Apple

ETA Watch app will put travel times and driving directions on your wrist

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

Coming as a free upgrade for all existing owners of the $0.99 ETA app for the iPhone and iPad, Melbourne based developer Eastwood shared last week a preview of what ETA's Watch counterpart will look like.

For those unfamiliar with ETA, it's a GPS-based personal driving assistant which calculates travel times and driving directions to all your favorite destinations.

The ETA app for the Apple Watch will provide the same basic functionality as the iOS edition, only optimized for the smaller screen, allowing Watch owners to get travel times and driving directions just by raising their wrist.

Apple hiring people with ‘specific expertise in music journalism’

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Ahead of a rumored revamp of the Beats Music service it had obtained as part of its $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics, Apple is now hiring people with a background in music and pop culture commentary, Music Ally reported Monday.

The company is looking to hire a London-based individual with “a specific expertise in music journalism” who must be a “seasoned writer with broad pop culture background.”

Apple investing nearly $2 billion in new European data centers in Ireland and Denmark

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 23, 2015

Apple on Monday announced plans to pour €1.7 billion, or approximately $1.92 billion, into new data centers in Ireland and Denmark, its biggest European projects to date. One will be located in County Galway's Athenry in Ireland and the other in Denmark’s central Jutland.

In line with Apple's commitment to clean energy, each 166,000-square-meter data center will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources “from day one”. The upcoming facilities are expected to begin operations in 2017 and will support Apple’s online services for customers in Europe, including the iTunes Store, App Store, iMessage, Maps and Siri.

Toyota backtracks, currently not planning to implement Apple CarPlay

Jake Smith ∙ February 22, 2015

Toyota has revealed in a piece with the New York Times that it's currently not planning to offer CarPlay on any of its vehicles in the United States, going back on being one of the first partners to announce CarPlay support last year.

John Hanson, the national manager of Toyota’s advanced technology communications, told the New York Times that while it talks frequently with Apple, Toyota currently has no plans to adopt CarPlay in the United States, but didn't necessarily rule it out in the future.

Apple airing new commercial ahead of the Oscars which showcases iPad use in filmmaking

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2016

Ahead of the annual Academy Awards ceremony tonight, Apple has started airing a new television commercial which highlights iPad use in filmmaking.

Titled ‘Make a film with iPad,’ the 30-second spot is narrated by director Martin Scorsese, widely regarded as one of the most significant and influential filmmakers in cinema history.

Unsurprisingly, the Oscars ad has been shot entirely on the iPad Air 2. The video closes with the ‘Everything changes with iPad’ tagline that was also used in Apple's previous iPad commercial, aired on the day of the Grammy Awards, which highlights how tablet can be used as a music-creation tool.

Google planning to show better Apple Pay competitor in May

Jake Smith ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

Google is working to revamp its Google Wallet service available for Android devices, after the growth of Apple Pay in its early days, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The Journal lays out the search giant's plans, including word that it's working to unveil a new version of Google Wallet in late May at the Google I/O developer conference.

Calcbot 2 launches as a freemium app with all-new look and new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2015

Tweetbot developer Tapbots has released Calcbot 2 in the App Store. The intelligent calculator app is now completely free for everyone, has no ads whatsoever and, among other perks, has been revamped from the ground up for iOS 8.

The refresh software brings out a brand new favorites system which replaces the somewhat confusing memory keys, includes an iCloud-sync'd history in portrait mode alongside the calculator and other perks.

Sprint unveils new $90 per month plan with 12GB of shared data for up to ten lines

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 1, 2017

Friday, United States wireless carrier Sprint kicked off a new promotion offering customers up to ten lines of shared unlimited talk and text and twelve gigabytes of LTE data in exchange for $90 per month.

Also, the data access charge for phones on the $90 Family Share Pack plan went from $25 to $15.

The aggressively priced plan, Sprint insists, is a better value than comparable offerings from rivals AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile. The carrier says the promotion is available until March 12, 2015.

Apple reportedly launching iOS Public Beta program next month

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2015

“Multiple people briefed on the plans” told 9to5Mac's well-connected Mark Gurman that Apple could soon launch the first-ever public beta program for its mobile operating system in an effort to help eradicate bugs that have traditionally plagued major iOS releases, especially iOS 8.

Tim Cook & Co. are said to release upcoming iOS 8.3 code-named Stowe as a public beta through the existing AppleSeed program in mid-March, matching the third iOS 8.3 beta for developers expected to release the same week.

Virgin Mobile no longer selling iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 20, 2015

Virgin Mobile appears to be getting out of the iPhone business as the handset is no longer available through the carrier's online store nor can any iPhone model be found using the search function, Zac Hall of 9to5Mac reported Friday.

Although the company provided no explanation for the move, the writing has been on the wall ever since the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were released last fall, with Virgin offering limited-to-no iPhone stock and treating would-be shoppers to an “out of stock” message.

New Apple Store in China has a free-floating second floor

Jake Smith ∙ February 19, 2015

On the surface, Apple's new store in Hangzhou, China doesn't look a lot different from other Apple Stores around the world - there's plenty of glass to be found and wooden tables that house plenty of Apple products. However at a closer glance, the latest Apple Store designed by Foster + Partners is quite an architectural feat.

Apple looking to strike funding deal with Japan Display for new factory

Jake Smith ∙ February 19, 2015

Japan news source Nikkan reports that Apple is in talks with Japan Display to fund a new factory in the region that will be responsible for manufacturing LCD displays for iOS devices. Exact details are said to still be in the works, but the funding is said to be somewhere around 200 billion yen (roughly $1.7 billion).