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Apple launches carrier billing in Russia with Beeline

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 4, 2015

As it turns out, Apple has finally begun rolling out a new carrier billing option in emerging markets, starting with Russia. TechCrunch reported yesterday that Beeline, a mobile carrier in Russia, has now turned on the ability to make payments in iTunes through their billing system.

Carrier billing joins existing payment methods accepted on the App Store, iTunes Store and iBooks Store and was designed to allow customers to have app and media purchases and Apple Music subscriptions charged to their monthly mobile phone bill, or deducted from their prepaid amount.

Samsung to pay Apple $548 million settlement, but reserves right to seek reimbursement

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 4, 2015

The long-standing Apple vs. Samsung patent dispute has been dragging on for five years now without any meaningful resolution in sight, despite Samsung announcing a settlement payment of $548 million to the iPhone maker today.

According to patent blog FOSS Patents, even though the Galaxy maker will send the payment to Apple by December 14 it's found a loophole that would give it the right to seek reimbursement of all amounts required to be paid as taxes, and then some more.

Rumor: Apple TV 5 with ‘dramatically improved’ CPU and ‘new functions’ due in early-2016

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 4, 2015

The fourth-generation Apple TV has been available for less than two months and already talk is turning to a next-generation model.

A new report by DigiTimes, a hit-and-miss Taiwanese trade publication, cites unnamed supply chain sources as saying that a fifth-generation Apple TV with a brand new CPU and a heat-dissipation solution is entering into trial production in December and volume production in the first quarter of 2016.

New “On the Set” iPhone 6s advert showcases hands-free Siri

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 19, 2018

Apple has been on a roll as of late when it comes to advertising. Two days or so after posting two new iPhone 6s advertisements, Apple has uploaded yet another to its YouTube channel.

The latest ad, entitled "On the Set", features Avengers executive producer Jon Favreau. In the spot, Favreau, who's directing a gymnastics sequence, uses hands-free Siri to pull up example pictures of flying squirrels.

Pedometer++ embraces Apple Watch in a big way

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Pedometer++ is one of the best step-counting apps in the App Store, with its developer David Smith managing to keep it alive with meaningful updates. In fact, Apple's 2013 introduction of a dedicated motion coprocessor in iPhones that tracks movement in a power-friendly manner has helped breathe new life into Pedometer++.

Ever since the watch's April 2015 debut I've been wondering how the app would fit into my fitness routine.

My primary concern at the time was whether or not a dedicated step-counting app made sense given the Apple Watch's robust fitness and motion tracking capabilities.

But as it turns out, a bright future lies ahead of Pedometer++ and today's feature-packed update proves my point. The new version fully embraces the Apple Watch with a comprehensive, fluid and native watchOS 2 app, complications, more accurate data sync than Apple's Health app and more.

Facebook brings photo collages to iPhone app, starts testing Periscope-like video broadcasts

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Facebook today announced that its main iPhone client in the App Store has been updated with two new features: Live Video and Collages.

Collages, automatically created from the photos and videos taken together, are presented as a moving carousel within the app and on the web.

More important than that, implementing live video broadcasting on Facebook has been prioritized in the wake of the Periscope phenomenon. Starting today, a small percentage of people in the United States can begin testing the live video feature on their iPhones.

Oceanhorn gets iCloud save compatibility with Apple TV, flashier graphics on iPad Pro and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2015

Oceanhorn, the beautifully crafted fantasy adventure game from FDG Mobile Games GbR, has received an essential update in the App Store today. Bumped to version 2.7, this edition fixes the problem with iCloud save files created on the iPhone and iPad not being recognized on the Apple TV.

Those lucky iPad Pro owners will enjoy this update's ultra quality graphics on their tablet, with an improved world map and environment decoration.

Lastly, Oceanhorn 2.7 sports a better sound engine and fixes various bugs.

Opera Coast gains Snapchat-like news feed, Opera Mini picks up 3D Touch support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Opera Coast, a third-party web browser for iOS, has been updated in the App Store today with real-time news and notifications while Opera Mini now supports 3D Touch shortcuts for accessing your favorite sites by lightly pressing the app's icon on the Home screen of the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus.

Opera Mini also integrates with iOS 9's Spotlight Search and has a few other refinements mentioned further below.

In Opera Coast, you can now preview headlines from sites you follow with a new feature, called For You. This basically aggregates online articles into a single tile, giving you an at-a-glance overview of your news right inside the browser.

Temple Run 2 launches new world: Frozen Shadows

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2015

The popular endless runner Temple Run is celebrating its first anniversary today. Thus far, the game has amassed an incredible one billion downloads across platforms, thanks to its appealing concept, easy mechanics and regular updates.

Starting today, a brand new world is available in Temple Run 2, called Frozen Shadows. Marking developer Imangi Studio's biggest expansion ever, Frozen Shadows—an update to the freemium Temple Run 2—brings a whole new icy world to slip and slide away from Demon Monkeys.

Apple officially makes its Swift programming language open source

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2015

Introduced in the summer of 2014 with the goal of becoming open source, Apple's new programming language for iOS and OS X development, called Swift, is now officially available for download via Swift.org.

A wealth of resources is available at the website, including the official documentation to get you up to speed, various Swift downloads, Getting Started guides, the source code and more.

KGI: mid-range iPhone 6c with Apple Pay, fast A9 chip and three color options due in early-2016

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

According to a research note that KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo sent to clients this morning, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider, Apple's rumored four-inch iPhone refresh will be released in early-2016, possibly in time for the spring.

It will feature an iPhone 5s-like exterior design with an iPhone 6s-like display that's curved at the edges.

The device apparently sports a colorful metal chassis, runs the A9 system-on-a-chip manufactured by both TSMC and Samsung (which also powers the latest iPhone 6s series) and includes NFC to support Apple Pay transactions.

ESPN rolls WatchESPN into its official app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Today is a big day for sports fans who like to keep up with sports scores, news, and even watch live games on the go. The live portion of ESPN's popular WatchESPN app, an app that has garnered millions of downloads and billions of minutes of live playtime, has been rolled into ESPN's main app.

In addition to the live streaming integration, ESPN's app now features 3D Touch support for the iPhone 6s, Spotlight Search support for iOS 9, and universal links so that ESPN.com links may open directly in the app itself.