1 out of each 4 US smartphones users has an iPhone

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 9, 2013

America is now a smartphone nation and the iPhone is increasingly becoming the favored device. Smartphones now account for 56 percent of cell phones in the United States. That's up nearly ten points from a year ago, according to a new Pew Research poll. Additionally, the iPhone is used by 25 percent of US smartphone owners - or one out of each four smartphone owners in the country.

That's a notable six-point increase from nineteen percent a year ago. The rise in US smartphones mirrors a drop in feature phones, which fell to 35 percent. Just nine percent of US adults do not own a cellphone...

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Yahoo’s new Screen iOS app is a remote control for web video

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

The struggling Internet giant - once synonymous for anything remotely dealing with online content - on Monday issued a brand new app called Yahoo Screen.

The company is billing the app as a remote control for web video of sorts. More appropriately, Yahoo Screen is your one-stop shop for both Yahoo's original and licensed video content.

You can instantly stream news, sports, food, and entertainment videos from MLB, UFC, The Onion, Martha Stewart and lots more, free of charge (no strings attached). But that's just scratching the surface as Yahoo's licensed video library includes such TV shows as Saturday Night Live, along with Yahoo Originals featuring Jack Black, Ed Helms, Zachary Levi, Cheryl Hines, Rachael Harris and more...

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Sony introduces the PS Vita TV, an Apple TV competitor that plays games

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

It appears that the PlayStation 4 isn't the only new gaming hardware we'll be seeing from Sony this year. The Tokyo-based company has just announced PlayStation Vita TV, a 6 x 10 cm console and set-top box that can connect to your TV.

The device is based on PS Vita hardware, and besides playing Vita, PSP and PS1 games, it also offers access to a range of entertainment services and PS4-specific features. And, priced at $100, it's aimed squarely at Apple's set-top box...

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Apple’s design guru Jony Ive lends his touch to Sotheby’s charity auction products

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Apple's senior vice president for design, Jony Ive, has joined a designer friend to contribute special creations for a charity auction at Sotheby's benefitting Bono's PRODUCT (RED) campaign. Among the items is a pair of rose gold Apple EarPod headphones.

Ive, along with designer Marc Newson, represents a "design which is both iconic and sublime," the musician said in a statement. Other items which received the Ive touch which will be part of the November auction: a Leica Digital Rangefinder Camera, a Steinway & Sons Grand Piano and a 2012 Range Rover...

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Microsoft invites press to September 23 Surface 2 unveiling in New York City

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Taking another crack at tablets, Windows giant Microsoft on Monday sent out invites asking select members of the press to attend its media event on Monday, September 23, in New York City. Unfazed by slow sales of its own Surface RT and Surface Pro tablet lineup after taking the $900 million charge over unsold inventory, the company is adamant to launch a second-generation Surface tablet, the Surface 2.

The high-profile press conference will take place in New York City's Chelsea, where Microsoft is expected to formally announce the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets as refreshed versions of its existing Surface RT and Surface Pro models...

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NFC/fingerprint sensor patent tips off exciting iPhone 5S Home button potential

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 9, 2013

Much has been made about the highly-expected iPhone 5S containing a fingerprint sensor within the Home button. Other talk has surrounded the promise of Near Field Communications (NFC) and Apple's off-and-on interest in the technology. It appears both a fingerprint sensor and NFC may join together to turn the next iPhone into an electronic wallet and more.

According to a new Apple patent that's surfaced in Europe, the iPhone 5S may include an updated Home button encircled by a ring which detects your finger. But this super-charged Home button also adds NFC, potentially replacing passwords and enabling secure wireless e-commerce, next-generation docks and other exciting opportunities...

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NSA slides: Steve Jobs is Big Brother, Apple users are ‘zombies’

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 9, 2013

In case you missed our Sunday coverage of the newly exposed NSA tactics, the snooping agency - thanks to its secret 10-year initiative code-named Bullrun which runs at $250 million a year - has been able to successfully crack much of the Internet's widely-used encryption technologies to compromise everyone's online communications, banking transactions and other sensitive data.

And now, internal NSA slides from a 2010 report titled 'Exploring Current Trends, Targets and Techniques' and leaked by the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden shamefully depict iPhone customers as 'zombies'. As if that weren't enough, in a reference to the George Orwell book '1984' Steve Jobs himself is being portrayed as Big Brother...

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VoiceChanger brings live voice effects to the Phone app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

VoiceChanger is a new jailbreak tweak from Elias Limneos — the same developer that brought us Call Recording, and CallBar for the iPhone. Needless to say, he's a very experienced developer when it comes to getting more out of the average phone call on iOS.

As you've probably already figured out, his latest tweak allows users to change the sound of their voices while on a phone call. VoiceChanger allows callers to select between 4 different voice effects (plus the normal voice), and you can do so while on a live phone call. Have a look inside for more info.

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Apple’s budget-minded iPhone 5C will fit T-Mobile ‘like a glove’

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 9, 2013

Apple's much-expected iPhone 5C, noted for its multi-colored plastic body and inexpensive price, could become known for something more: mortally wounding cellular contracts. The test could come this month as Apple unveils the less-expensive iPhone at around what analysts believe will be $400-$500, unsubsidized. For the first time, US carrier T-Mobile - which doesn't require subscribers sign a two-year contract - will go head-to-head against traditional carriers AT&T and Verizon.

Both carriers may lose customers to T-Mobile as all four domestic carriers offer the new iPhones simultaneously, analysts say. While both AT&T and Verizon provide a subsidy on the iPhone's price in return for a two-year contract, T-Mobile lauds its absence of such a requirement. T-Mobile began selling the iPhone in April of 2013...

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Opera unveils new iPad-only browser, Coast

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Opera Software, a Norwegian developer primarily known for its Opera family of web browsers with over 350 million users worldwide, today unleashed a brand new iPad browser.

It's called Coast and they're billing it as "the browser that should have come with the iPad." If anything, Coast strives to answer the question, "What should a tablet browser be?”

It's packed with advanced features and features an unassumingly minimalistic user interface. Opera insists it's not a mere mobile browser tweak, nor a scaled-down PC browser.

"It is something new," Opera teased Monday, although I'm not sure that's the right choice of words as Coast is based on Safari's WebKit engine, in accordance with App Store rules. Anyway, the new browser is based on intuitive swipe gestures and Opera claims to have invented a lot of technology that "works under the hood, keeping you safe and secure".

Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

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Video of blue iPhone 5C up and running?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2016

The Chinese technology blog C Technology over the past week posted purported shots of the iPhone 5C packaging as well as an alleged video of the fully assembled and powered on red plastic iPhone 5C variant, running the stock iOS 7 Safari browser.

Monday morning, the blog posted another video apparently depicting a light blue iPhone 5C in action, running iOS 7. The short clip takes us through the Home screen, user interface transitions, Safari tabs, the Lock screen and other aspects of Apple's redesigned mobile operating system...

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