Year: 2012

Apple stalls on approving Siri-like Google Search update

It's obvious that Apple has a "my house, my rules" kind of approach to managing its App Store. And it's even more obvious that the company isn't very fond of Google at the moment.

So it's really no surprise that after three weeks, it has yet to approve the highly-anticpated Google Search update  — you know, the one that adds the Siri-like Google Now feature...

South Korea Court finds both Samsung and Apple guilty of infringement

This is pretty big: while the tech world awaits the verdict in the Apple vs. Samsung trial here in the US, a South Korea court has just ruled that both companies infringed on each other's patents.

What does that mean in terms of consequences? Well, each side has been ordered to pay damages, and both have been hit with injunctions to ban the sales of their infringing products in the country....

AT&T’s new Mobile Share data plans now available

AT&T made good on its promise today and rolled out its new Mobile Share data plans. The launch comes amidst swirling controversy regarding the plans, and the new FaceTime over Cellular feature in iOS 6.

The new plans look extremely similar to Verizon's Share plans, where subscribers start with unlimited talk and text, and then pay extra according to how much data and how many smartphones they need...

Apple to hold separate events for new iPhone and iPad mini?

Up to this point, we've been assuming that Apple would unveil the iPad mini alongside the new iPhone at its September 12 event. Why? Because the often-accurate Rene Ritchie said so, and his report, at least the date, has been confirmed by a number of news outlets.

But today, John Gruber of Daring Fireball contests the information, making a pretty strong case for why Apple would hold two separate events. He opines that since the iPhone is Apple's single most important product, it's unlikely that it would share the spotlight...

As iPhone event looms, competitors rush to beat Apple to the punch

Reports of the September 12 iPhone event started circling late last month. And although several publications have confirmed the date, Apple itself has yet to make any kind of announcement.

But the speculation must have been enough to catch the attentions of Apple's competitors. In the last three weeks, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and Amazon have all announced press events scheduled for the first week of September...

Conveniently, dozens of iPhone 5 dummies crop up in China

In the final weeks leading up to Apple's big September 12 announcement and the near-certain September 21 availability of a sixth-generation iPhone, iDB has discovered a number of iPhone 5 dummies on a major Asian online shopping web site.

Altogether, dozens of entries for Apple's yet-to-be-released handset have now popped up into view, all sporting the familiar looking two-tone design with a taller display (almost certainly of an in-cell variety) which accommodates five rows of icons instead of four...

FireCore working on major aTV Flash (black) update

FireCore has just announced that it is nearing completion of the next major version of its aTV Flash (black) software, 2.0. The suite adds tons of functionality to jailbroken Apple TVs.

Version 2.0 will bring about many changes, including an all-new menu layout, integrated search, and more. And if you're interested, the team is currently taking applications for beta testers...

Samsung denies new Sydney store copies Apple

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Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. However, Samsung wants no talk of its new Sydney, Australia store looking "Apple-esque." Particularly while the South Korean company is being sued for allegedly imitating Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Despite the store being located just a block from Apple, using the same Apple minimalism, the same Apple-like packaging and staffed with the same blue-shirted employees, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company "didn't even come into the equation when we were looking for a location," Samsung Australia's vice president of telecommunication, Tyler McGee, tells the Sydney Morning Herald. In the business, we call that a non-denial denial...

Twice as fast, rebuilt Facebook app finally lands in App Store

The wait is over folks! The new Facebook app that was promised to us almost three months ago has arrived in the App Store. It runs faster, launches quicker, and includes a handful of new features.

The client has been completely rebuilt in Objective-C (no longer HTML5) and now has an enhanced photos feed, built-in Messenger support, and several other performance improvements...

Angry Birds Space update brings new character and levels

Hot on the heels of their Angry Birds Seasons update, Rovio has pushed out a new version of its Angry Birds Space game. The studio once again teamed up with NASA for what it calls the most "epic episode" yet.

The update, as most of them do in the Angry Birds series, brings about new levels — 20 of them actually, set on Mars. It also includes a new character, and some exclusive content regarding NASA missions...

JD Power: Verizon most reliable carrier with AT&T far behind

Once again, Verizon Wireless is ranked the top U.S. carrier in fewest complaints of dropped calls, transmission problems and slow text messages. This is the 14th time the carrier has led J.D. Power's U.S. Wireless Network Quality Performance Study. AT&T and other major carriers landed further down in the cellular reliability survey.

While Verizon Wireless led in the busy Northeast corridor, it also trumped competition in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest and Westerns sections of the country. U.S. Cellular was picked as the best carrier in the North Central U.S. for the 12th time. AT&T's reliability was consistently ranked the lowest, except in the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest areas, where it was second to Verizon...

Devs say Doodle Jump still selling 300,000 copies per month

When the App Store first launched in 2008, it made a handful of developers extremely wealthy. Steve Demeter, for example, the creator of Trism, reportedly earned some $300,000 within a few months of the Store going live.

But since then, we haven't really heard much in the way of major developer success — other than high-profile acquisitions, and yet the dream of becoming a millionaire overnight with a hit app lives on. And this is why...