Weekly Mobile News Roundup – 18 October 2013

 Once again the week is coming to an end and that means it’s time for a roundup of the past weeks news!

iOS App Runtime Inspector ‘Reveal’ Launches for OS X – Software developer Itty Bitty Apps has launched Reveal, a runtime inspector for iOS apps that runs on OS X. The software integrates tools such as Firebug and Apple’s Web Inspector that enable the user to perform runtime inspection with different 2D and 3D visualisations for faster debugging.

AT&T Plans to Offer Stand-Alone $5-a-Day Data Plan for iPads – Using a Wi-Fi only iPad works well enough when you have an available connection, but sometimes emergencies strike and you find yourself wishing you had an LTE-enabled device.

Apple’s multitouch ‘Steve Jobs patent’ revalidated in full by USPTO – Some nine months after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a tentative first Office action invalidating an Apple multitouch patent credited in part to cofounder Steve Jobs, the body has reversed its initial determination to confirm all claims as patentable.

Six iPhones tested, and they can’t agree on true north – Apple’s iPhone 5s is already getting bad press for bugs and errors, with recent complaints focusing on an unreliable gyroscope/accelerometer. Some outlets arespeculating the problem is tied to Apple changing the manufacturing source of its accelerometers for the 5s and 5c, but TechHive believes the compass accuracy problems extend beyond Apple’s two latest smartphones.

New iOS 7 GarageBand And iPhoto App Icons Hint At Upcoming Design Overhaul – It’s amazing what you can find when you go digging through various sections of Apple’s iOS operating system. Those who have the knowledge and patience to delve into the inner workings of the software can often encounter some extremely interesting things that Apple may or may not want the average user to immediately know about.

First Generation iPhones Are Now Being Advertised As “Collector’s Items” And Being Sold For Thousands Of Dollars – The first iPhone – the iPhone 2G – is now being advertised as a collector’s item. Yes, the antiquated first generation iPhone, boasting little more than an iPod with dumb phone capabilities, is now seeing its stock rise.

Apple Recalls MacBook Air Flash Storage Drives Sold Between June 2012 & June 2013  – Apple has recalled 64GB and 128GB flash storage drives that were used in the previous generation MacBook Air. The systems were sold during June 2012 and June 2013, and those affected qualify for a free flash storage drive replacement at their local Apple retail store, or authorized service provider.

Here’s Why the iPhone 5S Accelerometer Is So Screwed Up – A few weeks ago we confirmed reports that the iPhone 5S motion sensors were embarrassingly off. Some enterprising devs have investigated the problem, and figured out that at its root, it’s indeed a hardware design issue that Apple either overlooked or ignored.

Researchers challenge Apple’s ‘unbreakable’ iMessages – Shortly after revelations about the NSA’s data-snooping programs became public, Apple publicly stated that the end-to-end encryption used in iMessage was so good that it was impossible for anyone — including Apple — to break the code. Now security researchers are saying that it could be possible for someone inside Apple to intercept uncoded messages either for themselves or the government.

Possible move to A7 chip/Touch ID will boost appeal of iPad in the enterprise, says analyst – Deutsche Bank’s Chris Whitmore argues in an investment note that Apple’s expected use of the 64-bit A7 chip will make the iPad a much more appealing proposition for the enterprise market.

Apple begins dressing up Yerba Buena for Oct. 22nd iPad event – Ahead of its October 22nd iPad and Mac event, Apple has begun dressing up the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Fransisco with banners. While the banners have just begun going up, it is easy to see that the banner will match the theme of the event’s invitation: fall-inspired leaves.

Apple’s Newest Exec Ahrendts Should Shake Things Up, Fit Like A Glove– Most of the coverage on Apple’s recent hire of Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts has included one or more photographs of her. And really, why not? First, it’s pretty standard fare to show a photo of a high-profile executive. Second, she runs a fashion brand, so Ahrendts nearly always looks sharp.

Anki Drive: Does ‘the best robotics startup’ deliver? – When Tim Cook introduced Anki CEO Boris Sofman onstage at Apple’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference this June, more than a few audience members wondered who Sofman was and how an unknown startup — one that hadn’t launched — snagged a primo slot at one of the most anticipated tech events.

10 years ago today Apple shipped iTunes for Windows, and hell froze over – 10 years ago today iTunes shipped for Windows. Slightly more than 10 years ago, an argument rippled through the ranks of Apple over whether or not to do just that – to make their new music platform accessible to their rival’s all-but-eclipsing computing platform, or to keep Apple’s iPod unique to Apple’s Mac.