Apple

Galaxy S8 biometrics can be tricked by a headshot

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 31, 2017

Samsung's newly introduced Galaxy S8 features iris scanning and facial recognition via the front-facing camera. Both these features can be used to unlock the phone for those times when you don't feel like reaching your finger around the back and feeling for its built-in fingerprint reader alongside the rear camera. iDeviceHelp posted a hands-on video with Galaxy S8's biometrics.

They concluded that eyeballs and faces are not as secure as fingerprints because the phone could be tricked into unlocking by scanning a user's headshot.

Twitter stops counting @usernames toward the 140-character limit

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 30, 2017

Twitter announced Thursday that it's no longer counting user names in tweets, such as @idownloadblog, toward its 140-character limit. With this change, any user names for mentions and replies will no longer shorten the amount of characters you could include in a tweet.

Last year, the micro-blogging service began allowing users to attach photos, animated GIFs, videos, polls, quoted tweets and direct messages to tweets without the links counting against the 140-character limit.

Infuse 5.3 brings optimized playback performance, parental controls, Blu-ray disk images & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 30, 2017

Infuse by aTV Flash Black developer FireCore is a versatile, very powerful media player that lets you watch non-iOS optimized media file types without the need for manual transcoding or a helper app to do the heavy lifting via your computer. The app was updated on App Store to version 5.3.

Infuse 5.3 for iOS and tvOS comes with a completely overhauled high-performance playback core that's now now faster and better than ever before.

Other new features are available in Infuse 5.3 as well.

The app now accepts your Blu-ray disc images and folders and lets you restrict access to videos and settings with built-in parental controls. The release also packs support for ISO 9960 (Joliet) disc images, country-specific age ratings for movies and much more.

Here’s latest Apple Park drone flyover ahead of grand opening in April

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 30, 2017

Apple Park should be ready for more than 12,000 employees to begin occupying in April, although landscaping and other finishing touches will take six more months to complete.

As it appears, the main ring-shaped building should be soon open to employees in some of the wings.

Drone pilot Matthew Roberts just posted his latest flyover footage of the 175 acre campus in glorious 4K resolution, showing continued work on landscaping, solar installations and more.

Teardown analysis finds Apple’s new 9.7″ iPad is a repackaged iPad Air with a few differences

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 30, 2017

Repair experts over at iFixit tore apart Apple's new iPad with a brighter 9.7-inch screen. What they discovered doesn't come as surprise: the canonical iPad is basically an original four-year-old iPad Air with a more repairable screen and some new jewelry in the form of Touch ID, Apple Pay, Apple's homegrown third-generation 64-bit A9 chip with the embedded M9 motion coprocessor and other minor updates.

Unfortunately, the device's A9 processor is outfitted with two gigabytes of RAM. iPhone 6s's A9 chip has two gigabytes of RAM as well, just like iPad Air 2's A8X chip, so this may not be that big of a deal. On the other hand, it's a letdown considering iPhone 7 Plus is rocking three gigabytes of RAM.

Here’s everything Samsung unveiled today

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Wednesday, Samsung fired the first salvo against Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 with the official introduction of its Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones at media events in New York's Lincoln Center and London's Olympic Park.

But the South Korean conglomerate didn't stop there: they announced a 4K-capable 360-degree camera and other accessories, including a docking station that lets you connect your new Galaxy to an external display and wireless or wired keyboard and/or mouse to use it as an Android-driven computer with a desktop-like interface.

Without further ado, here's a quick recap of everything Samsung announced today.

Hands on with what’s new in watchOS 3.2

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 28, 2025

Two days ago, Apple released watchOS 3.2 for all Apple Watch models with two newsworthy improvements: Siri in apps and a new Theater Mode toggle in Control Center. With watchOS 3.2, Apple's SiriKit framework that debuted alongside iOS 10 is now available to watchOS developers.

Apple starts rejecting submissions with pricing info in app titles, screenshots & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 10, 2017

Apple's rules have always prohibited developers from spicing up their screenshots on App Store with annoying marketing messages although a quick glance at App Store pages reveals the firm hasn't been enforcing that particular rule. But things are now changing, for the better.

As first reported by VentureBeat, the Cupertino firm has began rejecting submissions that promote pricing like ”Free” in app titles/ icons and on App Store screenshots/previews.

GigSky’s data plans now available in 180+ countries with Apple SIM

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 29, 2017

GigSky is now offering its data plans in over 180 countries on Apple SIM, plus great new pricing, the company announced Tuesday. GigSky in the summer of 2016 expanded its service to more than 140 countries worldwide, meaning their affordable mobile data plans for iPad users with Apple SIM are now available in about 40 new markets versus last summer.

Apple Pay goes live in Taiwan

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 20, 2017

As noted on Apple's website, the Apple Pay mobile payment service is now available to customers in Taiwan. Financial institutions supporting the service include Cathay United Bank, CTBC Bank, E. Sun Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank and Union Bank of Taiwan.

Silly rumor claims iPhone 8 will feature vertical dual-cameras and Touch ID on the back

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 29, 2017

iDropNews, a blog without a proven track record, is claiming that Apple will move its Touch ID fingerprint reader to the back of iPhone 8. Citing an unnamed source who allegedly spoke privately with a Foxconn employee, the blog made other bold claims, saying iPhone 8 would come outfitted with vertical cameras, while reiterating some of the previously mentioned features, including “iPhone Edition” branding.

Facebook adds Snapchat-style effects and auto vanishing Stories to its mainland app

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 28, 2017

As expected, Facebook on Tuesday announced that the camera feature in its mobile app for iPhone and iPad has been totally revamped with Snapchat-style filters and effects. Yes, they also added auto-vanishing Stories. Facebook's already cloned these Snapchat-esque features on the Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger apps, all of which include similar creative tools for your photos and videos.