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Apple and Samsung responsible for 55 percent jump in mobile display profits

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 26, 2013

When Apple or Samsung score a win, leading the cheering section may be all the parts manufacturers building components for the popular smartphones. A case in point: mobile display manufacturers, who saw a 55 percent jump in profits between 2012 and 2013.

Increased demand for iPhone and Galaxy handsets meant revenue of $33.3 billion for the mobile display device industry in 2013, according to researcher NPD Display Search. The two handset makers are also driving demand for more complex mobile device technology, including AMOLED screens predominantly used on Samsung devices and TFT LCDs found on iOS devices...

Feedly Pro accounts launch for everyone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

If you were not among the first 5,000 people to sign up for Feedly's lifetime account, you were left out in the cold. Well, I may be exaggerating because anyone could get a free Feedly account. But if your daily productivity depends depends on RSS and your needs go far beyond a basic set of features, passing on that once in a lifetime opportunity, in hindsight, was a bummer.

The Feedly team has always maintained they're building their web app for scale and today they announced that Feedly Pro accounts are now available to anyone interested...

Flurry of details about Apple’s upcoming iPhone trade-in program emerge

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 26, 2013

Bloomberg in June asserted that Apple was gearing up to launch a trade-in program for iPhones at its own retail stores. While the company has been accepting trade-ins through its Reuse and Recycle program for quite some time, this would mark the first time it's made trade-in offers first hand, via its rumored partnership with the recycling firm Brightstar.

More details have surface Monday on the long-expected initiative designed to allow would-be buyers to earn instant credit for their old iPhones as a way of driving upgrades to newer models. According to one source, Apple will refurbish traded-in iPhones and potentially resell them, while clearing up Genius Bar to focus on non-swappable devices.

Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Apple execs take a trip to Russia to improve iPhone distribution in the country

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 29, 2016

There's a trouble in Russia so Apple dispatched its high-ranked executives to revisit how the company sells iPhones in the country, according to a new report. There's no denying that Apple has dropped the ball in the important 143 million people market. As we told you recently, the last of Russia’s big-three carriers stopped selling the iPhone.

Russian carriers complain about too onerous conditions, leaving it up to resellers and Apple’s new Russia online store to meet demand. With the new iPhones now looming on the horizon, Apple is now reportedly re-thinking its strategy in the country. That's good news because Russia is part of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China), a group of emerging markets that are expected to overtake the United States as the world's top smartphone sellers by 2018...

Apple now limiting access to iWork for iCloud Beta due to high demand

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 26, 2013

This past weekend Apple launched iWork for iCloud Beta to developers and non-developers alike, who could check out the suite as long as they had a valid Apple ID account set up to use iCloud on iOS devices. The web apps have reportedly garnered lots of interest, so much so that the company on Monday was forced to limit access to iWork for iCloud.

In other words, Apple's online productivity suite has already become too popular, even though it's currently in beta. Attempting to sign up for the service yields an error prompt with the message saying, "We've had an overwhelming response" to iWork for iCloud apps...

Plex iOS app is just $1.99, for a limited time only

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

My home theater setup depends on the Plex Mac/iOS apps for hassle-free access to both local media stored on my Mac and networked drives and to a variety of online media sources.

While the Mac client is provided free of charge, the universal iPhone and iPad app costs five bucks a pop so many users instead opt for some of the plentiful free alternative solutions offered on the App Store.

That's too bad because Plex comes with a bunch of premium features and is capable of rendering literally any obscure media file type I throw at it. If you've been sitting on the fence, Plex has just sweetened the deal by dropping the iOS app to $1.99...

Bloomberg: Japan’s largest carrier wants iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C – but with strings

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 26, 2013

A new report gives a bit more hope to Apple's push to widen its base of iPhone global carrier partners. The finance head of Japan's largest carrier NTT DoCoMo hints Apple's upcoming colorized iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C models could be sold in this tech-obsessed nation to its customers. However, if Apple wants this plum, it may have to play second fiddle to its Android rival, Samsung.

Although most recent attention has been on China, NTT DoCoMo is the lone hold-out in Japan, making the iPhone sold by every major Japanese carrier. In September, Apple is expected to unveil its next-generation iPhone 5S and possibly the budget-minded iPhone 5C in September...

Rumor: iPhone 5C to come in at least 4 colors, graphite iPhone 5S shell shown

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 29, 2016

More details are trickling in regarding Apple's upcoming iPhone 5S revision and a brand new plastic iPhone 5C. An interesting confirmation concerning the devices's rumored colors has come to light Monday, independently via both a new batch of photographs that purportedly depict the iPhone 5S chassis and a post on the popular Chinese micro-blogging site.

Not only will the iPhone 5S be allegedly provided in the controversial new gold/champagne variant, but also in the stylish graphite finish - a first for the iPhone. As for the iPhone 5C, expect that device to be offered in at least four different colors, among them a deep greenish blue color...

Rumor: iPhone 5S’s A7 chip is 31% faster, has separate motion tracking core

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

According to sources who spoke with an anchor for Fox News Channel, the A7 chip expected to power Apple's iPhone 5S is "very fast," nearly a third faster than the A6 silicon ticking inside the current-generation iPhone 5. That's only half the story as the reporter has also heard there’s a separate chip inside the device devoted to motion tracking.

Oh, and a prominent blogger has independently heard claims that some of the internal iPhone 5S prototypes include a 64-bit flavor of the A7 chip. He's also learned a couple interesting tidbits concerning the rumored fingerprint sensor, the way it works and how it could lend itself to mobile payments integration...

Wallpapers of the Week: blue gradients with tasteful grunge

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated January 29, 2017

Week eight of our newly popular Wallpapers of the Week section keeps things fresh. Last week, we featured a Mavericks redesign and another image, Dark Sky. In an overwhelming response, our readers left more then 45 comments on the post and openly shared their favorite wallpapers in the Disqus feed below the article. We really love how much interest there is in the weekly installment of new walls.

Thanks to iOS 7's transparent and layered approach to the UI, walls will affect the overall appearance, mood, and feel of your iOS devices in ways not possible in a Forstall hampered environment. Even more interesting is the broad range of colored iPhone 5C's hitting the market sometime after Apple's September 10th event. We will all be scouring the internet to get a fully compliant color set of walls to match the shiny new devices. Inside we have a great solution for the baby blue iPhone C fans...

Joy of Tech has hilarious ideas for new iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 25, 2013

Joy of Tech has weighed in on the iPhone 5S/5C memes. As per usual with their illustrations, the comic treads the fine line between poking fun and being downright hilarious. My favorite is their take on the rumored iPhone 5S in gold/champagne color: make it so the gold peels off revealing a layer of chocolate.

Oh, and the box should include the iGoose, a golden case that lays a golden iPhone and lets you recharge it by "stuffing the phone back up the goose's butt".

I'd hate spoil the fun for you prospective buyers so jump past the fold for the full table...

Patent struggles may keep this MagSafe-like headphone adapter from being made

Cody Lee ∙ August 25, 2013

I've always thought Apple's magnetic MagSafe power connector was an ingenious piece of tech. In fact, I was hoping to see them include it in the iPhone 5 and other iOS products. But obviously, that wish never materialized.

Designer Jon Patterson is still trying to make it happen, though, with the Pogo, a MagSafe-like magnetic connector for your iPhone. He's only using it for headphones right now, but he says it'll likely work for power cords too...