Apple

New suit from China takes aim at Siri

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 25, 2016

Just as Apple has finally settled its long-standing legal dispute in China over the iPad moniker for a cool $60 million, paving the way for the official tablet launch in the country, a new patent infringement claim has been filed.

This one targets Apple's Siri digital personal assistant. As it would seem, Siri might have taken more than a few clues from an interesting voice-activated technology a local firm patented back in 2006, months before the first iPhone had been unveiled.

This development could potentially be devastating now that Apple is gearing up to launch the iPad in the country because the device will come preloaded with Siri as part of a fall iOS 6 software update...

Apple working to resolve App Store updating bug

Cody Lee ∙ July 5, 2012

As we mentioned earlier today, the App Store was recently struck with a programming glitch, causing a number of Mac and iOS apps to crash upon update.

The issue has been causing a lot of problems for app developers, who have been receiving 1 star reviews and non-stop support requests over the last 24 hours.

This afternoon, Apple officially acknowledged the bug...

How Steve Jobs really felt about carriers and why they’re still like Soviet ministries

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

Before wrapping up his career-defining iPhone presentation on January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs invited Stan Sigman, then the CEO of Cingular Wireless, to join him on stage and announce a partnership that would send shockwaves of fear throughout the wireless industry. For the first time in history, a telecom would work in concert with a phone vendor to make a revolutionary phone possible without messing the user experience with junkware.

Stigman even confessed publicly that he agreed to take on the iPhone without ever seeing it, "because of the confidence I have in Steve Jobs to deliver his vision". Notwithstanding, a trained eye could tell the two men were worlds apart.

One was an archaic executive stuck in the old days and the other a forward-thinking unconventional manager with uncanny ability to figure out what consumers wanted before they even knew it.

Here's a reminder of how Jobs really felt about carriers, the way they go about their business and how virtually nothing's changed...

Rumor: next iPhone to feature quad-core processor

Cody Lee ∙ July 5, 2012

The iPhone is widely expected to get a major upgrade this fall. Not only is the handset's current form factor more than two years old, but the competition is really heating up with handsets like Samsung's Galaxy S III.

Some of the upcoming smartphone's rumored features include a larger, 4-inch display, a redesigned casing, and LTE compatibility. But what about the processor? According to a new report, it's going to be quad-core...

Malicious spam app discovered in the App Store [updated]

Cody Lee ∙ July 5, 2012

Apple has had a fairly spotless record thus far regarding iOS security. There hasn't been a single [serious] breach, or malware outbreak — aside from what jailbreak hackers have uncovered, of course.

But it looks like the perfect streak has finally come to an end. A Russian security firm announced this morning that it has discovered a malicious spam [aka a Trojan] application in the App Store...

Poor translation irritates iTunes Store users in Hong Kong

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2012

Apple has gotten lost in translation with last month's launch of the iTunes Store and iTunes Match in twelve new Asian territories.

Specifically, user in Hong Kong are complaining over ugly translation woes, especially with Apple's versions of song and album titles in the store's music section...

Witty Judge likens Apple’s war on Android to “constant struggle for survival”

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2012

The U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner is known for his witty remarks in the courtroom. As in, he tossed the Apple-Motorola suit out of the window and told parties that they have to prove injury, adding "I’m sorry that it seems to be petering out like this".

And in announcing the dismal, he proclaimed that “no more can Apple be permitted to force a trial in Federal Court the sole outcome of which would be an award of $1”.

He's back now with candid remarks regarding technology giants going after each other's throat in the courtroom. He also opined that companies like Apple are acting as if they were in "constant struggle for survival". And wait 'till you hear his take on the broken patent system...

Apple said to tap AutoNavi to offer iOS 6 mapping services in China

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2012

Bloomberg just reported that Apple likely chose AutoNavi to offer mapping services in China. Citing "two people with knowledge of the matter", the publication claims that Apple chose AutoNavi, a Chinese maker of electronic navigation tools, to offer map services for "users of future iPhones and iPads in China" (what they meant is iOS 6-enabled devices)...

Corrupt binaries in App Store causing crashes for some

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2012

Something went amiss in Apple's application stores for iPhone and Mac apps, causing newly updated apps to crash. Users are reporting that a number of popular apps quit immediately upon loading, though this issue only seems to affect freshly updated software.

Newly updated versions of Instapaper, Readdle Scanner Pro and Angry Birds Space HD Free have all been accused of crashing upon being updated to the latest version.

Instapaper developer Marco Arment pinpoints the issue over at his blog to a likely server bug with the App Store’s content distribution network. Apple has yet to acknowledge the problem or issue a statement...

Gruber predicts iPad mini will use the same display as iPhone 3GS

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Weighing in on a recent resurgence of the old iPad mini rumor, this time corroborated by credible news outlets such as Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, Apple pundit John Gruber opined that Apple could use existing manufacturing processes to quickly - and more importantly, cheaply - churn out millions and millions of seven-inch display panels for the iPad mini...

Google’s Nexus 7 beats iPad 3 on repairability

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Despite being only one millimeter thicker, Google's upcoming Nexus 7 slate is more repairable than the new iPad, a teardown analysis by iFixit has concluded. Its components are assembled using standard tools, unlike the new iPad's innards which are glued together.

A simpler assembly makes servicing the Google tablet fairly easy with standard plastic opening tools that make "cracking the Nexus shell like cutting through butter"...

Former Apple exec advised Nokia to fire Elop, drop everything and go Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 4, 2012

Jean-Louis Gassée, a former Apple executive (1981-1990), the founder of the BeOS computer operating system and former PalmSource chairman, had a word of advice for Nokia, the struggling Finnish cellphone vendor. Hiring Stephen Elop as its CEO was an expensive mistake, he argued, as this former Microsoftie has basically destroyed Nokia's software platforms before new devices reached the marketplace. At the rate of cash bleeding going on at Nokia, I wonder how long the company can afford to ignore its cardinal mistake and keep Elop on board...