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NASA builds Android-based satellite

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

If Google wants to find somewhere not dominated by Apple's iPhone, they'll have to leave planet Earth -- which is exactly what's being planned. NASA will launch the Android-powered Nexus One smartphone this fall as the brains of a tiny nano-satellite.

The Android phone will be at the heart of PhoneSat, a 4-inch cube space agency engineers are building using off-the-shelf parts with a $3,500 budget. Turns out, the Android phone has all of the basic features to power what NASA hopes will be an orbiting ring of tiny satellites. Along with the Android operating system, the Nexus One has a fast processor, communications gear and a nifty camera with which to snap photos of Earth from space.

AT&T denies rumors of employee vacation blackout

Cody Lee ∙ August 27, 2012

Over the weekend, it was reported that AT&T employees were seeing a blackout on vacation dates in late September, likely due to the new iPhone launch. Apple is widely expected to roll out the handset on September 21.

The information seemed spot-on, considering the timeframe matched up with both Verizon blackout dates and previous reports. But it looks like, for whatever reason, AT&T is denying the employee blackout rumors...

China is fastest-growing iOS and Android market

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated March 12, 2018

China has the big mo when it comes to smartphones. Although the US still leads with 165 million active iOS and Android devices, China is the fastest-growing market, according to analytics firm Flurry. Demand for smart devices in China grew 400 percent between July 2012 and the same period last year.

The nation far outpaced other countries, with Chile in second place at 279 percent year-over-year smart device growth. Brazil ranked next with 220 percent as Russia registered 179 percent growth and India's smart device growth rose by 171 percent.

Claimed iPhone 5 parts reveal possible NFC chip

Cody Lee ∙ August 27, 2012

Surprise, surprise, another purported iPhone 5 component was leaked over the weekend. Late last night, an assembled front panel with Home button and FaceTime camera surfaced on the web.

But unlike the claimed parts we've been seeing as of late, this one might actually give us some worth-while insight. It houses an unknown square sensor, which some folks believe to be an NFC chip...

Samsung hopes ‘strict firewall’ keeps Apple a customer

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

In one of the most bizarre moments following its loss to Apple, Samsung executives met this weekend to discuss ways to keep its largest customer: Apple. At the heart of their strategy, the South Korean firm reportedly will rely on a "strict internal firewall" keeping separate its handset and chip units.

The Sunday meeting included Samsung's vice chair Coi Gee-sung and mobile chief JK Shin, Reuters reported. Left out of the discussion was Samsung CEO Kwon Oh-hyon, who oversees the component side of the company...

Question of the week: Was the Samsung vs Apple verdict fair?

Jeff Benjamin ∙ August 27, 2012

Guilty. That was the verdict handed down by the court in the recent Apple vs Samsung legal battle. Samsung was accused of unabashedly copying Apple's design over the years, and the jurors agreed.

Samsung now has to pay over one billion dollars in damages to Apple, along with the threat that some of their products may be banned.

Obviously, this is music to the ears of many Apple fans, but the question stands to be asked — was it fair? What do you think?

Status Bar Switcher forces the status bar to stay in place

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

Just a bit ago, I reviewed App Switcher Status Bar — a jailbreak tweak that places the iPhone's status bar inside of the app switcher.

The purpose of that tweak is to make the status bar available while the app switcher is open, since it normally disappears when doing so.

App Switcher Status Bar is an interesting take on the solution, but it stands to be asked: Why not just make the status bar stay in its normal place when opening the app switcher? And that's likely how Status Bar Switcher was born...

Samsung posts memo to employees, vows to keep fighting Apple

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

And the fallout from last week's Apple vs. Samsung verdict continues. Apple's stock opened this morning at an all-time high of $680 per share, with a market cap of $637 billion, and Samsung is down more than 7%.

But the Korean smartphone-maker says it isn't worried. After releasing a public statement over the weekend, Samsung posted a memo to its employees online vowing to continue to fight Apple's charges...

This jailbreak tweak places the status bar inside the app switcher

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

When you open up the iPhone's app switcher, the status bar fades from view. This means that you can't view vital statistics like the time, signal strength, and battery life while the app switcher is open.

Now obviously, most people aren't going to keep their status bars open long enough for this to have a negative impact on the experience, but in some cases, it may be desirable to have access to the status bar while the app switcher is open.

That's where the clumsily named App Switcher Status Bar comes into play. It places the status bar directly in the app switcher, so that you can always see the iPhone's vital statistics, even when switching apps.

Wall Street: Injunction or not, Apple wins fight against Samsung

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Whether or not Apple is granted an injunction preventing Samsung sales in the U.S. doesn't concern Wall Street. Following the iPhone maker's patent-infringement win against the South Korean company, the real question is whether this causes consumers to pause.

"The key question is whether operators/customers will be willing to buy infringing Samsung handsets/tablets if there is risk they may have to stop selling them in the future," writes Wells Fargo analyst Maynard Um. Indeed, Um sees the only risk now facing Apple is whether they'll have enough iPhone 5 handsets to meet "unprecedented demand."

CamTime adds a simple timer to the Camera app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

I've always found it rather peculiar that there is no native timer built into iOS' stock Camera app, but leave it to the jailbreak community to come through with a solution.

CamTime is a simple jailbreak tweak that places a timer directly to the left of the shutter button. It's not the prettiest tweak in the world, but it can get the job done in a pinch.

Google comments on last week’s Apple vs. Samsung ruling

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Just in case you missed out on the excitement last week, the high-profile Apple vs. Samsung trial ended with a bang. After 21 hours of deliberation, the jury ruled in Apple's favor, awarding the company some $1 billion in damages.

Since then, we've heard official statements from both companies. Apple, of course, is thrilled with the outcome, while Samsung says it's a loss for the American consumer. And over the weekend, Google finally commented on the verdict...