Month: April 2013

Apple patent hints at Street View-like mapping

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 5, 2013

Is Apple preparing to take another chunk out of Google's mapping franchise? A patent filed in 2011 and entitled "3D Position Tracking for Panoramic Navigation," discovered Thursday, suggests the iPhone maker is considering adding street level navigation to its own iOS 6 Maps technology.

By virtue of the description, the invention suggests using movement sensors built into the iPhone and iPad to make it easier for mobile users to move within virtual maps. Currently, Google's Street View feature makes use of mouse movements and touchscreen input for navigation. A key difference between Apple Maps and Google Maps may also include the ability to navigate within structures...

Verizon would consider eliminating contracts, but not unless consumers demanded it

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

As T-Mobile this morning started accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 5, its 'Uncarrier' initiative is about to be put to the real test. Will consumer prefer paying $20 in monthly installments for their iPhone 5 (with $99 downpayment) in exchange for a more affordable and simpler wireless service plan?

Or, would they rather continue dropping a hundred bucks or more each month for their overpriced wireless service, with no easy way to cancel their long-term commitment without incurring hefty penalties and hidden fees?

We should know in the coming days and weeks as the Deutsche Telekom-owned telco starts selling the popular smartphone beginning next Friday, April 12.

When T-Mobile announced earlier this year it would kill subsidies and offer Apple’s handset on monthly installments, cowardly AT&T and Verizon employed waiting tactics, opting to instead sit on the sidelines and monitor how the situation unfolds rather than improve their own dealings with customers.

When asked to comment on T-Mobile's new Uncarrier business strategy, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam Wednesday rather ambiguously responded that his company isn't really ready to kill subsidies right off the bat...

Asia calling for Apple iPhablets

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

Flurry data told us that so-called phablets comprise only a minuscule portion of smart devices compared to mid-size phones and large tablets, such as the iPhone and iPad, but there's no doubt that devices with five-inch or larger screens are gaining acceptance, largely thanks to Samsung's willingness to experiment with a bunch of different form factors. Even Apple acknowledged the trend by making the iPhone 5's four-inch screen the new gold standard for iPhones.

But with Samsung launching a five-inch Galaxy S4 soon and rumors of an upcoming Galaxy Mega line with 5.8 and 6.2-inch handsets making rounds, Asian suppliers are advising Apple to follow suit and blow up the upcoming iPhone's display if it wants to capture the next phase of smartphone growth...

Real Racing 3 gaining cloud saves, Hunter game mode, new cars and 100+ events

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8rendr6pI0

If you're a fan of free-to-play Real Racing 3 (which, by the way, looks absolutely stunning on the A6 and later devices, like the iPhone 5 and iPad 4), you're in for a treat as Electronic Arts today announced an upcoming content update which will bring several new cars, a bunch of new challenges and events, a new game mode and cloud saves across all your devices.

As you can see from the above trailer for the Real Racing 3: Chevrolet Update, developer Firemonkeys is teasing at least two new cars, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS and the Camaro ZL1. I've included more tidbits right after the break...

T-Mobile iPhone 5 now available for pre-order

Cody Lee ∙ April 5, 2013

Last week, T-Mobile announced that it was finally joining the other top US wireless carriers as an official iPhone partner. It will be offering all current models of the popular smartphone, including the iPhone 4, 4S and 5.

The phones won't officially become available until next Friday, April 12. But, as expected, T-Mobile started accepting iPhone 5 pre-orders through its website this morning. And you can grab a 16GB model for just $99 down...

German court invalidates Apple’s slide-to-unlock patent, but it’s not big deal

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 5, 2013

A German court ruled invalid Apple's patent for a sliding touchscreen unlocking image, marking another win for allies of Google's Android mobile operating. In its ruling in favor of the Google-owned Motorola, the country's Federal Patent Court slammed the iPhone maker's slide-to-unlock patent as devoid of "technological innovation." Still, a long-running patent dispute which began in 2011 may still live on as Apple's legal team prepares for a round of appeals, according to Friday reports...

Upcoming firmware update to force VPN behavior changes over VirnetX patent loss

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

VirnetX, a patent holding firm with an impressive intellectual property portfolio, in November 2011 sued Apple over a breach of a collection of its network patents, originally seeking north of $900 million in damages. A year later, in November 2012, a federal jury in a Texas court ordered the iPhone maker to pay $368.2 million in damages.

