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Is Apple losing its coolness edge to Microsoft and Android?

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 21, 2013

In the contest for coolness, the amorphous concept potentially driving young consumers to smartphones, tablets and other devices, Apple has some competition. While the iPhone maker is seen as cooler now than previously by 60 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds, even more people point to Android as the king of cool.

Even more surprising is Microsoft apparently isn't your father's software giant. The Windows maker - long viewed as buttoned-down and behind the technology curve - has revamped its image, thanks largely to the firm's smartphone and Surface tablet...

New Apple patent filing surfaces for wearable accessory with a flexible display

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Ok, well if reports from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Bloomberg didn't convince you that the rumored 'iWatch' project is real, maybe this will. A new Apple patent filing has surfaced for a wearable accessory with a flexible display.

Apple first filed its "Bi-stable spring with flexible display" patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office back in August of 2011. And it describes a slap bracelet (remember those?)-like accessory with a full-length flexible touchscreen...

Google launches its Retina Chromebook, the Pixel

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 20, 2017

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-XTpdDDXiU

Following a credible leak recently - and just hours after The Wall Street Journal reported that "Google is developing touchscreen devices using Chrome Operating System" - the Internet giant on Wednesday introduced its premium Chromebook with a Retina-class display. Tentatively named Chromebook Pixel, it features a 12.85-inch 2,560-by-1,700 screen that Google proclaims “the highest pixel density (239 pixels per inch) of any laptop screen on the market today.”

By comparison, the 13-inch MacBook Pro has a 2560-by-1600 220 pixels per inch screen and the 15-incher has an even crisper 2880-by-1800 display at 220 pixels per inch. The Pixel's 400 nit display also has a 178-degree viewing angle and is driven by the same crappy Intel HD Graphics 4000 platform as the MacBook Air. Other specs of the 3.35lbs computer include a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 chip with 4G of RAM, mini DisplayPort, two USB ports, a 2-in-1 card reader and 32 gigabytes of built-in flash storage.

But unlike Apple's notebooks, Google's responds to touch, potentially opening door to the Gorilla arm syndrome which, according to Apple, rules out multitouch on notebook screens...

MLB At Bat 13 brings classic games, sortable statistics and more

Cody Lee ∙ February 21, 2013

Good news sports fans! Spring Training for Major League Baseball teams officially started yesterday. This means that all players who are not participating in the World Baseball Classic next month have begun preparing for the 2013 season.

This also means that the next several weeks will be chock-full with pre-season games and commentary, and news and updates on your favorite teams and players. And what better way to keep up with it all, than the MLB At Bat 13 app...

Another try at group photo sharing: Albumatic

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

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

A new iPhone app called Albumatic hopes to succeed where the likes of Color and Highlight have failed, to make sharing between groups of people easy and fun. It has a clean minimalistic interface that lets you easily start an album and add photos for others to see. Whenever you add a new photo, all the folks you've shared an album with get notified.

Folks nearby can join the album and add photos of their own and those that are farther away are only allowed to view the album, but not interact with the photos (likes, comments, etc.) We've seen this location-based photo sharing focus before and it didn't work out well (hint: Color), but Albumatic nonetheless bets party-goers will use it to share embarrassing cocktail snaps between themselves, Galaxy S III style...

‘Haptic Keyboard’ tries to make your typing experience more engaging

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Haptic Keyboard is a new jailbreak tweak that institutes haptic feedback with each press of a key on the iPhone's keyboard. Similar tweaks have appeared on Cydia in the past, but their compatibility has been spotty with recent iOS updates.

The purpose of haptic feedback, is to give the end user the sensation of actually typing on a physical keyboard, instead of a piece of smooth glass. Unfortunately, in the case of this latest version of Haptic Feedback, the idea is much better than the final execution.

Plants vs. Zombies goes free, get downloading

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 18, 2018

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr7sdmS_jWo

If you didn't download Plants vs. Zombies because it costs money, now there is no reason you shouldn’t pick it up because developer PopCap has for the first time slashed the popular casual strategy game to $0 on the App Store. From the people who also brought you Bejeweled, Peggle, Zuma and Bookworm, Plants vs. Zombies since its June 2010 iPhone debut has won more than 30 Game of the Year awards.

The game challenges you to soil your plants while battling zombies who are about to invade your home. Retina devices and iPhone 5 are supported and both iPad and iPhone builds are free now. A few screenies and additional description right after the break...

Flickr updated with comment alerts, @username tags, volume shutter and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 21, 2013

After a long time, I recently fell in love with Yahoo's Flickr service, all over again. I mean, not everyone is on Facebook. More importantly, Instagram leaves a lot to be desired in terms of screen resolution so Flickr, which stores original-res photos, is becoming increasingly relevant to my iPhoneography workflow. The freshly updated software now supports @username tagging (with tags linked to users' photo stream) and can notify you via push alerts when someone tags you in their comment.

And if you happen to find the volume shutter feature of the stock iOS Camera app useful, you're going to love this update as it lets you snap a photo using your iPhone's volume up button. The program also includes a few other improvements, mentioned right below...

Sony announces PlayStation App for iOS and Android

Cody Lee ∙ February 21, 2013

Sony held a pretty big press conference last night, where it talked about its next-generation gaming console. And although the PlayStation 4 itself didn't actually make an appearance, the company offered a plethora of details about the system.

And shortly after the event, it added to the day's announcements by unveiling its official PlayStation mobile application. The app, which will land on both iOS and Android, will expand PS4 gameplay by offering a 'second screen' experience...

Twitterrific updated with mute filters and several other improvements

Cody Lee ∙ February 21, 2013

In December of last year, Iconfactory introduced an all-new version of its popular iOS Twitter client, Twitterrific 5.0. The app was completely rebuilt from the ground up with a fresh user interface and a laundry list of features.

Today, that list of features gets even longer with Twitterrific 5.1. The update posted late last night, and it includes several new features and improvements such as mute filters, and more. We've got the full change log after the fold...

Strategy Analytics: iPhone 5/4S are world’s two most popular smartphones

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

Just as investors are (again) punishing the Apple stock on talk of Foxconn freezing recruitment in China amid weakening iPhone 5 demand (or perhaps because the iPhone 5S is entering production in March?) comes a new survey of the smartphone market by research firm Strategy Analytics. And the numbers look good: the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S each outsold Samsung's Galaxy S III during the all-important 2012 holiday quarter.

This makes the iPhone 5 the world's bestselling smartphone, but what's really eyebrow-raising is that the 16-month old (and now discounted) iPhone 4S also overtook Samsung's flagship device...

Sony “unveils” its next-generation gaming console, the PlayStation 4

Cody Lee ∙ February 20, 2013

After months of teaser videos, and years of speculation, Sony has just unveiled its next-generation gaming console, the Playstation 4, at its "See the Future" event in New York City. That's right, it's supercharged, it's intuitive, it's social, and it's finally here.

This might seem a bit off topic for iDB, but with growing rumors that Apple's looking to add apps and games to its set-top box, you don't have to work very hard to create the connection. Not to mention, we love games too. So without further a do, here's the PS4...