Apple

The online Apple Store, now with iOS touch-friendly navigation

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

Apple's online store has over time implemented a bunch of tweaks aimed at improving navigation and browsing product pages on Apple's mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad.

For instance, I've always liked the ability to swipe through teaser images on landing pages for specific products.

Here's an example: fire up Safari on your iPhone or iPad, visit www.apple.com/iphone and swipe through those big, beautiful product shots at the top. But the company isn't stopping there.

Having recently hired dozens of engineers, visual designers and web developers, Apple has now introduced a fresh set of tweaks to the online Apple Store, including the touch-friendly navigation bar which appears right below the main product sections (iPod, iPad etc.)...

Apple nearing deal with record labels, iRadio on track for summer release

Cody Lee ∙ April 5, 2013

From what we've been hearing, Apple's been having major problems with its so-called iRadio project. The music service was expected to launch earlier this year, but a recent report claimed things were delayed due to a dispute with record labels over royalty terms.

It appears, however, that there's finally light at the end of the tunnel. According to a new scoop from CNET, Apple is very close to signing a deal with both Warner Music and Universal Music Group, and it's planning to rollout the Pandora-like service this summer...

Apple patent hints at Street View-like mapping

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 5, 2013

Is Apple preparing to take another chunk out of Google's mapping franchise? A patent filed in 2011 and entitled "3D Position Tracking for Panoramic Navigation," discovered Thursday, suggests the iPhone maker is considering adding street level navigation to its own iOS 6 Maps technology.

By virtue of the description, the invention suggests using movement sensors built into the iPhone and iPad to make it easier for mobile users to move within virtual maps. Currently, Google's Street View feature makes use of mouse movements and touchscreen input for navigation. A key difference between Apple Maps and Google Maps may also include the ability to navigate within structures...

Verizon would consider eliminating contracts, but not unless consumers demanded it

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

As T-Mobile this morning started accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 5, its 'Uncarrier' initiative is about to be put to the real test. Will consumer prefer paying $20 in monthly installments for their iPhone 5 (with $99 downpayment) in exchange for a more affordable and simpler wireless service plan?

Or, would they rather continue dropping a hundred bucks or more each month for their overpriced wireless service, with no easy way to cancel their long-term commitment without incurring hefty penalties and hidden fees?

We should know in the coming days and weeks as the Deutsche Telekom-owned telco starts selling the popular smartphone beginning next Friday, April 12.

When T-Mobile announced earlier this year it would kill subsidies and offer Apple’s handset on monthly installments, cowardly AT&T and Verizon employed waiting tactics, opting to instead sit on the sidelines and monitor how the situation unfolds rather than improve their own dealings with customers.

When asked to comment on T-Mobile's new Uncarrier business strategy, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam Wednesday rather ambiguously responded that his company isn't really ready to kill subsidies right off the bat...

Asia calling for Apple iPhablets

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

Flurry data told us that so-called phablets comprise only a minuscule portion of smart devices compared to mid-size phones and large tablets, such as the iPhone and iPad, but there's no doubt that devices with five-inch or larger screens are gaining acceptance, largely thanks to Samsung's willingness to experiment with a bunch of different form factors. Even Apple acknowledged the trend by making the iPhone 5's four-inch screen the new gold standard for iPhones.

But with Samsung launching a five-inch Galaxy S4 soon and rumors of an upcoming Galaxy Mega line with 5.8 and 6.2-inch handsets making rounds, Asian suppliers are advising Apple to follow suit and blow up the upcoming iPhone's display if it wants to capture the next phase of smartphone growth...

Real Racing 3 gaining cloud saves, Hunter game mode, new cars and 100+ events

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8rendr6pI0

If you're a fan of free-to-play Real Racing 3 (which, by the way, looks absolutely stunning on the A6 and later devices, like the iPhone 5 and iPad 4), you're in for a treat as Electronic Arts today announced an upcoming content update which will bring several new cars, a bunch of new challenges and events, a new game mode and cloud saves across all your devices.

As you can see from the above trailer for the Real Racing 3: Chevrolet Update, developer Firemonkeys is teasing at least two new cars, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS and the Camaro ZL1. I've included more tidbits right after the break...

