Following recent budget iPhone concept by Martin Hajek (itself based on nice iOS 7 mockups by 3D artist Dámaso Benítez), German blog Apfellike.de yesterday shared a similar rendition by Jürgen Ulbrich. Like many 3D artists before him, Dámaso is striving to envision what iOS 7 running on the next iPhone might look like. I’m liking his work a lot and have included a few images and a nice video mockup right after the break… Read More
Things are really starting to heat up between Apple and the US Department of Justice over this e-book price fixing scandal. The DoJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple last year for allegedly conspiring with major book publishers to raise e-book prices.
And with the trial set to kick off in a few weeks, there’s beginning to be a lot of activity between the two. Yesterday, a DoJ filing popped up that called Apple out for facilitating the price fixing. And today, a potentially damning email from Steve Jobs has surfaced… Read More
Previously code-named Babel, Google yesterday announced its new cross-platform unified messaging product called Hangouts. Shortly after, the software surfaced on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play store for Android.
In replacing Google Talk, Hangouts supports one-on-one and group chatting across desktop, Android and Apple devices and includes photos, emoji, and video calls.
In a nutshell, the app integrates messaging from Google’s GTalk, Google+ Messenger, Hangouts and Voice products. But that’s just scratching the surface as Google obviously has big plans with the product… Read More
BGR, the tech blog with a mixed track record, is known for occasionally leaking credible information about Apple’s upcoming products. And with the next iPhone looming on the horizon, BGR has exclusively obtained high-quality parts photos believed to depict a number of internal components for the iPhone 5S.
From what we could glean from these shots, Apple’s handset could undergo a more substantial internal overhaul than previously thought. Go past the fold for full details… Read More
The iPhone is quickly becoming (or already has) the hottest digital camera on the planet. Not only does it have terrific imaging power, but with its screen is able to easily compose attractive shots. Knowing the power of the iPhone and other iDevices, Apple continually tweaks its photo-imaging capabilities.
The latest evidence being a new patent application describing a way to combine the resources of multiple devices to provide what’s being called a ‘social camera flash.’ The idea isn’t new. So-called slave flashes that act on the command of a main camera have been in professional photo studios for years. However, Apple’s patent application envisions iPhones, iPads and iPods linked wirelessly to illuminate a scene… Read More
Apple crossed a major milestone yesterday afternoon, with the official App Store Twitter channel confirming the company hit 50 billion app downloads. As part of its countdown promotion, the iPhone maker today issued a press release revealing the lucky winner who won a $10,000 iTunes Gift card, good for apps, videos, books and music. Additionally, per Apple’s rules fifty additional lucky winners will take home $500 iTunes gift cards each… Read More
In a recent bond offering, Apple took on billions of dollars in debt in order to finance an initiative to return some of its cash to shareholders. Its plan is to give $100 billion back to investors, by way of dividends and stock buybacks, by 2015.
Since most of its cash is offshore, Apple’s decision to take on debt instead of tapping its own $150 billion cash pile helped it sidestep an estimated $9 billion in taxes. Unfortunately, it’s also caught the attention of the US government… Read More
Apple’s App Store just crossed a major milestone this afternoon. Just a few moments ago, the digital storefront passed the 50 billion download mark, bringing the company’s “50 Billion App Countdown” to an end.
The winner of the countdown promotion, who has yet to be revealed, will be given a $10,000 iTunes gift card, good for apps, videos, books and music. And fifty additional lucky winners will receive $500 gift cards… Read More
The Internet giant kicked off its annual Google I/O developer conference with a three-hour long (!) keynote at San Francisco’s Moscone West, the same venue Apple reserved for its own five-day event next month. During the keynote, Google executives announced a much-rumored streaming music service that’s bound to give headache to the likes of Spotify, Rdio and Pandora.
Dubbed somewhat confusingly Google Play Music All Access, Google’s Android executive Chris Yerga noted on stage that “music unites us” and is “universal”. And with computing and mobile devices intertwined into our lives “there’s potential to bring that joy together.” Go past the fold for full details… Read More
DirecTV has a decent iOS app on the App Store which streams live television programming, supports DVR functionality and lets you browse and access on-demand streams of past television shows and movies.
The company previously promised to activate voice-enabled features and today it made good on that promise by updating DirectTV software to version 2.5.
The new version uses voice-activated navigation to enable users to find whatever they want to watch on their telly. It’s just like Siri: simply speak to the app just as you would to a person in order to find something to watch. In fact, DirectTV’s software gives us a good indication how a rumored Siri-enabled Apple television set could enhance the experience… Read More
If you thought the question over in-flight electronics was settled, think again. Although the Federal Aviation Administration is expected to announce in July whether to relax current rules governing in-flight use of iPhones, iPads and other devices, questions remain about their safety.
