For months, rumors have been bouncing around that Apple was finally going to give its iPhone a larger display this fall. And these rumors have been all-but-confirmed by industry insiders and claimed leaked components.
Then earlier this week, it was reaffirmed when it was discovered that iOS 6 is capable of running on such a display, at a resolution of 640 x 1136. And we've got some images of what apps will look like if the speculation holds true...
You've seen the leaked components, in fact, you've seen tons of them. You've seen the third-party cases and you've seen the tell-tale discounts popping up. It's pretty obvious that a new iPhone is on the way.
But just in case you needed more proof, a new report is out this morning claiming that component-makers in Apple's Taiwanese supply chain just posted record sales for the month of July...
Google, in an attempt to outshine one of the worst kept secrets in the industry at the time — Apple's 3D Maps announcement at WWDC 2012 — hastily put together its own presser 5 days in advance, to announce their entry into the "next dimension" of maps.
That's all water under the bridge now (see what I did there?), and both companies have 3D technology incorporated in their apps — Google, with Google Earth, and Apple, with Maps for iOS 6.
Obviously Apple's maps update is still in beta, and Google just recently released their Google Earth upgrade, but which 3D building implementation looks better up to this point? The answer might surprise you...
Last weekend we reported that Sprint, a large wireless carrier here in the US, had started discounting the iPhone 4S by $50. The move wasn't surprising, as we've seen similar discounts from other carriers and retailers.
But word is getting around today that Apple has finally joined the party, and has given its retail stores the authorization to match the discounted prices from approved major retailers and carriers up to $50 dollars...
When Apple added the App Store to iOS, the iPhone and iPod touch became about as disruptive to the handheld video game market as the iPhone was to the smartphone industry. All of a sudden, users had easy access to thousands of low-cost video games.
But not only has Apple since sold more iOS devices than handheld systems from Nintendo and Sony put together, it's actually sold more than all major console systems. This, among other factors, makes iOS one of the most popular gaming platforms of all time...
iOS 6 brings a new app called Passbook that Apple argues isn't a direct payment product (yet). Instead, the program lets you collect and organize discount coupons, gift cards and some such. Patents, however, reveal that Apple is actively thinking about leveraging NFC technology to turn Passbook into a comprehensive mobile shopping solution, referred to as the iWallet.
You could create fake coupons to play around with in the Passbook app, but I'd bet my shirt that you'd still be scratching your head as to how exactly Passbook is supposed to work in real-life. A nice two-minute clip embedded below will help clear up the confusion by showing some interesting possibilities for Passbook through real-life examples...
A quick note for our readers that have been patiently waiting for a jailbreak for the Apple TV third generation. According to a recent tweet by my fellow countryman and iOS hacker extraordinaire Pod2g, no one is currently working on a jailbreak for the Apple TV 3.
This doesn't really come as a surprise. The Apple TV has always been the iOS device with the least amount of attention from jailbreak hackers, likely because it is much less exciting than the iPhone or iPad...
Doesn't it get under your skin when you try to watch a video on the big screen via AirPlay, and at the most, all you get is sound? Sometimes companies decide to restrict users from using AirPlay or HDMI output, which results in the frustrating scenario just mentioned.
This prevents certain apps like Amazon Instant Video, HBOGO, and DirectTV from being enjoyed on your television set via AirPlay using an Apple TV.
It's actually surprising that it took this long for a Cydia developer to come up with a fix for this, but it's finally here. UnrestrictPremium is a tweak that allows you to watch video via AirPlay mirroring or HDMI output, even if the developer of the app restricts users from doing so. Want to see how it works? Then step inside and watch our hands-on video walkthrough...
As hinted last month, Google has reached a deal with The United States Government and has agreed to pay a $22.5 million fine for overriding iOS Safari users’ privacy settings in order to better track their web browsing activity.
The unusually high fine is meant to set an example for other companies who may be thinking about violating users' privacy in sneaky ways...
The next iPhone won't just screw developers with its taller, four-inch display and an increased resolution of 640-by-1136 pixels (though both iOS 6 and the SDK have been discovered to be scalable for taller displays) and accessory makers with a redesigned dock connector (unless Apple provides a 30-pin dock adapter), it could as well screw repair shops (pun intended) with a special screw design calling for asymmetric heads.
As if sealing the battery and allegedly using a new in-cell display technology wasn't enough, now iPhone repair shops will have to obtain non-existent tools just to pry open the upcoming device...
One of the most common complaints I keep hearing about the yet-unreleased next iPhone is a sense of dissapointment over its overly unchanged appearance, even if from the design standpoint the iPhone 5 is much more than a rehash of the existing iPhone 4/4S design.
Is you know, Apple's upcoming device is said to sport a two-tone metal backplate (58 percent like it), a taller four-inch screen with new display technology, a relocated headphone jack and a much smaller dock connector with MagSafe-like functionality at the bottom.
But it ain't just Apple. Nokia, once a leader in cell phones and now an also-ran, figured its inaugural Windows Phone 8 handset shouldn't change the design formula established with the sleek Windows Phone 7.5-powered Lumia 710. Heck, if the above leaked photo is the real deal, Nokia may not be willing to change the overall Lumia design much with the new handset...
Though Android is peaking in the United States, globally Google's platform is widening its lead over the iPhone and in the second quarter of this year accounted for an IDC-estimated two-thirds of all smartphones sold, mainly thanks to Samsung whose Android handsets represented 44 percent of all Android smartphone shipments.
A new survey by NPD sheds more light on market trends. See, postpaid smartphone units remained flat in Q2 2012 compared to the year-ago quarter. All of the growth in smartphones came as a result of prepaid smartphone unit volume almost doubling on an annual basis...