German court invalidates Apple’s slide-to-unlock patent, but it’s not big deal

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 5, 2013

A German court ruled invalid Apple's patent for a sliding touchscreen unlocking image, marking another win for allies of Google's Android mobile operating. In its ruling in favor of the Google-owned Motorola, the country's Federal Patent Court slammed the iPhone maker's slide-to-unlock patent as devoid of "technological innovation." Still, a long-running patent dispute which began in 2011 may still live on as Apple's legal team prepares for a round of appeals, according to Friday reports...

Upcoming firmware update to force VPN behavior changes over VirnetX patent loss

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

VirnetX, a patent holding firm with an impressive intellectual property portfolio, in November 2011 sued Apple over a breach of a collection of its network patents, originally seeking north of $900 million in damages. A year later, in November 2012, a federal jury in a Texas court ordered the iPhone maker to pay $368.2 million in damages.

The two parties later worked out a royalty agreement that should be decided upon on April 12, but as a result of the damages awarded to VirnetX, Apple today has acknowledged via a support document that it "will be changing the behavior of VPN On Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later"...

Facebook Home for iOS? Talk to Apple, Zuck says

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lep_DSmSRwE

Facebook has found a new home on Android, so to speak, as the social networking giant at a news conference earlier today unveiled a Home launcher, a new feature for select Android devices which marries cherry-picked Facebook applications to a beautiful user interface described as putting "people first in an app first world."

Alongside the new software shell, Mark Zuckerberg and HTC's Peter Chou announced the HTC First, an Android smartphone born out of the collaboration between Facebook and HTC which runs the Home interface. Zuckerberg confirmed his company will be rolling out the new launcher to select Android devices beginning April 12, as a free app download from Google's Play Store.

But what about iOS? iPhone users are unfortunately shut out. Initially hiding behind 'Apple's walled-garden' argument, Zuckerberg in wide-ranging interviews with Forbes and Wired.com shed more light on the matter...

Apple widens U.S. lead over Samsung, makes ground on Google

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 4, 2013

OMG, Apple is screwed! In another data point proving Apple doomsayers need to re-run their spreadsheets, research firm comScore reported Thursday its latest survey of the United States market for smartphones has found Apple's iPhone widening its lead over second-ranked Samsung, which has gone up one percentage point to grab a 21.3 percent share of US-owned smartphones during the three month average period ending February 2013.

During the same timeframe, Apple's slice of the pie has gone up from 35.9 percent in November 2012 to 38.9 percent of U.S. smartphone subscribers in February 2013, an increase of 3.9 percentage points. The good news doesn't stop here: Apple's iOS has increased 3.9 percentage points to 38.9 percent, matching Apple's aforementioned smartphone share.

Google's Android platform, available on numerous devices from dozens of manufacturers, still ranked as the top smartphone platform with a healthy 51.7 percent market share in February 2013, but it has dropped two percentage points from the November 20121 53.7 percent share...

Two years later, DEA learns the government can’t break into Apple’s iMessage

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 4, 2013

Apple's iMessage platform has gone through its share of teething problems, ranging from issues related to iOS devices continuing to send and receive messages, even after being remotely wiped and having their SIM cards deactivated, to iOS saving deleted iMessage attachments to a recent exploit which involved denial of service attacks leading to a series of spam messages crashing the stock iOS Messages app. Although unpleasant and worrying, these problems are mostly localized.

When it comes to government surveillance, however, iMessage is bullet proof and the agile government, of course, has only recently become aware of this. According to an internal document from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), instant messages exchanged between iOS users through the iMessage platform are "impossible to intercept" due to strong iCloud encryption...

Jony Ive envisions mail window, media controls and more for iPad’s Smart Cover

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 4, 2013

Who thought Apple's Smart Cover, first designed to simply protect the iPad screen without adding too much bulk to the device's form factor, would grow to become another platform for the firm's design guru, Jony Ive? A new patent application which identifies Ive as one of the inventors suggests the Smart Cover could become a mini screen, displaying new email and controlling music playback, among other possibilities.

In a patent filing published earlier this week by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Apple includes a redesigned Smart Cover which includes buttons to control your iTunes playback, along with a window where you can quickly check new e-mails or incoming texts...