iCloud

Receive push Gmail alerts on iOS after losing ActiveSync support

Last December Google announced its plans to discontinue support for Google Sync as of January 30, 2013. Sync allowed users to access Gmail, Google Contacts and Calendar using Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync system. What this allowed iOS users to do was set up Gmail as an Exchange account, which in turn provides push alerts for new e-mails in a real-time sync of Calendars and Contacts.

The cutoff date has long passed, but if you had an account already set up and running on your iOS device as Exchange, you had nothing to worry about; Google promised to keep the service … Read more

iWorks gets iCloud treatment for Google Docs-like functionality

Google Docs has been around for a while, but later this year, Apple will give its iWork suite of apps the iCloud treatment, letting you create, access, and edit Pages, Numbers, and Keynote documents from a Web browser on a Mac or Windows PC. Apple calls it iWork for iCloud.

Naturally, Apple would prefer if you used its Safari Web browser to access your cloud-based iWork content, but you'll also be able to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Google's Chrome browsers (Apple says iCloud for iWork is optimized for those browsers).

Apple is releasing a developer beta … Read more

Features and fixes I want to see in Mac OS X 10.9

Apple's World Wide Developers Conference starts on Monday, and while the main focus appears to be on updates to iOS (read my iOS 7 wish list here) and various Mac hardware, it's highly likely we'll get an update for Mac OS X 10.9 as well. At this point, we don't know what will be announced and we don't even know which "cat" will be associated with the release. Even the picture above (a giant banner currently displayed at Moscone Center) is suspiciously free of any cats at all, so it's hard … Read more

How to report spam e-mail sent to your iCloud account

Fighting spam is a constant cat-and-mouse game and one every e-mail provider faces. I receive my fair share of spam e-mail on my iCloud e-mail account, and for the longest time have just deleted them without opening, figuring it would eventually stop.

Then last week while on Twitter, I saw the following Tweet:

Pro tip:1. Select spam message2. Message => Forward As Attachment3. Send to spam@me.com4. Do a dance

— Jake Behrens (@Behrens) April 19, 2013

I had no idea this method even existed. Unfortunately, forwarding an e-mail as an attachment isn't possible on an iOS device. … Read more

Apple's iCloud jumps 20 percent to 300 million users

Apple's iCloud online storage jumped 20 percent in the most recent quarter, the company noted on its earnings conference call with analysts.

Apple chief financial officer Peter Oppenheimer said the company now has 300 million iCloud users. In January, Apple noted that iCloud had 250 million users.

The service stores and syncs data from Apple customers, such as calendars, email, photos and more across the various Apple devices that users own. Last month, Strategy Analytics reported that Apple held 27 percent of cloud storage usage in the United States during the third quarter of 2012, leading rivals.

Apple iOS users hit by online access glitches

Apple iOS users bumped into some trouble with several online services today.

Updates on Apple's status page this morning revealed that users might get an error when signing into their iCloud accounts or creating new accounts.

Users may incorrectly receive an authentication error when attempting to use iCloud. Setting up a new iCloud account from an eligible device may be temporarily unavailable.

Additionally, some people were unable to create new Apple IDs or sign into the Game Center app. Some iTunes users had been unable to access the iTunes store or make purchases, but Apple's status page indicates … Read more

Apple's iMessage, FaceTime experiencing problems

Two of Apple's communication networks, iMessage and FaceTime, are currently experiencing outages for some users.

According to Apple's fancy system status page, the issues for the two services began just after noon PT.

iMessage, of course, is Apple's proprietary messaging platform that works between iOS and OS X users. FaceTime is the company's live video chat service, also for those two platforms. Affected users report being unable to send or receive iMessages or FaceTime video calls.

This is not the first outage for either service, though iMessage has historically experienced more problems. This latest follows one … Read more

When will Apple kill the iPod?

Physical music formats were so 20th century, so we put our music on computers. But even that was too much of a burden, so music is going up, up, and away, into the cloud and streaming. The iPod Classic is firmly rooted to the ground, and I like it that way.

I can live without Siri, iCloud, a camera, iOS 6, a Lightning connector, Bluetooth, AirPlay, or any of that jazz to keep the Classic's 160GB storage capability, and the Classic's "classic" 30-pin connector that still works with gazillions of docks and accessories. Is there another … Read more

Apple leads, Dropbox gains in cloud storage wars

Apple is currently in the lead when it comes to the domestic cloud storage wars, according to a new survey produced by Strategy Analytics.

The real strength here for the Cupertino, Calif.-based corporation was digital entertainment, which tends to require a lot of space anyway.

Thus, the combination of iCloud and iTunes Match was said to account for 27 percent of cloud storage usage in the United States during the third quarter of 2012.

Ed Barton, director of digital media at Strategy Analytics, highlighted in the report how music has become a "key battleground in the war for … Read more