Apple

More iPhone 5 cases surface that look just about right

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 18, 2012

CydiaBlog points us to a few purported cases for a sixth-generation iPhone, currently on sale over at TVC-Mall. These look just about right given the rumors calling for a taller iPhone with a two-tone design and a metal backplate that have been piling up recently. These cases also confirm leaked schematics and engineering samples which depict a FaceTime camera at the center and a smaller dock connector at the bottom.

It's been reported this morning that thousands of job seekers are currently lined up outside of Foxconn’s Chengdu, China plant, all vying for a number of summer job openings which could mean that Foxconn is ramping up hiring as it is getting ready to manufacture the iPhone 5, as the Japanese blog Macotakara suggested last week...

Foxconn ramps up hiring ahead of next-gen iPhone launch

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 25, 2016

A new report is out this morning claiming that thousands of job seekers are currently lined up outside of Foxconn's Chengdu, China plant. Apparently, the applicants are all vying for a number of summer job openings that were recently posted by the manufacturer.

It doesn't take a lot of brain power to guess the nature of these positions. Apple, who just so happens to be Foxconn's largest client, is widely expected to unveil two new major products this fall. One of which, the "iPhone 5," is believed to already be in production...

Judge rejects requests for secrecy in Samsung-Apple case

Cody Lee ∙ July 18, 2012

This is interesting. US District Court Judge Lucy Koh has just rejected several secrecy requests from both Apple and Samsung in their ongoing patent dispute.

The proposals were made in hopes to keep patents and other "key documents" out of public view during the trial, which is set to kick off at the end of the month...

Samsung snaps up UK’s fabless chip maker CSR to better compete with Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

Adamant to strengthen its portfolio of wireless patents (that seem to be all the rage these days) and help differentiate its smartphone and mobile chip businesses, Samsung ponied up $310 million for the mobile business of Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) PLC, based out in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

With this transaction due for completion by the fourth quarter this year, Samsung will control CSR's patents related to Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS and obtain interesting handset technology that could help differentiate its flagship smartphones.

Samsung is of course embroiled in patent fights with Apple in courts across the world. At the same time, the company dedicates substantial resources to fabbing mobile chips found inside Apple's iOS devices.

Samsung appears keen on taking advantage of CSR's research and development capability as it looks to improve its own mobile chips, possibly leading to unique hardware features down the road...

Poll: what should Apple call the next iPhone?

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 17, 2012

We now have the "new" iPad but assumably nothing gets blood running through our readers' veins as the all-important question of a moniker under which Apple will market the forthcoming hardware refresh of the iPhone. Is the sixth revision really going to be referred to as the iPhone 5? How about the iPhone 6? Maybe it's going to be just the iPhone or perhaps something entirely different this time around?

We already asked you whether the next iPhone should have a bigger screen. Today's poll offers a few possible name suggestions for Apple's next handset and we ask you to choose one you're most likely to associate with...

Jobs biographer on his admiration for Mark Zuckerberg

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 12, 2018

Walter Isaacson, the author of Steve Jobs' official biography, was on stage with Facebook board member Don Graham this morning at Fortune's annual Brainstorm Tech conference. And as usual, the topic turned to the Apple founder.

Graham mentioned what a big impact Steve Jobs had on Facebook's young CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, and he asked Isaacson if Jobs had ever mentioned him. As you might have guessed, the writer's response was pretty interesting...

Former iAd VP Andy Miller now heads 3D motion-control startup Leap Motion

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

As noted by The Next Web, Apple's former chief of iAd unit Andy Miller became chief operating officer at Leap Motion, the company wrote in a release. Miller founded mobile advertising startup Quattro Wireless whose chief rival at the time had been AdMob, later acquired by Google.

When Cupertino snapped up his company in January 2010, Miller was named the head of Apple's iAd platform. He left last August amid talk that iAd was going nowhere. Now, Leap Motion is a very interesting company, especially their Kinect-like device (video right after the break)...

iOS 6 Beta 3 brings support for VIP inbox, Shared Photo Streams on iPhone 3GS

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 17, 2012

Not all iOS 6 features are supported across every iOS device on Apple's compatibility list and that has been ticking some people off. Sometimes limited support stems from steep hardware requirements, but (too) often Apple is being accused of intentionally obsoleting older devices by going to great lengths to ensure certain software features are kept exclusive to the latest hardware (Siri, anyone?).

Luckily, with yesterday's release of iOS 6 Beta 3 to registered developers, Cupertino added two features that previously were not supported on the iPhone 3GS, VIP Mail recipients and Shared Photo Streams...

The verdict is in: Motorola’s Xoom doesn’t copy iPad’s design

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

A German court ruled today that no, Motorola's Xoom tablet doesn't infringe upon the iPad's design, Dow Jones Newswire has it. As a result, Apple won't be able to ban the device across Europe, as it originally planned. It doesn't matter as the Xoom, an inaugural tablet running Android 3.0 Honeycomb, was introduced at CES in January 2011. The device barely passed the one million units mark and in the first quarter of 2012 sold just 100,000 units. The ruling also rejected Motorola's assertion that the iPad's design patent is invalid...

Barnes & Noble launches Nook for Web, iPad support coming soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 17, 2012

Barnes & Noble today introduced Nook for Web, a cloud platform that strives to make e-reading easier by providing browser access to electronic books without needing a download, a Nook account or a Nook device for that matter. The overdue move follows in footsteps of Amazon which last August introduced Kindle Cloud Reader, a service that lets you access Kindle books instantly in a web browser (works great on iPad), no Kindle device required. UPDATE: the article is updated with a simple fix to run Nook for Web on your iPad...

Android is still losing one-third of current users to the iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

A few interesting observations from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster's note to clients (via Fortune), issued this morning. Munster conducted his annual cell phone survey and found out that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of polled respondents would pick an iPhone as their next handset. Only one in five (19 percent) plan to go with Android and just 2.5 percent, or one in forty, will stay loyal to their BlackBerry, a result of RIM's downturn.

What's more, 51 percent of respondents who planned on making the iPhone their next smartphone (whether current iPhone users or not) said they were waiting for the next iPhone...

WSJ confirms new iPhone will use thinner in-cell display technology

Cody Lee ∙ July 17, 2012

Since April of this year, Apple has been rumored to be using in-cell display panels in the next iPhone. The panel combines touch sensors and color filters into a single layer, making them much thinner.

Tonight, a major news outlet has added its weight to the theory. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that it has learned that Apple is indeed using the improved display tech in its latest handset...