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Shazam revamps content pages, introduces scrollable lyrics, enhanced Rdio support and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 28, 2014

Friday, music discovery engine Shazam has refreshed its iOS apps with some fine new features, starting with a brand new track page design and a new look and feel for video, album, track reviews, artist bios and other pages.

"Many" (but not all) song lyrics will now scroll in time with the music, a handy feature if you're singing along a song trying to remember the lyrics.

Shazam last December added the ability to listen for songs and television shows in the background, tagging them automatically.

Background listening can negatively impact your battery so you'll be delighted to learn that the new Shazam 7.5 apps are more power friendly "so you don’t need to worry about your battery life while it’s running."

Both the free, ad-supported Shazam and the paid Shazam Encore have been updated with these changes...

Camera Plus introduces AirSnap feature that lets you shoot photos remotely

Lory Gil ∙ March 28, 2014

This whole “selfie” phenomenon has just got to go. How many people do you know with one of those top-down, slightly angled pictures of themselves used as their profile image for just about everything? The front-facing camera may have made it easier to snap pictures you are in, but they’ve turned everyone into self-centered paparazzi.

Camera Plus was recently updated to include support for the iPad, but that’s not the biggest news. You can use one device to take pictures with another using AirSnap. Now, those selfies won’t look so staged…

Swiss watchmakers complain about Apple courting their talents

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 28, 2014

Earlier this month, we relayed reports asserting Apple may be looking to build its rumored wearable project, dubbed iWatch, in Switzerland. The iPhone maker reportedly created a company in the country for this purpose, prompting watchers to speculate that the iWatch could potentially carry the ‘Swiss Made’ label.

Sources claimed Apple had approached some of the world’s finest watchsmiths and attempted to poach talents employed by such watchmaking groups as LVMH.

The Financial Times is now corroborating these reports in a story Friday, writing that Apple's been courting high-level executives and craftsmen at Swiss watch brands to help build the iWatch, in one instance even attempting to recruit a horologists directly.

However, Swiss watchmakers have apparently rejected the possible iWatch project collaboration as they reportedly have no time to enter into any kind of partnership agreement with any of Silicon Valley's technology giants...

Apple seeds OS X 10.9.3 beta build 13D28 to devs

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Following the release of iTunes 11.1.6 and OS X 10.9.3 betas to developers and AppleCare employees earlier this month, Apple on Friday seeded another OS X 10.9.3 beta to developers.

Now available in Dev Center for registered Mac developers, a new version (build 13D28) of what would become Apple's third major software update to its desktop operating system focuses on further refinements to Graphics Drivers, Safari, Audio and Contacts and Calendar sync over USB in iTunes...

Apple apparently expanding operations at Arizona plant to increase sapphire output

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 28, 2014

As rumored yesterday, looks like Apple is indeed planning an expansion at its Mesa, Arizona plant to boost sapphire output ahead of the next-generation iPhone production. According to a new report Friday morning, the company is looking to double the number of high-tech furnaces that make sapphire boules in bulk.

Whereas previous records claimed Apple and its partner GT Advanced would use about 950 furnaces at the site, sources are now saying the firms want to equip the facility with some 1,700 furnaces. That could mean bolstering of yields to increase the plant's output beyond an estimated 100 to 200 million sapphire displays per year.

Apple has poured a cool $576 million into the Mesa facility to secure an exclusive, multi-year output of sapphire products. It's widely believed Tim Cook & Co. have found a way of strengthening the next iPhone's screen by applying a thin layer of sapphire material on top of the handset's cover glass...

Strong demand for Apple products boosts Foxconn and Pegatron’s earnings

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Demand for Apple's latest products is as strong as ever, it would seem. After reporting sales of 51 million iPhones and 26 million iPads during the lucrative holiday quarter, as a result Apple's key contract manufacturers - Foxconn and Pegatron - are seeing a nice rise in their earnings, too.

