When iPhone and iPad users fire up iOS 6 this fall, one of the biggest changes they'll notice is an absence of Apple's competitor Google.
Not only has Apple created its own version of maps to replace the Google Maps app in iOS 6, but it's nixed the native YouTube app--a feature that has been included in iOS since its beginning.
Apple had this to say about the omission: “Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store."
It's not clear which side (or both) prevented a renewal of the agreement, though The Verge interprets the situation as "more evidence that the two companies want to kill one another." In other words, The Great Tech War Of 2012 continues.
You'll still be able to download Google apps to your iOS devices, of course, but YouTube and Maps will no longer come pre-installed. The good news, if you like watching YouTube on your Apple device, is that the YouTube mobile website is more robust than its abandoned native app counterpart anyhow.
September Launch Date For New Nokia Windows Phone?
Word is, Nokia may be coming out with a phone in early September, just in time to meet Microsoft's new Windows 8 OS.
Tipsters have told Bloomberg that Nokia will be showing the phones off for the first time at the Nokia World event in Helsinki that takes place over September 5 and 6. If that's true, Nokia could have its phone out before Apple unveils its new iPhone, itself rumored to be out in mid-September.
But that's not all. An independent rumor bubbling up at the website Know Your Mobile via Concept Phones suggests that a future "Nokia Lumia X" device may have an optical zoom feature built into a rotating top. If that's true--that could separate this mythical Nokia's Lumia X model from other high-end smartphones which largely rely on lower quality digital zoom.
Shark Week, Thunderclap Form Voltron Of Awesomeness
Pledge a tweet, save a shark.
Discovery Channel's Shark Week is teaming up with Thunderclap to give its social campaign some extra bite. Shark Week is supporting three shark conservation groups--the Pew Environment Group, Oceana and Shark Savers. Regular shark lovers can rally behind the the trio this season and back a shark extinction awareness campaign on Twitter or Facebook. "The more that join, the louder Shark Week conservation efforts will be heard worldwide," the groups explain on their Thunderclap campaign page, which TheNextWeb noticed had gone up today.
This partnership with Shark Week comes at a good time for Thunderclap, which just got out of rough water with Twitter. When Thunderclap first launched, Twitter shut it down, perceiving a threat to its own Promoted Tweets. But Thunderclap bounced back, taking its business to Facebook and convinced Twitter to changed its mind too. Discovery Channel's Shark Week is a perennial hit, and likely to serve the new service well. Thunderclap allows fans of a brand to pledge tweets or Facebook posts towards to support it. If the campaign hits the target number of pledges, Thunderclap sends out a mass message turning the event or cause into a trending topic.
Look Who's Talking Now: Nuance Announces Voice-IDing Speech-To-Text Software
Nuance, makers of Siri, just introduced the world to their latest muse, "Nina." Though the two apparently sound the same, Nuance has added "voice biometrics" to Nina's list of talents as a voice-activated personal assistant. Like Siri, Nina identifies spoken phrases, but the difference is, Nina can tell who is speaking. Nuance explains that this means that Nina could work as an authentication tool, using voice ID instead of typed passwords. For example, when AllThingsD tested the app, Nina would only allow the one registered speaker to sign into its demo banking app. Nuance is letting Nina loose with a software development kit--a first for the company--giving developers the ability to integrate the software into mobile apps that use voice-activated customer service. This expands beyond Siri's coverage area, which falls primarily within Apple's own selection of apps. Nuance will pilot test Nina in August with the USAA, which provides banking facilities for the U.S. military. The plan is to give all USAA members access to Nina on their Android and iOS USAA apps early next year.
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