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Reuters takes an inside look at iPad smuggling in China

Cody Lee ∙ July 20, 2012

After nearly five months of cutting through red tap, Apple finally launched its third-generation iPad in mainland China today. To much surprise, the tablet made a quiet landing, with only a handful of shoppers in lines spotted around the country's signature Apple Stores.

The lack of noise can probably be attributed to Apple's pre-registration system. In an effort to avoid the chaotic scenes of previous product launches, the company restricted new iPad purchases to pre-order only. But it could also be because many fans already have the tablet...

Apple targets Android cheapos, re-prices iPhone 3GS below $200 unsubsidized

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

In case you've been wondering, the three-year old iPhone 3GS still has life left in it and should live on through the release of the next iPhone. Matter of fact, the handset has just been slashed on India’s seventh-largest Aircel network to just Rs 9,999, which works out to approximately $180 with an advanced commitment of ~$55 for a year, for a total upfront cost of $235 for an unsubsidized device.

Apple of course recently began offering the iPhone 4/4S through a bunch of regional U.S. carriers, most notably Cricket and Virgin Mobile, on a pre-paid basis with month-to-month plans. But with iOS 6 coming this fall to the iPhone 3GS, Apple's entry-level iPhone is now working its way down to the low-end of the market dominated by Android cheapos...

Apple says in-app purchasing exploit will be fixed in iOS 6

Cody Lee ∙ July 20, 2012

Apple has started emailing developers today, with more information regarding the recently-discovered in-app purchasing exploit. Earlier this month, news broke of a hack that allowed users to acquire paid in-app content, for free.

The email contains a link to a new support page, posted on Apple's developer website, that provides devs with information on the issue, and offers up a temporary fix. It also states that a permanent patch is coming in iOS 6...

Hands on with Firefox OS

Jeff Benjamin ∙ July 20, 2012

As you may have heard, Mozilla has released a test version of Firefox OS that anyone can test out on their local Mac or PC.

I decided to go ahead and take it for a test drive, and although I probably definitely didn't have everything properly configured and optimized, I came away with a decent impression of how the upcoming mobile OS is designed.

Check inside for our brief video hands-on with the Firefox OS test software...

Samsung to unveil new Galaxy device on August 15th

Cody Lee ∙ July 20, 2012

All eyes are on Apple this fall, as rumors of a revamped iPhone and an all-new iPad persist. If the speculation materializes, this October could bring one of the company's biggest media events in recent memory.

And between now and then, don't be surprised if the competition manages to steal the spotlight away with new produce releases and announcements. Samsung, in fact, is already making a move in that direction...

Tricky content deals may push Apple television back to 2014

Cody Lee ∙ July 20, 2012

Bad news for folks who were holding out on buying a new TV in anticipation for Apple's set. A new report is out today that claims it could be 2014 before we see a full-blown television from the Cupertino company.

Chatter regarding Apple building its own HDTV has been around for years now. But talk of the set has significantly tapered off over the past couple of months amidst rumors of other upcoming Apple products...

NotiPad makes its way to Cydia

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated February 25, 2013

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT4wWMu-2cM[/tube]

NotiPad — the Growl inspired tweak for the iPad — has just appeared on Cydia's BigBoss repo for $1.00. The iPad exclusive tweak replaces the standard banner notifications in favor of Growl styled pop up notifications.

There are a variety of different options built in with NotiPad, including the ability to alter the animations, and switch the side of the iPad's screen that the notifications appear on.

If you decide to check it out, be sure to drop us a line in the comments section.

Apple to webcast June quarter earnings

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Apple will be reporting results for the second calendar 2012 quarter (corresponding to its third fiscal 2012 quarter) next Tuesday, July 24, shortly after the markets close at 2pm Pacific, 5pm Eastern.

Ahead of the earnings release, Apple just issued an alert this morning regarding streaming audio from the conference call which will be available here via QuickTime, beginning on July 24 at 2pm Pacific. The iDB team will be following the conference call so you don't have to, posting interesting bits and pieces right as we learn about them...

Poll: how do you feel about Sparrow now?

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 20, 2012

Sparrow for iPhone debuted in February of 2011 and remains to date known as a kick-ass email client for both desktop and mobile. Those that love Sparrow appreciate its best-in-class Gmail support, clean and minimalistic interface and just the right set of features.

But Sparrow got snapped up by the Internet giant Google today (looks like this is becoming somewhat of a pattern for Google). From what we know so far, the Sparrow development team will be “working on new things at Google” and they "do not plan to release new features for the Sparrow apps".

This likely means 'no' to the promised iPad version and another 'no' to push alerts for incoming messages. It's assumably a sad day for Sparrow die-hards, so I just put together a little poll to gauge your feelings on the subject of today's unexpected acquisition...

Google buys Mac/iOS email client Sparrow, say good-bye to new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Dang, Google just acquired the popular Mac and iOS email client Sparrow. The value of the transaction or terms of the deal have not been made public, though The Verge thinks Google paid under $25 million for Sparrow. According to a blog post announcing the acquisition, this deal will help the Sparrow team "accomplish a bigger vision", one the team says "can better achieve with Google". Hopefully that means buying some notification servers, though Sparrow's email to customers is anything but encouraging. Full details below...

iPad 3 makes a quiet landing in China

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 20, 2012

As promised, Apple today began selling its Retina iPad in China, having paved the way for the long-awaited launch with a recent $60 million trademark settlement with the struggling Chinese monitor vendor ProView.

News reports describe the launch as low-key, lacking the usual long lines and media frenzy like elsewhere. Apple is also seen taking additional steps to fight scalpers with an imposed three-hour window for reservations...