Pegatron, the primary manufacturer of the iPhone 5c and iPad mini, last week reported a cool 22 percent annual rise in earnings attributed to strong demand for mobile products. Apple is responsible for as much as 40 percent of Pegatron's business so the manufacturer's fortunes are closely tied to the iPhone maker's.

As for Foxconn, they reported a 13 percent rise in net profit today. Foxconn is the world's top contract manufacturer and Apple's lead supplier...

BeHere app uses iBeacons to identify which students are attending classroom sessions

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

iBeacons, Apple's cool indoor positioning technology in iOS 7 based on power-sipping Bluetooth 4.0 networking, is seeing some strong adoption across a variety of industries.

Grocery stores are embracing the technology and retailers like Macy's and Apple's own retail stores have deployed tiny iBeacon transmitters to put useful information on users' Lock screens as they move around the store.

Theme parks, music festivals and sports venues are increasingly using iBeacons and one use case even involves giving bar patrons free access to Newsstand magazines.

The latest iBeacon implementation has to do with the classroom: a new BeHere app by a Brazilian company called Beelieve (free download) automatically takes attendance as students enter the classroom, using iBeacon transmitters...

Microsoft Stores offering free 1-year Office 365 subscriptions, Amazon taking 33% off

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 28, 2014

If you visit a Microsoft Store today and bring your iPad with you, Microsoft may give you a free one-year subscription to Office 365, a $99 value.

Following yesterday's release of Office for iPad with native Excel, Word and PowerPoint applications, the Windows giant's retail stores are now promoting the apps by giving away a 1-year Office 365 subscription to the first 50 people who turn up at the door and bring in an iPad with them.

If you don't have the time to visit your nearby Microsoft Store or there's no store in your area, Amazon is now offering a discounted annual Office 365 subscription for $67...

Rovio Stars releases cute wordsearch game in the App Store, Word Monsters

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Rovio Stars, the Angry Birds maker's third-party publishing arm, has released a new iOS game in the App Store. Word Monsters for the iPhone and iPad, available now on a free-to-play basis, tests your language skills by pitting you against players from all around the world for the title of the ultimate Word Monster.

Developed by Raketspel, it's a fun take on wordsearch, with a twist: players get to choose their preferred theme of words they want to compete in, ranging from fruits names to food to 80's pop songs and more. Then, it's race against the clock to find all the words in the right order to complete the level...

iCab Mobile 8.0: rewritten for iOS 7, QR codes, multi-user support and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 28, 2014

Remember iCab Mobile, an excellent browser by German developer Alexander Clauss? It was one of the first third-party web browsers to grace the App Store back in 2010 and continues to be packed with advanced features you won't find in other iPhone browsers.

I'm talking about stuff like Dropbox integration, the ability to upload and download files, sync settings via iCloud, great implementation of tabbed browsing, full screen mode and configurable multi-touch gestures, to name a few.

Alexander has just announced eighth major iteration of iCab Mobile, now available for $1.99 in the App Store for the iPhone and iPad. Here's what's new and why you should care...

Yahoo News Digest gains background downloads, improved notifications and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Yahoo is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the web this week and it's been marking the occasion by refreshing its key products. Yesterday, the company pushed a new version of the Weather iOS app with new animations, pull-to-refresh for cover images and more.

Today, Yahoo's news-reading product with summarization technology got refreshed, too. News Digest version 1.1.1 is now available in the App Store, bringing with it background downloads of new content, new notification messages and more...

Sketchy schematic drawing of next-gen iPhones surfaces

Cody Lee ∙ March 28, 2014

A fairly sketchy, schematic-like drawing has surfaced on the web this morning depicting what could be two next-gen iPhones. The image, which is of terrible quality, was first published by popular Japanese magazine MacFan and then passed on by Macotakara.

As you can see, the drawing shows two separate handsets: one with a 4.7-inch display and one with a 5.7-inch display. This lines up with several previous reports, as do many of the design elements of the devices such as their bezel-free screens and slim profile...