Apple

Rumor: Apple Will Remove the Home Button in the Next Version of the iPhone

Alex Heath ∙ January 13, 2011

A new, unexpected report from Boy Genius is claiming that the next version of the iPhone and iPad will have no home button. That's right, a device with hardly any physical buttons will lose its only major one. This rumor doesn't seem unlike Apple, we are talking about a company who took all of the buttons off the iPod Nano at one point.

It seems that the reason multitouch gestures were added to the iPad in iOS 4.3 is because Apple plans to implement such gestures for all iDevices. These multi-finger gestures would most likely replace the current functionality of the home button. Boy Genius Report reveals the following...

Doing Business with Apple: Verizon’s Side of the Story

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

By now you must have heard that AT&T didn't have the exclusivity of the iPhone anymore, as Apple signed a multi-year deal with Verizon. Business Week has an interesting article showing how it took years for this agreement to take place.

In this article, Verizon's President Lowell McAdam gives us an idea of what it was like to deal with Apple. Let's analyze what he has to say...

The Verizon iPhone 4, What’s Changed?

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 3, 2018

Wondering what the differences between the Verizon iPhone 4 and the AT&T version are? Well maybe we can clarify a few things for you. For starters, let's talk appearance. The volume and ringer mute buttons have been moved, to accommodate the new antenna design (see extra notch above mute button). Current bumpers and cases with just a hole for the side controls will not fit the Verizon iPhone 4 model.

Now as far as the internals go, the 2 models are almost identical, save for the obvious fact that the new Verizon model will have CDMA chipsets and AT&T models use GSM technology. For those not so tech savvy that means that you will be unable to use an AT&T version of the iPhone on the Verizon network. And in case you haven't heard the bad news, CDMA also means that you are unable to be on the phone and use data at the same time...

How to Add New Sources to Cydia

Alex Heath ∙ January 12, 2011

Cydia, the jailbreak equivalent of Apple's App Store, indexes all jailbreak apps/tweaks/mods so that users can easily find them on the iPhone. To have Cydia on your iPhone, you must first jailbreak. This process frees you from having to only download apps from Apple's App Store. Once you jailbreak, you can install all kinds of cool apps, mods and tweaks on your iPhone through Cydia.

Instead of Apple's curated content, Cydia must rely on "repositories" from jailbreak developers to index jailbreak apps. These "repositories" (or "repos") are basically just storage houses for jailbreak content that developers want to distribute through Cydia. Repositories are sources that Cydia searches for jailbreak apps.

By default, Cydia already pre-installs some popular repositories that host most jailbreak content. However, there is a way in Cydia to add more sources. Not all jailbreak content can be accessed through the default sources that Cydia pre-installs. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to add a new source to expand your jailbreak catalog in Cydia...

How to Check Your Verizon iPhone Eligibility

Alex Heath ∙ Updated November 12, 2018

The Verizon iPhone has been announced, and if you're one of the millions that is probably planning on buying one, you can now check your contract eligibility. Among other things, the Verizon iPhone has a new antenna. This should make call reliability much better with the iPhone on Verizon's network.

If you are a current Verizon wireless customer, Apple has posted a page where you can check your contract eligibility for an upgrade. Verizon also has an eligibility page for customers to check their contracts as well...

Apple Drops iPhone 3GS Price to $49

Sébastien Page ∙ January 10, 2011

4 days after AT&T slashed the price of the iPhone 3GS, it's now Apple who's discounting the previous iPhone model to the same $49 price tag. I think this move isn't so much related to the Verizon iPhone being announced tomorrow, but rather to getting rid off their old inventory.

If you don't care about owning the latest and bestest, then the iPhone 3GS at $49 is a hell of a deal. If like me you do like to get the latest gadget, you may want to wait until June/July, when the iPhone 5 will be released...

Installing VLC Player From Cydia: A Video Walkthrough

Jeff Benjamin ∙ January 9, 2011

Yesterday, Alex posted an in-depth article explaining the reasons why VLC Media Player was removed from the App Store. As you know, VLC Media Player is the popular video application that allows you to play a variety of video formats on your iPhone.

VLC Media Player is extremely popular on PCs and Macs, so it's wasn't surprising that it was an app that many looked forward to on the iPhone.

Sadly, as you know, the app has been removed, but don't weep too many tears; VLC can still be installed on your iPhone, and this video walkthrough will show you how, step-by-step...

VLC for iPhone Pulled From App Store, Now Available On Cydia

Alex Heath ∙ January 8, 2011

Awhile back, we reported that the popular, open source media player "VLC for iPhone" was released in the App Store. It was a pretty big deal, because the VLC client duplicated a lot of functionality that was already in the native iPod app. (Apple doesn't usually like apps that duplicate the iPhone's native features.)

The biggest pro to VLC for iPhone was its ability to playback file formats that iTunes doesn't support. iTunes has a somewhat limited amount of video formats it can playback. VLC was a simple, free app that allowed more types of videos to be playable on the iPhone.

While it was nice for an app like VLC to be in the App Store, the media player was very buggy. Lots of users reported problems with playback and file format support. However, the bugs were not the reason that the app was pulled. In fact, Apple had nothing to do with the takedown...

I Made More Money Than Steve Jobs Last Year

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated June 25, 2017

Yes, I made more money than Steve Jobs in 2010. Can you believe that? Chances are, if you worked for a minute or so in 2010, you too made more money than Apple's CEO. That's because Steve-o took a symbolic one-dollar salary for the year that ended.

This being said, don't feel bad for Mr Jobs because the total value of his Apple shares is worth over 1.8 billion dollars. Not bad, huh?

Apple Approves Another BitTorrent iPhone App

Alex Heath ∙ Updated February 16, 2018

Apple has been making some surprising app approvals for the App Store. Several months ago, a BitTorrent app called IS Drive snuck into the App Store. It didn't stay there for long, but Apple still approved it at one point.

Another BitTorrent application has tiptoed its way into the App Store catalog. iControlBits is a mobile client for the popular OS X BitTorrent utility called Transmission. For many Mac users, Transmission is the BitTorrent client of choice. Transmission already allowed users to manage torrents through a web interface, but the process was a tad cumbersome.

iControlBits allows you to manage your torrents in a native environment for the iPhone. Let's just hope it doesn't get pulled before you finish downloading that new episode of Glee...

A Strange New iOS Alert References The Mac App Store

Alex Heath ∙ Updated March 18, 2019

Here's a new anomaly from Apple's App Store. This image is courtesy of Francis, an iPhoneItalia reader. Francis was casually looking through the reviews of an iPhone app called "iAddebito." He tried to post his own review, but was alerted with this warning message.

If your Italian is a little rusty, we understand. The message reads, “You must own this product to write a review. To write a review on this app, you must have bought it from the Mac App Store."

The Mac App Store is opening tomorrow, but it seems that Apple may have already been secretly testing it with certain iOS apps. Who knows, perhaps there will be iOS apps that can run cross-platform (iOS and OS X) when the Mac App Store opens...

The iPhone is Leading the American Smartphone Race

Alex Heath ∙ Updated November 12, 2019

Apple and Android always duke it out in smartphone statistics. The latest Nielsen market share data says no differently.

From a poll conducted in November of 2010, U.S. smartphone market share is dominated by iOS at 28.6%. iOS is followed by Blackberry at 26.1%, and Android at 25.8%. These numbers are U.S. only, but it is interesting to see how iOS and Android are battling for smartphone dominance.

Depending on how you look at things, the iPhone retains the lead in smartphone market share. However, Android is having greater growth with new smartphone adopters. This means that more people are buying an Android for their next smartphone, and not the iPhone...