iPhone News

Amazon releases new Local deals app for iOS

Amazon already has a number of apps on iOS. There's Kindle, Cloud Player and Price Check to name a few. And over this past week, the company added another one to the list: Amazon Local.

As the name suggests, Amazon Local is a new iOS app that helps you find things based on your location. In this case, those things are deals for restaurants, concerts and other events...

This Amazon vs. Apple chart says it all

We love the new Kindle lineup of e-readers and tablets, especially the brand new Kindle with Paperdisplay and the super-charged Kindle Fire HD. At last week's unveiling, the CEO Jeff Bezos underscored that Amazon wants to make money when people use their devices.

That's why all Kindle devices display ads on the lock screen (don't worry, you can opt-out for fifteen bucks). And just like Google, Amazon is selling hardware below cost, hoping to recoup losses through content sales on Amazon.com. The only problem with this strategy: Amazon's profitability doesn't even close to Apple's....

Samsung re-iterates plans to sue Apple over 4G LTE in the iPhone 5

The world's leading cell phone and smartphone maker wasn't kidding when it promised to sue Apple as soon as the iPhone 5 comes out over an alleged breach of its wireless patents related to the fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio technology.

This morning, unnamed Samsung executives told a Samsung-friendly publication that the Galaxy maker will target Apple's key markets in Europe and even the U.S., Apple's home-turf. With Apple struggling to invalidate HTC's two LTE-related patents in another suit, perhaps Samsung has a shot at disrupting the iPhone 5 launch?

China Mobile employees say iPhone 5 launch not likely

For years, Apple has been rumored to be working on an iPhone partnership deal with China Mobile. The carrier is the largest in both China, and the world, with more than 660 million subscribers.

China Mobile's network is already overflowing with unlocked iPhone users, but technology has been standing in the way of an official offering. And it doesn't look like that's going to change this year...

Apple to launch Russian iTunes Store with tracks under $0.99

Apple is planning to open an iTunes store in Russia later this year or early 2013, a local business journal reports. The Russian iTunes Store could offer music cheaper than in the US. While licensing deals are still underway, the Cupertino, Calif. digital music giant is expected to unveil tracks costing under $0.99, the newspaper says.

The supposed deal could prop up flagging Russian sales of digital music. While physical music sales are in free-fall, even digital music purchases -- which have been growing elsewhere -- dropped by 40 percent to levels not seen since 2009. The chief reason: "a culture of copyright infringement," according to music industry group IFPI. The nation's leading music service is operated by vKontakte, which also offers file-sharing, according to the IFPI.

Google Drive updated with native docs, collaborative editing

Google today pushed an update to its cloud-storage app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad that leaked last week in a prematurely published blog post.

With Google Drive 1.1, you can finally create new documents on your device, move your cloud files between the folders and edit documents on the go.

Native editing doesn't feel buttery-smooth as in Apple's Pages app and you cannot paste Camera roll images into your docs, but overall it's a far less clumsy experience than having to edit your files in the Safari browser...

Publishing firm Blue Toad says it’s to blame for leaked UDID list

So this is kind of interesting. Remember that list of 1 million Apple device IDs that the hacking group AntiSec claims it stole from the FBI and then leaked online? Well it may not have actually come from the FBI.

According to a new report, the UDIDs in the list matched up with data from Blue Toad, a digital publisher that specializes in bringing hard copy content to the internet. And the company is taking full responsibility...

T-Mobile launches the ambitious Bring Your Own iPhone campaign

Ahead of the iPhone 5 launch this Wednesday, T-Mobile, the nation's fourth-largest carrier and the only major U.S. carrier without the iPhone, today kicked off its new initiative meant to lure existing iPhone owners and unlockers to its stores, where they can get support on running their iPhones on T-Mobile's iPhone-friendly HSPA+ network.

Additionally, the Deutsche Telekom-owned telco committed to developing iOS versions of its popular mobile apps like T-Mobile myAccount, T-Mobile Visual Voicemail and T-Mobile TV. If only they landed the next iPhone...

Three out of every four U.S. adults have a smartphone now

Research firm Nielsen is out with a new survey this morning that focuses on the U.S. smartphone buyer. According to the findings, three out of every four U.S. consumers (75 percent) age 25-34 now have a smartphone in their pocket, an increase over 59 percent measured in July of last year.

And if you believe comScore, one out of every three who own a smartphone have an iPhone. The fastest-growing segment are teenagers between 13 and 17 years old who file as the nation's quickest smartphone adopters.

In July of 2012, 58 percent of polled teens said they had a smartphone, compared to roughly a third, or 36 percent, of teens saying they owned a smartphone just a year ago...

The genius behind Shit Apple Fanboys Say

Apple commands cult-like following and rivals like Samsung and Motorola (Verizon, too, in its pre-iPhone days) were quick to isolate Apple's core base as both its biggest advantage and a major PR vulnerability. If you believe a series of anti-Apple ads by Samsung, people who stand in the line for a new iPhone are weirdos collectively known as iSheep.

These ads play to the widely accepted notion that die-hard Apple lovers are fanatics. Just ask Mac consultant and FileMaker Pro developer Scott Rose, the brains behind a pair of clips conveniently titled "Shit Apple fanboys say" (here and here).

The funny videos that rationalize on Apple’s behalf blew up in no time and became a trending topic on social media sites, racking up nearly a million views on YouTube in just a couple days, here's how he went about doing them...

Apple’s chief counsel is ‘field marshal’ in Android battle

If Apple's "thermonuclear war" on Android had a leader, it would be Noreen Krall, chief litigator for the Cupertino, Calif. iPhone maker. Indeed, Bloomberg's profile of Krall describes her as Apple's legal "field marshall."

"Krall has become a familiar sight in courtrooms around the world as Apple’s chief litigation counsel," Bloomberg writes. Even before Apple won a $1.05 billion patent-infringement decision (now being appealed) against Samsung, Krall thanked junior members of the legal team for all the hard work...

Sprint names a hundred cities getting 4G LTE in “coming months”

Sprint two weeks ago added four more United States cities to its 4G LTE network deployment efforts and today the company announced that it will deploy the speedy network technology across a hundred major cities in "coming months", including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Sprint is late to the LTE party, having commenced the high-speed network deployment on July 15. Contrast this to AT&T and Verizon, the nation's leading carriers, that began upgrading their towers to 4G LTE last summer and are expected to wrap up commercial deployment of their nationwide 4G LTE by the end of 2012 or in early 2013...