The twentieth episode of Angry Birds Toons titled “Run Chuck Run” is now playing on Angry Birds App near you.
Check back for next week episode.
Office Cat
It’s Saturday and I don’t feel like posting anything. So I’ve scheduled this post to be published sometimes in the evening.
Here’s an Office Cat.
Apple Developer Center is Mostly Up
It has been one week since Apple took down its Developer Center Website due to security intrusion. At this point most of Apple Developer Center is back online including iOS and Mac Dev Centers. Apple developers with expiring paid memberships are given some extra time to renew since Program Enrollment and Renewals section of the website is still not operational.
Apple iOS team is reportedly ready to distribute the next iOS 7 beta sometimes early next week.
Google Abruptly Ends Chromecast-Netflix Promo
UPDATE:
From Chromecast page at Google Play:
Please note that the Netflix promotional offer (which was available in limited supply) has now ended. Orders placed before 1PM PST on 7/25 will receive their promotion code once their order ships.
Does anyone remember what Google Play said before regarding the Netflix Promo? Did it say “limited”?
From Amazon.com:
Netflix Promotion No Longer Available
Please note that the Netflix promotional offer (which was available in limited supply) has now ended. Customers who ordered their Chromecast prior to 5:31 PM PST on July 24, 2013 will receive a Netflix gift code via email within 5 days of their product’s ship date.
Why do Amazon.com and Google have different cut-off time?
How many customers bought Chromecast because of the Netflix deal?
I certainly am one of them.
Another question regarding this shortlived Chromecast-Netflix promotion:
Is it Google who fronted all the bills for the promotion, Netflix or both?
My guess is that Google is the one paying Netflix for the Promotion and was surprised with the amount of orders. If only Google would release the sales figure of Chromecast from before and after the Netflix promo ended.
——-
From Google Chromecast Offer page:
Please note that the Netflix promotional offer (which was available in limited supply) has now ended.
[Update 4:30 p.m. July 25: Google clarified that users who purchased Chromecast before the promotion ran out will still be able to redeem their Netflix promotion code for three free months of the video streaming service.]
Does that include all users who purchased Chromecast but were put on back-orders on Thursday July 24, 2013? Amazon was still taking orders on late Thursday and wouldn’t be shipping the unit to customers until later date.
Google Chromecast is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com
You can now pre-order Google Chromecast at Amazon.com. For those who have Amazon Prime would save on the shipping cost.
Apple Developer System Status
Apple has created status page for its Developer Website as reveal in emails sent to registered Apple Developer.
Apple Developer System Status Update
We apologize for the significant inconvenience caused by our developer website downtime. We’ve been working around the clock to overhaul our developer systems, update our server software, and rebuild our entire database. While we complete the work to bring our systems back online, we want to share the latest with you.
We plan to roll out our updated systems, starting with Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, Apple Developer Forums, Bug Reporter, pre-release developer libraries, and videos first. Next, we will restore software downloads, so that the latest betas of iOS 7, Xcode 5, and OS X Mavericks will once again be available to program members. We’ll then bring the remaining systems online. To keep you up to date on our progress, we’ve created a status page to display the availability of our systems.
If your program membership is set to expire during this period, it will be extended and your app will remain on the App Store. If you have any other concerns about your account, please contact us.
Thank you for your continued patience.
As of this posting, Bug Reporter has just gone online.
Apple took down its Developer Website due to a hacking attempt on late Thursday July 18, 2013. Ibrahim Balic, a Turkish security researcher, believes that he is responsible for the intrusion that resulted in the downtime at Apple Developer Center.
While Apple is working to bring the Developer Webcite back online, Apple seeded OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 4 through Software Update. Apple has yet seeded iOS 7 beta 4 which was expected for release on Monday July 22, 2013 for its previous two-week release cycle. Apple has the mean to distribute iOS 7 beta 4 via Over The Air (OTA) software update. Apple prefers to distribute iOS 7 beta ipsw to developers along the OTA software update.
Google Chromecast
New product from Google:
Introducing Chromecast
To help make it easy to bring your favorite online entertainment to the biggest screen in your house—the TV—we’re introducing Chromecast. Chromecast is a small and affordable ($35) device that you simply plug in to your high-definition (HD) TV and it allows you to use your phone, tablet or laptop to “cast” online content to your TV screen. It works with Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, and Google Play Music, with more apps like Pandora coming soon. With Chromecast, we wanted to create an easy solution that works for everyone, for every TV in the house.
From the faded fine-print:
Subscriptions may be required to use with certain content providers. Chromecast is compatible with WiFi-enabled Android 2.3+ smartphones and tablets; iOS 6.0+ iPhones, iPads, and iPods; Chrome for Mac® and Chrome for Windows®; and Chromebook Pixel. Power cord required (not shown).
It seems that Chromecast does not work on its own and requires other device such as Android and iOS devices as the remote; even though Google says “Remote-free”.
Remote-free
Once your Chromecast is set up, you can use your phone, tablet or laptop to browse and cast content to your TV, play and pause, control the volume, and more. But unlike other streaming solutions, you can still multitask—send emails or surf the web—while enjoying what’s on the TV screen. It works across platforms—Android tablets and smartphones, iPhones, iPads, Chrome for Mac and Windows (more to come), so your personal device is also now your remote control.
Chromecast comes with 3 months of Netflix included when purchased from Google Play, Amazon or Best Buy.
