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T-Mobile closes 2012 by bringing iPhone-friendly HSPA+ to 14 new cities

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Not to be outdone by rival Verizon and AT&T which rolled out their fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks to 29 and five new U.S. cities this week, respectively, T-Mobile USA today announced that its iPhone-friendly HSPA+ service on the 1900MHz band is launching in fourteen new metropolitan areas.

The carrier says these markets can take advantage of voice and data enhancements, improved signal strength and in-building coverage. The $4 billion network modernization plan announced ten months ago already enhanced coverage for more than a hundred million people, T-Mobile said...

Google Play grows, App Store still cash king

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 20, 2012

What's better: to be taller or wealthier? Carry that debate to Apple versus Google and you have the latest on the battle between Apple's App Store and Google Play. While Google's revenue is growing, Apple's application store for iOS devices simply overwhelms the Mountain View, California firm in terms of cash, even if there's another, much darker side to app economy.

During the last four months, Google Play's combined daily revenue grew at 43 percent compared to the App Store's 21 percent, according to research firm Distimo. However, over the entire year, App Store revenue rose by 51 percent.

But wait, there's more. In November, the App Store rang up $15 million in average daily revenue. That compares to $3.5 million for Google Play during the same time...

Steve Jobs wanted to name Safari ‘Freedom’, ‘Alexander’ or ‘iBrowse’

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 20, 2012

Here’s a nice little nugget. Though it's now taken for granted, the Safari browser was almost named "Freedom". Yes, "Freedom", of all the monikers. Steve Jobs apparently considered a bunch of silly names for Apple’s browser that included “Freedom”, “Alexander” and “iBrowse” before settling with “Safari”.

He also spent some time trying “Freedom” because he liked the sound of it and how it signified Apple’s freedom from Microsoft and Internet Explorer. One programmer who worked on the Safari project shares an anecdote describing how he persuaded Jobs to drop the “Freedom” name as it sounded like a “feminine hygiene product”...

Siri’s reliance on Google cut in half since iOS 6

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Siri, what happened to Google? The voice-activated personal assistant (which debuted alongside the iPhone 4S last October) and the Internet giant aren't as close as before. Apple's digital secretary is fast becoming a stranger to Google as one Apple watcher says Siri's reliance on Google has been cut in half since iOS 6.

While 60 percent of Siri queries sent iPhone owners using iOS 5 to Google data, iOS 6 reduced the percentage to 30 percent. Apparently, Google Maps took the heaviest hit as Apple Maps became the destination for 24 percent of Siri's answers, up from zero percent in iOS 5. Siri - now competing with Google's own voice assistant - is also a wee bit more accurate...

Buoyed by strong sales, Apple orders 2M extra iPad minis

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 20, 2012

Apple's smaller iPad is indeed turning into competitors' worst nightmare. After announcing sales of three million new iPads in three days, the iPad mini is now outselling full-size iPads and could easily comprise half of all iPads sold in December.

And with eight out of each ten iPad owners planning to stick with Apple, no wonder the Cupertino firm has now increased orders for the 7.9-inch tablet, with the volume reaching twelve million iPad minis by year's end...

Tesco’s Clubcard unofficially repurposed for Apple’s Passbook app

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Apple's Passbook app in iOS 6 has seen an encouraging uptick as various brands continue to implement Passbook support for loyalty and coupon cards and tickets, like Starbucks, mobile payment startup Square, Coupons.com, MLB, Discover, Apple (of course) and a host of airlines, to name a few. Passbook is also used by real estate agents and now Passverse founder Tomas McGuinness has brought an unofficial support for Passbook to the Clubcard from Tesco, UK’s biggest supermarket chain...

Verizon brings LTE service to 29 more markets

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Carrier Verizon Wireless Thursday morning announced another wave of expansion, bringing its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network to 29 more markets in the United States, including Selma, Alabama; Clarksburg, West Virginia; and Port Angeles, Washington.

With the addition of these 29 cities, Verizon's LTE is now available in 470 markets to more than 250 million people in the United States...

EU to file antitrust charges against Samsung

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The European Union will "very soon" charge Samsung over its practice of filing injunctions against Apple in Europe, Reuters reported Thursday. The news arrives after Samsung dropped all of its injunctions and injunction requests against Cupertino, California-based Apple's gadgets in Europe and following a U.S. ruling that threw Samsung's alleged jury misconduct claim out of the window.

The European Union in January launched a formal investigation into a potential breach of EU antitrust rules concerning Samsung's use of standards-essential patents...

NIBIQÜ: a Surface-like keyboard case for your iPad

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Despite lackluster sales, Microsoft's new Surface has been praised for its innovations. Windows 8 RT certainly doesn't look like anything else on the market right now, and the tablet's ultra-slim Touch Cover keyboard is an interesting concept.

In fact, a lot of folks are asking if there is something similar available for the iPad. There are, actually several keyboard covers that are compatible with Apple's tablet, but none of them come closer to the Touch Cover than the NIBIQÜ...

Tumblr app finally updated with iPad support

Cody Lee ∙ December 20, 2012

Good news today for all of you Tumblr users. The popular microblogging platform has finally updated its iOS app to work natively on the iPad. Previously, if you wanted to access your Tumblr blog, or view the work of others, from your tablet, you either had to use the website, a third-party application, or the official iOS app in 2X mode. But not anymore...

US Patent Office invalidates another key Apple patent

Cody Lee ∙ December 19, 2012

We've seen the United States Patent and Trademark Office reject or invalidate a few important Apple patents in the last few months, including one covering the infamous 'rubber banding' UI feature, and one covering the iPhone.

Today, the USPTO added another key patent to the list, tentatively declaring Apple's US 7,844,915 invention — widely referred to as the pinch-to-zoom patent — invalid. It's just a preliminary decision, but it's still a fairly big deal...