iPhone News

China Mobile needs the iPhone now more than ever

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 3, 2013

With a whopping 1.1 billion mobile phone users at the end of November 2012, China is the biggest telecom market in the world by subscriber base. And with about 703 million subscribers, state-owned China Mobile remains the world's largest wireless carrier.

Unfortunately, it's also the country's sole holdout when it comes to the iPhone.

China Mobile and Apple have been in iPhone talks for years now, but neither caved in yet. Apple in particular is unwilling to share a portion of App Store sales in China with the carrier. But seeing its 3G subscriber base eroding as a result of not having the iconic smartphone, China Mobile could be starting to need the iPhone more as it finds itself in a position of softening of its tough stance on doing business with Apple...

Apple moves to patent iOS Notification Center it cribbed from Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 12, 2018

We're not sure this was the right move on Apple's part, but the company has in fact filed for the iOS Notification Center patent with both the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization. While the document tries to outline the feature in excruciating detail, even the most ardent Apple fans would have to admit that the feature is way too similar to Google's Notification Bar in Android.

To make matters worse, Google got there first as its Android software had the Notification Bar in place before Apple introduced Notification Center in iOS 5, which was released in June 2011.

Maybe Apple hastily moved to file for this patent because Samsung last month filed a lawsuit in its home country against Apple regarding the iOS Notification Center, arguing the feature infringes on one of its active patents?

Ubuntu to join crowded mobile OS market in 2014

Cody Lee ∙ January 3, 2013

Apple's iOS and Google's Android OS have dominated the mobile space for quite some time now, but the third place spot is still up for grabs. Both RIM and Microsoft are currently vying for the spot, and we've heard that Amazon and Mozilla will soon be joining the race.

Today, we're adding another name to the list: Ubuntu. On Wednesday Canonical offered up details regarding its new Ubuntu mobile OS, an Android-based operating system that it says is more immersive, less cluttered, and easier to navigate than its Google counterpart...

Apple files for patent on advanced ‘Active Stylus’ for iOS devices

Cody Lee ∙ January 3, 2013

Apple has always strongly opposed the stylus, even though other manufacturers have continued to push for them. Steve Jobs had a number of quotes on the matter, famously saying things like "nobody wants a stylus" and "if you see a stylus, they blew it."

But despite its public disdain for the touchscreen accessory, Apple obviously sees some value in it. The Cupertino company recently filed a patent for an advanced "active stylus" that works with the capacitive touch screens on its different iOS devices...

Apple: Samsung should drop U.S. complaints as it did in Europe

Cody Lee ∙ January 3, 2013

Back in December, Samsung withdrew all of its SEP (or Standard-Essential Patent) —related injunction requests in Europe "in the interest of protecting consumer choice." Well if that was truly the case, then why is it still pursuing identical claims here in the US?

In a response filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission yesterday, Apple accused Samsung of filing a motion to strike to avoid "inconvenient facts" regarding its reasons for withdrawing claims in Europe. In short, Apple just called Samsung out...

Apple to announce Q1 earnings for 2013 on January 23

Cody Lee ∙ January 2, 2013

With all of the talk of Apple losing its dominance, and its stock price taking a $200 bath towards the end of last year, the Cupertino company needed a big holiday quarter to quiet its critics. Outside figures look good, but we won't know for sure until Apple says something.

Fortunately, we won't have to wait much longer for it to break the silence. The iPad-maker has updated its Investor Relations page this afternoon to note that it will announce its earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2013 (4th calendar of 2012) on Wednesday, January 23...

Court dismisses Apple’s ‘App Store’ lawsuit against Amazon

Cody Lee ∙ January 2, 2013

Apple's been involved in some pretty silly legal tiffs, but this one has to be at the top of the list. In 2012, the Cupertino company filed a lawsuit against Amazon for using the term 'App Store' to describe its app portal, calling it "false advertising."

Well luckily, it looks like we can finally put this mess behind us. According to a new report, a California court has granted Amazon's request to dismiss Apple's false advertising suit on the grounds that it failed to provide sufficient evidence...

It was a very appy holiday season for iOS, Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 23, 2018

Good news for developers: iOS and Android together accounted for a massive 1.76 billion app downloads around the world between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, per research by ad firm Flurry. That's more than a marked improvement compared to the 1.2 billion apps that were downloaded last year across both Android and iOS. Think about it, 1.76 billion downloads in just seven days.

In fact, a number of weeks since late November delivered more than a billion downloads. It wasn't that long ago that a billion downloads was considered a remarkable achievement throughout the span of the entire year, let alone weeks or months.

And if that data point didn't give you a pause, consider this: based on historical data, Flurry expects app downloads to regularly hit the one billion milestone each week going forward. Doing a quick math in your head, at that rate both iOS and Android should account for at least 52 billion downloads in 2013...

Apple: DND bug scheduled to auto-fix itself Monday, January 7

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 2, 2013

Apple has just acknowledged that a time-related bug which on New Year's Day caused the Do Not Disturb feature to fail to disable itself despite being outside its scheduled time. The iPhone maker writes in a support document it just published that the bug will automatically fix itself by next Monday, January 7, 2013. The company did not say whether it planned on fixing the glitch once and for all - we don't want to miss our notifications on the next New Year's Day...

Apple bringing Broadcom’s Gigabit Wi-Fi to 2013 Macs, AirDrop file sharing in iOS 7 next?

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 2, 2013

The inability to wirelessly share documents directly between Macs and iOS devices using Wi-Fi Direct, a feature Samsung's Galaxy S III and some other devices supports, is one of the top complaints on the minds of folks of all stripes. Yes, it is possible to share files through the iTunes jukebox program.

You can also share files via iTunes wirelessly, provided Wi-Fi iTunes Sync is enabled. On the downside, the feature requires a running copy of the iTunes app on your Mac and the experience leaves a lot to be desired due to a pretty slow and unreliable connection.

Meanwhile, the popular Dropbox service Steve Jobs once dismissed as "a feature" is gaining more traction with each passing day, winning crucial support from the ever growing number of third-party apps. Apple may be stuck in the old ways, but under the surface the company's been quietly putting the pieces of the file sharing puzzle in place...

If you trust analysts, the iPhone 5S will come in multiple colors and two display sizes

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 20, 2017

We're just two days into 2013, but there's no hiding from the next wave of Apple rumors. Yesterday brought as a non-news of an unknown developer spotting traces of iOS 7 and the next iPhone in logs - as if Apple hasn't been working on the iPhone 5S/6 and iOS 7 since before iOS 6 was released.

Wednesday morning, an analyst boldly predicted that the iPhone 5S, a specs bump, will launch by June with multiple color options and - wait 'till you hear this - two different display sizes. I should have been an analyst!

Gamepad and keyboard combo launches for iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 2, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=G_NB97dRoWg

iPhone5mod, the makers of unofficial Lightning docks, cables and adapters, today announced an interesting new accessory that will appeal to gaming and messaging fans who desire a tactile feedback ad physical gameplay controls. The EX Hybrid Game Controller is billed as "the lightest and thinnest keyboard for iPhone ever-made" and consists of two parts.

There's a back case that attaches to the back of your iPhone 5 and a second plate which provides physical gamepad buttons. The accessory connects to your phone via Bluetooth 3.0 wireless technology and each plate adds only 2mm to the overall thickness of your iPhone 5...