Yesterday, one of our readers, Aaron wrote in to tell us Amazon Cloud Player was suddenly playing — if not nicely, than with less hostility — on his iPad. Since it’s US only, I couldn’t check it myself but I asked him what was different from the previous, play-one-song-at-a-time-via-QuickTime “support”

He said it was; it played in his Safari browser, didn’t launch QuickTime, his music controls worked, and it would continue to play in the background. He was also kind enough to make us the video, embedded below.

Why less-hostile rather than nicely? You still have to ignore the warning about it not being compatible and push on through. Hopefully this means Amazon is working on it, however, and it will eventually, if not soon, be a seamless experience for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

If you’re using Cloud Player on iOS, let us know what you think of the experience now. Good, good enough, still needs to get better?

[Thanks Aaron!]

Amazon Cloud Player now less hostile to iPhone, iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Fortune‘s Adam Lashinsky goes Inside Apple to detail how the world’s most secretive and successful computer consumer electronics company is run, from Steve Jobs… down to the janitor. And it’s a doozy of an article. Over the course of some 22 pages, we learn:

• Steve Jobs was not amused by the disastrous MobileMe launch, pulling the team together at Apple’s Town Hall and asking: “Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” “So why the [frak] doesn’t it do that?” (iTunes head Eddy Cue was subsequently put in charge of a new, smaller team and charged to fix it.)
• We hear again how Apple, despite its monolithic size, is run like a startup.
• Jobs is trying to institutionalize his process to prepare Apple to run without him one day
• Every Monday, Jobs and his team review the “whole business”, and they can turn the whole company on a dime if they have to.
• Accountability is enforce. Every project has a “directly responsible individual”
• According to Jobs, the difference between a janitor and a VP is that the janitor can have reasons for not getting something do. “Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering.”
• There’s a Top 100 clique — whose members can change over time — that Jobs takes on quasi-annual retreats to share his and the executive teams’ visions for Apple’s future.
• Apple believes in small groups. iPad Safari was ported by just two engineers.
• Managers are specialists. Ron Johnson runs retail but Tim Cook controls inventory.

And much, much more. If you’re interested in Apple, get the May 23, 2011 edition of Fortune. You can grab the app from the App Store [iTunes link] if you don’t already have it, and if you’re a print subscriber you can get the issue for free. If not, it’s $4.99.

[via Fortune's Apple 2.0]

Fortune goes Inside Apple is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they're iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they're fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Ramp Champ – @reneritchie

Ramp Champ has just gone free. Here’s what I said about when I picked it back in October of 2009:

Ramp Champ is co-developed by Iconfactory, so you know it’s pixel perfect. A skee-ball type casual, fun, time passer it’s perfect for the iPhone. Thanks to in-app purchase you can buy more ramps when — make that if — you get through the 4 for so that come with the app. I say if because, while the first challenge is easy, the second is hard, and I think I’ll need an Ambrose Chase-style description field to get through the third. And did I mention it’s gorgeous as well?

Yet another reason I’m going to have to figure out a way to slip the Icon Factory $10 at WWDC.

[Free - iTunes link]

Shop Savvy – @Alli_Flowers

Still on my scanner kick, this week I fell for Shop Savvy, another really clever app that’s also available in the Android Marketplace. Find something you like in a store, and scan the barcode. In a matter of seconds, Shop Savvy will tell you where else you can find it locally, as well as where you can find it online, and the relative cost.

You can almost always count on the item being available for less on Amazon. (It just stands to reason.) But on occasion you’ll find that your local shop has whatever it is at a low enough cost that once you add in shipping, you may as well buy it locally.

Tonight I was in our local Pet Supplies Plus, looking at a crinkle bag for my feline children. It was $27. A quick click with Shop Savvy showed me that on Amazon it was only $18, while at Allegro Pet shop it was a whopping $28! However, not only did it not list any other local stores carrying the totally awesome Kitty Crinkle Sack, it didn’t list Pet Supplies Plus. Shop Savvy does give you the option of adding the store and the item though.

In addition to being able to add stores, you can add the items if they are not already in Shop Savvy’s huge database of consumables, and photos. And of course, you can always look the item up old school, and just type in the name of the product.

There is also a premium version for $1.99. I’m almost tempted to buy it just to see if there are any more options for purchasing the amazing Kitty Crinkle Sack!

[Free - iTunes link]

Order & Chaos Online – @JBaby_9783

Order & Chaos Online is so much fun. I am a recovering World of Warcraft addict having played for 4 years. I haven’t played in a year and I thought I was over my addiction. But then came Order & Chaos Online and I fell off the wagon. It’s everything people love about WoW only it’s on iOS. It’s not exactly like WoW but it’s so close. I like to think of it as a Pocket WoW. The most jarring difference, to me, is Humans and Elves can talk to and play with the Undead and Orcs. That feels unnatural to me.

