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Check out iSkelter’s gorgeously minimalistic bamboo-handcrafted iPhone 5 dock

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

You love your iPhone 5 and pride yourself with being an environmentally conscious person? How about putting your money where your mouth is by considering this awesome-looking iPhone 5 dock from iSkelter? Handmade entirely from bamboo, one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth, it "perfectly compliments your iPhone's minimalistic design features" with a touch of eco-friendliness. As the images attest, the dock will keep your iPhone 5 firmly in place either in portrait or landscape.

As a nice touch, there's even a carving elegantly leading the Lightning cable out, thus reducing incidences of tangled cords. I'm a big fan of Feng Shui and the minimalistic interior design so I'm already thinking how this could enrich my home office setup. I've got more shots and a video for you right past the break...

Samsung facing $15B fine for asserting standard-essential patents against Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 28, 2012

Reuters reported last week that the European Union would “very soon” formally charge Samsung for asserting standard essential patents against Apple.

Smelling danger, just days prior to the development the Galaxy maker had withdrawn all its injunction requests in European courts.

Friday morning, UK's The Guardian newspaper reported that the European Commission could now slap the South Korean conglomerate - the world's top cell phone maker by volume - with a substantial fine of up to ten percent of its global revenue, amounting to as much as fifteen billion dollars based on Samsung's 2011 revenue of $148.9 billion...

Microsoft woos iOS devs to write Windows apps

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Android and iOS may have been all the rage in 2012 - and especially on Christmas Day when App Store downloads surged 87 percent versus the December 2012 average - but what about Microsoft?

While sales of Windows 8 tablets and Windows Phones have yet to reach a critical mass, the Redmond firm understands it needs more quality apps to lure users.

Quite an interesting get-together recently happened at Microsoft's headquarters as the firm met with a cherry-picked group of iOS developers in an attempt to encourage them to produce versions of their apps for the Windows Phone platform. Is Microsoft throwing money at iOS devs' feet? This reminds us of how the firm spent millions in the gaming space to steal PlayStation exclusives, much to its advantage...

Student converts Raspberry Pi into a wireless AirPlay speaker

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 28, 2012

If you're not familiar with the Raspberry Pi, it's a mini computer which packs in a 700 MHz ARM 11 processor with 128MB of RAM that runs Debian Linux. In addition, a proof-of-concept hack turns the gizmo into an HDMI-enabled AirPlay video receiving machine. It's so small you’ll almost forget it’s there and costs only $25.

That's $75 cheaper than an Apple TV set-top box, the only official solution that provides wireless media streaming functionality from Mountain Lion Macs and iOS devices to a TV set.

Oliver told you in January that one of the Raspberry Pi developers had successfully created a hack that let him stream video from his iPad to a TV via the credit card-sized computer. And now, Cambridge engineering student Jordan Burgess has successfully converted the device into a wireless AirPlay-enabled audio receiver...

Analyst: Apple needs ITV to stay alive – but the iPad is a ‘rocket’

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 28, 2012

Some days, you almost wish the Mayan Calendar believers were right and today was the end of the world. Executives at Apple headquarters have likely been popping antacids like Christmas candy as wave after wave of pessimism washes through Wall Street.

Now comes word Apple is destined to be a has-been unless it cranks out an iTV - or cheapo smartphone. The depression-laded missive of the day arrived last Thursday from Toni Sacconaghi, analyst with Bernstein Research. In a note to bewildered investors, he alternated between calling the iPad "an absolute juggernaut" worth $32 billion in annual revenue and forecasting Apple will languish in single-digit growth by 2015...

YouTube, Google Maps top list of most downloaded apps on Christmas Day

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Given the fact that millions of iPhones, iPads and iPod touches were given as gifts this year, and that a number of apps and games were on sale, it's no surprise that there was a huge spike in app downloads on Tuesday.

In fact, app analytics firm Distimo found that daily downloads in the App Store increased by 87% on Christmas Day compared to the December 2012 average. So what was everyone downloading? Read on to find out...

New app uses iPhone’s vibrate motor to take hands-free 360-degree video

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Up until now, if you wanted to shoot 360-degree video with your iPhone, you'd either need a snap-on accessory, like the GoPano, or a pair of steady hands and some patience. But a clever new app is looking to change that.

Introducing Cycloramic, an iPhone app that uses the handset's built-in vibrate motor to spin it around in a circle, allowing you to capture 360-degree video, completely hands free. Hard to believe? Check out the video demo...

Chinese court orders Apple to pay $165K in copyright dispute

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

For the second time in the last 6 months, a Chinese court has found Apple to be liable for the sale of unlicensed works distributed through the App Store. Back in September, it was ordered to pay $82K for the violation, and this time it's double that.

A judge from Beijing's Second Intermediate People's Court on Thursday ordered Apple to pay 1.03 million yuan, or roughly $165,000, to a group of writers who claimed their work was pirated, repurposed as an app and sold through the App Store...

iPhone 5 lands quietly in Africa, Southeast Asia

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

As people around the world were preparing for Christmas last week, Apple was getting ready for its last iPhone 5 rollout of 2012. And on December 21st, three months after its debut, the handset launched in its 101st country.

You can now buy Apple's latest smartphone in Barbados, Cameroon, Egypt, Uganda and several other new markets. But you wouldn't know it by looking at the interwebs, as this was one of the quietest iPhone 5 launches yet...

The Daily Recap – Dec 27, 2012 edition

Jeff Benjamin ∙ December 27, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBkC9iBs-Y8

Welcome to The Daily Recap for December 27th, 2012. Watch our video for a quick look at some of the top stories from the day in less than two minutes. If you missed out on any of today's big news, this is a great way for you to get caught up fast.

For your convenience, you'll also find links to all of the stories listed in today's recap inside...

‘Fade’ dims your Home screen icons when invoking Notification Center

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Fade is an extremely simple jailbreak tweak that forces the Home screen UI elements to fade when Notification Center is invoked. As you slide down Notification Center, elements like the app icons and the dock will progressively fade from view. As you slide the Notification Center pane up, the effect is reversed, and the elements fade back into view.

There are no options to setup or settings to configure, just install it and it starts working. Take a look inside as we demonstrate Fade on video...

New report shows labor conditions at Foxconn improving

Cody Lee ∙ December 27, 2012

Earlier this year, The New York Times published a bleak, extensive report on the poor working conditions inside Foxconn's factories. The manufacturer makes products for several companies, but the piece specifically called out Apple.

In the latest installment of its "iEconomy" series, The Times takes a look at the changes made by both Apple and Foxconn to improve the working conditions inside their Chinese plants. And from the sound of it, things are getting better...