MacRumors

A day after a Kickstarter project was killed because of restrictions on Apple's MFi program that prevented Lightning and 30-Pin connectors from appearing on the same device, Apple has changed its guidelines to allow third-party devices to have 30-pin and Lightning chargers on the same accessory, reports CNET.

"Our technical specifications provide clear guidelines for developing accessories and they are available to MFi licensees for free," Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told CNET. "We support accessories that integrate USB and Lightning connectors, but there were technical issues that prevented accessories from integrating 30-pin and Lightning connectors so our guidelines did not allow this."

The company added that the guidelines have since been updated to allow accessories to work with both types of connectors to charge devices.

A number of MacRumors commenters felt Apple's decision to prevent the Kickstarter project from moving forward was a poor one, both for consumers, and for the company behind the project.

There is no word from Edison Junior on whether the company will move forward with the POP portable power station now that Apple has reversed course.

Nielsen yesterday released its digital "Tops of 2012" statistics, which included the top 10 iOS apps of 2012, based on average unique users. The study took place from Q1 2012 to Q3 2012 and also happened to find that this was the first year where smartphone owners became the majority of mobile phone users with 56% by the end of Q3.

Four of the top 10 iPhone apps are stock iOS apps, as YouTube and Maps are likely referring to the versions of the app bundled in with iOS 5 and earlier rather than the newer versions that launched in the past couple of months, as the new versions likely wouldn't have had the time to make a significant impact on the statistics. Nielsen notes that Facebook Messenger was the fastest growing iPhone app.

In fact, Facebook controlled three of the top 10 in Facebook, Facebook Messenger and Instagram while Google, at this point, controlled none of the top 10.

Maps averaged 32 million unique users a month while YouTube averaged 22 million, Stocks averaged 21 million and Weather averaged 20 million uniques a month.

The study also found that Android sits atop smartphone marketshare with 52% with iOS in second at 35%. Blackberry OS came in third at 7%, Windows Phone with 2% and the rest made up the remaining 5% of the marketshare pie. The statistics come from Nielsen's Smartphone Panel, which uses on-device meters at the aggregate level to find out mobile web and app activity level.

When Snapchat launched a video update last week, AllThingsD reported that Facebook was planning on releasing its own photo and video sharing app to compete with Snapchat. Facebook’s new standalone app, Facebook Poke, was released today, expanding on Facebook's original "poke" concept.

After connecting to Facebook Poke with a Facebook account, users can take a video or photo, write a message, or send a standard poke notification to friends who are also Facebook users. Each message lasts only a few seconds before expiring, after which time it is no longer visible.

If a screenshot is taken, users are notified with a bright orange icon on the feed, which is the same functionality found in Snapchat. Users can browse through sent messages in Poke by tapping and holding on a message.

Media sent via Facebook Poke is not visible in the standard Facebook app, but people will get a Facebook notification to download Facebook Poke to see Poke messages. Like the rest of Facebook's apps, Poke has a menu for reporting inappropriate content.

Facebook Poke is a free download on Apple's App Store. [Direct Link]

The Wall Street Journal is now offering in-app subscriptions on the App Store, and has added its newspaper to Apple's Newsstand automatic subscription delivery service, reports All Things D.

The move is worth noting because up until now the Journal was one of the highest-profile print publishers that wasn’t selling app access via Apple. Earlier this year, Time Inc., which had been the most prominent holdout, also signed on.

The move means that Apple will retain 30 percent of all subscription revenue the Journal receives from "in-app" sales, and it will retain control of customer billing information like credit card numbers and billing addresses.

WSJ's biggest competitor, the Financial Times, dropped its iOS app last year because it didn't want to give Apple 30% of subscriptions purchased through the App Store. Instead, it developed a well-received HTML5 web app that replicated much of the functionality of the iOS app, including offline reading.

Newsstand support means readers can have their papers update automatically in the background.

The IMDb app is one of the most popular apps on iOS, with the Internet Movie Database yesterday noting in a press release that its iOS app has been downloaded 25 million times. Along with the milestone comes a redesigned Version 3.0 of the IMDb iPad app, with the goal being to focus on discovery features and allow users to see more content. The iPhone version has also received a few more features and enhancements.

What's New in Version 3.0

One of Macworld's 20 Best Apps for 2012!

The IMDb iPad app has been completely updated with a new look & feel that showcases more movies, TV shows & celebs than ever before.

