Apple

Facebook planning to add customer service chatbots and live chat to Messenger

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 8, 2016

Facebook is working hard to turn its Messenger app into a platform for doing all sorts of useful things beyond mere message exchange between friends.

According to a report Friday by TechCrunch, the company is planning on enabling developers to add customer service chatbots and live chat functionality to Messenger and has already introduced Live Chat APIs for Messenger.

A presentation give to select Messenger chatbot developers mentions something called “Structure Messages”, which are basically automated responses that may include a title, image, a description, a URL and calls to action such as visiting a website, viewing an e-commerce order or making a restaurant reservation.

Apple barred from using the term Split View in India over alleged trademark infringement

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 8, 2016

iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan have brought out several new multitasking modes on compatible iPads and Macs, including a split-screen feature referred to as Split View. That term is now under fire by the Delhi High Court which has ordered Apple to stop actively using and marketing Split View in India over an alleged trademark infringement.

The infringement claim was filed by a company called Vyooh, a Microsoft vendor, which owns the trademark for the name ‘SplitView’, reports The Indian Times.

Check out redesigned account pages on Apple’s Developer Center portal

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 8, 2016

Apple's Developer Center portal has received a facelift last evening with reports of much revamped account pages. The redesigned account section on Dev Center has at last adopted a more user friendly two-column layout, with links to the most important account-related sections now conveniently provided in the lefthand column.

The navigation column is divided in two sections: Program Resources and Additional Resources. In your Program Resources, you'll find such sections as Overview, Membership, iTunes Connect, CloudKit Dashboard, Code-Level Support and Certificates, IDs & Profiles.

Spotting the signs of a fake Apple Lightning cable

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 26, 2018

Whenever you buy a new iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad, it'll come with a Lightning to USB cable that you will use to charge and sync your device. On the other hand, you have to be careful when you buy these cables separately, especially online, because you could end up with a counterfeit cable.

A counterfeit is a cable that tries to look just like Apple's OEM Lightning to USB cable, even though it isn't. Using these cables could have an adverse effect on your device, so we'll show you how to spot the differences between a counterfeit and genuine Lightning to USB cable in this piece.

Apple shares new ‘Behind the Scenes’ video for Cookie Monster ad

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 24, 2017

Apple on Thursday shared a new video on its YouTube channel called "Timer - Behind the Scenes." As the name suggests, the clip offers a humorous behind-the-scenes look at the making of the iPhone 6s ad it released last month, starring the popular Sesame Street character Cookie Monster.

First betas of iOS 9.3.2 and OS X 10.11.5 now available to public testers

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple today seed the first betas of upcoming iOS and OS X updates to public testers. Folks in the Beta Software Program can now install iOS 9.3.2 via OTA on their iOS devices, and OS X 10.11.5 via the App Store Software Update mechanism.

These are the same betas that Apple pushed out to developers yesterday, along with updates for watchOS and tvOS. They arrive two weeks after the public releases of iOS 9.3 and OS X 10.11.4, which brought about several user-facing changes.

GarageBand for Mac updated with Music Memos support, new Apple Loops and more

Cody Lee ∙ April 7, 2016

Apple on Thursday pushed out an update for GarageBand for Mac, bringing the software to version 10.1.1. The release brings about several improvements, including improved compatibility with GarageBand for iOS and Live Loops projects.

The update also brings about support for Logic Remote on the iPhone and iPad Pro, 2,600 new Apple Loops and sounds, and support for Music Memos—the app Apple released earlier this year to help musicians and songwriters capture ideas.

Cut the Rope: Time Travel goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion in iTunes with Cut the Rope: Time Travel. This means that from now through next Thursday, you'll be able to pickup ZeptoLab's popular puzzler for free for both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $2.

For those unfamiliar with the game, Time Travel is one of the many titles in the Cut the Rope physics puzzler franchise. In it, players are against tasked with helping Om Nom collect candy as he journeys back in time to the Middle Ages, Ancient Egypt and more.

Facebook Messenger passes 900 million users, unveils profile codes and other new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2016

Facebook today announced its Messenger mobile application is now being used by more than 900 million people globally every month, up from 800 million active monthly users announced in January.

Celebrating the milestone, the social network firm unveiled Snapchat-like scannable profile codes.

In addition, it announced some interesting new ways for people to find businesses and friends to start a conversation, including vanity profile URLs on Messenger. More than a billion messages are now being sent every month between people on Messenger and businesses, wrote David Marcus, Facebook's Vice President of Messaging.

Twelve South unveils ‘TimePorter,’ a travel tote and portable charging stand for Apple Watch

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2016

Twelve South, the maker of premium Apple-exclusive accessories, on Thursday announced a combined charge and travel stand for the Apple Watch, dubbed the TimePorter. Resembling a luxury eyeglass case, this stylish accessory is designed to hold your Apple Watch charging cable, as well as extra Watch bands USB chargers and more. The case incorporates the Apple Watch charging disc and converts into a travel charging and display stand in an instant.

Samsung expects 10 percent profit growth on better-than-expected Galaxy S7 sales

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2016

According to preliminary results posted Thursday, there's a light at the end of a long tunnel for Samsung Electronics and that light is the new Galaxy S7 flagship smartphone. After more than two straight years of decline in its mobile division, the South Korean firm is now projecting more than ten percent profit growth for the first quarter of 2016, beating market estimates.

The Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge were announced back in February ahead of their March 11 debut. Both phones, which have managed to address some of user complaints like memory expandability, were met with mostly positive reviews. Thus far, the new devices have moved three times as many units in their first month compared to their predecessor, the Galaxy S6/edge series, according to Bloomberg.

Siri co-founder to demo Viv, ‘the global brain’ that provides an intelligent interface to everything

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 7, 2016

Dag Kittlaus, a brilliant artificial intelligence engineer who helped create an advanced personal digital assistant that Apple bought and marketed as Siri, is about to show his brand new artificial intelligence product to the world at TechCrunch's Disrupt NY 2016 conference later this week.

Kittalus, who co-founded Siri and was the CEO of the startup, has since moved on and co-founded another startup with Siri veterans Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham, called Viv Labs, with the goal of radically simplifying the world by providing an intelligent interface to everything.