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Apple appeals Brazil’s iPhone trademark ruling

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2013

In a repeat of the ProView situation, Apple today lost exclusive rights to the 'iPhone' trademark in Brazil to a local company called IGB Electronics S.A. that sells an Android cheapo with 'iPhone' in its name. While this means both IGB and Apple are allowed to market 'iPhones' in the 200 million people country, Apple - keen on avoiding user confusion and public humiliation - has now appealed the decision by the Brazilian Institute for Industrial Property (INPI)...

Music Controls Pro 6.0+ discounted while developers bring features back to iOS 6.x

Mike Schnier ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Since iOS 3.x, the most feature rich jailbreak apps for music was Music Controls Pro. If you wanted a custom control overlay for music, swipe controls, a remote server, and a host of other features, Music Controls Pro was the way to go. Unfortunately, the original version of Music Controls Pro is no longer compatible with iOS 6.

While the all new Music Controls Pro 6.0+ only has a fraction of the previous app's capabilities, the price is currently discounted to $3.99 while the developers bring the new app up to speed. Currently Music Controls Pro includes swipe controls, Notification Center plugins for playback and volume, task switcher controls, and status bar integration for song titles. These are the core features that kept the original Music Controls Pro on my iPad in iOS 5.1.1...

Rdio app updated with new design and other improvements

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

Rdio, one of the more popular streaming music subscription services on the market, released a solid update to their iOS app this afternoon, making it quicker and easier to browse and interact with your content.

Version 2.1 of the application features some gorgeous new design touches, and some other cool enhancements like a new long press-activated content menu, and music badges. The full change log is after the fold...

Apple is killing it when it comes to mobile video

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

There is now confirmation of what we already suspected: Apple is killing it when it comes to mobile video. The iPhone, iPad and iPod touch collectively account for 60 percent of mobile video, with Apple's smartphone and tablet comprising more than half of all mobile clips viewed during 2012, according to a study released Wednesday. By comparison, 32 percent of Android devices are used for viewing mobile video.

That's another acknowledgment of both Apple's tablet dominance and the fact that owners of Apple mobile gear use their devices more often than their fellow Android-totting counterparts. In 2012 alone, mobile video viewing grew sixfold versus the previous year as mobile devices increasingly replace computers as the preferred platform for media consumption...

Clear makes annoying Edge Swipes optional

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Clear, Realmac Software's innovative to-do app, was released a year ago and made a splash with its clean interface and heavy use of multitouch gestures. Today, the software was updated in response to feedback from users who objected to how the Edge Swipe feature was implemented.

Edge Swipes let you quickly switch between your lists by dragging your finger from screen edges. Unfortunately, this can quickly become a pain in the you-know-what.

The thing is, Clear's workflow focuses on ordinary swipes which tended to be interpreted as edge swipes if you made the swipe too close to the edge of the screen. Clear version 1.2.1 makes this problem a thing of the past by making Edge Swipe an optional feature, though you'll have to disable it inside Clear’s Settings...

Apple (again) mentioned in a rumored Loewe takeover bid

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g19rj1gTcjQ

In a déjà vu moment, Reuters this morning reported that shares of the German luxury TV maker Loewe surged 33 percent on renewed talk of a possible acquisition by Apple. The news gathering organization quotes a trader who claims Apple supposedly wants to bid 4 euros a share for Loewe, or approximately $5,28 a share, a 40 percent premium above the company's closing price on Tuesday.

Loewe's current market cap sits at 53 million euros, or about $71 million. With its $137 billion cash mountain, Apple could buy Loewe outright without blinking. Nearly one-third of Loewe, or 28 percent, is owned by Sharp, an Apple supplier that was involved in the Apple television rumor last summer...

Gartner: more than half of all handsets sold in 2012 were Apple, Samsung

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 13, 2013

The battle between Apple and Samsung for smartphone supremacy rages on. While the two rivals accounted for more than half of smartphones sold during 2012, demand for the South Korean firm's phones rose nearly 86 percent while iPhone sales rose by around 22 percent last year. According to Gartner, the two companies took No. 1 and No. 3 spots in overall while ranking first and second in the growing market for smartphones, respectively.

This as the cell phone industry saw its first dip in sales since 2009. Other vendors, of course, were left fighting each other for scraps...

EA announces Tetris Blitz for iOS and Android, a twist on the famous puzzler

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Hot on the heels of launching its free to play Real Racing 3 this morning on the New Zealand App Store (two weeks ahead of schedule), games publisher Electronic Arts announced a new game for iOS and Android devices, Tetris Blitz.

It's an “innovative new twist on the world famous puzzle game,” says Electronic Arts. A bite-sized, frenzied Tetris Blitz experience challenges you with a two-minute sprint to clear lines and rack up as many points as possible before time runs out.

Electronic Arts, the super publisher which in 2011 alone raked in $1 billion in digital revenue, brought the original Tetris game to the iPhone back in December 2009. The iPhone version of Tetris costs 99 cents and the iPad version is an additional three bucks...

Valentine’s Day comes early: Real Racing 3 hits New Zealand, Australia

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ8SljDv0yw

Today is a big day for iOS gamers as Electronic Arts launches the third installment in its popular Real Racing franchise. The game was originally scheduled for February 28 release so it wasn't clear why Electronic Arts decided to post it today, but we're not complaining even though the game initially launched in the New Zealand and Australia App Store.

The good news don't end here: as promised, Real Racing 3 is a free download with some unaggressive in-app purchases, a major strategic shift for Electronic Arts which typically prices its most recent iOS games between $5 and $10.

It's a massive download: you will need to have up to two gigabytes of free space on your device to install Real Racing 3, but Electronic Arts swears "it’s worth it"...

Analyst sees Apple TV media event in March (update: nope)

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2013

Apple could be holding an Apple TV-related media event next month, according to Jeffries analyst Peter Misek. Despite the mounting rumors that Apple is working on a standalone television set, channel checks led the analyst to believe that the assumed event will serve as a launchpad for a software development kit allowing programmers to write third-party applications for Apple's $99 set-top box, something a lot of people have been clamoring for...

Apple loses iPhone trademark in Brazil to an Android maker

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 13, 2013

Earlier this month came a rumor that Apple was in jeopardy of losing its ‘iPhone’ trademark in Brazil to the local electronics maker IGB Eletrônica SA, which applied for exclusive rights to the name back in 2000, winning the rights to the moniker. In 2007, Apple asked the Brazilian Institute for Industrial Property (INPI) to make iPhone its exclusive trademark, but a report lats week suggested the request won't pass muster. Today, Brazilian regulators have ruled that Apple does not have exclusive rights to use the "iPhone" trademark in the country...

Surface Pro teardown: Apple’s iPad wins the repair race

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 13, 2013

Microsoft's one-week old Surface Pro tablet already has some dings in its reputation. The device is more difficult to repair than Apple's iPad, according to a teardown by iFixit. The Surface Pro makes extensive use of glue to secure everything, including the battery and display, giving Microsoft's latest tablet a score of just one out of ten for repairability. And repairs could become common, given simply using the Surface Pro could be harmful to the hardware...