During the special keynote event yesterday Apple announced all new versions of their productivity and creativity apps for Mac and iOS. All new versions of iWork and iLife which includes Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band are now free with purchase of new Mac or iOS device. These updates are also free for existing users who purchased the older versions.

I own a Mid 2010 27-inch iMac which has been serving me well all these years. OS X Mavericks the tenth major software release for the Mac was also made available for free to iMac models dating back to 2007. After multiple failed attempts to download the software update due to Apple’s sever overload and then finally succeeding I was able to install OS X Mavericks.

After installing the new software update when I launched the Mac App Store to download other software updates I noticed Keynote as one of the app among other apps listed that had available updates. Now, this was interesting to me as I never purchased Keynote app for the Mac.

When I purchased the Mac I downloaded trial version of iWork (Apple did not have Mac App Store back then) and then later purchased only Pages and Numbers app as a digital download. Keynote app was still installed but never worked as the trial had expired.

After installing Mavericks I noticed under the “Purchases” tab it listed Keynote app with a purchase date of today. After the app was updated I launched it and it worked flawlessly.

In the past I’ve got lucky even with iCloud. Just when rumours about Apple announcing a cloud based service reached an all time high I registered for a free trial of MobileMe service. Since the trial was for 60 days and within a weeks time Apple announced iCloud I got extended storage of 25GB for one year without ever paying for the old MobileMe service.

iWork apps are also available on iCloud as web apps and now feature collaboration. The shift in Apple’s pricing strategy by listing its creative and productive suite of apps as free would certainly help in more customers experimenting with these apps and thus increasing its usage worldwide.

Earlier this week, Google introduced a new design to its mobile gmail web app, bringing over features from its Gmail iOS app. Google had previously done this with its Maps application for iOS, which is now a very popular alternative to Apple’s own Maps. Now, it appears that Google is planning an even bigger service for iOS users called ‘Google Now’.

Google Now is currently an Android only feature and provides its users with a range of information including flight notifications, weather, traffic, reservations, packages, birthdays, transit information, stocks, movie times and more all in one spot.

On Wednesday, Engadget posted a video of what they claimed to be a Google Now promotional video for iOS, that was likely posted to YouTube by mistake. The video was quickly removed, but an Engadget reader downloaded and made a copy of the video beforehand.

The video has since been pulled from YouTube and appears to feature the same voice actress as the original Now announcement (which you’ll also find after the break for comparison). Supposedly, Now will be accessible in an upcoming iOS app update simply by swiping up from the main screen. Of course, there’s always the chance that is an impressive fake or even a canceled project that’s only being leaked now. We’ve reached out to Google for comment, but even if the search giant remains silent, we’re confident the truth will be known soon enough.

The promotional video shows a cartoon smartphone that looks very similar to an iPhone running iOS, and also shows off a number of the application’s features, including traffic directions, game scores, and flight information. At the beginning of the video, the voice actress clearly states, “introducing Google Now for iOS. The right information, at just the right time.”

{Via MacRumors}

On Wednesday, Apple Inc. (AAPL) acquired HTML5 web app company, Particle. AAPL has acquired other companies in the past in order to develop a key part of one of their projects or create an entirely new one. CNET initially reported that Apple acquired the San Francisco based startup and that they acquired the company for its talents in the industry as opposed to any specific project that they were working on.

The company has done HTML5 work for Google, Motorola, Amazon, Yahoo, Sony, and Apple. The group has also created some “labs” projects including Intervue.me, an asynchronous video interviewing project. […]

The deal went through late last month, though not all its less than a dozen employees stayed on to work at Apple. Those who did are listed as “creative technologists” as well as one “user interface engineer,” according to their public LinkedIn profiles.

The report goes on to mention that Apple’s new employees will be put to work specifically on projects such as Apple’s website, iAd, and iCloud.com. Apple may also utilize the company for other projects, such as bringing more of the iTunes software over to the web, similar to iTunes Preview.

It appears Apple has already brought a few employees from Particle onboard already, with TechCrunch noting that several Particle employees have changed their employees on LinkedIn as early as September.

{Via MacRumors}

Late last year, in November, rumors suggested that Microsoft was working on Office for the iPad and the Mac App Store but no solid details surfaced during that time. On Wednesday, The Verge reported that a Microsoft product manager released comments to Czech site IHNED.cz [Google translation] that Microsoft is in fact working to bring Office to iPhone and iPad in March 2013. In its report, the publication noted a press release from the Microsoft’s Czech Republic team that confirms that Office for iOS will be arriving soon.

In addition to Windows, Office will be also available on other operating systems, Windows Phone, Windows RT, Mac OS, Android, iOS and Symbian,” says Microsoft, while separately noting that there will also be a new version of Office Web Apps too. […]

The press release also mentions that Office 2013 will be made available to businesses in December, with a consumer launch scheduled for the end of February 2013. “Office 365 services and other Office products for mobile (phones and tablets) will be released from March 2013,” says Microsoft.

Soon after the announcement, numerous people began to refute the claim, including Microsoft head of PR Frank X. Shaw who mentioned that the Czech statement was not credible.

