The online retail giant Amazon today launched a new sign-in service and an accompanying software development kit (SDK) for both Android and iOS app developers. The feature allows programmers to write apps letting folks login to apps, games, and web sites using their Amazon.com credentials. The Amazon sign-in taps the over 200 million active accounts hosted by "one of the most reputable companies in the United States," as the promo clip puts it...
Look out Square and Paypal, Payleven has inked a major deal with Apple to sell its mobile payment solution. The Rocket Internet-backed startup is now selling its Chip & PIN at a number of the company's retail and online stores.
Payleven says it has been talking to Apple about a global distribution deal for several months now, and the two sides only recently reached an agreement. Apparently the company is as protective of its retail stores as it is its App Store...
Realmac Software's highly anticipated photography app, Analog Camera, has finally landed on the App Store this morning.
Drawing from Analog Camera for the Mac and the company's user interface skills honed developing the popular Clear to-do software, this brand new iPhone photography app gets rid of the clutter to focus on just a few barebone features.
But even though its undisputedly polished and effective interface signals an interesting new direction for iPhone photography software, is less really more in the case of Analog Camera? Read on for the full review...
There's something about weather apps. I don't know if I'm enchanted more by the user interface innovations that mobile weather software brings to the table or by having weather forecast in the palm of my hand, but I just can't get enough of those sleek little apps that now happen to occupy three dedicated 'weather' folders on my iPhone (yes, I need them all).
Dark Sky, for example, is captivating: its simplified user interface and beautiful, unobtrusive animations provide an at-a-glance overview of your local forecast and key weather metrics, up to an hour in advance.
In a major version 3.0 update, Dark Sky is now enabled in several new markets, including the U.K. and Ireland, can tell you weather farther than an hour away and lets you submit your own hyperlocal weather observations...
Apple has long been criticized by environmental organizations for its lack of effort to reduce its carbon footprint. The criticism got so bad at one point, that Steve Jobs himself felt that it was necessary to address the topic via an open letter on Apple's website.
But things have changed a lot since Jobs' infamous 'A Greener Apple' post. The company has taken several steps to become more environmentally-friendly, including constructing large solar farms, and apparently hiring the former administrator of the EPA...
Earlier this year, well known iOS developer and hacker pod2g made some comments on Twitter regarding the 'openness' of iOS. He argued that there are no technical obstacles barring Apple from offering iOS devs more freedom, so it should consider opening it up.
And a lot of folks agreed with him. Not only did the hashtag 'WeWantAnOpeniOS' hit trending status on Twitter, but more than 11,000 people signed the corresponding petition. Well it appears that someone at Apple was listening, because Tim Cook says that's the plan...
Earlier this evening, Apple's CEO Tim Cook took the stage at AllThingsD's D11 conference to talk about all things Apple. Cook rarely does interviews, but he looked like a pro fielding questions from tech veterans Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher.
Over the course of the hour-long talk, the trio discussed a wide range of fascinating topics including iWatch rumors, iOS 7 and Android's growing marketshare. And as usual, we've combed through it all to bring you the 15 most interesting points...
Tim Cook just kicked off AllThingsD's D11 conference with an on-stage interview with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. The conference has become a major event for Apple, with Steve Jobs attending several of them, and Cook now a returning veteran speaker.
And he didn't disappoint. The CEO was surprisingly candid, answering all kinds of questions from what he thinks of Google Glass, to his thoughts on the state of the TV market. He even confirmed Jony Ive is working on iOS 7. We've got a full recap after the break...
It appears that the bad blood between Apple and Samsung isn't enough to keep the two from working together. Despite previous reports that the iPad-maker is trying to distance itself from its rival, it has reportedly returned a large chunk of its LCD panel business back to Samsung...
Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal said the world's top contract manufacturer, Foxconn, was looking to diversify beyond assembling Apple products.
Today, a Taiwanese publication reports that Foxconn has teamed up with the Firefox browser maker Mozilla on a mobile device to be powered by the Firefox OS.
This isn't a rumor: the two partners have invited the press to the unveiling of a new device on June 3. According to the people in the know, the mysterious gizmo will be a tablet. The development puts Foxconn in a somewhat odd position as it assembles Apple's iPhones and iPads, though I doubt Apple is worried much - if at all - considering the Firefox OS is an also-ran in the mobile arena...
It was not long ago that people dreamed of providing a PC for every child on the planet. Well, the vision needs to be updated. Tablets - particularly those in the iPad mini size range - are outselling laptops now and soon will overtake all PCs, research firm IDC reported Tuesday.
Some 229.3 million tablets are expected to ship this year for a 58.7 percent growth rate, compared to 2012. By contrast, PC shipments are down for the second year in a row, dropping 7.8 percent in 2013, the company announced.
The key takeaways: tablets are becoming smaller and cheaper, while at the same time being increasingly able to accomplish tasks once done by PCs...
Wouldn't it be great if the iPhone could detect when you are holding the handset to your ear or sitting on a desk, automatically adjusting the volume? Apple thought so, as well. Tuesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted the iPhone maker a patent on a way to adjust the speaker volume based on proximity.
The patent, filed just a year after the iPhone was unveiled, uses the smartphone's many sensors to detect the device's proximity from a user. Just as a proximity sensor is used to detect when the phone is at your ear (thus turning off the touch screen), sensors could also adjust speaker volume...