Apple

Still renting discs? Blockbuster has an app for that.

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Remember Blockbuster? The once popular video and game rental chain got pushed to the brink of relevancy as the likes of Netflix, Hulu, iTunes and Amazon took over.

But if you're stuck in the old age and still rent movies on discs, Blockbuster's re-written iOS app could come in handy for managing your physical rentals on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.

Some of the welcome features include the ability to scan your membership card for in-store checkout and check movie availability on a per-store basis. And for those of us that have long moved on, Blockbuster earlier this month released a brand new On Demand iOS streaming app...

EU suggest clamping down on tax havens

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 28, 2013

European nations must stop offering incentives aimed at attracting companies seeking a haven from the U.S. government's 35 percent tax on repatriated money. The European Union's Tax Commissioner Algirdas Semeta Tuesday called on EU member nations to halt "specific incentives" aimed at attracting international corporations such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Coca Cola and many others.

Semeta's comments in Brussels follows a week of high-profile discussion of ways Apple and other tech giants filter income through EU nations such as Ireland to avoid paying heftier taxes back home...

Crazy rumor calls for 12.9-inch ‘iPad maxi’ in early-2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2016

Sorting through the ocean of rumors today, I stumbled upon a Chinese report suggesting a twice as sharp Retina display on the next iPhone. While there's some chance we could see Apple develop a higher-resolution iPhone at some point, another sketchy report claims that the company is also working on a much larger iPad with a 12.9-inch display.

If true, this would put the rumored 'iPad maxi' in the range of netbooks and notebooks and appeal to niche market verticals, such as digital photographers, pro video editors, designers, content creators and so forth...

Apple rumored to double iPhone 5S Retina resolution

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

Apple's Retina display may still be the best mobile display on the market, but not so much anymore in terms of the sheer pixel count and clearness.

Case in point: Samsung's five-inch Galaxy S4 with its full HD 1,920-by-1,080 resolution screen at a whopping 441 pixels per inch easily outperforms the iPhone 5's four-inch 640-by-1,136 Retina display at 326 pixels per inch. Another example: HTC's flagship One smartphone and its 468 pixels per inch display.

Now, a new rumor out of China alleges that Apple's next iPhone will have an upgraded Retina display with twice as much pixels as the current-generation...

AirPlay streaming, HDMI out and web UI coming to Infuse media player

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

I was quite excited about Infuse, a versatile and nice-looking iOS media player by FireCore, the team behind the aTV Flash Black. The one and only major gripe I had with the software is its absence of AirPlay streaming, which is quite a limiting factor if you want to watch your media on the big screen TV through your Apple TV. While AirPlay support is definitely coming in a future update, the team yesterday issued a small update fixing minor inconsistencies and tweaking a few features...

Poll: who’s excited about black & white iOS 7 facelift?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

If you've been following Apple stories lately, chances are you came across a news piece last week that calls for a black and white iOS 7 redesign.

You know, the facelift reportedly in the works under the guidance of Apple's legendary design guru Jony Ive. It should be, in a word, awesome.

As asserted by the very reliable writer Mark Gurman, Ive not only got rid of skeumorphism, he also eliminated the shine and transparent gloss for one that’s flat and mostly black and white.

And with two weeks until Apple's June 10 keynote at WWDC 2013, we'll soon find out just how deep the rabbit hole of visual changes in iOS 7 go. For now, we're asking you to join the discussion and tell us where you stand on the black & white iOS 7 revamp...

Here comes the Google Glass photographer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Although I haven’t yet convinced iDB’s own Sebastien Page to buy me a Google Glass, I’m a big fan of the Internet giant’s augmented-reality eyewear. But just like the majority of respondents in our non-scientific poll, I too would rather wear Apple’s rumored iWatch over Google’s wearable gizmo.

The biggest problem with Glass, as I see it, is social rather than technical. With that in mind, here's something you could be seeing real soon: the Google Glass photographer.

Go past the fold for a funny clip...

Real Racing 3 Dubai update coming soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 27, 2013

Electronic Arts' free-to-play Real Racing 3, which debuted on the App Store three months ago, last month received its first major update that has brought out such improvements as cloud saves across devices, an all-new Hunter game mode, the addition of the Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Camaro ZL1 vehicles and over a hundred new events.

The super publisher is now readying a second update that will feature twilight racing at the Dubai Autodrome, new cars and - you guessed right - more events. Your trailer is right after the break...

Apple inexplicably pulling movie trailer downloads

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 27, 2013

A movie buff like myself has always been a big fan of Apple's QuickTime movie trailers web site. I've especially enjoyed the ability to download my favorite trailers in their full-resolution 1080p glory, useful for times when I'm without or on a slow Internet connection.

Unfortunately - and in a rather surprising move - Apple seems to have started removing the download option from both past and upcoming submissions. Worse, the company appears to have effectively eliminated 1080p trailer availability, meaning people accessing the QuickTime movie trailers web site from their computer can now only stream those videos in either 480p or 720p...

Former US Senator: blame Congress for tax avoidance, not Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Carl Levin, the chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, ahead of a high-profile congressional hearing accused Apple of seeking “the Holy Grail of tax avoidance” by creating “offshore entities holding tens of billions of dollars, while claiming to be tax resident nowhere.”

Needless to say, click-hungry media came all guns blazing in support for the government's stance. But not so fast, cautions former U.S. Senator John E. Sununu (Republican, New Hampshire), who points the finger at the United States government over instituting tax laws that discourage corporations like Apple from repatriating its $40 billion in overseas cash...

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn to build own iDevice accessories

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 27, 2013

Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. aka Foxconn, the world's top assembler of consumer electronics, is mulling making and selling its own branded accessories in a move to diversify beyond assembling Apple products.

Foxconn over the years has grown increasingly reliant on Apple contract and with increasing competition and Apple's slowing growth, the manufacturer is starting to feel the pain, too. The Apple biz comprises an estimated 50 percent of Foxconn's revenue, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

And earlier this month, The New York Times similarly reported that Foxconn is looking beyond the iPhone and anticipating to mass-manufacture a rumored standalone Apple television set...

EU advances probe of iPhone sales tactics

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 27, 2013

The New York Times back in March reported that a group of unnamed European wireless carriers complained to the European Commission about Apple's strict volume and marketing commitments in regard to iPhone sales. Today, the Financial Times claims to have seen documents proving that Brussels is moving a probe into iPhone sales tactics to the next stage.

The news couldn't have come at a worst time for Apple, which earlier this month faced U.S. Senators who grilled CEO Tim Cook along with two other high-ranked executives over Apple's tax avoidance tricks and refusal to repatriate revenue from sales made overseas...