Year: 2012

Rumor: Apple to start “iPanel” HDTV production in May

Cody Lee ∙ April 5, 2012

Barron's, a financial arm of The Wall Street Journal's web network, passes on an interesting report today from Jefferies & Co.'s Peter Misek. The analyst has upped his stock price target for Apple to $800 per share on the back of new information regarding a TV set.

In an investor's note, sent out this morning, Misek said that his recent trip to China has given him "increased confidence" that Apple will be launching a TV this year. He claims, among other things, that he saw television components en route to Apple suppliers...

GLAS.t glass screen protector review

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

By now, you probably know that I'm neither a fan of cases nor screen protectors, so when the folks at SGP asked me if I'd like to check out their new screen protector for iPhone 4S, I gave them my boilerplate answer: "you may send it to me but I make no guarantee that I will review it on iDB."

I was really intrigued by SGP's GLAS.t premium tempered glass screen protector right off the bat though. As far as I know, this is the very first screen protector for iPhone entirely made of glass, and after seeing the video demo, I knew I wanted to try it despite my disdain for screen protectors.

So about a month ago, I installed the GLAS.t on my iPhone 4S. This is my review of it...

‘iLettars’ adjusts your iPhone’s animation speed and delay

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 5, 2012

If you're looking for a tweak that's practical for every day use, then you might as well move along now. iLettars is anything but practical, and on top of that it's pretty expensive at $1.59.

On the other hand, for those of you looking to show off some funky animations to your friends, and don't mind dropping the cost of a cheap drink at Starbucks to do so, feel free to continue...

HeadphoneLauncher: launch apps from your Lock screen when headphones are detected

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 5, 2012

Wouldn't it be cool if the iPhone immediately enabled the media controls on the Lock screen upon the detection of headphones? Indeed, it would.

HeadphoneLauncher borrows this idea and takes it one step further; not only will it bring up the Lock screen media controls, but it will also bring up an application launcher that you can use to launch your favorite apps.

Check out our video walkthrough of HeadphoneLauncher inside...

‘TouchPosé Plus’ now available on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 5, 2012

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAIiilUDtHM[/tube]

Finger tracking jailbreak tweak TouchPosé+ has been officially released on Cydia's BigBoss repo for the price of $1.00.

As we revealed in our initial preview, TouchPosé+ is just like the original TouchPosé, except this time you have custom color options, and custom images.

If you decide to give it a try, let us know what you think about it in the comments.

Apple investigating Wi-Fi issues with new iPad

Cody Lee ∙ April 5, 2012

Experiencing Wi-Fi problems with your new iPad? Apparently you're not alone. According to a recent report from 9to5Mac, hundreds of new iPad owners have taken to Apple's online support forums complaining of the issue.

In fact, the site has gotten its hands on an internal Apple memo (above) that instructs retail employees to "capture" affected devices — meaning send them in to Apple for inspection — and replace them under warranty...

Does Apple have an obligation to create more American jobs?

Cody Lee ∙ April 5, 2012

At this point, it's fairly common knowledge that Apple outsources its manufacturing work overseas. Labor is much cheaper in countries like China, where there are no minimum wage laws, so it's a huge draw for companies looking to lower their costs.

But not everyone's ok with this. CNN's Clyde Prestowitz recently wrote an article entitled "Apple has an obligation to help solve America's problems." The piece is essentially about the company's lack of job creation in the US, and what it should do about it...

How secure is your iCloud data?

Cody Lee ∙ April 4, 2012

To say that iCloud is a big deal for Apple is a bit of an understatement. The cloud-based storage and backup service was launched just 6 months ago, alongside the iPhone 4S and iOS 5, and has already garnered more than 100 million users.

But its quick rise in popularity and deep integration into Apple's software has led to one major question: how secure is it? Well the folks over at ArsTechnica recently spoke with some software security experts to find out...

Apple has 7.85-inch iPad with 1024×768 display in its labs

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 18, 2019

As noted by TechnoBuffalo, well-connected Apple proponent John Gruber (of DaringFireball) made some interesting comments today regarding the oft-rumored "iPad mini" on his weekly 5by5 podcast with Dan Benjamin.

Gruber claimed that he has been told by a number of Apple insiders that a 7.85-inch tablet exists inside Apple's labs, but he's unsure when or if it will see the light of day...

Google CEO says Steve Jobs’ hatred for Android was “actually for show”

Cody Lee ∙ April 4, 2012

Steve Jobs' distain for Google's mobile OS was well documented. There's a famous quote from the late CEO's biography that goes something like, "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

But according to Google's CEO Larry Page, a large part of Jobs' hatred for Android was merely for show. He believes that it was more of a way to rally his troops at Apple, rather than evidence of bad blood between the two companies...

Apple revamping online store for educators with “dramatically simplified user interface”

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 4, 2012

Forget the new iPad, here comes the new online Apple store! According to a credible report, the company is informing its K-12 shoppers to get ready for the new online shopping experience. It's kinda semi-official now as Apple's notice announcing the redesign has been spotted in the store's section dedicated to kindergarten through 12th grade institutions.

For now, the company appears to be simply teasing the upcoming changes and it's unclear whether the new shopping experience will be limited to K-12 buyers only. Be that as it may, with such a diverse portfolio of products spanning lots of product variants and families, a store revamp can't hurt.

One in three U.S. high school students own an iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ April 4, 2012

So this is pretty interesting: Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray's senior Apple analyst, published a report yesterday claiming that one in three U.S. high school students now own an iPhone.

The data comes from the firm's semi-annual survey of U.S. teens, in which they poll over 5,500 high school students to see what technology they're currently in to...