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US Apple Stores to begin offering prepaid and month-to-month iPhone plans

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

According to a new report from 9to5Mac, Apple is preparing to begin offering prepaid and month-to-month iPhone plans in its US retail stores. This will mark the first time in the US that customers will be able to go into an Apple Store, and walk out with a prepaid iPhone.

Customers will be able to purchase an iPhone at full retail, pick from a handful of prepaid or month-to-month plans offered by AT&T, T-Mobile and others, and have it activated in-store. The initiative is part of a larger effort by Apple to bolster non-subsidized iPhone sales...

Video tells visual history of iOS in less than 5 minutes

Cody Lee ∙ June 6, 2014

Earlier this week, Apple unveiled iOS 8 during its WWDC keynote event. The eighth iteration of the mobile operating system brings about a number of changes, and many folks are calling it the largest update ever for the popular platform.

With that in mind, the folks over at the Verge created a video that offers an overview of all of the iOS releases, going back to the original iPhone. It's less than 5 minutes long, and really shows how far things have come in the past 8 years...

Apple to unveil first wearable device in October

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

The well-connected and reliable John Paczkowski of Re/code reports this afternoon that Apple is slated to announce its first wearable device in October. While noting that things can certainly change between now and the fall, Paczkowski claims that October is the tentative date in which Apple hopes to host a special event to show off its first wearable device.

The report does not specifically mention the oft-rumored iWatch as the product that Apple will introduce, but that is one of the devices that the company has been speculated to release for the past several months. The wearable device that Apple does release will reportedly make good use of the Health and HealthKit platforms that the company unveiled at its WWDC keynote earlier this week.

Tim Cook praises ‘American manufacturing expertise’ and AppleCare staff

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 6, 2014

Apple's boss Tim Cook was photographed looking over the shoulder of a factory worker helping assemble a Mac Pro at Apple's manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas. The CEO tweeted out the image on his Twitter account as part of Apple's ongoing effort to promote bringing back (some) manufacturing jobs to the United States.

"Watching the Mac Pro come together in Austin yesterday, thanks to a team loaded with American manufacturing expertise," reads the tweet.

Although the new Mac Pro is not actually 'Made in USA', much of assembly work happens at the Austin plant in which Apple poured in about $100 million...

Capcom’s Monster Hunter Freedom Unite hitting iOS soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 6, 2014

Japanese games maker and publisher Capcom has confirmed that it's in the process of porting Monster Hunter Freedom Unite to Apple's iOS platform. Monster what? For those unfamiliar with it, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite debuted on the PSP handheld back in 2009, to great reception.

Basically an action title with some RPG elements, the game has a rich multiplayer mode where players form teams to hunt down the ferocious beasts and loot their carcasses. As you might imagine, the franchise has a huge following in Japan.

The iPhone and iPad edition is optimized for touch controls, supports 'Made for iPhone' gamepads and allows up to three players to hunt together over the Internet...

Two more Android keyboards in the works for iOS 8: Adaptxt and Minuum

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

In addition to the makers of some of the most popular Android soft-keyboards like Swype, Fleksy and SwiftKey - which have all confirmed building downloadable keyboards for iOS 8 - two more companies have now jumped on the bandwagon: KeyPoint and Whirlscape, the respective makers of the Adaptxt and Minuum Android keyboards.

As a result, users will be able to pick among at least five different keyboards in the App Store when iOS 8 launches this Fall, in addition to Apple's normal stock keyboard and the new and much improved QuickType one with adaptive suggestions...

FIFA updates official iOS app for the 2014 World Cup Brazil, another refresh due soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 6, 2014

The official FIFA app for iOS has been updated ahead of the upcoming 2014 World Cup, which kicks off with a match between the Brazilian host team and Croatia (my home country) next Tuesday, June 12.

In addition to keeping you in the loop on the latest news concerning the upcoming matches, the free iPhone and iPod touch application, now bumped to version 2.0, offers detailed information about players and coaches from all 32 competing teams, a schedule of all 64 games, trivia about the stadiums and cities and much more...

Beats buy and iTunes Radio limitations blamed on Apple’s ‘arrogance’ and incompetent managers

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 6, 2014

According to two Apple sources familiar with the development of iTunes Radio, current limitations of the free service and the $3 billion acquisition of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre's Beats talent, brand, headphone business and streaming service is all the result of the firm's "arrogance" and shortsightedness of its managers.

Worse, some high-ranked members of Apple's music teams reportedly didn’t even know that Spotify was an on-demand streaming service and not an Internet radio service akin to Pandora and iTunes Radio...

iWatch with curved OLED screen rumored to launch in October

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 6, 2014

A new report by the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei alleges that Apple's rumored wearable project, the iWatch, will be ready for launch in October.

The device will be reportedly outfitted with a curved display which uses power-efficient OLED screen technology, as opposed to the traditional LCD panels utilized on Apple's existing devices family.

According to an unnamed parts manufacturer, Apple anticipates strong demand and is therefore planning to produce between three and five million iWatch units per month - a figure that would potentially exceed combined sales of all the various smartwatches floating around, by a large margin...

Apple, Google and others pledge $2M to hold Super Bowl 50 in Bay Area

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

According to a new report from the San Jose Mercury News, Apple has joined Google and other tech companies who have pledged $2 million in cash and services to help offset taxpayer costs of hosting Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco.

The Bay Area Super Bowl Host committee announced that is has raised $40 million for the event, which will be held at the 49ers' newly-built Levi's Stadium in 2016. The venue is less than 15 miles away from Apple's Cupertino campus...

Square Enix Montreal announces upcoming title ‘Hitman: Sniper’

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 1, 2017

In April, Square Enix Montréal brought the popular stealth video game series Hitman to iOS with 'Hitman Go.' It was an odd release, in that it fell under the turn-based puzzler genre instead of action-adventure, but it still seemed to perform relatively well.

Folks who were hoping for a more traditional Hitman title, though, will be happy to hear that the Canadian firm has another one in the works. It's called 'Hitman: Sniper,' and it's a massively competitive sniping game with a focus on the subtlety of execution...

Hit game ‘Temple Run’ crosses one billion downloads

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Raleigh, North Carolina-based gaming company Imangi Studios announced this week that its hit game Temple Run has crossed one billion downloads. The total is the combination of both the first and second releases of the endless runner.

Imangi notes in the press release that players have collectively spent over 216,018 years playing its Temple Run titles, which are available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone. They've also played 32 billion games, and run 50 trillion meters...