Five Years of iTunes App Store

Apple celebrates 5 Years of the App Store, iTunes App Store which launched on July 10, 2008.

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I currently have 25 apps installed on a freshly restored iPhone instead of 200+ apps.

The App Store launched about one year after the release of the original iPhone.

Star Trek Into Darkness Pre-Order

Star Trek Into Darkness hast just premiered and retailers are already taking pre-orders for the movie. For example, Amazon.com and iTunes are reminding customers that they can pre-order the movie even if they had not seen it in the theater.

Star Trek Into Darkness iTunes Pre-order

Spoiler Free Rants about Star Trek Into Darkness

So here it is, the second Star Trek movie from J.J. Abrams and his team of writers. Just like its 2009 predecessor, it is an Action and Adventure movie in a Science-Fiction’s clothing. Think of Star Trek Into Darkness as combination of Transformers and Prometheus. Well, it is written by the people who penned Transformers and Prometheus. This movie is plagued with plot holes and lack of originality. The seemingly clever plot twists ruined the story telling. If you fancy lens-flares, then you would love Star Trek Into Darkness.

Apple ID Password reset site is back online

After taking down iforgot.apple.com following a serious vulnerability found earlier today. The security vulnerability allows Apple ID password to be reset with only email and birthdate. Accounts with two-step verification is not affected by this vulnerability. Apple took down its Apple ID password reset site to address the vulnerability.

Apple rolled out two-step verification for Apple ID on Thursday March 21, 2013.

iforgot.apple.com

A thing or two to know about two-step verification for Apple ID

On Thursday March 21, 2013 Apple enabled Two-Step Verification for Apple ID.

Two-step verification is an optional security feature for your Apple ID. It requires you to verify your identity using one of your devices before you can:

  • Sign in to My Apple ID to manage your account.
  • Make an iTunes, App Store, or iBookstore purchase from a new device.
  • Get Apple ID-related support from Apple.

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In addition to the Frequently asked questions about two-step verification for Apple ID, there are a few things we found:

  • One phone number can be authenticated to multiple Apple ID two-step verification.
  • Not all SMS-capable phone number can be used, such as Google Voice number and Skype.
    Apple has listed supported carriers for SMS and two-step verification.
  • When verification code sent to an passcode-protected iOS device, user must unlock the device first before the code to be displayed.
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  • When verification code sent through SMS to a passcode-protected iPhone, the SMS content might be shown depends on the notification setting.
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  • Nexus 4 running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean does not display SMS content when it is passcode-protected (including face-unlock and pattern-unlock).
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Apple was expected to beef up Apple ID security after the epic hacking of Mat Honan’s Apple ID and Amazon Account.

iOS App of the Week: Angry Birds

One thing that I forgot to mention yesterday, Angry Birds (the original) is App of the Week at iTunes App Store. That means you can get this game for free, if you haven’t done so.

By the way, Rovio has bought back the distribution right of the original Angry Birds from Chillingo.

Angry Birds | Angry Birds HD

Angry Birds App of the Week

Skyfall on Blu-ray

Skyfall Blu-ray

I actually bought Skyfall on Blu-ray, and I have yet to see this movie; not in the theater or anywhere else. The package includes:

  • Blu-ray disc
  • DVD
  • Standard Definition Digital Copy (iTunes version)
  • UltraViolet

Seriously, who would care for the UltraViolet copy? I could never get it to play correctly. I became Ultra-Violent during UltraViolet sign-up process.

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