We find ourselves at the end of another busy week, and so it's time to take a look back over the past seven days. Apple has made quite a few of the headlines this week, with software releases, acquisitions, and the on-going outage of the developer portal. Google finally dropped their big new update for Maps, we continued our previews of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and even got a first look at Plants vs Zombies 2. This is the week that was.
Starting out with Apple, early in the week the folks in Cupertino pushed Logic Pro X out of the door. Apple's pro-grade audio editing software appeared with a $199 price-tag which also answered a question we all had about any upgrade paths when Apple dropped an update to a big name software title. There is none. Logic Pro X was released at full price; same for new customers and owners of the previous version alike.
Elsewhere, we're at the time of writing still in the midst of a maintenance outage at the developer portal that's now lasted days rather than hours. Still no word as to what might be going on, but we feel the pain of the developers out there. Apple also closed a couple of mapping related acquisitions this week in HopStop and Locationary, which opens up a world of possibilities for business and transit data into Apple Maps in the future.
Apple announces Logic Pro X, next generation audio editing for Mac
Logic Pro X review
Apple puts its price tag where its policy is, charges full price for Logic Pro X upgrade on Mac App Store
iMore show 355: An episode of hoarders
Apple Developer Portal still down, maintenance taking longer than expected
Apple acquires transit-navigation company, HopStop
Apple acquires location data company Locationary
Google came good this week on their promise of a much updated version of Maps for iOS, with the release of version 2.0 into the App Store. Beyond the new discovery and review based features that were shown off at Google I/O, Google Maps finally made its long awaited debut on the iPad. In our review we found that Maps has translated well to the larger screen of the iPad, the new features are nicely executed, and performance is a little sketchy at times. Oh, and you're able to cache sections of map for offline viewing, but they don't make it obvious how to do it. Luckily, we've got you covered!
Google Maps 2.0 hits the App Store, brings new iPad design, live traffic, and new Explore mode
Google Maps SDK for iOS updated, gives developers street view and indoor maps for their app
Google Maps 2.0 for iOS review: Now with Explore, traffic, and iPad support
How to cache maps for offline use in Google Maps 2.0 for iOS
Plants vs Zombies 2 is one of the hottest new iOS game titles, but unfortunately for anyone outside of Australia and New Zealand, it isn't yet available. But, that hasn't stopped us getting hold of a copy, and Georgia has given us the full rundown. One of the biggest differences between this and the original is the freemium nature of it. No spoilers though, so if you've not yet checked out the walkthrough, be sure to give it a watch.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 preview: More plants, more zombies, more fun, some freemium crap
We've also continued our series of previews into both iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks this week. On the iOS front, Rene took a look inside Photo Streams, gestures and Siri, while on the Mavericks front Peter delved into OS X Server and App Nap. If you missed them the first time around, they're definitely worth visiting.
OS X Mavericks Preview: OS X Server - friend to Macs, iOS devices
OS X Mavericks Preview: App Nap helps you work longer from your laptop
iOS 7 preview: Photo Streams finally get truly social sharing
iOS 7 preview: Gestures controls, consistency, and collision
iOS 7 preview: Siri gets a new look, access to settings, more services, still no predictive results
So, there are some of our biggest items of the past seven days, but what about you? What's happened this past week that stands out for you? Shout out in the comments!
