Apple

Best Buy will offer Apple Watch in Canada beginning August 14

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 31, 2015

Best Buy has not offered the Apple Watch since its April 24 debut, but now the American consumer electronics retailer is at last making room on its store shelves for Apple's wrist-worn device.

The Wall Street Journal recently said that Best Buy will begin to offer the Apple Watch in more than a hundred U.S. retail stores, and online, on August 7.

Just a week later, the device will hit Best Buy stores in Canada, according to MobileSyrup. This will expand the device's footprint in Canada, where it's been available exclusively through the online and retail Apple Stores from day one.

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OneDrive for iOS brings back file downloading, adds VoiceOver and Single Sign-On improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 31, 2015

Microsoft's excellent mobile client for its cloud-storage service, OneDrive for iOS, was updated with three new features today, among them the ability to download photos and videos to your Camera roll after a brief hiatus following the app's recent redesign. Available free of charge in the App Store, OneDrive 5.5 for iOS also contains VoiceOver improvements for hearing-impaired users and support for Single Sign-On.

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Apple seeds OS X 10.10.5 beta 2 to developers

Cody Lee ∙ July 30, 2015

Apple on Thursday seeded the second beta of OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 to developers. The software, labeled build 14F19a, is available to all registered Mac developers in the Updates section of the Mac App Store, or as a standalone download from Apple's dev portal.

Beta 2 of 10.10.5 comes two weeks after the first developer beta, and just a month after 10.10.4 was released to the public. It also comes on the same day as beta 2 of iOS 8.4.1, suggesting that Apple is looking to shore up its two OSes before their major fall updates.

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New Apple TV coming in September with full App Store, report says

Cody Lee ∙ July 30, 2015

We are finally going to see the long-rumored update to Apple's set-top box this fall, reports BuzzFeed's John Paczkowski. The well-connected journalist says sources have informed him that the company plans to introduce a new Apple TV in September.

Pacszkowski says to expect a slimmer chassis and new internals, anchored around Apple's A8 processor. He also says the remote has been "drastically improved" with a built-in touchpad for input, and there will be a native App Store and developer kit.

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Worms3 goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Cody Lee ∙ July 30, 2015

Apple has just named Team17's "Worms3" its App of the Week for this week. This means that from now through next Thursday, you’ll be able to download the popular artillery strategy game for both iPhone and iPad for free—saving you $5.

For those who aren't familiar with the Worms franchise, players are tasked with eliminating the opposing team(s) of worms using an assortment of weapons. There are various game modes, including an asynchronous multiplayer battle.

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Qualcomm’s new technology could allow wireless charging through the iPhone’s metal body

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 14, 2016

Apple has patented a few wireless charging methods, but thus far it's only implemented inductive-based wireless charging on the Apple Watch. We're still required to connect our iPhones to chargers and Apple's top dogs have made it clear in the past that existing solutions aren't really the right answer to wireless charging.

But a new technology that Apple supplier Qualcomm unveiled earlier this week could pave the way for wireless charging on iPhones as it allows wireless charging for devices with metal exteriors.

Not only that, but Qualcomm's solution can simultaneously charge multiple devices with different power requirements, say your iPhone and Apple Watch.

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Samsung’s woes continue with yet another disappointing quarterly earnings

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 8, 2017

Surging iPhone demand on the high-end and plummeting sales of its feature phones that are getting squeezed out of the market by Chinese upstarts like Xiaomi are largely blamed for yet another disappointing quarterly earnings that Samsung posted Thursday.

The South Korean conglomerate reported an eight percent annual decline as profits decreased to 5.75 trillion Korean won, or approximately $4.9 billion, from 6.3 trillion won a year earlier. Analysts predicted 5.6 trillion won of net income. The results mark a fifth straight drop in quarterly earnings for the consumer electronics giant.

The bad news gets worse as Samsung's mobile division, its bread and butter, reported a huge 37.6 percent drop in mobile operating income which fell from 4.42 trillion won in 2014 to 2.76 trillion won during the April-June period.

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Apple patents stylus that scans objects in 3D and simulates textures via haptic feedback

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is adamant that Apple is working on an advanced stylus accessory for a rumored 12-inch 'iPad Pro,' an assumption based in no small part on patent applications Apple has filed for in years past.

The latest indication that the iPhone maker is indeed researching styli technology comes in the form of a new patent application published Thursday by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which proposes an advanced texture-sensing stylus design with a built-in camera.

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The saga continues as Angry Birds 2 hits the App Store as a free-to-play download

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 30, 2015

As promised, Finnish mobile games maker Rovio today released Angry Birds 2, the official sequel to its original bird-flinging franchise. Available on a free-to-play basis, Angry Birds 2 for iPhone and iPad isn't a radical departure from the proven formula which made the original games such a rage.

In Angry Birds 2, your favorite feathered heroes embark on a brand new adventure as they storm Piggy Island to rescue their poor stolen eggs, all over again.

The sequel introduces some fun new elements to the gameplay experience such as all-new bird characters to choose from, spells, multi-stage levels, scheming boss piggies and much more.

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Apple offering behind-the-scenes look at Beats 1 studios via Snapchat

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 7, 2018

Apple on Wednesday launched an official AppleMusic Snapchat account. The company is promoting the venture on Instagram and other social networks, indicating that its first story offers an exclusive look at Beats 1 Radio.

You can find the story on Snapchat under the user name AppleMusic. The video is just over 200 seconds long, and it takes you on a quick tour of the three studios in Los Angeles, New York and London that keep Beats 1 going.

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Apple Campus 2 visitor’s center to feature store, cafe and rooftop observation deck

Cody Lee ∙ July 29, 2015

Apple's new headquarters is going to be quite the tourist attraction, reports Silicon Valley Business Journal. The site has uncovered documents, first filed with the city of Cupertino back in April, which layout the company's plans for a massive visitor's center located on the "spaceship" campus.

According to the plans, the center will include a rooftop observation deck, a cafe, and a 10,000 square-foot storefront. Apple hopes the space will "create a public face of the Apple Campus 2 that reflects Apple's business and design practices, and allows for a long-term presence in Cupertino."

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