Apple’s Store Is Back Up, Aperture 3 Added

UPDATE: The Apple store is finally back online and it looks like the only thing added was the recently announced photography software package, Aperture 3.

To say people aren't pleased with Apple would be an understatment... as many were hoping for the new Core i5 and i7 MacBooks.

Are you let down that nothing else was added to the Apple Store? Talk to ArisYulianta and Friends....

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Sometimes when the Apple store goes down it’s nothing, while other times new products are added once the store finally comes back online. One good sign that it could be a new product is that the Apple Store is down globally.

What do you think Apple will unveil when the store comes back? Talk to ArisYulianta and Friends....

We’re not sure what to expect once the store does come back… but this hasn’t stopped Twitter users from speculating on what is to come. It appears that most Twitterers are hoping for a new MacBook Pro while others think that the iPad will be added to the store. No one really knows what is coming, well I guess it's safe to say that a "Fail Whale" might be coming once the Apple Store comes back online.

At this time, all we can do is speculate on what Apple is currently doing. In any case, be sure to check back later as we’ll update this article on the Apple Store additions.

YouTube May Expand Into TV Show Biz

It's no secret that YouTube's trying to catch up to Hulu in terms of offering premium content; the site's administrators often make a big deal out of movie and TV show additions.  What is under wraps - or at least hasn't been publicized in press releases and blog posts - is that YouTube might also be interested in charging for access.

According to Peter Kafka, "[I]t envisions something similar to what Apple and Amazon already offer: First-run shows, without commercials, for $1.99 an episode, available the day after they air on broadcast or cable."

And although negotiations between YouTube and content owners are preliminary, according to Kafka's sources, "both sides seem optimistic, since models for such deals already exist."

Plus, since Hulu is also likely to place some content behind a pay wall, YouTube wouldn't be putting itself at too much of a disadvantage.

Of course, there's no guarantee that this experiment would be successful.  YouTube became so popular by virtue of being free, and the introduction of fees could just turn more people onto less-than-legal alternatives like the Pirate Bay.  Still, Kafka said that YouTube will probably be "one of several outlets trying to get consumers to pay for TV on the Web in 2010."

Have You Read This?

> YouTube Scopes Out Concept Of Movie Rentals

> YouTube On Verge Of Supporting 1080p Videos

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What’s Been Going on with TweetMeme?

TweetMeme has been quite busy since rival Retweet.com launched last week. After explaining why it is a more trusted brand and announcing analytics, TweetMeme has kept busy making some improvements and additions to its offerings.

TweetMeme introduced a new URL-shortening service. These things are popping up frequently, but with TweetMeme behind it, this one stands as good a chance as many other others in terms of actual use. The service, called Retwt.me, was created to provide three basic functions:

1. Shorten a link
2. Share the link on your favorite sites
3. Provide simple and easy to understand analytics

Tweetmeme has no plans to extend the service beyond those three items, but it will be used within TweetMeme to shorten comment links.

Not long after introducing Retwt.me, TweetMeme responded to user feedback and created a bookmarklet to go along with it. This allows the user to shorten links from wherever they're at on the web. All the user has to do is drag a bookmarklet to the browser address bar, then click the link whenever they want to shorten a page's URL.

Now TweetMeme itself is in the process of undergoing an upgrade. This is why if you use TweetMeme buttons on your content, you may be seeing a little wrench icon with the word "upgrading."

"First of all, all webpages at TweetMeme.com will display a holding page until the upgrade is complete," says TweetMeme's Sarah Blow. "The API will also also be down, but will still return a failure message in the requested format. Buttons displayed on websites will exhibit one of a number of behaviours, so please examine these carefully before you ask for support for a broken button."

TweetMeme will attempt to restore the last known retweet count to users' buttons after the upgrade is complete. TweetMeme is keeping a live blog going throughout the upgrade process. This can be viewed here.

Facebook Announces Plans for Privacy Improvement

Facebook has announced plans to give users more control over their information and make them better informed about privacy settings. This includes notifications and information about privacy settings and practices, additions to the Facebook Privacy Policy, and technical changes that give users more transparency and control over the info they provide to third-party apps.

Facebook's announcement comes as a result of the company working with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, which has provided Facebook with a number of recommendations.

"Our productive and constructive dialogue with the Commissioner's office has given us an opportunity to improve our policies and practices in a way that will provide even greater transparency and control for Facebook users," said Elliot Schrage, Vice-President of Global Communications and Public Policy at Facebook. "We believe that these changes are not only great for our users and address all of the Commissioners' outstanding concerns, but they also set a new standard for the industry."

Specific changes Facebook will be implementing include:

- Updating the Privacy Policy to better describe a number of practices, including the reasons for the collection of date of birth, account memorialization for deceased users, the distinction between account deactivation and deletion, and how its advertising programs work.

- Encouraging users to review their privacy settings to make sure the defaults and selections reflect the user's preferences.

- Increasing the understanding and control a user has over the information accessed by third-party applications. Specifically, Facebook will introduce a new permissions model that will require applications to specify the categories of information they wish to access and obtain express consent from the user before any data is shared. In addition, the user will also have to specifically approve any access to their friends' information, which would still be subject to the friend's privacy and application settings.

"We strongly believe that the changes to the permission model for third-party applications will give users more confidence in Platform and will, thus, help ensure the long-term health and vitality of the ecosystem that has grown around Platform," said Ethan Beard, Director of Platform Product Marketing at Facebook. "We will be communicating regularly with developers about the changes and we're going to take our time to make sure the outcome is something users understand and that developers have ample time and notice to adapt."

Facebook says work on the planned changes will begin immediately, although some of them will take a while to become visible. They have to worry about things like updating and testing the new Facebook API and third-party developers reprogramming and testing their own apps. Facebook anticipates the whole process will take about a year.

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