iDownloadBlog.com

Beats 1, Apple’s 24/7 Internet radio, makes an appearance in iOS betas ahead of June 30 rollout

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 18, 2015

Beats 1, Apple's non-stop Internet radio station hosted by celebrity DJs, has made its first appearance in latest betas of iOS 8.4 and iOS 9 which are available to developers.

The Beats 1 interface appears unfinished with many features not active yet or performing erratically. Still, I was able to use the Music app on my iPad running iOS 9 Developer Preview to access a new Radio tab and get to Beats 1. I also browsed a list of stations and even streamed select ones and heard the promotional Beats 1 broadcast.

Here are my screenshots.

Re/code releases full video interview with Apple’s op-chief Jeff Williams

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 18, 2015

Jeff Williams, Senior Vice President of Operations at Apple, recently had an interesting chat session with Re/code columnist Walt Mossberg at the annual Code Conference in which he briefly touched on the topic of the rumored Apple car project while offering his take on a wide range of topics such as Apple Watch sales, health, fitness and more.

A recap video was made immediately following the May 27 conference and now the publication has shared full video of the interview.

Apple Watch bands are insanely profitable: $49 Sport band costs Apple just $2.05 to make

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 18, 2015

IHS, a technology research firm, has found that Apple is making huge markups on the bands, with an entry-level 38mm fluroelastomer Sport band which retails for $49 costing an estimated $2.05 to make.

It should be noted the figure excludes other related costs such as packaging, shipping, marketing, cost of sale and so forth and “may not capture the full cost of the material Apple uses to make the band,” IHS analyst Kevin Keller told Reuters.

How to automatically hide a Mac app when clicking elsewhere on the screen

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated May 30, 2023

Maintaining a clean workstation is perhaps one of the best ways to help with productivity and clear-thinking. Not only does this apply to one's desk or office, but for those of us who work with computers, it extends to the Dock, folders, and desktop. Keeping things clean and orderly in OS X is vital for getting things done efficiently, and this Mac tip helps do exactly that.

Incipio Feather Case for iPhone 6 is ultra thin and protective

Lory Gil ∙ June 18, 2015

Due to the larger size of the iPhone 6 frame, it is more important than ever to have a case that is as slim as possible. However, ultrathin does not usually provide protection beyond scratch resistance.

Incipio's Feather case is ultrathin and offers some minor protection from drops thanks to its foam padded lining. Of course it is ultrathin so don't expect miracles.

Line launches new Emoji Keyboard app for iOS

Cody Lee ∙ June 17, 2015

LINE launched a new app for iOS today called 'Emoji Keyboard.' As the name suggests, it's a free keyboard app with over 3,000 new and unique Stickers & Emoji that will help you "experience a more exciting and lively chat with friends and loved ones."

For those who aren't familiar with LINE, it's an insanely popular Japanese messaging app. It has more than 500 million users, which are mostly in Asia, but it's hoping its Emoji Keyboard will help make inroads into the United States and other countries.

Samsung asks appeals court to reconsider infringement ruling

Cody Lee ∙ June 17, 2015

Samsung on Wednesday asked the US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision to uphold a ruling that will cost it $400 million in damages for infringing on Apple's design patents, reports San Jose Mercury News. In a recent court filing, the company asks for a rehearing with a full 12-judge roster, rather than the 3-judge panel the court used last month.

In 2012, a jury ruled that several of Samsung's products infringed on Apple patents, and awarded the iPhone-maker $1 billion in damages. That number has been reduced down to $548 million in various post-trial proceedings, and Samsung is trying to eliminate another big chunk—some $400 million—by getting the verdicts regarding design patent infringement tossed out.

Unicode 8 includes new hot dog, unicorn and burrito emoji

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

On Wednesday, the Unicode Consortium released Unicode 8, the next major update to the Unicode Standard. The Standard defines things like special characters and emoji, which many manufacturers, including Apple, use in their software.

Unicode 8 introduces nearly 8,000 new characters, including letters to support new languages and six new scripts. Perhaps more interesting, to us anyway, is that it also includes 37 new emoji and 5 emoji modifiers for various skin colors.

Dark Sky gets huge 5.0 update with new layout, advanced notifications and more

Cody Lee ∙ June 17, 2015

Popular weather client Dark Sky received a significant update today, bringing the app to version 5.0.0. The release includes several improvements like a new layout, advanced notifications, and the ability to collect pressure sensor data from compatible devices.

As for the new layout, it now features a detailed hour-by-hour 24 hour timeline, and you can create custom alerts for that timeline for things like temperature, wind and more. There's also a new weather reporter, so users can provide feedback on their weather.

iOS 9 Picture-in-Picture feature hacked to run Doom

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Developer Adam Bell has hacked together a demo of the popular first-person shooter game Doom running on an iPad in iOS 9's Picture-in-Picture mode. A video shows him opening apps and performing other functions on his iPad, while a demo of Doom runs in a smaller window.

Bell says that his iPad isn't jailbroken, and he's not using any kind of process injection. His method involves the use of public developer APIs, which means there's theoretically nothing stopping devs from implementing this in their apps, although it's unlikely Apple would approve it.

AT&T fined $100 million by FCC over unlimited data throttling

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

The US Federal Communications Commission announced plans on Wednesday to fine AT&T $100 million for unsuitable throttling practices. The Commission issued a press release on its website this morning proclaiming the decision, charging the carrier with violating the '2010 Open Internet Transparency Rule.'

The move comes as the result of an in-depth investigation, where the FCC found that AT&T—the second largest wireless provider in the US—had not adequately informed its customers with unlimited data plans that it would be dramatically slowing down their Internet access once they crossed a particular threshold.