Month: July 2012

Apple’s arrogance blamed for low iPhone penetration in Russia

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

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...

Disable double-height status bars with MonoBar

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

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...

Create custom actions for contacts with CallTap

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

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...

How to enable the Nitro Javascript engine for Google Chrome

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

"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.

FLASHr: a flash notifications case for your iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

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...

Samsung’s product chief dumbs down litigation with Apple to rectangles

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

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...

Verizon rep just reminded me why I’ll never use Verizon

Sébastien Page ∙ July 30, 2012

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...

Purported iPad mini cases surface ahead of expected launch

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

Now that it's been all but confirmed that Apple will be hosting a media event in September, the spotlight turns to the focus of the meeting. Obviously, a new iPhone is a given. But what else will Apple be unveiling that day?

One report suggests that we could see the rumored iPad mini at the event, although there is still no actual evidence that such a product exists. But that's not stopping case-makers from ramping up production...

Apple’s AuthenTec purchase indicates an e-wallet fingerprint service

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Apple's $356 million acquisition of mobile security firm AuthenTec (already under investigation, by the way) has been already deemed by one analyst as a move meant to bolster security of iOS devices in enterprise. Now another analysts chimes in with speculation that the transaction, still pending approval, will probably help Apple create a mobile payment system around future iOS devices built around an e-wallet fingerprint service...

AllThingsD reaffirms September iPhone launch [updated]

Cody Lee ∙ July 30, 2012

Last night, iMore published a report claiming that Apple was going to unveil its new iPhone, and other products, at a media event on September 12th. The note also said that the handset would be released the following week.

While a September launch seems a bit early, considering last year's timeframe, evidence is really piling up in its favor. In fact, a new report is out this afternoon reaffirming the date...

We really like Microsoft’s new mice and keyboards for tablets

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 2, 2017

There's no denying that Microsoft's Hardware division makes some compelling and nice-looking peripherals which sport high build quality (usually something you don't associate with Microsoft) and just work, well, as advertised. Too bad Microsoft's latest lineup of mice and keyboards focuses on Windows tablets as these new peripherals look really, really solid, almost too good to be true.

Take, for example, the Wedge Touch Mouse, a futuristic-looking pointing device that responds to touch and features four-way navigation. As you could imagine it's optimized for tablets, of course specifically to slates running Windows 8, such as Microsoft's own Surface tablet due to land on October 26.

Or how about the Wedge Mobile Keyboard, a really sleek and pro-looking Bluetooth keyboard which also quickly converts into a tablet stand and lets you just snap the cover back on the keyboard to quickly power it down.

Can we have these for our iPads, please?