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Samsung beating budget phone vendors in China, Apple losing ground

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 6, 2013

Apple may be winning in the United States, the world's top market for smartphones, but in the 1.33 billion people market of China - which is Apple's second most-important territory revenue-wise - Samsung is beating local vendors of cheap handsets to the punch.

According to data from research firm Canalys, Samsung has overpowered rivals in China.

The company has grown its September quarter share to 21 percent, a notable jump from just fourteen percent a year earlier. The Galaxy maker was estimated to have shipped nineteen million smartphones during the third quarter ended September 30. It's worth underscoring Samsung does not disclose unit sales like Apple does, citing competitive reasons.

For the most part, Samsung's growth came at the expense of local vendors who build dirt-cheap handsets. But what about Apple?

WSJ: Apple contracts two new manufacturers to build iOS devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 23, 2017

Apple has long relied on Foxconn, the world's top manufacturer, to assemble its gadgets. In small part, Apple also taps Foxconn's rival, Taiwan-based Pegatron, on a regular basis for some orders. According to a new Wall Street Journal report Wednesday, Tim Cook & Co. have now contracted an additional two companies to help assemble iPhones and iPads amid growing demand for the products.

Mind you, it's not like Apple suddenly stopped loving Foxconn - the company will continue to build the iPhone 5s - but the report makes a passing mention of Apple apparently being dissatisfied with the high repair costs over defective iPhone 5 units and ongoing labor controversies surrounding Foxconn...

Apple hits 40.6 percent share of US smartphone subscribers

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 6, 2013

Research firm comScore is out with its new report measuring the state of the United States smartphone market for a three-month period ended September 30 and Apple's iPhone grew its share to comprise a healthy 40.6 percent of the nation's smartphone units. In other words, four out of each ten smartphones in the country were iPhones.

Samsung also gained share, LG stayed flat while HTC and Motorola both lost ground amid strong competition from Apple and Samsung devices. All told, iOS seems to be gaining ground overall, adding 0.7 percentage points to its share versus 0.2 percentage points for Android. The full reveal and charts can be found after the break...

Lost Echo review: a riveting point-and-click adventure game

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Point-and-click games are not nearly as popular as they should be in the App Store, especially for the iPad. The touch screen tablet is perfect for exploring a rich environment and finding hidden clues. The best way to find something that is missing is to touch everything.

Lost Echo is a cerebral point-and-click adventure game that puts you a short time into the future and sends you on a mission to find out what happened the day Chloe disappeared…

Luxuria Superbia explores the joy of touch on your iPad

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Considering how many endless runner, physics-based, and side-scrolling platformer games there are coming to the App Store every day, it is hard to believe that anything new and original is possible.

Luxuria Superbia is a visual abstract game that mixes music and touch to create a relaxing and zen-like experience. Unlock the colors and grow your garden with controlled strokes that turn a colorless world beautiful…

Google’s Waze app updated with voice search, event reporting and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

After months of speculation, Google bought popular social mapping startup Waze in June of this year. And following the purchase, Google's VP of Geo said the company was looking forward to bringing its search capabilities to the app.

Today, it has made good on that promise. An update just posted for the Waze iPhone and iPad app, which brings it to version to 3.7.6, that includes a handy new voice-based search option for addresses and places in over 40 languages...

Let’s Talk iOS 001: Now we’re talking

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated August 1, 2018

Welcome to the first episode of Let's Talk iOS. In this episode, we break down our feelings about the new iPad Air after a few days of intense usage. Jeff talks about his ability to use the iPad Air as a full fledged work machine, and Cody and Sebastien reiterate their plans to purchase the new iPad mini with Retina Display.

How to quickly list every app on your iOS 7 device

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

So, you’ve got apps spread out everywhere throughout your device. Some are scattered about multiple pages, and some, courtesy of iOS 7’s lax folder restrictions, are scattered throughout multiple pages of folders. How’s a guy to keep tabs on all of this activity?

One easy way to do so is to simply use iOS’ built in Spotlight search. Obviously, you can use Spotlight to search for a number of different items on your device, including apps. Inside, I’ll show you how to quickly list every installed application on your device, along with the folders that they reside in.

Getting more from the iOS 7 app switcher

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

The iOS 7 app switcher is a significant departure from the previous way that app switching worked in iOS. Apple’s latest and greatest mobile operating system ditched the small app switcher that appeared near the bottom of the screen in favor of a more front and center app switching mechanism.

I don’t think you’ll find a single person out there that agrees that this new way is inferior to the app switching ways of old. Not only do we now have full screen previews of our running apps, we can also choose to eliminate them by means of a simple swipe up gesture.

But outside of the mere aesthetic appeal of the new interface, there’s more to be gained in day-to-day usage. Inside, you’ll find a couple of my favorite new, largely obvious, uses for the new app switcher.

Comcast’s new ‘Xfinity TV Go’ app lets you watch live TV on the go

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 15, 2018

Comcast customers will be happy to hear that the cable provider has launched a new app today, Xfinity TV Go, for iOS devices. It's actually a rebrand of the previous 'TV Play' app, with a number of new features.

The most important, though, is the ability to stream live television from your iPhone or iPad while on the go. That's right, as long as you are on a Wi-Fi network (not just the one in your home), you can watch TV...

American Airlines now allows gate-to-gate device use

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2013

Last week, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration appeased to gadget lovers by announcing that it will allow airlines to expand use of personal electronics such as tablets and smartphones during nearly all phases of flight. The much-welcomed development means busy folks who detest having to switch off their gadgets before takeoff and landing for fear of messing with the avionics now have plenty to smile about.

The new FAA rules pledge responsible travelers on both domestic and international flights to agree to using their devices in airplane mode most of the time. Following the announcement, American Airlines said yesterday it will permit all passengers to use their gadgets gate-to-gate...

Rdio finally brings back Recommendations, revamps Stations player

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Rdio, the popular Internet radio service, has just pushed a long-expected update that has finally enabled a music recommendation engine in its iPhone and iPad app. Fans will remember that the inaugural 1.0 build had that useful feature front and center.

Unfortunately, it was inexplicably pulled as the company started experimenting with stuff like Pandora-style personalized Stations and got busy implementing social features and other enhancements.

It was a little over a month ago that Rdio confirmed plans to bring back the popular music-recommendation capability and today they've made good on that promise...