iPhone News

Apple warns of App Store freeze, December 21-28

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 8, 2012

Apple in an email communication sent to its registered developers confirmed that it will be shutting down the iTunes Connect service for the holidays, between December 21-28. During that period, developers will not be able to use the iTunes Connect portal to upload new app submissions, make price changes or update apps. As a result, the state of the App Store will remain frozen for the holidays so customers should not expect new apps or app updates...

T-Mobile confirms nearly half a million customers lost in Q3 over iPhone 5 launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

The nation's fourth-largest carrier continues to experience the side-effects of remaining the sole major U.S. telco without Apple's popular iPhone. The company this morning reported third-quarter earnings and the results are depressing. It lost 492,000 contract customers, down from the 557,000 loss in the June quarter but also up over the year-ago quarter when it reported loss of 389,000 contracts.

As a result, revenue for the quarter shrank to $4.9 billion, a 6.4 percent decline, while service revenue experienced an 8.7 percent drop...

The Fair Labor Association accused of being too easy on Apple and Foxconn

Cody Lee ∙ November 8, 2012

The working conditions inside Foxconn's plants are constantly under scrutiny. But different reports seem to paint different pictures about what it's really like beyond the gates. One month we'll hear that Apple isn't doing enough to prevent child labor and long hours inside the factories. And the next we'll hear the opposite, with the factories passing inspections and praised for their improvements.

So what gives? Well according to a new study, the Fair Labor Association — the group responsible for holding Apple and its supply chain accountable for this stuff — has been going way too easy on them and has even been fabricating its reports...

Student creates invisible virtual keyboard for iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 8, 2012

http://vimeo.com/49780741

A lot of ordinary people upon seeing Aatma Studios’s concept of an iPhone with a holographic keyboard thought Apple was working on one (Fox News certainly fell for it). Florian Kräutli, a computing student at Goldsmiths, University of London, had a better idea.

Instead of a laser-projected virtual keyboard, he uses the iPhone's sensitive accelerometer sensor to measure the strength and frequency of microscopic vibrations that occur when "typing" on a surrounding surface area. Enter Vibrative Virtual Keyboard...

The iPhone drops out of China’s top 5 list

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

More than ever before, Apple's iPhone faces relentless competition, namely in markets where Android cheapos are all the rage. China, home to 1.33 billion people, is Apple's fastest-growing market, amounting to an ever-growing portion of its fortunes. But Apple's China problem is two-fold. First, the company's retail presence in such hugely important market leaves a lot to be desired, even with new flagship stores such as the recently introduced massive Beijing outlet. And second, China's buyers have always been price-sensitive. Outside the elite, folks are picking up inexpensive phones in droves, with local Chinese vendors happily providing low-cost handsets...

Ryan Petrich releases his own Siri inspired Google voice search tweak

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Hot on the heels of another jailbreak tweak that allows you to search the new Google Search app using only your voice, comes Activoice — a similar tweak from Ryan Petrich.

Like the NowNow tweak that we covered yesterday, Activoice allows you to easily invoke the new voice portion of the Google Search app similar to the way that you using Activator. Take a look inside for our hands on video coverage of the tweak in action.

Samsung’s Galaxy S III was the world’s best-selling smartphone in Q3

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

Following a massive retail and advertising push, Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III handset overtook Apple's iPhone 4S as the world's best-selling smartphone in the third quarter of this year, according to a Strategy Analytics survey. The Samsung phone sold an estimated 1.8 million units more than the iPhone 4S. Samsung's lead will be short-lived as Strategy Analytics estimates that the iPhone 5 will become the world’s #1 smartphone in Q4.

Analysts previously estimated that the S III outsold the iPhone 4S, but only in the United States. Samsung stopped reporting device sales last year for competitive reasons and we also don't know how many of the 18 million S III channel shipments ended up in customers hands. Still, that's a nice accomplishment for Samsung, which earlier in the week confirmed beating its self-imposed goal of shipping 30 million S III units before year's end...

DC now offering all its comics in the iBookstore

Cody Lee ∙ November 8, 2012

DC Entertainment, one of the top comic book publishers in the world, announced yesterday that its entire line of DC comics are now available in digital e-book format. Fans of the comics will be able to find them in Amazon's Kindle Store, the Barnes and Noble Nook Store, and of course the iBookstore...

Incipio’s NGP case hugs the iPad mini

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated October 9, 2017

Incipio, as one of the largest world-wide accessory retailers, continues its line with fresh offerings for the iPad mini. Concurrently with the launch of the mini, Incipio hit the ground running with a few of their staple cases specifically tailored for Apple's newest iPad addition.

Today, I take a look at the Next Generation Polymer (NGP) impact protective shell. One of my biggest fears is scratching that beautiful black anodized shell and the NGP may be the ticket...

Angry Birds Star Wars now available for download

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

What do you get when you combine two of the most successful and recognizable franchises in the world? Angry Birds Star Wars. That's right, just as expected, Rovio has released the highly anticipated Star Wars version of its popular Angry Birds game this evening. And it's now available in the App Store...

Samsung seen gradually losing Apple chip orders

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 7, 2012

Apple, which up until recently was responsible for nearly nine percent of Samsung's revenue in parts orders, is rumored to be gradually taking its lucrative mobile chip contract away from Samsung, as previously speculated.

A new report out of Asia tells us the South Korean conglomerate is likely to delay construction of a new logic fabrication facility over fear that it will no longer make Apple's in-house designed processors for iPhones, iPads and iPods on an exclusive basis.

If this is true, then Apple has already contracted another founry to produce the chips, most likely Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)...