128GB iPad with Wi-Fi and iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular models provide twice the storage capacity of the 64GB models to hold even more valuable content including photos, documents, projects, presentations, books, movies, TV shows, music and apps.  

    “With more than 120 million iPads sold, it’s clear that customers around the world love their iPads, and every day they are finding more great reasons to work, learn and play on their iPads rather than their old PCs,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With twice the storage capacity and an unparalleled selection of over 300,000 native iPad apps, enterprises, educators and artists have even more reasons to use iPad for all their business and personal needs.”

    You can read the full press release on the Apple website.

    You can purchase your new iPad with Retina Display from the Apple online store or at a local Apple retail store near you.

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  • apple,  icloud,  ipad,  ipad mini,  iphone,  ipod touch,  troubleshooting

    How To: Back Up Your iDevice with iCloud

    January 29, 2013 /

    I’ve always been a firm believer of running backups your important documents and other data like photos, music, and videos.

    Over the years, Apple has done a good job enhancing iCloud to automatically take care of this for you on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.  With last night’s little iOS 6.1 upgrade disaster, knowing that I had a recent backup of my iPhone meant that I was only going to have to deal with the reloading my backup and not have to worry about lost photos, text messages, and all the rest.

    Here are a few quick steps to make sure you have iCloud backups turned on and how to run an immediate backup if you want to – like just before an iOS upgrade.

    Turning on iCloud Backups

    Step 1: To get started, tap on Settings from the Home screen.

    Step 2: Tap on iCloud on the Settings page.

    Step 3: Sign in to your iCloud account if you haven’t already done so.

    Step 4: Scroll down to the bottom of the iCloud page, and tap ‘Storage & Backup’.

    Step 5: Near the bottom of the page, set the ‘iCloud Backup’ option to ‘ON’.

    Step 6: Tap the ‘Back Up Now’ button at the bottom of the page to start a backup immediately.

    Bonus Points: At the very bottom of the ‘Storage & Backup’ page, will be a message telling you when the last time a successful iCloud backup was completed.

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  • apple,  ios,  ipad,  troubleshooting,  upgrade

    iOS 6.1 Upgrade Loads Without Problem on My iPad 3

    January 29, 2013 /

    For all the trouble I had installing the iOS 6.1 upgrade last night on my iPhone 4S, the same upgrade when flawlessly on my iPad 3.

    From what I can tell, it was a fluke that something when wrong on my iPhone. I’m a member of #TeamPure and I don’t jailbreak my gear so I’m really unsure of what actually went wrong.

    I’ll just chalk it up to ‘fun and excitement with technology’ and get back to using my iDevices.

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  • apple,  ios,  iphone,  troubleshooting,  upgrade

    My iPhone 4S is OK, iOS 6.1 Installed

    January 29, 2013 /
    I was annoyed this evening while untangling a failed iOS 6.1 OTA upgrade this evening.  The good news is that my iPhone is alive and well.  I did have to spend a ridiculous amount of time downloading and reinstalling iOS 6.1 via iTunes to get the iPhone out of recovery mode.
    In the end, I was able to get my iPhone working again, but after the install of the iOS 6.1 upgrade from iTunes, the iPhone is behaving like a new device.  Looks like a little while longer getting my iCloud backup restored and making sure everything truly is back to normal.
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  • apple,  apple tv,  ios

    Apple TV Software Upgraded to 5.2

    January 29, 2013 /

    Along side the iOS 6.1 upgrade released today, Apple also rolled out Update 5.2 for current model Apple TV boxes.

    Users can download the update directly to their device by choosing the Settings application on the Apple TV, then choosing “General,” and “Software Update.” The full list of changes in the update, according to Apple, are:

    • iTunes in the Cloud: Brows and play your purchased iTunes music directly from iCloud.
    • Up Next: See upcoming songs when playing music, and easily choose what plays next.
    • Bluetooth Keyboard: Use your Apple Wireless Keyboard to control your Apple TV.

    [Via AppleInsider.com…]

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  • apple,  ios,  ipad,  ipad mini,  iphone,  ipod touch,  upgrade

    Apple Updates iOS to 6.1

    January 29, 2013 /

    While I am waiting to recover my iPhone 4S from a failed iOS 6.1 upgrade, we might as well read Apple’s iOS 6.1 press release.

    CUPERTINO, California—January 28, 2013—Apple® today updated iOS to version 6.1, adding LTE capabilities to 36 additional iPhone® carriers and 23 additional iPad® carriers around the world, so even more iPhone 5, iPad mini and iPad* with Retina® display users can experience ultrafast wireless performance** to browse, download and stream content at blazing fast speeds. To date, iOS users have uploaded over nine billion photos to Photo Stream, sent over 450 billion iMessages and received over four trillion notifications.

    “iOS 6 is the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, and with nearly 300 million iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices on iOS 6 in just five months, it may be the most popular new version of an OS in history,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iOS 6.1 brings LTE support to more markets around the world, so even more users can enjoy ultrafast Safari browsing, FaceTime video calls, iCloud services, and iTunes and App Store downloads.”

    iOS 6 features include Siri®, which supports more languages, easy access to sports scores, restaurant recommendations and movie listings; Maps with Apple-designed cartography, turn-by-turn navigation and Flyover view; Facebook integration for Contacts and Calendar, with the ability to post directly from Notification Center, Siri and Facebook-enabled apps; Shared Photo Streams via iCloud®; and Passbook®, the simplest way to get all your passes in one place. Additional updates in iOS 6.1 include the ability to use Siri to purchase movie tickets in the US through Fandango, and iTunes Match℠ subscribers can download individual songs to their iOS devices from iCloud.

    iOS 6.1 is available as a free software update today. iOS 6.1 is compatible with iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad (third and fourth generation), iPad mini, iPad 2 and iPod touch (fourth and fifth generation). Some features may not be available on all products.

    You can read the complete iOS 6.1 press release on the Apple PR website.

    [Via Apple.com…]

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