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iPads and MacBooks can’t be bought with China’s public money over espionage concerns

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2014

First Russian, and now China. Just as news hit us a week ago that the Russian government is demanding access to the source code for Apple software to ensure it isn't enabling U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on the 145 million country, Bloomberg Wednesday reported that the Chinese government has taken Apple's iPad tablets and MacBook notebooks off the procurement list.

As a result, no government agency in China is allowed to buy Apple products with public money.

While government purchases are not a major sales driver for Apple, it's worth remembering that China is home to 1.33 billion people and filing as Apple's third-biggest market by revenue...

Steve Jobs saw shared home Wi-Fi as the future of Internet access. Utopian vision?

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2014

Would you be willing to open your home Wi-Fi network to total strangers, so that passersby and folks in your near vicinity could join it and surf the web for free?

These questions kept Apple CEO Steve Jobs up at night back in 2007 as he envisioned building an open Wi-Fi Utopia. The idea was born out of his frustration with sluggish mobile data networks at the time.

Re/code's Walt Mossberg, the famous technology reviewer and columnist who used to enjoy unparalleled access to Jobs, recounts how Jobs's intense loathing of AT&T almost gave everyone free Wi-Fi...

Challenge time and space in Primitives Puzzle in Time

Lory Gil ∙ Updated February 12, 2018

Have you ever been in the process of trying to solve a puzzle or physics game and realize you’ve made a mistake and wish you could just go back to that moment in time and chose a different path? Me too. Usually, those revelations just end in me hitting the replay button and starting over.

Primitives Puzzle in Time is a simple puzzle game that actually lets you virtually go back in time to the moment you made the mistake. Instead of starting over, go back to that moment you realized you made the wrong choice and try again…

Apple and Samsung agree to settle all foreign patent disputes

Cody Lee ∙ August 5, 2014

The Financial Times reports this evening that Apple and Samsung have settled their patent disputes over smartphones and tablets in several countries around the world. In a joint statement, the two firms say that they have dropped litigation in all countries and regions outside of the US.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. But it doesn't sound like there is any kind of cross-licensing deal in place, and no money changing hands, so there will be little to prevent new lawsuits between the two companies from sprouting in the future, should circumstances change...

Vine updated with redesigned navigation, new sharing options and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 9, 2018

Twitter updated its popular 6-second clip-sharing app Vine today for iOS. The update brings the client to version 2.2, and features a handful of noticeable changes including a redesigned navigation menu and new sharing options.

The redesigned navigation UI is one of biggest changes to Vine since its inception. The drop-down menu that lived in the Home icon in the top left-hand corner of the app has been replaced by a standard, bottom navigation bar…

Sprint no longer trying to acquire T-Mobile

Timothy Reavis ∙ August 5, 2014

The Wall Street Journal just announced that Sprint Corp. is terminating its attempts to purchase T-Mobile US Inc, due to regulatory issues. Over the past several months, we've seen several reports that Sprint was in talks with T-Mobile over a buyout deal, and even that the deal was close to finalizing.

If the buyout had taken place, the results would be a decrease in competition and very likely an increase in cellular plan pricing. According to WSJ...

How to create an Apple ID without a credit card

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated May 8, 2023

Having an Apple ID is a prerequisite to do just about anything related to Apple services. If you want to buy music on iTunes, download apps in the App Store, or use iCloud, you must have an Apple ID.

A few years ago, linking a credit card to an Apple account was mandatory. But Apple has changed its stance and has been letting users create an Apple ID without a credit card for a while now.

Whatever your reason might be to do so, we are going to show you how to create an Apple ID without a credit card...

RebootToHDD: an easier way to switch between Mac partitions

Timothy Reavis ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Following our post on how to switch between Mavericks and Yosemite, iDownloadBlog reader Jack Stean took the script we featured and turned it into a full-fledged Mac application that sits in OS X's status bar. RebootToHDD does everything we explained in our tutorial, but without the hassle of copying and pasting script...

Apple said to unveil iPhone 6 on September 9

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 5, 2014

We know the iPhone 6 is coming at some point this Fall and if history is anything to go by, there should be a media event in or around mid-September. No reputable publication has pinpointed the exact timeframe for such a high-profile event, however. That is, until this morning.

Enter well-informed John Paczkowski of Re/code, who just reported that Apple has scheduled an iPhone-focused event on Tuesday, September 9, so better mark your calendar accordingly...

BlowToUnlock: blow at your iPhone device to unlock it

Alihassan Mahdi ∙ August 5, 2014

BlowToUnlock is a brand new jailbreak tweak that landed in Cydia recently and is quite a unique one. Although 'Slide to unlock' and Touch ID are the two main methods of unlocking an iOS device, BlowToUnlock takes your device a step further by allowing you to blow at your device in order to unlock it.

With BlowToUnlock, you can simply blow at or around the device's microphone to wake it up or unlock it. Other than the device's microphone, you can also blow into the headphone's microphone to unlock the device. However, the good thing is if you have a passcode enabled, you'll first be prompted to enter it before gaining access to your device. In fact, this ensures that the security of your device isn't compromised...

Opinion: why I’d rather throw my money into a fire pit than give it to Verizon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

Verizon Wireless may be the nation's #1 carrier, but that doesn't mean it's America's most beloved wireless provider. Notorious for the love-hate relationship with its customers, Verizon frequently draws ire of the press and consumers alike who crucify the company and criticize its questionable business practices.

In the wake of a series of customer-friendly moves by T-Mobile, collectively branded under the 'Uncarrier' tagline, one after another horror story concerning Verizon is getting unfold and making headlines.

The press likes to dis Verizon as a greedy corporation that shamelessly takes its customers for a ride under the presumption that everyone else is doing it, too. Verizon's past and present business practices have been ticking me off for quite some time so here's why I’d literally rather throw my money into a fire pit than give it to them...

Apple rolling out on-site iPhone 5s screen replacements to U.S. retail stores

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 5, 2014

Well, it had to happen someday. Call it a stroke of bad luck or inattention on my part, but it only took a fraction of a second for my shiny new iPhone 5s to slip out of my hand and fall on the concrete face down, just a few short weeks after purchasing the device! For the record, I am the type of person who handles my devices with utmost care so you could imagine my sorrow and feel my heartache.

Now I'm left with a pricey device that has a damaged screen with nasty cracks appearing all the way down to the steel Touch ID ring. A quote my nearest Apple Store gave me for an out of warranty screen replacement was just unbearable. And, it would take them at least a week to, or even more, to service the device, which was unacceptable to me.

Worse, iFixit at the time didn't yet sell an iPhone 5s screen replacement kit. In addition, history has taught me all to well to avoid inexpensive screens sold on eBay. More often than not, these third-party components don't hold a candle to Apple's Retina screen in terms of color accuracy, overall image quality and touch sensing.

Luckily for our U.S. readers, after introducing in-store iPhone 5c screen repairs back in January, Apple Stores in the United States can now replace your damaged iPhone 5s screen in a matter of an hour...