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Mercedes-Benz hints at CarPlay aftermarket upgrades for older vehicles

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 6, 2014

I immediately noticed writing about Apple's CarPlay that our commenters have been wondering whether this new feature that basically puts iOS in the car front and center would be available for older vehicles.

Turns out this just might be a possibility because Mercedes-Benz, one of Apple's launch partners for CarPlay, has now officially confirmed that it is working on aftermarket installations for older vehicles.

Jordan Kahn of 9to5Mac was able to confirm with a Mercedes-Benz representative that the car maker is looking into getting an “an after-market solution for previous cars”, confirming the option should become available by the end of the year...

Apple said to be ‘scrambling’ to make changes to IAP policies required by March 31

Cody Lee ∙ March 6, 2014

In a settlement with the FTC earlier this year regarding a lawsuit over in-app purchases, Apple told the commission that it would issue refunds to those affected and modify its in-app billing system to make things more clear. The FTC agreed and gave the company until March 31, 2014 to make the changes.

In order to meet the government's orders, Apple must alter its billing practices to obtain a user's express consent before billing them for an in-app purchase, and provide them with an easy way to withdraw that consent. And according to a new report, Apple engineers are scrambling to meet the deadline...

Clear goes free one last time so you can migrate from Clear+ to Clear

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

In an attempt to fix the confusing mess surrounding seemingly same versions of its to-do app for the iPhone and iPad, Clear and Clear+, developer Realmac Software last month announced it would make the former app temporarily free so people who previously bought Clear+ could migrate to Clear without having to purchase that app, too.

Making true on its promise, Realmac on February 27 slashed Clear to $0. As the promotion ran for only 24 hours, not everyone was aware of the price cut. Those who missed their chance to save $4.99 by grabbing this nicely done gesture-driven app for zero bucks needn't despair - Realmac has again made Clear free for the next 24 hours.

What are you waiting for, get downloading...

LG’s bizarre G Flex ad is disturbing, infographic pretends the iPhone never existed

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 6, 2014

Titled 'The Most Human Phone Ever', LG's newest commercial for its curved G Flex handset must be one of the weirdest, most bizarre smartphone commercials we've seen to date. Trust me, it's really disturbing and will give you nightmares. The video is airing to viewers in The Netherlands.

The firm also posted a cool infographic with a visual timeline depicting the history of the smartphone.

In another 'what were they thinking' moment, the illustration makes absolutely no mention of the original iPhone's release back in 2007 - it's as if Apple's handset never existed...

Apple Store app is giving away free music

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 6, 2014

As an incentive meant to drive customers to buy their iPhones straight from one of Apple's retail stores in the United States rather than from carriers and other retailers, Apple last August started offering free digital content through its Apple Store shopping app, a free download for the iPhone and iPad.

After offering Electronic Arts’ excellent take on the classic Tetris game last month, the iPhone maker has now updated its free content promo by replacing the block-dropping game with a few “exciting new tracks helping to define this year’s musical landscape".

Here's how to claim your free music now...

Spotify snaps up music intelligence provider The Echo Nest

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

The popular Swedish music-streaming startup, Spotify, has just purchased The Echo Nest, a music intelligence company in the business of synthesizing billions of data points and transforming them "into musical understanding to power smarter music applications for our customers".

And just who those customers might be? Well, the startup powers a myriad of music services, among them Spotify rivals like Rdio, iHeartRadio, Nokia MixRadio, Twitter Music and others so this is clearly a well played move on Spotify's part.

While The Echo Nest will meet all contractual obligations to all customers, Spotify's Graham James made it clear his company will scrutinize these relationships and "determine the next business steps"...

Sunrise Calendar now supports Exchange accounts

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Sunrise Calendar [review], a free iOS calendar alternative, has finally introduced long-expected support for Microsoft Exchange accounts for corporate calendars, making it on par with the stock iOS Calendar app.

Now available free in the App Store, this much-expected feature in the new Sunrise Calendar version 2.2 makes it easy to connect your Exchange account directly in the app to access your work-related tasks and events on the iPhone and iPad.

Support for Exchange accounts is in addition to the existing iCloud and Google calendar integration. Before linking your Exchange calendars with Sunrise, you must first add an Exchange account to your device in iOS Settings under Mail, Contacts, Calendars...

New ‘Wello’ iPhone case measures blood pressure, temperature and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 27, 2017

Rumor has it that Apple's so-called iWatch will be capable of reading your blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs. But you may not have to wait until its release to purchase such a device. Meet the 'Wello,' the all-in-one health-tracking iPhone case.

The Wello has built-in sensors that can give you a picture of your overall health after holding it for just a few seconds. It measures heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and blood oxygen levels—and can even test your lung function via a small attachment...

Eddy Cue and other Apple execs granted $19 million in restricted stock bonuses

Cody Lee ∙ March 6, 2014

According to some recent SEC filings, Eddy Cue, Phil Schiller and other Apple executives have been awarded restricted stock bonuses that will vest over the next 3 years. The bonuses consist of more than 30,000 shares, worth in upwards of $19 million at today's prices.

Restricted stock units, or RSUs, are typically given as an incentive to stay with a company. Additionally, since they convert into shares of stock upon vesting, they encourage execs to put their 'best foot forward' as their value directly correlates to the firm's performance...

Paypal updated with new security features, Smart Connect support and more

Cody Lee ∙ March 6, 2014

Folks who use eBay's PayPal payment service will be happy to hear that the company updated its iOS client this morning, bringing the app to version 5.4. The update brings about an important new security feature as well as various other improvements.

The new security feature allows you to attach your mobile phone to your PayPal account so that they can be sure it's you authorizing activity. It does this by linking the phone number(s) of the device(s) you use PayPal on to your 4-digit security PIN code...

How to send group emails on Mac

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 11, 2023

Creating a group email can be a real time saver as you don't have to manually enter each recipient's email address. Instead, you can quickly type in the name of a group of contacts that you want to send an email to and have the "to:" field of your email client populated for you automatically.

In this post, we will show you how to send group emails from your Mac. As you will soon be able to verify, sending messages to a group from your Mac is a fairly simple and quick process.