iPhone News

Fry’s undercuts everyone with a $126 iPhone 5

Fry's, an American big-box store and electronics retailer, has beaten Walmart with a nice holiday discount on the iPhone 5. The entry-level iPhone 5 with sixteen gigabytes of storage and a two-year contract will set you back $126. That's a buck less than Walmart and the lowest price we could find for Apple's latest handset. If you're in the market for a new iPhone, this could be the best deal yet to get your hands on the super fast, thin and light iPhone 5, arguably the best phone in the world...

Microsoft recaps its ‘milestones’ in 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ismMaczcCzo

Microsoft, once the mighty Apple archival, in ways more than one is now directly or indirectly supporting Apple's war on Android. With that in mind, let's check out Microsoft's recap video highlighting its milestones in 2012, one for each month. I'd call only two Microsoft products milestones: Halo 4, which raked in $220 million in sales in the first 24 hours, and the Xbox console with Kinect, which got Windows support in February.

As much as I like Windows Phone's originality, it's failed to make a dent and clings to a single-digit market share. The Surface is a flop (even the CEO agrees) and major software launches like Windows 8 and server products have not met the management's internal expectations. Besides, Apple's iPhone biz recently became worth more than all of Microsoft. How's that for a milestone?

Brightcove CEO sees a bright future for Apple television

Brightcove founder, chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire previously shared some interesting observations regarding Apple's living room strategy, saying that AirPlay technology and third-party apps will set a mythical Apple television set apart from traditional TV sets. And with Tim Cook telling NBC that television remains an "area of intense interest" for Apple.

Jeremy this morning shared some additional observations concerning the Apple TV strategy, noting Apple should best serve its customers with a companion $149 device rather than a full-blown HD TV set costing as much as two thousand bucks...

IBM: 5 years from now, you’ll be able to touch through your phone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wXkfrBJqVcQ At the end of every year, IBM Research publishes its annual  “5 in 5″, basically a list of five technologies that computer scientists believe will make the most impact in the next five years. Some of the past predictions that came true include a 2006 notion that we'd be bale to access healthcare remotely and use real-time speech translation. More often than not, however, these technology picks are merely entertaining guidelines and food for thought.

In the 2012 edition, IBM's research arm calls for smartphones and computers with a sense of touch unlike any you've experienced before. Our gizmos will understand images and be more aware of their surroundings while providing a wide range of output via sensory and cognitive technologies, enabling, for example, the smell or taste of food.

With all due respect to current technology, our computers today are just large calculators", IBM's CTO of Telcom Research Paul Bloom says in the above clip. So, 2017 should be all about cognitive computing. Included after the break: five videos highlighting these interesting predictions...

Instagram-Facebook data sharing goes into effect January 16

Instagram, which was acquired by Facebook in September, just posted an interesting update on its blog confirming plans to share data on users with Facebook, the #1 social network that claims nearly one billion users worldwide. Instagram's updated Terms of Service and Privacy Policy will go into effect starting January 16 to enable deeper integration between the two service, making it easier to "fight spam more effectively, detect system and reliability problems more quickly and build better features" for everyone by understanding how Instagram is used.

Under the new terms, Instagram can also share User Content and your information with businesses that are "legally part of the same group of companies that Instagram is part of". In other words, Facebook now has access to Instagram user data. The social networking behemoth is allowed to use this information to "help provide, understand and improve" both its own and Instagram's service...

Sprint confirms plans to acquire 100 percent stake in Clearwire for $2.2 billion

Confirming last week's rumor, carrier Sprint Nextel Monday morning announced plans to buy out the minority of shareholders of Clearwire in a transaction valued at approximately $2.2 billion. The acquisition will give Sprint, which in October acquired a controlling stake, a 100 percent ownership stake in the Bellevue, Washington-headquartered provider of mobile and fixed wireless broadband communications services. The deal also bodes well for Japan's Softbank, which in October bought a 70 percent stake in Sprint. Softbank has also been eyeing Clearwire since then and with this transaction it will basically control Clearwire through Sprint...

How to get directions in Google Maps via Siri, no jailbreak required

After months of rumors and speculation, Google finally launched its standalone Maps app for iOS last week. And it's been pretty popular thus far. It's currently the top free app in the App Store, and it's also listed first in Apple's featured 'Maps' section.

The app does have some caveats though. Perhaps most notably, unlike the built-in Maps app, you can't get directions in Google Maps via Siri. Luckily, a workaround popped up over the weekend that takes care of that. And it doesn't require a jailbreak...

Apple: China iPhone 5 sales top 2 million during opening weekend

Apple's stock price fell to a 10-month low on Friday on the back of analysts' reports that Apple has been cutting supply orders to balance out excess inventory, and a reportedly quiet iPhone 5 launch in mainland China.

But apparently analysts weren't talking to the right sources. This morning, Apple announced that it has sold over 2 million iPhone 5 in China, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in the country...

Smule’s Strum app adds music and Instagram-like effects to your videos

Even if you don't recognize the name Smule, chances are you've still heard of one of their apps. The Palo Alto-based mobile developer has delivered some pretty big iOS hits in its day such as Ocarina, which turns your phone into a flute-like instrument, Magic Piano, and I Am T-Pain.

This past week, Smule introduced its latest creation: an iPhone app called Strum. Unlike the aforementioned titles, Strum doesn't help you create music, but rather it allows you to create and edit short movie clips with Instagram-like video filters, digital audio filters, and more...

Google Maps app could violate European data protection law

I read an interesting article the other day by Evan Wiener on why Apple dropped Google from Maps in iOS 6. Wiener suggested that Google was withholding features, like voice-guided navigation, as a negotiation tactic to get Apple to agree with deeper Google integration, and Apple finally said enough's enough.

The well-connected John Gruber confirms that he's heard a similar story from numerous sources — more specifically, that Google was wanting to collect user data for serving up targeted ads, and Apple said no. And wouldn't you know it, it seems Google's trying to do the same thing in its new Maps app...

The iDownloadBlog top news stories of the week – Dec 16, 2012 edition

Like every Sunday, we bring you the stories that were the most popular on iDB during this past week. Whether it is a news piece, an editorial, a tutorial, a new jailbreak tweak, or an accessory review, we sum it all up in one convenient place.

If you like what you're reading, please make sure to spread the love by sharing our posts on your favorite social network. We're usually hanging out a lot on Twitter and Facebook, more rarely on Google+...

FreedomPop tempts with no-commit 1GB of free home Internet each month. Interested?

The way things are now, fourth-generation cellular networks already match - and often top - data speeds offered by your home's typical DSL broadband connection. So why not just replace your broadband line with a wireless 4G router?

Enter FreedomPop, a startup backed by Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom, whose new device dubbed the Freedom Hub Burst ups the ante by giving away one gigabyte of 4G data free of charge, each month. Those needing more data will pay fair prices.

Plus, it’s a no-contract device and it supports up to ten wireless or Ethernet devices simultaneously, which should cut it for a typical Apple-branded home comprised of a few Mac or Windows PCs, iPhones, iPads and iPods...