The rumor that Apple was to sign a deal with China Mobile was almost as old as the iPhone itself, but it only started gaining speed within the last few weeks, based on reports from the WSJ, which were followed by contradictory reports.
But today, it's official. Apple and China Mobile have inked a deal that will bring the iPhone to the largest carrier in the world...
You’ve already heard from Cody, Lory, Oliver and Jim about their gift suggestions so it’s my turn now to articulate some of my favorite gadgets and accessories to possibly make your holidays merrier.
My personal picks may not be what you'd call tremendously diverse, but they do reflect the values I'm all about: innovation, practicality, power and true passion for awesome design which doesn't sacrifice form over function and inspires folks to get the most from their gadgets.
Plus, I stand by these products as a direct result of using them myself and have voted for each and every one of them with my wallet. It's my hope these suggestions will help you choose something worthy of that special someone with a technological bent, or at least give you some fresh ideas on boosting your everyday computing.
I proudly present Christian's favorite holiday gift ideas...
EU lawmakers agreed yesterday to draft legislation that will force all mobile phone manufacturers to consent to the use of a common standard for battery chargers which can fit any device. The draft could be voted on by the EU Parliament as early as March 2014.
While many see this as a huge win for consumers, who would no longer have to purchase new charging accessories for different devices, it would be a huge blow to Apple. The company uses a propriety plug, the Lightning connector, in all of its iOS product lines...
With less than 24 hours until the annual App Store holiday freeze, developers are pushing out last-minute app updates like crazy.
But more importantly, 'tis the season when not-to-be-missed promotions and discounts become available as an early Christmas present.
Cody yesterday covered a bunch of notable iOS games discounts from the likes of Disney, Warner Bros and others and today a brand new holiday deal on iPhone and iPad apps goes live to help your wallet.
App Santa, a collaborative effort by high-profile developers, is offering deep discounts on fifteen popular iPhone and iPad applications, including 1Password, Tweetbot 3, Launch Center Pro, Screens, Clear+ and more. You can grab these fine apps with as much as 60 percent discount. Your download links are right after the break...
The Galaxy Gear smarwatch may have failed to meet Samsung leadership's expectations in terms of sales, with the reported less than million units shipped (not sold), but that doesn't mean the South Korean conglomerate is giving up on its new wearable brand. Quite the contrary, a report alleges Samsung would soon expand the family by unveiling a new wearable device, tentatively-named Galaxy Band.
What's more, a former Apple engineer who worked on Siri is reportedly overseeing this project. But what exactly would this presumed Galaxy Band device be capable of?
According to a story by Seoul-based Digital Daily, it's a fitness type of device which packs in a flurry of sensors, including a power-sipping motion sensor akin to Apple's M7 motion coprocessor inside the iPhone 5s...
Some pundits continue to call for the merging of OS X and iOS into a monolithic operating system that would simplify app development and allow Apple to engineer consistent user experiences across its desktop and mobile platforms.
I'm not so sure the time is right for an iOS-ified OS X.
That, however, hasn't stopped designer Andrew Ambrosino from envisioning what the future of OS X might look like. Introducing Andrew's OS X 11 concept, which brings Apple’s desktop operating system in line with the flattened appearance of iOS 7...
Apple's Maps for iOS - and now for Macs running OS X Mavericks - still pales in comparison with Google's offering and will continue to struggle for some time until Apple achieves some sort of feature parity.
Google Maps are not only more accurate, they sport more features that put Google's rich data sets amassed in years past to good use.
For instance, Google Maps have long had layers, basically objects that consist of one or more separate items that can be manipulated as a single unit.
Traffic, transit, bicycle, weather, clouds, photographs - these are all map layers.
Apple, too, is working on various layers of information for its digital maps offering, but with a twist, a new patent filing published Thursday has indicated...
One of the first premium news apps for the iPhone worth checking out came from CNN, "the biggest name in news". The 24/7 news organization released the CNN for iPhone app on the App Store in September 2009.
I immediately fell in love with its sleekness, responsiveness and overall branding. In fact, it was Godsent because CNN's mobile website was very pedestrian at the time (and still is!)
But that was before Flipboard and a host of other fine apps came along vastly improving on the rather clunky news-reading iOS experience.
The iPad edition followed in October 2010. Soon after, both versions went permanently free as CNN had realized that folks were reluctant to shell 99 cents for the privilege of following the Time Warner-owned network's software on their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.
And how does CNN's latest iPhone and iPad update feel like on iOS 7? How about giving the screenies below a quick look?
The increasingly popular music discovery and fingerprinting service Shazam has just refreshed its free iPhone and iPad application with a new Auto Shazam feature that basically listens for songs and television shows in the background and tags them automatically, even if the device is locked, courtesy of new iOS 7 technologies. You can now share your Shazam Tags with people on WhatsApp, pin them to your Pinterest boards and send them to others via the iOS Messages platform.
Jump past the fold for more on Auto Shazam...
Google's standalone Search application has been updated with barely visible iOS 7 styling and a pair of under-the-hood improvements allowing for the native fluid Image Search experience on the iPad as well as smarter integration with the Google Maps app.
Other than that, release notes mention no new features for Google Search version 3.2, which is now available as a free download from the App Store. I've included additional tidbits right below, if you're interested...
Wow, that was fast - just hours after its radical new pro desktop, the Mac Pro, went on sale this morning, shipping estimates on the Online Apple Store have slipped to as far back as February 2014. Apple's new pro desktop is being assembled in Austin, Texas, where its cylindrically-shapped enclosure is also being manufactured.
Apple originally quoted shipping estimates of "by December 30" for stock configurations, but now all stock and build-to-order configurations show a new estimate of February 2014...
You'd be forgiven for mistaking the ioPhone for Apple's iPhone 5c. This Android-based knock-off handset features the same plastic shell as Apple's device and is available in the same five bright colors: yellow, red, green, blue and white. Made by Japanese manufacturer Iosys, ioPhone is almost an exact replica of Apple's handset, down to the curvature, the physical buttons and other detail.
The handset will go on sale in Japan tomorrow and we have the weirdest promotional video ever for your viewing pleasure, right after the break...