Apple

Pioneer video shows off aftermarket CarPlay kit

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2014

Pioneer last month announced five aftermarket options aimed at enabling CarPlay on older vehicles, with Apple confirming both Pioneer and Alpine aftermarket CarPlay integration coming later this year.

Today, the Japanese company has shown off how Apple's in-car solution works in tandem with its NEX dash systems and we have a video right after he jump. Just like native CarPlay integration, customers simply plug in their handset and the NEX hardware then takes over and displays CarPlay interface on a built-in capacitive touchscreen (still a rarity in aftermarket systems)...

Microsoft’s Nokia Lumia 630 ad shows how to do a smartphone switch with a football

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2014

Microsoft-owned Nokia earlier this week announced its first Windows Phone 8.1 handset, the Lumia 630, with sales starting in Asia this week, followed by Europe and the United States.

In promoting the low-to-mid-range smartphone, Microsoft and Nokia put together a commercial sporting Finnish goalkeeper and Trick Shot master Lassi Hurskainen who shows how to do a smartphone switch with a football.

And some of the handsets flying out of people's hands seemingly resemble a certain iconic smartphone from a certain California company. Have a look at the video included after the break and meet us in comments...

Fleksy keyboard breaks Guinness World Record for fastest texting

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2014

Fleksy, the popular Android keyboard and alternative to Apple's stock iOS keyboard, has broken the Guinness World Record for fastest texting. A longtime user named Marcel used Fleksy's Android keyboard app to break Microsoft's Guinness World Record for fastest texting with a final time of 18.19 seconds.

He bested Microsoft's previous Windows Phone WordFlow keyboard record by 0.25 seconds, Fleksy said. Celebrating the award, Fleksy has updated its keyboard software for iOS and Android with core engine improvements focused on accuracy...

LA Lakers’ Kobe Bryant spotted on Apple’s campus, reportedly meeting with Jony Ive

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2014

LA Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant has been photographed today along with his wife Vanessa on Apple’s 1 Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino, California. The two were reportedly meeting Apple's design guru Jony Ive to talk upcoming new products. An image a tipster sent in clearly shows Bryant and Vanessa waiting for food.

Apple's familiar corporate campus can be see in the background and image metadata confirms that the photo has indeed been taken with an iPhone on Apple’s campus...

EFF report praises Apple for efforts to protect consumer data

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (or EFF) issued a new report this week entitled 'Who Has Your Back.' The document discusses major tech companies and their user privacy policies, and ranks them on transparency and other categories.

Interestingly enough, Apple was one of nine tech firms awarded a perfect score by the EFF. The Cupertino company received a star in each of the 6 categories, for a total of 6 stars—a remarkable improvement over its 1-star rating just last year...

Kayak Pro goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2018

Apple has named the popular hotel and flight-booking app Kayak Pro its App of the Week this week. This means that through next Thursday, you’ll be able to pick up the application for both your iPhone and iPad, for free—a modest savings of $1.

For those unfamiliar with Kayak, it's considered by many to be the top mobile travel app. It essentially works as a search engine for hundreds of travel sites, allowing you to compare prices for things like flights, cars and hotels, as well as book them...

Apple now permits devs to issue promo codes for In-App Purchases?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

It seems Apple's relaxed its policy concerning promotional codes for iOS and Mac applications. Promo codes are a popular tool among developers who use them for giveaways like ones iDownloadBlog runs on its Twitter channel from time to time.

They're also a useful PR tool as developers usually send the codes to journalists who then download paid apps free of charge for review purposes.

Even though promo codes have never been available for paid in-app content sold through the iOS In-App Purchase mechanism (there are some workarounds to that, by the way), there are indications now that Apple is willing to change its stance...

Bentley films and edits Mulsanne promo entirely on iPhone 5s and iPad Air

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 15, 2014

Luxury car maker Bentley has commissioned a short documentary film to promote its $300,000 Mulsanne.

The black and white footage was captured entirely on an iPhone 5s and edited in the back of a Mulsanne on an iPad Air outfitted with a thin keyboard attachment.

Entitled 'Intelligent Details' and filmed in the Bentley Mulsanne in New York, the video shows various design aspects of the car before revealing a behind-the-scenes of the entire process of capturing the footage. The team used specialized iPhone lenses and mounts to capture raw material, which was then editer on Apple's tablet in iMovie....

iTunes Connect app updated with new design for iOS 7

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

Continuing with its wave of updates today, Apple has posted a new build of iTunes Connect for iOS. The update brings the app to version 3.0, and includes a long-awaited UI redesign in-line with the new look of iOS 7.

For those unfamiliar with iTunes Connect, it's what allows developers to access sales data for their apps and e-books. And with today's update, artists can now use the app to access data for moves and other media as well...

Apple updates Podcasts app with Siri integration, CarPlay support and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated July 1, 2014

Following big updates for Mac OS X and iTunes, Apple has this afternoon published an update for its iOS Podcasts client. The update brings the app to version 2.1, and includes a handful of new features and improvements.

Among the new features are Siri integration and support for CarPlay. Users can now ask Siri to play specific podcasts by simply saying 'play' and then the name of the podcast file, and control the app using a CarPlay vehicle...

iTunes 11.2 hits: improves podcast browsing, fixes Genius unresponsiveness and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

To go along with the just-released OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 Software Update, Apple has also issued a second major update to iTunes 11. The new version 11.2 is now available for download and includes several improvements to the in-app podcast browsing experience.

For starters, there are now all-new Unplayed and Feed tabs which collate episodes you haven't listened to yet and new ones that have become available.

iTunes now lets you save a podcast episode to keep on your computer and resolves a few annoying issues, including one where Genius would hang when updating itself. Jump past the fold for the full breakdown...

OS X 10.9.3 arrives: proper 4K support, improved contact/calendar syncing and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 12, 2018

Following weeks of extensive testing and nearly a dozen betas seeded to its registered developers, Apple on Thursday released OS X 10.9.3 software update, the third major refresh of its latest Mavericks desktop operating system powering Macs.

It expectedly includes proper support for external 4K displays that makes everything crisper rathern than smaller. Other changes include more reliable contact and calendar syncing, the previously released Safari 7.0.3 and more...