iPhone News

Google and Samsung go up every time Apple goes down, but not for long

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

With Apple's market capitalization having fallen below the $400 billion mark, the first such drop since January 2012, many armchair analysts are observing on Twitter and elsewhere a worrying correlation between stock prices of Apple and its chief rivals Google and Samsung. Looking at the period from Apple's September 2012 peak, each time Apple went down, Google and Samsung seemingly rose.

And with this weird correspondence between Apple's lows and Google’s and Samsung's highs, some analysts are calling the Internet giant "the next Apple", estimating that Google is on its way to join the $1,000 a share club. What a difference a few months make: one analyst in April 2012 said Apple would become the world’s first $1 trillion company. While Apple's pain = Google's gain, luck in the stock market changes quickly...

‘CalliFy’ lets you change the Call button text in the stock Phone app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ March 6, 2013

Have you been searching for a way to customize the text on your Phone app's green "Call" button? Yeah, me neither. But now that a tweak has appeared in Cydia that allows you to do so, I've been giving it a try.

CalliFy is the name of the tweak, and as you would expect, it's extremely simple and straightforward. Installing it lends a new preference panel in the Settings app, which can be used to customize the green Call button's text.

‘LastPic’ released on Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

LastPic, the jailbreak tweak that allows you to attach the last taken photograph into an iMessage conversation, has been released on Cydia. The tweak, which we discussed on Monday, is an iMessage implementation of a feature that has been a staple in the popular Tweetbot Twitter client.

LastPic is a free download, and it's available on Cydia's BigBoss repo right now. For those of you browsing this post on an iOS device, you can click here to be taken directly to Cydia for the download.

Twitter refines iOS app search, but also removes Vodpod, Posterous and Mobypicture

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 6, 2013

After discontinuing its mobile TweetDeck apps for iPhone and Android in favor of the web client, the micro-blogging service Twitter today refreshed its iOS client with better search, refined layouts, support for traditional Chinese and other perks.

Unfortunately, this update also kills off support for external video services like Mobypicture, Vodpod and Posterous as the company supposedly is building a rumored video uploading service of its own.

Note that Posterous, a micro-blogging platform Twitter bought a year ago, is shutting down for good on April 30. Twitter also recently acquired Vine and launched a corresponding brand new app for recording and sharing short 6-second clips that can be easily tweeted out and viewed in-line on Twitter. With this update, TwitVid and yFrog are now your only video uploading choices in Twitter’s iOS app...

Samsung buys 3% of Apple screen supplier Sharp

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 6, 2013

Apple is Samsung's largest buyer of components, accounting for 8.8 percent of Samsung’s revenue. The two firms are also bitter enemies when it comes to litigation as they remain entangled in a complicated web of more than 20 lawsuits spanning continents.

As if that weren't bad enough, now comes the definite confirmation that the Galaxy maker pledged to spend $112 million to buy a three percent stake in Sharp, which has been struggling to stay afloat amid losses and low manufacturing yields.

The investment, a strategic move on the part of the South Korean conglomerate, is meant to give Samsung a steady supply of LCD panels from diversified sources. Apple, too, was rumored to have spent to the tune of $2 billion to prevent Sharp from going under.

Additionally, the iPhone maker is thought to have tried to save the Japanese giant through its preferred contract manufacturer Foxconn, which last year wanted to buy eleven percent of Sharp. The deadline for that transaction closes later this month, but the deal may have already hit the wall after Sharp's share price tumbled...

Swatch CEO disparages iWatch, Microsoft could re-enter the smartwatch market

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 6, 2013

With the rumor-mill lately shifting into overdrive, pundits and tech watchers alike have been racing to guesstimate which one comes out first, an Apple-branded smartwatch or a standalone television set. And as established outlets like Bloomberg claim Apple's rumored wearable device runs iOS (meaning it could be jailbreakable) while doubling as a health monitor of sorts, little wonder that market incumbents are getting a little worried, to say the least.

Their reaction of course is expected and understandable given Apple's market power and street cred in the consumer electronics space. Enter watch maker Swatch, whose CEO took to Bloomberg to disparage the iWatch as a failure even before the non-existent device has had a chance to hit the market.

In his view, the Apple smartwatch won't be revolutionary because mimicking the iPhone features on such a tiny wearable device is "difficult." Rrrright...

Tim Cook and Eddy Cue met with Beats CEO last month over music service

Cody Lee ∙ March 6, 2013

Earlier this year, an interesting story surfaced alleging that Interscope-Geffen-A&M chairman and Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine spent years trying to convince Steve Jobs to do a subscription-based music service. Obviously, Jobs never succumbed.

But the conversation wasn't over. Fast forward to today, a new report says that Iovine met with Tim Cook and Apple's internet software and service guru Eddy Cue last month to discuss—surprise!—his new subscription-based music service...

Apple suppliers hit 99% compliance for working hour limits in January

Cody Lee ∙ March 6, 2013

About this time last year, Apple was dealing with a wealth of bad press over the working conditions at its Asian suppliers. The New York Times painted a particularly bleak picture of the situation, with underpaid, underaged, overworked employees.

Since then, the company has really stepped up its game in supplier responsibility. The companies who used underage workers have been cut, workers have received pay raises, and as of January, 99% of them came in under the 60-hour work week limit...

iPhone 5 coming soon to regional carrier Strata Networks

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

With the release of iPhone 5, Apple has tweaked its sales tactics, making the handset available across more than a dozen regional carriers in the United States, in addition to major wireless operators like AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint that have traditionally served as the most important iPhone distributors in the country. You can now add Strata Networks to your list of iPhone-friendly regional carriers because the company started advertising it will be offering the iPhone 5 soon...

US prepaid carrier Solavei now selling iPhone 5-friendly nano SIMs

Cody Lee ∙ March 6, 2013

Hot on the heals of this morning's news that the iPhone 5 would be landing on Strata Networks soon, comes word that the popular handset can also now be used with Solavei, a US-based prepaid provider.

The carrier sent out a press release this afternoon announcing that it has begun offering nano Sim cards, meaning you can now hook up Apple's latest handset to its $49/month unlimited everything plan...

Apple accessories coming to Staples U.S. retail stores by end of March

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Staple, a U.S.-based office supply chain store, has been selling Apple products in Canada and internationally for quite some time now. Last week, their web store began offering a bunch of Apple accessories, including Apple's own stuff as well as third-party products for the iPad, iPod, iPhone and Mac. It was their first such U.S. deal with Apple.

Today, we learn the Framingham, Massachusetts retailer will also start carrying Apple accessories in its brick-and-mortar stores later this month. The retailer has over 2,000 stores worldwide in 26 countries, with 1,886 outlets in North America and Canada so this partnership effectively widens Apple's distribution footprint nationwide...

iPhone 5S production reportedly already underway at Foxconn

Cody Lee ∙ March 5, 2013

Talk of Apple's next-generation iPhone has really begun to pick up over the past few days, with two reports coming within the last 24 hours claiming that the company is set to roll out its new handset this summer.

And that continues to be the consensus, as another report has surfaced this evening corroborating the theory. Japanese blog Macotakara is claiming Foxconn has begun ramping up production of the iPhone 5S...