Apple

AT&T reportedly planning a September iPhone 5 launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 13, 2012

Recently, major news outlets all but confirmed that the next iPhone will be announced on September 12 and become available on September 21. Aligning nicely with that piece of information, a new report based on industry sources claims that carrier AT&T is planning to launch the iPhone 5 during the third or fourth week of September.

Moreover, the carrier apparently told its retails staff it has rescheduled a large training event for regional employees from the first week of October in order not to clash with a “huge announcement”...

Major US carriers, Google form mobile payments alliance, Apple not on board

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 13, 2012

In another sign that the industry has high expectations for mobile payments, four major carriers in the United States along with Google and a bunch of other players have struck a mobile payments alliance called Mobile Payments Committee.

The initial members include carriers AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile USA, but also Google, Isis, VeriFone and PayPal, in addition to financial institutions Wells Fargo and Capital One plus credit card giants American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.

Apple is conspicuously absent from the list, as is mobile payment startup Square, which last week announced an interesting partnership with Starbucks. The iPhone maker, of course, is believed to be putting NFC circuitry inside the next iPhone and just recently acquired NFC and smart sensors maker AuthenTec for $356 million...

Report: new dock connector has improved transfer rates, is orientation independent

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 13, 2012

As you know, Apple is planning to deploy a much smaller dock connector with MagSafe-like functionality across all future iOS devices this fall. And contrary to Reuters calling for a 19-pin design, purported photos from two days ago show fewer pins and noticeably smaller design compared to your regular USB connector.

And now, a new report sheds more light on the features the new I/O will provide, including faster data transfer and orientation independence...

Future Motorola phones will recognize who is in a room based on their voices

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 13, 2012

Upcoming smartphones from Motorola Mobility, now a Google-owned entity, will be able to determine who is in a room by employing some pretty advanced voice recognition techniques. Under Google's stewardship, the company has seen its management team reshuffled as forty percent of Motorola's vice presidents left the company following the $12.5 billion acquisition.

And because Motorola has been losing money in 14 of its last 16 quarters, Google's latest measures to achieve "sustainable profitability" for Motorola include cutting one-fifth of its global workforce. That amounts to about 4,000 people, a third from U.S. operations.

Furthermore, Google will be slimming down Motorola's portfolio of devices to focus on a dozen or so flagship phones, it will close a third of Motorola's 94 offices worldwide, dial down the handset maker's operations in Asia and India and reduce its R&D expenditure in Chicago, Sunnyvale and Beijing...

The iPhone 5 asymmetric screw? Just a viral hoax

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Remember a vague rumor from last week which had some people concerned that Apple might employ a special tamper-resistant design for iPhone 5 screws? Turns out the report was a false alarm, an elaborate hoax by a Swedish design shop which wanted to highlight how Apple rumors propagate across the blogosphere.

Day4, the design company, revealed this in a blog post titled "How we screwed (almost) the whole Apple community", explaining that the team had decided to design a rendering of the non-existent screw and publish it through a throwaway Reddit account in order to see if the story would gain any traction...

Diagram shows claimed next-gen iPhone parts fit together

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 7, 2016

At this point, there doesn't seem to be many details regarding Apple's new smartphone that we don't know. We've seen dozens of leaked internal and external parts, and there's growing evidence that these pieces are in fact legitimate.

Still not convinced? Then check out the above diagram, put together by the iPhone experts over at iFixYouri. The image shows that many of the previously leaked next-gen iPhone parts fit perfectly in the recently-leaked motherboard...

Sick of the arguing, judge orders Apple-Samsung lawyers to meet

Cody Lee ∙ August 13, 2012

It's been a long two weeks for US District Court Judge Lucy Koh, who is currently presiding over the high-profile Apple-Samsung trial. On top of the usual court arguments, it's been filled with nonstop bickering between the attorneys of both parties.

And Koh says she tired of it. In a new order, filed late yesterday afternoon, the Judge said that she was disappointed by the efforts to meet and confer on final jury instructions, and that she wanted lead trial counsel from sides to meet in person...

Again, why you should never buy an iPad in a parking lot

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 11, 2018

Craigslist is arguably one of the web's most popular destinations for folks looking to buy stuff at a bargain. A virtual garage sale of sorts, one can find anything from furniture to exercise equipment.

Of course, you can also find electronics on Craigslist — Apple products even. But as we've said before, you should always be wary of buying Apple gear in a parking lot. And again, here's why...

Another reason why Google lags behind Apple: Customer service

Jeff Benjamin ∙ August 11, 2012

Not to pile on after Sebastien's review of the Nexus 7, but I just had to share this little tidbit of information.

I emailed Google customer service over an issue that I had with the Nexus 7, and I received a response. The problem is, the response came 17 days later. Yes, a one followed by a seven. 408 hours after the fact.

It's just another reason why Google has a long way to go before they can come close to the Apple experience...

Apple offered to license its portfolio of patents to Samsung in 2010

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

The high-profile patent trial between Apple and Samsung has exposed some pretty interesting intel on both companies. But the information brought to light tonight might be the best yet.

According to some new court filings, executives from the two tech heavyweights met in hopes of reaching a settlement back in 2010. And Apple actually offered Samsung a licensing deal...

Surprise, a lot of folks get confused between Apple and Samsung products

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Seriously, do you know anyone who in their right mind would mistaken a Samsung phone for an iPhone? Anyone? If your answer is a resounding 'no', congrats - you're officially a geek, just like yours truly.

Now, Apple's been arguing from the onset that the extent of alleged copying of its industrial design exhibited in Samsung's work introduces a strong likelihood of customer confusion between the two brands.

While gadget lovers whose morning routine includes skimming through tech news cannot grasp how anyone could possibly mistaken a gadget with the Samsung logo for one with a bitten apple on it, to those outside the tech circles - you know, the general public, average consumers and Joes Schmucks of this world - the similarities are painfully obvious.

Specifically, one in two thought they saw an iPhone when presented with an image depicting a Samsung phone...

Google is quietly lending support to Samsung’s legal team

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

Samsung's legal team sure has its hands full right now. The Korean company's attorneys are currently in a northern California court battling Apple's patent infringement claims in a trial that could cost them billions of dollars.

But apparently Samsung isn't going at it alone. A new report is out this morning claiming that Google has been quietly lending support to the consumer electronics giant, offering legal help and use of its large pool of resources...