Month: November 2011

Banners Appear on Apple.com for Black Friday Sales

Cody Lee ∙ November 22, 2011

If you haven't quite finished your holiday shopping yet, you'll be happy to know that Apple has announced that it will be hosting a Black Friday sale this week. "Black Friday" is the Friday after Thanksgiving and is generally the busiest shopping day of the year.

On this day, retailers offer substantial discounts on their products to attract customers into their stores. Apple participated in the festivities last year by knocking up to $100 off its Macs and iOS devices, and it looks like its gearing up for another sale this year...

Apple Airs New iPad 2 “Love” Commercial

Cody Lee ∙ November 21, 2011

Last night, Apple aired a new TV ad for the iPad 2. The commercial is fairly similar to previous adverts, showing people from all walks of life using the tablet in different ways.

The ads are actually an accurate reflection of how the iPad has made its way into several industries. We've seen the iPad replace everything from voters ballads to NFL play books...

Buffy, the Facebook Phone

Sébastien Page ∙ November 21, 2011

This is not the first time we've heard rumors of Facebook working on a Facebook phone, but it seems that things are now starting to take shape.

After years of considering how to best get into the phone business, Facebook has tapped Taiwanese cellphone maker HTC to build a smartphone that has the social network integrated at the core of its being.

Code-named “Buffy,” after the television vampire slayer, the phone is planned to run on a modified version of Android that Facebook has tweaked heavily to deeply integrate its services, as well as to support HTML5 as a platform for applications, according to sources familiar with the project.

Read the full article at AllThingsD.

Google Search for the iPad Gets a Facelift

Cody Lee ∙ November 21, 2011

Google has had a rough time with its iOS software over the past few weeks. The search company released a disappointing Gmail app for the iPhone earlier this month, but immediately pulled it due to problems with push notifications and other glitches.

The app was resurrected in the App Store recently, but many of its problems were not resolved. Today, however, Google has redeemed itself a bit with an update to its search interface, as it brings several welcome changes to the iPad version...

Amazon’s Kindle Fire All Set to be 2nd Only to the iPad

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated December 17, 2017

The iPad may have had it all its own way since its initial inception last year, but if a new survey is to be believed, then it may finally have some real competition in the form of Amazon's Kindle Fire.

New data from ChangeWave Research points to Amazon's first entry into the tablet market being the second most popular tablet on the market, behind, you guessed it, Apple's iPad.

A November survey of 3,043 people yielded the insight which shows that 22% of those questioned planned on picking up the 7" Kindle Fire, with 65% aiming to pick up an iPad. Third choice, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, could only garner 4% of the interest...

iPhone 4S Moves One Step Closer to Mainland China

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 9, 2016

Apple's latest smartphone, the iPhone 4S, is arguably the year's hottest handset. Not only did the company sell 4 million units during the device's opening weekend, but the smartphone is still flying off of retailer's shelves a month later.

The handset is so popular, in fact, that carriers are having trouble keeping up with consumer demand — Apple can't make them quick enough. And the phone hasn't even found its way into mainland China yet, but it's getting closer...

90% of the Money Spent on Mobile Apps Comes From the App Store

Oliver Haslam ∙ November 21, 2011

With the iPad coming under scrutiny as the competition begins its latest assault on Apple's tablet dominance, new figures suggest that the iPad may still be the best bet for those looking to make a living out of making tablet-based apps.

Piper Jaffray Senior Research Analyst Gene Munster has written in a research note released Monday that Apple's iPad still accounts for between 85% and 90% of the money spent on mobile applications.

The news comes as Android moves into a new era thanks to the release of Ice Cream Sandwich, the release which Google hopes will combine the tablet and smartphone software in a way similar to the iPad and iPhone. Munster's claims show that Android may still be suffering from an old issue: Android users just don't seem to buy apps as much as iOS users...

CASELLET, a Kickstarter Project That Needs Your Help [Sponsored]

Sébastien Page ∙ November 21, 2011

What I really like about Kickstarter is that anyone can come up with an idea, get funding, and turn a concept into a prototype that will eventually become an actual product.

With that in mind, it's amazing to see that product development is not only for big companies anymore, but for people like you and me to create something awesome. This is exactly what Eddie Hsieh is trying to do.

When he couldn't find what he was looking for, he decided to create it. This is when the CASELLET (case/wallet) concept was born. Eddie now needs to raise $22,000 to bring his product to life, so we sat down with him and asked him about his project...

What’s On My iPhone 4S? Gaming Edition

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

If you're a gamer, then the iPhone 4S upgrade is worth it for that reason alone. Games run much smoother, and in some cases they've been upgraded to take advantage of the new hardware.

The iOS platform is ridiculously good for games, but an iPhone 4S makes playing them even sweeter. Inside, I'll share some of the games I'm playing right now on my iPhone 4S...

Apple Claims it Could Lose $2.7 Billion in Motorola Lawsuit

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Earlier this month, a German court awarded Motorola Mobility a temporary injunction against Apple for infringing on its intellectual property. An injunction, in this sense, can prevent a company from selling its products in the area in which it's granted.

But the decision was made against Apple Inc., which doesn't actually sell products in Germany. Motorola also filed a lawsuit against Apple Germany. And the outcome of this case could cost the company some serious financial losses...

Ask Jeff: Episode X

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 21, 2011

In the 10th episode of Ask Jeff, I tackle questions pertaining to iPhone theming, iPhone 4S battery solutions, Android tablets, how to attach items to emails, and much, much more.

It's hard to believe it's already been 10 episodes, but time flys when you have tons of interesting questions to mull over. Check inside to tune in to episode 10, and be sure to think of some good questions for the next episode...

Siri Hacked to Control on All Kinds of Non-Apple Devices, Thermostat Included

Alex Heath ∙ November 21, 2011

A hacker that goes by the handle of plamoni has created a Siri proxy server that anyone can use to make the voice-based technology control a range of non-Apple devices. A development firm by the name of Applidium recently hacked the Siri security protocol and detailed the process for anyone to implement.

Since then, plamoni has taught Siri new commands that allow it to communicate with any standard, Wi-Fi-capable thermostat. With the server's source code available for free online, anyone with access to an iPhone 4S unique identifier and a good understanding of networking standards can hack Siri in a similar fashion.