Year: 2012

Investigation finds that child labor and worker abuse is a common practice at Samsung factories

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

It's not just Apple. Samsung, too, is taking advantage of cheap child labor who put long hours into someone else's dream. According to a scathing report titled "Samsung Factory Exploiting Child Labor" and put together by the members of China Labor Watch (CWL), a New York-based non-government organization founded by labor activist Li Qiang, the practice of hiring child labor is "prevalent" at factories run by HEG Electronics, which assembles cell phones, DVDs, stereo equipment and music players for Samsung...

How to quickly access Emoji characters via the iPhone’s stock keyboard

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

QuickEmoji is a brand new jailbreak tweak that allows you to quickly access Emoji characters using the stock iOS keyboard. Normally, you'd have to switch to a dedicated Emoji keyboard to use Emoji characters, but this tweak takes on a more practical approach.

Take a look on the inside, as we show you how to access your precious Emoji characters in a more efficient manner...

Nice close ups of iPad mini dummies

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 8, 2012

In between writing today's report of a "slicker-than-the-iPad-3" iPad mini and conceiving a poll about the perceived value of a non-Retina iPad mini, I've stumbled upon a new set of high-quality photographs showing a familiar looking iPad mini mockup next to the regular 9.7-inch iPad. Presumably, the snaps represent one of the iPad mini dummies floating around in Asia rather than the real deal, but nonetheless they offer a good comparison between the smaller iPad and its bigger sibling, in detail not seen before. Jump past the break for the full gallery...

Poll: would you buy a non-Retina iPad mini?

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 8, 2012

With the successful iPhone 5 launch now behind us, the rumor-mill has turned its attention to another looming Apple product: a smaller, lighter, sexier and more affordable mini iPad. The obligatory people with knowledge of the situation are dutifully churning out speculative reports on a daily basis (iDB typically brings you a smaller selection of stories we think are worth your attention).

As various plugged-in sources have increasingly been leaking alleged parts left and right, we've come to the point where one could pretty accurately predict the form factor (a 7.85-inch display), the design (think slick) and how much it's gonna cost ($249-$299).

That being said, the biggest unknown of a mass market iPad remains a screen resolution and to many early adopters this is the sole determining factor in the purchase decision process...

iOS 6 no longer lets you gift apps on iOS devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 8, 2012

It's been widely reported that Apple dropped stock YouTube and Google Maps app in iOS 6. I'm not really sure how nobody noticed this before, but it's been reported that Apple did kill another handy feature: the ability to gift apps.

The removal of the gifting capability affects mobile App Store storefronts running on iPhones, iPads and iPod touches as users can still gift apps using desktop iTunes on a Mac or PC. Apple itself confirmed the change and it's unknown when (or if, for that matter) the feature will return to iOS 6...

For some, screen flickers when the iPhone 5 keyboard pops up

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 8, 2012

Following the purple haze camera issue, the WiFi bug affecting cellular data usage, Scuffgate, Mapgate, light leaks and other teething problems, some early adopters are now reporting a new glitch related to the iPhone 5's virtual keyboard.

Apparently, it's randomly inconveniencing an unknown proportion of users whose device exhibits an annoying glitch where some parts of the keyboard show random noise and broken lines, like old TV sets attuned to the snow white frequency...

Analyst: iPad mini may even be slicker than iPad 3

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 8, 2012

The rumored mini iPad could be Apple's sexiest tablet yet, with one analyst predicting that the aesthetics will play an important role in pushing the product into the mass market. The current iPad lineup is pretty and with Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7 looking a bit plasticky, premium design paired with Apple's famous fit and finish could give an inexpensive, smaller iPad just the kind of attraction it needs to make average consumers drool down their black turtlenecks...

NYT looks at Apple and patent wars from both sides

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 4, 2018

As part of its ongoing iEconomy series, The New York Times on Sunday evening published a fascinating piece covering patent wars in excruciating detail, touching upon Apple's decision to go thermonuclear on Android, how the company changed its strategy after it had been forced to pay $100 million for the iPod user interface, why Apple is allowed to own patents covering basic software concepts and more...

Rovio to release Angry Birds Star Wars on November 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Forgive Rovio for milking the Angry Birds franchise for all its worth, but if it hadn't been for the original Angry Birds game no one would have heard of a small Finnish game developer that was struggling to make a living making games you never heard about. Hot on the heels of releasing Bad Piggies and Angry Birds Space, Rovio has just announced a broad partnership with Hasbro, a toy and board game company.

The mash-up will see Rovio release a range of Star Wars and Angry Birds figurines, costumes, plush toys and a brand new Angry Birds game set in the Star Wars universe. More information and a teaser trailer follow right after the break...

WSJ: Apple has ordered more than 10 million iPad minis

Cody Lee ∙ October 8, 2012

Though Apple has been mum about the iPad mini thus far, reports continue to drop that the smaller tablet is on the way. Last week, it was said that the slate was already in production. And today, more new information has surfaced.

Apparently, Apple's Asian component suppliers have received orders to build more than 10 million iPad minis for Q4 of this year...

Apple’s Lightning to 30-pin adapters now shipping

Cody Lee ∙ October 8, 2012

Good news today for folks who ordered, or were thinking about ordering, a Lightning to 30-pin adapter from Apple. Reports are coming in that the first round orders began shipping yesterday.

As you know, Apple debuted a new charging port in its new iPhone and iPod products last month. And until now, you couldn't find an adapter that made old accessories work with the new port...

Rokform brings its v3 case system to the iPad [review and giveaway]

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

If you follow our review and giveaway sections, you are familiar with Rokform's v3 accessory system for iPhone. For a short recap, the v3 accessory system integrates with the iPhone v3 cases making a wide arrange of additional accessories lock into the existing case. As the RokLock iPad case hits the market, there are two new pieces available specifically for the iPad system, which help mount your iPad most anywhere.

The RokLock is an injection molded polycarbonate slider case for iPad and iPad 2. The beefy case is excellent for protection and the remote mounting system keeps your device locked into place. We are thankful to our friends at Rokform for sending us one for review and you could win one for yourself too...