Apple

Insiders blame iCloud technical issues on ‘open conflict’ between Siri and cloud teams at Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

A report Thursday published by the former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin's outlet, The Information, paints a gloomy picture for Apple's efforts to move its cloud services 100 percent in-house. That process has been slowed by “political infighting” as the company's iCloud and Siri engineering teams are now “in open conflict”.

The infighting is so bad, according to sources with direct knowledge of the situation, that at least one key employee has already departed, “with more expected soon,” reads the full report behind a paywall.

Qualcomm is “assuming” that Apple will give LTE modem orders for iPhone 7 to rival Intel

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

Shares of Qualcomm have dropped two percent after CEO Steve Mollenkopf told analysts on an earnings call Wednesday that it may lose some of its “biggest customers” as they are going with a “second source,” Bloomberg reported.

The fabless chip maker's been Apple's exclusive supplier of LTE modems for over three years now.

That's about to change soon: Mollenkopf is now “assuming” that a major customer will give orders to a rival, indicating a potential loss of business for the company. Analysts said they think the customer is Apple and the rival is Intel.

Put Product Hunt right in your Mac’s menu bar

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

Product Hunt, the popular Y Combinator-backed service that lets users share and discover new products, earlier this month unveiled a thoroughly revamped iPhone and iPad application that puts fun back into product discovery.

It's a gorgeously done app that I use every day and it's made me want that experience on my Mac. Lo and behold, Product Hunt for Mac. A tiny, official client for OS X, this app puts Product Hunt's familiar round “P” icon right into your Mac's menu bar, where it sits and dutifully awaits a click of the mouse to present you with the latest popular products, games, books and podcasts on Product Hunt.

Facebook launching group audio calling on Messenger with support for up to 50 participants

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

A year after it rolled out the ability to place and receive VoIP audio calls on Messenger, Facebook is now introducing a new VoIP calling feature with support for up to fifty people on a single group call. Group calling currently supports standard VoIP audio calls, but Facebook did tell TechCrunch that “group video calling is definitely a use case that a lot of our people might be interested in at some point”.

Revisit the places you’ve been with Foursquare’s new history feature (bonus: Photos extension)

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

Since launching in 2009, there have been over nine billion check-ins on Foursquare across the globe. Celebrating its seventh anniversary, the startup pushed an update to its mobile application on the App Store which includes a handy new history features.

Similar to location history on Google, the updated Foursquare app makes it simple for users to browse any place they've been and checked into via a new History tab.

In addition, Foursquare now has its own Photos extension which makes it super easy to share a photo as a tip, right within the context of the Photos app.

Stunning iOS 10 concept imagines dark mode, customizable Control Center, Siri in apps and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2016

MacStories founder and editor Federico Viticci has joined forces with user interface designer Sam Beckett on giving us their take on some of the features that Apple may or may not implement in iOS 10, the next major revision of the mobile operating system powering the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The stunning renderings and an accompanying video imagine many features that Apple fans have been craving for, such as a brand new dark mode for iOS 10, an updated Control Center which lets you move around and customize the icons, an official Siri app for implementing voice-activated features in third-party apps and more.

Here’s how to add a WWDC 2016 countdown widget to your Mac

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated May 19, 2019

If you're waiting patiently for WWDC 2016 to see what Apple has in store for iOS and OS X this year, then you've probably marked your calendars, or you may even be attending the event in person.

Those of you looking forward to the event can now add a countdown widget to your Mac's Dashboard that counts down to the day of WWDC 2016.

In this tutorial, we'll show you how to get the widget and how to install it.

German carmakers Daimler and BMW won’t be collaborating with Apple on electric car project

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 5, 2018

German newspaper Handelsblatt is reporting that German carmakers Daimler and BMW won't be collaborating with Apple on its rumored electric car, code-named Project Titan.

According to sources in the know, talks with Daimler and BMW over a cooperation deal on an electric car have ended. The talks with BMW collapsed last yea.

Those with Daimler have ended more recently, reportedly over the key questions like would lead the project and which company would have ownership of the data. Neither of the three companies would even confirm that negotiations had taken place.

iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 brings back ability to use Night Shift and Lower Power Mode at the same time

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 20, 2016

The ability to use iOS 9.3's headlining Night Shift feature when an iPhone is in Low Power Mode has been reinstated in a second beta of iOS 9.3.2 that was seeded to Apple's registered developers this morning, as noted by eagle-eyed users on Twitter and first reported on by MacRumors.

Night Shift and Low Power Mode worked simultaneously on prior iOS 9.3 betas, but that feature was later removed without explanation in iOS 9.3 beta 4.

New watchOS 2.2.1 and OS X 10.11.5 betas have dropped, too

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 20, 2016

After seeding iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 to its registered developers this morning, Apple has also released new betas for its other forthcoming operating system updates: watchOS 2.2.1 and OS X 10.11.5 El Capitan. You can download watchOS 2.2.1 beta 2 (build 13V420) and OS X 10.11.5 beta 2 (build 15F24b) through Apple's Developer Center, which requires a paid account for full access, or apply them on the devices themselves through the Software Update mechanism on devices running a beta OS.

Apple seeds iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 to developers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 7, 2017

Two weeks after Apple released the first beta of iOS 9.3.2 to its registered developers, the company today released iOS 9.3.2 beta 2 to members of the Apple Developer Program. The new beta has a build number and can be applied over-the-air on devices running an iOS 9 beta in Settings → General → Software Update or you can download the full installer from the Apple Developer Center, which requires a paid membership in the Apple Developer Program for full access.

Samsung to re-enter Apple’s supply chain for NAND flash memory chips in 2017

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 20, 2016

Following a five-year hiatus, Apple's frenemy Samsung is set to supply NAND flash memory chips to Apple for its devices beginning with 2017, ETNews reported Wednesday. NAND flash memory is extensively used across Apple's many products, including the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch and Mac notebooks.

Apple dropped Samsung as a NAND flash supplier following the iPhone 5 introduction in 2012 because the South Korean conglomerate was stuck with ball grid array (BGA) packaging and refused to invest in land grid array (LGA) package contacts that allow the flash memory chips to sit flush with the printed circuit board and were required to comply with Apple's electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding requirements.