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Apple offers third-gen Apple TV replacement program over Wi-Fi issues

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 15, 2013

Is your Apple TV acting up lately? Specifically, is the set-top box exhibiting issues related to Wi-Fi networking? If so, Apple may have a brand new unit for you, free of charge, up to two years after the device’s purchase date.

According to a new report, the iPhone maker has opened a replacement program for owners of the third-generation Apple TVs plagued with problems related to locating or joining Wi-Fi network, dropped connections and more.

Only a small number of units have been affected and Apple has specified which serial number pairs are eligible for the replacement program...

Mailbox gains smarter snoozes, handy UI tweaks

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Dropbox-owned Mailbox soon became my go-to email client on iOS because it vastly reduced the overhead of dealing with email messages on iDevices by taking delegating most background stuff to the cloud. What the iPhone or iPod touch in turn becomes is a thin, responsive client.

And that has allowed for some interesting possibilities, such as rearranging the individual messages in your inbox or snoozing them as if they were reminders.

Although developers mostly concentrated on creating an effective user interface to support these unique features, the Mailbox app has a few annoyances that today's maintenance update, its second update post Dropbox acquisition, strives to address.

For example, no longer are you limited to snoozing messages until Later Today, This Evening, Tomorrow, This Weekend, Next Week, In a Month, Someday or a specific date: the app now adds more granular choices allowing for snooze adjustments based on time of day and week...

Fifth-gen iPod touch refurbs hit online Apple Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 15, 2013

Apple regularly puts up slightly used products on sale after it refurbishes them. For example, last month saw the older iPod touches and certain iPad mini refurbs arrive.

Today, the latest iPod touches popped up on the refurbished section of Apple's online store. Discounts start at $30 for the entry-level 4th gen refurbs, going all the way up to $50 for 5th gen variants.

These products are good as new, have only been used lightly, include a brand new battery and come with standard one-year AppleCare warranty. Interestingly enough, these refurbs have landed on the online Apple Store after Apple appears to have shut down its refurbished outlet on eBay...

YouTube app enables iOS live streaming, My Subscriptions, TV queuing and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

I'm loving Google's native YouTube iOS app a lot although it's lacking in some key areas.

Specifically, I've come to appreciate its sleek user interface, especially on the iPad, along with social sharing, the ability to browse my individual subscriptions, AirPlay playback and other capabilities.

Today, the Internet giant pushed another update and it's kind of a big deal.

For the first time, the software is able to access Live Streams and that's huge because I can now watch those live events and news conferences on my iPhone or iPad as they happen. But that's not all. Read on for more...

Customizable iPhone-controlled bionic hand arrives

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 15, 2013

Here's CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reporting on the latest on prosthetic technology: a pair of bionic hands controlled from an iPhone app. 34-year-old Jason Koger in 2008 had a brush with death when he got jolted with 7,200 volts of electricity.

Doctors had to amputate his both hands and he's been trying out a variety of prosthetic hands ever since. Four years later, UK-based prosthetic developer Touch Bionics comes up with the i-Limb Ultra Revolution, an iPhone controlled bionic hand.

It offers "unparalleled dexterity and control, enabling wearers to more easily perform activities of daily living and thus increase their quality of life." The video is right after the break...

Would you like it if Cydia looked like this?

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

What would Cydia look like with a fresh coat of paint, ratings, reviews, and no ads? It could look a little something like this: a Cydia alternative design concept, which was dreamed up by Sentry, the designer of the popular Auxo jailbreak tweak.

In its current form, Cydia is okay with me, but there's no denying that having a refresh that looked something like this would be pretty sweet.

Appolicious creates education software discovery tool for kids

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 15, 2013

In light of Apple's recent ban on discovery apps, a new portal hopes to do an end-run around the whole controversy. Appolicious launched Monday appoLearning, a web site where educational experts recommend iOS apps for K-12. Although it touts use of educational experts to make recommendations on dozens of educational app categories, appoLearning offers a spot for paid endorsements. Still, the founder of Appolicious claims his app recommendation service will be a boon for Apple...

Four Apple execs dominate best-paid corporate jobs in America

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

Although Apple compensated its CEO Tim Cook for the calendar year 2012 with a $1.36 million base salary and $2.8 million in compensation related to incentive plans, he didn't made the top five highest-rewarded corporate executives list in Standard & Poor’s top 500 companies. Instead, per Bloomberg's report filed Monday, four members of the Apple leadership dominate that list.

To be clear, these numbers count both base salaries and stock options companies usually give to their top dogs as sort of a retainer. Specifically, Bob Mansfield, Peter Oppenheimer, Bruce Sewell and Jeffrey Williams all made the top five highest-paid execs list, according to fiscal 2012 compensation figures for top earners filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission...

Chinese iPhone dealers scam Apple with fake parts

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 15, 2013

Five iPhone distributors in China are under arrest after Apple told local police it was the victim of an unusual scam. The plot involved sending fake iPhone 4S parts to Apple for replacement and receiving real components worth more than $64,000, according to Monday reports.

The alleged fraudsters went so far as to accompany the fake components with the serial numbers of more than a hundred real iPhone handsets, police said.

WSJ: Microsoft to respond to Apple, Google with smartwatch, smartphone, mini Surface

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

As Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn recently began hiring workers for assembly of a next-gen iPhone and possibly a rumored budget iPhone, our friends over at Redmond are thought to be busy developing own branded smartwatch, smartphone and seven-inch Surface tablet. Both gadgets are viewed as direct responses to Apple's rumored iWatch project, its wildly successful smartphone and the iPad mini tablet, respectively.

The smartwatch project is purportedly beyond the prototyping phase as Microsoft is said to have started aligning parts suppliers in Asia earlier this year, allegedly sourcing 1.5-inch screens. However, folks who apparently saw the prototypes warn it's "unclear whether Microsoft will opt to move ahead with the watch" at this stage...

Foxconn hiring assembly-line workers for next-gen iPhone production, WSJ and Bloomberg claim

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 15, 2013

Hon Hai Precision Industry aka Foxconn, which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple, but also consumer electronics on behalf of other vendors, has started hiring assembly-line workers in the tens of thousands in preparation for Apple's next iPhone, both Bloomberg and the credulous Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

People familiar with the matter tell the publications that the world's largest contract manufacturer has been recruiting workers for the past month at its plant in Zhengzhou, eastern China.

The reports come following February indications pointing to Foxconn imposing a recruitment freeze across almost all of its factories in China after more workers returned from the Chinese New Year break than did last year, a move some attributed to the supposedly weakening iPhone demand...

Dish puts $25B on table towards snagging Sprint from Japan’s Softbank

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Dish Network has launched a $25.5 billion cash and stock bid to snag carrier Sprint from Japan's communications giant Softbank, according to reports Monday morning. Should Sprint accept the offer and regulators approve the deal, consumers will get a new service that could combine mobile, broadband and television.

Dish is the nation's second-largest direct-broadcast satellite service provider which serves just over fourteen million Americans. Sprint Nextel with its 47.5 million subscribers files as the third-largest wireless carrier in the United States. The proposed merger comes at an interesting time, just as Softbank's proposed acquisition of 70 percent of Sprint for $20.1 billion is nearing its completion in the second quarter of 2013...