A brief primer on Microsoft Office for iOS rumors
We can now safely say that rumors that Microsoft was working on a version of Office for Apple's iOS platform weren't false. They were just early.But boy has it been a long road to Friday, when Microsoft made it official by releasing its Office Mobile for iPhone app -- which is officially dubbed"Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers" in the iTunes Store.Reports that Microsoft was aiming to bring a version of its productivity software to Apple's mobile platform date all the way back to February 2010, just a few weeks after the the iPad was unveiled in San Francisco, and more than a year and a half after the debut of the App Store. Since then it's been a trickle of vague feature lists, misfires on release dates, and increasingly honed denials and no-comments from Redmond. Here's a quick timeline on when this all started, and the turns along the way.February 2, 2010In a since-removed interview, a senior Microsoft product manager tells U.K.-based technology site T3 that the company is "looking at" bringing Office to the recently-announced iPad. No specifics on a timeline or feature set are mentioned. Read: CNET's review of Office for iPhone April 1, 2010The same month the iPad goes on sale, then president of Microsoft's business division and future Nokia CEO Stephen Elop tells Bloomberg that the company has no plans to bring Office to the iPad. However he leaves it somewhat open saying "we never say never." September 16, 2010Never say never indeed, says Microsoft tracker Paul Thurrott. In a simple tweet, Thurrott says "Shhh.... It's true: Microsoft is working on iPad apps."Shhh.... It's true: Microsoft is working on iPad apps.â€" Paul Thurrott (@thurrott) September 15, 2010It's unclear whether that means Office or otherwise. Microsoft ends up bringing over OneNote to the iPad (iTunes) more than a year later, along with other apps like Bing, MSN, and Lync.November 29, 2011Now-defuncttablet newspaper The Daily reports that Microsoft is "actively" working on a version of Office for the iPad. Microsoft avoids commenting on the report, saying it's "committed to expanding" how many platforms and devices Office is on.Office Mobile for iPhone: Quick edits outside...See full gallery1 - 4 / 6NextPrevFebruary 21, 2012The Daily follows up from its original report, saying that Office is headed for the iPad and that the outlet had even played with an early version of the software -- complete with an alleged screenshot of it. It added that Microsoft's efforts looked a bit like its already-released OneNote software for the iPhone and iPad. On top of all this, The Daily says Microsoft does not plan to release a version for Android. Microsoft fires back, saying the report is "based on inaccurate rumors and speculation." May 23, 2012After a brief lull, Boy Genius Report says Microsoft's planning a November release for a version of Office for the iPad as well as Android. Microsoft calls the report -- which BGR says comes from a reliable source -- "rumor and speculation."June 4, 2012Newcomer to the Office for iOS rumor mill Business Insider says Microsoft plans to bring Office to the iPad in November. Citing sources within Microsoft Office Sales team, the site says Microsoft is likely to introduce the product at its SharePoint conference in Las Vegas, in time for a holiday release.October 10, 2012Microsoft product manager Petr Bobek mentions to Czech site IHNED that Office is headed to iOS and Android in March 2013, information that's doubled in a press release, says The Verge. Microsoft says the information is "not accurate." October 11, 2012A day after the Czech rumor, Thurrott casually throws in some information about Office for iOS in a report about Office 2013 hitting its released to manufacturing milestone.Furthermore, if you've seen rumors about Office 2013 for iOS and Android, they're happening, but the products will only be made available via the subscription Office offerings, and hit in April. October 12, 2012A smoking gun, or just some overzealous support copywriters? French site Mac4Ever spots mentions of "Excel for iPad" on a Microsoft support page. Other mentions to Word and PowerPoint for iPad are found shortly thereafter.November 7, 2012 A post on The Verge says Office for iOS and Android is "real and it's coming to iOS first." The report posts alleged screenshots of the suite, which comprise of separate apps for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. The software will let people view Office documents stored on SkyDrive for free as long as users have an account with Microsoft, but only paid Office 365 users will be able to edit those files on their device, the report claims. The rumored release date is "late February or early March, with an Android version due in May."December 4, 2012During a speech at the Nasdaq OMX Investor Program, Skype CFO Bill Koefoed notes that Microsoft will have "more to say" on Office for the iPad and Surface, marking a beginning of the company simply not denying the rumors. December 11, 2012A report from The Next Web reports that Apple has rejected Microsoft's attempt to publish an application for SkyDrive on iOS, something AllThingsD later says is part of a larger scuffle between the two companies as Microsoft wanted to get a better revenue split to sell Office 365 subscriptions inside of Office for iOS -- something that is said to be holding up a release of Office on Apple's platform.April 2013After several months of quiet, CNET sister site ZDnet posts an alleged roadmap of Microsoft Office products with a launch for Android and iOS slated for October 2014. Interestingly enough, they come without mention of any tie-in to Office 365 subscriptions, just software.June 14, 2013Microsoft rolls out Office for iPhone, but not iPad or Android. Yet.
