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Get ready for warm weather with these top apps for the great outdoors

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

This past week was National Parks week. I hit the road with the Ol’ Man and visited the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It was a great outing on a beautiful day. Nothing makes me feel more alive than spending an entire day breathing in fresh air.

As spring gets underway and the days grow longer, it is time to star thinking of what you will do this summer in order to take advantage of nature’s gift. Whether you take the family on a camping trip to the mountains, study local plant life in the hills behind your house, or simply fire up the grill and have a couple of brews with friends, we’ve got a list of our favorite apps for the great outdoors...

Is Google Now draining your iPhone’s battery?

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2013

Google's take on search AI dubbed Google Now went live Monday via an update to the Internet giant's native iOS Search app.

Today, a number of users took to the Internet to complain about the application's excessive power drain due to a possible glitch in how it retrieves your location in the background...

Consumer Reports again rates Apple best in tech support

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Apple once again is rated best at providing technical support to consumers, according to Consumer Reports, an influential American magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936. This year's overall score of 86 out of 100 topped Apple's 2012 rating, the publication announced.

Additionally, Apple's retail Geek Bar solved nearly 90 percent of tech problems, higher than Best Buy's lookalike Geek Squad bars. The iPhone maker produced the highest survey results, outstripping its nearest competitor, Lenovo, which scored 63. Apple's success was due to a number of factors, according to the Consumer Reports survey...

Bloomberg: Apple’s design guru Jony Ive ‘methodically reviewing’ iOS 7 overhaul

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2013

It's been six months since Tim Cook reshuffled Apple's leadership team, firing iOS architect Scott Forstall over his abrasive management style and unwillingness to collaborate with other members of the executive team, namely Apple's industrial design guru, the 46-year-old Jonathan Ive.

As a result of the shake-up, Ive has assumed much broader responsibilities that now encompass all of Apple's design, both the look and feel of its hardware and software.

Apple's press release stated that America's most influential Briton "will provide leadership and direction for Human Interface (HI) across the company" and today Bloomberg sheds more light on the difficulties Ive faces in the massively challenging overhaul of iOS 7, Apple's mobile operating system powering iPhones, iPads and iPods...

Europe’s EasyJet implements Apple’s Passbook

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2013

EasyJet is the largest airline in the United Kingdom, measured by the number of passengers carried. They operate domestic and international scheduled services on over 600 routes across more than 30 countries.

While EasyJet may have arrived a little late to the Passbook party, today the company has updated its iOS app with much-needed support for Apple's Passbook solution, introduced last September as part of the iOS 6 software.

This is kind of a big deal given EasyJet's tremendous popularity as Europe's no-frills airline...

Chart: Android owns two-thirds of smartphone sales – or does it?

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Some intriguing numbers were released Monday on how one research firm views the smartphone race between iOS and Android. According to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Google's Android averages a 64 percent unit share of the smartphone market across ten countries.

Apple leads in Japan while Android's doing its best in Spain, where the mobile software owns an astounding 93 percent of the smartphone market.

In the U.S., the race is much tighter, with Android holding 49.3 percent and Apple owning 43.7 percent of the domestic market. But the rivals might be even closer as observers question how accurate Kantar is, given recent iPhone sales reports by U.S. carriers...

Keep track of multiple packages with Delivery Status touch

Lory Gil ∙ May 1, 2013

I run a small independent record label. I visit my local U.S. Postal Service just about every other day. I also order a lot of things online. Last Christmas, I only went outside to do my shopping twice. Everything else was purchased through Amazon. I sell items on eBay and have various promotional items delivered to me for product reviews. I am on a first-name basis with my postman.

Needless to say, I keep track of a lot of packages. Whether I’m sending or receiving, in any given month, I’ve got a list of items that I am tracking to someone’s front door.

Delivery Status touch is the perfect app for people like me, people who track multiple packages most of the time. Using your order number or tracking number, you can follow the path that your package is taking until it reaches its final destination...

Tim Cook to give opening night interview at D11 conference

Cody Lee ∙ April 30, 2013

Tim Cook spent a good 60 minutes addressing the public last week during Apple's quarterly earnings call. But those hoping to catch him in a more candid setting will be happy to hear that he has a less formal public appearance coming up next month.

Tech blog AllThingsD announced this afternoon that Cook will be a guest speaker at its annual All Things Digital conference in late May. This will be Cook's second appearance at the conference, and he's expected to talk about a wide range of topics...

Meet JamStik, the tiny guitar that connects with your iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

I've always thought it'd be cool to play the drums, or the guitar, so I'm always looking for easy ways to learn how to do so. But few products deliver on their claims that they make learning to play an instrument "easy."

The Zivix team is looking to change that though, with its new musical accessory: the JamStik. It's a tiny guitar with real strings and frets that can track your hand and finger movements for instant feedback and instruction...

Let’s Talk Jailbreak 08: Therapy session

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

On Let's Talk Jailbreak episode number eight, Sebastien and Jeff discuss some of their favorite jailbreak tweaks to run on the iPad. The pair discusses hot topics like Facebook Chat Heads on iOS, and biteSMS' upcoming new feature. As always, we talk about some of the top tweaks from the past week, and take some of your questions.

Samsung celebrity tweets Galaxy S4 love… from his iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ April 30, 2013

So this would be kind of embarrassing. All-star Spanish tennis player and Samsung spokesman David Ferrer served up a fault this afternoon during his attempt to send out what looks like a sponsored tweet expressing his love for his new Galaxy S4.

The problem? Shortly after Ferrer sent out the tweet, several of his 350,000+ Twitter followers noticed something peculiar about his Samsung shout out—it featured the infamous 'Twitter for iPhone' notation, effectively killing all of its credibility...

Analyst sees larger iPhone 6 coming in June 2014

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Despite the fact that Apple added a 4-inch option to its iPhone lineup last year, many folks are still calling for the Cupertino company to produce a larger handset. Even outspoken billionaire Donald Trump says he's in favor of a so-called 'iPhablet.'

During a conference call last week, Tim Cook all but shot down the idea of a larger iPhone, saying that Apple is not willing to make the tradeoffs currently necessary for bigger screens. But according to a new report, that could change next year...