A Google Maps iOS app approval is anything but given, insiders claim

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2012

Google submitted its native Maps iOS app to Apple in September with the hope of having it approved by Christmas. Two weeks later, its chairman Eric Schmidt acknowledged that a Google Maps iOS app is up to Apple and a newspaper report this morning now suggests that insiders don't have high hopes that it will be approved by the iPhone maker after all. Google previously released a native YouTube app for iOS devices following the removal of stock YouTube software from iOS 6. Last month, the search Goliath also enabled Street View as a web app in the mobile Safari browser...

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Belkin launches two official Lightning accessories

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 25, 2016

Unofficial Lightning accessories that use cracked chips one-up Apple's offering on price, but the "Made for iPhone" (MFi) stamp of approval has its advantages, mostly by reassuring buyers that MFi accessories meet Apple's standards of quality and extensive testing. Belkin was the first third-party manufacturer out of the gate with 30-pin connector accessories back in 2003.

On Monday, it has also become the first official Apple partner to launch Lightning-enabled accessories. The company launched a car charger and a sync dock, both priced within reach of budget shoppers. Belkin is accepting pre-orders today, promising to ship the products later this month...

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IDC: Android gained tablet market share in Q3, while Apple slowed

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

In the race to win the tablet market, all it takes to gain an edge is for the leader to take its foot off the accelerator. Enough potential iPad buyers "sat out" the third-quarter waiting to learn more about the iPad mini, that the brief pause cut into Apple's lead, allowing Android tablet companies to gain share.

According to data by market research firm IDC, Apple's leadership in the third quarter - ahead of the iPad mini's release - shrank to 50.4 percent, down from 59.7 percent a year ago. By contrast, Samsung lead a pack of Android rivals with a triple-digit growth...

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Beating its own estimate, Samsung confirms 30M Galaxy S III sales in 5 months

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 5, 2012

It's a milestone day today. First, Apple announced it sold three million new iPads over the weekend and now South Korea-based Samsung confirmed it beat its own self-imposed estimate by shipping a respectable 30 million units of the flagship Galaxy S III handset. Previously, executives for the company publicly expressed hope to move that much units by year's end. The Galaxy S III launched back in May so the figure amounts to an average of six million S III units a month...

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Apple announces sales of 3M new iPads in 3 days

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Apple just announced that during the opening weekend it sold three million units of both the iPad mini and the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display, exceeding the three million iPad 3 tablets sold over the course of four days back in March. It's also double the 1.5 million Wi-Fi-only iPad 3 units Apple confirmed it sold in March. Though it did not break down sales by model so we don't know how many iPad minis the company moved, Tim Cook noted Apple "practically sold out of iPad minis". Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster predicted sales of 1.5 million iPad minis over its opening weekend...

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Apple dodges its taxes outside the United States

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated March 29, 2017

The subject of large companies paying their taxes is something of a hot button topic in the UK right now, which is why the likes of Starbucks have already found themselves thrown to the wolves over their accounting practices. Today, the latest multinational firm to be on the rack is Apple, with the news that it paid just 2% tax on its profits outside the US last year, leaving international taxmen considerably out of pocket.

Paperwork filed in the United States shows that Apple paid around 2% tax on its pre-tax earnings of $36.8B outside the US. That's down on the 2.5% paid the year before.

Oddly though, it's all perfectly legal...

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Siri to gain movie ticket purchasing in iOS 6.1

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 25, 2016

Apple seeded the first beta of iOS 6.1 to developers last week. The firmware should be the next update we see for iOS, and we're expecting it to include at least a handful of new features.

In fact, we've already found a couple of new additions in the beta, including changes in the Maps app and new Lock screen music controls. And another discovery was made last night...

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Claimed unlocked iPhone 5 prices show up on Apple’s website

Cody Lee ∙ November 5, 2012

While Apple offers unlocked iPhone 5s in Canada and other countries, it has yet to give buyers inside the US that option. So unless you go through a third party vendor, you can't get an unlocked iPhone 5 here in the States.

That could be changing in the near future though. Purported prices for unlocked versions of the new handset have been discovered hidden on Apple's US website, which could mean that they're preparing to roll them out...

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iPad 4 jailbroken

Cody Lee ∙ November 5, 2012

Hot on the heels of the iPad mini being jailbroken, well-known developer and iOS hacker Chpwn has announced that he has hacked his iPad 4. Both tablets officially went on sale last Friday.

As Chpwn points out, Cydia doesn't look any different on the fourth generation iPad than it did on its predecessor. But the fact that it's been jailbroken is actually pretty significant...

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iPad mini user guide

Cody Lee ∙ November 4, 2012

Good news for those of you who managed to score an iPad mini during this sellout weekend, Apple has posted the full-length user guide for the new tablet online.

Obviously, since the mini is so similar to its larger sibling, it's not going to take seasoned iPad users long to get accustomed it. But since Apple only includes brief "getting started" pamphlets with the device, it wouldn't hurt to bookmark the actual manual for future reference...

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You can now reserve your iPad mini for in-store pick up

Cody Lee ∙ November 4, 2012

The iPad mini officially launched on Friday, and much like the online pre-order sale, it looks like initial stock has gone rather quickly. We've heard several reports now that many retailers are sold out of the 8-inch tablet.

But don't worry, if you haven't gotten your hands on a mini yet, Apple just opened up a new option that could allow you to get the slate next-day. That's right, you can now reserve the iPad mini for in-store personal pickup...

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