Apple

Pebble Appstore is slated to launch early 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

The Pebble smartwatch project has certainly hit the ground running since receiving funding via the crowd funding platform Kickstarter.

The regularly updated software has been improving the smartwatch's functionality as the company looks to secure its position before heavy-weights like Apple enter the category with their own products.

Aiming to secure its footing in the still nascent but fast-growing wearable technology industry, Pebble on Wednesday announced that an official Pebble appstore is coming early next year to give customers the official venue to download and install third-party smartwatch apps to their Pebble.

The store will launch with watchfaces and six app categories for Daily, Remotes, Sports & Fitness, Notifications, Tools & Utilities and Games. Like Apple, Pebble will feature a selection of the best/new apps on a per-category basis...

AAPL takes heat on missing China Mobile deal, talks still underway

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The Wall Street Journal earlier this month asserted that China Mobile and Apple had finally cut a lucrative distribution agreement that would put the iconic smartphone on the world's largest mobile network with more than 759 million subscribers, or more than twice the U.S. population.

China Mobile Shanghai’s website has even offered iPhone 5s/5c pre-orders as the giant wireless operator is gearing up to launch its new 4G TD-LTE mobile network in the 1.33 billion people country, Apple's second-largest market by revenue.

But alas, the deal hasn't materialized although the WSJ story suggested that Apple and China Mobile would announce the iPhone agreement "around December 18".

With no deal in sight, shares of Apple dropped nearly two percent in early trading Wednesday, with the carrier confirming to Reuters that it's still in talks with Apple. And so the cat-and-mouse game continues...

The Walking Dead: The Game – Season 2 is now available on iOS and Mac

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2013

The Walking Dead: The Game – Season 2, the official sequel to 2012′s Game of the Year, has arrived and is now available your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices, as well as game consoles and old-school desktops running Microsoft Windows or OS X operating systems.

Based on Robert Kirkman's award-winning comic books, the game puts you in the shoes of Clementine, a young girl orphaned by the undead apocalypse.

It includes a host of new survivors and locations, with the decisions you made in Season One and in 400 Days affecting your story in Season Two...

AT&T’s LTE available in ten new markets

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2013

The second-largest United States wireless carrier, AT&T, which claims the title of the nation's fastest fourth-generation LTE network, today flipped the switch on LTE in more places. As of today, AT&T's LTE signal should start appearing on 4G-enabled devices for customers in Twin Falls, Burley, Kauai, Appleton, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Poplar Bluff, Durango and more.

Last month, AT&T lit up LTE in fourteen new markets in its bid to catch up to rival Verizon in terms of nationwide LTE coverage...

TSMC to account for bulk of 14nm Apple A9 chips in 2015, industry sources claim

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2013

After reporting that Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will share next year's production of A8 chips with Samsung, the sometimes-reliable Taiwanese publication, DigiTimes, today said that the world's largest independent semiconductor foundry will account for more than half of total A9 chip output in 2015, with only one-third of chip manufacture to be handled by Samsung.

The South Korea-based Samsung up until this year used to exclusively produce Apple designed mobile processors for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices, but Apple's been looking to distance itself from the company in order to prevent Samsung engineers from getting an early glimpse into its upcoming chip tech...

Camera+ 5.0 is out with iOS 7-style redesign, wallpaper composer, new tools and filters

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

If you're an iPhone photography fan and follow me here on iDownloadBlog, chances are you've by now figured out that Taptaptap's Camera+ is my go-to photography application for the iPhone and iPad.

After failing to jump on the initial iOS 7 app update bus, the team has finally pushed a major update for the iPhone and iPod touch edition that includes substantial iOS 7-makeover along with the flattened app icon and a bunch - and I really mean a bunch - of new tools and filters.

Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Apple website adorned with moving holiday commercial and teaser graphics

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

I've always liked how Apple each holiday season changes its homepage to feature some nice holiday-themed graphics and ads. This year is no different: after airing an excellent new iPhone 5s 'Misunderstood' ad this past weekend, Apple has now refreshed its homepage with said video, as well as some nice teaser graphics.

The graphics includes links to the commercial itself as well as the home video in its entirety, which Apple says was shot on the iPhone 5s.

Go visit Apple.com now and get your handkerchiefs ready!

Apple announces its radical new Mac Pro will be available starting tomorrow

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 18, 2013

Apple has announced this morning that its radical new pro desktop, the beautifully cylindrically shaped Mac Pro, will be available starting tomorrow, Thursday, December 19.

The dream desktop for creative pros packs in enough oomph to drive up to three external displays, each at whopping 4K resolution, courtesy of dual AMD FirePro graphics chips with up to 6GB of VRAM.

It also includes the latest Intel Xeon E5 processors, up to 64GB of RAM and up to 1TB of PCI Express solid state storage...

Flipboard gains Send to Friend feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The social news magazine, Flipboard, has been updated with a new feature allowing you to easily send articles to your friends within the app, receive alerts when other people on Flipboard share stories with you and more.

The new Send to Friend feature allows for frictionless sharing and it couldn't be easier: you just hit the mail icon in the Share menu and enter your friend's name or email.

When your recipients get the article, Flipboard will send them a notification to see what you've shared with them. Likewise, you too will receive an iOS alert when other people on Flipboard share stories with you. This version of Flipboard, a free download, also includes several bug fixes and performance improvements...

In Motorola’s Moto G phone, Apple’s iPhone 4S has more than met its match

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple has a problem. It's not a problem that pertains to its high-end iPhone 5s, and it's not even a problem with the mid-range, somewhat superfluous iPhone 5c. It's actually the iPhone 4S that is an issue for Apple. Sitting at the bottom of the company's smartphone range and being offered for peanuts if not free, the iPhone 4S was previously thought of as a rather capable budget handset. And it still is.

The problem that Apple now faces is that all those cheap Android phones that we've all laughed at over the years are starting to get a bit big for their shoes. In fact, some are downright great handsets, with one in particular doing its best to shake up the way we think about smartphones and what we should be paying for them.

I am, of course, talking about the Motorola Moto G...

Samsung hires senior Apple Store designer in ongoing retail push

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Samsung has picked up an ex-Apple store designer as part of an ongoing retail push, according to a new report. The Korean tech giant has reportedly picked up former senior Apple store designer Tim Gudgel as it mulls over a deeper investment in US retail.

Gudgel has worked at Apple since 2008, and is mentioned as one of the inventors in a patent application of the glass design of the Upper West Side Apple Store in New York City. He is said to specialize in in-store design and overall retail store planning...

Apple: all new App Store submissions must be ‘optimized for iOS 7’ starting February 1

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple has published a new note on its developer portal this evening, announcing some upcoming changes to its App Store policy. Starting next year, all new App Store submissions must be built with the latest version of Xcode 5 and 'optimized for iOS 7.'

The new rule goes into effect on February 1, 2014, and applies to both new apps and updates. So that means that, after this date, any apps that are built on older versions of Xcode or that haven't been optimized for iOS 7 will be rejected from the App Store...