We’re only two days into this patent trial of the century and already things are getting out of control in the courtroom. Even though Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung’s request to present to the jury its pre-iPhone F700 device meant to establish it did not copy the iPhone, the South Korean consumer electronics maker just issued a press release with two batches of evidence Judge Koh specifically excluded from the litigation… Read More
We’ve known for a while now that News Corp.’s made-for-iPad newspaper The Daily was in trouble. Last fall, the paper’s audience was estimated to be somewhere in the area of just 100,000 active readers — well short of the 500,000 it needs to break even. Then back in May of this year, word got out that the Daily had been put “on watch” for its poor performance.
Well there must have been some truth to the chatter, as a new report is out today claiming that The Daily just laid off a third of its staff… Read More
It’s day two of the monster Apple vs. Samsung trial and Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller testified, but only briefly as the jury was dismissed for the day. What came out of him reflects Steve Jobs’ notion that it is Apple’s rather than the consumers’ job to know what they want.
He also mentioned Apple New Product Process for exploring new products and revealed it was he that Steve Jobs sent the vacation photo to at the 2007 MacWorld introduction of the iPhone… Read More
Apple may be unlike other companies in many regards, but when it comes to thinking stuff up, its designers gather around good ol’ kitchen table to come up with bright new ideas. I’m not making this up, this little nugget was just revealed in a testimony by a member of Apple’s design team during the afternoon hearing in the Apple vs. Samsung mega-lawsuit…. Read More
Looks like something is amiss with that $1 billion North Carolina data center as Apple just acknowledged that a limited number of iCloud users are having issues accessing their iCloud email. A bunch of people reported the problem earlier today on Apple’s discussion forums.
The Cupertino, California company is working to resolve the problem “ASAP”, reads a notice on Apple’s iClod status page. It appears that the issue is not contained just to iCloud email as some users are beginning to complain about hiccups with the App Store and iMessage services as well. Moreover, looks like FaceTime is down for some, too…
UPDATE: All services are now back online… Read More
This is pretty interesting. Verizon has just reached a settlement with the FCC in their ongoing dispute regarding tethering apps. The carrier will pay out $1.25 million to the US Treasury, and will stop blocking the use of third-party tethering apps.
Unfortunately, the decision only applies to Verizon customers for the time being, as it comes as a stipulation in the carrier’s deal to purchase 700 MHz of wireless spectrum from Cox and other cable companies. FCC press release is after the break… Read More
With the ten-person jury selected, a plenty of tidbits hit newswires as Apple and Samsung locked horns this morning inside a San Jose courtroom. Samsung is basically saying that Apple didn’t invent the rectangle, while Cupertino insists that Samsung lifted the best iPhone ideas.
Before Apple could portray itself as a smartphone underdog in the opening remarks, the packed courtroom received an 18-minute video primer on how the patent system works, seen right after the break.
Coincidentally or not, in what could foreshadow a major design change for Android amid heating patent wars, Google has filed for an interesting patent which promises to bring radial menus to its mobile operating system and Chrome devices… Read More
If you haven’t grabbed your tickets for this year’s JailbreakCon event, you may want to hurry up and do that. The largest jailbreak-centric convention on the planet is coming to San Francisco, California in just two short months.
The convention is going to be held at the South San Francisco Conference Center, and it already has an impressive list of guest speakers slated to appear. Want to see how it’s all going to go down? Here’s the 2012 WWJC schedule… Read More
A certain hit-and-miss Asian trade publication (I know, don’t start) reported this morning that the initial shipment of a sixth-generation iPhone could be disrupted due to yield problems with in-cell panels the device is believed to adopt.
Apparently, suppliers are experiencing yield rates too low to generate profits, despite the fact that Apple allegedly offered an estimated $10-15 per-panel subsidy. Really, what’s up with in-cell tech and the next iPhone? Read More
Famous jailbreak master Joshua Hill, known in the community as P0sixninja just announced on his Twitter account that he is leaving the Chronic Dev Team, a reputable group of iOS hackers he helped create a few years ago, and of which he was considered the front-man, up until now.
At this point of time, it is unclear what the motivations behind the departure are. A follow up tweet sent by P0sixninja makes it sound like it might be a money matter, but my sources tell me it is far more complicated than that. Read More
Despite producing multiple iPhone prototypes (here, here and here) leading up to its blockbuster 2007 release, the company’s brain trust nearly shelved the project because it didn’t believe the device was up to Apple’s exacting standards of what a mobile phone should be, Cupertino’s vice president of industrial design Jonathan Ive revealed in an interview.
