Apple

Much-improved Rdio launches with new look and features, free version coming to 20 countries

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Rdio, the popular Internet radio service, on Thursday launched a major redesign of its mobile app which now aims to compete with the likes of Spotify and rival Pandora by bringing its ad-supported free Stations to 20 countries.

The new look includes your personalized Home featuring an evolving mix of music stories based on your listening history and tastes, a new Browse section which now features both genre and curated Stations, a Trending feature showing what's popular right now, the ability to favorite just about anything, from albums to artists to songs to stations, and much more.

Rdio is free in the App Store.

Rovio releases Angry Birds Stella

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Rovio, the Finnish games maker which made a name for itself with the Angry Birds physics-based puzzler series, on Thursday released a brand new game set in the Angry Birds universe.

Called Angry Birds Stella and available as a freemium download in the App Store, it puts you in the shoes of the lead character Stella who joins five of her bird friends on a quest to protect Golden Island from the piggies and the greedy Bad Princess.

There are more than 120 playable levels in this initial release of Angry Birds Stella, with more to come by way of future content updates. Jump past the fold for the full reveal.

U2 rumored to be on hand for Apple’s iPhone 6 event

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Some interesting rumors began bouncing around the tech world earlier today regarding popular Irish rock band U2 and Apple's big media event next week. The chatter has ranged from the iPhone 6 coming preloaded with the band's new album, to it performing live after the keynote.

Much of the speculation seems to stem from U2's secret video shoot in Dublin last week. According to The Sunday Times, the group closed down Samuel Beckett Bridge for the recording and placed black sheets around the set to prevent the public from seeing what they were shooting.

Jony Ive says “Switzerland’s in trouble” ahead of expected iWatch unveiling

Cody Lee ∙ September 3, 2014

After years of speculation, it's believed that Apple is finally ready to show off its new wearable device, dubbed the 'iWatch' by much of the media. And according to the company's senior vice president of design Jony Ive, the folks over in Switzerland are in trouble.

In a recent article on tech and fashion, The New York Times' Nick Bilton mentions that he spoke with Mr. Ive about the so-called iWatch. Obviously, the designer doesn't offer up an official comment on the secret project, but it's clear that he's very confident in it.

Apple shares drop 4% amidst iCloud security concerns

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Shares of Apple dropped 4% today, closing this afternoon at $98.94. That's the stock's worst percentage slump since late January, and its worst value since it began its march towards its highest price ever in early August.

The news comes amidst the recent iCloud scandal, in which Apple's cloud security was blamed for the leaking of several revealing celebrity photos, and ahead of the company's highly anticipated iPhone event next week.

People begin lining up for the iPhone 6 ahead of next week’s announcement

Cody Lee ∙ September 3, 2014

The iPhone 6, or whatever Apple is going to call it, has yet to be announced, but there are already people lining up for the device. CNBC notes that at least 5 customers have already set up camp outside of Apple's flagship 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York City.

It's not uncommon to see folks lining up outside of Apple retailers ahead of a major product launch—last year folks began forming lines around September 6th. But this year, campers have taken it to a new level, with some showing up before the month even began.

Sunrise for iOS gains push for Google Calendar, search and Todoist integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 5, 2018

Sunrise, the popular alternative to Apple’s stock iOS Calendar, today refreshed its nicely done iPhone and iPad application with push for Google Calendars, the search feature and Todoist integration, the company noted in a blog post Wednesday.

A long-overdue feature, search is finally available in Sunrise to let you sift through your past or future events by title, location and attendees.

Push is now available for Google Calendars and fans of Todoist will appreciate Sunrise's integration with this popular task manager for personal productivity.

Sunrise is available free in the App Store and Mac App Store. Against all odds, Sunrise the company has raised over a whopping $8 million in funding thus far. Not too shabby for a calendar app, wouldn't you say?

VMware Fusion 7 now available with OS X Yosemite and Windows 8.1 support

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

Following the recent release of Yosemite-enabled Parallels Desktop 10, rival WMware on Wednesday announced immediate availability of VMware Fusion 7 and VMware Fusion 7 Pro, major new versions of its virtualization software which now includes built-in support for OS X Yosemite, OS X Yosemite Server and Windows 8.1, along with a bunch of other perks.

Also compatible with OS X Mavericks and OS X Mountain Lion and available in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Japanese, WMware Fusion 7 and VMware Fusion 7 Pro take virtualization on the Mac to the next level with a speedier performance, a redesigned appearance, improved connectivity, support for Macs with Retina displays and more.

Nokia tries maps again, confirms free iOS navigation app coming based on Here Maps

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2014

Nokia executive Sean Fernback told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the Finnish telecommunications company will be releasing a brand new cross-platform mobile navigation app for the iOS and Android platforms later this year.

Nokia, which sold off its handset division to Microsoft, kept its Here mapping service. The forthcoming GPS navigation app would be unique in that both the maps themselves and searches would work without an Internet connection.

Suppliers ramping up component production for ‘thinner, faster’ iPad Air 2 with Touch ID

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2014

According to DigiTimes, a hit-and-miss Taiwanese trade publication, Apple's suppliers are ramping up production of components for a second-generation iPad Air, which sources describe as being thinner, faster and incorporating the widely expected Touch ID fingerprint scanning feature.

The report Tuesday doesn't shed more light on the matter beyond stating the obvious, that the device will run the upcoming A8 processor and be thinner than the current-generation iPad Air, which itself is 7.5mm (about 0.29 inch) thick.

Celeb hacking tapped law enforcement tools to gain access to data inside device backups

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2014

The alleged iCloud hacking, which has resulted in a massive leak of hundreds of revealing celebrity photos, has most likely been made possible because attackers reportedly used a piece of software that law enforcement officials rely on to siphon data from iOS device backups, Wired reported last night.

Rather than obtain a user’s iCloud username and password with brute-force attacks, the article points to web forum reports describing using specialized software called Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker (EPPB) to impersonate the user’s device in order to obtain the full device backup which holds data like photos, videos, application data, contacts, text messages and more.

Apple updates App Store guidelines with new rules for HealthKit and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple posted an update this evening for its App Store review guidelines—a set of instructions for third-party developers on what iOS apps may or may not contain. Tonight's refresh adds rules for upcoming iOS 8 features such as extensions, HealthKit and HomeKit.

Most of the changes are only pertinent to developers, but there are a few things worth mentioning. Perhaps the most important item, in light of recent events, is that Apple says apps using the HealthKit framework that store user health data in iCloud will be rejected.