iLounge

In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the classic arcade shooter Galage, Namco Bandai Games America has released Galaga 30th Collection for iOS. A universal app, the Galaga Collection includes access to the redesigned and modernized remakes of the four classic Galaga series titles: Galaxian, Galaga, Gaplus and Galaga 88 all in one app. The free app includes the Galaxian G 30th Edition and 30th anniversary opening movie with the other three game titles available via in-app purchase. The games feature updated graphics for the iOS platform, optimized touch-panel controls and leaderboards and achievements through Apple’s Game Center that can also be shared via Twitter and Facebook from directly within the app. Players can earn Galaga points that can then be used to upgrade and customize their fighter and aim for high scores with a new score attack mode. Galaga 30th Collection Requires iOS 4.0 or later and is available from the App Store as a free download. Additional game titles are available via in-app purchase for $3 each or $8 for all three.

Code within the new iOS 5 beta suggests that Apple is planning to enable a built-in panorama function into the Camera app. 9 to 5 Mac reports that various panorama-related code snippets, including PANO_OPTION = “Take Panorama”, SAVING_PANORAMA = “Saving Panorama”, and CANCEL_PANO_BUTTON_TITLE = “Cancel”, have been found in the beta code. Apple has in the past included code in iOS beta releases that didn’t appear in the initial release; it is also possible that the code pertains to a feature that will be specific to some yet-unannounced device. In addition, the publication has found that iOS 5 has the ability to setup an Airport base station from within the Wi-Fi Networks menu, and also supports playback of 1080p video files on the iPad 2.

iLounge has discovered that in iOS 5, users can customize the alert sounds for New Mail, Sent Mail, and Calendar alerts, and that the prior “Syncing” progress screen has been replaced by a status bar indicator. Images of both can be found below.

Apple today demonstrated the new Twitter integration features and Reminders app of iOS 5 as part of its WWDC keynote address. The software’s Twitter integration will allow users to sign in once and then tweet directly from all Twitter-enabled apps, which include Photos, Camera, Safari, YouTube, and Maps; new APIs will allow third-party developers to take advantage of the feature, as well. Reminders is a new app that helps users manage tasks, offering features that include creating and grouping related tasks together and setting time or location-based reminder alerts, letting the device remind the user when a certain deadline approaches or when the arrive at or depart a location. iOS 5 will be available this fall.

If you’ve purchased music or music videos from the iTunes Store in the past, now would be a good time to check out the iOS 4 version of the iTunes Store application. A new “Purchased” tab has just been added dynamically to the iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad versions of iTunes, enabling you to see and retrieve the entire collection of music that you’ve previously purchased from the iTunes Store—including music videos. This is the live implementation of the iTunes in the Cloud.

Several options are available from the Purchased tab. A list of “All” songs shows you everything you’ve purchased, with 50 Recent Purchases as a secondary list, above a scrollable alphabetical collection of individual artists with a number of downloaded files off to the side. You can Download All [Artist’s Name] Songs by clicking a cloud download icon, or do the same with the Recent Purchases list—but not the “All Songs” collection. You’re also able to use a tab to sort the list by Not On This iPad/iPhone/iPod files, seeing only the ones you don’t currently have on the device.

Songs are downloaded individually to the device, and cannot be streamed; this is solely a locker to retrieve tracks as needed for your device. For users who thought they’d lost their only backups of iTunes-purchased music, this is a great new feature, and provides high-quality 256kbps AAC versions of tracks, assuming that you purchased the “iTunes Plus” versions from Apple. We’ve discovered that tracks that were purchased at 128kbps and not upgraded to iTunes Plus will still redownload via iTunes in the Cloud at 128kbps.

Note: The feature appears to be working only for U.S. iTunes Store accounts for the time being, notes our Canada-based editor Jesse Hollington.

Two of the new changes in iOS 5 were not given special attention during the WWDC 2011 Keynote today. First, Apple has officially added new multitasking gestures to the iPad that were previewed—originally for comments from developers—starting in a prior beta version of iOS 4. The gestures include four- or five-finger swipes to reveal the multitasking bar, pinch to return to the Home screen, and left- or right-swipes to switch between apps. While some developers complained that the gestures created issues in their apps, Apple’s decision to preview them in iOS 4 and then include them in iOS 5 gave developers a chance to figure out ways to accommodate them; the beta version of iOS 5 will continue this testing opportunity through fall.

Additionally, Apple has disclosed a collection of Accessibility updates. In addition to adding support for specialized hardware accessories created for users with mobility, hearing, vision, and cognitive disabilities, iOS 5 includes LED flash and custom vibration settings to signal when people are calling. It also includes VoiceOver improvements such as custom element labeling to provide personalized spoken cues for menu options.

A third interesting feature was briefly previewed: a new iPad “split keyboard” that lets users rely on their thumbs or fingers on opposite sides of the screen for typing. Swiping down with four fingers will bring up the keyboard, which includes roughly half of its smaller-sized keys on each side of the screen, and can be repositioned upwards or downwards as you prefer. The new keyboard enables you to see more of the center of the screen without having keys in the way.

