Apple

Apple supplier Sharp starts prepping AMOLED production lines, likely for future iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 6, 2016

Hot on the heels of a reported $3.5 billion acquisition of Sharp by Apple's contract fabricator Foxconn, Sharp has reportedly begun setting up production lines dedicated to churning out AMOLED smartphone panels as Apple is said to be lining up suppliers to support its major move to outfit future iPhones with AMOLED screen technology.

According to a report Wednesday by DigiTimes, a Taiwanese trade publication, Sharp is setting up three production lines that should have total monthly capacity of 9.85 million 5.5-inch equivalent AMOLED panels.

Reposting Vine videos to Instagram with VineGrab

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 12, 2018

I recently talked about sharing Instagram videos on Vine, a multi-step procedure that involves a third-party app to save an Instagram clip to the Camera roll before posting it manually to the Twitter-owned Vine service.

So far so good.

But what about the other way round? Of course that same process applies to posting vine clips on Instagram: save a vine to the device before manually sharing it on Instagram.

As it turns out, there's a bunch of third-party apps in the App Store which can take the pain out of resharing vines on Instagram. With VineGrab, a free iPhone app by Xiaoyu Xia, not only can you watch vines in a more elegant interface than Vine's own, you can also repost your favorite ones to Instagram.

Get up to $200 off any iPad when buying iPhone on installment plan from T-Mobile

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2016

T-Mobile, a Deutsche Telekom-owned wireless carrier, today revived its tabled bundle offer with a cool new deal: you can get fifty percent off up to $200 on any iPad model if you purchase a new iPhone from the carrier on an installment plan. You must purchase both an iPhone and iPad from T-Mobile in order to qualify for this time-limited promotion.

As mentioned, your iPhone purchase must be financed with T-Mobile's Equipment Installment Plan. The rebate is provided on a prepaid MasterCard card up to eight weeks after your purchase.

Apple starts promoting News stories on Twitter

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2016

I discover my news (mostly) on Twitter and I think many other technophiles do just that. Acknowledging as much, Apple has started promoting stories published on the Apple News platform on Twitter, via its @AppleNews handle that started tweeting out curated stories earlier today.

“Follow us here for top stories and great reads from your favorite publishers, curated by our U.S. editors,” reads their first tweet. That account is now officially verified by Twitter.

Another curated tweet links to a Wired story which explains how reporters from around the world secretly collaborated to unveil the complex web behind the Panama Papers, the biggest leak in whistleblower history.

New console firmware with support for playing PlayStation games on Mac is due tomorrow

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 21, 2016

As promised, Sony will release tomorrow a firmware update for its PlayStation 4 console which includes Remote Play functionality for playing PlayStation 4 games on a Mac or Windows PC, the company announced in a blog post this morning.

“With this update, we’re expanding PS4’s Remote Play capabilities to work with Windows PC and Mac,” said Sony. The Remote Play app, which launches tomorrow and will be available for download through the Sony website, lets you connect a DualShock 4 to your Mac via a USB cable as the controller for Remote Play.

Cable network Starz launches $9 per month streaming package for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2016

Starz, a premium cable and satellite television network, today announced a brand new video service which permits owners of the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Apple TV to stream shows for a low monthly fee of just $8.99 per month.

A companion iOS app lets subscribers download full episodes to watch offline but does not offer live streaming. On the fourth-generation Apple TV, it supports universal search so you can ask Siri for shows to watch, including original ones like “Outlander”, “Power” and the upcoming “American Gods”.

Apple Music posts anniversary playlist with 40 songs from Apple ads

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2016

On April 1, 2016, Apple turned 40. The company's music streaming service, Apple Music, is celebrating the milestone with a special playlist, titled 'Apple 40', that includes forty songs from various Apple ads to “celebrate 40 years of ideas, innovation and culture.”

Some of the songs included in the playlist come from Steve Jobs's favorite artists—Bob Dylan and The Beatles—in addition to other artists such as Coldplay, Gorillaz and more.

T-Mobile adds 16 new services to Binge On and Music Freedom

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2016

In another expansion, wireless carrier T-Mobile this morning added an additional sixteen services to its unlimited video streaming services, Binge On, and unlimited music streaming service, Music Freedom.

Starting today, Amazon Music, ESPN Radio and more music services stream free for T-Mobile customers.

On the video side, such services as Dailymotion, EPIX, Nickelodeon, Spike, TV Land and more are joining the list of providers streaming free to T-Mobile customers on qualifying plans with Binge On. Qualifying Simple Choice customers can stream audio and 480p video through Binge On and Music Freedom at no additional charge, without eating into their cellular data plan or worrying about overages.

Real Racing 3 gains three new cars, adds fresh new events and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2016

Electronics Arts and Firemonkeys today pushed a brand new content update to Real Racing 3, their popular racing game for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Apple TV.

Bumped to version 4.2, the game has introduced three new powerful cars: the Hennessey Venom GT—the fastest accelerating production car in the world according to Guinness—along with the 2015 BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R and 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL.

In addition, players can now take on the all-new Front Runner special event for their chance to win the aforesaid Hennessey Venom GT and participate in other events to bring home that classic 1975 BMW 3.0 CSL or the new 2015 BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage R.

How to delete your Skype account the right way

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 31, 2022

This tutorial will guide you through the steps needed to successfully close your account on Skype the right way. As a bonus, we'll show you how you can request a refund for your unused credits and unlink your accounts.

Infuse 4.1 brings dark mode from iOS version to Apple TV, 24-bit HD audio, watched icons & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 4, 2018

Infuse, arguably the most versatile media player app for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Apple TV by aTV Flash Black developer FireCore, has just unloaded a ton of goodies in its most recent update on the iOS and tvOS App Stores.

Available now, Infuse 4.1 brings an optional dark mode from the iOS edition of the app to its Apple TV counterpart, and it's a beauty! Next, you can finally delete videos from remote SMB and FTP/SFTP shares.

iOS users, I'm sure, will appreciate Infuse's background metadata fetching for Favorites whenever they open the app. And my favorite: Infuse now finally renders DIVX files without any hiccup.