Apple

Google+ holiday treats: better photo experience, conversation cards, more fluid UI

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

With over a hundred million active users, Google+ is, as Eric Schmidt put it, "a viable competitor to Facebook" and its nearly one billion users. This morning, the search firm is issuing new iOS and Android builds that enable a bunch of holiday treats. On the iOS side, you can now swipe through photo albums inline or tap once to see the photos full screen. New conversation cards are also available for highlighting specific content, from longer snippets to bigger photos to comments that slide in beneath each post...

Read More

Patent Race: China ahead in filings, but US leads active inventions

Ed Sutherland ∙ December 14, 2012

As we head into 2013, patents - along with the legal fight to enforce and protect them - is becoming a larger part of tech companies. Just ask Apple and Samsung. Where should we look for the next patent to appear? A good bet is China, which in 2011 filed for more than 500,000 technology related patents in 2011, topping the United States. According to the United Nations, China applied for 526,412 patents last year, more than the US with 500,000 and Japan's more than 300,000 applications...

Read More

Has Google just won the iOS maps war?

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEz1sSKCpIc

While most people consider the return of Google Maps to Apple's App Store an all-around positive, one observer sees the move as a 'mixed blessing' for club Cupertino. Not only is the familiar mapping application once again available, but the Android maker Google may now overshadow Apple's own efforts to make a difference in the increasingly competitive mobile mapping arena. As we reported yesterday, the new Google Maps for iOS is the top free app for the iPhone.

Indeed, Google admits the iOS app - which adds turn-by-turn directions - is superior to the Android version from a design standpoint. But for Google, returning to iOS means it also reconnects with iPhone users and a wealth of data...

Read More

Apple rolls out iPhone 5 in 33 new countries, here are launch videos

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6FiR76k7Yw

Following an important debut in China yesterday, Apple on Friday rolled out the iPhone 5 to an additional 33 countries. In addition to the 1.33 billion people market of China, the device is now available in Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Go past the fold for nice launch clips from around the world...

Read More

Looks like it’s gonna be a very Merry Apple Christmas indeed

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Despite a blitz of advertising and promotions, consumers across the globe are choosing Apple products during the run up to Christmas. After interviewing more than seventy shoppers in ten cities, Reuters reports consumers are not swayed either by Wall Street concerns or Madison Avenue come-ons. Instead, in shopping malls in the US, Europe and Asia, the key is Apple's simplicity.

Samsung - Apple's chief rival - is gaining no converts in shopping malls. Only in Singapore and Bangalore, India did Reuters find consumers picking Samsung products over the iPhone or iPad. In Mexico, despite having a mall covered with ads and displays promoting the South Korean firm's products, the iPad mini is selling like hotcakes...

Read More

iPhone 5 hits China to reclaim Apple’s lost market share

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 13, 2012

Following the iPad mini's debut in China a week earlier and the iPhone 5 arrival in South Korea, Apple today like a clockwork started sales of the iPhone 5 in China. While the handset is scheduled to launch in an additional 31 markets on Friday, including Russia, China is the top priority. Home to population of 1.33 billion people, China is a huge opportunity for the California-based company.

The company has only a few stores in China, but the country now accounts for fifteen percent of Apple's fiscal 2011 revenue, second only to US.

Monday, China Unicom announced more than 300,000 pre-orders for the device and rival China Telecom is thought to have similar figures. Unfortunately, China Mobile, the largest carrier in the world, will once again be sitting on the sidelines, thought its president is adamant that the iPhone deal is in the works.

Hopefully the iPhone 5 launch in China will help recover some of market share losses Apple suffered during the third quarter over an avalanche of inexpensive Android handsets and local brands...

Read More

Apple re-launches app gifting with a new custom delivery option

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The App Store on iOS 5 and below had an interesting feature I really used to love a lot, the ability to send your friends the gift of apps.

You'd just pick a piece of software in the App Store, hit the Gift This App button and Apple would send a nicely formatted email message to a lucky bastard along with a link to download an app, just like that.

With iOS 6, the feature was removed with seemingly no apparent reason. Now, app gifting has been available on desktop iTunes all this time. Fortunately, the company's quietly updated iTunes backend to re-enable app gifting on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices, just in time for the holidays...

Read More

Another survey says more than half want an iPhone 5 for Christmas

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

After getting off to a shaky start, more than half of consumers shopping for a smartphone plan to buy an iPhone 5, according to a new Wall Street survey. Likewise, Twitter chatter indicates a growing number of Internet users hope to find Apple's new handset under the Christmas tree.

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster told investors Thursday that 53.3 percent of a group polled Wednesday said they plan to purchase the iPhone 5 over the next month. That number is just slightly below the 54.9 percent found in mid-October, following the new smartphone's launch...

Read More

Apple releases iTunes 11.0.1 with duplicate item finding and other fixes

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

With iTunes 11, Apple's music software received a complete, much-needed, makeover. Unfortunately, it also removed some much-loved features like Cover Flow and the ability to find your duplicate track listings.

Well today, users can get at least one of those features back via a new update. Apple has just released iTunes 11.0.1 to the public, and as expected, it includes the duplicate item finding feature and other fixes...

Read More

Maybe Apple got what it wanted with Google Maps

Cody Lee ∙ December 13, 2012

There's been a lot of talk over the past few months about the reasons behind Apple's decision to kick Google Maps out of iOS 6. Everyone has their opinions, but it seems like the biggest factor was Google's unwillingness to bring voice-guided turn-by-turn directions, among other features, to the pre-installed app.

Fast-forward to last night, when Google Maps returned to the iPhone in the form of a standalone App Store app. It has the same beloved features like Street View and transit directions, but it now has voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, and fast-loading vector graphics. Maybe Apple got what it wanted....

Read More

Apple launches Best of iTunes 2012 charts

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple today posted a comprehensive list of the top iTunes sellers in 2012, ranging from e-books and podcasts to television shows and movies to apps and songs. The charts representing the best iTunes content in 2012 list the top sellers for every iTunes category. Paid and free apps are listed separately, and then again for the iPhone and iPad. Go past the fold to see if your favorite apps made it on the list...

Read More