Apple

How to hide unwanted Apple TV app icons

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 24, 2013

I'm loving my Apple TV a lot, even more so after the past few updates have made the set-top box way more useful by bringing out a host of cool features and new content sources such as Disney, Vevo, iTunes Music Festival, HBO Go and more.

On the downside, each new channel brings with it a brand new icon. And just like that - before you know it, your Apple TV becomes littered with a bunch of icons. Wouldn't it be great if you could somehow declutter the interface? While Apple makes it easy to re-arrange the icons by holding down the Select button on the remote until they start wiggling, there's no straightforward option to remove unwanted ones from the Home screen.

Assuming you're willing to dive into the Apple TV's Settings menu and flip a few switches, you can do just that. Jump past the fold and I'll tell you all about it...

80 percent of iPhone purchasers in China are picking the iPhone 5s

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

It seems Apple's release of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c is chock full of surprises aside from the humungous 9 million units sold during the first weekend. Remember the iPhone 5c, first expected to be Apple's cheap iPhone, then forecast to win over emerging markets, such as China? Neither is true.

New analytics show more than 90 percent of the new iPhones sold in China this past weekend were the iPhone 5s. That's even higher than the 78 percent of global sales average the iPhone 5s enjoys on average...

Boeing rolls out iPad app suite for airplane maintenance crews

Ed Sutherland ∙ September 24, 2013

Up until now, airlines mostly tapped iPads to either shrink the size of flight bags carried by pilots and other flight crews or relax restriction on how passengers can use tablets. Tuesday, aircraft maker Boeing announced a suite of iPad apps designed to help maintenance crews find, fix and get airplanes back in service with the least delays. Yes, there are now iPad apps to service those huge jumbo jets.

How cool is that?

Want: Marshall’s Stanmore wireless speaker

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 22, 2017

British music gear company Marshall Amplification needs no introduction: the brand is practically synonymous with pro-grade music amplifiers, speaker cabinets, drums (via their Natal Drums acquisition) and more. Fittingly, Marshall's personal headphones and earphones arm today launched a new personal wireless speaker.

I immediately fast-tracked it to the top of my shopping list. The stylish Stanmore speaker not only looks business dressed up in Marshall's trademark design, it comes packed to the gills with useful connection options, including Bluetooth wireless, RCA input and the standard 3.5mm auxiliary input...

iPhone 5s/5c estimated to cost $199/$173 to build

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 24, 2013

Following iFixIt's ritual teardown of Apple's new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c and a detailed chip analysis of the former by Chipworks, research firm IHS Suppli ran their spreadsheets to guesstimate just how much Apple may be paying for the parts.

According to a research note, the pricier top-of-the-line iPhone 5s commands a bill of material of $199.

Its polycarbonate plastic brother costs less to build, with part costs pegged at $173. The full breakdown is right after the break...

Apple pulls Personal Pickup for new iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 6, 2013

Yesterday, iDB told you that Apple extended its Personal Pickup service to include the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c and explained that shoppers can avoid crowds by ordering their handset online with same day in-store delivery. It would now appear that the company may have prematurely enhanced the service.

On Tuesday, the in-store pickup option disappeared from the online Apple Store for both new iPhone models. We've received more than a dozen tips and have since confirmed that Apple in fact did inexplicably pull Personal Pickup for both new handsets...

Apple refreshes iMacs with Haswell chips, faster GPU, Gigabit Wi-Fi, PCIe flash storage and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 24, 2013

Apple during June's WWDC updated its MacBook Air lineup with the latest-generation Intel chips and related hardware bumps, leaving the rest of the Mac lineup intact. Today, the company has refreshed its iMac all-in-one lineup via a simple press release, clearing the stage for October iPads.

The upgraded internals include faster fourth-generation Intel Haswell platform sporting power-efficient quad-core CPU. Also new: better graphics, next generation Wi-Fi and faster PCIe flash storage options.

Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

iOS 7 Safari supports new shortcuts with external keyboards

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 24, 2013

Mobile Safari in iOS 7 has undergone some major under-the-hood changes which have vastly contributed to the overall speed increase in web page rendering times. The iOS 7 web browser is now nimbler, faster and greatly simplified, but that's not saying Safari doesn't pack in other improvements.

This includes the handy new Mac keyboard shortcuts. That's good news for people who use a Bluetooth keyboard with their iOS device as you can now open a new tab, close the currently active tab and even move the focus to the unified search/address bar using the familiar keystrokes...

Review: Apple’s iPhone 5c Case is tastefully tacky

Jim Gresham ∙ Updated March 31, 2017

Typically, I do not bother reviewing Apple items because I do not feel like adding my $.02 to the pile of other blogging around the web. Leave the big company reviews to the big boys, is best in my opinion. However, when I saw Apple release the "iPhone 5c Case," I immediately felt the need to pick one up and share my opinions. Feel free to call it a useless need to self aggrandize my product reviews by weighing in on the newest Apple offering. I couldn't look past the bold and somewhat tacky bright color schemes.

What drew me into the review was Apple's previous lack of actual cases. In most recent history, Apple released a Smart Cover for iPad and the mini. Additionally, Apple released bumpers for iPhone 4. Apple making the definitive decision to release a case for the already colorful iPhone 5c made me stop and take notice. What possessed the company to finally produce a full fledged case for iPhone and what would Apple do so differently from other case manufactures?

As Steve was a self proclaimed iPhone nudist, clearly there were some people behind the late Apple CEO that were itching to release a case...

Following mixup, Apple offers refunds to ‘Breaking Bad’ Season Pass buyers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple began sending out emails yesterday to folks who purchased the final season of "Breaking Bad" on iTunes, informing them that they'd be receiving a credit for the series' final eight episodes due to all of the confusion.

In August, fans of AMC's hit drama were outraged when they discovered that the 'Season Pass' they purchased for the show's final season was only good for the first eight episodes, and they'd have to pay again for the final 8...

Apple found to be using Multipath TCP networking in iOS 7

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 13, 2018

Apple TV 6.0 update returns after being pulled for bricking issues

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

The Apple TV 6.0 update that Apple pulled over the weekend is now once again available as an over-the-air download. The software features a number of new features, including support for iTunes Radio and more.

Following the update's initial release on Friday, there were several reports that the update caused errors for users, forcing them into a full iTunes restore. The newly updated software supposedly fixes those issues...