Month: February 2013

HBO Go gains AirPlay streaming, Apple TV app due later this year

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2013

Good news, Apple TV users: later today, HBO will enable AirPlay streaming in its HBO Go iOS app. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal-sponsored D: Dive Into Media conference on Tuesday, HBO’s Eric Kessler said that “effective today, we will be enabling AirPlay” for HBO Go. Bloomberg last month reported that Apple and HBO are working on a content deal.

He also re-iterated that HBO Go will eventually land on the Apple TV later this yeare. Until the Apple TV app materializes, Time Warner Inc.'s HBO Go subscribers can use the existing iOS app to stream HBO shows from their iPhone or iPad to their Apple TV over AirPlay...

Apple makes more on iTunes and accessory sales than most companies do on phones

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 31, 2016

Well known and respected Asymco analyst Horace Dediu is out with a new report this week entitled 'Counting stool legs.' The piece takes a look at Apple's newly-introduced revenue categories—mainly iTunes, which now includes sales from OS X, iWork, and Apple's other pro tools.

The big takeaway here is that, under this new structure, iTunes can no longer be considered a 'break even' business. Because, as Dediu points out, the combined sales from iTunes and accessories is now bigger in terms of revenues than any other phone vendor, except for Samsung...

Facebook now sends 180 million clicks to Apple and Google app stores

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2013

The social network Facebook has become such a behemoth in that space that it's now sending an astounding 180 million clicks to Apple's App Store marketplace and Google's Play Store for Android software. That's one of the nuggets from a speech Dan Rose, Facebook VP of partnerships gave at The Wall Street Journal-sponsored D: Dive Into Media.

He also touched on Facebook's mobile strategy and the social network's future prospects as it competes for our time with other popular mobile services...

Ayecon updated with new dial pad, more icons and bug fixes

Cody Lee ∙ February 12, 2013

Since the evasi0n jailbreak was released last week, we've seen a wave of tweak and package updates as developers rush to fix remaining iOS 6 bugs and add new features. Today, our favorite theme joins in; ayecon 1.3 is now available in Cydia.

The update is fairly significant, as it includes a number of additions and improvements. There's a new dial pad (for iOS 6+ only) and new icons for apps like Google Maps and Netbot. We've got the full change log for ayecon 1.3 after the fold...

Apple’s invisible antenna patent sets stage for all-aluminum iPhone case

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 12, 2013

A new patent granted to Apple today could signal a huge advance in a trimmer, slimmer iPhone perhaps made from a single block of aluminum. The U.S. patent describes "microslot antennas" cut into the smartphone body, eliminating the need for exposing hardware required for communications.

While it could make fans of minimalism - such as Apple's chief designer Jonathan Ive - jump for joy, could the patented technology cause another production slowdown?

Amazon beats Apple for best U.S. consumer reputation

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

More indications that Apple may be slipping in the eyes of some consumers. Internet retail giant Amazon.com now has the best reputation among U.S. corporations, Harris Interactive announced Tuesday. Despite Apple winning the poll in 2012, Kindle-maker Amazon grabbed the top spot this year - ironically cited for its emotional impact on consumers despite operating a completely virtual business.

The online retailer also topped Apple, Google, Disney and others in the products and services category. This result only highlights Amazon's increased brand image in tablets, music, movies and cloud computing, areas bringing it into conflict with Apple and other tech players...

Samsung talks life after Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 12, 2013

Samsung Executive Vice President David Eun during a panel at the D: Dive Into Media conference on Monday said its ongoing legal fight with Apple is "a loss" for innovation. And taking another page from Apple's book, the South Korean giant is plunking money into researching new technologies and better integration of its devices.

In fact, the company is turning the home turf of Apple and Google into a center of its own innovation by announcing the new Samsung Open Innovation Center in Silicon Valley...

Winston for iPhone wants to be the Siri for news

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPH2PK5WZys

I know your news reader choices on iOS are rich. There's Flipboard, Instapaper, Readability, News360, News.me and a whole lot of other lesser known apps. Winston, a new software by a Colorado-based startup, is unlike your regular news client. Instead of overwhelming you with an endless stream of updates, Winston presents you with a personable British butler which compiles a daily brief from your selected news sources and social network feeds.

It detects what's important and then reads the summaries out aloud, so you can catch up on the latest while doing something else. It's a novel approach that saves time and as such is likely to strike a chord with busy mobile users. I'm already liking Winston a lot. More tidbits right past the fold...

Joy of Tech weighs in on iWatch rumors

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Talk of Apple working on a smartwatch has really heated up over the past week. Following a speculative piece from a former Apple engineer, both the NYT and the WSJ have reported that the company is indeed building such a product.

So what will this so-called iWatch do? Things like Siri, NFC and support for third-party apps have all been thrown about. But according to the folks over at Joy of Tech, the watch's built-in Dyson hand drier will be its killer feature...

Pull To Refresh Safari updated for iOS 6

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

If you are an avid user of Twitter or Facebook, you likely see 'pull to refresh' as an essential part of the smart phone experience. So it's surprising to see how slow Apple has been to bring the gesture to its internal apps. In iOS 6, Apple finally cued in and included their own implementation of Pull To Refresh in Mail. Unfortunately this hasn't carried over to every one of Apple's internet-enabled apps; Safari still lacks the feature.

Of course, jailbreakers have had access to Pull To Refresh Safari since iOS 4. Instead of pressing a tiny icon, we could just pull the screen down and refresh the active app. Now the tweak has been updated to work with iOS 6...

Smarter Stand for iPhone keeps your device upright and earbuds tangle-free

Cody Lee ∙ February 12, 2013

What you see in the photo above is the new Smarter Stand for the iPhone and iPod touch. Created by Dotan Saguy, it's a dual-purpose accessory that acts as both a kickstand for your iOS device and a spool for your earbuds, so they don't get tangled.

It may not look like much, but don't underestimate Saguy's knack for turning simple ideas into hit products. He's already done it once with the Smarter Stand for iPad, raising over $150,000 via Kickstarter. And now he's looking to do it again...

‘Unfold To Unlock’ tweak tracks usage, asks for donations every 500 unlocks

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

We're not against developers making money from their tweaks, or pursuing alternative routes of funding, but having a piece of nag-ware on your phone without any option to disable it is a major annoyance.

Unfold is a jailbreak tweak that we are huge fans of at iDownloadBlog, but unfortunately we learned that the tweak was programmed with an annoying behavior. After 500 uses, a message pops up asking for a donation, and the message repeats again after every 500th unlock. This wouldn't be so bad if a donation disabled the message, but there's no option for entering a subscription into the app...