iPhone News

The SlingBox is worth a look for cable TV or satellite subscribers

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

I give up. Actually, I gave up. At least temporarily that is.

I tried to be a responsible cable cutter. I ditched cable TV years ago, but I've admittedly let it back into my life. I've been a Netflix advocate, a Hulu user, and I love my Apple TV. Still, I've failed.

I've used a Boxee Box. I've gone as far as to build a dedicated HTPC running Windows Media Center. Now If that doesn't tell you how far I went to kick cable TV out of my life permanently, I don't know what will.

How did this happen, you may ask? How did someone who fought tooth and nail to maintain their status as a permanent cable cutter let the "enemy" back into the household? One word. Sports.

Apple teases one-day Black Friday shopping event in Australia

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 19, 2012

Black Friday, a one-day shopping stampede, is the day after Thanksgiving which is celebrated each year on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States (on the second Monday of October in Canada). As Black Friday officially marks the start of the Christmas shopping season, retailers fall over each other in offering not-to-be-missed discounts. Apple just announced on its Australian online store the one-day Apple shopping event on Friday, 23 November...

Rumor: next-gen iPad, iPhone expected around the middle of 2013

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 19, 2012

If the latest rumor out of Asia is anything to go by, this year's Fall release of the iPhone 5 was an anomaly as Apple could be reverting back to its mid-year refresh cycle for the iPhone. At the same time, the company is rumored to be releasing a next-generation iPad around the middle of 2013, breaking away from its usual first-quarter release schedule for the tablet. As always, it pays to take the news with a grain of salt as this comes via the somewhat reliable DigiTimes...

Intel lets go of its CEO amid mobile struggles

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

Intel, the world's #1 chip maker, has been trying and failing for years to replicate its PC leadership status in mobile. Today, the company issued an unexpected update, saying its long-time CEO Paul Otellini will be retiring in May 2013. Though the semiconductor giant insists this is just "an orderly leadership transition", Otellini's successor has not been named and Intel said it will consider internal and external candidates for the job. Intel currently supplies processors for Apple's Macs, but that could change if the rumor-mill is to be trusted...

Rumor: Apple Maps and Siri coming to the Mac with OS X 10.9 next year

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 19, 2012

OS X 10.9, the next major revision to Apple's desktop operating system, will contain Siri and Apple Maps, the two headline capabilities currently exclusively available on newer iPhones, iPads and iPod touches. According to a new report this morning, early builds of OS X 10.9 that were previously spotted in web logs include Siri and Maps integration. Both features are purportedly in the early testing stages so it has yet to be determined if they will be ready for prime time when OS X 10.9 ships some time next year...

More than 1 million apps have now passed through the App Store

Cody Lee ∙ November 19, 2012

During Apple's iPhone 5 keynote in September, Tim Cook announced that the App Store contained more than 700 thousand apps. And out of that staggering number, more than 30% of them were iPad-specific apps.

Well apparently, Apple hit another major milestone today regarding its application ecosystem. According to a new report, the Cupertino company has now approved more than 1 million apps in the last four years...

AC/DC music finally available in iTunes

Cody Lee ∙ November 19, 2012

Rock and roll fans rejoice! As noted by several other publications, AC/DC has finally made its music available in the iTunes Store. Up until now, the Australian rock band, who has sold more than 200 million records worldwide, had been avoiding selling its music through iTunes in an effort to help preserve the album format...

Judge approves Google’s $22.5M Safari tracking fine

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

It looks like Google may have to start writing out that $22.5 million check soon, to cover the fine it agreed to pay in order to settle the FTC claim that it illegally bypassed user privacy settings in Safari.

US District Judge Susan Illston approved the fine in a San Francisco federal court late Friday, which will go down as the largest penalty ever levied against a company by the Federal Trade Commission...

Sony is still dreaming about dethroning the iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

SonyEricsson, the Japanese giant's partnership with the Swedish telecommunications equipment company Ericsson, for most part has failed to make a splash in the highly competitive smartphone market. Deciding enough was enough, Sony at last acquired Ericsson's share in the venture in February. Sony Mobile Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary, was born. And as the battle for smartphone supremacy intensifies, Sony's new mobile arm is adamant to produce a much-needed iPhone killer. But why stop there? According to its mobile chief, an upcoming flagship handset will as well take direct aim at Samsung's Galaxy S III.

A badass Sony phone that can compete with both the iPhone and Galaxy S III, each super-popular in its own right? That's a tall order. Sony's killer phone is officially due early next year and looks like it's gonna pack some serious oomph. The question is, will folks care?

FBI nabs ‘Dumbfella’ in $1.9 million iPad mini heist

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2012

It took investigators working on Thursday's snatch-and-grab - one that saw crooks drive away with two pallets of iPad minis worth $1.9 million - less than 24 hours to nab a suspect, a JFK Airport worker.

As Ed told you, two unidentified individuals used the airport’s own forklift to load the iPads onto their truck just before midnight Monday. The thieves operated in the same cargo area where director Martin Scorsese filmed a Lufthansa flight heist in the 1978 mob flick “GoodFellas”.

The Bureau was able to apprehend airport worker Renel Rene Richardson on the grounds that he made suspicious inquiries to co-workers about the gadget shipment and where forklifts might be found. What a "Dumbfella"...

App economy: a reality check

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 18, 2012

The App Store launched in the summer of 2008 with 500 apps. Though late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs initially resisted opening the iPhone to developers, the store went on to change the device from a simple cell phone into a powerful mobile computer. Thirty-five billion downloads later, Apple has progressed to pay a total of $6.5 billion to developers in app revenue after taking a customary 30 percent cut of the action.

But of the more than 700,000 apps now available on the App Store - or a 'candy store' as tech columnist David Pogue nicknamed it - including more than 275,000 apps designed specifically for iPad, only a small selection turned their makers into instant millionaires.

The vast majority of developers barely break even. And of those who turn notable profits, not many quit their day jobs. Yet, the dream of becoming a millionaire overnight with a hit app lives on. So what's wrong with this picture?

The iDownloadBlog top news stories of the week [Nov 18, 2012 edition]

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 24, 2017

A new week is coming, but that doesn't mean you have to miss out on what happened last week. If you think you may have missed a few of the top stories from last week, don't sweat it, we've got you covered.

We've gathered the top 10+ most popular stories from iDB last week for you to check out. As always, make sure that you're friends with us on Facebook, Google+, and that you are following us on Twitter...