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Apple seen testing new App Store ranking scheme based on user ratings

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Ever since Apple in February 2012 bought Chomp, an app discovery engine, and subsequently killed both its Android and iOS apps, the rumor-mill has been abuzz with the supposed improvements to the App Store discovery stemming from the acqui-hire.

Disregarding the occasional tweaks to the App Store search algorithm here and there, the experience of discovering popular software beyond the apps Apple exposes on the main App Store pages remains a very tedious affair.

To put it perfectly bluntly, it often feels like finding a needle in the haystack. But according to a new report out Friday, things could soon improve as the company's apparently been experimenting with new algorithms for iTunes and App Store rankings...

DOJ: Apple used in-app purchases as club against Amazon

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The U.S. Department of Justice Friday tweaked its ebook settlement offer, including emails between Steve Jobs and Apple's marketing head. The revised settlement charges Apple altered its in-app purchasing policy "to retaliate against Amazon for competitive conduct that Apple disproved of."

The email exchange between Jobs and marketing chief Philip Schiller discussed how to counteract an Amazon commercial showing how the internet retailers app allowed ebooks to be read on either the iPad or the Kindle...

Android a frequent favorite in discount stores – until iPhone 5C arrives

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 23, 2013

Discount shoppers are more apt to buy an Android smartphone than an Apple iPhone. Indeed, Android handsets are three times as likely to be sold through discounters such as Walmart and Costco than Apple's smartphone, new research indicates. The numbers are just the latest from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), providing insight into where and by whom Apple and Android devices are purchased...

Apple’s next-gen Mac Pro ad hits YouTube ahead of Fall release

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 23, 2013

As Apple engineers scramble to finalize the next-generation Mac Pro for US-based assembly, the company's marketing department has been increasingly teasing and hyping the dream machine ahead of its Fall launch. Moviegoers who'd gone out to see the new Jobs biopic last weekend, or any other movie for that matter, spotted a Mac Pro video.

The clip, which later started airing in theaters nationwide, shows the radically new machine from various angles without revealing too much. Now that Apple has uploaded the commercial to YouTube, expect to see it rolling on television nationwide. I've queued up the video right after the fold...

Bloomberg: Apple’s slowing growth now worries case makers

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 23, 2013

People love to accessorize their mobile devices. Indeed, the multi-billion dollar industry for gadget accessories has been thriving for years now on the seemingly unstoppable popularity of Apple's mobile devices. The accessory industry had really started to take off a decade ago, after the iPod came out.

It boomed following the iPhone and iPod touch introduction in 2007, with tablets such as the iPad having become the latest lucrative market for case vendors out there. So, what do you do if you're an established case maker in Asia at a time when Apple's growth has been slowing?

As you fortunes are most certainly closely tied to Apple's, priorities change as you start giving more attention to non-Apple gadget makers, namely to Samsung but also to a bunch of local vendors who produce inexpensive smartphones and tablets...

Apple revamps Education mini-site

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 23, 2013

Slowly but surely, Apple has been revamping sub-section by sub-section of its website to bring the visual language, navigation and overall design in line with the flattened and cleaned up iOS 7 look and feel.

We've just received a word that Apple has redesigned the Apple and Education mini-site with a much simpler navigation and layout that revolves around larger teaser images and less text.

The mini-site strives to provide resources for teachers and parents about how Apple products can help them educate their kids...

Gold iPhone could pave way for Apple riches

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

All the chatter over whether a gold (or champagne) iPhone would be a good move on Apple's part has served to highlight a glaring gap in our global knowledge.

What started out last week as a report on the economic value of a golden iPhone, quickly morphed into suggestions that gold was a preferred color in China - even a 'lucky' color for consumers there. Now comes the coup de grâce of the color debate: a comparison of auto tints...

CEO Steve Ballmer will retire within 12 months, Microsoft confirms

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

I bet you haven't seen this coming. Microsoft's controversial and enthusiastic chief executive officer Steve Ballmer will retire within the next twelve months, the company said in a media release.

The company cunningly chose Friday to break the unexpected news so investors have the time to chew on the development over the weekend.

The Windows giant said Ballmer will retire as CEO upon the completion of a process to choose his successor. In the meantime, Ballmer will continue as CEO and will lead Microsoft "through the next steps of its transformation to a devices and services company that empowers people for the activities they value most"...

Apple opens iWork for iCloud Beta to everyone

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 23, 2013

Previously available only to Apple's registered developers and and later on to some select users, Apple has today decided to open iWork for iCloud web apps to everyone ahead of its September 10 keynote. That's right, you can now log in to the web interface at iCloud.com using your existing Apple ID, regardless of whether you are a developer or a regular user.

The service provides Apple's suite of iWork apps - Pages, Keynote and Numbers - that run in any standard web browser such as Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome and Microsoft's Internet Explorer and support editing functionality...

Cloud Spin lets you take to the skies in a fantasy adventure

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Sometimes, you just want to get away from it all. The idea of soaring above the clouds without a care in the world sounds enticing enough to make anyone wish they were an eagle, or a falcon, or at least a rabbit with a jetpack

Cloud Spin is an arcade flyer game that puts you under the wings of a hot dogging bunny who dips, dives, and dashes his way through the atmosphere. Let the wind carry you across the sky and you may just forget you’re worries after all...

New report claims iPhone 5S, 5C will launch in China on November 28

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 27, 2016

Apple's iPhone 5S and 5C won't be released in China until November 28, according to a new report. That would put it roughly two months behind the handsets' initial launch, which is expected to happen on Friday, September 20.

The reason for the delay is that the iPhones have apparently not completed the verification process required by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. And it's not unusual—it happened last year with the iPhone 5...

New Microsoft ad touts Lumia 1020 camera, mocks iPhone users

Cody Lee ∙ August 22, 2013

My how the tables have turned. Five years ago Apple was running its 'I'm a Mac' ads, attacking the perceived weaknesses of PCs running Microsoft's Windows software. And now we have Microsoft making ads that attack Apple products.

The Redmond company's latest in a series of Cupertino-bashing commercials pits the 41MP camera of Nokia's Lumia 1020 against that on the iPhone 5. And as you can imagine, the spot paints iPhone users in a not-so-favorable light...