Apple

Apple Q3 2013 earnings: 31.2M iPhones, 14.6M iPads, $35.3B revenue

Cody Lee ∙ July 23, 2013

Facing increasing competition from Samsung and other vendors, without a new product in several months, most analysts predicted that Apple's earnings for the June quarter would be somewhat of a disappointment. But Apple just beat most of the Street's estimates.

Apple's earnings are out, and for the most part the numbers are impressive. The company managed to sell 31.2 million iPhones during the 3-month period, where most analysts predicted 26 million. And it also sold 14.6M iPads (very low), and posted $35.3B in revenue...

Sprint’s caption-calling CapTel service for hearing impaired is now iOS-friendly

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Wireless CapTel, Sprint's nationwide caption-calling service for the hearing impaired, is now available to owners of Apple's iOS devices. America's third-largest wireless carrier announced Tuesday that owners of the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices who have a hearing loss can download a brand new iOS app, free to users on an Everything Data plan (voice-only plans are not supported).

As the software taps the power of the cloud, a network connectivity is a must. The app lets you speak and listen to your caller while at the same time read everything the other person says, right on your iDevice's screen...

Apple makes ‘clear improvements’ to iDevice crime prevention, SF DA says

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 23, 2013

At least one critic is satisfied by Apple's efforts to slow a growing number of iPhone crimes. San Francisco's District Attorney, who earlier called on the iPhone maker to install a so-called kill switch in its handsets, now believes a feature in the company's upcoming iOS 7 shows "clear improvements" by the tech giant.

San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón made the comment Friday after testing Apple's Activation Lock feature alongside the Absolute Software's Lojack running on Samsung's Galaxy S4...

Twitterrific gains Today view, better photo viewing, sleeker UI and notable bug fixes

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 29, 2016

Twitterrific on iOS with its flattened interface and light typeface may have paved the way for the iOS 7 redesign. But Twitterrific is much more than a prettified Twitter client. I typically use Tweetbot for my daily tweeting needs on mobile and desktop, but Twitterrific has always been my second choice.

In an update today, Twitterrific has gained a sidebar item called Today, basically an overview of your most recent favorites, retweets and new followers...

Realmac’s digital scrapbook app Ember is now available on Mac App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

I've been growing increasingly frustrated with the note-taking giant Evernote's decision to buy Skitch, my favorite screenshot-taking and annotation app. Very little have I seen in terms of meaningful enhancements and new features post-buyout.

Making matters worse, I've never been a huge fan of Evernote. You could say I downright hate how notebook organization, recipe management, saving web clips or just jotting down a few quick thoughts in Evernote is such a cumbersome and resource-hungry experience (plus, it's high maintenance).

There's definitely a market for a decent scrapbook app out there, one that's been written from the ground up to take advantage of the latest and greatest software technologies, with a strong focus on simplicity and ease of use.

That's where Realmac Software's Ember for Mac jumps in. You can tell it's special because Realmac are the same guys who brought you the popular Clear multitouch to-do app for iOS/OS X and the delightful Analog Camera for iOS...

Apple proposes media sharing with on-hold callers

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 23, 2013

The experience of being on hold is ubiquitous. Sometimes the wait is accompanied by music, sometimes by ads, and other times just silence. Wouldn't it be better to flip through photos from the recipient or listen to tunes you actually like? Apple thinks so.

That's the idea behind a patent granted the iPhone maker Tuesday, replacing the standard on-hold message with content you'd like to share with people who call you at a busy time...

Ongoing challenges forcing Apple to buy Retina iPad mini screens from Samsung?

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 23, 2013

Run for years by the then op-chief Tim Cook, Apple's supply chain has become the stuff of the legend. Would-be watchers naively believe deciphering Apple's next move is as easy as keeping tabs on the chatter coming out of Asia's supply chain. Tim Cook, of course, begs to differ: on one of conference calls, Apple's boss cautioned investors against drawing conclusion from any one data point as the company's supply chain is a very complex beast.

So here's something for investors and fans to chew on: ET News reported Tuesday that Apple is considering tapping Samsung Display to produce low-power Retina screens for the upcoming second-generation iPad mini because AU Optronics (AUO) was unable to deliver. Samsung would presumably make the screens alongside LG Display, Sharp and perhaps Japan Display, according to a previous February 2013 report...

iTravelGo, your no-nonsense iPhone guide to the world’s 36 most famous cities

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

I'm a Sagittarius so traveling, meeting fresh new people and exploring interesting new places I've never been to is my thing. As any world traveller could tell you, planning a journey normally involves doing extensive research about your favorite destination. But yours truly is a lousy planer: I'm the type of person who instead pulls an iPhone out of my pocket to check out the top places to eat or stay, educate myself on a specific landmark, learn a little history and so forth.

But as much as I'm inclined to research places on the spot, roaming charges on my wireless bill are a painful reminder that pulling quick facts from the web, while abroad, is a big no-no. Having tried lots of similar apps that offer offline functionality, the iTravelGo app by developer Oleg Baranovskyi in my view is one of the more compelling city guides on the App Store.

Not only does it look nice, it sports a high-quality database of points of interests and is packed with useful information on the world's 36 most famous cities. And as a bonus, there's even a handy glossary in seventeen languages...

Apple touts 1 billon podcast subscriptions

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 22, 2013

Apple on Monday quietly announced its users have subscribed to one billion podcasts through iTunes. The milestone is being celebrated via a special iTunes section that includes the What's Hot and New & Noteworthy sections.

Additionally, Apple highlights cherry-picked shows like This American Life, TEDTalks, 60 Minutes, Happy Tree Friends, etc.

There are now 250,000 different podcasts in more than a hundred languages available through iTunes...

Analyst: iPad 5/iPhone 5S/budget model in September, no Retina iPad mini in 2013

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 22, 2013

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is fast becoming the de facto most reliable Apple watcher. Expanding on his April note which advised investors to brace themselves for a delayed iDevice roll-out over manufacturing "challenges," his just-updated shipments timetable now offers more in way of detail.

Long story short, the analyst is expecting the iPhone 5S in late-September, but in limited quantity, with the oft-rumored plastic iPhone (he's calling it an 'iPhone Lite') becoming available even sooner than the iPhone 5S in early-September because its chassis is easier to make than the two-tone iPhone 5S design.

Early September will also bring us an updated iPad 5, he said, but there will be no iPad mini successor this year due to engineering issues. As for the Mac family, Kuo sees a mid-September launch of a Haswell-enabled Retina MacBook Pro, with a Haswell-driven iMac up for a late-August introduction. The full breakdown is right after the break...

Apple refunds father $6000 for App Store purchases made by 8-year-old daughter

Cody Lee ∙ Updated December 16, 2022

I don't have kids yet. But when I do, I'm going to make sure that I take all of the necessary steps to prevent them from making purchases in the App Store. There are various ways to do this, and for me it's just common sense—I wouldn't leave them with real money.

But apparently, it's not such a cut-and-dry matter for some folks. Take this story by UK's Mirror publication, which went viral this weekend, about an 8-year-old girl racking up a staggering $6000 App Store bill on her father's iPad by making several in-app purchases...