Here’s another next-generation iPhone concept, one that envisions a number of features unlikely to make their way into the handset. That of course didn’t prevent designers Uygar Kaya and Ran Avni from dreaming up the ultimate water and dust-resistant smartphone with notification LEDs, a full HD 1,920-by-1,080 widescreen display, 13-megapixel camera, touch-sensitive volume rocker, wireless charging and front-facing stereo speakers – all encases in an ultra-slim aluminum shell… Read More
Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, has been declared our “new top-rated smartphone” in a barrage of tests conducted by Consumer Reports, an influential U.S. magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936.
Yup, that’s the same publication that gave Apple’s iPhone 5 a thumbs-up shortly following its September 2012 introduction only to rank it one of its worst high-end devices available on the larger U.S. carriers in its February 2013 issue. So, what Galaxy S4 features did Consumer Reports editors single out as particularly appealing? Read More
There’s no shortage of jailbreak tweaks that allow you to quickly access your favorite apps. I can think of a few right off the top of my head including Axis, Grabby, and JellyLock. And today, we’ve got another one to add to the list.
SubIc0ns, by developer ClausCartel, is a new tweak that allows you to add up to 7 app shortcuts to a hidable window that can be accessed via any Activator function. This gives you quick access to these apps from anywhere in iOS… Read More
Folks looking to spice up their device’s Lock screen will be happy to hear that there’s a new jailbreak theme out that can help with that. It’s called LS Squares, and it adds 4 tiles to the empty space that each provide you with useful information at a glance.
Sure, there are already hundreds of tweaks and themes available in Cydia that have similar premises. But what sets LS Squares apart from the rest of them is its sharp, Metro-like tile design that can completely change the look of your Lock screen… Read More
Are you not getting enough Facebook in your life? Do you find yourself wishing that your third party apps offered better integration for the social network? If you answered yes to either one of these questions, you’ll love this.
Facebook just announced that it’s pulling the native Share Dialog feature it introduced last month out of beta today. This will allow developers to add sharing features from the social network to their apps with a single line of code… Read More
Tomorrow will be a pretty big day for Apple CEO Tim Cook, finance boss Peter Oppenheimer and Tax Operations head Phillip Bullock as the three men are scheduled to appear in front of the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation and give testimony regarding the company’s creative approach to tax avoidance.
Apple ahead of the hearing published a lengthy document on its web site which pushes for tax reform on argument that America’s tax system undermines the nation’s competitiveness in the “digital economy” because the current tax code was written for the “industrial era.” As expected, some U.S. senators beg to differ and think Apple is just being creative in its tax avoidance strategy.
This is bound to get more complicated when Tim Cook & Co. find themselves in hot water explaining to U.S. Senators how the company sidesteps U.S. taxes. Get your popcorn out… Read More
In a surprising move, telco AT&T is backtracking from its nonsensical policy of restricting FaceTime to its customers who subscribed to a Mobile Share data plan.
Today we learn that AT&T is promising to enable any video chatting application over cellular for all users, regardless of their data plan or device.
In a statement to The Verge, the wireless carrier said that by mid-June it will enable video chatting over cellular for its unlimited plan customers who have LTE devices from Apple, Samsung or BlackBerry, enabling these services for all customers throughout the second half of this year… Read More
Verizon’s aggressive 4G LTE network roll-out continues unabated. The nation’s leading wireless carrier on Monday announced six new markets getting its speedy fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio technology today: Durango, Colorado; Corbin and Madisonville, Kentucky; Adrian and Mount Pleasant, Michigan; and Marietta, Ohio.
The carrier, for the first time, released a list of LTE-enabled locations which with today’s additions counts 497 markets, up from 440 locations Verizon claimed last December. The big red carrier’s LTE network is now two and a half years old, for those wondering. If all goes according to plan, Verizon should cover its 3G network entirely with LTE by the middle of this year… Read More
Ahead of Tim Cook’s appearance in front of the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation tomorrow, Apple has released a lengthy statement regarding its company tax practices and other items that will be used in its testimony.
Remember, last week we told you that Cook was expected to testify at a senate hearing this Tuesday on “offshore profit shifting,” following Apple’s move to take on domestic debt, rather than use its offshore cash, to avoid $9 billion in taxes…
It’s been a big day for the folks over at Tumblr. Earlier this morning, the microblogging network confirmed the weekend’s speculation that it is has agreed to an acquisition deal with Yahoo!, said to be worth over $1 billion.
And shortly after the news was revealed, an update for Tumblr’s iOS app posted in the App Store. The update, which brings the app to version 3.3.2, includes a handful of bug fixes and improvements, and a shiny new interface… Read More
Lots of avid iPhone photography fans don’t just use their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to capture stills, but shoot video as well.
