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A first: smartphone shipments outnumber feature phones

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

For some time, the mobile phone industry has been shifting toward more powerful smartphones and away from basic mobile phones. Now comes word that smartphones outnumber feature phones for the first time. The line was crossed in the first quarter of 2013 with 216.1 million smartphones shipping, accounting for 51.6 percent of all handsets sold. Smartphone shipments grew 41.6 percent during the quarter, up from 152.7 million units shipped during the same period in 2012, one industry research firm announced Thursday...

No iOS VPN changes on already shipped devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 26, 2013

On April 5, Apple acknowledged via a support document that it “will be changing the behavior of VPN On Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later” due to a lawsuit by patent holding firm VirnetX file against Apple in November 2011. VPN technology, which stands for Virtual Private Networking, extends corporate networks securely across public networks like the Internet, allowing users to access a private network as if they were directly connected to it.

Apple originally planned to remove the 'Always' configuration option for VPN On Demand with the 'Establish if needed' option. The revised document specifically mentions Apple will not be changing the VPN behavior on "devices that have already been shipped"...

Swype talked to Apple over its keyboard tech

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 24, 2018

Swype virtual keyboard technology is pretty popular on Android devices, and it's easy to see why. With error-correction algorithms and a powerful language model to guess the intended word, Swype lets you enter words by sliding a finger from the first letter of a word to its last letter, lifting only between words.

While Swype's owner Nuance partners with Apple on the voice recognition technology powering Siri, the iPhone maker never implemented the Swype input method on iOS devices, instead choosing to advance its own intelligent virtual keyboard technology. That said, it's interesting that Swype and Apple have had discussions concerning the feature...

Display shootout: iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S4

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 26, 2013

CEO Tim Cook during an earnings call re-iterated Apple very much remains focused on providing the highest quality mobile screens and argued his company would never compromise the experience by creating a Gorilla-sized iPhone with a subpar display. Specifically, Cook painted color reproduction, power consumption, quality and other factors determining the quality of a mobile screens as progressively suffering on larger displays.

"We would not ship a larger display iPhone while these trade-offs exist," he said Tuesday. But is that really the case? Display wizards over at DisplayMate took Apple's iPhone 5 and Samsung's Galaxy S4 through a battery of tests putting the screens through their paces. The results are surprising...

Apple posts new App Store section about in-app purchases

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 16, 2022

In-app purchasing via mobile applications is receiving some unwanted attention, with disgruntled parents increasingly accusing the iPhone maker of doing too little to protect kids from falling prey of greedy developers who pressure them into buying items and in turn wracking up bills for unsuspecting parents.

The UK government, for example, is conducting a probe into iOS in-app game purchases and Apple previously settled a class action lawsuit over the controversial feature. Of course, iOS 6 has decent parental controls which let users disable in-app purchasing altogether.

While adding a warning for in-app purchases in freemium apps and moving age ratings atop App Store pages helped clear up any confusion as to the nature of in-app purchasing, Apple though it could do better and on Thursday launched a new App Store feature titled 'Learn More About In-App Purchases'...

Free alternative to Apple’s WWDC launches

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

Getting a ticket into WWDC is increasingly becoming akin to winning a lottery. And with tickets to this year's conference selling out in under two minutes, and only five thousand of $1,599 seats available, Apple's annual pilgrimage for developers is quickly becoming too crowded a place. Enter #AltWWDC, a free and open five-day alternative to Apple's summer event.

Basically the conference that happens outside the conference, #AltWWDC takes place June 10-14, 2013 at the San Francisco State University's Downtown Campus at 845 Market Street, only a block from the Moscone building...

iOS device dashboard mounts by ProClip USA are top shelf

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated November 21, 2017

Tired of fumbling around for your iPhone in the car? Why are we forced to pick up our device every time we hear a push notification? Why do we keep wasting money on suction cups and intrusive docking systems? ProClip USA does not know the answer to these questions, but it is providing a solution.

ProClip USA builds device holders for almost every make and model vehicle currently on the market. I stumbled across their website well over a year ago, but did not receive the opportunity to review a product until bumping into the team at CES in January.

Thankfully, they were kind enough to send over an iPhone 5 and iPad mini mount for my 2007 Nissan Altima. This review takes a quick look at installation and provides feedback about my experience with these two options...

New iPhone commercial: Photos Every Day

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoVW62mwSQQ

Apple has posted a new commercial on its website and on its YouTube channel, and it's one of the better ones I've seen in recent memory. The video — entitled Photos Every Day — is a montage of the many ways that people use their iPhone's to take photos in everyday situations. The commercial ends by saying: "Everyday, more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera."

Looking for inspiration? The iPhotography Assignment Generator app can help [review]

Lory Gil ∙ April 25, 2013

It’s not secret that we love iPhone photography. We love it so much that we even have a special guest in our midst who likes to pop in and visit every once in a while.

Learning how to take amazing pictures with your iPhone is one arduous task. However, photographers suffer another dilemma when it comes to capturing stunning images from everyday life. Getting out there and doing it can sometimes be the most difficult part of photography. Maybe 6:45 a.m. is too early in the morning for you, but nature doesn’t sleep in and the Golden Hour won’t be back until sunset.

The iPhotography Assignment Generator is a useful app for photographers that are having a hard time coming up with ideas. Sometimes, creativity just sits in a corner and waits for someone else to light the fire. This app is the spark that your creativity needs to get going...

Case-Mate’s Signature collection combines luxe, glamour and tech

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated May 2, 2017

Only a few hardware companies immediately come to mind when I think "Apple accessories" and Case-Mate is one of them. While browsing the new collection one morning at CES, the press rep walked me through their fanciful new collections. Correct me if I'm wrong, but just a short time back, I would not think "luxury" when I heard Case-Mate. I tend to envision plastic, but solid, durable cases, similar to the cases you would find on the early iPhone adopters devices. Perhaps something fun, or cute.

Well, the tides have turned and Case-Mate is now offering a completely new line of iPhone cases, flips, pouches, and sleeves. With new lines including Crafted, Refined, and Signature, the cute days are gone. Offering genuine leather and gem quality mother of pearl cases, luxe and glamour may be the new adjectives for Case-Mate.

Having just received the Signature Flip and Madison cases from a friend at Case-Mate, I gave them a run through for good measure. In this review we take a look at the new Case-Mate and determine if changing ways turned out for the better...

Mailbox fans, rejoice: iPad build in the works, Mac app under consideration

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Unlike Sparrow, the popular iPhone email client whose chances of seeing a native iPad version went down the drain after Google acquired the team back in July 2012, Orchestra's Mailbox will make the leap to the iPad, developers confirmed Thursday on Twitter.

"An iPad version is in the works," the tweet reads. Developers wouldn't state whether the iPad build is weeks or months ahead.

Mailbox has been picking up serious steam since Dropbox last month acquired devs to help reach "a much different audience much faster.” Just ten days ago, Mailbox version 2.2 arrived, adding subtle enhancements to gesture controls and more granular smart snoozes...

WWDC 2013 tickets: gone in 120 seconds

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Well, that sure didn't take long. In under two minutes after Apple put up WWDC 2013 tickets on sale at 10am PDT, the WWDC web site greeted developers looking to buy their seat with the Sold Out message. By comparison, tickets for WWDC 2012 sold out in under two hours.

WWDC 2011 and 2010 respectively sold out in ten hours and eight days (one month and two months for 2009 and 2008 WWDCs, respectively).

And tickets for Google I/O 2013, which takes place June 27-29 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, sold out in under twenty minutes. Google I/O 2009 sold out in 90 days and tickets for Google I/O 2011 took 59 minutes to sell out...