iPhone News

Refurbished iPod touch now starts at just $149

Apple today discounted the entire iPod touch lineup by a cool fifty bucks while at the same time supplanting the entry-level model with sixteen gigabytes of storage with a slightly improved variant.

Not only is the baseline model now cheaper, it puts back a rear-facing five-megapixel iSight camera while introducing six color finishes available across the rest of the lineup.

Lower prices across the board ($199/$249/$299) have prompted Apple to slash prices on the fifth-generation iPod touch refurbs accordingly, now starting at $149 for the just-replaced 16GB model...

Motorola shows off Android Wear on Moto 360

Among the flurry of announcements yesterday, Android Wear files as the most exciting and talked-about aspect of the Google I/O 2014 keynote.

To help jumpstart Google's platform for wearables, both LG’s G Watch and Samsung’s new Gear Live started selling through Google's Play store yesterday.

Google also said that Motorola’s Moto 360, announced back in March, will launch later this summer with Android Wear. Motorola has now posted a nice video for those who couldn't attend Google's two-day conference for developers.

It gives a sneak peek at some of the cool features of Android Wear running on premium hardware so give it a quick watch (pun intended) and share your impressions with fellow readers down in the comments...

Opera Mini for iOS gets a surprise overhaul loaded with cool new features

For the first time since 2012, the Opera browser by Norway-based Opera Software has received a substantial update cleaning up the UI dramatically.

In a nutshell, Opera has dropped the dark theme in favor of a light appearance. I'm liking it a lot: not only is the new look a lot easier on the eyes, navigating and enjoying web content is now more pleasurable than ever before.

In addition to the updated design, the new Opera Mini version 8.0 brings out several new features, including a new data compression mode, user interface themes to customize the browser's look, a new way to discover what's trending and a built-in QR code reader...

Gameloft’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier is Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Every Thursday, Apple features another app or game as the App Store's Free App of the Week. This time around, Apple's editorial team has chosen Gameloft's Captain America: The Winter Soldier game for the iPhone and iPad, regularly a $2.99 value.

Released three months ago, this movie tie-in has you playing as Captain America who must lead his S.H.I.E.L.D. Strike Team as they struggle to contain a massive attack on the World by several nefarious crime organizations.

The game boasts interestingly cartoonish artwork style and doesn't disappoint in terms of pure action: there are plentiful combos to master though it's not all about fighting either as you'll need to use your tactical skills to combat threats and lead your Strike Team wisely...

SoundCloud for iPhone receives stunning facelift, removes Record feature

Berlin-based SoundCloud is a popular service to upload, record, promote and share originally-created sounds and they've long had a decent iOS app on the App Store. Today, the company has issued a major iPhone-focused redesign that focuses on much simplified one-thumb navigation through the use of gestures to seek and skip tracks.

The new SoundCloud for iPhone version 3.0 also brings the ability to open another user’s profile straight from a track or playlist and includes other enhancements, detailed after the break...

The Weather Channel gives its iPad app iOS 7 love

The Weather Channel's nice iPhone app was updated two months ago with substantial design changes and much-needed iOS 7 styling. Today, it's the iPad app's turn to get some way overdue iOS 7 love.

Now available in the App Store, the new Weather Channel for iPad version 4.0 is now closely aligned to the iOS 7 aesthetic and it shows: from precise typography and flat UI elements to the use of translucency and complete lack of ornamentation to the gorgeous background photos that match your current weather conditions and more...

Claimed video shows off 4.7″ iPhone 6 back part

A new video has surfaced Thursday, purportedly depicting an all-aluminum back of a forthcoming 4.7-inch iPhone 6 model.

This follows yesterday's video which compared a 5.5-inch iPhone 6 dummy to several jumbo-sized Android phones and last week's photos of an alleged 5.5-inch iPhone 6 display panel.

The back part shown off in today's video appears genuine although one can't tell for sure whether it represents a finalized design that's about to go into production or if it's one of the early prototypes that Apple may or may not have abandoned...

Apple reshuffles iPod touch lineup: lower prices, new $199 model with rear camera in six colors

Apple on Thursday quietly refreshed its aging iPod touch lineup with a new $199 entry-level model with sixteen gigabytes of storage and a rear camera added to the mix.

Additionally, existing iPod touch models with 32 and 64 gigabytes of storage have been slashed to $249 and $299, respectively.

The lineup now comprises of the 16/32/64GB variants priced at $199/$249/$299 and offered in black, space grey, pink, yellow, blue and (Product)RED. The media players are now available through the Online Apple Store and ship within 24 hours...

Costco now selling iPhones and iPads for up to $120 off

After a four-year hiatus, Costco has began selling select iPhone and iPad models at steep discounts of up to 70% off. The big box retailer had stopped selling Apple products in 2010 following a dispute in which it was not allowed to carry the iPad, but it appears that the two companies have now reconciled their business relationship.

Costco now offers a limited selection of iPhones on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon through its online store, including the 16 GB iPhone 5s in space grey, silver or gold for just $77.99. The smartphone regularly retails for $199.99 with a new two-year contract, making this one of the better deals for an iPhone 5s you will find. The devices are not available in stores… 

Yahoo app finally runs natively on iPad

Yahoo's main iOS client is great. Not only does it double as a portal to Yahoo's key mobile apps and services, it's basically a handy one-stop shop for copious amounts of curated and original news content summarized by Yahoo.

With articles available across twelve distinct categories - News, Business, Celebrities, Entertainment, Finance, Health, Media, Politics, Science, Society, Sports and Technology - it's easy to get accustomed to firing up the app on mornings and skim through headlines before getting out of bed.

I generally tend to avoid reading news on the iPhone's tiny screen whenever possible so you could imagine I'm really glad that Yahoo's software has finally leaped onto the iPad...

Microsoft updates OneDrive with camera backups in the background and more

The free OneDrive app for the iPhone and iPad (formerly SkyDrive) has just gotten a lot better with features like photo backups in the background and other perks that allow you to do more from your phone.

And thanks to proper support for Microsoft's mobile Office apps, getting your photos and videos into OneDrive to import them into your Office projects on the iPhone and iPad is a trivial affair now.

That's the gist of a blog post Microsoft somewhat hastily put together today to counter a Google Drive app update and a plethora of announcements that have been coming out of Google I/O since this morning...

Google I/O 2014 keynote recap: Android in your car, living room, on your wrist and more

Earlier today, Google kicked off its two-day summer conference for developers with a keynote talk. It always pays to keep tabs on competition, my colleague Joe Rosignoll and I have been covering key advancements concerning the Android platform in the form of Android L, Android Wear, Android Auto and Android TV announcements.

Making sense of it all, I've put together this recap of the most important developments from the Google I/O 2014 keynote. Give it a read and feel free to chime in with your thoughts and analysis in the comment section...