Google

Gmail iOS update adds two useful tweaks

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2013

Google on Monday issued a maintenance update to its Gmail client for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices, adding two welcomed new features.

Gmail version 2.2.7182 adds support for signing out of a single account in settings. Previously, hitting the Sign Out button signed you out of all accounts at once, which was rather clunky and not very user friendly.

The application also has a new setting which lets you specify that YouTube, Google Maps and Chrome links go directly to these native apps instead of the mobile web - of course, provided you have them installed on your device...

EU takes issue with Motorola’s patent abuse against Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 6, 2013

In a preliminary ruling, the European Commission on Monday found that Motorola Mobility had abused its dominance in wireless communications patents in seeking an injunction against Apple in Germany. The finding opens the door to a potential antitrust charges to be filed against Google. The EU in its formal statement of objections informed the Google-owned smartphone maker of its allegations that it had leveraged its market position and abused standards-essential patents in order to enforce an injunction against Apple...

comScore: Apple accounts for nearly 40% of US smartphone market

Cody Lee ∙ May 3, 2013

Looking at tech news headlines from the past few months, you'd think Apple was in trouble. And not just "we had an off quarter" trouble, but "is Apple the new Research in Motion" trouble. Some folks even think Tim Cook could lose his job.

But looking at the bare numbers seems to suggest the exact opposite. The company just reported a record-breaking quarter. It has more than $130 billion in cash. And according to a new report, it has nearly 40% of the US smartphone market...

Google readying iPhone navigation and SMS support for Glass eyewear

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 3, 2013

Google's Glass project, the head-turning augmented reality-enabled glasses that run apps, continues to get largely positive reviews across the board. The pricey $1,500 eyewear currently requires a companion Glass app running on an Android handset in order to present information, such as upcoming meetings and missed calls, rendered as a futuristic overlay in front of your field of vision.

According to a new report, the Internet giant is working on a simplified system that will allow Glass to work with any iPhone or other mobile device, over Bluetooth, and use your smartphone for turn-by-turn navigation and text messages...

Google Now doesn’t tax your battery, says Google, but users beg to differ

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 2, 2013

As we told you yesterday, a growing number of users report problems with the Google Now feature depleting their iPhone's battery fast due to its reliance on iOS location capabilities. On Monday, the Internet giant finally brought Google Now capabilities to iDevices via an update to its native Search iOS app.

Responding to the battery life concerns, Google on Thursday issued a statement denying any problems with the app draining your iPhone's battery...

How to make Google Now the first thing to appear in the Google Search app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 2, 2013

It was inevitable. Since the infusion of Google Now into the official Google Search app, jailbreak developers have begun releasing Cydia packages to tweak how the app works.

StartToNow is one of the first such tweaks. It forces Google Now to be the first thing to appear when you launch the official Google Search app. More inside...

YouTube Capture gets updated with ‘Wi-fi only’ upload option and more

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 13, 2018

It looks like it's 'release your updates' day today for iOS developers. Earlier this morning we saw software updates seeded by Apple and Instagram, and now we have one from Google for its popular YouTube Capture app.

Today's update brings the app to version 1.3, and it includes a handful of new features and improvements. For starters, it features a new 'only upload on Wi-Fi' option, and there's also HD and speed enhancements on board...

Behind the data: iPad market share fell below 40 percent, or did it?

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

In the latest lesson on how to be a smart tech news consumer, we focus on why research pointing to Apple gains somehow is trumpeted as losses for the iPad maker.

Wednesday, research firm IDC announced Apple's tablet saw a 65 percent year-over-year gain in first-quarter shipments.

Yet several news outlets blared headlines of the iPad's market share falling below 40 percent. How was Apple's strong growth spun into an Android win?

Apple’s battery patents hint at rounded gizmos

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 2, 2013

The days of boxy computers are history, so why are the batteries which power them still the same shape? That's the question a pair of new Apple patent applications seek to answer. The patents filed in 2011 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describe "non-rectangular batteries for portable devices."

The iPhone and iPad maker outlines a way to customize the shape of batteries to fit the flexibility of today's consumer electronics, including the growing array of wearable devices, such as the highly-discussed iWatch or Google's Glass eyewear...

Despite Android’s gains, iPhone and iPad still account for 59% of mobile web usage

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Despite Apple's iPad growing 65.3 percent year over year, the company's share of the total tablet market dropped from the 58.1 percent a year ago to an IDC-estimated 39.6 percent during the first quarter of this year, largely thanks to Apple not participating in the sub-$300 segment.

The rise of these cheap tablets improved Google platform's web usage share, with Android smartphones and tablets now owning 26 percent of all web traffic, a 35 percent annual gain as measured by research firm NetApplications.

In other words, one out of each four mobile devices used on the web are Android-branded, though Apple's iPhone and iPad still account for a commanding 59.4 percent of the Internet's traffic generated by mobile devices...

Trust Twitter and Google, not Apple, to protect you from government data demands

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2013

Well, this is certainly noteworthy. According to the third annual report by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) titled "Who Has Your Back?", gadget giant Apple along with carriers AT&T and Verizon, Google's rival Yahoo and the forgotten social network MySpace all are very likely to give in to Uncle Sam's data demands.

Specifically, Apple and Yahoo scored one out of six possible stars, with Verizon and Yahoo rather ingloriously earning zero stars each. These companies' weak safeguard implementation does little to circumvent data demands and protect your private information from the government's prying eyes.

Whereas Apple and Yahoo only fight for users' privacy rights in Congress, companies like Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Dropbox go to great lengths to ensure privacy of your data, earning four out of six stars each...

Is Google Now draining your iPhone’s battery?

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2013

Google's take on search AI dubbed Google Now went live Monday via an update to the Internet giant's native iOS Search app.

Today, a number of users took to the Internet to complain about the application's excessive power drain due to a possible glitch in how it retrieves your location in the background...