Year: 2014

Apple Store logos revamped with green leaves for Earth Day

Cody Lee ∙ April 21, 2014

Apple has apparently begun revamping some of its Apple Store logos with green leaves tonight, in honor of Earth Day. The annual event, which falls on April 22nd, is used to promote environmental protection and the overall improvement of the health of the environment, via demonstrations, organized events, and more.

The move shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as we already knew Apple was planning some kind of celebration for Earth Day at select retail locations. We also saw a major PR push from the company yesterday regarding its environmental efforts, including new hardware recycling options and a video with Tim Cook...

Sticky: quickly add a handy sticky note to the Lock screen

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Sticky is an upcoming jailbreak tweak that allows you to add a handy sticky note to the Lock screen. It's a tweak that's useful for quickly taking notes that you will need to reference at a later time.

One of the cool things about Sticky is that your notes stay visible on the Lock screen. This makes it so that when you wake your device from sleep, your note is waiting on you to remind you of any tasks.

We've taken Sticky for a spin on video. Have a look past the break for the full review.

Samsung expert says Apple should only get $38M for patent infringement, not $2B

Cody Lee ∙ April 21, 2014

The court battle between Apple and Samsung raged on in California today, with Samsung calling a damages expert to the stand. Judith Chevalier, a professor of economics at the Yale University School of Management, testified that if found guilty of infringement, Samsung should only have to pay Apple $38 million.

The figure, which is actually $38.4 million, is miles away from the $2.2 billion number that Apple's damages expert called for last week. Chevalier argued that a reasonable royalty rate for Apple's patents would've been $0.35 per patent, per device, and doesn't think the company should receive damages for lost sales...

Mailbox 2.0 is out with Dropbox syncing for preferences and Auto-swipe

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 14, 2018

Mailbox users will be happy to hear that the iOS email client received an update today. The release, which brings the app to version 2.0, brings about 'lots of bug fixes and improvements' as well as 2 new features: Dropbox syncing for preferences and Auto-swipe.

While Dropbox syncing for preferences is fairly self-explanatory, Auto-swipe takes some explaining. The feature was first announced by the Mailbox team earlier this month, and its purpose is to learn your in-app behavior in an effort to automate processes...

Apple seeds OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 build 13D45a to developers

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple has seeded OS X 10.9.3 build 13D45a to developers on Monday, following the release of build 13D43 last week.

Apple didn't detail features of the new build, but once again asks developers to focus on Graphics Drivers, Audio, Mail, Contacts and Calendar sync over USB in iTunes, and Safari.

Sony said to be considering Danny Boyle to direct Jobs biopic, Leonardo DiCaprio could star

Jake Smith ∙ April 21, 2014

Sony Pictures is eyeing Danny Boyle as the new director of its Steve Jobs biopic titled "Jobs", after David Fincher decided not to step in the role, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Boyle nor Sony have officially confirmed the news, and the publication reports the deal is not yet done and that both parties are still in talks. Boyle is known for his work in the Slumdog Millionaire and 28 Days Later, among other films.

Furthermore, there's word Boyle has approached Leonardo DiCaprio, of The Great Gatsby and The Wolf of Wall Street fame, to star in the film as Jobs. Let's just hope he doesn't drop as many "F Bombs" as he did in The Wolf of Wall Street...

Apple now offering free recycling of all its devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Apple's all-out environmental PR push continues on with the announcement of free recycling of all used Apple devices. It's yet another bid to increase Apple's reliance on renewable energy sources and help preserve the environment by keeping the electronics out of landfills because of the toxins in them.

According to an Associated Press report Monday, Apple has confirmed that it will take back all its used devices for recycling, completely free of charge, in all of its retail outlets - globally.

Although the company's existing Recycling program hands out gift cards in exchange for used iPhones and iPods still in good enough condition to be resold (as determined by PowerON), this won't be the case with recycled products that have little or no resale value...

Apple reports earnings Wednesday: Here’s what analysts expect

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple reports its quarterly earnings on Wednesday for the January to March quarter - a typically slow time for technology companies following the Christmas quarter crunch.

On its last earnings call in January, Apple told investors to expect revenue between $42 billion and $44 billion, gross margin between 37 percent and 38 percent, operating expenses between $4.3 billion and $4.4 billion, other income/(expense) of $200 million, and a tax rate of 26.2 percent. Really, no better than the company did last year.

Analysts have been checking with industry sources, looking at retail logs, and number crunching to predict what Apple will announce on Wednesday. Whether the company misses or beats the expectations could have a big impact on the stock price, which is up roughly 36 percent year-over-year. Last quarter, the stock tanked in after hours following a bad guidance for the numbers that are set to be report on Wednesday. Here's what analysts are expecting:

New iSpaceship video touts ‘the most energy-efficient building of its kind’

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2014

In addition to a press tour of its upcoming data center and solar array installation in the Nevada desert, a nicely done 'Better' video narrated by Tim Cook and fresh updates on its Environmental Responsibility microsite, Apple in advance of Earth Day 2014 also posted an overview video of its monstrous Campus 2 project, affectionally dubbed by the press the iSpaceship.

The footage was actually first shown at a city planning commission meeting in October of last year, but Apple has now decided to make it available to the general public in high-definition to tout its "office of the future"...

Netflix raising prices for new subscribers later this quarter

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Video streaming giant Netflix has announced plans to raise prices for new subscribers later this quarter, when it announced its quarterly earnings on Monday.

The price increase will cost between $1 and $2 more per month, depending on the country a user lives in. Netflix subscriptions currently costs $7.99 per month for unlimited streaming, so the increase will raise it close to $10.

Apple reportedly ‘very, very serious’ about mobile payments

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Apple is ramping up internally to launch a mobile payments service, according to Recode. The publication reports Apple has been interviewing payment industry executives to fill two new senior positions at the company focused on mobile payments, as it plans to get into the industry.

The search team is being lead by Apple executive Jennifer Bailey, who previously ran the company's online stores including iTunes. The two new positions are heads of product and business development, two positions that are at the core of any new product at Apple.

Google Glass getting iPhone SMS alerts and agenda view later this week

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2014

If you're among early adopters who dropped $1,500 for a Google Glass when Google for a single day opened up its Glass Explorer program to everyone, you'll be delighted to learn that your pricey smart googles will soon be able to display notifications for incoming iPhone text messages in your field of vision.

In addition, a new Calendar card will also launch later this week, allowing you to interact with calendar items on your timeline.

Google's recently upgraded its Glass software to Android KitKat, allowing them to "bring you faster updates" so these upcoming goodies are part of the new rapid development and roll-out process...