News

This past week you may have received a notification from Facebook alerting you that the company is "making ads better and giving you more control". This is part of Facebook's plan to start pushing more targeted ads to your news feed based on your browsing habits. Even though Facebook is allowing users to add and remove certain ads from their news feed, some people do not like the idea of the company tracking their web surfing history.

UPDATE: Facebook has informed us they will "not share browsing history with advertisers and won’t do so even with these new changes. Facebook will include info from website and apps to inform targeting on Facebook. But no information is shared with advertisers."

Here's how to limit targeted ads on your iOS device and Facebook news feed:

On your iPhone navigate to Settings > Privacy > Advertising and tap the "Limit Ad Tracking" slider so it turns green.

On your Mac or PC you can use the standard Digital Advertising Alliance form to opt out of receiving interest-based advertising from participating companies.

iOS users with an Amazon Prime subscription now have another free music streaming option. Amazon rolled out its new music streaming service called "Prime Music" for Amazon Prime members. The service gives users access to over a million songs, hundreds of Amazon curated playlists and the ability to download tracks for offline listening.

Early reports suggest that Amazon's music library is not as deep as Pandora or Spotify, but the service is ad-free if you already have an Amazon Prime account. Not to mention, a $99 yearly subscription also nabs you free shipping from Amazon.com, access to Amazon's movie streaming service and deals on select products. A yearly subscription to Pandora may be cheaper, but it only offers ad-free music, not all the perks of an Amazon Prime subscription.

A major redesign of Skype for iPhone is coming to the App Store. Version 5.0 is on the way, as the previous Skype app has already been pulled ahead of the new release. The developers aim to bring a consistent look and feel to the mobile app across all platforms, while taking advantage of the unique features of iOS.

Skype 5.0 is the most significant redesign ever delivered to the iPhone, and the app has already started rolling out to selected markets. The new app is centered around a hub showing recent conversations, and features in app notifications for quick conversation switching.

The rumor mill has been churning out questionable "iWatch" speculations and forecasts for some time now. That the product exists and will launch within a year seems a certainty at this point. If it does launch later this year, UBS analyst Steve Milunovich believes that it could match the iPad's success, selling 21 million units in 2015 and up to 36 million during the following year.

In a note to investors obtained by AppleInsider, Milunovich writes that, with a projected retail price of $300, the iWatch could see margins of around 25% at launch time, increasing to the low 30s over several quarters. He estimates sales

Google today announced that iOS developers can now sign up for the company's Instant Buy API program. Google Instant Buy allows developers to add an easy to use "Buy With Google" button to their mobile apps for iOS devices.

Google claims 97% of mobile shoppers abandoned their shopping carts because they typically "have to fill out up to 25 fields to checkout." Google Wallet allows customers to skip the annoying registration process by offering an easy 2-click check out option in all apps that offers its service. The Instant Buy service also works with a developer's existing payment processor and guarantees secure transactions.