Apple

Apple preparing to sell Apple Watch in stores, no online reservation needed

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 1, 2015

The Apple Watch has not been available for walk-in customers since its April 24 launch as high demand and poor yields forced Apple to adopt an online-only reservation system with optional try-on appointments.

Now 9to5Mac is reporting that you won't need to pre-reserve your unit online as the firm will soon permit end-to-end sales in its brick-and-mortar stores.

As we reported, CEO Tim Cook told retail employees during his May 2015 trip to China that the wearable device would be available for walk-in purchases in June. In addition to buying the device in-store, customers will be allowed to reserve models not yet in stock.

Microsoft confirms Windows 10 arriving on July 29

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 1, 2015

Monday, software giant Microsoft announced that Windows 10, the latest and greatest upgrade for its ubiquitous operating system designed to scale from smartphones to tablets to desktop computers, will be launching on July 29 across 190 countries.

The software will be available as a free upgrade for both mobile and desktop Windows devices, with the desktop version released through a reservation system.

Apple Stores to drop AT&T iPhone subsidy, increase trade-in value of older iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 1, 2015

Both online and brick-and-mortar Apple Stores around the country are about to drop subsidies for iPhone models sold through carrier AT&T. Moreover, Apple is said to increase trade-in price value of older iPhone models just a little bit, according to a pair of reports Monday (here and here) by 9to5Mac.

Beginning this month, trade-in values for iPhone 4s, iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s models will increase by $15, or $25 in the case of used iPhone 5s devices.

Rumor: Nintendo’s next-generation gaming console is based on Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 1, 2015

Nintendo's next-generation console codenamed NX, which the company is currently developing, is going to use Android if a report Monday by Nikkei, one of Japan’s largest newspapers, is anything to go by.

According to one insider who spoke with Nikkei, the Nintendo NX will supposedly be built around the Android OS, which should help “speed up getting all game developers on board.”

It would also mean that development could be expanded to smartphones, tablets and other devices, this person added.

Japanese manufacturers banding together to secure more iPhone orders

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 1, 2015

Though designed in California, the vast majority of Apple's products are being assembled in China using parts predominantly provided by the vast network of suppliers from Taiwan.

But that may be changing now as Japanese manufacturers are reportedly making a concerted effort to secure more iPhone orders from Apple, according to DigiTimes on Monday.

Citing industry sources, the trade publication claims that Japan-based printed circuit board manufacturer Ibiden has bolstered up its manufacturing capacity as it hopes to solicit more orders from Apple.

iTunes Radio revamp rumored to include Drake, Pharrell Williams and David Guetta as guest DJs

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 1, 2015

Apple is reportedly in talks with some more A-list names to add as gust DJs to its Beats Music revamp, including Drake, Pharrell Williams and David Guetta, The New York Post learned yesterday.

These well know names in music should join the likes of BBC Radio 1 DJ personality Zane Lowe who was recently confirmed as leaving the radio giant for a job at Apple in March.

Readdle launches Spark, gorgeous iPhone and Apple Watch email app to tame your inbox

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2015

Ukrainian developer Readdle, the maker of some of the finest productivity apps for the iPhone and iPad, today launched its most ambitious project yet, a personalized email client for the iPhone and Apple Watch conceived to help you deal with your inbox faster.

The app is called Spark, it looks neat and offers a number of compelling features, like quick replies, powerful search, fast signatures, smart notifications, attachments, cloud services support, email-to-PDF conversion, a WatchKit extension to check important messages on the wrist with an Apple Watch app and a glance, and much more.

Google’s new Hands Free app will let you pay in stores without even reaching for your phone

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2015

If you thought paying with Apple Pay is ridiculously easy and frictionless, think again. No, I'm not referring to Android Pay, Google's near exact replica of Apple Pay that was unveiled at Google I/O yesterday.

Quietly unveiled yesterday, Hands Free is a new Google mobile app currently unavailable to the general public that promises to let you make in-store purchases without ever reaching for that phone in your pocket.

Details are scarce at the moment but it seems that Hands Free requires you to just tell the cashier you’d like to pay with Google. It's basically Android Pay without taking your phone.

Those mysterious Apple vans are just gathering data for Maps

Sébastien Page ∙ May 29, 2015

No, the mysterious vans that were spotted in different parts of the country this year aren't part of Project Titan, Apple's secret self-driving car project. Instead, they are used to gather data that will most likely be used to power future versions of the company's Maps app, reducing reliance on third-party data providers, as Mark Gurman reported Friday.

Apple ranks highest in annual Consumer Reports satisfaction survey for computer support services

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2015

Once again, Apple has managed to maintain the highest score for overall satisfaction when it comes to computer technical support, Consumer Reports, the influential U.S. magazine published monthly by Consumers Union since 1936, has found in its July 2015 issue.

The non-profit organization first began polling customers about the topic back in 2007. Apple's tech support is “by far the most effective of any computer brand’s,” the magazine revealed. If you own a Windows PC, there’s only a 50-50 chance that a manufacturer’s tech support will solve your problem, the survey found.

Unsurprisingly, iPhone Messages bug crashes iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, WhatsApp, Twitter and Snapchat

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 29, 2015

An odd software bug which causes the iPhone's Messages application to crash and sends the handset into a respring after a certain text is received affects the iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, too. In addition, the text bug apparently affects third-party social and messaging apps that deal with text, including WhatsApp, Twitter and Snapchat, The Guardian newspaper learned today.

That's hardly surprising. The issue can be traced back to a specific series of Unicode characters, suggesting a bug in the text engine framework called CoreText that exists in iOS and OS X.

That would explain why third-party apps that deal with messages, like Twitter and Snapchat, were affected as they tap into Apple's CoreText engine to manage strings of text and layouts.

Poll: how does Google Photos compare to Apple’s Photos app + iCloud Photo Library combo?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Among a flurry of yesterday's announcements at the Google I/O developer conference, the Internet giant launched Google Photos, its brand spanking new photography service available across iOS, Android and on the web. It offers unlimited storage (with a few caveats) and has many other compelling features that give Apple's iCloud Photo Library a fairly good run for its money.

To name but a few: world-class facial recognition that understands aging, sleek design, fast performance, unmatched search and machine intelligence, the ability to create a movie, collage or animated GIF in seconds and more.

The question is, will you be turning to Google Photos as a backup solution for the media you've amassed on your iOS device? Or, perhaps you'll be sticking with Apple's iCloud Photo Library even though it offers a meager five gigabytes of free cloud storage? Planning on using Google Photos alongside iCloud Photo Library, are we? Not a big fan of either service, you say?

Tell us in today's poll!