How to jailbreak your iOS 7 device
How to jailbreak your iOS 7 device
The evasi0n team is back with a jailbreak tool for iOS 7 devices. As you may recall, last year the same team released a tool for iOS 6 devices and it was extremely easy to use. That same tool has been repurposed and adapted to jailbreak iOS 7 devices. Specifically, you'll need to be running iOS 7.0 up to 7.0.4 in order for the tool to work. The process is nearly identical to the previous tool, requiring you to download and run the evasi0n app on your computer with your iOS device connected. This time, only a Windows and Mac version exists, leaving Linux users out. Before you begin, you'll need to make a backup of your device using iCloud or iTunes. Should you decide to use iTunes, make sure you click the little box to encrypt the backup (don't forget the password!), which speeds up the setup process if you need to restore your iOS device. Encrypting your backup stores your account passwords and eliminates the need to sign into every app and e-mail service currently on your device; similar to how iCloud handles backups. And of course, now is about the time I should warn you about jailbreaking your device. Whenever you alter official software on any device you run the risk of something going wrong, or features not working properly during or after the jailbreak. By jailbreaking your device, you're taking responsibility for anything bad happening. At the very worst you'll need to restore your device using DFU mode, which is a simple process. After backing up your device, disabling your passcode (which helps speed up the process and prevents bad things from happening during jailbreak), and downloading the evasi0n tool, install or run the program. Mac OS X users who receive a warning about the app being from an untrusted developer will have to right-click on the app's icon and select Open.Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNETFrom there the process is as simple as following the prompts. Connect your iOS device, click on the jailbreak icon and wait. The longest part of the process is waiting for the evasi0n tool to place all of the required files and bundles onto your iOS device; including an evasi0n app icon. You may notice the app icon during the process but don't tap on it until you're prompted to. Your iOS device will reboot a few times during the process, you'll be prompted to unlock it once the reboot is finished, and finally you're asked to tap on the evasi0n app icon. Your device will reboot one last time and the jailbreak will be complete. You'll find Cydia installed and will be ready to start tweaking your device. Should anything go wrong, or if you decide jailbreaking isn't for you, you can always restore your device using the backup you created before you started. Make sure to read through the evasi0n troubleshooting guide if you encounter any roadblocks along the way.
The evasi0n team is back with a jailbreak tool for iOS 7 devices. As you may recall, last year the same team released a tool for iOS 6 devices and it was extremely easy to use. That same tool has been repurposed and adapted to jailbreak iOS 7 devices. Specifically, you'll need to be running iOS 7.0 up to 7.0.4 in order for the tool to work. The process is nearly identical to the previous tool, requiring you to download and run the evasi0n app on your computer with your iOS device connected. This time, only a Windows and Mac version exists, leaving Linux users out. Before you begin, you'll need to make a backup of your device using iCloud or iTunes. Should you decide to use iTunes, make sure you click the little box to encrypt the backup (don't forget the password!), which speeds up the setup process if you need to restore your iOS device. Encrypting your backup stores your account passwords and eliminates the need to sign into every app and e-mail service currently on your device; similar to how iCloud handles backups. And of course, now is about the time I should warn you about jailbreaking your device. Whenever you alter official software on any device you run the risk of something going wrong, or features not working properly during or after the jailbreak. By jailbreaking your device, you're taking responsibility for anything bad happening. At the very worst you'll need to restore your device using DFU mode, which is a simple process. After backing up your device, disabling your passcode (which helps speed up the process and prevents bad things from happening during jailbreak), and downloading the evasi0n tool, install or run the program. Mac OS X users who receive a warning about the app being from an untrusted developer will have to right-click on the app's icon and select Open.Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNETFrom there the process is as simple as following the prompts. Connect your iOS device, click on the jailbreak icon and wait. The longest part of the process is waiting for the evasi0n tool to place all of the required files and bundles onto your iOS device; including an evasi0n app icon. You may notice the app icon during the process but don't tap on it until you're prompted to. Your iOS device will reboot a few times during the process, you'll be prompted to unlock it once the reboot is finished, and finally you're asked to tap on the evasi0n app icon. Your device will reboot one last time and the jailbreak will be complete. You'll find Cydia installed and will be ready to start tweaking your device. Should anything go wrong, or if you decide jailbreaking isn't for you, you can always restore your device using the backup you created before you started. Make sure to read through the evasi0n troubleshooting guide if you encounter any roadblocks along the way.
