Apple

Microsoft’s Remote Desktop app coming to App Store later this month

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Just as Microsoft's exiting CEO Steve Ballmer yesterday officially confirmed that Redmond won't release Office for iPad until after a touch-optimized edition hits Windows devices, we're hearing that the Windows maker will release its Remote Desktop software for iOS and Android devices later in October.

Remote Desktop Connection, often simply called Remote Desktop, is Microsoft's implementation of remote desktop client and a Windows component allowing users to remotely log into a networked computer running the terminal services server as if it were accessed locally, with GUI and everything...

T-Mobile launches 2G data roaming in 100+ countries at no extra charge

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Adamant to change the way the world uses their phones, Deutsche Telekom-owned U.S. wireless carrier, T-Mobile USA, on Thursday announced that it will make available cellular data service in over a hundred countries around the world, at no extra charge. It's no secret the industry's been charging huge fees for data roaming. "What's most surprising is that no one's called them out," T-Mobile's boss remarked unapologetically.

Indeed, the telco's deal represents a significant departure from the exorbitant roaming fees wireless carriers typically impose and is a positive step toward providing global data coverage on fair and reasonable terms. The only drawback: only T-Mobile's slow 2G data service is included in the promotion...

Apple’s iPhone trade-in program reportedly headed to the UK

Cody Lee ∙ October 9, 2013

Following rumors and speculation, Apple officially launched its iPhone trade-in program on August 30. Available in all US Apple Stores, customers can use the program to turn their old iPhones into cash—up to $280.

At the moment, Apple is only accepting trade-ins in the United States, but that could be changing soon. According to a new report, the company has plans to launch the program in the UK within the next few months...

Twitter unveils ‘See This’ button: watch TV shows and change the channel from a tweet

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 9, 2013

Ending weeks of speculation, Twitter today announced a new feature that has the potential to take social television to the next level.

Twitter users will soon start seeing a new See It button embedded in tweets that, when clicked, lets folks immediately tune into live programming through their set-top box or a mobile devices such as a smartphone or a tablet.

To replace your remote, Twitter partnered with cable provider Comcast and its fully-owned subsidiary NBCUniversal, giving Xfinity customers the ability to also schedule DVR recordings on-the-fly, directly from Twitter. The feature will debut with NBCUniversal offerings including The Voice and Sunday Night Football.

Go past the fold for the full reveal...

Apple seeks expert in China Mobile’s TD-LTE ahead of iPhone deal

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 9, 2013

Apple is a bit like a black hole: only by detecting its effect on nearby objects can observers discern its real intention. The latest clue to Apple's China card is a job posting seeking a networking expert in a technology only used by China Mobile. The engineer would be based in Beijing, supporting China Mobile's 3G technology TD-SCDMA, as well as TD-LTE, which the world's largest carrier is testing.

This latest report comes as the iPhone maker supposedly nears a deal with the carrier, which counts 63 percent of China's 1.2 billion wireless consumers among its subscribers. Still, Apple refuses to comment...

Limited offline viewing coming to YouTube in November

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

I've always hated how Google's official YouTube apps on iOS, Android and other mobile platforms don't allow for offline caching of videos. Sometimes I want to save a particularly funny clip or a music video to my device to show it to friends without having to waste my cellular data. YouTube doesn't allow this.

Worse, Google's been clamping down on third-party apps that cache YouTube videos, such as MCTube for iPhone, for example. The reason: the Internet giant wants to serve ads no matter what.

Playing back cached videos defeats that purpose. Recently, the company hinted it's willing to reconsider its stance: mobile users will be able to save videos for later after all, but with some strings attached...

Flickr gains background auto-uploading on iOS 7

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 9, 2013

Yahoo yesterday issued a major revamp of its Mail service across the web and mobile platforms and today the Internet company pushed a new version of Flickr for iPhone.

In addition to a slightly refined user interface for iOS 7, folks who've upgrade their iDevices to iOS 7 can take advantage of a new Auto Upload feature that will “seamlessly upload and save your photos in full resolution." Other tidbits include fixes for Google sign-in issues and a brand new Auto Straighten feature...

Facebook testing iPhone client with Graph Search, revamps Messenger for iOS 7 style

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 9, 2013

The social networking giant Facebook used to irk fans with its sluggish mobile clients that used to be second-class citizens on smartphones and tablets. Blame it on Zuck & Co. for taking the easy route by wrapping the mobile-optimized HTML code into "native" apps. That changed last year after Facebook hired a few former Apple engineers like Greg Novick and tasked them with rewriting these apps from the ground up to be snappier and more responsive than the web app disguised as a native one.

Although Novick has now reportedly departed Facebook and will return to Apple, the company has been busy developing major new updates to mobile Facebook and Messenger clients on iOS and Android. Both applications are now apparently dogfooded to company employees for testing purposes. Here's what's in store for the revamped Facebook and Messenger...

iPhones and iPads remain the top pick among US teenagers

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 9, 2013

Despite Samsung's attempt to label the iPhone as past its prime, Apple remains the top pick among US teenagers. More than half of American teens own an iPhone with nearly three quarter of young people choosing an iPad when it comes to tablets.

When it comes to purchasing decisions, popularity of cheaper Android devices have barely moved the needle, if at all. The figures from Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster bode well for Apple and its continued growth among the key consumer demographic now driving technology purchases...

Apple announces major iPhone 5s/5c expansion

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 9, 2013

Apple initially launched its new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c handsets on September 20 in the United States and an additional ten major international markets. Today, the company announced a major expansion that will see both handsets hit more than 25 new markets around the world beginning October 25, with more than a dozen additional countries receiving both handsets on November 1.

The full breakdown is right after the break...

Qualcomm backtracks on ’64-bit A7 is a marketing gimmick’ claims

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Last week, Qualcomm's CMO Anand Chandrasekher made headlines for comments he made during an interview regarding Apple's new A7 processor. He called the chip a 'marketing gimmick,' and said 64-bit holds no real benefit for users.

But pundits were quick to challenge Chandrasekher, pointing to apps and games with A7 support as proof that the 64-bit architecture holds value. And Qualcomm must agree, because it has issued a statement backtracking on the claims...

Some iPhone 5s owners plagued with blue screen of death

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 8, 2013

In the past week or so, we have been inundated with numerous tips about an apparent issue with Apple's iWork productivity suite running on the iPhone 5s.

Folks have been emailing us about their top-end iPhone abruptly restarting each time they'd fired up Apple's Pages, Numbers or Keynote app.

Digging deeper, the problem raises its ugly head not just with iWork but some third-party apps as well. I'm just scatter-shooting here, but this could be due to the iPhone 5s's A7 chip and the transition to 64-bit computing.

Sure enough, a quick hop over to Apple's support forums revealed a thread with similar complaints where the iPhone 5s goes into a blue screen prior to respringing - hence the Blue Screen of Death moniker.

As this issue continues to persists, I though you should know about how it manifests itself and tell you about a band-aid solution. Apple of course is cleverly keeping mum on the matter and is yet to respond with a software fix for the glitch. Read on...