Apple

Apple’s car project apparently ‘ready to leave lab’

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 18, 2015

The Guardian is reporting today that Apple's rumored electric (driverless?) car developed under the code-name Project Titan is “ready to leave the lab.” As the project now has an official Engineering Program Manager, Apple is reportedly moving to “coordinate the work of teams of hardware and software engineers.”

The story also claims that Apple executives recently met with officials at California’s department of motor vehicles (DMV) to discuss their plans for an “autonomous vehicle.” DMW would only say that “the Apple meeting was to review DMV’s autonomous vehicle regulations.”

Latest Apple appeals court win may require Samsung to change its devices

Cody Lee ∙ September 17, 2015

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that Apple is entitled to an injunction that would bar Samsung from using its patented technology in its devices. The decision could force the Korean manufacturer to change certain features on its smartphones and tablets.

At the heart of the matter is 3 software features that Apple has patented: slide-to-unlock on a device's touchscreen, the automatic correction of spelling errors, and quick-linking, which allows a user to do things like tap on a phone number within a body of text to place a call.

Apple seeds first OS X 10.11.1 beta to developers

Cody Lee ∙ September 17, 2015

Apple on Thursday seeded the first beta of OS X 10.11.1 to developers. The new build is available to registered developers via the Updates section of the Mac App Store or through Apple’s Developer Center.

The update, labeled build 15B17c, comes two weeks before the release of OS X El Capitan to the public. It's similar to the approach we've seen on iOS, where the first iOS 9.1 beta arrived ahead of the iOS 9 launch.

Amazon responds to new Apple TV with updated Fire TV box with 4K support and Alexa search

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 17, 2015

Eight days have passed since Apple has taken the wraps off its fourth-generation $149 Apple TV featuring downloadable apps and games, universal search with Siri and more, and now Amazon has conveniently rolled out its second-generation Fire TV.

Unlike the new Apple TV which disables 4K video output in software, the new Fire TV supports 4K video streaming right out of the box. It includes a new voice-enabled remote and comes outfitted with Alexa, which is basically Amazon's version of Siri.

Check out all-new trailer for Universal’s upcoming ‘Steve Jobs’ biopic

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 17, 2015

Following the inaugural 'Steve Jobs' trailer published this summer and a follow-up video released in August, Universal is now drumming up publicity ahead of the film's theatrical release next month with yet another official trailer.

Directed by Danny Boyle with screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, ‘Steve Jobs’ debuted last week at the Telluride Film Festival and will be shown at the New York Film Festival on October 3 ahead of its scheduled theatrical release on October 9.

How to enable iOS 9 News app if you’re outside US

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 17, 2015

Among other things, iOS 9 adds four new non-removable apps to your Home screen, one of them called News and the other three being iCloud Drive, Find My iPhone and Find My Friends.

Unfortunately, folks living outside the United States are out of luck as News is US-only at launch.

Now, the forthcoming iOS 9.1 software update will officially bring News to the United Kingdom and perhaps some other markets. That being said, you can actually enable News regardless of where you live, and here's how.

Apple-approved screen protectors will work with 3D Touch on iPhone 6s

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 18, 2017

No need to fret over whether or not your 'Made for iPhone' screen protector will work with the new iPhone 6s because covering its display with a protective film won't cause issues with 3D Touch.

As confirmed by Apple, screen protectors which follow the company's guidelines will continue to work with the 3D Touch pressure-sensing feature that the new phones come equipped with.

Angered Android fans vent their frustration at Apple in ‘Move to iOS’ reviews on Play Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 17, 2015

Apple's new 'Move to iOS' app is now available on Android and a lot of fans of Google's mobile platform have already posted hate-spewing reviews on the Play Store. The app lets people switch over from Android to iOS by wirelessly migrating their data, settings and personal information to an iPhone.

The vast majority of reviews have nothing to do with the app itself and instead criticize Apple's closed ecosystem and walled garden approach.

In venting their frustration at Apple, angered Android fans are taking advantage of Play Store reviews to ridicule Apple, call its fans 'iSheep', criticize the iPhone's battery life and diss the Apple Watch as an overpriced luxury device in an apparent absence of any real arguments.

Hulu, Pocket, BBC iPlayer, MLB.com at Bat and more updated for iOS 9’s Picture in Picture mode

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Picture in Picture mode is one of the several productivity-focused enhancements on iPads with iOS 9. This handy feature allows you to watch a video while doing something else. The video plays in a small window overlaid on top of your apps so you can, for instance, browse the web while watching your favorite show at the same time.

Developers can decide whether or not they wish to enable Picture in Picture mode in their apps.

Thankfully, some of the well-known developers have already implemented Picture in Picture mode in their apps, including Hulu, Pocket, MLB.com at Bat and BBC iPlayer.

Apple acquires mapping visualization startup Mapsense

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2016

Apple has acquired Mapsense, a San Francisco-based startup that specializes in tools for analyzing and visualizing location data, Recode reports. A spokesperson confirmed the buyout, saying "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans."

The deal is said to be worth anywhere between $25 million and $30 million, and it includes Mapsense's 12-person team and technology. That tech includes a cloud-based tool that allows users to manipulate graphical models of maps that hold huge sums of data, and a recently launched platform for developers.

iMovie for iOS updated with 4K video editing on iPhone 6s and much more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 16, 2015

At its 'Hey Siri' media event last week, Apple demonstrated how the all-new 'A9' microchip ticking inside the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus has enough oomph to edit 4K video by showing off native 4K video editing on both new iPhones and the iPad Pro with iMovie.

Today, iMovie for iOS receives a timely refresh in the App Store to bring this feature to the latest devices along with more than a dozen other enhancements for older iDevices.

Twitter: one of the first apps to embed Quick Reply within notifications on iOS 9

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 16, 2015

One of the new features of iOS 9 that Apple hasn't actively advertised has the tremendous potential to be actively used on an everyday basis by the vast majority of users: it at last permits third-party developers to implement Quick Reply functionality within banner alerts, the Notification Center and notifications shown on the Lock screen.

Twitter is one of the first applications out of the gate to have readily adopted this feature in its most recent update that just hit the App Store. And if you own an iPad with iOS 9, you can now use Twitter in iOS 9's new side-by-side multitasking mode.

People are reporting on Twitter that Quick Reply is broken in this update and a few members of our team were able to independently confirm this.