Month: September 2012

Sharp: we removed bottleneck in supplies of iPhone 5 displays

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 28, 2012

The struggling Japanese electronics giant Sharp confirmed Friday that it is making "adequate volumes" of displays used for Apple's iPhone 5, Reuters reports. Sharp's statement arrives just as Apple has rolled out the device to 22 more countries this morning. The ongoing supply constraints continue to affect availability of the iPhone 5, which still shows 2-3 week shipping times on Apple's international online stores. Furthermore, some international carriers stopped taking iPhone 5 pre-orders due to low supplies...

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Apple CEO Tim Cook issues open letter apologizing for iOS Maps flaws

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Acknowledging what has become Mapgate, Apple's chief executive Tim Cook issued an apology for inaccuracies, faulty data and other issues plaguing Apple's new in-house mapping service that replaced the stock Google Maps app on iOS 6 devices.

And just as his predecessor did when Apple got entangled in disputes with the music industry over copy-protecting iTunes songs or Adobe over Flash, Cook issued an open letter on the company's web site to explain Apple's position on the matter...

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Ask away! Send us your questions for JailbreakCon speakers

Sébastien Page ∙ September 28, 2012

JailbreakCon is less than 48 hours away, and as a sponsor, I will be representing the iDB team at the event. I'll be the first to admit that the workshops will be over my head but we plan to get some face to face time with some of the speakers to learn more about who they are and what they do.

Among the most acclaimed speakers, we expect to talk to Saurik, Ryan Petrich, P0sixninja, iH8Sn0w, pod2g, and more. We already have a few questions we'd like to ask them but we were thinking that you might have some questions to ask them too...

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The iPhone 5 goes on sale in 22 more countries today

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Making good on its promise, Apple today is rolling out the iPhone 5 to 22 new countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The iPhone 5 originally launched on Friday, September 21, in nine major markets, including the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Apple's self-imposed goal is to have the new phone available in over a hundred countries across 240 carriers by year's end...

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Taking the American Express Passbook pass for a spin

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated March 23, 2018

Want a quick and easy way to access recent purchases and account balances made with your American Express card? If you're running iOS 6, then you can now do so with Passbook.

First of all, just to clear up any misconceptions, you can't actually purchase goods via Amex using Passbook — that functionality doesn't yet exist. What you can do, though, is sync your Amex card with Passbook to access the convenient features mentioned above — balances, recent transactions, and the like.

As someone who uses Amex exclusively for almost every purchase, large and small, I've been anxious to try out Amex's Passbook offering ever since it was first announced that they were on board. Here's what I found...

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Maps says sorry

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 27, 2012

And the iOS Maps bashing saga continues… Wanna know how it ends? Go past the fold for the remaining three tables. Joy of Tech also has another funny take on Mapgate, by the way…

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The iPhone 5’s A6 processor can dynamically vary its clock speed for performance

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The A6 chip which debuted on the iPhone 5 earlier this month can do some pretty clever tricks, stemming from a heavily customized ARMv7 design. Benchmark data suggests that the A6 can dynamically overclock itself to up to 1.3GHz and downclock to just 500MHz, depending on workload.

This is nothing new in chip design, of course (just ask Nvidia or Qualcomm). But given that Apple designs its chips in-house based on ARM and Imagination Technologies blueprints, it shows just how far along Cupertino is versus companies that use off-the-shelf chips which are not as power or performance-efficient as the A6...

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Ahead of tomorrow’s launch, some global carriers stop taking iPhone 5 pre-orders

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 27, 2012

With less than 24 hours until the second phase of global iPhone roll-out, some carriers have stopped taking pre-orders for the device due to low supply. Over in Slovakia, carriers Slovak Telekom and Orange Slovakia stopped taking pre-orders amid widespread supply constraints, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Furthermore, I've just checked with the nine global Apple Stores that currently sell the iPhone 5 and nearly all of them still quote 2-3 week delivery estimate, suggesting that Apple is selling iPhones as fast as it can make them. Folks around the world are obviously getting fed up with the iPhone...

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iOS 6 can pull someone’s full name and Facebook photo based on a phone number alone

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 27, 2012

I’m risking of stating the obvious with this one, but I’d bet my shirt many of your were unaware of this little trick. As you know, Facebook integration in iOS 6 and OS X Mountain Lion can automagically update photos and user names for all matching contacts. What you may not have known is that Apple only needs a person’s phone number to pull this data.

So if a girl you met at a bar last night left you just her phone number, you can easily get her Facebook profile picture to appear on your iPhone when she happens to call you - even if you’re not friends with her on Facebook and even if her profile is hidden on Facebook. Plus, you'll get her full name in Contacts. How cool is that?

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AntiTint removes the status bar tint in iOS 6

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

AntiTint is a recently released jailbreak tweak from Ryan Petrich that sets out to do one thing — remove the status bar tint found in iOS 6.

New with iOS 6 came the ability for a developer to tint the status bar to match or accent the color of the rest of their app. Many people have found this to be annoying, and would like to go back to the black status bars predominately featured in iOS versions prior to iOS 6.

If you're jailbroken, then doing so is as easy as installing this tweak. Take a look inside to see how it works...

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Google’s iLost ad uses a phony street address to exaggerate Apple Maps flaws

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 27, 2012

Remember an ad Google's subsidiary Motorola recently published to highlight Apple Maps flaws? "Looking for 315 E 15th in Manhattan?", Google's advertisement read. "Google Maps on Droid Razr M will get you there & not #iLost in Brooklyn", it went on to suggest that iOS 6 Maps will direct users to a wrong road name in the wrong city. Well, guess what? That address doesn't even exist!

That's right, 315 E 15th Street is not an actual address in Manhattan. This whole maps thing is really getting blown out of proportion. Why would Google fake an ad and make folks search for an incorrect, ambiguous street address other than make Apple Maps look bad. Apple of course also isn't one to shy away from deceptive advertising. Remember this?

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