Apple Maps gains 3D imagery for a dozen new locations across Europe, US and elsewhere

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2015

Apple Maps has an impressive feature called Flyover that taps high-resolution aerial photography turned into three-dimensional terrain, landmarks and buildings that can be rotated around in the full 360-degree freedom.

It's pretty awesome and also quite expensive to create. Apple basically has to fly a fleet of special aircraft to do terrain mapping in the sky. That's why, as of this writing, Flyover was available in a little more than a hundred locations around the world.

As spotted by Dutch website iCulture.nl, a dozen new cities and landmarks across Europe (and some in the U.S.) have received their Flyover treatment in Apple Maps.

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YouTube stops using Adobe Flash, now defaults to HTML5 video player

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2015

When Steve Jobs was challenged on the iPad's lack of support for Adobe's Flash runtime for web video, manifested at the time as black rectangles on websites in place of Flash video, he said that “those holes are getting plugged real fast”.

And guess what? He was damn right.

It was a time of the prevalence of Flash and web developers had only begun experimenting with HTML5 for online video delivery, but boy what a difference a few years make.

As reported by VentureBeat, YouTube announced today that it's ditched Flash for HTML5 video by default. “Other content providers like Netflix and Vimeo, as well as companies like Microsoft and Apple have embraced HTML5 and been key contributors to its success,” YouTube said in a statement.

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You’ll never guess whom Google’s Chairman Eric Schmidt named his personal hero… or will you?

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2015

Google's former CEO and Chairman, Eric Schmidt, has a penchant for exaggeration. Not just infamous for telling bad jokes, Eric is known for going into a sputter when pressed on Google's privacy practices and making platitudinous statements on Android and rivalry with Apple that earn him headlines.

The iPhone 6, for example, he dissed by stating that “Samsung had these products a year ago”. Sometimes, he can't control himself to the point of risking public ridicule over claims like “Android is more secure than the iPhone”.

No doubt a talented technology executive, he's such a multi-layered personality and it's therefore perfectly fine to ask ourselves what principles guide Schmidt's thinking. Does he have a personal hero he looks up to, both in tech and outside of the technology industry?

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Introducing the iDB Deals Store

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 12, 2018

Everybody at iDB is happy to announce the iDB Deals Store. Developed in partnership with our friends at StackSocial, the iDB Deals Store will bring you exclusive deals on Apple and iOS gear, accessories, software, and more. And to mark the launch of the store, we're offering 10% off everything in there for the next week!

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iOS 8.1.3 is out with reduced firmware storage strain, Spotlight fix and other improvements

Cody Lee ∙ January 27, 2015

Apple has released iOS 8.1.3 this morning, after weeks of extensive testing. The release notes say that the update includes increased stability and performance improvements, as well as various major bug fixes. It also reduces the amount of storage required to perform updates.

You can access the new firmware over the air via Settings > General > Software Update, or via iTunes by connecting your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a computer. But as usual, we recommend that users who are jailbroken, or plan to jailbreak, avoid the update for now.

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Snapchat rolls out Discover feature that highlights curated stories and videos

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

Tuesday, Snapchat announced a new feature called Discover which highlights curated stories from Snapchat's different editorial teams.

Snapchat is moving to become a media platform so they've partnered with some of the major names in media like the ESPN, Vice and CNN to build a storytelling format which puts the narrative first.

“This is not social media” nor is it aboutwhat’s most new and trending, remarked the firm in a blog post. No, sir — Snapchat believes in curation and high-quality content so “We count on editors and artists, not clicks and shares, to determine what’s important.”

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Google Play Newsstand gets Handoff & offline support and other goodies

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2015

Google's Play Newsstand iOS app (formerly Google Currents) was updated Tuesday with a few new features and several bug fixes.

The software now implements support for Handoff, a technology Apple built into iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite to make it easy to seamlessly transition between Macs and iPhones/iPads in apps.

With Handoff support in Google Play Newsstand, it's now easy to resume reading on your Mac running OS X Yosemite or an iPhone or iPad running iOS 8. Jump past the fold for other changes in Google Play Newsstand 3.1.

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Apple TV picks up a new channel for Sports Illustrated’s 120 SPORTS network

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

As spotted by MacRumors, Apple TV has just gained a brand new channel with content from Sports Illustrated's 120 SPORTS network.

120 SPORTS provides on-demand and streaming coverage from major sports networks, including content from the likes of MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA Tour, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball, NASCAR and leading college leagues.

It's is an over-the-air update that doesn't require a restart. If it's not available on your box yet, choose Software Update in Apple TV's Settings. The new channel arrives just a few weeks following the addition of the Tennis Channel Everywhere channel to the set-top box.

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