I usually fire up Apple’s excellent iMovie application ($4.99 universal binary) whenever my clips need touching up, but now a new software has come along to go beyond what you thought was possible on your iOS device.
Video Filters by i4Software packs in over a hundred fully customizable video effects with live previews, which is kinda big deal because only a few years ago nobody thought we’d be able to edit full HD footage on tablets, in real-time… Read More
In yet another attempt to capture the nascent smartphone market in India, Apple is now promoting discounts for students. Students can receive $144 on an iPhone when they trade in their old smartphones. Apple and Samsung have engaged in a marketing struggle, both rolling out installment plans to encourage Indian buyers of rival smartphones.
The iPhone maker also announced a cash-back deal when Indian consumers use American Express to purchase an iPhone 4, 4S or 5 before June 10, according to a Monday report… Read More
Samsung wants more developers writing apps that require features exclusively found on its own devices, such as the Galaxy S4 flagship smartphone – and is willing to pay. In an $800,000 competition, the South Korean conglomerate is seeking entries which highlight its own sharing service and proprietary software development kit.
The first-prize winner takes home $200,000, three second-place finalists receive $100,000 each, while six third-place finishers get $50,000 each, according to the Wall Street Journal. The competition’s goal is to improve Samsung’s standing against Apple’s iPhone… Read More
After Apple back in January flew its vice president for education John Couch to Turkey who meet with the country’s president Abdullah Gül to discuss Turkey’s $4.5 billion modernization program in which textbooks will be replaced by tablets and chalkboards by electronic whiteboards, a report Monday notes that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan has now visited Apple, along with Google and Microsoft, in order to explore options ahead of the country’s impending decision to purchase 10.6 million tablets for education… Read More
DigiTimes, the-sometimes-reliable Taiwanese trade publication, on Monday ran a report which quotes sources with Taiwan’s supply chain who claim that a fifth revision to Apple’s full-size 9.7-inch iPad will be 25-33 percent lighter than its previous generation.
The fifth-generation iPad is believed to be entering trial production next month, meaning the device should be on track for a rumored September launch. Initial output is pegged at up to three million units until Apple and its manufacturing partners reach yield levels necessary to ramp up production… Read More
The pretty accurate Japanese blog Macotakara passes along a pair of Taiwanese reports claiming that Apple is now evaluating and sampling tiny screens for its rumored smartwatch, affectionately dubbed by the media as iWatch. Apple’s technologies chief Bob Mansfield, who is believed to have taken particular interest in wearable technology, along with a team of 100+ engineers are reportedly evaluating 1.5-inch screens based on OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode).
OLED is important because it doesn’t require a backlight so it’s more batter-friendly than a liquid crystal display (LCD). Additionally, OLED screens render deeper black levels and are thinner and lighter than LCDs, which are major feats for small form-factor wearable gadgets like smartwatches… Read More
Yahoo’s recently-minted CEO Marissa Mayer has gone on a shopping spree. After the troubled Internet giant in March bought mobile news startup Summly for $30 million, and having snapped up the iOS/Android task management service Astrid earlier this month, Yahoo this morning announced a definitive agreement to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion. Yahoo promised “not to screw it up” and operate Tumblr independently as a separate business, keeping its founder David Karp as the CEO.
More than fifty billion posts (75 million more arriving each day) are hosted on Tumblr so this acquisition is bound to significantly bolster Yahoo’s content empire… Read More
Last week, a hacked carrier update surfaced for T-Mobile subscribers that promises to increase the cellular data speeds of the iPhone 5. It claims to pull this off by increasing the handset’s bandwidth supply, allowing for “better throughput of data.”
This weekend, the same person behind the T-Mobile hack unveiled a similar workaround for AT&T customers. As before, the process installs a modded carrier file to your device that aims to improve its network performance with better band management… Read More
Are you tired of waiting for web pages to reload every time you launch mobile Safari? If so, you might be interested in this new jailbreak tweak called SafariBlankPage, by Suu (the same developer who did Slide2Kill).
As its name indicates, the tweak forces Safari to open up to a blank page upon launch, meaning you don’t have to wait for anything to load. This allows you to quickly perform searches and open new websites… Read More
Siri was all the rage when Apple unveiled it alongside its iPhone 4S in the fall of 2011. The digital assistant was highlighted in a number of commercials for the handset during its 11-month life cycle. But since then, we’ve seen a number of competitors arise.
One of those competitors is Google Now, which launched in the summer of last year. And a lot of folks believe that it’s superior to Siri—both in speed and accuracy. But is that really the case? Find out in this new head-to-head comparison video of the two… Read More
