Year: 2014

Readdle’s Scanner Pro now half price to celebrate 6M downloads, iOS 8 app in the works

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 1, 2014

Scanner Pro, one of the best apps for quickly scanning and saving a digital version of a paper document, has passed six million downloads since its App Store debut in December of 2009.

It's a noteworthy milestone in my book given the software costs seven bucks and has thus far gone temporarily free only once, as Apple's Free App of the Week in January.

To celebrate the milestone, Ukrainian developer Readdle has temporarily shaved 50 percent off Scanner Pro's asking price, now available for a limited time for just $2.99...

Yahoo’s Mail for iPad picks up mail filters and personalized web features

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 1, 2014

Yahoo's Mail for iPad debuted in April of 2013 and has since been gradually picking up new features like multiple personal and Business Mail accounts, folder management, message swiping, support for Apple’s VoiceOver feature and much more.

Today, the software has received another boost as Yahoo announced it's bringing multiple features from the web interface to Mail for iOS, including news, search and snapshots of the weather, sports scores, stocks, popular videos and Flickr photos, now all accessible in one app...

FTC accuses T-Mobile of placing unauthorized charges on phone bills for years [updated with note from the CEO]

Joe Rossignol ∙ July 1, 2014

T-Mobile has been aggressively marketing its Uncarrier initiatives to prove that it cares about customers, but the Federal Trade Commission has published a new complaint that accuses the carrier of knowingly cramming bogus charges onto customers' phone bills for years. The FTC claims that T-Mobile made hundreds of millions of dollars by knowingly placing charges for "premium" SMS subscriptions that, most often, were not authorized by customers…

Apple assembling in-house speech synthesis team to supplant Siri’s Nuance with better tech

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 1, 2014

As we've written before, Apple has created Siri in a modular manner, so that it could easily replace her Nuance-powered speech recognition engine with a similar piece of software. Siri since its inception has been reliant on Nuance technology, but things look to be changing sooner than later.

The company is reportedly assembling an in-house team of speech synthesis and voice recognition experts tasked with developing a proprietary technology that could supplant Nuance and give the personal assistant a “neural network” boost...

Apple introduces 9 new CarPlay partners, including Chrysler, Dodge and Mazda

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Following the announcement that Audi will be integrating CarPlay into its vehicle lineup next year, Apple has officially added 9 new CarPlay partners to its website: Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Mazda and Ram. These car manufacturers have committed to integrating CarPlay into their vehicles in the future, meaning that Apple now has 29 total CarPlay partners.

Apple says that CarPlay should begin to appear in vehicles from Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and Ferrari later this year, with additional car manufacturers following up next year and beyond. Aftermarket stereo systems with built-in CarPlay functionality will also be available from Alpine and Pioneer, although no timeframe is provided.…

Apple extends AppleCare+ purchase window to 60 days for iPhone and iPad

Joe Rossignol ∙ July 1, 2014

As we outlined in a report earlier this month, Apple has gone ahead and doubled the AppleCare+ purchase window for new iPhones and iPads. Customers are now eligible to purchase AppleCare+ for their new iPhone and iPad up to 60 days after purchasing the device, whereas it was previously 30 days. AppleCare+ extends Apple's 90-day complimentary support to two years and includes accidental damage coverage.

AppleCare+ costs $99 for both the iPhone and iPad plans, purchasable through the Apple Store both in-store and online. Apple has updated its website to reflect the new 60-day policy that is now in effect in all regions outside of Japan, where the 30-day window remains. These changes do not apply to Macs, iPods or any other Apple products outside of the iPhone and iPad…

Apple launches iPhone trade-in in Italy, coming to Australia later this week

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 1, 2014

Last August, Apple Stores in the United States started accepting customers' older iPhones (iPhone 3G and up) in exchange for a credit redeemable against the purchase of a brand spanking new iPhone.

The iPhone trade-in has since expanded to Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany and has now gone live in Italy. Furthermore, the initiative is set to expand to Australia in the coming days.

Customers in Italy can now trade in their older iPhone model for an Apple Store Gift Card worth up to €220, which works out to about $300. Folks can then use the store credit towards the purchase of a new iPhone, helping bring upfront payment down to a more bearable level...

Apple livens up retail stores with backlit wall graphics from TV ads

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Ace Metrix's ad-watching data compiled by Bloomberg has revealed that Apple's in-house advertisements are scoring lower than those created by its long-time ad agency, TBWA\Media Arts Labs. This includes Apple's TBWA-produced iPhone 5s television campaigns such as 'Gigantic' and 'From the Heart'.

Small wonder, then, that Apple has decided to use various motifs from these successful commercials inside its retail stores, starting with the installation of the brand new backlit wall graphics at select locations...

Microsoft now encrypts your OneDrive connections and Outlook emails

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Microsoft's OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) is great if you need to store your files in the cloud and sync them between devices seamlessly. And with the recently introduced 15GB free tier, OneDrive has become even more competitive compared to Dropbox and its pedestrian 2GB free tier.

Also, Microsoft's web-based email - which went through several rebranding efforts and is currently known as Outlook.com - has its loyal following.

Those who've been concerned about general security of their emails and OneDrive files needn't worry as Microsoft now employs end-to-end encryption on both services to prevent eavesdropping as data travels between servers...

Apple’s cheaper iPod touch lineup now rolling out internationally

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 1, 2014

A week ago, Apple made some interesting changes to its lineup of the iPod touch media players. In addition to the cheaper $199/$249/$299 price points for 16/32/64GB models, the baseline model now has a rear camera like the 16 and 32GB variants.

Initially launched in the United States only, the refreshed 16GB iPod touch with a rear camera on Tuesday began rolling out across a number of Apple's key markets around the world, including in the UK, France, Italy and elsewhere...

Pebble 2.3 firmware now live with notification skipping with a double-click

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Nearly a month into its most recent firmware update which has brought out a much-needed music volume control and Launcher item ordering, the maker of the Pebble smartwatch on Tuesday issued another firmware update while refreshing its companion iOS app with smaller changes.

The Pebble 2.3 software update brings improved Bluetooth performance and, more importantly, enables the ability to quickly skip to the next notification by double clicking, in addition to other tweaks...

DigiTimes: Samsung receives orders for 14nm Apple A9 chip

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Kicking Samsung out of the supply chain for Apple-designed iPhone and iPad processors may be easier said than done.

For years now Apple's attempted to kickstart mass production of these chips at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry, to no avail.

As TSMC continues to cope with yield issues, technological hurdles and scale, rival Samsung is said to have landed orders for Apple's A9 processor set to appear inside next year's iPhone and iPad devices.

According to a new report by DigiTimes, the somewhat accurate Taiwanese trade publication, the sophisticated microprocessor will be fabbed on Samsung's advanced 14-nanometer process technology, albeit not exclusively...