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The new iPod touch lacks auto-brightness as Apple dropped ambient light sensor

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Apple's fifth-gen iPod touch is unable to automatically adjust brightness of the display depending on your environment because engineers unexplicitly dropped the ambient light sensor from the device. This eyebrow-raising omission is that more puzzling knowing all prior iPod touch versions had that sensor, a common feature on iPhones and iPads as well.

News of this 'discovery' propagated throughout the Interwebs today, but our own Jeff Benjamin made a mention of the lack of ambient light sensor in his video review of the new iPod touch from three days ago...

Apple poaches a prominent Amazon search technologist to improve on Siri

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

According to a new report by AllThingsD, Apple has nabbed an Amazon search specialist William Stasior, who also held a senior position at AltaVista and Oracle. Stasior has reportedly landed the top job: Apple basically has charged him with running its Siri unit.

In hiring a new tutor for its underachieving digital secretary, Apple has indicated intentions to double down on enhancing Siri's skill set, per Tim Cook's promise a few months ago.

It also might signal a broader search agenda down the road that might give birth to an Apple-branded, more natural version of the traditional web search.

At any rate, the iPhone maker is interested in expanding Siri's scope, which in its current incarnation focuses on voice-activated artificial intelligence, leaving search queries to specialized search engines and data bases such as Wolfram Alpha.

This could change down the road, however, especially as Apple continues to lessen its reliance on Google technology for some software features of the iPhone...

How to downgrade pre-A5 devices easily with RedSn0w

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 7, 2016

RedSn0w 0.9.15b1 was a gargantuan update. In fact, we're still trudging through all of the new features. One new addition that has us really excited is the new direct restore option for pre-A5 devices.

This new restore option allows you to downgrade your device without having to fool with host files, stitching, Pwned DFU, iTunes, or anything else that made downgrading so incredibly cumbersome in the past.

We've made a step-by-step tutorial that shows you how to use this new restore feature, along with getting by those pesky Mismatched APTicket errors. Check inside for the full tutorial.

The iPhone 5 64GB ships to AT&T in 24 hours

Sébastien Page ∙ October 15, 2012

I just got back from a trip to my AT&T Store where I went to exchange my black iPhone 5 for the white version. I've actually tried to exchange my black iPhone 5 since I received it. For the last 3 weeks, I went pretty much every single day to my AT&T Store asking if they had received any iPhone 5. For the last 3 weeks, I was told the same answer: "no, sorry, we haven't received anything".

Today, one smart AT&T employee finally realized I had been coming every day for three weeks and told me that I didn't have to physically come and check, as I could simply order an iPhone from the store. You'd think they would have offered this solution before, but that's another problem that we won't even bother addressing here.

I was then directed to an AT&T employee who processed my order/return. Without much hope, I figured the AT&T employee probably didn't know anything about time frames and delivery estimates, but to my surprise, he said that because I am ordering a 64GB iPhone 5, it will ship within 24 hours.

Wait, what? 24 hours, as in one day? How is this possible when Apple's own website tells me that any iPhone 5 model ships in 3-4 weeks?

Shared Reminders go live at iCloud.com

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 15, 2012

Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 on September 12 and the following day updated the iCloud.com web interface by dropping the Beta flag and introducing the new Notes and Reminders web apps with cloud notifications enabled. Today, club Cupertino improves upon its cloud-based suite of services by adding shared reminders to the Reminders web app on iCloud.com.

You were able to set up shared reminders using Reminders on OS X (not via the stock iOS Reminders app, though), but those wouldn't sync with the web interface. Today's update is a minor but important one as it finally provides for a more seamless sync of reminders across devices, though not yet perfect...

Bought an iBook? You could be eligible for a credit amid $65M price fixing settlement

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 20, 2016

If you bought Walter Isaacson's official Steve Jobs biography, titles from the New York Times bestseller list or other iBooks from Apple (or e-books from other retailers) between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012, you may be eligible for your share of the $65 million settlement in the e-book price fixing scandal. Amazon and Apple started emailing customers that the settlement has been reached between the State Attorneys General and book publishers Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster.

Though Apple has not been sued in this case, the company is "assisting in providing this notice as a service to its customers". Companies will compensate eligible customers from $0.30 to $1.32 per e-book as the named publishers already paid $69 million into a settlement fund...

AU Optronics seen boosting output of iPad mini screens ahead of next week’s unveiling

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 20, 2017

Having solved yield issues, Taiwan’s maker of flat panel displays AU Optronics (AUO) is said to be boosting its output of displays for the iPad mini, with Apple being so confident in AUO's ability to deliver that it upped orders by 50 percent to three million panels (Apple's striving to produce ten million iPad minis).

The screens should trickle down to assembly factories later this month, giving hope that Apple will have ample supply of parts at its disposal to manufacture enough iPad minis for the rumored October 23 introduction. If history is an indication, the iPad mini should be available either right after the keynote or a week or two following the presser...

Amazon said to be looking to buy Kindle chip supplier Texas Instruments

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Online retailer Amazon is considering an acquisition of Texas Instruments, a maker of mobile processors used in a variety of tablets and smartphones. The rumor arrives just as Texas Instruments confirmed it's been struggling to upend its main rivals Nvidia and Qualcomm for orders.

According to Reuters, citing a report by Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist (which last December broke news of Apple's acquisition of Anobit), Amazon is "in advanced talks" to buy Texas Instruments for an undisclosed sum...

Apple and Samsung might not be best frenemies forever

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Apple is quickly cutting its ties to Samsung, moving from a bizarre frenemy relationship to a "one-dimensional" acquaintance. The iPhone 5's A6 chip marked the first time the Cupertino, Calif. company did all the designing and the South Korean rival simply manufactured the silicon.

The relationship between the two companies is "about to become one-dimensional," writes The Korea Time, citing a Samsung source. For some time, Apple and Samsung have been technology's odd couple, one day suing each other and the next cooperating to design and build chips for the iPhone...

Revamped iMacs, 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro due alongside iPad mini next week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

As October 23 approaches, the word on the street is that Apple alongside the iPad mini will unveil a redesigned iMac with a curved shell "like a water droplet", updated Mac minis a new 13-inch MacBook Pro notebook featuring the Retina display. Hot on the heels of last month's introduction of the iPhone 5, fifth-generation iPod touch and the new iPod nano, Apple apparently isn't done updating its existing lineup, per one analyst who recently called for eight Apple product releases by end of 2012...

New Apple Store opening in Beijing on Saturday

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple's retail web page was updated last week with an announcement of Beijing's third Apple Store, scheduled for grand opening this coming Saturday, October 20. Apple already operates Sanlitun and Xidan Joy City retail outlets in the Beijing region so the upcoming store poses a welcome addition as the company preps to launch the iPhone 5 in China and looks to expand its retail operation in the 1.33 billion people market...

Geekbench: the new iPod touch cannot hold a candle to the iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 15, 2012

Apple's fifth-generation iPod touch has arrived to some raving reviews, representing a major upgrade over the previous model with the same four-inch display as the iPhone 5 (sans a cheaper assembly), the thinner chassis (only 6.1mm), the new Lightning interconnect, a five-megapixel iSight camera with custom optics and the A5 chip, also found inside the third-generation iPad and iPhone 4S. First Geekbench benchmarks show that the new iPod touch is nearly as fast as the iPhone 4S, but not even half as fast as the iPhone 5, Apple's first iOS device to utilize the brand new A6 processor...