Month: April 2013

Happy birthday, iPad

Sébastien Page ∙ April 3, 2013

The first iPad was officially launched in the US on April 3rd, 2010, changing mobile computing forever.

Three years ago today, I was somewhere between Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, on a trip around the world with my wife. As an Apple fanatic, I was really bummed I wasn't able to be in the US for the launch of the iPad, Apple's tablet which was just about to create a brand new market of its own.

I had to wait until June to finally get my hands on the iPad. I remember flying from Australia to Los Angeles, getting off the plane, having a friend drive me to the nearest Apple Store, buying an iPad, and going back to the airport to take a flight to Paris. Yes, I came back to the US for about 3 hours just so I could finally get the long awaited iPad...

Colorized budget iPhone concept imagines translucent plastic shell

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 3, 2013

Apple’s rumored less-pricey iPhone has been widely reported by analysts, supply chain sources, pundits and big media as arriving later this year in a range of colors and encased in a super-thin plastic casing mixed with glass fiber. Taking it all in, concept artists Nickolay Lamm and Matteo Gianni have created created an interesting renderings depicting the four-inch device with a curved backside and a translucent plastic shell resembling Apple's G3 iMac...

Walmart now offering 16GB iPad mini for $299

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Apple received a lot of criticism when it introduced its iPad mini last October for $329. Critics felt that since other 7-inch tablets out at the time, like Google's Nexus 7 for example, were in the $200 range, Apple was crazy for pricing the mini so high.

But these days you don't have to pay quite that much to snag the tiny tablet. Last week we saw Apple offering a refurbished version of the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad mini for $299. And today, it looks like Walmart has matched that price for a brand new one...

Analyst claims iPhone 5S has fingerprint sensor

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

What voice-recognition did for the iPhone 4S, fingerprints will do for Apple's upcoming iPhone 5S, one technology analyst is telling investors. For the second time, an Apple observer forecasts a fingerprint sensor as a key feature of a new iPhone expected this summer. Such a sensor would let iPhone 5S owners use their fingerprints instead of passwords, as well as open the possibility of mobile credit card payments, according to a Wednesday report...

Rdio launches new Vdio streaming video service

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Last week we heard a rumor that music subscription service Spotify was looking to get into the streaming video space. But it looks like their rival has beat them to it. Today, Rdio has launched its own streaming video service called Vdio.

But unlike what we heard about Spotify's plans, Vdio doesn't really look like a Netflix competitor. It's actually a lot more like iTunes, in that it will let you rent and purchase videos from the service and then stream them to your devices...

Safari continues to dominate the mobile browser space

Cody Lee ∙ April 3, 2013

Despite the fact that it has numerous challengers, Apple's Safari has dominated the mobile browser space. And that continues to be the case today, according to a new report from web analytics firm Net Applications.

The firm's data, which stems from its web network that sees more than 160 million visits to more than 40,000 websites each month, shows that last month, Safari accounted for 61.79% of the mobile browser traffic...

Duke Nukem II smashes its way onto your iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 6, 2018

As promised, Interceptor Entertainment and 3D Realms today launched Duke Nukem II for the iPhone and iPad on the App Store. The legendary game has made it to Apple's mobile platform as part of its 20th anniversary. Generation Y readers will remember that the original Duke Nukem II had been released way back in 1993 for Microsoft’s DOS.

It was then followed by Duke Nukem 3D in 1996, a Nintendo Game Boy Color port in 1999 and Duke Nukem Forever in 2011. The iOS version is an enhanced port of the original, which means souped up VGA graphics, a new soundtrack, online leaderboards and more. If you've enjoyed the original release, you'll be delighted to know that all of the 32 original levels have made it to the iOS version...

Apple says its iOS app economy created 80,000 US jobs last year

Cody Lee ∙ April 3, 2013

Apple has come under heavy fire in recent years by critics for outsourcing its manufacturing jobs to Asia. Folks don't like the fact that while the US struggles with unemployment, it pays Chinese factory workers to build its products just to save a few dollars.

In response to the criticism, Apple posted a new page on its website last year touting the more than 500,000 jobs it's either created or supported in the US with its business. In fact, according to its records, its app economy alone created 80,000 jobs last year...

Analyst sees Apple television with ‘iRing’ motion controller and ‘mini iTV’ secondary screen

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 3, 2013

A rumored standalone television set from Apple dubbed iTV continues to be the subject of tremendous speculation, with one analyst recently citing supply chain checks allegedly pointing to a 4K Ultra HD set being built by Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn and slated for an early-2014 launch.

Another analyst now joins the conversation with some pretty wild predictions, also based on - you guessed right - checks with Apple's suppliers. Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets told one publication Wednesday that after meeting with Apple's Asian suppliers he now sees some pretty wild stuff in the pipeline.

Specifically, Cupertino will be launching an Apple-branded television set later this year, White says, along with a motion controller of sorts called iRing and a secondary display...

Twitter app updated with the ability to discover, install and launch apps from tweets

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 22, 2017

Twitter yesterday announced that it had added support for photo galleries and apps to its Card features. Galleries are now represented in the stream with multiple photo previews, and app developers can embed more details about their apps.

Today, Twitter updated its iOS apps to support the new Card features, claiming that users can now discover, install and launch apps from tweets. And they also beefed up the apps' performance with faster launch times and general bug fixes...

Rovio bringing its Facebook hit ‘Angry Birds Friends’ to iOS

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

With more than 6 different games from the Angry Birds franchise bouncing around in the App Store, we probably didn't need another one. But we're getting one. Rovio announced today that its bringing its Facebook hit 'Angry Birds Friends' to iOS.

'Angry Birds Friends' combines classic Angry Birds gameplay with Facebook integration and other social features. Players can challenge their Facebook friends in weekly tournaments, collect daily awards and send and receive gifts of power-ups...

Major SkyDrive update: revamped UI, full-res photos, iPhone 5 and iPad mini support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

There's a good reason why Microsoft's SkyDrive cloud storage client for iOS has seen its last update in June of last year: revenue sharing. Per Apple's rules, third-party software is required to share 30 percent of proceeds from in-app sales with Apple.

For example, when you fire up Dropbox's excellent iOS client and upgrade to a paid storage tier within the app, your iTunes credit card on file gets charged and Apple earns its 30 percent share.

Though Microsoft wanted to introduce that same functionality into the SkyDrive app, it wouldn't share any revenue with Apple. Neither party would budge and a spokesperson previously said Microsoft was "in contact with Apple regarding the matter."

The two parties have supposedly reached an amicable solution because Microsoft today announced SkyDrive 3.0, a major new version rocking an overhauled interface, support for the iPhone 5 and iPad mini and a few other features...