One of the issues that had the team consider axing the iPhone involved the device’s touchscreen accidentally initiating a phone call when put against one’s ear. Apple later solved this by equipping the iPhone with a proximity sensor which automatically turns off the display to prevent spray input from your face… Read More
Hulu announced today that folks can now use its paid service to stream thousands of television shows and movies to their television through the Apple TV set-top box. The app’s been in the works since last year (though a tweak for jailbroken Apple TVs lets you access your Hulu Plus without too much fuss). It’s now finally ready for public consumption, right from your main menu… Read More
The iPhone is as popular in the nearly 150 million people market of the Russian Federation as it is elsewhere. However, unlike in the United States, Western Europe and in most other developed countries, Russian customers are expected to pay through their nose to get their hands on the sought-after device.
If you ask carriers, Apple’s arrogance in dealing with its Russian wireless partners is behind the company’s relatively low penetration in that market. This of course creates a sizable opportunity for Android cheapos. If I were Tim Cook, I would book a flight to Moscow to discuss lowering shipment commitments in exchange for a more flexible pricing scheme lest I lose their support… Read More
Recognizing a growing popularity of dedicated services that save articles for later reading, the social networking giant Facebook today quietly updated its backend to enhance its mobile and desktop apps with this functionality.
Aptly named ‘save it for later’, it does just that: you can now save other people’s posts for later reading through the new Saved option under the lefthand pane revealed when you tap the sidebar menu button… Read More
In the world of jailbreak tweaks, there are some that are really worth getting excited about. These would be tweaks like Dashboard X and Springtomize, that add significant functionality to iOS.
This, however, is not one of those tweaks. MonoBar is just a simple hack that disables the double-height status bar that appears when you’re recording a voice note, or in a phone call… Read More
The contact list in iOS pales in comparison to its counterpart on other mobile platforms. There’s no embedded photos, no integration with social networks profiles, and no quick way to send emails or texts.
Luckily, if you’re jailbroken, you can resolve most of these problems by installing tweaks. Copic or ChatPic can add photos to your contacts, and CallTap will give you a way to quickly message them… Read More
“Chrome will never be as good as Safari,” many lamented upon Chrome’s iOS debut, “It doesn’t have access to Apple’s private Nitro Javascript Engine.” If your device isn’t jailbroken, that still rings true, but if it is, then not so much anymore.
That’s because Nitrous — a new jailbreak tweak available on Cydia — unlocks the Nitro Javascript engine for alternative browsers like Google Chrome. Does it make a difference? Yes. Check inside and see for yourself. Read More
It seems like a gross oversight, on Apple’s part, that there’s no external indicator for notifications on the iPhone. This means that unless you happen to see a push notification come through, you have to unlock your handset to see if you have any missed calls or text messages.
Apple tried to remedy this issue with a new feature in iOS 5 called LED Flash for Alerts. It uses the iPhone’s camera flash to alert users that they have new notifications, but for a number of reasons, this solution is far from perfect. Enter the new FLASHr case by Phaze5… Read More
Wired sat down with Apple’s Jony Ive to talk design ahead of the trial of the century which kicked off in northern California today and the publication is now extending the courtesy to Samsung, interviewing its product person to hear the other side.
Samsung’s Kevin Packingham discussed patent and design accusations between his company and Apple, the result of which is bound to have serious ramifications for both parties. Unsurprisingly, the executive played down Apple’s concerns that the Galaxy tablets and smartphones copy the iPhone and iPad slavishly, pointing out there’s really just one way to go about the candy bar form factor… Read More
A couple of years ago, my wife fiancée Tina had a terrible experience dealing with a Verizon rep over the phone. The whole conversation happened on speakerphone and I could hear every part of it. I specifically remember the rep insinuating Tina was a liar and that she didn’t know what she was talking about. That was the end of her with Verizon. We canceled her plan that day and got her on AT&T.
Today, I went with Penny, my mother in law, to Verizon so she can upgrade her 2 year old dumbphone for a brand new and shiny iPhone 4S. I didn’t even try to talk Penny out of using Verizon because her whole family has been using them forever, she’s got a family plan covering 5 phones/users. Although I didn’t bother talking to her about considering switching to AT&T, I couldn’t help telling her that I think Verizon sucks. Big time… Read More
