Apple

Amazon releases video streaming app for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 22, 2018

Online retailer Amazon has stepped up its game on the iOS platform. Just as it updated its Cloud Player with a new scan-and-match service akin to iTunes Match and featuring high-quality 256Kbps song downloads for both music purchases and ripped CDs, the company today released a brand new video app which enables streaming of video content available through the company's Prime service and Instant Video store.

It supports offline viewing, automatic syncing of your play state across various devices and platforms and more. More screenies right after the break...

Apple making several changes to improve customer experience

Cody Lee ∙ August 1, 2012

Apple's chain of retail stores have seen unprecedented success over the past decade. They make more money and see more foot traffic than just about any other store on the planet.

Unfortunately, more foot traffic means longer wait times and other inconveniences for shoppers, which can lead to a poor customer experience. But Apple is looking to change that...

Judge angered at Samsung for publicizing excluded evidence

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

We're only two days into this patent trial of the century and already things are getting out of control in the courtroom. Even though Judge Lucy Koh denied Samsung's request to present to the jury its pre-iPhone F700 device meant to establish it did not copy the iPhone, the South Korean consumer electronics maker just issued a press release with two batches of evidence Judge Koh specifically excluded from the litigation...

Phil Schiller re-iterates Apple doesn’t ask consumers what they want

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

It's day two of the monster Apple vs. Samsung trial and Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller testified, but only briefly as the jury was dismissed for the day. What came out of him reflects Steve Jobs' notion that it is Apple's rather than the consumers' job to know what they want.

He also mentioned Apple New Product Process for exploring new products and revealed it was he that Steve Jobs sent the vacation photo to at the 2007 MacWorld introduction of the iPhone...

Apple’s designers come up with ideas around a kitchen table

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 31, 2012

Apple may be unlike other companies in many regards, but when it comes to thinking stuff up, its designers gather around good ol' kitchen table to come up with bright new ideas. I'm not making this up, this little nugget was just revealed in a testimony by a member of Apple's design team during the afternoon hearing in the Apple vs. Samsung mega-lawsuit....

Apple confirms iCloud email outage for some, App Store and iMessage hiccups reported

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

Looks like something is amiss with that $1 billion North Carolina data center as Apple just acknowledged that a limited number of iCloud users are having issues accessing their iCloud email. A bunch of people reported the problem earlier today on Apple's discussion forums.

The Cupertino, California company is working to resolve the problem "ASAP", reads a notice on Apple's iClod status page. It appears that the issue is not contained just to iCloud email as some users are beginning to complain about hiccups with the App Store and iMessage services as well. Moreover, looks like FaceTime is down for some, too...

UPDATE: All services are now back online...

Apple vs Samsung day 2: rectangles, prior art, finger pointing, Android redesign

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

With the ten-person jury selected, a plenty of tidbits hit newswires as Apple and Samsung locked horns this morning inside a San Jose courtroom. Samsung is basically saying that Apple didn't invent the rectangle, while Cupertino insists that Samsung lifted the best iPhone ideas.

Before Apple could portray itself as a smartphone underdog in the opening remarks, the packed courtroom received an 18-minute video primer on how the patent system works, seen right after the break.

Coincidentally or not, in what could foreshadow a major design change for Android amid heating patent wars, Google has filed for an interesting patent which promises to bring radial menus to its mobile operating system and Chrome devices...

The next iPhone and in-cell display tech

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 31, 2012

A certain hit-and-miss Asian trade publication (I know, don't start) reported this morning that the initial shipment of a sixth-generation iPhone could be disrupted due to yield problems with in-cell panels the device is believed to adopt.

Apparently, suppliers are experiencing yield rates too low to generate profits, despite the fact that Apple allegedly offered an estimated $10-15 per-panel subsidy. Really, what's up with in-cell tech and the next iPhone?

Apple nearly shelved the iPhone because it wasn’t good enough

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 31, 2012

Despite producing multiple iPhone prototypes (here, here and here) leading up to its blockbuster 2007 release, the company's brain trust nearly shelved the project because it didn't believe the device was up to Apple's exacting standards of what a mobile phone should be, Cupertino's vice president of industrial design Jonathan Ive revealed in an interview.

One of the issues that had the team consider axing the iPhone involved the device's touchscreen accidentally initiating a phone call when put against one's ear. Apple later solved this by equipping the iPhone with a proximity sensor which automatically turns off the display to prevent spray input from your face...

Apple’s arrogance blamed for low iPhone penetration in Russia

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

The iPhone is as popular in the nearly 150 million people market of the Russian Federation as it is elsewhere. However, unlike in the United States, Western Europe and in most other developed countries, Russian customers are expected to pay through their nose to get their hands on the sought-after device.

If you ask carriers, Apple's arrogance in dealing with its Russian wireless partners is behind the company's relatively low penetration in that market. This of course creates a sizable opportunity for Android cheapos. If I were Tim Cook, I would book a flight to Moscow to discuss lowering shipment commitments in exchange for a more flexible pricing scheme lest I lose their support...

Samsung’s product chief dumbs down litigation with Apple to rectangles

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Wired sat down with Apple's Jony Ive to talk design ahead of the trial of the century which kicked off in northern California today and the publication is now extending the courtesy to Samsung, interviewing its product person to hear the other side.

Samsung's Kevin Packingham discussed patent and design accusations between his company and Apple, the result of which is bound to have serious ramifications for both parties. Unsurprisingly, the executive played down Apple's concerns that the Galaxy tablets and smartphones copy the iPhone and iPad slavishly, pointing out there's really just one way to go about the candy bar form factor...

Apple’s AuthenTec purchase indicates an e-wallet fingerprint service

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Apple's $356 million acquisition of mobile security firm AuthenTec (already under investigation, by the way) has been already deemed by one analyst as a move meant to bolster security of iOS devices in enterprise. Now another analysts chimes in with speculation that the transaction, still pending approval, will probably help Apple create a mobile payment system around future iOS devices built around an e-wallet fingerprint service...