Year: 2012

We really like Microsoft’s new mice and keyboards for tablets

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 2, 2017

There's no denying that Microsoft's Hardware division makes some compelling and nice-looking peripherals which sport high build quality (usually something you don't associate with Microsoft) and just work, well, as advertised. Too bad Microsoft's latest lineup of mice and keyboards focuses on Windows tablets as these new peripherals look really, really solid, almost too good to be true.

Take, for example, the Wedge Touch Mouse, a futuristic-looking pointing device that responds to touch and features four-way navigation. As you could imagine it's optimized for tablets, of course specifically to slates running Windows 8, such as Microsoft's own Surface tablet due to land on October 26.

Or how about the Wedge Mobile Keyboard, a really sleek and pro-looking Bluetooth keyboard which also quickly converts into a tablet stand and lets you just snap the cover back on the keyboard to quickly power it down.

Can we have these for our iPads, please?

Apple ups spending on components by $1.15 billion ahead of multiple product launches

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

According to Apple's most recent 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has increased its spending on components in the June quarter by as much as $1.15 billion versus the quarter-ago period, a tell tale indication of upcoming product launches.

Apple's prepayment for components is now 12.6 percent of its total third-quarter sales, the highest level one analyst has seen in the last four years. And if the swirling rumors are anything to go by, this year will mark one of the busiest holiday shopping seasons for Apple as the company readies the next iPhone, possibly a rumored mini iPad, the all-new iPod nano with network iTunes connection, to name a few...

Android peaking in US as iOS gains ground

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Strategy Analytics is out with a new survey this morning suggesting that device unit sales and market share for Google's Android platform in the United States has declined during the second quarter of this year as devices powered by Apple's iOS software continue to gain ground...

We’re giving away two Cellhelmet cases for iPhone

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated October 21, 2012

Last week we covered the Cellhelmet by CellPig in a featured review. This is one of the few cases we have found that comes with a one-year iPhone repair and replacement plan for free when you purchase the case.

If you didn't rush off to buy one, here is your chance to score one for yourself. Thanks to CellPig, we are happy to offer our engaged readers a chance to take home a Cellhelmet of their own in the color of their choosing...

Judge to Samsung: Photos of Steve Jobs are relevant to this litigation

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 30, 2012

Samsung made an effort to bar the jury from seeing some of Apple's opening slides ahead of the big lawsuit that kicked off earlier today in San Jose, northern California. Samsung filed as much as fourteen objections to the use of images of Steve Jobs in the opening presentation over fear they might affect the jurors emotionally and consequentially skew their judgment.

One of Apple's slides is a screenshot from the announcement of the iPad in July 2010 and the other depicts the highly publicized January 2007 iPhone introduction which Apple argues "launched the fame that the iPhone trade dress has acquired"

However, late Sunday the court overruled all of the South Korean conglomerate's objections, ruling that each of the images of Steve Jobs "is relevant to Apple’s iPhone design patent and trade dress claims and is not unduly prejudicial"...

‘Handwriting recognition’ is a good idea, but poorly executed

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Handwriting recognition is a new $0.99 jailbreak tweak that recognizes hand written text, and converts that text into typed characters.

The cool thing about this tweak is that it uses Action Menu to activate itself, meaning it can be used freely in any app.

It's an excellent idea, but it's not without some major issues holding it back from its potential...

Jony Ive on Apple’s design and business principles

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

"Apple's goal is not to make money, but to make good products", is the key quote from Wired's exclusive one-on-one with Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design. The article touches upon several interesting topics dealing with Apple's design acumen, its business philosophy and some of the inner processes that guide decision-making at the world's most-valued public corporation.

It's timely, too. Today, Apple and Samsung have started duking it out in a mega-trial in the U.S. over who copied whom. A bunch of pre-trial briefs have already offered a unique glimpse into Apple's jealously guarded design process by revealing numerous device prototypes, from the octagonal iPhone to the Sony-inspired design to the 'Purple' 2005 thing.

Interestingly, the company's vice presidents Scott Forstall (iOS chief) and Phil Schiller (marketing boss) will both testify in the U.S. trial, but not Ive...

Microsoft’s Surface tablet arriving on Friday, October 26

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 30, 2012

Microsoft revealed in its filing with the Security and Exchange Commission that come October 26 it will launch both Windows 8 operating system for consumers and the Surface tablet which was announced a month and half ago. Apple, of course, is expected to unveil a rumored cheaper, smaller iPad at a media event this fall (iLounge says in November) and launch a fourth-generation iPad some time during the first quarter of next year...

Taiwan university sues Apple over Siri speech recognition

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 30, 2012

A university in Taiwan has sued Apple over its use of dictation feature in Siri and the underlying speech recognition engine, claiming Apple's implementation violates its patents. National Cheng Kung University has on Monday launched a lawsuit against the iPhone maker and is seeking undisclosed damages, though its lawyers noted that any calculation would be based on Apple's U.S. sales of devices that use Siri, quite possibly amounting to millions of dollars in damages...

How to force all apps to run in full screen mode

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

We get it. The status bar is useful for telling the time and for displaying your remaining battery life. But what if you don't need that information to be always visible?

Wouldn't it be nice if you could take the real estate borrowed by the status bar, and use it for your apps? Some apps, like games, already do this; it's called full screen mode.

What if you could force all of your apps to run in full screen mode? If you have a jailbroken device, then you no longer have to hypothesize about that scenario. That's because Maximization is a jailbreak tweak, that allows you to do just that...

Rumor: iPad mini in November, thinner iPad 3, new iPhone cases

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 30, 2012

Just a couple hours ago the increasingly credible iMore reported that the next iPhone and mini iPad will launch on Friday, September 21, suggesting the original App4phone story was correct. Now, a new report from another credible publication has it that Apple will launch the iPad mini around November, with a thinner, re-worked full-size iPad model apparently following shortly thereafter...

2005 Purple iPhone prototype proves Apple didn’t lift iPhone’s design from Sony

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

Remember Apple's Sony-infused iPhone prototype that Samsung recently showed in its pre-trial brief? The one done by designer Shin Nishibori whom Apple hired from Sony to create one of the early iPhone prototypes? As you know, Apple fought hard to keep the jury from seeing that evidence that, Samsung hopes, establishes that the Cupertino, California company lifted the iPhone's design from Sony.

That may not have been the case as Apple offers in its brief a look at a 2005 iPhone prototype code-named Purple (nothing to do with color, it's white actually) which the company says predates the original iPhone...