Year: 2014

Apple to let vendors outfit ‘Made for iPhone’ gear with Lightning port starting early 2015

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2014

Apple during its MFi Summit that took place last week over the course of three days in Shenzhen, China told its 'Made for iPhone' (MFi) accessory vendors that it will be relaxing rules of the game.

Specifically, makers will be permitted to outfit their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad accessories with Apple's proprietary Lightning port beginning early next year, Jordan Kahn reported Tuesday morning over at 9to5Mac.

Accessories such as iPhone docks and battery cases with a built-in Lightning port would benefit from using Apple's proprietary I/O technology to provide power to both an accessory and the iOS device. The current implementation requires such accessories to provide an additional USB cable for charging.

iPhones found to infringe pager tech, Apple ordered to pay $23.6M in damages

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2014

Bloomberg is reporting this morning that Apple's iPhone and other devices have been found to infringe half a dozen pager technology patents owned by a Texas company called Mobile Telecommunications Technologies LLC.

Six patents owned by Mobile Telecommunications Technologies are valid and infringed, a federal jury in Marshall, Texas, has found.

The iPhone maker was ordered to pay the Texas company $23.6 million in damages.

Nokia is back with an iPad mini look-alike running Android

Jake Smith ∙ November 18, 2014

Nokia rejoined the world of consumer electronics on Monday, after selling its devices unit to Microsoft last year. The Finnish-based company announced the Nokia N1, an iPad mini-clone featuring a strikingly familiar 7.9-inch screen, 2048x1536 resolution, and aluminum design. The N1 will be released in China early next year for $250, undercutting the iPad mini prices heftily.

Wi-Fi issues continue to persist for some after updating to OS X Yosemite 10.10.1

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2014

After upgrading their Macs to yesterday's OS X Yosemite 10.10.1 software update, some users continue to experience a range of intermittent Wi-Fi issues that have been plaguing Apple's latest desktop operating system since its release, according to user feedback over at Apple's Support Communities containing more than a thousand posts.

Issues vary on a case-by-case basis and include dropped or unreliable wireless connections, slow data transfer speeds, connections randomly dropping every few minutes or so, inability to connect to a Wi-Fi network after waking from sleep and more.

Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition review

Lory Gil ∙ November 18, 2014

Icewind Dale came out 14 years ago on Windows computers. In 2000, I still hadn’t even begun playing Dungeons & Dragons on a regular basis, so this title slipped past my view for many years.

Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition recently launched on iOS and it features all of the familiar settings of the Forgotten Realms, plus includes a few new spells, text options and other enhancements that bring the game to life in the mobile arena. We’ve got a hands-on game review of Icewind Dale for you today.

Apple credits Pangu team for discovering vulnerabilities patched in iOS 8.1.1

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple has posted a support page on the security content of the just-released iOS 8.1.1, reaffirming previous reports that the firmware breaks the Pangu jailbreak tool. In the page, the company credits the Pangu team for discovering three vulnerabilities patched in 8.1.1.

Among those vulnerabilities was a state management issue in the dyld directory, which has to do with app launches. There was also a validation issue in the handling of metadata fields with the kernel, and a sandbox profile bug that allowed apps to launch arbitrary binaries.

Ubisoft releases ‘Arcade Poker’ tie-in game for Far Cry 4

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Ubisoft has launched a new tie-in title for the highly anticipated Far Cry 4, set to launch on consoles and PCs today, called Far Cry 4 Arcade Poker. It's a standalone app, but players can sync it up with the new Far Cry to earn currency that can be used in the game.

Arcade Poker is an interesting game that plays like a mix of tetris, poker and something else. Cards fall from the top of the screen, and can be randomly shuffled until they hit the bottom to build a 5-card poker hand. The better the hand, the more coins you'll be given.

SendDelay will give you a brief second chance before you send that iMessage

Alihassan Mahdi ∙ November 18, 2014

It's happened to me several times before to send a message and quickly realize I was actually sending it to the wrong person. I'm sure many of you have experienced the same situation at some point. If you wish there was a way to stop a message from getting delivered, you should probably check out a brand new jailbreak tweak known as SendDelay.

Eddy Cue demos Apple Pay for local news program

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

During a Monday night segment of the Tech Report on local LA news station KTLA, Eddy Cue took host Rich DeMuro on a "shopping spree" to demonstrate how easy it is to use Apple Pay for purchases. The pair visited a number of places, including Panera Bread, Bloomingdale's and the Disney Store.

Using his gold iPhone 6 Plus, Apple's SVP of Internet software and services, pre-ordered food from Panera Bread using the restaurant's app, and paid for it via Apple Pay. He then went to Bloomingdale's to buy sunglasses, the Disney Store for a few toys, and of course they ended up at an Apple Store.

eBay app update allows you to create, pay for and print shipping labels

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Popular auction site eBay has updated its iOS client, bringing the app to version 3.5. The update brings about a handful of improvements, including performance and speed boosts and various new country-specific features.

The release adds new checkout features in Germany and Australia, and a new click and collect option for Argos in the UK. Users can now purchase something from Argos on eBay in-app, and choose to pick the item up locally.

Let’s Talk iOS 056: Photo Stream steam

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

Episode 56: Sebastien voices his frustration about an iOS Photo issue. Jeff expresses more love for the Fire TV as an Apple TV competitor. Cody displays his musical talents.

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This episode has no sponsor but you can always support Let's Talk iOS and iDB by downloading our Yosemite Interactive User Guide in the iBooks Store.

Intel goes after Apple Watch with $495 MICA fashion band for women

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Hot on the heels of the Apple Watch, Intel unveiled a new luxury wearable at a media event on Monday, aimed at women with a snakeskin band and AT&T connectivity - no phone pairing necessary. Priced at $495, the smart bracelet, thing, allows users to receive, dismiss, and reply to text messages, email, and Facebook and Google notifications, completely independent of a smartphone.