Apple working on multitouch gestures for iOS keyboard, patent hints

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Although Apple's iOS is known for its gesture-based interface, the iPhone maker is notoriously hesitant about enhancing the virtual keyboard feature. A patent granted Tuesday reveals the company has been considering adopting multitouch keyboard from the moment the iPhone appeared. The patent filing entitled 'Swipe gestures for touch screen keyboards' outlines gestures to handle common keyboard tasks, such as deletion, punctuation and more...

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Apple and fellow tech titans expand fight against patent trolls to EU

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 27, 2013

Apple and more than a dozen other titans of technology have written to European Union officials, expressing concern that a unified patent court system could encourage patent trolls to expand their lawsuits overseas.

New rules now being developed could create "significant opportunities for abuse" allowing patent owners to "extract substantial royalties," according to the letter obtained by the New York Times.

Starting in 2015 trolls could take infringement cases to non-member countries or nations without much experience, creating a European version of the Eastern District of Texas. Courts in that U.S. district are notorious for rulings favorable to companies suing tech firms, according to the letter...

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Contract-free iPhone 5s/5c launching on Virgin Mobile next Tuesday

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 17, 2017

Along with nine regional United States wireless carriers who yesterday announced October 1 availability of new iPhones, Virgin Mobile on Friday teased that it too will start carrying both the flagship iPhone 5s and the colorful iPhone 5c models pretty soon, as early as next week.

Considering nine of its regional rivals will start carrying the devices next Tuesday, there's little reason to believe Virgin would risk falling behind that schedule. Virgin Mobile is Sprint's prepaid carrier so the telco should offer the new iPhones subsidized and contract-free...

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Apple hasn’t lost its coolness, declare UK brand experts

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 27, 2013

Apple once again leads the list of brands viewed as cool in the UK. In its twelfth annual CoolBrands Top 20 survey suggesting an improving British economy, the iPhone ranks No. 1 among luxury brands such as Aston Martin, Rolex and Bang & Olufsen.

The California-based gadget maker was able to shrug off stiff competition from 10,000 independent brands to retain the top spot. Android's Google dropped to the fifth spot with YouTube and Twitter also falling position. Microsoft's Skype even dropped out of the top 20, according to the Coolbrands rankings...

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Inside Apple’s A7: dual-core CPU, quad-core GPU, Secure Enclave has 3MB SRAM

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Following their initial analysis of the iPhone 5s's innards, silicon experts at Chipworks have now taken a closer look at the handset's 64-bit A7 processor to reveal a number of interesting tidbits in their initial low-level chip analysis. Based on transistor-level images of the Apple-designed, Samsung-built package, Chipworks was able to determine that the A7 consists of a dual-core processing core and quad-core graphics, tentatively identified as the four cluster version of Imagination Technologies’s PowerVR Series 6, the G6430.

Apple, along with Intel, is of course an investor with a ten percent stake in Imagination Technologies, the UK-based fabless semiconductor maker. Chipworks also focused on a portion of the A7 chip called Secure Enclave where Apple says fingerprint profile is stored securely and walled off from the entire system, except the Touch ID circuitry...

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Apple patent envisions digital autographs

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 27, 2013

Have you ever read a book or listened to music and wanted an autograph of the author or artist? For printed items, the wish is easily granted - not so for their electronic equivalent. Now Apple has filed to patent a method for embedding autographs in ebooks and other digital material.

The patent application, titled 'Embedding an autograph in an electronic book,' describes a way an author can use a special application to digitally sign an ebook, video, song or author content, then share it with owners of the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad devices...

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The Verizon iPhone 5s comes unlocked just like the Verizon iPhone 5

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

It looks like we're 2 for 2 when it comes to unlocked iPhones on Verizon's network. As you all know, I picked up my Verizon iPhone 5s on launch day, but I haven't been able to test it out with a GSM sim card until today.

I walked into Walgreens just a few hours ago, and picked up one of T-Mobile's No Annual Contract kits that contains the SIM card starter kit. Unfortunately the SIM card that came with the kit was one of the old-school normal sized SIM cards (people still use those?), so I had to break out a pair of scissors and cut it down.

After a few minutes of manicuring the SIM card down to a nano size, I was ready to rock and roll. I popped out my Verizon SIM, inserted my T-Mobile SIM, and sure enough, I was on T-Mobile's "4G" network.

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New photos show alleged gold iPad mini 2 with Touch ID Home button

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

While it's still unclear if the next-gen iPad mini will sport a Retina display, it seems that it will feature a Touch ID Home button and gold color option. That is, if this pair of leaked photos showing the alleged tablet are to be believed.

The above image, and one we've posted right after the break, surfaced on Chinese site DoNews this morning. And as you can see, they show what appears to be a 7.9-inch iPad with a gold-colored shell and Apple's new fingerprint sensor...

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Chainsaw Warrior review: save the world from the Darkness

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

In 1987, Games Workshop launched a single-player zombie fighting board game that made it possible for lonely souls to play a full game all by themselves. I know what that is like. It’s not as sad as it sounds.

Recently, Auroch Digital re-imagined Chainsaw Warrior for iOS. Now, you don’t even have to read the complicated directions in order to kill zombies, destroy the Darkness, and save New York…

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Advisory committee asks FAA to relax restrictions on electronic device use

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Good news frequent flyers, you may soon not have to worry about turning off your iPhone or iPad in airplanes anymore. The FAA advisory committee has recommended that electronic device restrictions on commercial aircraft be relaxed.

The special council, which was assigned to explore the effects of in-flight device usage, has met with the Federal Aviation Administration and is urging it to allow passengers to to use tablets and other electronics during takeoff and landing...

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