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Apple poaching Broadcom talent as rumors of in-house baseband chip development intensify

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 30, 2017

Following talk of Apple's rumored initiative that would have it develop its own baseband chips for 2015 iPhones and iPads in-house, AppleInsider has learned the firm's recently poached a pair of longtime semiconductor engineers from chipmaker Broadcom.

Both men are experienced at building RF hardware and have led the effort to produce baseband transceivers used by Nokia and Samsung devices.

Apple counts Broadcom as its supplier: the iPhone 5s uses a Broadcom touchscreen controller and the handset's Wi-Fi chip by Murata is based on Broadcom's BCM4334 module, according to a teardown analysis by repair experts over at iFixIt...

Google wants to buy mobile payment startup Square, but CEO wants to sell out to Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey's other business venture, the mobile payment startup Square, has a cozy relationship with Apple.

As a case in point, not only does Square develop for iOS first, Apple itself is happy to carry Square's $9.95 credit card reader for the iPhone and iPad and the $99.95 Square Stand for iPad on its web store.

Moreover, some of Square's talent comes straight from Apple, including director of engineering for the iPod, iPhone and iPad accessories, Jesse Dorogusker, who recently left the company to join Square.

After allowing Google to buy smart thermostat and smoke detector maker Nest Labs back in January, pundits have observed that Apple should be wise enough to avoid repeating the same mistake twice. Be that as it may, Apple is said to have mulled an acquisition offer for Square.

The possibility of such a deal has been floated on Wednesday as rumors of both Apple and Google discussing a possible acquisition with Square continue to persist. Although CEO Jack Dorsey would reportedly prefer selling the company to Apple, not Google, a deal with Apple is wishful thinking for now...

Rumor: mass production of 4.7″ iPhone 6 in July, 5.5″ version in September

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 28, 2016

It used to be that 2014 would see a simultaneous double-iPhone launch until Reuters earlier this week asserted the larger model could get delayed due to production issues with 5.5-inch screens. As a result, only the rumored 4.7-inch model is said to be ready for a launch in September.

A new report from Japan echoes this notion. Apparently mass production of the 4.7-inch iPhone has been tipped to start in July. As for the 5.5-inch model, the story claims the bigger handset is scheduled to enter full production in September, meaning Apple may not be able to release its phablet before the holiday quarter...

Fire TV companion apps, Second Screen and Remote, hitting iOS soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Tucked away as a side note in Amazon's Fire TV announcement last week is an interesting confirmation of a companion iOS app for the set-top box that's scheduled to launch later this year in the App Store.

The software will act as a second screen solution allowing Fire TV owners to fling Amazon TV shows and movies from their iPhone or iPad to the $99 set-top box, providing remote functionality with playback controls, support for Amazon's X-Ray technology that pulls media metadata from the web and more.

In addition to Second Screen, the official Fire TV app for smartphones and tablets will launch soon, providing virtual controls for touch-enabled games...

Let’s Talk Jailbreak 52: Zellllldaaaa!

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Episode 52: Sebastien, Jeff, and Cody dissect Auxo 2 after a week of usage and break down their favorite and not-so-favorite parts about one of the most significant jailbreak releases of 2014. The guys also discuss plans to attend JailbreakCon 2014 along with reviews of several additional jailbreak tweaks from the past week.

Apple calls in expert to explain why it deserves $2 billion in damages from Samsung

Cody Lee ∙ April 9, 2014

The high-profile patent trial between Apple and Samsung wages on, with Apple on Tuesday calling in a damages expert Chris Vellturo to speak to the jury. The MIT-trained economist's job was to help the company explain why it deserved the damages it's asking for.

For those who missed it last week, Apple is asking the court to award it $2 billion ($2.19B to be exact) in damages from Samsung for infringing on 5 of its utility patents. And according to Vellturo, that amount is fair based on a mix of lost profits and owed royalty fees...

Apple seen testing push notifications for resolved Maps issues

Cody Lee ∙ April 9, 2014

Apple is apparently testing a new notification system for Maps, according to a report from MacRumors. The site has posted screenshots showing a new option that some users are seeing to receive a push notification when their reported issue with the app has been fixed.

It works like this: after choosing to 'Report a Problem' within the Maps app, users are given the option to be notified when engineers have fixed the issue. And once the problem has been resolved, Apple sends out a push notification to that user's device letting them know...

Downcast apps for iOS and Mac on sale for a limited time

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Folks looking to branch out in the world of podcast apps may want to check out Downcast for iOS and Mac. The two apps are considered by many to be best in their respective categories, and for a limited time, both of them are available at discounts of up to 50%.

The iPhone client, for those who haven't used it, is about as sharp as they come. It's packed with innovative features like gesture-based playback controls, and looks great thanks to its recent iOS 7 refresh. And the Mac version of the app is equally impressive...

Pocket updated with new languages, support for Medium and more

Cody Lee ∙ April 9, 2014

Last month, popular read-it-later service Pocket took its iOS client global, adding the support of French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish languages. Until then, the app could only display UI elements (not saved content) in English.

Today the service built on that achievement by adding support for 5 new languages, including both Chinese and Portuguese, via an app update. The release, marked as version 5.2.1, also features better support for Medium and other improvements....

New report says iWatch is set to launch in September

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

It sounds like Apple is aiming for a fall launch of its so-called iWatch project. According to a new report from DigiTimes, the Cupertino company has taken delivery of samples of flexible circuit boards for the smartwatch ahead of its September debut.

The news comes just 24 hours after Taiwan’s Economic Daily News claimed that Apple was aiming for a 3rd quarter iWatch launch. And while both outlets have somewhat sketchy track records, combined with previous intel the two reports hold weight...

Upcoming ‘PushNotify’ tweak will let you forward push notifications from iOS to the Mac

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 8, 2014

I've been testing PushNotify for a few weeks, and now I can finally talk about what it does. A lot of you have been asking me about this tweak, because you've seen its settings featured in my other videos and screenshots.

PushNotify, to put it simply, is a jailbreak tweak that lets your forward push notifications to the Mac. It does so by means of a small menu-bar utility that runs on the Mac, and a jailbreak tweak that's installed via Cydia on your iOS device.

We've taken PushNotify for a test drive on video, and we'd like to show you how it works. Check inside for the details.

GesturesPlus: improve the pinch-to-close iOS 7 animation

Jeff Benjamin ∙ April 8, 2014

If you've used Auxo 2, you're probably aware of the interesting animation that occurs when closing an app using a swipe-up gesture from the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. The result is an animation that features all of the app icons on the Home screen zooming out in sync with the closing application.

This is the same pinch-to-close gesture that's available on the iPad, and it's only recently gaining significant notoriety on the iPhone due to Auxo's slick implementation of it. In iOS 7.1, Apple changed the animation slightly to better represent an app's presence in iOS' three dimensional space, and GesturesPlus—a recently released tweak available for free on Cydia's BigBoss repo—brings these changes to lesser firmware.

Admittedly, the function of this tweak is a bit difficult to explain in writing, so I encourage you to click past the break to watch the video where I compare the animations before and after GesturesPlus is installed.