iPhone News

Settlement talks stall as Samsung calls Apple a ‘jihadist’ and the trial ‘Apple’s Vietnam’

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 20, 2014

The Korea Times reported yesterday that Apple and Samsung were negotiating an out of court settlement that would potentially put an end to the long standing legal drama. Less than 24 hours later, lawyers for both companies have told a California court that they've been unable to resolve their differences and reach a mutually beneficial agreement.

And as settlement talks dissolve without an agreement in sight, a court-mandated update on these discussions has revealed how mistrustful the two parties have grown of each other. According to Samsung's top lawyer who referred to Apple as a "jihadist," the trial will go down in history as "Apple's Vietnam"...

Steve Jobs biographer: Apple’s supposed Beats buy about video, not headphones and music

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 16, 2016

By now, everyone has already chimed in with their two cents on what Apple's rumored Beats buy might mean for Apple's reputation in music - even our own Cody Lee has summarized the more popular theories floating around out there.

It's commonly accepted that Beats Electronic, LCC. co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine will be taking on senior roles at Apple after Beats buyout, with their grand introductions as Apple executives apparently set to take place at WWDC.

Bloomberg thinks Apple will keep Beats as a separate brand and improve its headphones design and another source speculated that the deal could lead to high-resolution music on iTunes.

But according to Steve Jobs's biographer Walter Isaacson, none of this is true as the deal is actually about video, not about headphones or streaming music...

Sega announces new Super Monkey Ball game coming this summer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2018

Japanese games maker Sega has confirmed that a brand new Super Monkey Ball is set to bounce onto iOS this summer.

Unlike Sega's existing Super Monkey Ball arcade platformer for the iPhone and iPad ($0.99 Universal), the upcoming Super Monkey Ball Bounce represents an all-new way to play and includes the familiar characters such as AiAi and his crew.

You must basically rescue his playable monkey friends as you bounce, slide and rebound your way through jungles, volcanoes and glaciers, with game mechanics borrowing heavily from the classic mechanical game, Pachinko.

Super Monkey Ball Bounce soft-launched in the Canadian App Store yesterday. The game will be hitting international App Stores this summer, Sega said...

Angela Ahrendts makes good first impression in first weeks at Apple

Cody Lee ∙ May 19, 2014

Apple's former SVP of retail John Browett left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. After just six months in the position, it was pretty clear he wasn't right for the job, and Tim Cook fired him. And not only that, but he spent over a year finding a proper replacement.

The good news is, that replacement was Angela Ahrendts, and by all accounts she's nothing like Browett. In fact, according to a new report from 9to5Mac, she has already visited a number Apple Stores in the the San Francisco area, and the employees love her...

Twitter to try the music thing again, this time by buying SoundCloud?

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 19, 2014

Twitter last month discontinued its poorly received Twitter #music app, but that doesn't mean the micro-blogging giant has given up on music.

According to a report Monday by Re/code, Twitter is considering a deal to buy Berlin-based SoundCloud, the increasingly popular service enthusiasts use to upload, record, promote and share their originally-created sounds.

With a rather cool iOS app available in the App Store and installed user base of over 250 million people (as of October 2013) who turn to SoundCloud to listen to music and audio for free, the service/app has a lot to offer but can it possibly make Twitter relevant in the music space?

Read on for the full reveal...

Poll: which iPhone 6 size would be right for you?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

The rumor mill has settled on two display sizes for Apple's upcoming iPhone models, a 4.7-inch one and a massive phablet-class screen measuring 5.5 inches diagonally (for reference, the iPad mini is 7.9 inches).

I'm dying to find out which model would be more popular with you guys so I put together this nice little non-scientific poll to gauge your form factor preference. This, of course, is assuming that screen size is the only hardware difference between the handsets, just like the iPad Air and the Retina iPad mini.

Don't be shy, jump past the fold and cast your vote now...

Sprint device protection, now with data security, automatic backups and personalized tech support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

The United States wireless carrier Sprint, the nation's third-largest, on Monday introduced a new equipment protection plan that offers additional protection for your tablet and smartphone devices for an additional two bucks per month. The Sprint Total Equipment Protection Plus (TEP Plus) plan costs thirteen bucks per month, per device.

It offers everything included in Sprint's existing $11 per month Total Equipment Protection - theft insurance, accidental damage and next-day loss, to name a few - and then some more: data security, personalized tech support and automatic media backups.

Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Apple expands its iPad trade-in program overseas

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

Last month, Apple expanded its in-store trade-in program to include iPads. Under its Reuse and Recycling initiative, the program allows users to bring in their old iPads and trade them in for store credit, based on model, condition and other factors.

Initially, the option was only available at Apple stores in the US and Canada, but the company has expanded it overseas this week. Reports are coming in this morning that the iPad trade-in program is now available in France, Spain and Germany...

Verizon launches XLTE service for double the bandwidth in high-traffic locations

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 19, 2014

The nation's top carrier Verizon Wireless on Monday announced it has started utilizing AWS spectrum to bring double-fast fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network in select U.S. markets.

Marketed under the XLTE moniker and launching today, the faster network can be used on XLTE-ready smartphone such as the iPhone 5s, Samsung's Galaxy S5, the HTC One M8, BlackBerry Q10 and many others...

Apple adds Innolux as third iPhone 6 screen supplier, Samsung and Sharp lose orders

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 28, 2016

Although Samsung of South Korea should build Apple's in-house designed A8 processor for the next iPhone and has remained the top iPad display supplier, it looks like the conglomerate won't make it on the list of suppliers providing 4.7-inch display panels for the iPhone 6.

A new report by Taiwanese media alleges that Apple dropped both Samsung as Sharp as iPhone 6 display suppliers, instead adding Innolux as a third supplier of iPhone 6 screens..

Apple and Samsung could settle patent disputes out of court by the summer

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 19, 2014

Apple and its frenemy Samsung have been embroiled in a complex web of lawsuits spanning continents but now a resolution to the long standing patent dispute that has fascinated watchers around the globe could be within reach as the two technology giants are reportedly engaged in settlement talks, according to a Korean newspaper.

The unexpected development arrives hot on the heels of a surprising Reuters report last week confirming that Apple and Google put an end to a dispute with Motorola Mobility which Google inherited after snapping up Motorola 2011.

That agreement even has the two sides banding together on a patent reform, though it excludes cross-licensing of their respective mobile patent portfolio and Apple’s lawsuits with other Android makers like Samsung...

Mailbox picks up support for Facebook App Links

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2018

The popular iOS email client Mailbox, which Dropbox acquired in March 2013, has received an update today bringing support for Facebook's App Links.

Introduced last month as an open-sourced solution for cross-platform app-to-app linking, App Links lets developers control what happens when users click on their content in mobile to send them easily out of their app and directly into another.

Dropbox was listed as an App Links launch partner and today's update enables this feature while squashing some bugs. The update is now live in the App Store...