Apple

This is how I know Samsung will ditch the headphone jack

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 11, 2017

Three days ago, Samsung of South Korea took the wraps off its flagship Galaxy Note 7 phablet. It's a cool, powerful smartphone that features a curved 5.7-inch AMOLED screen, Galaxy S7-like design, speedy chips, an iris scanner and an improved S Pen (which has learned a few new tricks, like translating words, and is now waterproof itself).

Believe it or not, a Samsung executive during the Note 7 unveiling mocked live, on stage, Apple's rumored decision to remove the 3.5mm audio jack from the next iPhone.

“You know what else it [Note 7] comes with? An audio jack. I’m just saying,” he quipped.

Apple Music officially launches in South Korea

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 5, 2016

It's taken longer than anticipated and Apple CEO Tim Cook himself has had to personally negotiate deals with local right holders and copyright associations, but Apple Music as of today is finally available to music lovers in South Korea. Launch in Samsung's home turf, home to 50 million people, comes hot on the heels of the service's debut in Israel yesterday.

Apple said to be building wireless earbuds with low-power Bluetooth chip

Cody Lee ∙ August 4, 2016

Apple has spent the last few years developing a custom Bluetooth radio chip for wireless earbuds, reports Forbes. Citing a source with knowledge of the project, the outlet says the earbuds could be ready to launch this fall.

If true, the timing makes sense, given that Apple is slated to unveil a new iPhone in September. The handset is expected to ship without the customary headphone jack, indicating the company is going all-in on wireless.

Apple offering up to $200K for vulnerabilities in new bug bounty program

Cody Lee ∙ August 4, 2016

Apple on Thursday launched a new bug bounty program, in which it will pay researchers cash for discovering vulnerabilities in its products. The announcement was made at the annual Black Hat security conference by Apple's head of security engineering Ivan Krstic.

Several major technology companies, such as Microsoft and Google, have long offered similar programs, but Apple has remained a holdout until now. The iPhone-maker will pay anywhere between $25K and $200K for exploits, depending on where it is and what it does.

Samsung caught using drawings of Apple Watch in its own smartwatch patent filing

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2016

The iPhone's look and feel isn't the only design feature Samsung “borrowed” from Apple (100+ top designers agree), for which it was ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to the Cupertino firm in damages (later slashed to $548 million). No, the South Korean company is notorious for frequently borrowing a page from Jony Ive's design book when it comes to other things like the look and feel of software, packaging, marketing material and more.

As was discovered by Patently Apple, the Galaxy maker appears to have borrowed a few familiar looking images from Apple in its latest patent filing for a ”Wearable Device” which includes drawings of Apple's smartwatch that depict the Digital Crown, crystal back, heart rate sensor and even several of its proprietary band designs.

Apple gives away Brushstroke painting effects app

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2016

Brushstroke is one of those image effects app with a unique twist. Not only does it transform your photos into faux paintings, but optionally lets you order mounted canvas prints of your images directly from the app that you can hang on the wall.

Apple named Brushstroke its Free App of the Week in December 2014. If you forgot to grab this nicely done $2.99 iPhone and iPad app for $0 back then, now's your chance.

Google Photos gains 3D Touch shortcuts and storage optimization feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 16, 2024

Google today issued a minor refresh to its native Photos app on the App Store, introducing 3D Touch shortcuts for the Home screen and a much-needed new feature designed to optimize storage space on your device. Bumped to version 1.13, Google Photos for iPhone and iPad produces a 3D Touch menu upon pressing its Home screen icon, giving you access to the following shortcuts: I'm Feeling Lucky, Free Up Space and Make Shared Album.

In addition to these 3D Touch shortcuts and the new storage-optimization feature, this edition of the app packs in unspecified performance improvements.

Report: Apple talking to programmers about creating a digital TV guide

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 1, 2018

Apple has started talking to TV programmers about creating a digital TV guide, reports Recode. The guide would work on both Apple TV boxes and other devices, like iPhones, allowing users to quickly find their desired TV shows and movies, and play them with a single click.

The new direction is a spinoff of the skinny-bundle TV service the company wanted to launch last year. After several years of failed negotiations with networks and studios, Apple has decided to just build an interface for content, and let everyone else worry about the red tape.

Apple Store app updated with new design and ‘For You’ recommendations

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 1, 2018

As expected, Apple on Thursday released an update for its Apple Store app, bringing the online shopping client to version 4.0. Fulfilling previous reports, the update includes a redesigned interface, and a new 'For You' recommendation feature that offers you suggestions on products to buy based on your previous purchases.

Facebook tweaks its algorithm to further reduce clickbait in your News Feed

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2016

Facebook began removing deliberate hoaxes from users' News Feeds in April 2014. The following year, the company stepped up fight against spammers with more changes aimed at helping reduce the number of misleading posts, also known as clickbait. Today, the social networking firm announced a set of new measures to further reduce clickbait in your News Feed by using a brand new system which can automatically spot phrases commonly used in misleading headlines.

U.S. regulator grants Apple Energy permission to sell solar-generated power to public utilities

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2016

Apple Energy LLC, a subsidiary of Apple, Inc. registered in Delaware last month, has successfully obtained federal approval from the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to sell excess energy generated from its solar facilities into the wholesale market, joining Google parent Alphabet in the energy-trading business.

The firm sought permission from FERC to begin selling power within 60 days of its filing on June 6. Sales can officially begin on Saturday, Bloomberg said, as FERC's determined that Apple Energy doesn't pose a risk of being able to hike up prices.

Last chance to jailbreak iOS 9.3.3 with Pangu as Apple releases iOS 9.3.4 to kill it

Anthony Bouchard ∙ August 4, 2016

Apple has released iOS 9.3.4 on Thursday with "important improvements to the security" of iOS.

On the other hand, we understand iOS 9.3.4 actually just kills the semi-untethered jailbreak for iOS 9.3.3. As a result, it's highly recommended that you get your devices to iOS 9.3.3 and jailbroken if you value having a jailbreak at all.