New iPad features include:
- Tap the plus sign (+) on any movie or TV show poster to add it to your Watchlist
- Sign in to get personalized movie and TV recommendations
- New full-page Watchlist and custom lists with updated sort and edit features
- Top 250 rank added to movie pages
- Tap the history or Watchlist icons to open previews from any page in the app
- Browse featured photo galleries & lists, most popular by genre, and charts
- Tap the IMDb logo to browse from any page in the app

Also new for both the iPad and iPhone:
- iOS 6 users can take advantage of native Facebook sharing
- Filmographies now include TV episode details
- Navigate to the entire image gallery from any photo or poster

The universal IMDb app is a free update on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Zell Interactive's Joypad Game Controller was originally released in mid–2011. As a standalone app, it turned the iPhone into a wireless virtual controller for several Mac and iPad games.

Unfortunately, finding games that worked with the iPhone app was a pain, requiring gamers to visit the Joypad website for a list or to stumble across a compatible app on the App Store.

That changed this week, with the release of the Joypad Game Console. The Game Console turns the iPad into a dashboard that lists all of the Joypad enabled apps. It's like an iOS version of Xbox Live, containing a list of featured games, a list of games that are already installed on the iPad, and a full list of all games that Joypad supports.

Users can tap on one of the apps listed in the Game Console to get more information on it, including an app description, YouTube trailer, and a link to purchase said app on the App Store.

After purchase, the Console can be linked via Wi-Fi to the Joypad Game Controller, which was recently updated with Game Console compatibility and all new skins. The Game Console app can also be connected to the Apple TV so that gamers can play their favorite titles on the big screen.

The Joypad Game Console is a handy addition to the Joypad Game Controller because it's a one stop shop for games. The only downside to both products is the limited game selection, which features just 17 titles.

Joypad Game Console is a free download from the App Store for the iPad. [Direct Link]

Joypad Game Controller is free for the iPhone. [Direct Link]

Last year, Signal Snowboards made a board with an embedded iPad to honor Steve Jobs. This year, the guys have made a custom snowboard that can charge an iPhone on the slopes, thanks to a top sheet made of thin solar panels from PowerFilm Solar.

The board isn't for sale, but Signal's Marc Wierenga told MacRumors that the panels are extremely durable and the company has some ideas to incorporate them into their extensive lineup of made in the USA snowboards. He says the panels are more than powerful enough to charge something like a GoPro camera, making it easy for boarders to film an entire day of shredding without worrying about battery life.

Kickstarter project POP, a portable power station, has been shut down by Apple, after the Cupertino-based company refused to license its Lightning charger to Edison Junior, the design lab behind the product.

POP, which was tagged by the creators as "The Intersection of Charging and Design" aimed to combine a variety of charging cables into one product, including the Lightning connector, Apple's 30-pin connector, and a micro-USB connector for charging non-Apple devices.

Edison Junior CEO Jamie Siminoff spoke to VentureBeat and had this to say about Apple's decision:

We are pissed. I think they are being a bunch of [jerks], and I think they're hurting their customers.

The issue, it seems, was the use of a Lightning connector alongside a 30-pin connector, as Edison Junior explained in a note to Kickstarter backers.

When Apple officially announced the move to Lightning we determined the best course of action was to incorporate two Lightning chargers, and two 30-pins (along with the four micro-USB's). After applying to Apple (which is now required for Lightning), we learned that they are no longer willing to approve a product that uses the Lightning charger alongside any other charger (including their own 30-pin – seriously). Just like that, POP could no longer fulfill its true promise.

Edison Junior is planning to provide full refunds to all of its 1,000 backers, who pledged a total of $139,170, even though it will cost the company more than $11,000 in Kickstarter and credit card fees. The company is hoping to recover some of the cost from Kickstarter, which does not have a mechanism for refunds, forcing Edison Junior to seek help from their own crowdfunding site, Christie Street.

According to Siminoff, Edison Junior plans to continue developing a similar product that will indirectly support Apple iDevices with a Lightning-to-USB connector or a 30-pin connector.

MyScript Calculator from Vision Objects has been available on Android devices for several months now, but as of today, the math app that lets users handwrite mathematical expressions is available for iPhone and iPad as well (via Mac4Ever).

Instead of typing equations into the app, MyScript Calculator accepts written input. Write out an equation with a finger or stylus and the app reads the handwriting. It will translate written work into numbers and digital text, and then solve the problem.

The whole process is quick, intuitive, and easy. It’s perfect for small calculations or more complex mathematical equations, supporting the following operations:

-Basic operations: +, -, x, ÷, +/‒, 1/x
-Misc. Operations: %, √, x!, |x|
-Powers/Exponentials: ℯx, xy , x2
-Brackets: ( )
-Trigonometry: cos, sin, tan
-Inverse trigonometry: acos, asin, atan
-Logarithms: ln , log
-Constants: π, ℯ.

MyScript Calculator works with both the iPhone and the iPad, and it is a free download from the App Store. [Direct Link]