Month: May 2013

T-Mobile CEO says don’t hold your breath for a MetroPCS iPhone

T-Mobile and MetroPCS completed their merger yesterday, combining the 4th and 5th largest carriers in the United States. And we figured this would be good news for the latter company's 9M+ subscribers, as they'd finally get a shot at the iPhone.

But not so fast, says T-Mobile's John Legere. Speaking with tech blog AllThingsD, the CEO said that while he thinks it's possible that MetroPCS might be able to offer the popular device at some point, there are currently no immediate plans to do so...

JCPenney airs TV ad apologizing for chickening out of Ron Johnson’s vision

Former Apple SVP of Retail, Ron Johnson, lasted barely a year on the job. After the struggling department store chain reported a $13 billion annual decline in revenue, the board ingloriously booted Johnson whose greatest sin was trying to change way too many things at the same time, namely insisting on his shop-in-shop concept.

The irony of it: the boutique store approach could have easily breathed a new life into JCPenney's garage sale concept and stood a good chance of reinvigorating the firm's fugly brick-and-mortar locations.

Figuring the best thing to do at this point is wash its hands of this whole Ron Johnson adventure, JCPenney yesterday begun airing a new television commercial. Titled 'It's No Secret' it's a pathetic attempt at apologizing for chickening out of Johnson's vision for the company. The video is right past the fold...

How to make Yahoo’s new weather app the default in iOS

Last month, Yahoo released a new weather app for iOS aptly named Yahoo! Weather. And its fit and finish actually surprised some people. Our very own Christian Zibreg said it's "the best-designed iOS app from Yahoo yet."

It's just too bad that you can't make the app the default weather application in iOS. Or can you? Actually, thanks to a new jailbreak tweak called 'YahooWeatherisBetter,' you can make Yahoo's new weather app your default...

Pentagon set to approve iOS, Samsung devices for secure use

A new report is out this afternoon, claiming the US Department of Defense is going to grant security approvals for Samsung's Galaxy smartphones, as well as Apple's iPhones and iPads running iOS 6 in the coming weeks.

The move is separate from the mobile device implementation plan that the Pentagon announced back in February, and could pave the way for Apple to gain more notable influence in the hard-to-reach government sector...

CloudOn for iOS review: use Microsoft Office on your iPhone and iPad

Microsoft has been hinting at the possibility of bringing its suite of productivity applications to iOS for a long time now. We’ve heard that Microsoft may bring Office to the iPad next fall. We’ve heard that the software giant is holding out until Apple agrees to take a smaller cut of the profits. What we haven’t heard is that Microsoft is officially bringing Office to iOS in its full capacity.

Most of us have figured out workarounds that make it possible to access Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents on our iPad or iPhone. But nothing will beat the original. If it ever happens.

CloudOn is a universal app that brings Microsoft Office to your iPhone or iPad. CloudOn lets you manage your cloud-based files, plus edit, create, and present Microsoft Office documents.  That’s right. You can now use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iOS...

Trust Twitter and Google, not Apple, to protect you from government data demands

Well, this is certainly noteworthy. According to the third annual report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) titled "Who Has Your Back?", gadget giant Apple along with carriers AT&T and Verizon, Google's rival Yahoo and the forgotten social network MySpace all are very likely to give in to Uncle Sam's data demands.

Specifically, Apple and Yahoo scored one out of six possible stars, with Verizon and Yahoo rather ingloriously earning zero stars each. These companies' weak safeguard implementation does little to circumvent data demands and protect your private information from the government's prying eyes.

Whereas Apple and Yahoo only fight for users' privacy rights in Congress, companies like Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Dropbox go to great lengths to ensure privacy of your data, earning four out of six stars each...

iPad mini reportedly accounted for over 60% of Apple’s tablet sales last quarter

The iPad mini has been extremely successful for Apple since it launched late last year. How successful? Well according to a new report, it accounted for more than 60% of the 19.5 million tablets the company sold last quarter.

Apple's iPad sales showed significant growth last quarter–they were nearly double what they were during the same 3-month period last year. And a lot of industry watchers have attributed the jump to the mini's popularity...

AllThingsD reaffirms Apple is working on ‘deForstallization’ in iOS 7

After months of silence, reports regarding the next major version of iOS have really picked up in recent weeks. Most chatter points to the same thing: iOS 7 will sport an all-new, flatter interface, and the redesign has Apple running behind.

And this afternoon, those two points are reiterated in a new report by AllThingsD. The tech blog says that, according to its sources, iOS 7 is such a big design overhaul, Apple has had to pull engineers from other projects to help it along...

Twitter for iOS updated with better Vine support, location-based Trends

Twitter, the popular micro-blogging service which in March 2013 passed 200 million users, on Wednesday updated its mobile apps for iOS and Android platforms. Twitter version 5.6 for the iPhone and iPad now lets you see location-based Trends or browse Trends tailored to your interests. The application also features improved playback of Vine videos and contains a few other minor tweaks, included after the break...

T-Mobile completes MetroPCS deal, adds 9 million subscribers

It's official. After passing all necessary regulatory approvals last month, T-Mobile and MetroPCS have officially completed their merger. The Deutsche Telekom-owned carrier made an announcement on the company blog this morning.

The deal, which has been in the works since last fall, combines the United States' fourth and fifth largest wireless carriers, which combine for a total of 43 million subscribers. The new entity is now trading on Wall Street under TMUS...

Apple’s iPad seen preventing pilot injuries

Lugging around all the charts and papers required by commercial pilots can be a pain - literally. Now comes word Apple's iPad is taking a load off pilots of one airline, replacing 40-pound flight bags with a 1.5-pound tablet. By the end of May, 8,600 American Airlines pilots will swap the heavy bags of charts, maps and manuals for the iPad, easing one of the industry's largest sources of injuries...

AT&T will now give you $100 credit for your old smartphone

The nation's second-largest carrier, AT&T, on Wednesday upgraded its cell phone trade-in program at its brick-and-mortar retail stores. The new terms incentivize customers to trade-in their old smartphone for one of the latest models and receive a $100 credit on-the-spot, which can be immediately redeemed against any AT&T smartphone or accessory purchase.

If you have an old iPhone or an Android phone that is less than three years old, the $100 trade-in credit lets you purchase a brand new iPhone 5 for just $99. Or, you could settle with an iPhone 4S wit zero bucks in upfront payment. By comparison, the entry-level 16GB iPhone 4S/5 normally sets you back $99/$199 after a two-year contract...