DS

SYDNEY: Tech giant Apple's iCloud and iMessage services were reportedly hit by a major outage on Thursday and Friday.  Apple's iMessage instant-messaging platform and iCloud back-up service went offline for almost 11 hours affecting more than 3 million users.  According to Sydney Morning Herald, the outage began at 2.30pm on Thursday and ended at 1.22am on Friday. Apple said that users might be unable to use iCloud Documents, Photo Stream, iPhoto Journals, or Backup and Restore or send or download attachments in iMessage.  The tech giant also reported of another issue with its iTunes store which prevented 16.6% of users from making purchases on the store for around 45 minutes on Thursday and the losses are estimated to be around 37,000 dollars a minute.  The company did not comment on the matter, the report added. ANI

In an evident attempt to retain its market-dominating position in the fiercely competitive smartphone and tablet arena, tech giant Apple is reportedly preparing for a busy close to the ongoing year, with the launch of new iPhone and iPad models. According to unidentified sources aware of the proceedings at Apple, a new iPhone model - and probably even a budget iPhone aimed at smartphone users in developing countries - will be unveiled by the company at a September 10 event. Along with hinting at the possible introduction of a new iPhone model at the September event, two sources have also revealed that Apple will also launch new iPad models in the coming months. These models will include an iPad with a sleeker body design, as well as an iPad Mini with a high-resolution screen. The speculated update of the iPhone and iPad models by Apple will give the company the ability to unveil a refreshed lineup of its best-selling products to consumers, ahead of the holiday shopping season this ye...