Mac

Apple has sent out a note to developers advising them that iTunes Connect, the back end interface for managing App Store apps, will be down for maintenance on Wednesday, July 13 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. PDT. They also warn that some countries will lose App Store access, and price changes might cause apps to temporarily become unavailable.

Apple has just seeded the Gold Master (GM) candidate for OS X 10.7 Lion to developers. That's the desktop jab, scheduled to land this month, that Apple is using to set up the overhand right of iOS 5, which will finish the combo this fall.

Wondering why Google+ looks, well, uncharacteristically good for a Google product? Turn out Andy Hertzfeld, an former Apple design guru going back to the days of the original Mac, has been given the freedom to exercise his creative genius on the new Google+ project. No wonder it has such a simple, useful -- dare we say elegant -- look and feel to it.

Hertzfeld credits some of his work done on the project to Apple, saying that Apple's reign on the mobile industry may have had "A little bit to do" with his creative design into the project of Google+.

Does knowing that a famous former Apple designer had a big hand in how Google+ looks and works make you any more likely to try it out?

We've known for a while now that iPhone 5 won't be coming out this month, as it has for the last four years, but this fall, when iOS 5 is also scheduled to ship. Whether one delayed the other, or factors such as Verizon contracts, component shortages, engineering hours, or some combination of factors we may never know, but now rumors suggest new Macs are similarly on hold, this time waiting on OS X Lion before they ship.

If you were one of our many readers waiting for Apple's Back to School promotion to kick off so you could grab a new MacBook or iMac and get a free iPod touch along with it, you're in for some disappointment. Instead of a free iPod touch like last year](http://www.imore.com/2010/05/27/apple-education-promo-free-ipod-touch/), this year Apple is offering a $100 iTunes gift certificate to cap off your educational purchase.

There's some debate as to whether or not Apple will keep the MobileMe web apps, like Mail, Contacts, and Calendars around after the transition to iCloud. Some have heard no, that Apple will trash them and go 100% apps. Others have heard yes, that Apple will keep them around.

It sounds like the latest developer preview for Mac OS X Lion will allow you to reboot into a Safari only mode (similar to how a Google ChromeBook is perpetually in Chrome-only mode), as part of the upcoming Find my Mac feature. Should iPad have that option? iPhone and iPod touch?

It would be handy if you wanted to give someone easy access to the web but didn't want them nosing around in your pictures, iMessages, email, and other personal information. It might also be good for educational, business, or even kiosk settings where web access is enough and apps might be too much.

Forget to add your UDID (universal device identifier) to the iOS Developer Portal before loading up iOS 5 beta and wondering how to find it so your iPhone or iPad will activate? It happens. Your iPhone gets swapped out by the Apple Store due to a hardware issue or you get an iPad 2 and forget to add it before you install the new software. iTunes won't help you until the device is activated. Usually you can just grab it from Xcode but if you don't have Xcode handy, you can also get it from System Profiler. We'll show you how, after the break!

With the iCloud unveiling yesterday, Apple also announced that a new version of iTunes and a beta version of iCloud would be available now (with the rest rolling out in the Fall). Users have been reporting iTunes 10.3 downloads becoming available over the past 24 hours. Now, it appears to be available for everyone.

Keep in mind only some iCloud services are available now (and they're still considered beta). The rest will be rolled out this Fall. You should already see changes to the App Store on your devices as those were rolled out wireless yesterday.

iTunes 10.3 will let you do the following right now -