I mainly play on my iPad 2 and it plays beautifully. It’s even awesome on the iPhone 4. I wasn’t sure if it would be since the screen is so much smaller. To my surprise I had no problems. I do prefer playing on my iPad though. You just can’t beat the extra screen real estate.

There a few bugs like some quests are messed up. But for a 1.0 release they are easily overlooked. The real question I have is will Gameloft continue to update this game? MMORPGs need fresh content. Overall I’m thrilled with this game. I can’t wait to see what the future will bring. Will this push Blizzard into making an official version of WoW for iOS? Sound off in the comments.

Warning: I highly recommend this game but if you value your time and/or your family STAY AWAY!!! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

[$6.99, with subscription and in-app purchases - iTunes link]

iPad 2 – @chrisoldroyd

Yes, I decided to take the plunge and get an iPad 2 even though I said I wouldn’t!. I managed to grab one on Tuesday this week so it is still early days but so far the upgrade is well worth the money. Went a bit cheap and got the 16GB WiFi model; it's all I really need as I can tether to my iPhone 4 for data.

The speed increase has been the most impressive part for me, everything works that much faster. Web pages loads without seeing the checker board patterns and apps load in a flash. It is a double win for me. The wife has inherited my original iPad so she’s happy too! So far, really loving my iPad 2!

[Starting at $499 - Apple.com]

MyEmpire – @JorjLim

EmpireAvenue is a unique social stock market, based on friends and other online personalities.

By integrating your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other supported social sites, you create yourself as a stock. Your activity on the connected sites, affects your share price.

MyEmpire is a great iPhone app, that allows you to monitor your stocks and shares, as well as buy and sell stock on the go. There are leaderboards built in to the app, so you can see who is best to buy or sell.

The app's UI is quite basic on iOS, however the functionality in the app makes up for it.

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

xkcd – @llofte

xkcd is “a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language” that is targeted towards a special kind of geek. Most comics are related to computer science, physics, or mathematics. I love xkcd and love it even more on my iPhone. The app is very basic but sends out a push notification when a new comic is available. If you’re a fan of xkdc, get this app.

[Free - iTunes link]

Barrel (Jailbreak) – @GeorgiaTiPb

Barrel is a sweet little tweak from Cydia that lets you customize the way the animation looks when you swipe between home pages. On a pure iPhone, the icons just slide over. With Barrel, they can rotate like a 3D cube, or they can slide up or down, scroll or fade, stair-step or squeeze, scatter or carousel, collect or get flippy with it. Or my favorites, curl and roll away or zoom.

It adds just that little extra touch of flare to your iPhone, makes you smile when you change screens, and is a great demo to show people who might be interested in the kind of customization Jailbreak allows.

[$2.99 - Cydia]

Notesy – @_JKK_ (Reader’s Choice)

Notesy is the best of the rest in a crowded field of Dropbox-synchronizing text editors. Making use of the phenomenally stable and fast Dropbox API, Notesy is able to quickly and reliably sync notes from my Mac to my iPhone and iPod touch.

Since the notes are saved in the universal .txt file format, the notes aren’t locked into any proprietary program; you can view them anywhere you have an internet connection with the online Dropbox web client.

My personal system includes syncing notes from Notational Velocity back and forth to Notesy between two iPods, an iPhone, and an iPad using Dropbox as the behind-the-scenes system; it works great, with no problems to report upon.

Notesy includes timed auto-saving (every two minutes if the file is being edited), an extremely smart, minimalist design, and is super slick; lag isn’t an issue with Notesy, even whenever the library of notes approaches a ridiculous size and number.

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

Your pick?

You're part of the team as well, so we will be choosing one reader to make a submission each week! Just look for the announcement on [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/llofte] or our Facebook page each weekend for a chance to be picked! In the meantime, jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

TiPb Picks of the Week is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

According to TechCrunch, Apple is in discussions with Nuance, makers of the widely popular Dragon Dictation voice recognition software.

Apple has been negotiating a deal with Nuance in recent months, we've heard from multiple sources. What does that mean? Well, it could mean an acquisition, but that is looking fairly unlikely at this point, we hear. More likely, it means a partnership that will be vital to both companies and could shape the future of iOS.

Apple previously bough the artificial intelligence app, SIRI, which initially relied on Vlingo technology but later switched to Nuance, however Apple has reportedly had trouble renegotiating the Nuance license. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak set off a flurry of rumors late last year when he casually (and presumably mistakenly) said Apple had already bought Nuance. (He likely meant SIRI).

A buyout would be expensive for Apple but a licensing deal would help them remain competitive in the device space — Nuance co-founder Mike Cohen reportedly helped create voice recognition for Google, and Android is now well ahead of Apple in this area.

And the truth is that Nuance needs Apple too. Not only are they also threatened by Google, but Nuance technology is simply not very meaningful without apps that utilize it like Siri. And many of those apps are appearing guess where: iOS.

It’s been rumored for a while that Apple will build SIRI into iOS 5 at the core level, and they might just need Nuance to make that happen. Whether that means an expensive marriage or an expansive partnership — or nothing at all — remains to be seen.

