It's that time of year again. The holidays are just a few weeks away, which means that cold weather, major Black Friday sales, and of course the annual iTunes Connect shutdown are all rapidly approaching.
In fact, Apple sent out an email to developers today, notifying them of the upcoming iTunes Connect closing. The tool, which devs use to submit and manage their apps, will be offline from December 21-27...
There's been a lot of talk in recent months about the consumer's right to unlock their mobile devices, but very little meaningful action. That changed this week, though, thanks to new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.
Wheeler sent out a letter to the CTIA (the governing body of the wireless industry) urging it to amend its Consumer Code to include a policy ensuring consumer rights to get their devices unlocked once off contract...
With the iPhone 5s in high demand, still-constrained supply of the iPad Air and tight availability of the iPad mini with Retina display, getting your hands on one of Apple's latest iDevices isn't yet a simple matter of waltzing inside your nearest Apple Store and pulling a credit card out of your pocket.
A handful of web apps in existence provide iDevice availability information by repurposing Apple's online store data. But having taken a tough stance on scrapping its web store, Apple has recently dispatched its lawyers.
One of the first ones to bite the dust was the popular Apple-Tracker.com, which got shuttered shortly after receiving a takedown notice from Apple's legal team. Not content with going down without a fight, administrator Mordy Tikotzky has released the website code into the wild, allowing others to make web-based inventory-checker tools...
If Electronic Arts' first-person shooter Battlefield 4 has been keeping you glued to your Windows PC or PlayStation/Xbox console, you won't want miss out on this one. Released today as a free download for the iPad on Apple's App Store, the Battlefield 4 Tablet Commander app provides a no-compromise second-screen experience letting you command the battlefield and compete with the opposing teams commander directly from your iPad, using easy touch gestures and drag-and-drop interface...
Earlier this month, BlackBerry announced plans to receive an investment worth over $1 billion in the form of a debt sale and to fire its CEO Thorsten Heins. Instead of sell out, the company has decided to try and rebuild.
Of course, that's much easier said than done. Not only has BlackBerry lost nearly all of its consumer marketshare, it's also lost most of its major enterprise accounts, and word has it that another one—Pfizer—is on the way out...
What better way to manipulate AAPL than trash-talk the company on a Friday and let bloggers disseminate FUD? First, UBS analyst Steve Milunovich articulated his disappointment with iPad sales because the tablet in general "simply isn’t a must-have device" (I swear I'm not making this up).
Next, Henry Blodget (who runs Business Insider) is back with his 'iPhone dead in the water' meme: Apple's refusal to go for low-value customers has been ticking Blodget off for some time, even if the move carries the real risk of damaging the brand beyond repair.
Then, a Chinese blog asserts Apple is further trimming the iPhone 5c production as early adopters continue to prefer the flagship iPhone 5s. Finally we have Morgan Stanley creatively putting all of the Android tablets together - including those sold on the Moon plus sub-$50 no-names sitting in the drawer collecting dust - to proclaim Google's platform a revenue winner.
Grab your popcorn and chillax...
Nearly 6 months after announcing that it would be coming in 'a few weeks,' Google has finally launched an official Google Play Music app for iPhone. The software allows you to use both Google's All Access and standard music services.
All Access is similar to Spotify and other like-services, allowing users to listen to unlimited songs and create custom radio stations. And the standard service lets you upload 20,000 of your own songs to the cloud for playback anywhere...
An unknown portion of the first batch of Retina iPad minis coming out of assembly line is apparently plagued with the screen retention problem, reports from disgruntled users claim. Every Apple product launch is marred with teething issues, though this one is more than skin-deep. As we reported, Korea’s ETNews blamed the issues last week on production woes with Sharp-made IGZO Retina panels.
Manufacturing issues have apparently prompted Apple to negotiate with Samsung Display for the supply of 7.9-inch Retina screens starting next year, as Samsung’s display-making unit “was the first to solve the technological problem”. At the heart of the issue is malfunctioning of Sharp’s thin-film transistor screen technology...
Nest, a startup run by the iPod Godfather and brilliant engineer Tony Fadell, made a name for itself with a sleek, intelligent thermostat (check out Jeff's hands-on) and the beautiful smoke and carbon monoxide detector dubbed Nest Protect. Today, the company has announced a big update coming soon to its companion application for the iPhone and iPad to allow for easier and, well, eye-candy management and robust remote control of your app-enabled Nest devices.
For starters, the app's been redesigned from the ground up and now supports both landscape and portrait orientation and includes gorgeous animated weather and more detailed Where location settings for Nest devices.
The headline new feature is support for both the Nest Thermostat and the upcoming Nest Protect smoke-detector, making it a one-stop solution for Nest device management, from the palm of your hand...
To say that Candy Crush Saga, a game that challenges players to match candies in a combination of three or more, is a hit would be an understatement. You can't scroll through Facebook or walk through the mall without seeing it.
And today, The Telegraph added some context to the success. Speaking with Tommy Palm of developer King, the news outlet is reporting that Candy Crush has surpassed the 500 million download mark, just one year after launching...
As of yesterday, Apple's internal retail system which runs Apple Stores in the United States has been experiencing nationwide outage which is threatening to hurt the company's retail revenue as the downtime continues to slow down the sales process and affect both walk-in purchases and in-store pickups of online orders.
In fact, Apple has now switched to a pen and paper system, in some instances replacing its custom-made EasyPay self-checkout software/hardware combo with old-fashioned credit card machines.
The full details are right past the fold..
As the Apple v. Samsung trial to recalculate the damages Samsung owes continues, Phil Schiller took the stand yesterday. Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing was called up to speak with just 11 minutes left in the session.
But that still proved enough time for Schiller to dish out some interesting details about his role at Apple, and its early days of iPhone development. He said around 100 people worked on what was referred to as the 'bet the company' product...