The two parties later worked out a royalty agreement that should be decided upon on April 12, but as a result of the damages awarded to VirnetX, Apple today has acknowledged via a support document that it "will be changing the behavior of VPN On Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later"...

LockLauncher 2.0 is out with support for iOS 6 and iPhone 5

Cody Lee ∙ April 4, 2013

It seems like there's been a lot of tweaks updated lately to support iOS 6 and the new 4-inch display on the iPhone 5. There's Mail Enhancer Pro, ToDoNotes 2, and iBye. And today, we are adding another one to the list.

LockLauncher, a jailbreak tweak that lets you launch multiple apps at once from your lockscreen, has been updated to version 2.0. The update includes several improvements, including iOS 6, iPhone 5 support and more...

Facebook Home for iOS? Talk to Apple, Zuck says

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

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

Facebook has found a new home on Android, so to speak, as the social networking giant at a news conference earlier today unveiled a Home launcher, a new feature for select Android devices which marries cherry-picked Facebook applications to a beautiful user interface described as putting "people first in an app first world."

Alongside the new software shell, Mark Zuckerberg and HTC's Peter Chou announced the HTC First, an Android smartphone born out of the collaboration between Facebook and HTC which runs the Home interface. Zuckerberg confirmed his company will be rolling out the new launcher to select Android devices beginning April 12, as a free app download from Google's Play Store.

But what about iOS? iPhone users are unfortunately shut out. Initially hiding behind 'Apple's walled-garden' argument, Zuckerberg in wide-ranging interviews with Forbes and Wired.com shed more light on the matter...

‘TouchPal’ is a free Swype inspired jailbreak tweak

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

TouchPal is a very under the radar jailbreak tweak that allows users to replace their stock iOS keyboards to a new Swype inspired keyboard that's downloadable from the App Store. I know that probably sounds a bit odd, so let me explain a bit.

TouchPal is actually two different things. First, it's a legitimate App Store app that can be downloaded by anyone, whether or not they are on a jailbroken device or not. The standalone app was created as a multi-language keyboard that allows you to have accurate predictive text by means of standard taps on keys, or swipe gestures, which are inspired by Swype.

Unfortunately, by itself, you can only use TouchPal as a standalone app, and then copy that text to other applications, or take advantage of an app's built in URL scheme for inter-app communication. The good news is, that there's a second part to this puzzle piece, and it comes in the form of a jailbreak tweak that's adorned by the same name — TouchPal. This jailbreak tweak allows you to incorporate the keyboards featured in the standalone app, right into stock iOS. This means that you can use the TouchPal keyboard within normal apps like Notes, Mail, Safari, and any other app that you use on your iPhone.

Needless to say, TouchPal is really neat. Take a look inside as I demonstrate how it works in our full video walkthrough.

HTC shows off new ‘First’ smartphone running Facebook Home

Cody Lee ∙ April 4, 2013

Facebook's media event just ended and as expected, most of what was talked about had to do with a new Facebook experience on Android. The social network unveiled a new 'people first' launcher, or shell if you will, for Android devices called Facebook Home.

But software wasn't the only topic of discussion today. Right before ending the press conference, Mark Zuckerberg pulled a Steve Jobs'-like 'one more thing,' and called HTC's CEO Peter Chou on stage to introduce the long-rumored HTC First smartphone...

Apple widens U.S. lead over Samsung, makes ground on Google

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 4, 2013

OMG, Apple is screwed! In another data point proving Apple doomsayers need to re-run their spreadsheets, research firm comScore reported Thursday its latest survey of the United States market for smartphones has found Apple's iPhone widening its lead over second-ranked Samsung, which has gone up one percentage point to grab a 21.3 percent share of US-owned smartphones during the three month average period ending February 2013.

During the same timeframe, Apple's slice of the pie has gone up from 35.9 percent in November 2012 to 38.9 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers in February 2013, an increase of 3.9 percentage points. The good news doesn't stop here: Apple's iOS has increased 3.9 percentage points to 38.9 percent, matching Apple's aforementioned smartphone share.

Google's Android platform, available on numerous devices from dozens of manufacturers, still ranked as the top smartphone platform with a healthy 51.7 percent market share in February 2013, but it has dropped two percentage points from the November 20121 53.7 percent share...