Apple

Samsung enjoys its most profitable quarter in two years thanks to strong Galaxy S7 sales

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 28, 2016

Samsung this morning announced results for the second calendar quarter ended June 30, and the numbers are encouraging despite global smartphone sales cooling down. The South Korean conglomerate's mobile division reported “substantial earnings improvement” buoyed by strong sales of its flagship Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge flagship smartphones.

The data is newsworthy given strong competition Samsung has been facing on the low-end from Chinese rivals like Xiaomi and Huawei and on the high-end from Apple's iPhone. This is the best earning result Samsung has posted in two years, by the way.

Here’s why PC notebook makers, aside from Apple, have been slow to adopt USB-C

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 28, 2016

When it debuted in March 2015, Apple's twelve-inch MacBook has ushered in an era of USB-C, then new high-speed connectivity option from the USB Implementers' Forum with a reversible, ultra-thin plug resembling Apple's proprietary Lightning port. In fact, the MacBook was the first notebook to incorporate a USB-C connection as its power port, completely replacing Apple's own MagSafe charging.

PC notebook vendors around the world were supposed to follow in Apple's footsteps and readily adopt USB-C across their products—and some have—but too many of them were, and still are, less keen to adopt USB Type C connections on their products. The reason for this is two-fold: design and cost considerations.

iPhone 7 pre-orders to kick off on September 9?

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 28, 2016

Last week, revered leakster Evan Blass of @EVLeaks predicted that Apple's next iPhone would launch on the week of September 12. He later clarified that he was referring to the iPhone 7's retail release—which should happen on Friday, September 16—not the launch event. Following up on his claims, Blass wrote today on Twitter that Apple will kick off pre-orders for the device on Friday, September 9.

Apple’s marketing honcho Phil Schiller joins biotech company Illumina’s board of directors

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 28, 2016

Phil Schiller, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, has been named to biotechnology company Illumina's board of directors. According to Illumina's announcement, Phil’s track record and global experience in marketing world-class products “will help guide us as we continue to develop innovative new solutions for our customers.”

Of course, Apple's interest in health-related technologies for the Apple Watch is well known. Illuminas President and CEO, Francis deSouza, said that Phil's vision, integrity and passion are “fully aligned” with Illumina’s core values.

Pokémon GO Plus companion wearable accessory has been delayed until September

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 28, 2016

Pokémon GO Plus, a Bluetooth-driven wearable device that helps you catch 'em all without looking at Nintendo's Pokémon GO augmented-reality game on your smartphone, is now set to launch in September, not late-July as previously announced. Nintendo of America tweeted news of the delay earlier this week.

“The Pokemon GO Plus accessory will now be released Sept 2016 instead of the originally expected end of July launch,” reads the announcement.

Apple passes 1 billion iPhones sold

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 11, 2018

Apple on Wednesday announced that it recently passed the 1 billion iPhones sold milestone. In a press release, the company said that during a staff meeting in Cupertino this morning, Tim Cook told employees that they had sold their one billionth handset last week.

The news comes just a day after Apple issued its third quarter earnings report, in which it said it sold just over 40 million iPhones during the 3-month period. That number is down some 7 million units from Q3 2015, but obviously they still have a reason to celebrate.

Google app gains Forward button (seriously!), more reliable voice search & other new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 27, 2016

In addition to adding support for Accelerated Mobile Pages to Chrome for iOS, Google also this morning issued a refresh to its native search app on the App Store, which supports Google Now cards. Google 17.0 for iOS, a free download, packs in improvements to help you get things done more quickly in the app such as the addition of a Forward button (what took them so long, really?), a more reliable voice search, the ability to revisit recent pages for a full seven days and a few local search results improvements.

Chrome for iOS now supports Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 27, 2016

Google today issued a small but important refresh to the Chrome browser for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch on the App Store. The updated software bumps up version number to 52.0.2743.84 and brings official support for Accelerated Mobile Pages that, similar to Instant Articles on Facebook, load in a fraction of the time of their non-accelerated mobile versions. Any news stories and articles from partner publishers that have a lightning bolt and “AMP” next to them in search results will load instantly when tapped on.

Apple makes significant progress on its first retail store in Singapore

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 27, 2016

Apple's first retail store in Singapore appears to be progressing nicely, with new photos obtained by MacRumors proving that the construction of the store's glass facade and canopy is now well underway. Apple confirmed in November 2015 that its first-ever store in the Southeast Asia city-state will be powered by hundred percent renewable energy, but did not provide a timeframe for the opening.

The store location has been under renovation since earlier this year.

Much-enhanced parking space information comes to Apple Maps courtesy of Parkopedia

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 28, 2016

Finding a parking lot in your area has gotten a whole lot easier with an announcement this morning from parking service company Parkopedia that its detailed parking data is now being used by Apple Maps across North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Parkopedia offers detailed information on more than 40 million parking spaces in 75 countries and Maps users on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch can now view detailed information about parking garages and lots around the world.

Rumor: Apple is going to refresh MacBook Air after all and it’ll have USB-C

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 27, 2016

DigiTimes, a Taiwanese trade publication that more or less accurately reports unknown features of unreleased Apple products (although the timing on its rumors is usually off), is out with a new story Wednesday claiming that USB Type-C connection is coming to a next-gen MacBook Air, implying Apple might update its most popular notebook after all.

Is Xiaomi’s first-ever Windows PC notebook a shameless MacBook Air ripoff?

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 27, 2016

Xiaomi (pronounced “sh-YEOW-mee”), a booming Chinese smartphone and consumer electronics maker, today took the wraps off its first-ever Windows PC notebook and it looks awfully familiar to the MacBook Air. The familiarity starts with the device's silly 'Mi Notebook Air' moniker and extends to its unibody industrial design that's thinner and lighter than Apple's notebook.

Offered in 12.5 and 13.3-inch varieties, the product matches and—in terms of graphics, lightness and thinness—one-ups the MacBook Air while costing half as much. Xiaomi's new notebooks run Windows 10 and will hit store shelves in China on August 2.