New report says iPhone 8 has a slightly curved display at the edges below 2.5D cover glass

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2017

Nikkei Asian Review yesterday shot down predictions by IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam and DisplayMate expert Dr. Raymond Soneira who said Apple's 5.8-inch iPhone 8 will use a flat rather than a curved display. However, MacRumors has allegedly confirmed with multiple people familiar with the matter that the phone will indeed come outfitted with a mostly flat AMOLED display.

The device's display will reportedly feature slightly curved left and right edges in order to conform with the layer of 2.5D glass that covers the screen.

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Spotify may reportedly restrict biggest new music releases to paid users

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

The Financial Times is reporting that the leading music-streaming service, Spotify, which recently passed 50 million subscribers, may restrict biggest new music releases to paid users as it renegotiates contracts with record labels.

The Swedish company is looking to potentially decrease the amount of royalties paid to content holders as it readies a long-rumored initial public offering, said people familiar with the situation.

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Apple could launch 32GB “iPhone 6 (2017)” in Europe next week

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2017

A new 32GB version of iPhone 6 in Gold has been quietly available at one online carrier in China since late February, and since March 10 prominently in Taiwan as the cheapest iPhone ever offered on the Taiwan Mobile network. As per a local blog, the 32GB “limited-edition” iPhone 6 in Space Gray will launch as soon as next week in Belarus—a 9.5 million people landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia, among other neighboring countries.

Sources say the phone will go on sale via i-Store, priced at the equivalent of $522 (999 Belarusian rubles). For context, i-Store is an Apple Premium Reseller located in Minsk, the country's capital and the most populous city with 2+ million people.

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This cool iOS 11 concept would bring more power to your iPhone’s Lock screen

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2017

Various iPhone 8 and iOS 11 concepts have been proliferating lately, with app developer Matt Birchler jumping on the bandwagon with mockups of his own. We're liking some of the smart ideas presented in his batch of thoughtfully done renderings that envision a much more useful Lock screen on iOS 11.

Going beyond simple things like checking the date and time, launching the camera, accessing your favorite widgets and seeing notifications that have arrived since your last unlock, Birchler is proposing a Lock screen with Apple Watch-like complications, user-selectable app shortcuts, alert bundles, smart notifications that could be augmented further with optional location information and so forth.

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9.7″ iPad Pro 2 with A10X Fusion chip could launch next week

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2017

A second-generation iPad Pro model with a screen measuring 9.7 inches diagonally could launch as early as next week, according to a new report Wednesday by reliable Japanese blog Mac Otakara. The publication's sources describe the forthcoming device as a modest upgrade over the current 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which released in March 2016 following the September 2015 introduction of the original 12.9-inch iPad Pro model.

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Spark for Mac gains labels, better folder management, smarter search & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2017

Prolific Ukrainian developer Readdle today pushed a major update to its award-winning macOS email client, Spark, bringing new features such as labels, improved folder management, smart filters the ability to save emails in Drafts manually and other improvements that will make you love email again.

As I wrote before, Spark is (in my personal opinion) hands down the best email client I've used on my Mac. Spark 1.2 for macOS is available at no charge from Mac App Store.

The app is also available for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.

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Facebook kicks off global rollout of Snapchat-like Stories feature in its mainland app

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2017

Facebook has infamously ripped off Snapchat’s Stories feature wholesale with auto-vanishing slideshows on Instagram and WhatsApp, in addition to the similar recently introduced feature on Messenger, called Messenger Day.  The social networking behemoth was recently caught testing Snapchat-like Stories feature in its mobile app. According to TechCrunch, the company has now begun a staggered rollout of Facebook Stories to all users worldwide.

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iPhone 8 may have (slightly) curved screen after all

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2017

Contradicting a recent report, Japanese outlet Nikkei Asian Review wrote Wednesday that Apple's rumored 5.8-inch iPhone will have a display based on active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) technology that's slightly curved on the sides, but not as curved as Samsung's Galaxy series.

A source familiar with the handset's design said the curve of the iPhone 8 screen will be “gentler” than the screen curvature of Samsung's Edge handsets because of the challenges of making curved glass covers to match screens.

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Apple Park opens next month, watch the latest drone flyover video

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2017

Apple's upcoming 175-acre campus, called Apple Park, is opening next month when Tim Cook and other employees  will begin moving in. Drone pilots Matthew Roberts and Duncan Sinfield posted their flyover footage of Apple Park earlier in the month.

Today, Sinfield posted a mid-March video update to his YouTube channel, running three minutes and fifty seconds long and highlighting construction progress at the site.

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BiggieSmallcc makes the album artwork more more prominent in Control Center

Anthony Bouchard ∙ March 15, 2017

One of the great things about Control Center is how it offers access to Music controls anywhere you might need them. Part of the music control interface shows an album artwork illustration for whatever media is playing. Of course, some jailbreak developers would argue that it needs improvement.

A new free jailbreak tweak called BiggieSmallcc by candoizo aims to make the album artwork more proportionately appropriate by enlarging it to better fit the size of the interface, especially on larger-screened devices.

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