Month: May 2013

AT&T announces Aio Wireless prepaid brand with $35-$70 tiers

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 9, 2013

While its fierce rival Verizon has chosen to sit on the sidelines and watch T-Mobile regain consumer trust with its newly found 'Uncarrier' business model and no-contract plans, AT&T has jumped on the prepaid bus with a new Aio Wireless brand rounding on T-Mobile’s offering. Just like Sprint’s Boost and Virgin, Aio Wireless is a MVNO wholly owned by AT&T and marketed as a standalone brand.

As we explained last week, Aio (as in 'All In One') is aimed at those eager to avoid committing their soul to AT&T at all cost by opting for a month-to-month service instead. The offering includes $40/$55/$70 tiers (pricing varies by market) with unlimited talk/text and 250MB/2GB/7GB of data.

Aio Wireless also offers Apple's iPhone 5 and a few popular Android and Windows Phone handsets. Go past the fold for more information...

Canalys: one in five smart devices are Apple

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 9, 2013

Research firm Canalys Thursday offered data on first-quarter smart mobile device shipments, with an estimated 300+ million new units for a 37.4 percent year-over-year growth. Google's Android powered 59 percent and Apple's iOS powered a little over nineteen percent of these devices, according to researchers. Key takeaways: Android leads the smartphone race, Apple is holding onto the tablet market and laptop demand continues falling.

Pay attention to Canalys's parlance because 'smart mobile devices' include smartphones, tablets and laptops. Another important caveat: Canalys stats don’t divulge shipped vs sold units. This is an important distinction as a device shipped into a channel does not automatically result in a device sold to a consumer...

Netflix update brings better second-screen experience, new post-play features

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

After announcing a new $12 per month family plan and having rolled out a major version 4.0 update with a new episode selector on iPads, on-demand Internet streaming media provider Netflix today updated its iPhone and iPad mobile client with an enhanced second-screen experience, recommendations for movies and auto-play episodes for television shows. More information on the changes right below the fold...

Apple wins iBooks trademark case

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 9, 2013

A New York judge has thrown out a trademark lawsuit against Apple's iBooks service. A sci-fi and fantasy publisher had claimed Apple's use of the 'iBooks' mark would confuse consumers. In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote wrote that Black Tower Press "offered no evidence" that consumers would misinterpret Apple's e-book service as a book publisher. In addition Cote said the publisher's image of a lightbulb emblazoned with the word 'iBooks' was distinctive enough to merit continuing the 2011 case...

Pegatron CEO: Bloomberg is lying about ‘falling iPad mini demand’

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

The credulous Bloomberg yesterday covered Pegatron's investor conference where the contract manufacturer announced a whopping 80 percent year-over-year growth in first-quarter profits.

Pegatron also cautioned investors that second-quarter revenue may drop between 20 and 30 percent amid the broader decline in consumer electronics demand.

However, writer Tim Culpan decided the story wasn't newsworthy enough in and of itself. And in his quest for pageviews, the reporter reckoned he better run the piece under the more Apple's doomsday headline, "Falling iPad mini demand to push Pegatron electronics sales down."

Well, guess what? 24 hours later, Pegatron CEO steps forward and tells the media that Culpan put those words in his mouth and completely fabricated the 'falling iPad mini demand' part. And there goes Bloomberg's credibility right down the drain...

USPTO publishes Apple’s extensive Lightning connector patent

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 9, 2013

Much has been written about Apple's new Lightning connector, introduced with the iPhone 5 to supercede the aging 30-pin Dock connection. Thursday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published three Apple patent filings from 2012 detailing how the Lightning connector is built. Among the questions addressed: how did Apple create an "orientation agnostic" connector design while also ensuring stability and proper alignment?

Compass for Velox places the stock Compass app in an enhanced folder

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 9, 2013

The inevitable deluge of Velox compatible add-ons has began, and it shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Compass for Velox is the latest such jailbreak add-on to benefit from Velox's recent release on Cydia.

As you would expect, Compass for Velox adds enhanced folder capability to the stock Compass app. If you've found yourself in an unfamiliar area, you can rest easy knowing that the iPhone's Compass is a mere finger swipe away.

Addial for Velox lets you add new contacts from the Home screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 9, 2013

When you have the popular new Velox tweak installed, it opens up a bunch of new interactions with many of the stock iPhone apps. As we highlighted in our initial walkthrough with the tweak, the stock Contacts app benefits by allowing you to access your contact information using a swipe gesture on the app's icon.

That functionality, while different, was admittedly a little boring. That's where this new add-on — Addial for Velox — steps in to spice things up a bit. This is an interesting add-on, because it combines the functionality of two tweaks into one — the aforementioned Velox, and another tweak that we reviewed in the past called Addial. Take a look inside for more information.

Alleged next-gen iPhone circuitboard part suggests optimized camera design

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 9, 2013

As WWDC 2013 draws near - and with supply chain increasingly pointing to Apple's procurement of components for production of a next-generation iPhone - small wonder various parts are now cropping up on the web. It's the very nature of the game: Apple just can't control each and every one of its suppliers in Taiwan and China, let alone their individual employees.

A Japanese parts retailer, which recently leaked a next-gen iPhone components, is back at it, having published Thursday an image believed to depict a motherboard component, presumably belonging to an upcoming iPhone refresh...

How to hide the status bar on the Lock screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 9, 2013

I rarely take the time to customize my iPhone with beautiful looking wallpaper, therefore, I don't really mind the fact that many of the Lock screen elements hide much of the wallpaper from view. If you're someone who's really finicky about seeing more of your Lock screen wallpaper, then this new tweak has your name written on it.

LockStatusHide is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to hide the presence of the status bar while on the iPhone's Lock screen. In my opinion, it's not a tweak that works well by itself, but when combined with a tweak like Lockscreen Clock Hide, it can do wonders for your wallpaper.

Samsung’s cash pile triples, but still no match for Apple’s $145B hoard

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Much is being made of Samsung's hoard of cash, estimated at $28.5 billion once the South Korean conglomerate's debt is taken into consideration. At any rate, the Galaxy maker has watched its net cash almost triple in the past year, thanks to double-digit profits fueled by the rising sales of its mobile division which makes smartphones and tablets.

In just three years, mobile phones have grown to be 74 percent of Samsung's profits, overshadowing sales of LCD TVs and memory chips. On other words, three out of every four dollars Samsung earns come from mobile devices.

However, Apple remains the industry's most-profitable player, retaining a $145 billion cash pile while offering anxious investors a $100 billion stock buyback. Is Samsung destined to follow Apple's footsteps, or repeat the errors of other Asian giants, such as Panasonic, drowning in debt?

Apple close to striking landmark iPhone deal with China Mobile

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty was visiting Hong Kong and Taiwan recently. She is now back from China with some interesting Apple news. Tim Cook & Co., she wrote in her note to clients, may be close to striking an iPhone distribution agreement with China Mobile, the world's top wireless carrier by revenue and subscribers.

Specifically, Huberty wrote that "TD-LTE licenses, and related phone launches, are expected by year-end," in her note to clients. China Mobile debuted small-scale TD-LTE network in 2010 and last year expanded coverage to select large cities. In case you were wondering, TD-LTE is a variant of the fourth-generation Long Term Evolution radio technology, also known as LTE...