Jake Smith

ITC to investigate Apple following patent infringement complaints from Ericsson

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

The US International Trade Commission plans to investigate Apple, following two patent complaints from Ericsson, reports PC World.

It regards Apple’s use of an LTE patent for which it had a licensing agreement with Ericsson, up until earlier this year. When the agreement expired, Apple complained that Ericsson asked for too much money for the patent during re-negotiations and sued Ericsson. Ericsson counter-sued saying Apple infringed on the patents and that it had given the Cupertino-based company a fair price. 

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Apple seeds OS X 10.10.3 beta 6 to developers, public testers

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple seeded another beta of OS X 10.10.3 on Monday for both members of the Mac Developer Center and public beta testers. The new build, available to download through the Mac App Store's Software Update mechanism, carries the build number 14D127 - compared to the previous build number of 14D113 that was released one week ago.

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Purported iPad Pro casing points to dual ports; could it be USB-C?

Jake Smith ∙ Updated February 3, 2017

New photos posted on China social media site Sina Weibo and shared by HDBlog on Monday point to the rumored, larger, iPad Pro having two ports - if the photos prove to be legitimate. The images were first shared by VandaagApple in February.

The unconfirmed photos show an iPad with the typical Apple logo, rear-camera, and side volume buttons. However curiously, there's a port of some sorts on the left side of the device, something never before seen on the iPad line.

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Periscope shows the future of news with stream of NYC explosion aftermath

Jake Smith ∙ Updated June 16, 2016

I'm watching a building burn down with firefighters rushing to save people inside- as it's happening.

The Periscope app launched by Twitter this morning is already showing its stripes. People have often turned to Twitter (and the Internet) for news in the past - this is nothing new - but Periscope has already shown in its few hours of availability how it could reshape breaking news on the Internet.

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NY Times: Apple/Beats music streaming service to rival Spotify, iTunes Radio overhaul coming

Jake Smith ∙ March 25, 2015

Stating what's pretty close to the obvious, the New York Times reports the teams at Apple and Beats are working on a digital music service to directly compete with Spotify, one year after the Cupertino-based company paid $3 billion for the headphone maker. It won't bring lower prices than its competitors, the publication says, and is currently being planned for launch this year.

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Facebook turns Messenger into a platform, opens API to third-party developers

Jake Smith ∙ March 25, 2015

Facebook unveiled at its F8 Developer Conference on Wednesday it will make its Messenger API available to third-party developers, making Messenger a platform, like previously reported.

Developers will not only be able to hook their apps into the service, but Messenger users will also be able to install apps and make purchases inside Messenger. Facebook says 40 apps are launching within Facebook Messenger right away. 

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Google working to let you pay bills from directly within Gmail

Jake Smith ∙ March 25, 2015

Google is working on a new service that will allow you to pay your bills from directly within your Gmail email inbox, ridding of the need to visit multiple websites every time you pay your bills each month.

Recode was able to get its hands on all the details for the secret project, dubbed "Pony Express". Internally, it's being called "the future of paper mail" and is expected to roll out in the fourth quarter of 2015.

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Apple acquires database company FoundationDB to bolster web services

Jake Smith ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

As it looks to build out its web services, Apple has acquired FoundationDB, a company that specializes in speedy, durable NoSQL databases, Apple essentially confirmed to iDownloadBlog after TechCrunch first reported the news.

“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” the company said in a boiler plate statement it gives when it acquires smaller companies. 

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Apple seeds iOS 8.3 beta 4 to developers, second beta to public testers

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has seeded the fourth beta of iOS 8.3 to developers, close to two weeks after seeding the third iOS 8.3 beta and roughly a month and a half after releasing the first iOS 8.3 beta.

The new build of iOS 8.3 carries the build number 12F5061, and is available to download over-the-air or from Apple's iOS Developer Center. Apple also released Xcode 6.3 beta 4 with Swift 1.2 and an update for the Apple TV beta.

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