Apple

Apple awarded patent for snap-on iPhone game controller with support for head-to-head gaming

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 27, 2015

As first discovered by AppleInsider, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this morning awarded Apple a patent for a snap-on gaming accessory for the iPhone which imagines physical button controls such as miniature joysticks, action buttons and directional D-pads positioned at left and right of the screen.

The patent No. 8,939,838 titled “Accessory for playing games with a portable electronic device” even envisions added extras such as an additional multitouch display, cameras, microphones and speakers to elevate the experience.

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Pandora’s iOS revamp launches with Thumb History, new mini player and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 26, 2015

The iPhone edition of Pandora Radio, a music streaming service with more than 75 million listeners each month, has just received a visual makeover. The company previewed it almost two months ago, though the iPad edition hasn't been refreshed today.

Version 5.7 of Pandora Radio sports a cleaned-up appearance with fancy new transitions and animations. In addition to the facelift, the iPhone app also includes enhanced station personalization capabilities, improved artist discovery, greater use of thumbing and much more.

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iCloud.com’s Photos web app gets image zoom function and sharing via email

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 26, 2015

German enthusiast blog iFun.de has spotted a pair of useful additions concerning the Photos web app on iCloud.com.

Two new features, which were added over the weekend, let you zoom in on an image via a new slider in the toolbar and send photos as email attachments directly from the web UI.

Previously, sharing via email was a tedious multi-step process where you had to download a photo to your computer before attaching it to an email message using a third-party desktop email application or a webmail service.

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Tweetbot for Mac returns to Mac App Store

Jake Smith ∙ January 26, 2015

Tapbots, the maker of popular third-party Twitter application Tweebot, has brought back the application to the Mac App Store after pulling it over the weekend.

"We've worked with Twitter to resolve Tweetbot for Mac authentication issues," Tapbots said in a tweet on Monday. "The app should be back on the Mac App Store soon." 

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Second Yosemite update looms: Wi-Fi fixes, iCloud Drive in Time Machine and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 26, 2015

Despite all the talk of a problematic decline in software quality, Apple is feeling your pain and isn't standing still.

Currently in testing, a second update to OS X Yosemite is due later this week. First of all, Mac OS X 10.10.2 apparently squashes that annoying bug which manifests itself annoyingly as intermittent Wi-Fi issues.

Another one resolves a bug preventing your Mac from reconnecting to a Wi-Fi network after waking from sleep, causing you to manually disable and re-enable Wi-Fi, which gets old fast.

Next, iCloud Drive should be now accessible directly in Time Machine, including the ability to track changes to files and documents.

Moreover, 10.10.2 prevents the so-called ‘Thunderstrike’ hardware exploit which targets Macs equipped with high-bandwidth Thunderbolt ports and also includes other important fixes.

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Cutting the cord gets real: $20 per month Sling TV service rolling out

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 26, 2015

Better late than never — at last it's possible to get premium entertainment without having to become a cable subscriber.

Sling TV, Dish's new web-based subscription service, promises a revolution: in exchange for a flat fee of twenty bucks per month, it taps the Internet to deliver a package of ESPN and a bunch of other premium live feeds to a plethora of different devices, no contract and no commitment required, Re/code reported Monday.

The staggered roll-out begins today: just register on the Sling.com website and wait patiently for that invite to hit your inbox (they'll start sending them at midnight). The service will be “widely available in the next couple weeks.”

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1Password gains Login Creator, one-time Password tool with 2-step verification support and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

1Password, the popular password-manager application for iOS and OS X, has just received a nice refresh in the App Store and Mac App Store, respectively.

Available as a freemium download, 1Password 5.2 brings out a new Login Creator feature available to all users, a one-time Password tool for Pro users, a bunch of syncing improvements and several other enhancements that improve your experience.

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Apple closing TestFlight for new iTunes Connect-based system

Jake Smith ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple has begun sending emails to inform legacy TestFlight users that the service will be closing down on February 26, 2015, following Apple's purchase of TestFlight's parent company close to a year ago.

Apple is moving TestFlightApp.com users to its all-new TestFlight Beta Testing found in iTunes Connect. Apps won't be instantly transferred to the new service, app developers will need to set up their apps for the new TestFlight Beta Testing in iTunes Connect.

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Apple’s new store in China is all-glass cylinder covered by another breathtaking mural

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 30, 2015

New SVP of Retail and former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts said Apple's retail presence in China is going to expand from 15 to 40 stores within two years.

And one of the new stores is opening this Sunday in Chongqing, a major metropolis in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities in the 1.33 billion people country.

Scheduled to open at 10am local time on Sunday, January 31, the store is officially called Jiefangbei. It's even more gorgeous than the Pudong store in Shanghai and marks Apple's second flagship outlet that uses its patented cylindrical glass entrance design.

Apple posted a video posted to its Chinese retail website ahead of grand opening. In it, the firm details a collaboration between China-based artist Yangyang Pan and US-based photographer and engineer Navid Baraty who joined forces to create a breathtaking mural art for the store.

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