Month: July 2012

Kickstarter project turns your iOS device into an old-school game console

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

If the iCade Mobile game accessory isn't your thing and you're a retro type, consider the GameDock, a cool new Kickstarter project which turns your iPhone into an old-school TV-based game console. It's simple, really: the GameDock, as the name suggests, is a game dock-like accessory where you plug your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, akin to a game cartridge.

You can also pair your device with it over Bluetooth. It includes video output and comes equipped with an USB game controller with physical buttons and an HDMI adapter...

Corrupt binaries in App Store causing crashes for some

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2012

Something went amiss in Apple's application stores for iPhone and Mac apps, causing newly updated apps to crash. Users are reporting that a number of popular apps quit immediately upon loading, though this issue only seems to affect freshly updated software.

Newly updated versions of Instapaper, Readdle Scanner Pro and Angry Birds Space HD Free have all been accused of crashing upon being updated to the latest version.

Instapaper developer Marco Arment pinpoints the issue over at his blog to a likely server bug with the App Store’s content distribution network. Apple has yet to acknowledge the problem or issue a statement...

RedSn0w 0.9.14b2 released with improved baseband downgrading

Cody Lee ∙ July 5, 2012

Last month, the Dev Team released a new version of RedSn0w that allowed iPhone 3G (and some 3GS) users to downgrade their basebands. This was a big deal for users who had been stuck on the problematic 06.15 bb.

Today, the Dev Team has pushed out an update to the jailbreak utility that greatly improves on this feature. The downgrading process has been made simpler, and now works on a much wider range of devices.

Gruber predicts iPad mini will use the same display as iPhone 3GS

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Weighing in on a recent resurgence of the old iPad mini rumor, this time corroborated by credible news outlets such as Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, Apple pundit John Gruber opined that Apple could use existing manufacturing processes to quickly - and more importantly, cheaply - churn out millions and millions of seven-inch display panels for the iPad mini...

Google’s Nexus 7 beats iPad 3 on repairability

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Despite being only one millimeter thicker, Google's upcoming Nexus 7 slate is more repairable than the new iPad, a teardown analysis by iFixit has concluded. Its components are assembled using standard tools, unlike the new iPad's innards which are glued together.

A simpler assembly makes servicing the Google tablet fairly easy with standard plastic opening tools that make "cracking the Nexus shell like cutting through butter"...

Former Apple exec advised Nokia to fire Elop, drop everything and go Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Jean-Louis Gassée, a former Apple executive (1981-1990), the founder of the BeOS computer operating system and former PalmSource chairman, had a word of advice for Nokia, the struggling Finnish cellphone vendor. Hiring Stephen Elop as its CEO was an expensive mistake, he argued, as this former Microsoftie has basically destroyed Nokia's software platforms before new devices reached the marketplace. At the rate of cash bleeding going on at Nokia, I wonder how long the company can afford to ignore its cardinal mistake and keep Elop on board...

WSJ: suppliers gearing up for mass production of iPad mini in September

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Following yesterday's report by Bloomberg that Apple is planning to debut a smaller, inexpensive iPad by year-end, The Wall Street Journal (an unofficial Apple mouthpiece) on Wednesday cited the obligatory "people familiar with the matter", reporting that Apple's component suppliers in Asia are preparing for mass production of the iPad mini in September. Get your sandpapers ready!

UK Judge rules HTC phones don’t infringe Apple patents, including slide-to-unlock

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

A judge in London has ruled that HTC phones don't infringe upon Apple's prized smartphone patents, Bloomberg reported this morning. The ruling includes Apple's patented slide-to-unlock feature which famously drew the most 'oohs' and 'ahs' at the original iPhone introduction five years ago, but also other features such as flipping through a bunch of photos...

Apple’s risky retail gamble in China: one store per 216 million customers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

In China, each of Apple's retail stores serves on average 216 million customers. Therein lies the catch to its expansion in the 1.33 billion people market - Apple needs way more stores in this huge country than it can possibly build, and it needs them yesterday.

China is important not just because it has recently displaced the United States as the world's leading smartphone market, but also because it now contributes to one-fifth of Apple's total revenue. Also, Apple says China stores have become its highest trafficked and among the highest revenue stores.

Apple CEO Tim Cook recently toured China, talking greater investments with local officials and paying a visit to Foxconn's new manufacturing plant in Zhengzhou. It was a telling acknowledgment of the importance of China at the highest level, but barely enough to change the fact that the iPhone maker is in serious danger of becoming a victim of its own success in China...

Former Apple employee sheds light on app review process

Cody Lee ∙ July 4, 2012

Apple's app review team takes a lot of heat from the iOS community. Their decisions on which apps are let into the App Store, and which ones get rejected, are often criticized for being either too strict or too lenient.

One reason why there's so much grievance is that fact that people don't quite understand the process or what it's like to be an app reviewer. So a former Apple employee decided to clear things up...

Apple gains ownership of iPad3.com without a fight

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Wow, that was fast! Just a week following a complaint Apple lodged with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the original owner of the domain has transferred ownership to Apple's legal team, reports The Next Web.

It's interesting that the WIPO case was still filed as active at post time, meaning the organization hasn't even reached an official ruling, which could indicate that Apple's legal sharks scared the hell out of the domain owner. Who's this guy, anyway?

Galaxy Nexus pulled from Google Play Store in wake of Apple injunction

Cody Lee ∙ July 4, 2012

That didn't take long. Less than 12 hours after Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung's request to stay the Galaxy Nexus injunction, the handset disappears from Google Play Stores.

Last week, Apple was able to convince Koh that the Nexus was infringing on its patents — enough to warrant a preliminary ban. And it looks like that ban is already in effect...