iPhone News

Finally, an iWatch concept that doesn’t look like a watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 21, 2014

I've always felt that the watch itself should be almost an afterthought in the never-ending discussion pertaining to what Apple’s rumored iWatch should be. ‘You’re thinking about it all wrong’ instantly comes to mind whenever new iWatch concepts hit the web. Looking at the current crop of mockups, their predictability and untenableness is starting to feel depressing and really killing all the fun for me.

But there’s some hope left as 3D artist Todd Hamilton took it upon himself to improve upon Thomas Bogner’s Nike FuelBand-like iWatch concept, taking his idea to the next level of awesomeness. It's right after the jump: have a look at the renderings and dare tell us it’s not the best iWatch concept you’ve seen thus far...

Candy Crush Saga creator trademarks ‘candy’, goes after App Store devs

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Social games developer King, perhaps best-known for its wildly popular Candy Crush Saga match-three game (free in the App Store, currently #9 on the free apps chart), has filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) seeking to trademark the word 'candy'.

And guess what? King won the trademark last week and is now asking fellow developers to remove games with 'candy' in their name. The full story is right after the break...

How to remove Yahoo branding from Notification Center

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

NC Cleaner is a brand new jailbreak tweak that does one thing, and one thing only: It allows you to remove the Yahoo branding that appears in the bottom of Notification Center's Today view in iOS 7.

If you have a special hatred for the Yahoo branding, then this is one of the tweaks that you can use to get rid of it. We've got a before and after comparison video inside for you to check out.

Pebble Profiles: suppress Pebble notifications while your iPhone is unlocked

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

If you're a Pebble Smartwatch wearer, then you are probably already quite familiar with the device's idiosyncrasies. As I stated in my review of the device, I like my Pebble, but it's definitely got a few opportunities for improvement.

One of the more glaring issues is solved by a recently released jailbreak tweak dubbed Pebble Profiles. This tweak suppresses notifications on the Pebble when your iPhone is unlocked. The end result is a great reduction of duplicate, and hence redundant, notifications. Take a look at our video inside for a demonstration of how it works.

Apple’s iBooks Textbooks and iTunes U Course Manager expand to new markets

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 21, 2014

Today is a big day for Apple's strides in education as the company in a media release announced a significant expansion of its educational content.

iBooks Textbooks are now available in a total of 51 countries around the globe while iTunes U Course Manager is available to customers in 70 countries, Apple said.

Starting today, iBooks Textbooks and iTunes U Course Manager are rolling out to new countries in Asia, Latin America and Europe, including Russia, Thailand and Malaysia...

Verizon’s Christmas quarter: 1.6M new subscribers, $5B quarterly profit

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 21, 2014

Verizon Wireless, the nation's top wireless carrier, on Tuesday reported its earnings for the 2013 holiday quarter. Despite notable gains from T-Mobile, whose attention-seeking CEO earned his company a lot of coverage while lambasting competitors, Verizon has managed to add 1.6 million new contract subscribers during the Christmas quarter of last year, pushing its total subscriber count to 102.8 million customers.

Quarterly net income of the wireless division was $5.07 billion on $21.1 billion in revenue, or $7.9 billion on $31 billion in revenue for Verizon Communications.

The figure compares favorably to a massive $1.93 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2012, attributed to the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy and rising costs in employee pensions. More tidbits below the fold...

Poll: what screen size should the iPhone 6 be?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Two years ago, our iPhones were all 3.5-inch. It was a time when jumbo-sized handsets had started to steal Apple's thunder as a bunch of people responded enthusiastically to bigger smartphones from the Android camp, namely, Samsung.

Our non-scientific poll asked you back in May 2012 whether the then-unreleased iPhone 5 should rock a bigger screen. More than four out of each ten respondents voted for a four-inch display being the new gold standard for iPhones going forward.

But a lot has happened in the past eighteen months. Fast forward to today and all of a sudden what seemed preposterous in 2012 is commonly accepted in 2014.

The line between a smartphone and a phablet is now blurred to the point where a lot of Apple fans have taken notice of these oversized handsets and are now demanding that Apple responds to the trend accordingly.

The rumor-mill is adamant that Tim Cook will further diversify Apple's mobile product portfolio in 2014 by commissioning a 12.9-inch iPad alongside larger-screened iPhones. Taking it all in, what screen size the next iPhone should be, do you think?

Apple Stores now replacing damaged iPhone 5c screens

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

As promised in a report earlier this month, Apple has begun repairing iPhone 5c screens in-store this week. 5c owners with cracked or otherwise damaged displays can now take their handsets into their local Apple stores and have them repaired quickly for a flat fee.

Apple has been doing this since last year for the iPhone 5, but just recently updated the hardware and training necessary to work with the newer models. The move is the company's latest effort to cut down on device repair and—perhaps most of all—replacement costs...

Beats launches ‘Music’ streaming service for $10 a month, iPhone app now available

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

As promised, Beats launched its highly anticipated 'Music' service this morning, bringing the headphone-maker into the highly competitive world of streaming audio. And with a library of around 20 million songs available for on-demand play, it's certainly built to take on the competition.

But Beats is taking a different approach to its subscription service. Unlike your Rdios and your Spotifys, it doesn't offer a free ad-supported model and the company is putting a lot of focus on its custom radio stations and playlists that it says were curated by some of the best DJs in the world...

How to control Philips Hue lights from Control Center

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

I have a special fascination with home automation, and I'm usually up for trying anything new in this space. For that very reason, I was super excited to try out the Philips Hue lighting kit when it first launched, and I picked one up on day one. You can watch my Philips Hue unboxing and review here.

Philips has a decent, if not a bit cumbersome to use, app available that allows you to control the Hue lights. I was always a big fan of the hardware, but I thought the software left a lot to be desired.

One of the biggest gripes for me is just having to launch a separate app in the first place. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could turn your lights on and off directly from native iOS? Wouldn't it be even more awesome if you could control your lighting directly from iOS 7's Control Center?

And that's exactly what this recently released jailbreak tweak, entitled HueHueHue, does. It allows you to control your Philips Hue lights from native iOS, including Control Center, and a whole lot more. Take a look inside as I walkthrough this jailbreak tweak's features on video.

SlideForUsage: swipe down on the pages in the app switcher for usage info

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

The app switcher in iOS 7 allows you to swipe up on the pages listed there to kill the apps using a simple gesture. Swiping down on the app pages results in a simple rubber banding animation that has no effect on the application associated with the page.

Wouldn't it be cool if you could garner some extra functionality from swiping down on pages within the app switcher? That's the basic premise behind SlideForUsage; it allows you to view basic usage statistics for the apps listed in the app switcher. Have a look at our video walkthrough inside.

ColorFlow: colorize the stock Music app based on album artwork

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

ColorFlow is a recently released jailbreak tweak that colorizes the look of the stock Music app. The colors impact nearly every facet of the stock Music app, from the buttons, to the sliders; even the backgrounds aren't spared.

The colors are inspired and derived from the currently playing album artwork. ColorFlow is a gorgeous looking tweak that's a must try for iOS 7 jailbreakers. Have a look at our full video walkthrough after the jump.