KGI on iPhone 7: IPX7 waterproofing, 2.4GHz chip, new Force Touch sensor, LED flash & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2016

KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo is probably the most reliable analyst out there when it comes to predicting Apple's unannounced gadgets and today he issued a new report to clients, a copy of which was obtained by 9to5Mac, to discuss some last minute details ahead of Apple's September 7 event.

In it, he shares many previously undisclosed iPhone 7 features, including a lot faster new chip, some new and updated sensors, significantly improved cameras with an upgraded LED flash system and more, plus specifics on waterproofing, new colors options, display technology and so forth.

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What we’re expecting from Apple’s September 7 event

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2016

Apple is hosting a special media event on September 7 at San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Auditorium at 10am PT. As always, we'll be covering the latest in Apple's big fall refresh thoroughly here at iDB. Of course, the iPhone 7 will be the event's biggest story, but we're also hoping to see other hardware refreshes, accessories and related products come into full view next Wednesday.

Here's everything we think Apple could introduce come September 7, plus some of the things we'd like them to announce but they probably won't (yet).

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The government of Ireland will back Apple in its fight against EU’s tax bill from hell

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2016

Following news earlier this week that the European Commission had ruled that Apple must pay €13 billion ($14.5 billion) in back taxes to the government of Ireland because its sweetheart deal with Dublin that lets it be subjected to a lower tax rate constitutes “illegal state aid,” the Irish government said today it would join Apple in its fight against the ruling.

“Paradoxically, Ireland is determined not to accept the tax windfall, which would be equivalent to what it spent last year on funding its struggling health service,” says the report.

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Samsung issues global Note 7 recall after complaints of exploding batteries

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2016

It looked like Samsung was well poised to steal some of Apple's thunder by releasing its Note 7 phablet with a redesigned appearance and wraparound screen ahead of Apple's iPhone 7 event. But following reports from users around the world about a battery issue that has caused some handsets to catch fire or explode, Samsung has now announced plans to recall every single Note 7 sold in order to prevent further damage and has also abandoned today's scheduled Note 7 launch in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

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Pro Tip: create an applet to watermark images

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 2, 2016

Adding watermarks to photos is an invaluable tool for photographers who want to put a company logo or information on a photograph to share the proper credits that made the photo possible.

It can be done manually in a variety of different kinds of photo-editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop or Pixelmator, but in this tutorial, we'll show you how you can create an applet that automatically watermarks photographs for you.

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AppDye 2 subtly throws a splash of color across the UI in iOS

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 2, 2016

Adding a splash of color to the various UI elements throughout iOS 9 has never been as easy as it is with a new jailbreak tweak called AppDye 2.

With this tweak, you can colorize many parts of iOS based off of a single color you choose, or you can color your apps on a per-app basis with individual color schemes. Among some of the things that the tweak can modify the color of are:

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“Hey Siri, call Sébastien on Skype”

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2016

Apple's made a rare move of publishing multiple blog posts to whet our appetite for Siri's upcoming third-party integration on iOS 10. We already detailed how Siri will work with popular messaging/payments apps and allow you to search photos inside third-party apps like Pinterest, just by using your voice.

Now, we take a closer look at how Apple's personal digital assistant can interact with VoIP apps like Skype, Vonage and others.

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