Apple

Crisp drone footage narrated by Steve Jobs offers a detailed look at iSpaceship progress

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2015

The Apple Campus 2 project, a future 2.8 million square foot home for approximately 12,000 Apple employees, is coming along nicely. The structure, affectionally dubbed the iSpaceship due to its ring-shaped design, was recently filmed from above by Silicon Valley-based videographer Duncan Sinfield who shared his footage with MacRumors.

The high-quality aerial video includes segments of Steve Jobs' 2011 project pitch to the Cupertino City Council as a voiceover. The video is well worth watching as it gives details on the different buildings Apple is constructing while offering progress comparisons with the previous footage from early August.

New Apple TV has universal search, $149 priced reaffirmed by credible report

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2015

Following a recent report by 9to5Mac's reliable blogger Mark Gurman that a fourth-generation Apple TV will cost between $149 and $199, BuzzFeed's John Paczkowski has corroborated that information, adding that the set-top box will also include a universal search feature.

Billed as another tentpole feature, universal search will allow owners of the forthcoming set-top box to search for a show or movie once “and see results from all sorts of different sources.”

iOS 8 now powers 87 percent of active devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2015

After struggling to gain a single percentage point over a four-week period, the adoption rate of iOS 8 now appears to have accelerated as iOS 8 now powers 87 percent of the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices in the wild, as measured by the App Store on Monday, August 31, 2015.

That growth came at the expense of iOS 7, which has gone from powering thirteen percent of iOS devices two weeks ago to accounting for twelve percent of hardware in active use.

A month ago, iOS 8 adoption sat at 85 percent and iOS 7 comprised thirteen percent of iOS gadgets in the wild. Pre-iOS hardware continues to scrape out a mere two percent.

Imgur for iOS gains search and revamped interface

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2015

After relaunching its iOS app and introducing an all-new interface in the Android client three months ago, Imgur today announced a major revamp of its iPhone and iPod touch application, a free download in the App Store.

For starters, the app has at last gained a Search feature so you can search for specific viral posts on the service. The app's grid view has been redesigned to show bigger thumbnails, push notifications have been improved and profile screens revamped for a more pleasing appearance.

iPhone 7 rumored to switch back to using glass-on-glass screen technology

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2015

Unhappy with the in-cell screen process used in production of iPhone displays which is plagued with lower touch sensitivity on screen edges, Apple is reportedly considering a return to glass-on-glass (G/G) touchscreen panels for an 'iPhone 7,' a technology it ditched with the release of the iPhone 5 in the fall of 2012.

According to a somewhat sketchy report published Wednesday by DigiTimes, Apple is currently sampling glass-on-glass touch samples for 2016 iPhones.

If true, the iPhone 7—or whatever a 2016 iPhone ends up being named—will feature better touch accuracy, improved Multi-Touch performance and better touch detection on screen edges. In addition, glass-on-glass technology would permit the company to develop a bezel-free iPhone and support 4K resolutions.

Android Wear for iOS found incompatible with Apple’s HealthKit

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 2, 2015

Google's Android Wear for iPhone software debuted earlier this week and while we suspected ahead of its release it might not offer tight integration with iOS like the Apple Watch does, I don't think many people expected it to be incompatible with HealthKit, Apple’s platform for developers of health and fitness apps.

Sadly, that's exactly what transpired here.

As discovered by BuzzFeed, the decision to make Android Wear incompatible with HealthKit was entirely Google's as the search company wants iOS users who own Android Wear devices to log their steps and physical activity through its own Google Fit dashboard.

Apple adds yet another former Tesla engineer to Project Titan team

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple has hired yet another former Tesla engineer for its growing Project Titan team, reports MacRumors. The site points to the LinkedIn profile of Hal Ockerse, which shows he was an engineering manager at the electric car company before joining Apple in August as a "software engineer."

Ockerse's profile doesn't offer any details about his new position, but he's likely working on Apple's "Titan" electric car project. At Tesla, he worked on hardware architecture and advanced driver assistance system components, such as hi-res cameras, radars, LiDAR and engine control units.

Instagram Direct rolls out threaded messaging and sending feed content privately

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2017

Tuesday, Facebook-owned Instagram launched some notable improvements for its private-messaging feature, called Instagram Direct.

Available in Instagram's 7.5 update, a free download in the App Store, Instagram Direct now supports threaded conversations and allows you to pick a photo from a user's feed to send to a friend or group privately as a Direct message.

Review: ReBoard keyboard boosts your productivity and cuts down on app switching

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2015

The biggest thing about iOS 8 for me is a productivity boost stemming from new technologies such as pervasive inter-app communications, third-party actions in system-wide Share sheets and more. But for all the good work Apple's done from a productivity standpoint, iOS (version 9 included) still has some way to go before it's capable to exceed multitasking features on Microsoft's Surface tablets or Samsung's Note phablet, for example.

ReBoard, a new software keyboard for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad created by India's independent developer Gursimranjeet Singh, puts useful actions for performing common tasks and all sorts of look ups right into the keyboard itself so you won't need to switch back and forth between apps like an animal.

By embedding useful third-party shortcuts within the context of the keyboard, ReBoard can save you a lot of time and boost your productivity.

Have you checked out Google’s new playful logo yet?

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2015

As part of its massive restructuring effort, the Internet giant Google on Tuesday showed off its brand new logo. While the Mountain View company has refined its logo multiple times over the past seventeen years, today's announcement marks the biggest visual change to Google's brand identity thus far.

The new logo reflects the fact that people now interact with Google across many different platforms, apps and devices, the company argues.

Check out the new logo and identity family and tell us in comments how you liked them.

Twitterrific for iOS improves accessibility, tag autocompletion, muting, translation and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 1, 2015

Twitterrific, The Iconfactory's freemium Twitter client for the iPhone and iPad, was refreshed in the App Store this morning with a bevy of enhancements, including improvements to username and hash tag autocompletion, a feature introduced in Twitterrific's previous update.

Among other changes, this edition of Twitterrific includes some new quick actions, support for quoted tweets in muffle and muting rules and much more.

Former Apple Music lead Ian Rogers joins French luxury multinational LVMH

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Following his resignation from Apple, a move said to have left his colleagues scratching their head, former Apple Music executive and Beats 1 director Ian Rogers has joined LVMH, a French luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris, Re/code said on Tuesday.

This is especially interesting considering Apple itself poached executives from LVMH, including the sales director for watch brand TAG Heuer in July 2014, Heuer Patrick Pruniaux.