We’ve just posted the full chronological transcript of our play-by-play from the WWDC 2011 Keynote. If you haven’t seen the separate news stories yet, today’s big announcements pertained to the fall 2011 releases of iOS 5 and Apple’s new free wireless synchronization service iCloud, as well as the July 2011 release of Mac OS Lion. Click on the title of this article for the full transcript, and visit our Flickr photostream for live photos from the event.

Along with a host of other changes and improvements, Apple today showed off updated versions of iOS’ Camera and Safari apps. The Camera app has been given new prominence via a button on the lock screen that allows for instant access to the Camera app without the need to unlock the phone. Users can also now use the volume up button as a physical shutter button, and the app has also gained AE/AF lock, pinch to zoom, and basic editing tools including crop, rotate, red-eye reduction, and automatic enhancement. Safari has received the Reader feature from the Mac version, as well as a “Reading List” that syncs between devices, and tabbed browsing on the iPad.

As part of iOS 5, Apple today demonstrated a new notifications system for iOS, as well as a new messaging service called iMessage. The new Notification Center moves all notifications into a new slide-down drawer at the top of the screen. All app notifications appear in this area, and users can tap on a notification to go the related app, or tap a small “x” to dismiss them; weather and stock information can also be configured to show up at the top of the drawer. The new iMessage system works very similarly to the iPhone’s existing Messages application, but also offers delivery and read receipts, typing indication, automatic push of new messages to all a users’ devices, and works over 3G or Wi-Fi.

During its WWDC keynote address today, Apple unveiled iOS 5, the latest version of its operating system for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The software offers over 1,500 new APIs for developers and over 200 new user features, including an all-new notification system, a new “iMessage” messaging system that will work across all iOS devices, enhancements for the Camera app, Mail, Safari, Game Center, integration with Twitter, a new service called News Stand that works like iBooks but is meant for magazines and newspapers, AirPlay mirroring, which will let users beam whatever is on their iPad to an Apple TV, wireless syncing with iTunes, and over-the-air software updates, that also allow iOS devices to be setup and used without connecting them to iTunes. Apple will release iOS 5 this fall for the iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and third- and fourth-generation iPod touch.

“iOS 5 has some great new features, such as Notification Center, iMessage and Newsstand and we can’t wait to see what our developers do with its 1,500 new APIs,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Perhaps iOS 5’s paramount feature is that it’s built to seamlessly work with iCloud in the Post PC revolution that Apple is leading.”

Apple may have hired Peter Hajas, the developer behind the jailbreak replacement notification system Mobile Notifier, to work on iOS’ notification system. Redmond Pie reports that Hajas indicated in a recent Twitter update that he would soon be going to work for a “fruit” company in California. In a follow-up blog post, Hajas wrote that we couldn’t say why he was stepping away from app development, but that “it’s worth it,” adding that “if you look around hard enough, you’ll probably figure it out” before finishing the the line “stay hungry and stay foolish,” a reference to the phrase Apple CEO Steve Jobs used to close out his 2005 Stanford University Commencement speech. [via Business Insider]

A pair of new reports suggest iOS 5 may receive system-level integration with Twitter. Citing multiple unnamed sources, TechCrunch reports that Apple will be a launch partner for Twitter’s new in-house photo sharing service, with options to share images to Twitter built directly into the OS—similar to the current YouTube video sharing integration—and a “Send to Twitter” button. In linking to the same story, John Gruber of Daring Fireball claims that it is “[s]o close to the bigger story, but yet so far[,]” and says to “Imagine what else the system could provide if your Twitter account was a system-level service.” Apple will unveil iOS 5 during its WWDC keynote adress, which begins Monday, June 6 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time.

Apple has announced that its will unveil iCloud, its “upcoming cloud services offering,” during its traditional keynote address to open its Worldwide Developers Conference. According to the release, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will make appearances during the keynote, which will feature the unveiling of iCloud, as well as Mac OS X Lion—the eighth major release of Mac OS X—and iOS 5, the latest version of the software that powers the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference will begin with the keynote address, to be held on Monday, June 6, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

Apple may be considering offering a discount on an iPad 2 as an option in its yearly Back-to-School promotion, according to a new report. Citing an anonymous Apple source, Boy Genius Report claims that Apple’s now traditional promotion will be announced at WWDC next month. The promotion is said to include a free iPod touch or $229 towards the purchase of any other iPod with the purchase of a new Mac, but may also give customers the option of taking a $200 discount on a new iPad 2 unit instead. The report itself seems less than fully confident about the idea, however, and such a move would be highly unusual, as the promo is normally meant to help Apple clear out inventory of iPod units prior to their traditional September refresh, instead of serving as a way to boost sales of recently updated products such as the iPad 2.

Apple, along with AT&T and US Cellular, has been hit with a patent infringement lawsuit by Visual Interactive Phone Concepts (VIPC). In its case against Apple, VIPC is asserting two patents, both of which are entitled “videophone interactive mailbox facility system and method of processing information,” according to a FOSS Patents report. The complaint states that Apple infringes on the patents due to its sales of “mobile communication devices that are videophones,” and also names the App Store—“an application service for users to view, download and use applications on their videophones”—the iTunes Store, and the iBookstore as infringing entities, because they include “a central data center that facilitates the order and delivery of [apps, entertainment content, books, PDF documents, etc.].” Apple is accused of “intentional and willful infringement,” which, as the report notes, would result in treble damages should the court agree.

The iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad collectively account for 80 percent of all wireless video viewing, according to the latest data from Internet video ad firm FreeWheel (PDF Link). During Q1 2011, the iPhone accounted for 30 percent of all wireless video views, as did the iPod touch. The iPad—despite its much smaller user base—accounted for 20 percent of wireless video views, tied with Google’s Android platform as a whole. FreeWheel attributes iOS’ overwhelming majority to its larger user base and the fact that “so many content producers prioritized their video development for this platform ahead of others.” Overall, wireless video viewing remains small—less than one percent—compared to online video viewing in general. FreeWheel’s data is comprised of 10 billion video views and 5.5 billion video ad views in Q1 2011 and is primarily U.S.-based. [via NYT]

A newly published Apple patent application suggests that the company may be planning to use small, locally-stored clips of media items stored in the cloud as an on-device buffer. Such a setup would allow for reduced media footprints on devices such as the iPod and iPhone, as only a short portion of each song or video—think an iTunes preview clip—would be stored locally, in order to give the device an opportunity to grab the rest of the item while reducing the possibility of playback pauses as media is retrieved from a server.

Entitled “Local Storage of a Portion of Streamed Media Items,” the patent describes “locally storing one or more clips corresponding to a media item such that the clips can be immediately played back in response to a user request to play back the media item. While the clips are played back, the electronic device can retrieve the remaining segments of the media item from the user’s media library as a media stream over a communications network. Once the playback of the clip is complete, the electronic device can seamlessly switch playback to the media stream received from the user’s library.” Notably, one of the images included with the patent shows an iTunes synchronization settings screen, in which an iPhone is set to “Sync partial music,” with a “Minimum Connection Speed” of 3G. As with all Apple patents, this application does not necessarily represent any future product release from Apple, but offers evidence of the company’s research in this area. [via AppleInsider]

Apple is reportedly in talks with Nuance Communications over the use of its voice recognition services in iOS 5. Citing multiple anonymous sources, TechCrunch reports that Apple has been in talks with Nuance for months, possibly over an acquisition, but more likely over a far-reaching licensing agreement and or partnership. As noted in the report, Siri, the voice-based personal assistance and search service acquired by Apple in April 2010, relies on Nuance technology for its services; Siri technology is said to play a large role in iOS 5, and the report claims that Apple has yet to successfully renegotiate the original deal between Siri and Nuance. The report cites Nuance’s $6 billion market cap as a major obstacle in any acquisition talks, as much of this value comes from the company’s various licensing deals, many of which could potentially dry up should Apple take control of the company. Nuance also develops a number of iOS apps, which it sells under its Dragon brand.

Update: According to a second report from TechCrunch, Apple has reached a deal with Nuance that will allow it to run and build upon Nuance’s software at its new data center in North Carolina. The deal will enable Apple to process voice information for iOS users more quickly, and prevent such data from going through third-party servers.

Amazon has quietly updated the Cloud Player music component of its Cloud Drive online storage service, allowing for playback over iOS devices using the Safari browser. Launched in late March, Cloud Player gives users to access both MP3 and AAC files stored using the Cloud Drive service, allowing for browser-based playback. As noted by Engadget and confirmed in iLounge’s brief testing, the feature appears to work well, with a small but notable delay between song selection and the beginning of playback. Playlist management features also work, and, surprisingly, the Cloud Player also works well with iOS’ multitasking audio controls. To utilize the new offering, iOS users simply need to navigate to their Cloud Player from within Safari.

Apple has released iOS 4.3.3, the latest version of its mobile operating system for the iPad, iPad 2, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM), iPod touch 3G, and iPod touch 4G. According to Apple’s release notes, the update contains changes to the iOS crowd-sourced location database cache; the update reduces the size of the cache, no longer backs up the cache to iTunes, and deletes the cache entirely when Location Services is turned off. The database in question was the cause of a recent uproar over Apple’s supposed location tracking, leading the company to release a Q&A document in which it gave an explanation for the cache, and blamed its large size on a “bug.” iOS 4.3.3 is available now via the Update feature in iTunes; a similar update, iOS 4.2.8, is also available for the CDMA iPhone 4.

Apple has won an initial ruling in its patent dispute with Elan Microelectronics. Reuters reports that Judge Paul Luckern of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) said in his initial decision that Apple did not violate Elan’s patents related to touchpad technology. Elan filed a complaint against Apple with the ITC in March 2010, claiming that Apple was violating its patents related to touch-sensitive input devices with multi-touch capabilities, specifically with the iPhone, iPod touch, MacBook laptops, the Magic Mouse, and the iPad; the ITC agreed to investigate the claims roughly a month later. The full ITC will now need to rule on whether to accept or reject Luckern’s initial decision; that ruling is expected in August.