iPad Air adoption dwarfs previous iPads

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

This past Friday, Apple's new iPad Air went on sale in 40+ countries at 8am local time. Third-party data suggests that early adopters are in fact liking the thinner, lighter and faster full-size iPad a lot, as corroborated by early reviews. If you compare usage data across its first three days of availability, the iPad Air usage is around five times that of its predecessor, the iPad 4. And compared to the popular iPad mini, the new iPad Air is four times more used during its first few days of availability than the first-generation iPad mini was...

Read More

Sprint’s MVNO Ting starts quietly supporting iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Sprint's mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Ting has recently started quietly supporting Apple's iPhone, a new report has discovered. According to a help document posted on the carrier's website, Ting customers can now activate the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S on its network. Previously, the Tucows-owned telco would not allow users to bring their unlocked iPhone and use it with one of its no-contract wireless plans.

Ting still isn't selling the Apple handset directly, despite a bunch of regional U.S. wireless carriers now offering the latest iPhone 5s/5c as well as previous iPhones...

Read More

Despite smaller battery, iPad Air still lasts 24-hours as LTE hotspot

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

As noted by iFixit in its recent teardown, the iPad Air's battery is noticeably smaller than its predecessor (32.9 Whr vs. 43 Whr). But thanks to the efficiency of the A7 chip and other internal mods, it still gets great battery life.

In addition to Apple's usual claim of 10-hours of web-browsing, moving-watching, etc, a weekend test by the folks over at AnandTech shows that the newly-released tablet can still last for more than 24 hours as an LTE hotspot...

Read More

Tim Cook urges Congress to approve Employment Nondiscrimination Act in open letter

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 23, 2017

In a rare occurrence, Tim Cook has spoken out in support of the pending Employment Nondiscrimination Act. The CEO penned an open letter, which ran in the Opinion section of The Wall Street Journal last night, urging Congress to approve the END Act.

The legislation would prohibit a number of civilian, non-religious companies in the US from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. And in his letter, Cook explains that a safe welcoming work environment is good for business...

Read More

Henri Lamiraux, Apple’s VP of iOS engineering, has left the company

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Henri Lamiraux, Apple's top VP of engineering for the iOS platform has left the company after 23 years. Lamiraux started as a Mac software engineer in the early 90's, and joined Scott Forstall's iPhone OS team in 2005.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Henri's reason for leaving is simply 'retirement.' But his talents will surely be missed, as he was in charge of a number of important aspects in iOS such as developing the stock applications...

Read More

Netflix begins testing 4K videos, plans to launch in 2014

Cody Lee ∙ November 4, 2013

During a recent quarterly earnings call, Netflix's Reed Hastings spoke about his ambitious plans for the company's future. The CEO hopes the streaming service will be "one of the big suppliers" of 4K (or Ultra HD) video by next year.

And this weekend it began testing the waters. GigaOM noticed that Netflix recently added a handful of 4K HD videos to its catalog. It's mostly test footage—people riding bicycles, etc.—but it gives you a good idea of what to expect...

Read More

Wallpapers of the week: Movember

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

'Tis the season," they say, but not yet the season for Christmas. The month prior to December is host to many wonderful things in life, most notably, Thanksgiving for Americans, Fall leaves, cold nights, and Starbucks never ending marketing blitz for the Pumpkin Spice Latte. As a man, or woman I suppose, November is also heralded as Movember, a month to grow a mustache to help support awareness for men's health issues.

Men the world 'round can participate by growing facial hair, particularly a mustache. If you haven't started growing your stache, only three days passed, get busy. To celebrate the manly month of Movember, today's post includes mustached wallpapers for the occasion...

Read More

This week’s top stories: iPad Air, new products, apps, and more…

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Like every Sunday, we bring you the stories that were the most popular on iDB during this past week. Whether it is a news piece, an editorial, a tutorial, a new jailbreak tweak, or an accessory review, we sum it all up in one convenient place.

If you like what you're reading, please make sure to spread the love by sharing our posts on your favorite social network.

We're usually hanging out a lot on Twitter and Facebook, more rarely on Google+.

Tim Cook: new product categories coming in 2014 iPad Air reviews are in… Fantastical 2 for iOS 7 is out with new design and features How to add iOS 7 slide to unlock functionality to older firmwares How to get rid of the blur effects in iOS 7 How to access the list view in iOS 7 Calendar app Flip flopping: how Jeff decided to get an iPad Air Rumor: five inch iPhone 6 will be first phablet optimized for one-handed use iPhone 5s beats Nokia Lumia 1020 in camera shootout FAA greenlights use of gadgets during nearly all phases of flight Facebook previews new-look Messenger with phone number integration Incredimail becomes Molto, now available on iPhone Meet the ChargeKey, one of the smallest Lightning cables we’ve ever seen How to edit beautiful Fall photos with your iPhone Best apps for downloading YouTube videos to your iPhone or iPad Wallpapers of last week: iPhone 5c tributes Apps of the week: Fantastical 2, Anomaly 2, Molto, and more…

Of course, don't forget to listen to the latest episode of our podcast, Let's Talk Jailbreak:

Also make sure to listen to this special episode where Cody, Jeff and Sebastien give their first impressions of the iPad Air.

We’re social! Find iDB on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, App.net, YouTube, and in your RSS reader. Also make sure to subscribe to our new podcast!

Read More

After fixing its mistake, T-Mobile’s free tablet data is a great deal

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

Yesterday I wrote a post going at T-Mobile pretty hard after it appeared to do the 'ol bait and switch on its free 200MB/month data claims. I wasn't alone. Numerous customers complained that T-Mobile reps were insisting that they sign up for a monthly plan in order to take advantage of the free data offer.

As it turns out, that was a mistake; a costly one as far as overall perception goes, but nonetheless a mistake. T-Mobile's CEO clarified things yesterday via Twitter, and the company appeared to iron out any miscommunication between corporate and those on the front lines.

I'm very happy about this. Not so much due to the free data — everyone knows that 200MB on an LTE network is the equivalent to raving about skiing down a 10 foot slope — yes you went down fast, but it didn't last very long. I'm happy because T-Mobile owned up to its mistake, and did what it said it'd do.

Read More

UE BOOM wireless Bluetooth speaker review: built for rugged use and convenient mobility

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Apple’s recent launch of the iPhone 5c has created an industry of new cases and accessories to compliment the colorful look of the plastic-backed phone. If you want your 5c to really stand out, match it with a colorful accessory.

The UE BOOM from Ultimate Ears came out long before the iPhone 5c was a glint in an Apple designer’s eye. However, the wireless Bluetooth speaker looks like it was made just for the colorful new phone. The two were meant to be together...

Read More

Apps of the week: Fantastical 2, Anomaly 2, Molto, and more…

Lory Gil ∙ Updated February 1, 2018

This weekend will be a time for relaxing, recovering, and eating leftover Halloween candy. Let the diets start another week, we’ve got a lot of bite-sized Snickers bars to get through.

If you are looking for a game to keep you busy while you gorge yourself on chocolates, or need an app to help you get your chaotic life back in order, we have a list of apps and games to check out this weekend…

Read More