We never like to kick off a recap with news about a product or service going down the tubes, but that's exactly what's happening with the folks at Springpad. Initially launched six years ago as a competitor to Evernote, Springpad announced that the service will be shutting down for good on June 25, taking all of its apps and sync with it. The company is working on an export tool to allow its more than five million customers to migrate their data elsewhere, and plans to have more details next month. We now return you to our regularly scheduled Wednesday recap...
Apple Denies iCloud Compromised in Australian Ransom Scheme
Earlier this week, we reported that some Mac and iOS users in Australia were finding themselves locked out of their devices, a dilemma which appeared to stem from the built-in Find My iPhone feature. According to ZDNet, Apple has finally broken their vow of silence on the situation, flatly denying that iCloud has been "compromised during this incident" and recommending that those affected immediately change their Apple ID passwords. The problem has continued to spread to users in New Zealand, Canada, and even the U.S., with no one quite sure how the hackers have managed to remotely lock down the afflicted devices, which are reportedly being held ransom in exchange for payments of up to $100 made via PayPal.
Quicken Maker Gobbles Up Bill Payment Service Check
Intuit Inc. announced Tuesday plans to acquire mobile bill payment service Check Inc. for $360 million. In an email to customers yesterday, Check CEO Guy Goldstein claimed "business will continue as usual" for the service's 10 million registered users, with plans to "accelerate our efforts" once the deal closes in the coming months. Intuit is the creator of personal finance solutions Quicken and Mint as well as tax preparation software TurboTax, and the company expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Apple-Beats Deal Still Happening, But for Less Money
If you've been tossing and turning many sleepless nights over the possibility Dr. Dre might lose his shot at being the first billionaire in hip-hop, worry no more: The New York Post reported Tuesday that the rumored deal between Apple and Beats Electronics is proceeding as planned, give or take a couple of million. Instead of the $3.2 billion initially reported by Financial Times, the acquisition is now said to be happening at the "slightly reduced price of $3 billion." The discrepancy is said to be blamed on Spotify's recent announcement of 10 million paying customers, although one source close to the talks elaborated “Apple hadn’t even begun its due diligence process when news of the number came out." Or maybe Apple's accounting team just prefers their acquisitions rounded off to the nearest billion...?
Reeder 2 for Mac Nearly Ready, Will Require New Purchase
Developer Silvio Rizzi announced this week that Reeder 2 for Mac is nearly ready for release, a welcome return to the desktop for one of the most popular RSS readers around. Like the iOS version, Reeder 2 for Mac will require a new $9.99 purchase even for owners of the earlier release, but the good news is Rizzi plans to continue adding more new features and services to the application once it hits the Mac App Store. On a related note, Rizzi also released Reeder 2.2 for iOS yesterday, which delivers background app refresh, a loading progress indicator for the in-app browser, feed or date grouping for smart streams, and a whole lot of other enhancements and bug fixes; existing users can download the update free from the App Store.
Single Spotify User Hacked, No Apparent Risk to iOS Users
Apple wasn't the only tech company grappling with hackers on Tuesday: Spotify announced yesterday that a single user's data had been accessed during recent "unauthorized access to our systems and internal company data," although the breach apparently did not include "any password, financial, or payment information." Curiously, the streaming music service is recommending Android users to upgrade to the latest version from Google Play or Amazon Appstore, although desktop, iOS and Windows Phone users appear to be unaffected by the issue.
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