Jake Smith

Apple files patent stylus that can capture writing on any surface

Apple has been granted a patent by the USPTO on Tuesday that describes a stylus that will allow a user to write on any surface, and translate it onto their iPhone or iPad. The feature set is similar to the Livescribe 3 Smartpen, that works on Livescribe Dot Paper by using an onboard camera.

However, the technology Apple has applied for sounds more advanced and more seamless. Instead of using a camera and specialized paper, Apple's stylus uses accelerometers and motion-sensing to activate only when picked up, its nib is pressed to paper, withdrawn from a dock or manually turned on by the user. 

Apple dominated Christmas, activating 2.9 devices per one Samsung

Mobile analytics firm Flurry is out with its December Christmas week research, like it does every year, and one thing is extremely evident - Santa loves Apple. The iPhone accounted for 51 percent of new device activations from December 19th to December 25th, putting a pretty good beating on Samsung, who only accounted for 18 percent.

Flurry found that for every one Samsung device that was activated, Apple activated 2.9 devices. For every Microsoft Lumia device activated, Apple activated 8.8 devices. We'll have to wait until Apple's earnings call probably sometime in January for more of a per-device breakdown, but it looks like the iPhone 6 far outweighed any other version of the iPhone.

Apple Pay reportedly to hit UK in first half of 2015, negotiations proving tricky

Apple's NFC-powered mobile payments service Apple Pay is due to hit the UK market in the first half of 2015, after gaining some ground in the US at the end of this year, reports The Telegraph.

The British publication didn't name which banks specifically are in talks with Apple, but reported "at least one of the biggest banks" has been tricky in negotiating with the company.