Apple

Ahead of iPhone launch, T-Mobile launches GoSmart prepaid brand nationwide

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 6, 2017

Ahead of the official iPhone launch on its network later this year, the nation's fourth-largest carrier T-Mobile USA on Tuesday said a new GoSmart prepaid service is now available via some 3,000 reseller stores nationwide. According to Reuters, users can purchase a SIM kit and simply bring their own GSM device to the service. Unlimited voice and messaging costs $30 a month.

For an additional five bucks, you get to browse the web. A $45 plan with five gigabytes of 3G data is also available. These are all month-to-month plans, meaning you can cancel the service anytime without getting penalized...

Papercraft mockup makes the case for iPhablet

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 26, 2016

Conflicting rumors signify an iPhablet, a nearly five-inch iPhone, may be released either some time in 2013 or during the summer of 2014. Speculation of a new form factor brings along a theory that Apple could simply blow up the display while keeping the iPhone 5's 1,136-by-640 pixel resolution, presumably making developers' life easier. But there's a catch to enlarging the display without boosting its resolution: density of the pixels would drop from the Retina iPhone 326ppi to just 264ppi.

Though likely insufficient for the Retina moniker, that particular pixel density conveniently matches up with the the full-sized iPad's 264ppi Retina display. In order to better illustrate what an iPhone with a display this large would feel in your hand, MacRumors has enlisted the creative talent of CiccareseDesign to come up with a papercraft five-inch iPhone mockup...

NPD: Apple now one-fifth of U.S. consumer tech sales

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 19, 2013

Apple was responsible for one out over every five dollars spent on consumer electronics in the U.S. during 2012, a market research firm announced Tuesday. This while overall consumer electronics sales fell for the second year in a row.

The iPhone and iPad maker also ranked as the third largest U.S. consumer electronics retailer, just behind Best Buy and Walmart. Amazon and Staples rounded out and industry where only smartphones and tablets saw revenue gains last year...

Firefox 19 lands with built-in PDF viewer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 28, 2016

The Firefox browser by Mozilla, the non-profit organization, was once hailed as the biggest threat to Internet Explorer's dominance, but boy do times change fast.

In just a few short years following its release, Google's Chrome has become the most popular browser out there. And while Firefox certainly doesn't lack a punch, it does fall behind Google's baby in several aspects.

I've always loved Chrome's built-in Adobe Flash player (because it doesn't pollute the entire system with Adobe's buggy plug-in). Another Chrome feature I love: a nice PDF viewer, also built-in. Starting today, a new major release of Firefox for Mac, Windows and Linux is available for download and it comes with a built-in HTML5-based PDF viewer, just like Chrome...

iPad mini now showing ‘in stock’ online in several countries

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Apple has had a hard time catching up with consumer demand for its iPad mini. Since the tablet debuted four months ago, supply has been extremely constrained, with shipping times only recently dropping below a week.

But today, it appears that supply and demand is finally starting to even out for the popular slate, as the mini now shows an availability status of 'in stock' in Apple web stores in several countries around the world...

AT&T now offers travelers 1GB of free data across UK’s 16,000 Wi-Fi spots

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

U.S. carrier AT&T today expanded its 4G LTE coverage in several markets and now word has reaches us that the company has signed an interesting roaming deal with The Cloud to offer travelers free access to 16,000 Wi-Fi spots in the United Kingdom. The Cloud is a BSkyB-owned Wi-Fi hotspot provider and the agreement entails up to one gigabyte of free roaming data.

RIM has always bested the iPhone and other handset vendors with reasonable service terms that typically include free or inexpensive messaging and data for BlackBerry users traveling abroad. While Apple's dealings with the world's carriers don't included these benefits, it's nice that one of the most important carriers globally is now appeasing to its customers with a fair roaming deal...

Apple wins patent for improved haptic feedback

Ed Sutherland ∙ February 19, 2013

The use of haptic feedback in smartphones is increasingly commonplace, however until now Apple has shied away from using the technology in its multitouch devices, such as the iPhone and iPad. However, the prospect is now open for a multitouch keyboard that provides consumers a tactile response, according to an Apple patent grant by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Apple first applied a filing for the invention back in 2009 to solve the problem of multiple haptic signals interfering with each other, thereby confusing users. Apple outlined a way to localize the haptic feedback by using secondary sensors which cancel-out the confusing signals. In this way, when an iPhone owner hits the 'L' key, he won't also receive a vibration under the 'K' key of a virtual keyboard...

AT&T’s LTE expands in Denver, Boise, Nassau and Suffolk counties, now available in Gainesville

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 19, 2013

U.S. carrier AT&T Tuesday announced that it is expanding its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio technology in Denver, Boise, Nassau and Suffolk counties while making it available in Gainesville. The carrier continues to poor billions in network expansion as it races rival Verizon Wireless for LTE coverage. According to AT&T, its 4G LTE currently covers 288 million people in the United States...

Apple spent less than $2M on D.C. lobbying last year, Google spent $18M

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Among the many moves monitored by tech company watchers is who is spending what money, where. Whether it be on R&D, acquisitions, or patent litigation, knowing where a company spends its cash is important to understanding its business.

A new report, for example, takes a look at how much each of the big tech firms spent on D.C. lobbying in 2012 (trying to influence politicians and their legislation to work in their favor). And surprise, surprise, Google spent more than everyone else...

What if iWatch isn’t actually an Apple smart watch, but an aptly named TV?

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 18, 2013

As we entered 2013, the rumor mill has been increasingly churning out speculative reports regarding Apple's rumored TV set and smart watch projects, almost on a daily basis. Even Bloomberg joined the frenzy with claims that Apple has as many as a hundred product designers working on a wearable smart watch-like computer that "may perform some of the tasks now handled by the iPhone and iPad." But here's the kicker: what if this group is instead working on a television set - fittingly referred to as an iWatch?

Illinois school buys 7,000 iPads for students

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 18, 2013

The Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 in Illinois is going to put a cool seven thousand iPad 4 units into the hands of its students this Fall, another major win for Apple's iPad in education initiative. An extension of the district's experimental 2011 one-on-one program that put the iPad 2 in the hands of 1,500 students last fall, the decision highlights the growing importance of Apple's tablet on instructors and students...

Poll: which would you rather wear, an Apple iWatch or Google’s Glasses

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 18, 2013

Silicon Valley giant Google rightfully trusts tech enthusiasts will be falling over themselves to adopt its Android-driven Glasses, going as far to commission a pro to take a series of fashion photographs featuring beautiful, smiling models. Apple, on the other hand (pun intended), is said to be entering the wearable computing space with a smart watch-like gizmo believed to be conceptualized as your most intimate computer yet.

Google's bet is that advanced augmented reality features are enough to talk people into putting up with the unusual glasses dancing on their nose. And if iWatch talk is for real, then Apple must be thinking its users won't have a problem wearing a curved-glass watch around their wrist like some Dict Tracy copycat.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle: some folks will readily adopt these wearable devices and others will wave them off as a function over form. Which brings me to today's poll: if you were forced to choose between the two, which one would you rather wear in public - Google's Glasses or Apple's iWatch?