Apple

New iPhones help Apple capture record smartphone share in China

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Apple's been making some impressive strides in China, its second-biggest market by revenue and home to a population of 1.33 billion people.

On the weight of strong sales of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, the Cupertino firm has now hit an all-time high share, with iOS accounting for a record 27.6 percent volume share of the Chinese smartphone market versus 17.9 percent a year ago.

Kantar data for the three months ending in February proves the iPhone 6 has remained the country's top-selling smartphone in the period. It's grown from 9.5 percent of sales recorded in the previous period ending in January to 10.2 percent ending in February. Xiaomi's iPhone 6 Plus lookalike, the RedMI Note, took the second spot, followed by Apple's 5.5-inch phablet-class iPhone 6 Plus, which grabbed the third place.

Force Touch could be exclusive to iPhone 6s Plus

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 5, 2017

If a new report out of Taiwan is an indication, Apple's pressure sensitive Force Touch technology should make an appearance later this year on an iPhone, but exclusively on a bigger 'iPhone 6s Plus'. Prior rumors have called for pressure-sensitive screen on both 'iPhone 6' and 'iPhone 6 Plus' this fall.

Pressure sensing marketed as Force Touch was first announced on the Apple Watch last fall, making its way later into the trackpad of the newly rolled out twelve-inch MacBook and updated MacBook Pro notebook. On the Watch, the feature taps tiny electrodes positioned around the screen which distinguish between a tap and a press.

Skype adding 12 new languages to iPhone app, Skype Qik gains 8 new video effects

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2018

Microsoft today announced a pair of updates to its Skype for iPhone and Skype Qik for iPhone apps. Skype 5.12 for the iPhone will introduce a dozen new localizations over the coming week while Skype's Qik app has added eight fancy video effects.

“Within the coming week” Skype users on the iPhone will be able to take advantage of additional country support with Croatian, Slovak, Catalan, Vietnamese, Thai, Hindi, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Malay, Turkish and Estonian languages.

Twitterrific 5.1 gains drafts, better muffling & muting and much more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2018

Twitterrific, a slick Twitter client from The Iconfactory available for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, has been refreshed in the App Store on Thursday.

At last, the iPhone and iPad client lets you save unfinished messages so you can work on them later. A major update, Twitterrific 5.1 also includes the ability to view and manage your list of muffled usernames, URLs and hashtags.

You can now add keywords to the terms that can be filtered or turn any muffled term into a full mute: just swipe left on the item in the list and select the Mute option.

Microsoft releases Office Lens scanning app for iPhone on App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Microsoft on Thursday launched a brand new scanning application for the iPhone, called Office Lens. Available free of charge in the App Store after first launching on Windows Phone a year ago, Office Lens is a handy capture app that turns your smartphone into a pocket scanner.

The app lets you crop, straighten, enhance and makes pictures of whiteboards and documents readable.

Scans of your docs are automatically saved to OneNote and are editable on any device, though you can save them into OneDrive or your preferred cloud storage service.

Apple’s slick process for dealing with Watch purchases and walk-ins detailed

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Contradicting a recent 9to5Mac report which said only try-on appointments will be possible come April 10, sources told The Mac Observer that the appointment-only process will reportedly accommodate walk-in purchases, using a system similar to one recently instituted at Genius Bars in Apple's real stores worldwide.

The Genius Bar will handle walk-ins by taking your phone number, allowing customers to run their errands and go about their business until they receive timely updates from the Genius Bar related to waiting times via SMS. Apple's already using this system to handle purchases and is reportedly intending to tap it for the Watch as well.

Waze now tells you how long you’ll be stuck in a traffic jam

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Waze, a crowdsourced GPS, maps and traffic service owned by Google, has refreshed its iPhone and iPad application with a few new features.

Now available at no cost in the App Store, the new Waze 3.9.4 is much faster than before. More importantly, it has added a cool new feature which tells you how long you'll be stuck in a traffic jam.

Other features like navigation, route select and re-routing have been sped up significantly, an important feat given that you'll be using the app while driving.

IGN names Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series its Free iOS Game of the Month

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series debuted in the App Store in December 2014 and is now available free of charge as part of IGN's Free Game of the Month promotion. The game retails for $4.99 a pop in the App Store, but you can grab it free through IGN's promotional webpage here.

The official HBO licensed game bundles the first episode at no cost, with additional episodes available as a $4.99 In-App Purchase each. Episode 2 titled “The Lost Lords” was released in February and last month brought us Episode 3, headlined as “The Sword in the Darkness”.

How Apple Watch was researched and developed

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Kevin Lynch, who was a former Adobe executive in charge of the Flash platform before Apple poached him to lead Watch software development as its Vice President of Technology, has shared a number of interesting tidbits related to the years of Watch research and development in an extensive piece published by Wired on Thursday.

Apparently, Jony Ive and his design team presented an idea for a wrist-worn device during one of design meetings for iOS 7. Lynch, who was hired after the project was already underway, didn't even know what he would be working on at Apple.

The team spent more than a year adjusting the device's Taptic Engine to feel just right on your wrist, even sampling sounds from bell clappers and birds to lightsabers in an effort to turn them into physical sensations. And the device itself underwent many prototypes and iterations before Apple's Board signed off on it.

Scanbot 3.7 arrives with Slack and Wunderlist integrations and new document naming feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Scanbot for iOS, the sleek and powerful document scanner and QR reader, has received an update Thursday.

The new version expands on the list of third-party integrations with the addition of Wunderlist and Slack apps while introducing a brand new document naming feature across both iOS and Android editions.

Available on a freemium basis, Scanbot 3.7 also includes optimized performance, functionality improvements, enhanced manual sharing and more.

Apple Watch featured in May issue of Canadian fashion mag Flare

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Following a barrage of editorials and photo shoots published by prominent lifestyle and fashion magazines around the world, Apple's wearable device has now graced the cover of the May issue of Flare, a Canadian fashion magazine, as first noticed by MacRumors.

The magazine's two separate covers feature Academy Award nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld who poses wearing an Apple Watch Sport in both Silver and Space Gray, accompanied by a featured article providing a closer look at the Watch's many features outside of the usual timekeeping and health and fitness tracking functions.

Twitter’s Periscope app receives its first update with live broadcast improvements

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 2, 2015

Twitter's live-streaming software, Periscope, was released in the App Store a week ago and today the app has received its first feature update. Periscope 1.0.1 fixes issues with chat not working sometimes and addresses performance concerns when watching broadcasts with many users.

Now people you follow who are live-broadcasting appear at the top of your feed, allowing you to jump into the action with just a tap. Video streaming and in-app maps showing broadcaster's location have been enhanced as well.