Month: February 2013

Make room on your home screen for Sunrise Calendar (it’s that good)

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

https://vimeo.com/sunriseapp/ios

If the stock iOS Calendar app is too boring and you wish Fantastical, a nice iOS/OS X calendar alternative from Flexibits, had a raft of social features, don't miss out on Sunrise Calendar, a free iPhone calendar alternative by Sunrise Atelier, Inc.

The program pulls your appointments from multiple Google Calendars and Facebook Events and retrieves your weather forecast. Frankly, I was wondering why there was no app to combine weather data with my appointments, so I could make changes to upcoming meetings in case my weather forecast takes a turn for the worse. The only downside: Sunrise Calendar is made with Google Calendar users in mind (for now)...

How to grab Auxo nightly beta builds

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

A3tweaks, the team behind Auxo, has put together a beta repo which will host nightly builds of its popular tweak for paying customers. That means that if you purchased Auxo, you can simply add this beta repo to your Cydia sources, and enjoy the latest features before the general public.

In fact, there's already a new beta build available for download right now. Take a look past the break to learn how you can easily access the bleeding edge upgrades.

HTC unveils its new flagship, the One

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9A8NnBbW_A

Earlier this morning, Taiwanese handset maker HTC at a high-profile media event in London introduced its latest flagship handset, the One. In terms of speeds and feeds, this Android LTE device seems a winner: it sports a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB of RAM, has front-facing speakers complete with a dedicated amplifier that play Beats Audio and boasts a 4.7-inch 1080p display coated with Gorilla Glass 2.

Encased in an Apple-like aluminum-clad chassis, the phone is bound to turn heads with its sleek appearance measuring 0.37 inches thick and weighing in at 143 grams. On the software front, the One runs HTC's Sense 5 UI layer on top of Google's latest Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean operating system.

And borrowing from Windows Phone, there's a new feature called Blink Feed, basically a glorified Flipboard-like aggregator that turns your home screen into an endless stream of social updates, email messages and news articles. More tidbits and a few press shots right after the break...

Apple TV launches in India

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 4, 2016

Apple's handset sales in India have quadrupled and now the company has expanded its presence in the 1.25 billion people market by launching its third-generation Apple TV for Rs. 7,900, or about $150. The set-top box costs $99 in the United States, but Apple's products typically command a premium in BRIC countries due to high import taxes and VAT.

After launching the iPhone 5 in India in November 2012, and as a prelude to today's Apple TV launch, Apple in December 2012 officially launched the iTunes Store in 56 new countries, including India...

iPad 5 to switch to iPad mini display tech for thinner assembly

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 19, 2013

According to new reports by Taiwanese media outlets, Apple is said to be lining up suppliers for a fifth-generation 9.7-inch iPad. The gizmo is said to adopt a revamped touchscreen technology, basically the same "GF2" display tech found on the 7.9-inch iPad mini. The iPad mini's display assembly is notably thinner compared to its bigger brother that sports the glass-on-glass design so the reports jive nicely with previous rumors pointing to the iPad 5 borrowing a few design ideas from the iPad mini, namely a thinner and lighter appearance...

Ahead of iPhone launch, T-Mobile launches GoSmart prepaid brand nationwide

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 6, 2017

Ahead of the official iPhone launch on its network later this year, the nation's fourth-largest carrier T-Mobile USA on Tuesday said a new GoSmart prepaid service is now available via some 3,000 reseller stores nationwide. According to Reuters, users can purchase a SIM kit and simply bring their own GSM device to the service. Unlimited voice and messaging costs $30 a month.

For an additional five bucks, you get to browse the web. A $45 plan with five gigabytes of 3G data is also available. These are all month-to-month plans, meaning you can cancel the service anytime without getting penalized...

Papercraft mockup makes the case for iPhablet

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 26, 2016

Conflicting rumors signify an iPhablet, a nearly five-inch iPhone, may be released either some time in 2013 or during the summer of 2014. Speculation of a new form factor brings along a theory that Apple could simply blow up the display while keeping the iPhone 5's 1,136-by-640 pixel resolution, presumably making developers' life easier. But there's a catch to enlarging the display without boosting its resolution: density of the pixels would drop from the Retina iPhone 326ppi to just 264ppi.

Though likely insufficient for the Retina moniker, that particular pixel density conveniently matches up with the the full-sized iPad's 264ppi Retina display. In order to better illustrate what an iPhone with a display this large would feel in your hand, MacRumors has enlisted the creative talent of CiccareseDesign to come up with a papercraft five-inch iPhone mockup...

NPD: Apple now one-fifth of U.S. consumer tech sales

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 19, 2013

Apple was responsible for one out over every five dollars spent on consumer electronics in the U.S. during 2012, a market research firm announced Tuesday. This while overall consumer electronics sales fell for the second year in a row.

The iPhone and iPad maker also ranked as the third largest U.S. consumer electronics retailer, just behind Best Buy and Walmart. Amazon and Staples rounded out and industry where only smartphones and tablets saw revenue gains last year...

Firefox 19 lands with built-in PDF viewer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 28, 2016

The Firefox browser by Mozilla, the non-profit organization, was once hailed as the biggest threat to Internet Explorer's dominance, but boy do times change fast.

In just a few short years following its release, Google's Chrome has become the most popular browser out there. And while Firefox certainly doesn't lack a punch, it does fall behind Google's baby in several aspects.

I've always loved Chrome's built-in Adobe Flash player (because it doesn't pollute the entire system with Adobe's buggy plug-in). Another Chrome feature I love: a nice PDF viewer, also built-in. Starting today, a new major release of Firefox for Mac, Windows and Linux is available for download and it comes with a built-in HTML5-based PDF viewer, just like Chrome...

iPad mini now showing ‘in stock’ online in several countries

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Apple has had a hard time catching up with consumer demand for its iPad mini. Since the tablet debuted four months ago, supply has been extremely constrained, with shipping times only recently dropping below a week.

But today, it appears that supply and demand is finally starting to even out for the popular slate, as the mini now shows an availability status of 'in stock' in Apple web stores in several countries around the world...

AT&T now offers travelers 1GB of free data across UK’s 16,000 Wi-Fi spots

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

U.S. carrier AT&T today expanded its 4G LTE coverage in several markets and now word has reaches us that the company has signed an interesting roaming deal with The Cloud to offer travelers free access to 16,000 Wi-Fi spots in the United Kingdom. The Cloud is a BSkyB-owned Wi-Fi hotspot provider and the agreement entails up to one gigabyte of free roaming data.

RIM has always bested the iPhone and other handset vendors with reasonable service terms that typically include free or inexpensive messaging and data for BlackBerry users traveling abroad. While Apple's dealings with the world's carriers don't included these benefits, it's nice that one of the most important carriers globally is now appeasing to its customers with a fair roaming deal...

Apple wins patent for improved haptic feedback

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 19, 2013

The use of haptic feedback in smartphones is increasingly commonplace, however until now Apple has shied away from using the technology in its multitouch devices, such as the iPhone and iPad. However, the prospect is now open for a multitouch keyboard that provides consumers a tactile response, according to an Apple patent grant by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple first applied a filing for the invention back in 2009 to solve the problem of multiple haptic signals interfering with each other, thereby confusing users. Apple outlined a way to localize the haptic feedback by using secondary sensors which cancel-out the confusing signals. In this way, when an iPhone owner hits the 'L' key, he won't also receive a vibration under the 'K' key of a virtual keyboard...