The information shared by our Czech Republic subsidiary is not accurate. We have nothing further to share.

With all of the rumors popping up on the web since late last year, it is very likely that Office for iOS will be arriving in the March/April timeframe and Shaw is refuting the claims in order to contain the rumors about the arrival of the suite of software to the iOS platform.

{Via MacRumors}

iOS 6 was released to the public a little more than a week ago already complaints have flooded the internet over the fact that Apple’s new iOS Maps app does not offer walking and transit directions like Google’s Maps. Other complaints included Maps getting directions and places wrong, with one user claiming that there was a city that Maps located in the middle of the ocean.

Apple CEO Tim Cook finally addressed the complaints by issuing an open letter, noting that as users begin to use Maps more, the better it’ll get. The full letter can be seen below.

To our customers,

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook
Apple’s CEO

Several hours after Cook published the letter, Apple updated the App Store with a new feature sections called “Map Apps”. In his letter, Cook mentioned to users that they can download free apps such as Waze and MapQuest until iOS Maps improved.

The new sections includes a range of different map applications from companies such as Waze, Mapquest, Garmin, Bing, and MotionX, offering transit directions, walking directions, as well as separate turn by turn navigation apps. With Cook’s letter and the addition of the new App Store section, it show’s that Apple is taking criticism of its iOS Maps very seriously and is looking to correct the issue momentarily until their own mistake is corrected in the long term.

{Via MacRumors}

Following the release of Apple’s iPhone in 2007, Apple Inc. (AAPL) experienced heavy adoption of its first smartphone, leading to the release of the second generation phone. After initial support for web apps AAPL also announced the App Store, which revolutionized the landscape of gaming on mobile devices. Many third-party app developers created apps tailored to the iPhone and iPod touch, and gave the iOS platform boost and rival with Nintendo, Microsoft, and other gaming platforms.

On Thursday, it was revealed that Apple has hired former Xbox Live marketing executive to help grow iPad and iPhone gaming initiative. With an update to his LinkedIn profile, Microsoft Marketing Manager for Xbox UK, Robin Burrowes, revealed that he has been hired to help push gaming on iPhone and iPad to further success.

Burrowes tenure at Microsoft saw him work on Xbox for roughly seven years, where he was most recently responsible for all product, business and marketing management of Xbox LIVE in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. For Apple, he’s the latest in a series of high-profile British gaming recruits, following the hire of Nintendo’s public relation’s chief Robert Saunders last year, as well as Nick Grange — who also at one point ran public relations for Xbox, as well as for gaming heavyweights Activision and Electronics Arts.

Microsoft released the Xbox 360 and took over a large percentage of the consale gaming market, with services such as Xbox Live. Apple gave the company some competition with the iPhone 3G and the App Store and has now hired one of Microsoft’s employees to try and get Apple even higher share in the gaming market.

Apple currently has over 550,000 apps in the App Store, 20% of which are games, making the hiring of Burrowes an obvious choice for Apple. iPads, iPhones, and iPods are gaining traction in the mobile gaming market, being considered portable gaming platforms, competing against other systems such as the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable.

{via iMore}

The new change closely resembles tabs on Google’s Chrome web browser. The search giant has also updated their generic search to include a drop down grid of all the different search types, and apps, instead of the old text list. The latest UI update has only been updated on Google’s Web search, Video search, News and Blogs.

The older ‘blue’ interface still appears on Image Search, Places, Shopping, Finance, Apps, iGoogle and Books. Google Apps, like GMail, Google Translate, Google Docs and Google Reader haven’t received any form of update either, although Google might slowly roll those out after the initial UI change.

YouTube was revamped a few months ago, and most recently, Google Maps also received an all new HTML 5 base. Google is moving past Apple’s pre-installed Maps application into an entirely web based mobile interface, similar to that of their web based desktop OS, currently running on numerous netbooks.

Twitter is completely hauling out it’s old web app design so that when you now head over to Twitter on an iPhone or iPod touch, it is very close in design to the actual app in the Apple app store. This isn’t very surprising considering that Twitter is closely following in the steps that Facebook took in redesigning their mobile site.

At first, Facebook rolled out an update for their iPhone app, then they completely redesigned the mobile site to resemble the app. This seems to be what Twitter is planning to do. There is a downside though, not all Twitter users are able to see the mobile site yet. Twitter is slowly rolling it out to users across the world, allowing only a select group to see and interact with the new redesign.

We want you to be able to access Twitter no matter where you are; regardless of what device you use; or, whether you prefer to access Twitter through a mobile application or the browser. Today, we’re starting to roll out a new version of twitter.com for mobile devices. This web app allows us to provide a high-quality and consistent Twitter experience on high-end touchscreen devices – whether or not an official Twitter application is available. It was built from the ground up for smartphones and tablets, which have more advanced browsers that support the latest web technologies, including HTML5.

Those who have used the new design say it runs much more fluidly and looks much better than the previous design. We’ll just have to wait and see when all users get the new redesign.