Apple

Here’s a recap of what Tim Cook said about the FBI and iPhone hacking on ABC News

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 25, 2016

Apple CEO Tim Cook was on ABC News last night, spending some time with reporter David Muir in his minimalist Cupertino, California office discussing the FBI case and how the government's demands risk undermining every iPhone owner's security.

For those who didn't have the time to sit through the 60-minute interview, Cook reiterated Apple's stance that the government's demand that it create a one-off version of iOS with decreased security to help get data off the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone 5c sets a dangerous precedent, likening it to “the software equivalent of cancer.”

Assassin’s Creed — Identity makes its worldwide debut on App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 25, 2016

After spending nearly a year and a half in soft-launch state, Ubisoft today made good on its promise to make its first action role-playing mobile game set in the Assassin’s Creed universe available to everyone.

Assassin’s Creed — Identity, a premium $4.99 download from the App Store, is an RPG game featuring open sandbox levels in which you can create, evolve and customize your own assassins and play them in the iconic Renaissance Italy setting.

“Embody an Assassin and experience the freedom of movement that made the franchise unique while unraveling the mystery of The Crows and solving dozens of quests,” teases Ubisoft.

Popular Spark email client is now available on iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 25, 2016

Spark, a powerful email client from Ukrainian developer Readdle, has received a much-needed refresh in the App Store today, finally bringing out a native user interface on the iPad, so now you can experience Spark's email magic on all your devices, including the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

Spark 1.6 also includes other refinements and improvements, such as an even better wrist app with fully native watchOS 2 support, landscape mode across all iOS devices, nine new languages, the ability to keep your email accounts and settings synced across all devices via iCloud and more.

The update is being rolled this morning so don't panic if you don't see it yet in your local App Store as these things take time to propagate.

Latest iOS 9.3 beta fixes 1970 bug that bricks devices

Cody Lee ∙ February 24, 2016

The iOS 9.3 beta released earlier this week includes a fix for the 'January 1, 1970' bug that has been bricking devices, reports MacRumors. The site points to its forums, where multiple users found that their devices stuck in boot loops were able to be restored to working order via an update to beta 4.

The fix is two-fold. Folks with the beta installed say that you can no longer move the time on December 31, 2000 past 7 p.m.—disabling the bug entirely, since this prevents you from scrolling back to 1970. And as mentioned above, the new firmware can also unbrick devices affected by the glitch.

Foxconn to acquire Sharp for $6.2 billion

Cody Lee ∙ February 24, 2016

Apple partner Foxconn is set to acquire Sharp for roughly 700 billion yen (or $6.2 billion USD), reports Nikkei Asian Review. The outlet says that Sharp's board voted on Thursday morning to accept the offer, and plans to restructure its operations under the Hon Hai umbrella.

The deal, which has not been officially announced yet, comes after years of failed negotiations between the two companies. Foxconn has made several attempts to acquire the struggling electronics giant, or large pieces of it, with the latest offer of $5.3 billion coming in January.

How to start your Mac in Recovery Mode

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2024

Starting your Intel or Apple silicon Mac in Recovery Mode provides the tools you need to solve various problems. It is typically your last chance to repair the startup disk, reinstall macOS or restore from a backup after a fatal failure that prevents your Mac from starting up properly. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to enter Recovery Mode at boot time and use the built-in recovery tools to bring your Mac in perfect working condition.

How to prevent your iPhone from vibrating when it’s on mute

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 29, 2025

Learn how to stop your iPhone from vibrating when you receive a notification, a text message, or a call—even when muted in silent mode—to reduce distractions.

Xiaomi’s new phone has beastly specs for half the price of iPhone 6s or Galaxy S7

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

Chinese handset maker Xiaomi at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, today announced its latest Mi 5 smartphone, billed as a super flagship device due to some beastly specs.

The new Xiaomi Mi 5 basically packs in as much hardware as Apple's iPhone 6s and Samsung's newly announced Galaxy S7, for half the price, with industrial design that looks like a cross between the iPhone 6s and Galaxy S7.

The maxed-out spec sheet includes things like the latest Qualcomm chip with four gigabytes of RAM, a sixteen-megapixel camera from Sony with sapphire lens protection, a full HD IPS LCD edge-to-edge screen, a fingerprint sensor integrated into the Home button, 128GB of on-board storage with support for micro SD cards and more.

iOS 9 adoption slowing, stays at 77% of devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 4, 2017

The adoption rate of iOS 9 appears to be stalling at 77 percent of devices, according to the most recent stats published on Apple's dashboard for developers. The figure was derived from device logs capturing iOS hardware that has accessed the App Store on February 22, and is literally unchanged from the same 77 percent mark recorded two weeks ago.

iOS 8 continues to comprise seventeen percent of devices while older editions of iOS accounted for six percent of devices—again, same as two weeks ago.

Report: Siri for Mac coming this fall via OS X 10.12 software update

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 24, 2016

This fall, Mac owners will at long last be able to converse with Siri as the voice-activated personal assistant makes its way into OS X 10.12, the next major release of Apple's mobile operating system that powers Mac desktops and notebooks.

According to 9to5Mac's reliable Mark Gurman, “Apple currently plans to use its next major release of the Mac operating system this fall to continue to expand Siri across its product lines.”

The news will no doubt make Mac owners happy. Siri, which debuted in 2011, is currently available across the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Apple Watch and the new Apple TV. It makes a lot of sense to bring Siri to the Mac given that processing power and battery life on desktop is much better than on mobile devices.

Apple releases first over-the-air firmware update for iPad Pro’s Smart Keyboard

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 24, 2016

Apple has issued its first firmware update for the iPad Pro's $169 Smart Keyboard accessory. After attaching a Smart Keyboard to their iPad Pro, users will see an iOS prompt informing them of the availability of the new software. They can postpone updating the Smart Keyboard update or select to apply the new firmware immediately.

As reported by AppleInsider, the new firmware software for the accessory is delivered as an over-the-air download and is transferred to the Smart Keyboard through Apple's new magnetic Smart Connector on the iPad Pro.

Instead of a much-wanted Dislike button, Facebook adds six reactions to its Like button

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 24, 2016

Facebook on Wednesday announced a move that has been long in the making: the company is extending the functionality of its ubiquitous Like button with six different reactions that help describe users' mood and express how something they see in the News Feed makes them feel.

Available to all users globally across all mobile and desktop platforms, the six new reactions—Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad or Angry—can be applied by holding down the Like button on mobile or hovering over the Like button on desktop.