iPhone News

iPad mini release date allegedly pegged at November 2

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 17, 2012

As Apple gets to show us "a little more" next Tuesday, and taking into account that Microsoft's Surface tablet will hit store shelves next Friday, watchers have been wondering whether the iPad mini will be immediately available following the introduction, on the Friday following the event or the following week. The iPhone 5, for example, was unveiled on Wednesday, September 12 and hit store shelves the following week on Friday, September 21. According to a new report citing a source close to a major UK retailer, the iPad mini will hit retail stores on November 2 (that's a Friday)...

There are now more than a billion smartphones in use

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

With smartphone penetration rate in the United States and in various other markets recently passing the 50 percent milestone, the number of active smartphones in use globally has hit a major milestone of more than one billion units. So-called feature and dumb phones just a couple years back used to dominate the landscape and sales. It all changed with the January 2007 introduction of the iPhone, which renewed interest in smartphones and fueled demand that hasn't slowed since. And according to a Strategy Analytics forecast, the number of smartphones in active use could double by 2015...

Apple wins important patent for the original iPad design

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

We know Apple often patents stuff just so rivals couldn't patent the same invention. That's what other companies are doing as well. But Apple, more than any other company, depends on being able to protect its ideas and leverage patents to prevent copycat products from eating into its sales. The iPhone maker has been on somewhat of a patent spree lately and today has been granted a key patent for design of the original iPad tablet computer...

iMpulse: an iOS gamepad that fits on your keychain

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 8, 2016

It seems like iOS game controllers are a dime a dozen these days. There's the iControlPad 2, the iCade 8-Bitty and the Bladepad, to name a few. But we still haven't seen a single controller pull ahead of the pack.

And that's a good thing — at least for accessory-makers anyway. It means that the controller market is still anyone's game. That being said, we've got another one to show you today, and it's called the iMpulse...

Apple reportedly acquires web app firm Particle

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 8, 2016

It's been a busy year for Apple acquisitions. The company has picked up Chomp, an app discovery startup, AuthenTec, who makes NFC chips and smart sensors, and there was even talk of it buying The Fancy.

Well it looks like we might be able to add another one to that list. Reports are coming in tonight that Apple has acquired Particle, a San Francisco-based creative consulting firm that specializes in HTML5 web apps...

Study shows size of iOS apps have increased 16% in last six months

Cody Lee ∙ October 16, 2012

According to a new report from the marketing research firm ABI Research, the average size of an iOS app measured 23 megabytes in September, an increase of more than 16% in the last six months.

The increase, it says, can be contributed to number of factors, including the release of the Retina display iPad back in March, and the recent bump in the over-the-air App Store download limit to 50 megabytes....

The BlackBerry stigma: folks no longer wield BlackBerries with pride

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 16, 2012

It's just sad that such a great company can become so disillusioned and lost in time. Apparently, as reported by The New York Times, BlackBerry devices have become a magnet for mockery and derision from iPhone and Android owners. Worse, people apparently suffer from shame and public humiliation because their BlackBerry cannot do cool things like iPhones and Android devices.

Now, I use both the iPhone and an Android device and it never even crossed my mind to judge someone by their smartphone, even if that's apparently how some bosses behave these days. As a result, people are becoming increasingly wary pulling their BlackBerries in meetings (I'm not making this up).

Remember, stylish (and mostly black) BlackBerry phones with their clickety-clack keyboards used to be a status symbol of the high-powered and the elite. What a difference a few years make...

Ostium adds a screen splitting effect to Notification Center

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Ostium is a new jailbreak tweak that adds a screen splitting animation to Notification Center. The tweak works with a two finger pinch gesture, along with the more traditional slide from status bar gesture.

At first it appeared that the developer was only going to release Ostium for iPad, but iPod touch and iPhone support were added late in the game. I can definitely see the two finger pinch being more suited for the iPad's larger screen, but as you'll see, it works reasonable well on the small screen too.

Apple granted patent for NFC alternative

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

This year's roundup of iPhone rumors, like many years before it, included chatter that the iPhone 5 would finally receive NFC technology. But as we found out in September, those reports were once again unfounded.

Despite the fact that several Android handsets support the wireless connection, Apple has yet to add it to its mobile products. But according to a newly granted patent, it may be working on some kind of alternative...

Foxconn admits to hiring teens to do the work

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 16, 2012

Foxconn is the world's largest contract manufacturer and Apple's favorite contractor. Its sweatshops in China are under a constant barrage of criticism regarding labor conditions. Apple and Foxconn have been working to cut long hours and increase wages (twice), but when you have to deal with a workforce of approximately one million individuals, it's virtually impossible to deal with individual abuses that may occur.

Except, of course, that Foxconn has a pattern of underage labor and other serious workplace violations. Also, being the world's biggest manufacturer doesn't help because the media tends to zero in on Foxconn and Apple to make an example. The following story underscores how the two parties have not done nearly enough to prevent workplace abuses...

How the Surface was engineered

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 16, 2012

Following up on today's Surface price list, pre-orders and a pretty nice commercial, Microsoft has also posted another interesting thingie which I think highlights how the engineering team went about designing Microsoft's iPad contender. Make no mistake about it: with the Surface, the Windows maker has raised the water line on its platform’s functionality. This tablet's here to stay. It is at any rate refreshing to have a fresh approach to the tablet other than the boring iOS-Android duopoly. Microsoft also has a few other promo clips for the Surface, all included past the fold...

Panasonic reportedly looking to find its way into Apple’s supply chain for the iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 16, 2012

Apple has traditionally used Samsung displays in products and lately has begun sourcing portable screens from other suppliers, namely LG Display, Japan Display and Sharp. If a new business report out of Japan is correct, Panasonic will exit the TV biz to focus on churning out displays for portable electronics, with a strong focus on Apple's iPad.

It actually makes sense. Due to price wars eating into the already razor-thin margins, LCD TV sets have become a highly unprofitable affair for Japan's consumer electronics makers - just ask Sharp.

Perhaps having sensed that Foxconn and Apple grew tired of saving Sharp and coping with yield issues plaguing its cutting-edge display plant in Osaka, Panasonic is now thought to have already sent sample LCD panels to Cupertino and Apple "seems to be satisfied"...