Apple

Facebook steps up advertising on Instagram

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 5, 2015

Before today, advertising on Instagram was mostly limited as media buyers had had to contact an Instagram sales representative directly. But things have just changed for the better (or worse, depending on your point of view) as Instagram's parent company, Facebook, has officially switched on Instagram's advertising application programming interface (API) to allow brands to buy ad slots on Instagram in a more automated fashion, Business Insider is reporting.

Because there's a lot of pent-up demand for targeted ads on the popular mobile photography service, this major move practically spells an end to Instagram's light ad experience as Instagram is poised to make big bucks by shoving more and more ads down users' throat.

Dr. Dre’s new album to premiere on Apple Music this Thursday

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Dr. Dre's highly anticipated Compton will premiere on Apple Music this week, says Zane Lowe. The popular DJ and Beats 1 Radio host announced on Twitter this afternoon that the album will stream uncensored and exclusively this Thursday from 6pm to 9pm PDT.

This will be Dre's first new album in more than 15 years, succeeding Chronic 2001, which went sextuple platinum. He announced the record on his Beats 1 show "The Pharmacy" late last week, saying that the music was inspired by the new movie Straight Outta Compton.

BitTorrent Sync update brings a major productivity element to peer-to-peer file syncing

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 1, 2018

BitTorrent Sync made its App Store debut back in August 2013, its major appeal being the underlying distributed technology that facilitates secure file syncing between devices but without a roundtrip to the cloud, thus appealing to privacy-minded customers.

The mobile component to BitTorrent’s peer-to-peer file syncing product, BitTorrent Sync for iOS is receiving a major update later today with an important productivity element added to the app: you can now save various types of files created in other apps right into a Sync folder to share with connected devices via a new Share sheet action.

Apple releases OS X El Capitan public beta 4

Cody Lee ∙ August 4, 2015

Apple on Tuesday seeded the fourth public beta of OS X El Capitan to testers. The release comes less than 24 hours after beta 6 of El Capitan was pushed out to developers, and roughly a month after the first public beta landed.

The new build is available to registered public testers who are already on beta 3 via the Updates section of the Mac App Store, or through the beta web portal as a standalone download. You can enroll in the program by clicking here.

Apple shoots down report saying it plans to become an MVNO carrier

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2015

Twenty-four hours after Business Insider claimed knowledge that Apple has been in talks to launch a mobile virtual network service (MVNO) in the United States and Europe, a company representative has refuted the claim in an official statement given to Reuters.

The company has not discussed such plans and is in fact not planning an MVNO cellular service, contrary to the reports it was planning on doing that.

Apple’s smudge-detection patent prevents an iPhone screen from accidentally turning off

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2015

When you bring up an iPhone to your ear to take or receive a phone call, the handset taps the built-in proximity sensor near the ear piece to detect that you're holding your phone up and then turns off the display to prevent spray input from your face.

But sometimes a smudge from your finger can block the path of light back to the phone's sensors, prompting the device to shut down the display because it thinks you're holding the device near your head.

A new invention Apple was granted a patent for was published Tuesday by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), describing a smudge-detection method designed to prevent an iPhone screen from accidentally turning off due to smudges.

iPhone 6c apparently launching next summer

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2015

So-called 'iPhone 6c,' the true successor to Apple's mid-tier iPhone 5c which sells SIM-free for $450, won't arrive this year as previously rumored.

Instead, the device should drop by the summer of 2016, if a new report by DigiTimes is an indication.

The story backtracks from DigiTimes' previous report which speculated that the iPhone 6c would launch this fall alongside 'iPhone 6s' and 'iPhone 6s Plus' models.

Be that as it may, the iPhone 6c will reportedly be powered by an Apple-designed chip built on the 14/16nm FinFET process technology by Samsung and rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the sources said.

Viber for iOS gains link previews, animated stickers, easier video calling, better compression & more

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2015

Viber, the third most popular messaging platform after Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp (owned by Facebook) today delivered a few new features to its iPhone and iPad application in the App Store.

The new Viber 5.5 for iOS now includes rich link previews in the chat window, has the ability to exchange contact information via messages (in addition to QR codes), introduces animated stickers, permits easier video calling directly from a contact's profile or the recent calls list and more.

Google confirms brand new Street View mobile app arriving early next month

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2015

Two months ago, Google hinted it was readying a brand new mobile application called Street View. The app was designed to provide easy access to your photo spheres and those from Google and other contributors. Today, the Internet giant sent an email blast confirming that the native Street View for iOS app is coming in early-September.

The search company did not share detailed information about the upcoming software, but we've been able to glean a few tidbits. For starters, the Street View app will replace Google's Photo Sphere Camera mobile app for iOS and Android. More important than that, Street View will be capable of linking to a dedicated spherical camera hardware.

Readdle holds a massive App Store sale in celebration of its 8th birthday

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2015

Ukrainian developer Readdle is behind some of the best productivity applications for the iPhone and iPad. It's hard to imagine that eight years have passed since Readdle released its first app in the App Store, but it has. To celebrate its eighth anniversary, the company has launched a massive App Store sale, cutting the price of some of its popular apps in half.

The promotion runs for 48 hours so now is your chance to add your favorite Readdle apps to your collection, if you don't have them already. Here's a quick list of apps that are available half price until Thursday, August 6 at 9am Eastern time.

Apple buys huge development site in San Jose for $138 million

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple has purchased a massive development site in North San Jose in a blockbuster real estate transaction, reports the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The move comes just weeks after the company leased nearly 300,000-square-feet of office space in the city.

According to public records, Apple closed the deal with developer Lowe Enterprises' for its so-called "n1 Campus" last week. It paid around $138 million for a roughly 43-acre development site, which has been approved for up to 2.8 million square feet of office space.

Struggling to return strong profits, Samsung slashes price of Galaxy S6 phones

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 3, 2015

After posting another disappointing quarterly earnings, a fifth straight profit drop, Apple's chief rival Samsung has now slashed the retail price of Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge flagship smartphones by a hundred euro, or about $110, BetaNews learned.

The consumer electronics giant's mobile division suffered a 37.6 percent drop in operating income during the April-June period after badly miscalculating demand for the higher-priced Galaxy S6 Edge, leaving it with unsold inventory of the regular Galaxy S6 devices.