iPhone News

Happy fifth birthday, Android!

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWtFeIw8MVM

Apple's iPhone turned five back in June and today marks the fifth anniversary of the world's most widely spread mobile platform, Google's Android software. When Apple was developing its handset, then Google CEO Eric Schmidt enjoyed his seat on Apple's board knowing his firm had already acquired Android Inc. As the two platforms evolved, on August 3, 2009 it was announced that Schmidt would resign from the board of directors at Apple due to conflict of interests.

We now know the main point of contention was Google's work on Android, which went on to become the leading mobile platform in terms of unit sales, capturing 75 percent of total smartphone shipments and together with iOS forming a strong market duopoly. In some ways, Android out-innovated the iPhone, prompting changes in Apple's corporate structure as the company preps for the biggest overhaul of iOS since its inception.

iDB is an Apple-focused blog but we also strive to bring you most important news from the Android camp because it pays to keep tabs on what competition is doing and mostly because healthy competition drives Apple to keep innovating for the benefit of us all. So happy fifth birthday, Android and here's to many more years of competition...

Angry Birds Star Wars gameplay video debuts ahead of Thursday release

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_hCOb5uiQY

I'm sure you know Angry Birds Star Wars is due on iOS, Android and a bunch of other platforms this coming Thursday. Rovio's been promoting the hell out of this game and today the Finnish developer posted the official video that reveals much more in terms of gameplay than half a dozen previously released clips. Angry Birds Star Wars better be darn good. Otherwise, I'm gonna be hating everything Star Wars till the grave. I've also included a nice Darth Vader & Han Solo video after the break...

Microsoft clarifies Surface storage requirements

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 6, 2017

So we've known that the operating system powering Microsoft's Surface tablet along with bundled apps eats up a lot of storage space. Earlier today, the software giant published an interesting support doc clarifying the exact storage requirements. Turns out out that a 32GB Surface RT leaves users with only sixteen gigabytes of usable storage space because the Surface OS and preloaded Office apps consume a whopping 16 gigs. I'm using the whopping adjective here because the Surface after all is a mobile device, not a full-blown desktop.

This is hardly a surprise to us geeks who've grown accustomed to Redmond' resource-taxing desktop software but as it is, the situation inevitably begs the question of the gizmo's prospect with average Joes who've seen the iPad and expect a 32GB tablet to at least provide 30 gigs of usable storage space. Also, we've got a nice new video below the fold highlighting the Touch and Type Covers for Surface...

Sony launches free e-book app to contend with iBooks

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

The e-book market on iOS is pretty crowded. There's Apple's iBooks, of course, and then there's Amazon's Kindle app and Nook by Barnes and Noble. And all of these services have extremely large e-book offerings and millions of users.

But apparently that isn't enough to stop Sony from throwing its hat into the ring. The electronics giant released its own free e-book app in the App Store today, entitled Reader — eBooks from Sony, for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch...

Bloomberg: Apple could drop Intel on Macs in 2017

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2012

When Apple CEO Tim Cook last week fired abrasive iOS chief Scott Forstall, he also appointed the company's un-retired hardware engineering boss Bob Mansfield as the leader of the new Technologies group, which combines all of Apple's wireless and semiconductor teams. And in an email to employees announcing the management changes, Cook hinted that Technologies "have some very ambitious plans". But what could these plans be, apart from designing new processors for iOS devices, which is what Mansfield and his team have been doing for years now?

You're not thinking big enough. How about a transition away from Intel processors across the Mac lineup? But why on Earth engage in such a risky brain transplant? Aren't the chip giant's processors good enough for Macs? If "people familiar with the company’s research" are correct, Apple is secretly (well, not anymore) been seeking ways to one day take the processors it designed in-house for the iOS product family and put them inside Macs...

Google still ‘interested in reaching an agreement with Apple’ over patents

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2012

Though it hinted it was tiring of patent wars and even dropped its ITC patent infringement claims against Apple (the move some deciphered as a gesture of goodwill), Motorola could be off the hook as Google was quoted as saying Monday that that a Wisconsin federal court tossed Apple’s “patent lawsuit with prejudice” out of the window.

The search monster relayed willingness of its subsidiary Motorola to license its patents portfolio at a reasonable and non-discriminatory rate "in line with industry standards", court documents have it. Apple in a filing last week hinted it would accept a license at a court-determined rate of up to $1 per iPhone on FRAND terms. Also indicative, the two companies in August demonstrated ability to resolve differences, having signed a patent licensing agreement in Germany...

Showdown: Google Voice Search v. Siri speed test

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

http://vimeo.com/52497584

Google's recently updated Voice Search iOS app is simply amazing as it demonstrates just how speedy Siri should be. Unfortunately, Apple's digital secretary remains reliant on network connectivity for voice recognition. Heck, this time last year some folks were even convinced only the iPhone 4S was fast enough to run Siri. That couldn't be farther from the truth because Google's iOS app comes with real-time voice recognition. So, how speedy is Siri compared to Google's refreshed app? Check out this clip by Gizmodo and meet us down in the comments. It's a couple days old but definitely worth watching...

Apple rumored to be investing in Sharp

Cody Lee ∙ November 5, 2012

Sharp, who makes TVs, displays and other electronics, is in serious trouble right now. The company is bleeding money, its stock price is plummeting and it says that it's not sure that it can continue to operate.

In fact, the dyer situation has Foxconn worried enough that it's thinking about pulling out of its deal to buy an 11% stake in the company. But according to a new report, Apple may be looking to help out...

Android smartphone growth slowing, Apple still on the rise

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2012

Not sure if this has anything to do with smartphone penetration rate in the United States and in various other markets passing the 50 percent milestone, but a credible analysis shows that even though Android's growth was unstoppable in the past twelve months, capturing a whopping 75 percent of all smartphones sold in the third quarter, Google's platform is slowing over past six months while iOS is still making healthy gains.

Respectable independent analyst Horace Dediu took the latest comScore data to chart the two platform's growth. He discovered a recent split of 23.5 million for Android and 17 million units for iOS as Google's platform gained 58 percent of the growth and Apple captured 42 percent. That's a notable change in spread in Apple's favor versus the 24-month period when Android captured 70 percent of the growth and iOS captured 30 percent of the growth...

A Google Maps iOS app approval is anything but given, insiders claim

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2012

Google submitted its native Maps iOS app to Apple in September with the hope of having it approved by Christmas. Two weeks later, its chairman Eric Schmidt acknowledged that a Google Maps iOS app is up to Apple and a newspaper report this morning now suggests that insiders don't have high hopes that it will be approved by the iPhone maker after all. Google previously released a native YouTube app for iOS devices following the removal of stock YouTube software from iOS 6. Last month, the search Goliath also enabled Street View as a web app in the mobile Safari browser...