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AT&T will now give you $100 credit for your old smartphone

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2013

The nation's second-largest carrier, AT&T, on Wednesday upgraded its cell phone trade-in program at its brick-and-mortar retail stores. The new terms incentivize customers to trade-in their old smartphone for one of the latest models and receive a $100 credit on-the-spot, which can be immediately redeemed against any AT&T smartphone or accessory purchase.

If you have an old iPhone or an Android phone that is less than three years old, the $100 trade-in credit lets you purchase a brand new iPhone 5 for just $99. Or, you could settle with an iPhone 4S wit zero bucks in upfront payment. By comparison, the entry-level 16GB iPhone 4S/5 normally sets you back $99/$199 after a two-year contract...

AT&T U-verse subscribers can now access streams in WatchESPN, Fox Now iOS apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 17, 2019

If you're subscribed to AT&T's U-verse, are a sports fan and love Fox shows, good news here as the nation's second-largest carrier has cut deals allowing users of the WathESPN and Fox Now iOS apps to stream content and watch live feeds.

The latter app also added another provider for TV episodes, Suddenlink. U-verse subscribers should go download these updates to immediately gain access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU live feeds and such shows as Hell’s Kitchen and Family Guy, straight in these apps...

Amazon updates Kindle app with new accessibility features

Cody Lee ∙ May 1, 2013

Amazon today announced a nice little update for its Kindle iOS app, bringing the title to version 3.7. The update includes a handful of bug fixes and improvements, but the biggest change has to be the new VoiceOver support.

Tapping iOS' Accessibility features, Amazon has made it much easier for blind and visually impaired users to navigate their way around the Kindle app through the use of VoiceOver. More details and full change log after the fold...

Instacast for iOS makes a jump on the Mac, now available in Public Beta

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2018

We love Instacast as much as the next avid Apple fan. It's the ultimate podcasting app for the ultimate podcasters: Instacast lets you both manage and stream podcasts on your iPhone and iPad, and do so in style. As a cloud-based streaming solution, it can be best described as Netflix for podcasts.

Since its March 2011 debut, Instacast has seen numerous updates that brought additional features, with an iPad version arriving in November 2011. It certainly leaves Apple's stock iOS Podcast app in the dust and beats every other podcasting app out there. That said, small wonder developer Vemedio has responded to popular demand and brought Instacast over to the Mac...

Leap Wireless reports improved iPhone sales after dismal quarter

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Back in February, Leap Wireless submitted a rather alarming filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It had been seeing much weaker demand for the iPhone than expected, and it was only on track to sell through half of its first-year commitment.

But apparently, the problems were only temporary. Yesterday, the company—who sells the iPhone through its subsidiary Cricket Wireless—reported its earnings for its first operating quarter this year, and it told investors that it is seeing much better iPhone sales...

Apple’s new Wall Street runaway hit: iDebt

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 1, 2013

Wall Street is nothing if not fickle. Questions over Apple's future profits sent the company's stock into a tailspin for the past six months, then a recovery of sorts is now underway.

The iPhone maker Tuesday floated a record $17 billion in debt, an action that literally had investors falling over themselves.

Consider that Apple up until now was literally the only major technology corporation with zero debt on its books. By the end of yesterday, $50 billion in orders were received for what now looks to be Apple's latest hot product: the iDebt...

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...