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Your $650 iPhone 6 only cost Apple around $200 to build

Cody Lee ∙ September 23, 2014

Your $650+ iPhone 6 (or $199+ with carrier contract) only cost Apple around $200 to build, according to a new report from Recode. Using teardown data from research firm IHS, the site says that the Cupertino firm spends between $200 and $247 in parts and labor to build an iPhone 6.

For the larger iPhone 6 Plus, IHS says that Apple spends between $216 and $263 on parts and labor, depending on the model. The estimates include the cost of labor associated with assembly as between $4 and $4.50 for each device, but not R&D, shipping, marketing and other affiliated costs.

Former Apple retail boss Ron Johnson starting high-end delivery service for gadgets

Jake Smith ∙ September 23, 2014

Ron Johnson, former Apple retail boss who left in 2011, is working to start a high-end, on-demand delivery service for gadgets and is hiring some former Apple employees to help, The Information reports. The move to found a new company follows Johnson's failed stint at JC Penney as CEO, when he was fired after not turning around the struggling retail giant.

A first look at KuaiBoard for iOS 8

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

I’m having a lot of fun testing out different keyboards for iOS 8. Each one has a different feature that makes it special. Now all I have to do is figure out which one I’m most likely to make my go-to keyboard.

KuaiBoard is another third-party app that you can add to the list of default keyboards for iOS 8. This one is actually not a keyboard at all, but a template fill-in that you can use for quickly sending text that you repeat often with just one tap.

Riffsy launches customizable GIF keyboard for iOS 8

Cody Lee ∙ September 23, 2014

Riffsy has added to the onslaught of third party keyboards we've seen since iOS 8 launched last week with its new GIF Keyboard. It installs natively, and as the name suggests, it allows you to quickly send a variety of animated GIFs directly from your keyboard.

While it may sound gimmicky, the app has a library of "millions" of GIFs that Riffsy has collected over the past year. And since many of them are tagged with hashtags, it's actually pretty easy to search for and find a specific GIF that conveys your current mood.

Report claims Apple bought magazine platform Prss

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Apple may have acquired the magazine platform Prss (pronounced ‘press’) for an undisclosed amount, according to an unverified report filed Tuesday by Dutch publication iCulture.nl [Google Translate] and corroborated by TechCrunch.

Citing a source knowledgeable with the situation, the article claims that several Prss employees are now working for Apple. An Apple spokesperson responded with the usual boilerplate message.

“Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” the company representative told TechCrunch.

Prss is a browser-based collaborative tool that allows anyone to create and publish their own magazine on Apple’s Newsstand, no programming skills required whatsoever.

How iOS 8 Time-lapse video capture works

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2014

iOS 8′s new Time-lapse video capture mode is a lot smarter than it sounds on first blush. Instead of taking individual images at predetermined intervals, it instead snaps photos at “dynamically selected intervals,” according to Apple's website.

But what exactly does this mean?

As discovered by Dan Provost of Studio Neat, this under appreciated iOS 8 feature doubles the speed of the Time-lapse and takes half as many pictures per second as the recording duration doubles.

This ensures that any Time-lapse you capture ends up being between 20 and 40 seconds long, “an ideal shareable length,” Provost writes. It's just one of the many ways the power of iOS 8 software makes you a better photographer.

Apple rumored to unveil rebranded Beats Music service in February

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 20, 2018

Following up on yesterday's news that Apple is looking to sunset the Beats Music brand, Recode reports today that Apple has picked a timeframe for when it wants to unveil the new service. The site says it hopes to make the introduction sometime in early February, possibly time to the Grammy Awards.

Recode's John Paczkowski hedges on the claim, calling it "a guess backed up by some industry scuttlebutt," but given his track record in predicting Apple's plans, we'd be crazy not to pay attention. The one thing he hasn't heard, however, is what the company plans on calling the new subscription service.

FXNOW channel added to Apple TV, sans The Simpsons archive

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2014

Announced back in July, FX’s on-demand service dubbed FXNOW is now officially available as a brand new channel to owners of Apple's $99 Apple TV media-streaming box in the United States, Juli Clover of MacRumors first reported Tuesday.

Though the channel does offer a variety of content from the FX, FXX and FXM networks, including episodes of The Strain and Sons of Anarchy, the rumored Simpsons archive is nowhere to be found in today's release of the FXNOW Apple TV channel.

EA Sports releases FIFA 15 Ultimate Team for iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

EA Sports, formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts but now a brand that creates and develops sports video games, on Tuesday released FIFA 15 Ultimate Team as a freemium download in the App Store.

Coming in at a massive 1.06 gigabytes, this iPhone and iPad game features authentic football action backed by Electronic Arts' massive marketing budget and whiz-bang campaign, with licensed player and team names, motion-captured animations and other goodies.

Microsoft to update Skype for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus next month

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2014

Software giant Microsoft, which owns and runs the Skype service, will unleash an update next month that will optimize the popular VoIP platform for the bigger 4.7-inch screen on the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus's 5.5-inch display, according to a Skype spokesperson Tuesday.

“We’re currently working on an update to Skype for iPhone that scales for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus screen sizes, which we plan to release in the next month,” said Skype.

The company wouldn't reveal if the new version will take full advantage of the larger canvas or simply blow up the user interface on 4.7 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 devices.

iOS 8.0.1 said to bring fixes for bugs in keyboard, Safari, Phone and more

Cody Lee ∙ September 23, 2014

Apple has provided carrier partners with a pre-release version of iOS 8.0.1, reports MacRumors. This means that, barring any major issues, the public release shouldn't be far behind, and it sounds like it's going to include a number of bug fixes.

According to the site, iOS 8.0.1 will address the bug in mobile Safari that causes some videos not to play, and one that prevents Passbook passes from being shared over AirDrop. It will also address an issue with installing VPN profiles, and more.

Google rebrands Currents as Google Play Newsstand, adds new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2014

The search monster Google on Tuesday refreshed its Currents for iOS application with a revamped design featuring all-new navigation, the ability to subscribe and get news from topics you're most interested in, as well as discover new articles and editions in one place, and more.

There's also the new My Library feature which collates all of your content subscriptions so they can be easily browsed and managed.

For those unfamiliar with Currents, it's basically Google's version of Apple's stock iOS Newsstand application. The iPhone and iPad is available free in the App Store.