Amazon's Jeff Bezos- A passion for Kindle and digital content delivery
Amazon's Jeff Bezos: A passion for Kindle and digital content delivery
The Kindle is clearly a passion for Bezos. It follows on his love for selling books online, which was the origin of Amazon, and developing a new market for digital content delivered over wireless networks."We base our strategy on customer needs instead of what our skills are...Customers will eventually need things that you don't have skills for, so (you) need to renew yourself with new skills," Bezos said. If Amazon doesn't extend into new product categories, the company will get outmoded, he said. Bezos wouldn't disclose Kindle sales. "On a title-by-title basis, with 125,000 titles for Kindle, and you look at Amazon's physical sale of the same books, Kindle sales are more than 6 percent of the universe of 125,000 titles," he said. Amazon reduced the price of the $399 Kindle by 10 percent this week.While Bezos said he was happy with the sales of the Kindle, the price cut and the heavy promotion of the device on Amazon's site could mean sales aren't spectacular. The Kindle could be a meaningful financial component in Amazon's business, Bezos said, but he didn't put a figure on the Kindle's contribution to annual revenue.Regarding the fate of physical books, Bezos said the vast majority of books will be read electronically. Just as horses haven't gone away, books will be around, he quipped. "We see Kindle as an effort to improve the book, even though it hasn't changed in 500 years," he added. "You can't ever outbook the book, so you have to do things that you can't do with a book, such as in-stream dictionary lookup, changing fonts, and wireless delivery of content in 60 seconds," Bezos said. "We have to build something better than a physical book." Bezos said he did research into the smell of the book--glue, ink, and mildew. "We can never capture that," he said, adding that the container is not important; the narrative is. He wants to make long-form reading more frictionless so that people read more.Mossberg asked Bezos about adding new features to the Kindle and its utility as a Web browser. "There are things that fit into the Kindle form factor and don't interfere with the purpose of the device. But the device is not a cell phone or bunch of things. It should be able to browse the Web," he said. "If you were trying to build the perfect Web-browsing device, you wouldn't use electronic ink. It's not the right display technology for high-quality Web browsing." "You might say the Web is the most important book in the world," he added, but that's not something the Kindle is designed to read as well as other devices.Click here for full coverage of the D: All Things Digital conference.
The Kindle is clearly a passion for Bezos. It follows on his love for selling books online, which was the origin of Amazon, and developing a new market for digital content delivered over wireless networks."We base our strategy on customer needs instead of what our skills are...Customers will eventually need things that you don't have skills for, so (you) need to renew yourself with new skills," Bezos said. If Amazon doesn't extend into new product categories, the company will get outmoded, he said. Bezos wouldn't disclose Kindle sales. "On a title-by-title basis, with 125,000 titles for Kindle, and you look at Amazon's physical sale of the same books, Kindle sales are more than 6 percent of the universe of 125,000 titles," he said. Amazon reduced the price of the $399 Kindle by 10 percent this week.While Bezos said he was happy with the sales of the Kindle, the price cut and the heavy promotion of the device on Amazon's site could mean sales aren't spectacular. The Kindle could be a meaningful financial component in Amazon's business, Bezos said, but he didn't put a figure on the Kindle's contribution to annual revenue.Regarding the fate of physical books, Bezos said the vast majority of books will be read electronically. Just as horses haven't gone away, books will be around, he quipped. "We see Kindle as an effort to improve the book, even though it hasn't changed in 500 years," he added. "You can't ever outbook the book, so you have to do things that you can't do with a book, such as in-stream dictionary lookup, changing fonts, and wireless delivery of content in 60 seconds," Bezos said. "We have to build something better than a physical book." Bezos said he did research into the smell of the book--glue, ink, and mildew. "We can never capture that," he said, adding that the container is not important; the narrative is. He wants to make long-form reading more frictionless so that people read more.Mossberg asked Bezos about adding new features to the Kindle and its utility as a Web browser. "There are things that fit into the Kindle form factor and don't interfere with the purpose of the device. But the device is not a cell phone or bunch of things. It should be able to browse the Web," he said. "If you were trying to build the perfect Web-browsing device, you wouldn't use electronic ink. It's not the right display technology for high-quality Web browsing." "You might say the Web is the most important book in the world," he added, but that's not something the Kindle is designed to read as well as other devices.Click here for full coverage of the D: All Things Digital conference.
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