Year: 2014

Purported iPhone 6 case theorizes how thin next-gen iPhone could be

Jake Smith ∙ April 28, 2014

On par with the launch of any device from Apple, third-party case makers have taken rumors, maybe a little insider knowledge, and some guessing to theorize what the design of the next-generation iPhone could be, long before the launch.

YouTube channel Unbox Therapy got its hands on one of these cases floating around, and compared it alongside the iPhone 5s and iPod touch. The striking factor for the purported iPhone 6 case wasn't the height difference, but that its thinness matched up with the iPod touch, perfectly.

Opinion: the clock is ticking on Apple’s rumored on-demand streaming music service

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

If you need another proof that download sales are declining steadily as music lovers increasingly rent their music rather than buy it, here's one.

Spotify's head of label relations in Europe, Kevin Brown, revealed last week to an industry outlet that his company is earning more cash across Continental Europe from sales of music subscriptions than iTunes does by selling individual song and album downloads.

As a reference, iTunes back in the summer of 2004 enjoyed a commanding 62 percent share of European music sales.

But having added more than a million active users in the United Kingdom alone in the last four months, Spotify seems poised to beat iTunes. Small wonder Brown is adamant that it's only "a matter of time" before the Swedish startup overtakes Apple's digital music store in Europe in terms of revenue.

Why isn't Apple doing something about it? Doesn't the firm see the signs on the wall already? Didn't Tim Cook and Co. get the memo that music downloads are dying a slow death? Read on...

AT&T planning in-flight 4G connectivity for late-2015

Jake Smith ∙ April 28, 2014

AT&T has announced on Monday plans to launch in-flight 4G connectivity as early as late-2015, a technology it touts could be more reliable than in-flight Wi-Fi already made available on some flights in the US.

To deliver the new service, AT&T plans to build an air-to-ground network in the US, based on global 4G LTE standards, to "provide fast speeds and efficient utilization" of spectrum already owned by AT&T.

Facebook open sources animation engine behind Paper for iOS

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Facebook has open sourced the Pop animation engine that drives its Paper app, now available in a listing on GitHub.

The Pop engine supports basic static animations, and also has spring and decay dynamic animations for building realistic, physics-based interactions. The Paper app has been praised for its design, and now developers will be able to access the same engine that drives it for their own iOS and OS X apps.

Top Apple execs Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi speaking at Code Conference

Jake Smith ∙ April 28, 2014

Top Apple executives Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will headline the second night of Recode's Code Conference in May, joining an already high profile lineup including General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Hollywood mogul Ryan Seacrest.

Apple executives rarely make an appearance at events outside of those officially held by Apple, however, Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, formerly of the D Conference, obviously have a secret to doing it. The two have interviewed Apple co-founder Steve Jobs several times, including once alongside Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, and most recently interviewed CEO Tim Cook.

Camera Fx8 and FiLMiC Pro go free for a limited time

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

If you're like me, you've downloaded dozens of camera and image-editing apps to your iPhone to satisfy your inner iPhone photography nerd - and you're still yearning for more. Unfortunatelly, your newly found obsession with photography software may end up costing your hard earned dollars for most of these apps definitely don't come cheap.

If you're on the lookout for a not-to-be-missed software deals, this should be a no-brainer.

Camera Fx8 by Apalon Limited has gone temporarily free. This piece of software lets you apply fun effects, shapes and borders to your images in post-processing or in real-time. It's gone free today for the next 24 hours so give it a download before it goes back up to its regular price of $2.99.

Also notably, FiLMiC Pro, one of the best video camera apps and a $4.99 value, has gone free for a limited time in the App Store...

Facebook updates Messenger with video sharing, improved search and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 28, 2014

Social networking giant Facebook today has refreshed its iOS Messenger application, redesigned from the ground up last November, with a few new features you should know about.

The biggest news in Facebook Messenger 5.0, available free for the iPhone, is its newly added ability to exchange video messages from your library with other Messenger users. Previously, you could only share photos and short voice recordings using the app.

Other enhancements worth mentioning include easier photo sharing, improvements to the search feature, a tweaked user interface making it easier to send photos, voice messages and more...

Microsoft’s first Nokia ad positions Windows Phone as something different

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

Following Microsoft's finalized acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services unit last week, 25,000 Nokia employees get to join the Windows giant today. To celebrate the merger, the Windows giant has just published its very first Nokia television commercial with Microsoft branding.

Windows Phone often gets relegated to the Others category in global smartphone surveys: currently, it's a distant third, after Android and iOS. The new ad, entitled 'Not Like Everybody Else,' plays on Microsoft's underdog status by promising a bunch of colorful smartphones and tablets that should draw attention and make heads turn...

Stride 2: unlock your iPhone with style on iOS 7

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 28, 2014

Adam Bell's much-loved Stride jailbreak tweak has finally received some love for iOS 7, and it comes in the form of Stride 2, a brand new upcoming incarnation of Stride that works on Apple's latest version of iOS.

Stride 2 lets users unlock their devices by drawing a password on screen using a finger. It's an elegant and individualistic method for unlocking a device. Have a look at our full video review of Stride 2 inside.

Apple has 2x or more credit cards on file than Amazon

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 28, 2014

Following Apple's most recent earnings report, Tim Cook revealed in a conference call with analyst that there are now more than 800 million iTunes accounts in use and said that “the majority of those have credit cards behind them.”

How does this compare to Amazon, the king of online commerce? Turns out that Apple actually has twice as many credit cards on file than Amazon, at least. This poses a tremendous opportunity should Apple decide to introduce a mobile payment service of its own, as expected...

Apple gives you extra $80 trade-in credit for iPhone 5 with faulty sleep/wake button

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 28, 2014

Apple last week put forth a new replacement program dealing with the malfunctioning sleep/wake button on some iPhone 5 devices.

Apple has confirmed that "a small percentage" of iPhone 5 models manufactured through March 2013 exhibit an issue where the button may stop working or work intermittently and the firm has moved quickly to allow for free sleep/wake button replacements on the affected handsets.

It's now come to light that Apple's brick-and-mortar stores will also treat owners of the affected iPhone 5 handsets to an extra $80 when they trade in their device, although employees were instructed not to advertise this benefit actively...

Skype makes group video calling free on OS X, Windows and Xbox One, coming soon to iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 28, 2014

One-on-one video calls have always been free on Skype and now the Microsoft-owned communication platform is making the group video calling feature, unveiled in 2010, available free of charge to desktop users running OS X or Microsoft Windows, with no expiration date, as well as to owners of the Xbox One console which has Skype deeply integrated.

Up until now, group video calling used to be limited to Skype's Premium users on Windows desktop and Mac, which costs $4.99 for a day pass or $8.99 per month. Microsoft has said it will make the feature free on all platforms "in the future"...