Samsung targets wavering iPhone users in new Galaxy S4 ad

Samsung has posted a new Galaxy S4 TV spot to its YouTube channel this afternoon. The ad, titled 'Ready for Takeoff,' follows the company's recent advertising trend, depicting a man using his S4 in public that eventually gets surrounded by interested onlookers.

This particular ad seems to target iPhone users more than Samsung's previous commercials, though, as it co-stars an iPhone owner who seems very interested in the S4, but says he likes a "simple phone" and worries about the complications of switching. Watch...

Pegatron investigation seemingly confirms plastic iPhone

The Wall Street Journal yesterday shared a report by New York-based China Labor Watch which had counted 86 labor rights violations in three manufacturing facilities operated by Pegatron, Apple's contract manufacturer which assembles older iPhone 4 and 4S models.

It hasn't escaped the attention of eagle-eyed bloggers that the working conditions report also mentions an alleged less-pricey iPhone through the mouth of one of the interviewed workers tasked with assembling Apple’s rumored device at Pegatron's Shanghai plant.

As you know, the rumor-mill, pundits and big media alike are widely expecting the budget iPhone to feature a less-pricey polycarbonate body...

In addition to Local, Google shutting down Shopper app next month

It looks like Google isn't done axing its iOS apps yet. In addition to pulling Google+ Local from the App Store next month, the search giant has announced today that it will also be shutting down its 'Shopper app' for iOS at the end of August.

For those unfamiliar with Google Shopper, the app acts as a portal to Google's web-based shopping service, which through curation helps people track down products and prices online, as well as in their local area. More details after the fold...

Apple seeds Apple TV 5.4 beta 3 to developers

Alongside iOS 7 beta 4, Apple has seeded beta 3 of Apple TV 5.4 software to developers this morning. The update isn't nearly as expansive as its iOS device counterpart, but it does bring about a number of improvements and bug fixes.

Interestingly enough, the new beta also appears to allow users running iOS 7 to setup their Apple TV with their iPhone or iPad after a full restore or resetting all settings (iPhone 4 and iPad 2 not supported). Release notes after the fold...

iTunes 11.1 Beta 1 drops with built-in iTunes Radio

Alongside today's release of iOS 7 Beta 4, Apple has also seeded a new version of iTunes to its registered developers. The first beta of the upcoming iTunes 11.1 is now available via Apple's Dev Center (the current iTunes build carries a version number of 11.0.4). The beta software contains the iTunes Radio feature, which on desktop is currently available only in the United States on OS X 10.7 or later Macs...

Gruber: there’s nothing punitive with Bob Mansfield’s role change

Yesterday, a jarring change was discovered on Apple's executive leadership page: the company's SVP of Technologies Bob Mansfield had been completely removed. Apple later confirmed the news, saying that Bob would no longer be on Apple's executive team.

And despite the fact that Apple said that he would stay on with the company to work on 'special projects,' the news was worrisome, as Mansfield has been crucial to Mac and iOS device success. But a new report claims there's "nothing punitive" about the role change...

Shazam now lets you buy multiple songs at once through iTunes

The music discovery engine Shazam has been on a roll lately. May brought an exclusive background television-tagging features to Shazam for iPad and last month the company added a new Pulse feature to ease music discovery by analyzing the trending real-time charts. In today's update, your Shazam apps have received another useful feature: multi-track purchase...

Play this now – Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame

Montreuil, France-headquartered games publisher Ubisoft last Thursday released Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame, its highly-anticipated reboot of the award-winning Prince of Persia game franchise.

The new iPhone, iPad and iPod touch game has already scored some raving reviews from the specialized press and is highly recommended to gamers who are in the market for an action adventure with console-grade graphics, interesting storyline and challenging puzzles.

It should be an impulse purchase for fans of the Prince of Persia franchise like myself. Your download link and launch trailer are right after the break...

Get more out of the stock Clock app with ‘Stopwatch Pro’

Stopwatch Pro is a recently released jailbreak tweak that we previewed a few weeks ago. It's an enhancement for the iPhone's stock Clock app, which allows you to save the times and laps logged in the stopwatch section of the app. Stopwatch Pro is self contained within the stock Clock app and features no settings or options to configure. Have a look at our full video walkthrough after the break.

Authenticity of leaked ‘iPhone 5C’ boxes questioned, but name said to be real

Over the weekend, some photos of packaging allegedly belonging to Apple's low-cost iPhone surfaced on the internet. Admittedly, the boxes looked fake, as there were a number of visible inconsistencies, but the 'iPhone 5C' branding on them was intriguing.

Today, our friends over Nowhereelse.fr confirmed our suspicions, highlighting a number of issues with the boxesm including odd blurred and distorted areas, and missing Apple logos. But as it turns out, the name 'iPhone 5C' might actually be legitimate...

Former Apple store employees file lawsuits over lost wages due to bag searches

Former employees at Apple stores in both New York and Los Angeles have filed a class action suit against the Cupertino company, claiming the iPad-maker owes them lost wages. The filing alleges that Apple forced them to stand in line for up to 30 minutes, without pay, every shift and wait for a manager to search their bags.

The lawsuit was filed by Amanda Frlekin, who was employed at Apple’s Century City location in Los Angeles, and Dean Pelle, who worked at Apple's prestigious Soho store in New York. Both worked as specialists until this spring, and are now looking to sue on behalf of thousands of Apple workers across the United States...

AT&T and others supporting Apple in looming U.S. ban of older iPhones and iPads

As an August 4 ban on U.S. sales of some of Apple's most-popular products looms, the iPhone maker is picking up business support. AT&T, Verizon, Intel and other companies are asking that U.S. President Barack Obama overturn an ITC-ordered ban on the sale of some Apple products judged to infringed upon standards-essential patents owned and asserted against Apple by rival Samsung.

At issue is whether Samsung is unfairly using essential patents as a weapon to gain an upper-hand in U.S. smartphone sales. The iPhone 4, for instance, is one of Apple's best-selling handsets...