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Apple’s Schiller on new iMacs without an optical drive, iPad mini value

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 26, 2012

Like his boss Tim Cook, Apple's head honcho of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller is doing some explaining these days. After the iPad mini arrived and surprised folks who've been holding their breath for a $199 iPad, he sat with Reuters to explain that Apple doesn't know how to make a $199 tablet that isn't a piece of junk.

Today, he defends the device's $329 starting price in an interview with TIME. He also explains why Apple ignored netbooks and how the company, after seven generations of the iMac, came about dropping a built-in optical drive on the revamped lineup and what it means for the future of computing...

iPad vs Surface: size and dimensions

Jeff Benjamin ∙ October 26, 2012

The Microsoft Surface launched today to quite a bit of fanfare. I just received my unit via FedEx a few hours ago. Although I've yet to actually power on the unit (such is the life of a tech blogger), I have thoroughly inspected its hardware.

In the following video, I compare the Surface's dimensions and weight to that of the iPad 3. It's an interesting look at two wildly different tablets on pretty much every level. Take a gander...

Amazon reports first loss in nine years, cites iPad mini in release

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

The people with the smile on the box had no reason to smile when their company, the online retail giant Amazon, yesterday posted third-quarter results today, reporting its first loss in nine years. Even as revenue increased by 27 percent annually, Amazon lost $274 million during the third quarter on net sales of $13.8 billion, up from $10.9 billion a year earlier.

In the year-ago quarter, Amazon reported a net profit of $63 million. Total operating expenses increased from $10.8 billion to $13.8 billion. Amazon attributed the loss to its investment in online deal site LivingSocial.

It's also understandable that a low-margin, high-volume nature of Amazon's content and books businesses affects earnings. The company is also vulnerable to exchange rates, online shopping growth and fluctuations in consumer spending. And in announcing its first-ever loss, Amazon even took jabs at Apple's iPad in - wait for it - the official press release...

Android grabs 41 percent of tablet market as Apple’s share falls

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

Can the iPad mini save Apple's slipping lead in tablet sales? The could be the question of the day as researchers announce Apple's share of the tablet market dropped to 56.7 percent while Android tablets now account for 41 percent of the worldwide market.

According to Strategy Analytics, the iPad's lead eroded from the 64.5 percent it held during the third quarter of 2011. Meanwhile, an army of Android tablets, helped by Apple losses, rose to 41.3 percent of the market, up from 29.2 percent during the same period last year...

Samsung dazzles with record Q3 earnings, profits rising faster than Apple’s

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Samsung Electronics, the flagship subsidiary of the Samsung Group and the world's largest technology company by revenues since 2009, reported earnings for the September quarter and the results are staggering. Year-on-year profit rose 91 percent as the company brought home $5.9 billion in net profit on $47.6 billion in sales, a 26 percent increase.

Operating profit margin also climbed to 18.8 percent. Much of the spoils came from Galaxy devices, especially smartphones where Samsung in the third quarter reigned supreme, grabbing twice Apple's market share. Apple yesterday reported $8.2 billion in net profit on $36 billion revenues.

While Samsung has a long way to go to match Apple's profitability, it's been growing at a faster clip: Apple's net profit in the September quarter grew 25 percent versus 91 percent for Samsung. No matter how you look at it, Samsung Electronics, which has headquarters in Suwon, South Korea, is evidently on fire. Does it stand a shot at beating Apple on profitability down the road?

This jailbreak tweak lets you unlock your iPhone with a pinch

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

If you're looking for an alternative way to unlock your iOS device, there's no shortage of tweaks available on Cydia for you to do so. In fact, pinch to unlock is a recently released tweak that allows you to do just that. Instead of sliding to unlock, the tweak allows you to perform a two finger gesture as a means to unlock.

Interestingly, you don't have to actually perform a pinch gesture in order to unlock your device. Pinch to unlock readily accepts any two finger gesture on your Lock screen as a means to gain access to your device. Check inside for the full video...

How to kill all running apps with a swipe

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

SwipeAway is a new jailbreak tweak that allows you to easily kill running apps with a simple swipe within iOS' App Switcher. The tweak includes two options in the Settings app: the ability to swipe up, or swipe down to invoke the killing measure.

This certainly isn't the first tweak that allows you to kill all running apps, but it's likely one of the more intuitive methods for doing so. Take a look at our full video walkthrough inside for all of the details.

Samsung’s smartphone market twice that of Apple

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 26, 2012

Samsung has become Apple's chief nemesis in court and on retail shelves. The South Korean smartphone maker now has twice the market share as the Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker, new research finds. According to IDC, Samsung controlled 31.3 percent of the smartphone market during the third quarter, handily beating Apple's 15 percent share.

The two companies have the smartphone market largely to themselves, with their nearest competitor - Blackberry maker Research In Motion - controlling only 4.3 percent, according to IDC. Nokia even fell from the top five, shipping just 82.9 million handsets in the previous quarter, a 22 percent drop from the same quarter in 2011...

How to create animations on your SpringBoard by shaking your device

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Some jailbreak tweaks serve no purpose as far as productivity or utility is concerned. Some tweaks are simply made to show off to your friends and family. ShakeAnimation fits squarely into this category. This isn't a tweak that you purchase to gain additional functionality on your iOS device. Instead, it's a tweak that you install solely to show off what you can do with your device.

As its name states, ShakeAnimation allows you to gain several different animations on your device with a simple shake. There are quite a few animations contained within the settings, and you can invoke them in a variety of areas such as the Lock screen, or Home screen. Talking about it can only tell you show much. For a tweak like this you really need to visualize it to get the full gist of it. Take a look at our video inside for a full visualization of ShakeAnimation in action...

Cook on iPad mini canibalization, Microsoft’s Surface and Apple’s position on tweener tablets

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 26, 2012

Apple CEO Tim Cook during yesterday's conference call with Wall Street analysts briefly touched on Microsoft's Surface tablet, which hit store shelves today, canibalization of its own products by the iPad mini and more. He also addressed his predecessor's public dissing of smaller tablets two years ago, insisting that Apple's position on the matter remains unchanged and stressing that the iPad mini, which has a 7.9-inch display, is "in a whole different league" than other seven inchers. Apple in fact, he said, "would never make" a seven-inch iPad...

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City due on iOS and Android later this fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Rockstar Games is celebrating tenth year of its Grand Theft Auto series and said it will be releasing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on iOS and Android platforms later this fall. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City debuted on October 29, 2002 on the PlayStation 2 and I've had lots of fun playing the various installments in the series throughout the years.

The new game should arrive approximately a year following the release of Grand Theft Auto III for iOS (still not updated for the iPhone 5 and Retina graphics). An Anniversary Edition of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for iOS and Android devices "will bring the full experience to mobile devices", Rockstar said. They are mentioning native high-resolution graphics and several enhancements that will be unique to the iOS and Android platforms...

Initial pre-order stock of white iPad mini sold out

Cody Lee ∙ Updated June 5, 2018

Apple made the fourth generation iPad and iPad mini available for pre-order earlier this morning. And as pointed out by some of our readers, the white version of the smaller tablet sold out rather quickly.

Here in the US, all models of the white iPad mini started showing two week shipping estimates within the first half hour. So if you're looking to score one on launch day, you'll have to head to a retail store...