[TechCrunch]

Apple in discussions with Nuance over voice recognition for iOS 5? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

The launch of the Wi-Fi only iPad 2 in China on Friday morning once again garnered massive interest outside its Apple Stores. The queues were huge outside the flagship Apple Beijing store although many of the waiting customers were thought to be scalpers. The Queues starting forming on Thursday evening at around 5pm.

Scalpers are becoming a major frustration to many people as they buy up as much stock as possible to sell on at a profit. Some stock goes to other countries while the rest gets sold outside the store it was purchased from. Customers buy if off the street to avoid having to wait in the lines. The Beijing Apple Store even had a sign outside forbidding scalpers to sell in the district.

[M.I.C Gadget via Cult of Mac]

iPad 2 sells out in China in under four hours, attracts huge crowds is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Getting an error that the app you want to install from iTunes can’t be installed on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad because it “could not be found” and wondering how to fix it? iTunes is a beast of a program and for all of its convenience it can be downright frustrating at times. But fear not, we suffer through these problems so you won’t have to. (Or at least so we can help you fix things faster). For some tips on finding your can’t be found apps in iTunes, follow on after the break!

I’ve had the “app could not be found” error in iTunes quite a bit lately, and there ended up being a few different causes and a few different things I had to do to fix it.

Most of it involved multiple library conflicts. For good or for ill, iTunes can have multiple libraries — one for music and one for videos, one for you and one for your spouse, one for general use and one for holiday fare, etc. It’s one of the ways Apple lets you organize your stuff. But it can go horribly wrong in a couple of ways.

And when it does, iTunes can’t figure out why an app that should be installed on your iPhone or iPad isn’t in the /Mobile Applications folder.

Remote library connection confusion

If you have a different configuration between desktop and laptop, and you sync Mac system preferences via MobileMe, you can get into a world of hurt. For example, my main media library is on a Drobo hanging off my desktop. My iPhone and iPad library is on the main boot drive of my laptop. Usually that means if I connect to one, the next time I connect to the other I’ll either connect to an empty library (on my desktop because there is no local library on the boot drive) or be told it can’t find the library (on my laptop, because there’s no Drobo connected). If, however, I’ve connected remotely to my Drobo from my laptop (to move files), then iTunes will open the Drobo library — over Wi-Fi — and try to sync my iPhone or iPad from that. Since not all apps were in both libraries, bingo. Missing apps.

Multiple local library collisions

iTunes can sometimes have different local libraries as well. For example, mine had /iTunes, iTunes/iTunes Media, and /iTunes/iTunes Music. When I launched iTunes, it would randomly connect to one of them and, again, because different libraries had different apps, errors would ensue.

How to fix it

Here’s what I did:

1. Stopped syncing systems preferences with MobileMe. Yes, I lost some functionality, but I spared myself a lot of headaches. That fixed the remote library problem.
2. Copied all files from /iTunes and /iTunes/iTunes Music to /iTunes/iTunes Media (not over-writing duplicates).
3. Deleted /iTunes and /iTunes/iTunes Music
4. Made sure I had /iTunes/iTunes Media selected as my library in iTunes
5. Organized my iTunes Library
6. (You should choose the iTunes Media option if you haven’t already. Captain Default!
7. Re-downloaded any apps that still showed up as missing. You can sometimes tell which ones these are by the lack of artwork on the icon. Instead of the actual app icon, iTunes will show a black default icon.
8. Relaxed and enjoyed

And that’s it. Buh-bye “app could not be found”, hello successful sync.

Have any other iTunes library tips? Let us know!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Daily Tip: How to fix the “app could not be found” error in iTunes is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

A bunch of print newspapers and magazines seem to be finally jumping on board the iPad subscription train, including The Telegraph (UK), Heart properties including Esquire, Popular Mechanics, and O, The Oprah Magazine, and Time has somehow swung a deal to get existing Time, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated readers free access via iPad.

And, of course, Playboy is coming uncensored (my guess is web app, no iOS-handled subscriptions).

Meanwhile the launched-with-much-todo The Daily has reportedly gotten 800K downloads but is losing $10 million a month.

The big stumbling block was, is, and remains Apple’s insistence that users opt-in to sharing their demographic data with publishers (while the publishers would prefer opt-out since they figure — probably rightly — few users will actively choose to share). Publishers have historically relied on demographics and marketing against them as a key revenue source. Another problem has been getting users to pay for content that they’ve gotten used to getting free on the web — especially when publishers have asked fairly high prices (sometimes higher than print!)

So with more and more heavy hitters hitting the platform, but with everyone still struggling to figure out the business model, what does the future hold for iPad subscriptions? Do we need an iMags/iNews store like iBooks? Or is it just the wrong medium for an outdated message?

What will it take to get you to subscribe?

[FT, WSJ, WSJ, MediaMemo]

iPad subscriptions: The Telegraph, Esquire, Popular Mechanics, The Oprah Magazine, Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated, and The Daily is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog