Year: 2012

Carriers to Nokia: Lumia cannot match the iPhone’s sexyness

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

You may have heard that some analysts consider Windows Phone a legitimate iPhone contender and have probably read nice things about the new Lumia smartphone brand from Nokia that debuted last October. Lumia is the ailing cellphone giant's inaugural Windows Phone lineup born out of their partnership with Microsoft.

The Lumia 900, Nokia's latest attempt to beat the iPhone at its own game, is backed by millions of Microsoft's marketing dollars and pushed with aggressive anti-Apple advertising. Nevertheless, the handset has apparently fell on def ear with both carriers and bankers.

SliderWidth: adjust the width of your Lock screen slider

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 17, 2012

SliderWidth is a jailbreak tweak that does exactly what its name states — allows you to adjust the width of your iDevice's "Slide to Unlock" bar.

But that's not the only trick in this tweak's bag; it also allows you to use custom slider text, remove the Lock camera button or photo frame button, along with being compatible with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Take a look at our video walkthrough for more information...

Greenpeace slams Apple over “19th-century coal energy”, praises Google

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2012

Non-governmental environmental organization Greenpeace has taken issue with Apple's $1 billion iCloud data center in North Carolina, accusing the Cupertino company of running a facility that operates on "dirty, 19th-century coal energy".

In addition, Greenpeace wrote in its latest report, Microsoft and Amazon are also running server farms that operate on dirty energy.

The slap in Apple's face came just as we learned the company is building the nation’s largest end-user owned solar energy farm to partially power the iCloud data center.

FTC looking to fine Google for bypassing Safari users’ privacy

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2012

Following a report that claimed Google had been overriding Safari users' privacy settings to set tracking code in order to collect web browsing habits, a newspaper story this morning asserts that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking a long, hard look at the search giant's practice.

The FTC is said to be “deep into an investigation” of Google’s tactics of bypassing Apple’s security settings on both the desktop and iOS versions of Safari.

Apparently, they are looking to fine Google and the financial sanctions could be "sizable", according to the obligatory people familiar with the matter.

Young artists and fragrance maker design the Apple unboxing scent

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2012

That distinctive scent felt upon unwrapping a newly purchased Apple product from its packaging? File this under the you-better-believe-it drawer: a trio of young artists from Australia have created a new fragrance that replicates the smell of a new MacBook Pro.

Based on a few ordinary aroma ingredients from suppliers in the south of France, the fragrance aims to recreate that unique and sexy olfactory experience associated with unboxing a shiny new Apple product.

I don't know about you, but I always stick my nose inside the box immediately upon unwrapping an Apple product (I also flip through magazines backwards and smell the shiny pages, too).

TV ad teams up with iOS app to give us a glimpse at the future

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Every once in a while, you get a glimpse of a technology that makes you say "cool." And the latest tech to cross our "cool" radars is this interactive TV ad from Channel 5's The Gadget Show.

Using the complimentary iOS app, you can interact with the spot in real-time by panning a full 360-degrees around the studio's set. Confused? Keep reading to see a video of it in action...

Apple hires United Continental CFO Zane Rowe as new VP of Sales

Cody Lee ∙ April 17, 2012

According to a report from AllThingsD, Apple has just hired United Continental's CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Zane Rowe as its new Vice President of Sales. United Continental is the holding company for United Airlines, one of the world's largest airlines.

It's always interesting when Apple adds a member to its exclusive leadership team. The group of executives is in charge of running the world's largest company (by market cap), and ensuring it stays on top...

I’m sorry Mr. Jackson, but I like this Siri advertisement better

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 16, 2012

With all due respect for Samuel L. Jackson, I think we can agree that this latest commercial is a tad easier on the eyes.

That's because the star of said commercial is non other than New Girl leading lady, and hipster heartstring puller, Zooey Deschanel.

It's the second iPhone 4S/Siri ad uncovered today staring some of Hollywood's finest, but likely not the last...

Samuel L. Jackson stars in new iPhone 4S commercial

Cody Lee ∙ April 16, 2012

As noted by TheNextWeb, a new iPhone 4S commercial has surfaced starring the popular actor Mr. Samuel L. Jackson. The ad popped up this afternoon during an episode of ESPN's SportsCenter.

What's interesting here is that although the commercial seems to fall in line with previous Apple 4S ads — focus on Siri, production value — it appears that Verizon is behind the spot. Check it out...

The case for a four-inch iPhone with 16:9 display

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 16, 2012

There's no shortage of iPhone mockups these days, a tell-tale indication of the launch date drawing near (we're looking towards a Fall launch). We already told you about one possible iPhone mockup and shared an interesting theory regarding the argument for a four-inch iPhone.

The problem is, the vast majority of artists' renditions depict an iPhone with a blown up display that, however, features the same 3:2 aspect ratio as all iPhone and iPod touch models back to 2007.

So, how about a four-incher with a 16:9 aspect ratio display?

Google to launch new iOS-compatible cloud service next week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 24, 2012

You can never accuse Google of not trying. Successful or not, the search company has tried its hand in several markets over the past few years. And it's not showing any signs of slowing down.

TheNextWeb is reporting today that it has gotten its hands on a draft release from a partner of Google's upcoming Google Drive service. That's right. Google's about to take on DropBox in the cloud-based storage space...

Forget Smart Cover, here comes uber-cool, origami-style iPad case

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 16, 2012

You simply gotta appreciate this little nugget. Here we have a unique case for the iPad 2 that flips open origami-style. It ain't a joke, this thing actually works as advertised.

Not only does it automatically transform into a versatile stand by simply opening the cover, the FlipSteady case - a Kickstarter project by Isaiah Coberly - also fluidly transitions between a variety of standing positions.

But don't take our word for it, check out a clip of the FlipSteady case in action...