Apple

Apple adds Tesla engineer to growing Project Titan team

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple has hired a senior engineer from electric car maker Tesla Motors, according to a new report from Reuters. The outlet points to the LinkedIn profile of former Tesla Autopilot Firmware Manager Jamie Carlson, who now works at Apple on "Special Projects."

Carlson's profile doesn't go into details regarding his previous position, but the fact that he worked in the autonomous firmware division of one of the industry's most technologically advanced companies, is fueling speculation that Apple is building an electric car.

Apple and Dr. Dre address the rapper’s contentious past

Cody Lee ∙ August 21, 2015

Apple and Beats co-founder Dr. Dre released statements on Friday regarding the rapper's contentious past. With the recent opening of the film "Straight Outta Compton," which tells the origin story of Dre's hip-hop group N.W.A., several questions have arisen regarding abuse allegations from the 1990's.

During the decade, Dr. Dre was accused of assaulting several women, including his girlfriend at the time and former television host Denise "Dee" Barnes. Since its debut, members of the media have been questioning why the events were missing from the Compton film, and today, Dre commented on the matter.

Sketchy rumor claims Apple is working on smart Watch bands

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple is working on new bands for its Apple Watch that will add considerable functionality to the device, reports Czech site Letem Svetem Applem. Citing a source familiar with the project, the outlet says, among other things, the bands will feature new health sensors.

These "smart" bands will plug into the Apple Watch's hidden diagnostic port, which means they could be compatible with current-gen models. And its sensors will be able to read and share data on blood oxygen level, blood pressure, body temperature and much more.

Watchmaker Swatch trademarks ‘One more thing’

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2015

Swiss watchmaker Swatch has managed to trademark “One more thing,” a catch phrase late CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs made famous around the world by using it extensively when introducing new surprise products during Apple's media events.

As discovered by Wirtschaft, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) awarded the trademark to Swatch back in May following its original application in November of last year. It's scheduled to expire in 2024 though an opposition to the trademark is reportedly pending.

Leaderboards and more added to Foursquare’s location check-in app Swarm

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2015

Foursquare's dedicated check-in app, Swarm, has been adding missing features ever since the startup split the main mobile app's functionality into dedicated place discovery and check-in apps.

The new Swarm 3.0 for iOS, which released earlier this morning, brings back leaderboards after gaining mayorships early in the summer. In addition, messages and notifications have been unified under a single inbox view.

Your worldwide and nearby views are now folded into a single Friends tab and a revamped Here Now section is now located under the Nearby section.

iPhone 6c with A8 chip, Touch ID and Apple Pay coming in time for Thanksgiving?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

Apple's rumored 'iPhone 6c' boasting an in-house designed 'A8’ processor, a four-inch Retina screen, Touch ID fingerprint scanning and Apple Pay mobile payments could be with you in time for Thanksgiving, according to latest reports from Apple's supply chain.

Assuming the reports are true, the mythical device will pose a significant jump in terms of hardware versus the iPhone 5c, which runs the iPhone 5's three-year old A6 processor and has no biometric authentication or NFC.

More evidence points to iPhone 6s pre-orders kicking off on September 11

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

A French wireless carrier has apparently hinted that Apple's upcoming 'iPhone 6s' and 'iPhone 6s Plus' smartphones will go on pre-order on Friday, September 11, two days following the rumored media event on Wednesday, September 9 to unveil new iPhones, iPads and a next-generation Apple TV.

According to a source who leaked an internal slide to PhoneArena, new iPhones should start shipping to customers, retail stores and Apple's carrier partners on September 18, allowing Apple to take a full week's worth of pre-orders.

‘Different types’ of cooperation possible with Apple, says Mercedes-Benz maker

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2015

Mercedes-Benz maker is not ruling out the possibility of vaguely outlined “different types” of cooperation with Apple, which is rumored to be building an electric car of its own code- named Project Titan. “Many things are conceivable,” Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in an interview with quarterly magazine Deutsche Unternehmerboerse published on Friday.

Daimler AG, a German multinational automotive corporation, owns a number of car brands such as the Mercedes-Benz and Smart Automobile, and was an important launch partner for Apple's CarPlay in-car software.

OS X El Capitan Recovery Update now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 21, 2015

Apple on Friday seeded a small update to OS X's Recovery feature to users running a pre-release version of OS X 10.11 El Capitan. The OS X El Capitan Recovery Update includes improvements to the operating system's Recovery partition. Like in prior OS X editions, this feature can be invoked at boot time by pressing the Command - R combo.

Google Photos gains Timehop-like blasts from the past, new sharing options and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Google's standalone Photos application for the iPhone and iPad today received an update in the App Store, bringing a few new sharing options and other enhancements to your on the go photo-management experience.

Google Photos 1.2 for iOS, a free download in the App Store, will also show you photos and videos from the past so you can take a brief walk down memory lane, a new feature provided in the form of cards in the Assistant view.

Apple posts new ‘if it’s not an iPhone’ ad highlighting Apple Pay

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Thursday posted a new ad to its YouTube channel labeled "iPhone - Apple Pay." The spot is the latest in the company's ongoing "if it's not an iPhone, it's not an iPhone" campaign, and of course highlights its new mobile payment service.

The commercial is very similar to previous ads in the campaign. It begins with a voiceover saying "this is an iPhone," and then the video proceeds to show how Apple Pay works. The shot closes with the tagline "if it's not an iPhone, it's not an iPhone."

Study shows Apple TV fell to fourth most popular streaming device in U.S. last year

Cody Lee ∙ August 20, 2015

The Apple TV fell to the spot of the fourth most popular streaming media device in the US last year, according to a newly-released study by Parks Associates. The research firm says that sales for Apple's set-top box were eclipsed by those from Roku, Google and Amazon.

"Roku continues to lead streaming media device sales in the U.S.," said Barbara Kraus, the director of research at Parks Associates. Their data shows that Roku accounted for 34% of units sold in 2014, with Google in second at 23%, and Amazon overtaking Apple for third.