by 
Apple held the lottery for this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference in an effort to prevent developers from scooping up all the tickets within seconds of being made available. Judging from our Twitter feed, a number of longtime Mac and iOS developers wound up empty-handed this year, so congrats to those who managed to get in and here’s to a new Apple keynote on June 2!
MacPhun Adds Made-to-Order Printing to Focus 2
The folks at MacPhun announced Tuesday a new update to Focus 2 and Focus 2 Pro for Mac, which add the ability to print images to a canvas, postcard, or framed print that’s shipped right to your door. The new Order Prints feature is a partnership with MILK Tailor Made Books, and the update also includes enhancements to image processing, custom focus brushes, and user interface improvements. The updates are free of charge and now available to Focus 2 users from the Mac App Store, or Focus 2 Pro users from the “Check for Updates” menu option.
Sonico Shifts iTranslate Voice 2 Back to Original Version
Sonico Mobile announced Monday the resurrection of iTranslate Voice, the original universal version of the company’s $1.99 voice-to-voice translation tool. After launching iTranslate Voice 2 recently, Sonico found that the all-new version wasn’t getting much attention in the App Store, so the company has effectively reversed course by removing the sequel from sale and bringing back the original version, this time with the same iOS 7 makeover. Moving forward, Sonic plans to update both apps, so owners of either version will continue to be supported, but the move once again highlights the need to have a proper upgrade path where developers can charge a discounted price for a new version, rather than treating it as an entirely new app.
Amazon Instant Video for iOS Now Optimized for iOS 7
Amazon may have publicly whined about being unable to get Instant Video on the Apple TV during last week’s Fire TV introduction, but the e-tailer continues to tweak its free, universal iOS app. The latest version 2.5 released on Monday finally delivers “a new, updated look and feel” for the Amazon Instant Video app which is optimized for iOS 7 and stomps out the usual bugs, while delivering always welcome “stability improvements.” Curiously, the app still doesn’t support Google’s $35 Chromecast, which many competing streaming services have already added — but Amazon would probably rather have you buy a Fire TV instead.
Flying Meat Celebrates 11.5 Years with $14.99 Deal on Acorn 4
If you’ve had your eye on the popular image and photo editor Acorn but have been too cheap to shell out $49.99 to buy it, this is your lucky day. Flying Meat Software announced Monday that Acorn 4 is on sale to both new and upgrade users for the low price of only $14.99, available on the Mac App Store or direct from the company’s website. Developers Gus and Kirstin Mueller had originally planned to celebrate the company’s 10th anniversary with such a deal a year and a half ago, but claim they “completely forgot about it” until now. The $14.99 deal is only for a limited (and unspecified) amount of time, so we would advise not waiting too long on this one.
Verizon Follows AT&T Down 4 Lines for $160 Rabbit Hole
So much for not competing on price: Fierce Wireless is reporting that Verizon Wireless has reduced the cost of its More Everything plans for customers with data buckets of 10GB or more. The new $160-per-month price for four smartphones should look familiar to AT&T customers, because it’s exactly the same as what Ma Bell launched back in February. The new deal effectively slashes $20 per month off Verizon’s previous price, but the carrier remains defiant about not giving customers a discount for bringing their own device or buying one outright, which is rapidly becoming the industry norm thanks to moves by rivals AT&T and T-Mobile US.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
