Year: 2014

Apple reduces cost and minimum purchase volumes for MFi licenses

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 7, 2014

One of the prime reasons why Apple-sanctioned Lightning accessories, cables and adapters have been so pricey are high costs and allegedly exorbitant fees attached to the company's 'Made for iPhone/iPad/iPod' (MFi) program. Established in 2005, the MFi initiative requires third-parties to use Apple-approved authentication chips and certified cables and adhere to Apple's rigorous testing.

All of the products that pass testing bear an Apple-approved 'Made for iPod/iPhone/iPad' label. By lowering the program fees, Apple has enabled vendors to produce cheaper Lightning cables, adapters and other accessories for the iPhone and iPad...

NAS video downloads and other new features now live in Infuse in 2.2

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

Infuse, the versatile iOS media player by jailbreak developer FireCore best-known for its aTV Flash Black software for the Apple TV, is getting a nice update with new features later today.

Infuse 2.2 is a pretty big update that comes with a number of additional features the team has been working on for awhile, as well as some of the top user-requested features. One of my favorite additions is the ability to browse network shares and download files for offline playback.

I'm loving it because no longer do I have to transfer my media to Infuse through iTunes, WebDAV or other clunky methods. Infuse 2.2 will be available as a free download in the App Store later today...

Rocket Robo review: help a lonely robot reach the stars

Lory Gil ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Gaming on mobile devices has gotten better over the past few years. Things have really heated up since the launch of the iPhone 5s and the iPad Air. Graphics and performance have improved greatly, making it possible for mobile game makers to create some fairly incredible titles.

Rocket Robo is a puzzle game that features great graphics, unique movement mechanics and a sprinkling of arcade action...

Senate asks Apple and other tech companies for distracted driving solutions

Cody Lee ∙ February 7, 2014

The US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation host a daylong summit yesterday to discuss the growing problem of distracted driving. Drivers texting and doing other phone-related activities are now causing more than 1 million accidents per year.

A number of representatives from major tech companies attended the summit, including executives from Google, Samsung, AT&T, Sprint and Apple. The Senate is asking that they all work together to come up with more robust technical solutions to distracted driving...

Following 8 percent slide, Apple repurchases $14 billion in stock

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2018

Apple reported the financial results for its holiday quarter late last month, and for the most part they killed it—the company set records for revenue, iPhone sales, and iPad sales during the 3-month period. But all Wall Street saw was declining growth.

The Cupertino tech giant's stock dropped 8% that day in after-hours trading, falling from $550 per share to $500, and it has yet to rebound. But Tim Cook says Apple's taking advantage of the unexpected price drop by going on a major buyback spree...

Tim Cook: Apple working on ‘some really great stuff’ in new product categories

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 24, 2017

"There will be new categories," Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal in an interview regarding Apple's recent buyback of more than $14 billion in stock. "We're not ready to talk about it, but we're working on some really great stuff."

Now, Cook has alluded to Apple getting into new product categories before. But speaking with the Journal, the CEO seems more intent than ever on convincing worried investors that his company has some major things in the pipeline...

Theme Thursday: Anode, Clarity, i7Cons and more

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Welcome to the second edition of our Theme Thursday roundup, which highlights some of the best theme releases each week. While this column is primarily focused on iPhone and iPod touch themes, many of them are also compatible with the iPad. We also often mention some worthwhile alternatives to consider looking into. The themes featured this week are: Anode, Clarity, Colorize7, i7Cons and UltraFlat for iOS 7. Take a look…

Apple seeds fifth OS X 10.9.2 beta to developers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 20, 2018

Apple has seeded the fifth OS X 10.9.2 beta to registered Mac developers this evening. The last few beta releases have each come about a week apart, suggesting that they're nearing a final version.

The new build is available to registered Mac developers through the Software Update tab in the Mac App Store, or as a full download via the Mac section of Apple’s online developer portal…

iOS 7 bug discovered that allows disabling of ‘Find My iPhone’ without password

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

A major flaw has been discovered in iOS 7 that seemingly allows users to disable the important 'Find My iPhone' feature on a device without typing in the typically-required password. Turning off the feature on a stolen device makes it invisible to Apple's location service.

And what's worse is, the flaw isn't difficult to exploit. The bug can be reproduced on any device [that we've seen] running iOS 7.0.4 by following a few simple steps that involve making changes in the iCloud section of the Settings app and entering in a dummy password...

Popular ‘Flappy Bird’ game earning $50k per day in ad revenue

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

While discussing the latest mobile gaming craze that is Flappy Bird on our recent Let's Talk iOS podcast, I wondered out loud how much money the developer was making from his newfound success. The game, which is free with ads, has enjoyed a spontaneous reign at the top of the App Store.

Apparently he's doing rather well for himself. In a recent interview with The Verge, developer Dong Nguyen says that Flappy Bird is earning an average of $50,000 per day from ads. It's been download over 50M times, and has been sitting atop iOS and Android app stores for nearly a month...

Apple’s Arizona sapphire plant said to be gearing up to build 5″ iPhone displays

Cody Lee ∙ February 6, 2014

We've known since last fall that Apple was teaming up with GT Advanced to open up a sapphire crystal manufacturing plant in Mesa, Arizona. But up until now, it's been unclear exactly what components it would be making. Camera lenses? Touch ID covers?

Well according to a new report from 9to5Mac, the plant is gearing up to build iPhone displays. Citing import/export and other records, the site says that the Mesa plant has just procured enough equipment to make over 100M ~5-inch iPhone displays this year...

Kids driving game Toca Cars is Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

I hope you have downloaded the excellent Spark Camera which was made temporarily free thanks to Apple's ongoing Free App of the Week promotion. Every Thursday a new paid app picked by Apple's editors goes free for a limited time in the App Store as Apple's way of thanking fans for their loyalty.

As Spark Camera today returns to its original $1.99 price, a new app has gone free until next Thursday, Toca Cars. Originally released last September and normally costing $2.99, this charming kids driving game from Toca Boca (a studio that makes digital toys for kids) has a 4.5-star rating and was never free, until today.

I wholeheartedly recommend you grab Toca Cars in the App Store now...