Apple

iPhone 6s front camera has panorama and slow-mo modes, Apple readying iPad Pro keyboard

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 4, 2015

Earlier in the week, 9to5Mac corroborated analyst and supply chain reports that Apple's upcoming 'iPhone 6s' and 'iPhone 6s Plus' smartphones will also bring major improvements to the front-facing FaceTime camera which should go from a paltry 1.3 megapixels on current iPhones to five megapixels.

Today, the blog said that the FaceTime camera on upcoming iPhones will feature support for selfie panoramas and slow-motion video capture. The report added that Apple is working on a keyboard accessory for an 'iPad Pro' and offered a few more tidbits regarding Apple's announcements come this Wednesday.

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New documentary ‘Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine’ hits theaters and digital platforms

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 4, 2015

‘Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine,’ a provocative documentary that focuses on the dark side of Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs, is hitting theaters and video-on-demand services today.

The 120-minute documentary is about the impact of Jobs’ work on modern society while cunningly playing off the controversies that had surrounded Jobs’ persona for many years.

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Amazon Prime Music gains search suggestions, curated collections, sleep timer and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 4, 2015

Following a major update to Amazon's video-streaming client for iOS which now allows offline playback for Prime movies and television shows, the online retail giant today gave its Prime Music app a little love, too.

The new Amazon Prime Music 5.0 for iOS introduces curated collections featuring hand-picked music, search suggestions to make music discovery even easier, a brand new sleep timer feature and more.

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Review: this is my ‘Next Keyboard’ for iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

In my December 2014 preview of Next Keyboard I wrote the app had the potential to become “the first iOS keyboard done right”.

What started out as the most funded app project on Kickstarter by Toronto-based award-winning studio Tiny Hearts Apps has become a reality.

I'm pleased to report that Next Keyboard is now available for download in the App Store.

Rather than mindlessly pile features one on top of the other like many other developers do, Next enables efficient typing in a stylish environment that's easy on the eyes, without distracting you from the task at hand.

It's got everything you've come to expect from a software keyboard, including predictive typing, lightning fast editing, playful stickers and colorful themes, instant access to all the emojis you love, including stickers, and much more.

I've spent some quality hands-on time with Next Keyboard, here's what I found.

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Judge green-lights $415M settlement in Apple, Google anti-poaching lawsuit

Cody Lee ∙ September 3, 2015

US District Judge Lucy Koh handed down final approval late Wednesday for a settlement between Apple, Google, Adobe and Intel, and their former employees. The payout is said to be worth around $415 million, and should effectively end the long-running Silicon Valley anti-poaching suit.

For context, in 2011, employees of the aforementioned tech firms filed a class action lawsuit against the companies for anti-competitive labor practices. The suit alleged the firms conspired to avoid hiring each other’s workers in an effort to curtail salaries, costing workers $3 billion in wages.

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Apple working on fuel cell tech that could give devices weeklong battery life

Cody Lee ∙ September 3, 2015

Apple continues to show interest in using hydrogen fuel cell technology, as evidenced in its latest patent filing. On Thursday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published a patent titled "Fuel Cell System to Power a Portable Computing Device."

The invention appears to be, at least initially, targeted at the MacBook, as the filing mentions MagSafe several times. But last month, the British firm Intelligent Energy proved the tech can be shrunken down, by showing off an iPhone with a hydrogen fuel cell.

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Rotating bezel on Samsung’s new Gear S2 smartwatch shown on video

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 5, 2016

Two days ago, Samsung officially unveiled its new smartwatch lineup: the Gear S2, Gear S2 classic and the Gear S2 with 3G connectivity.

The new lineup from Samsung appears to stack up surprisingly well against the Apple Watch: both smartwatches are premium built and feature easily changeable bands, sleek software, fitness and heart rate tracking and more.

But whereas the Apple Watch uses the Digital Crown for navigating its user interface, Samsung has opted for a rotating bezel that “gets better with every turn,” a feature seen on some traditional watches.

Coupled with “the revolutionary circular user interface,” as they're calling the Gear S2's Tizen operating system, the rotating bezel appears to be just as precise, novel and interesting as the Apple Watch's rotating crown.

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Google releases standalone Street View app for iPhone and iPod touch

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2015

A month ago, Google promised to release a standalone Street View mobile app “early next month.” Today, the Internet giant has made good on that promise as the all-new Google Street View app just hit the App Store (actually, it soft-launched in August 2014, but today's update feels like a whole new app and anyone can use it now).

Available for the iPhone and iPod touch, it lets you browse and enjoy Google's awesome street-level photography.

With this software, you can move and pan around by dragging your finger on the screen and even upload your own 360-degree photography to Google Maps to share your photo spheres with the world.

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Apple rolls out brand new Twitter account dedicated to App Store games

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2015

The App Store has been on Twitter since September 2009 but as of today, a new curated Twitter account dedicated to highlighting the App Store games is available as well. It's now yet known whether gaming-related tweets will now be exclusively posted on @AppStoreGames alone or retweeted on @AppStore but it's an encouraging sign of Apple's mobile gaming prowess.

“Embrace the future of gaming,” reads the account's bioline. “Straight from our Games Editors.”

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Google Photos for iOS gains photo reordering, selective backup, better sharing and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2015

Less than two weeks following a refresh that brought out a Timehop-like feature for rediscovering your photos from the past, Google Photos for the iPhone and iPad on Thursday received another noteworthy update.

The new Google Photos 1.3 for iOS introduces four distinct improvements to your photo-management workflow, like the ability to reorder photos in your library and another one letting you selectively back up individual photos and videos.

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KGI: upcoming iMac refresh taps LED phosphor material to boost color saturation of the display

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2015

Following his prediction a month ago that next-generation iMacs will launch very soon, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed more details in an analysis shared Thursday with clients, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider.

The new iMac upgrade will feature a “much better display,” owing to the use of a LED phosphor material known as KSF to boost color saturation.

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