Month: April 2013

Google Drive update adds landscape editing on iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 8, 2013

Google continues to refine its Drive cloud storage client on Apple's iOS platform. Just last month, the Internet giant has rolled out support for pinch-to-zoom on slides, QuickOffice integration and, multiple media uploads, to name a few. And previously, the software has added such handy capabilities as native and collaborative editing of both documents and spreadsheets on iOS devices. Monday morning, Google pushed another maintenance update that adds landscape support for document editing on the iPhone and iPod touch, in addition to minor bug fixes and faster performance...

USPTO withdraws its objections to Apple’s ‘iPad mini’ trademark

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 8, 2013

We told you how the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently turned down Apple's trademark application for the iPad mini because its review team deemed the moniker as ”merely describing” the product. They also mentioned that other identities have applied for the 'iPad' trademark, meaning there’s a “likelihood of confusion between the marks.”

As it turns out, the USPTO has now withdrawn these two main objections, in turn allowing Apple to keep the 'iPad mini' trademark, provided it amends the filing with some interesting fine print. Jump past the fold for full details...

PowerSwipe lets you quickly respring or reboot from the Lock screen

Cody Lee ∙ April 8, 2013

If you're not the type of person who takes pictures with their iPhone very often, you've probably looked into alternative uses for the camera grabber on your Lock screen. After all, if you're going to have a button there, why not make it useful?

Luckily, there are a number of jailbreak tweaks available that allow you to change the functionality of the camera toggle to do other things like launch an application or toggle Airplane mode. And today, we're adding another one to the list...

Curved-glass iPhone concept, not very functional

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

I take it you recall a recent concept render showcasing what a colorized budget iPhone might look like? You know, the one envisioning a super nice translucent polycarbonate body akin to Apple's famous G3 iMac all-in-one lineup that helped save the firm from certain death? Concept artists Nickolay Lamm and Matteo Gianni who were behind that one are back at it and have just dreamt up a futuristic looking iPhone with a rounded body that just very slightly seems to resemble Nokia's design language for its Lumia series...

Samsung patent war strategy shakeup may happen, chatter suggests

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Is South Korea's Samsung preparing to settle ongoing mobile patent disputes with Apple, perhaps curtailing the firm's dependance on smart phones for future profits?

That's the conjecture as Samsung's chairman prepares to meet reporters later this week, following comments on returning from a three-month trip to Japan and Hawaii.

According to one South Korean newspaper, "several pending issues" will be on the plate of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee...

Google ostensibly close to buying WhatsApp for $1 billion

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2013

WhatsApp, the cross-platform instant messaging application for smartphones, is rumored to be close to negotiating a landmark acquisition deal with Google. Sources reportedly close to the negotiations claim the Internet giant is considering dropping a whopping one billion dollars on the popular service that as of March 2013 had a cool 200 million users, a hundred million ones on Android alone.

The report ties nicely with talk of a new instant messaging brand from Google called Babble, and even more so given Facebook with its new Home UI layer for select Android devices is basically encouraging its one billion users to use its Messenger service right from their Lock screen or from whichever app they happen to be using at any give moment...

Apple pulls AppGratis, App Store curation and promotion software

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2013

Enough has been said about so-called Apple dictatorship and app rejections on iDB so far and although I, for one, am usually first to support Apple in its curation efforts because it keeps junk away from the App Store, sometimes the company rejects submissions for competing with its own software or over offering a feature Apple plans on introducing in the near future.

Now, Apple's been after various app discovery apps for some time, even more so in this latest example involving AppGratis, a service which curates programs from the App Store and makes paid apps free for a day via revenue-sharing deals with their creators.

In fact, it's the revenue-sharing scheme which appears to go against Apple's rule which forbids software providing access to other third-party programs by using marketing tactics similar to Apple's App Store promotions...

Apple wins court order blocking class action in anti-poaching lawsuit

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2013

Apple, along with Google and five other Silicon Valley technology heavy-weights, has won a court order blocking a potentially devastating class-action antitrust lawsuit concerning alleged anti-poaching conspiracy.

Bloomberg reported that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh Friday denied class action certification over accusations that said companies illegally conspired not to recruit one another’s employees, which the plaintiffs said resulted in their incomes being held down by their employers...

The iDownloadBlog top news stories of the week – April 7, 2013 edition

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 24, 2017

Like every Sunday, we bring you the stories that were the most popular on iDB during this past week. Whether it is a news piece, an editorial, a tutorial, a new jailbreak tweak, or an accessory review, we sum it all up in one convenient place.

If you like what you're reading, please make sure to spread the love by sharing our posts on your favorite social network.

We're usually hanging out a lot on Twitter and Facebook, more rarely on Google+.

Pod2g confirms evad3rs are not working on 6.1.3 jailbreak iOS 7 rumored to be running behind due to major UI refresh New iOS 7 concept shows off quick reply, widgets and other features Customize your Lock screen with widgets and more with LockHTML 2 ‘TouchPal’ is a free Swype inspired jailbreak tweak LS Climacons, a tranquil theme for your Lock screen WeatherIcon comes alive for iOS 6 LockLauncher 2.0 is out with support for iOS 6 and iPhone 5 I just tested out a very early version of Badger Apple rep says Steve Jobs helped design next two iPhones Preview BlackBerry 10 on your iPhone now Turn ordinary photos into extraordinary iPhoneography with textures

Of course, don't forget to listen to the latest episode of our podcast, Let's Talk Jailbreak:

We’re social! Find iDB on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, App.net, YouTube, and in your RSS reader. Also make sure to subscribe to our new podcast!

Should Apple rethink its naming conventions for the iPhone?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 7, 2018

Former ad man and longtime Apple consultant Ken Segall has been very critical of his old company in recent months. And he continues that trend with a new blog post called 'iPhone naming: when simple gets complicated.'

In the post, Segall argues that Apple screwed up the way it names its handsets—particularly on the 'S' models. He says that iPhones marked with an 'S' not only look awkward, but also send a weak message to consumers...

ITC judge finds Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s text selection patent

Cody Lee ∙ April 7, 2013

In a decision issued on March 26, but kept classified until earlier this week, an International Trade Commission judge found Samsung to be infringing on Apple's US RE41,922 patent that covers things like text selection and translucent buttons.

It's only a preliminary decision, and the judge only found Samsung guilty of infringement on one of two patents listed in the complaint. But if the decision gets upheld, Samsung could once again be looking at a major product ban in the US...

‘Messages’ lets you compose and reply to messages from anywhere in iOS

Cody Lee ∙ April 7, 2013

Sometimes I feel like I'm one of the only people in the world that doesn't use biteSMS. Don't get me wrong, I really like some of the tweak's features, like quick reply and compose. But in my experience, it's not very stable and tends to clash with the stock Messages app.

That being said, you can understand my excitement when I saw 'Messages' pop up in my Cydia stream today. The new jailbreak tweak, by Ma Jun (the creator of Bulletin), offers up biteSMS-like quick compose and reply features, without all of the extra biteSMS fluff...