Wednesday, Bloomberg recounted testimony from pilots and others calling into question whether some devices – particularly those using cellular connections – may interfere with newer GPS-based navigation. In one instance, pilots believe an iPhone caused their airliner to fly miles off course… Read More
Games super publisher Electronic Arts is bringing its Frostbite game engine to the iOS and Android platforms, the company confirmed Tuesday.
Developed by EA Digital Illusions CE, creators of the Battlefield series, the Frostbite engine supports Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms and powers a wide range of video game genres, from first-person shooters to racing game and real-time strategies.
A mobile version called Frostbite Go will target “all major mobile platforms,” Electronic Arts confirmed, specifically mentioning iOS and Android… Read More
When seeking increased sales of mobile phones, observers need to look east. That’s the word from one large analyst firm, noting more than half of all mobile phones sold during the first quarter of 2013 were in the Asia/Pacific market. For Apple, its sales in mainland China alone neared seven million units during the period, largely credited to the lower-priced iPhone 4. Worldwide, the California-based smartphone maker saw its share of mobile phone sales rise… Read More
As you know, publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster all settled with the US Justice Department (DoJ) in an antitrust lawsuit the government filed against them and Apple in April 2012. In turn, DoJ is focusing on Apple now and, according to a new report, is calling Apple out for being a facilitator of an alleged price fixing related to electronic books sold on its iBookstore.
Furthermore, DoJ claimed it collected evidence that proves Apple was the “ringmaster” in the price fixing conspiracy… Read More
In a better-late-than-never announcement, Canada-based BlackBerry today posted a surprising announcement confirming it will be bringing its BlackBerry Messenger platform to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android platform. Yes, BlackBerry’s killer app won’t be exclusive anymore.
BlackBerry’s move comes amid consolidation in the instant messaging space. Two increasingly popular services, Viber and WhatsApp, recently passed 200 million users each.
With iMessage pretty much ruling the messaging game on iOS devices and Google’s rumored unified chatting platform dubbed Babel expected soon, it is no surprise that BlackBerry Messenger will be available to mobile users who don’t use BlackBerry devices… Read More
The Home button has got to be one of the defining features of the iPhone’s clean rounded rectangular design. Whereas some other manufacturers add a bunch of physical buttons to their gadgets, Apple instead has moved all controls to the iOS software, leaving only the Home button on the iPhone’s face.
That could change with the iPhone 5S, the next iPhone refresh expected later this year. If a new rumor is to be believed, Apple will for the first time replace the iPhone’s Home button – prone to failure after long periods of use – with its capacitive counterpart.
This isn’t new: many Android handsets have touch-enabled “buttons” like Samsung’s Galaxy S series, for example. Apple’s innovation, the story goes, involves using sapphire crystal to prevent scratches and dings and protect the integrated fingerprint sensor… Read More
This is kind of interesting. A thread has popped up in the Reddit forums this week regarding some recent changes to Siri. It appears that Apple has quietly updated the digital assistant with a new, quirky attitude toward lengthy queries.
Now, when Siri is asked a question (or given a command) that is excessively long, she will quote famous passages from notable historical figures like William Strunk and Thomas Jefferson on the subject of—you guessed it—brevity… Read More
The renderings use Hajek’s past budget iPhone concepts as the basis for the hardware. As for the software, he incorporated a round of nice concepts by 3D artist Dámaso Benítez, picturing a flattened iOS 7 user interface that Apple’s design head Jony Ive and his team are widely believed to be working on.
His mockups, Hajek explains on his personal blog, serve to illustrate “how Apple might introduce the new, cheap iPhone.” More awesomeness can be found right past the fold… Read More
After major networks such as Time Warner and CBS (and even Blockbuster) in recent weeks enabled live streaming in their respective iOS apps, Disney-owned television network ABC has followed suit. I recently called the development a potentially disruptive move on Disney’s part and Cody likened it yesterday to a mini-revolution of sorts. Call it what you will, but it’s here. Disney basically took its existing ABC Player iOS software and re-branded it under the more suggestive Watch ABC moniker.
The big news is a new Live button that gives you access to ABC’s live television programming in select local markets. You can also stream full episodes of the previously aired shows. Not that live TV functionality requires a subscription with an eligible TV provider. Unfortunately, the Watch ABC app doesn’t have DVR functionality. Additional tidbits right below… Read More
Into each iPhone, iPod or iPad a little moisture must fall – and when it does, Apple’s got you covered. Or, at least that’s what a pair of patent filings indicate. The two patent grants detail how to build consumer electronics in ways to prevent moisture entry and then alert users. Both were granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and appear to be part of the iPhone 5, which has scored well in moisture-handling tests… Read More
