Apple

Russian Online Store back for business with pricier products

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 22, 2014

After being offline for six days straight, the Russia Online Apple Store went back online Monday with expectedly higher price points for the latest iPhones and other products as a direct result of the country's collapsing ruble currency.

The latest iPhone 6, for example, is now a whopping 54 percent pricier compared to Apple's previous asking prices before the store went offline and will now set would-be shoppers 53,990 rubles for an entry-level model with sixteen gigabytes of storage, which works out to about $984 off-contract and excluding taxes.

Google+ gains iPhone 6 support, iOS 8 Share extension and polls

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 22, 2014

Google's official iOS client for the company's social network, Google+, has finally received a refresh for the new iPhones, more than three months after the handsets have hit stores.

In addition to native support for the new 1,334-by-750 and 1,920-by-1,080 screen resolutions of the new iPhones, the updated software brings a useful Share extension allowing you to send stuff to Google+ from other apps, the ability to vote on polls embedded in Google+ posts and bug fixes.

Disney World confirms accepting Apple Pay beginning December 24

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Disney World confirmed this morning that it will be accepting Apple Pay starting Wednesday, Dec. 24.

Supporting Apple's mobile payment solution by Disney's theme park empire in time for the holidays will allow visitors who own an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus to use it to make contactless payments.

Apple Pay will be accepted in most Disney World stores, quick service restaurants, bars and to purchase tickets.

Apple spent $56 billion on stock buybacks this year

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple was the biggest buyback spender among the S&P 500 this year, according to MarketWatch. Citing data from FactSet, the outlet reports the iPhone-maker has bought back more than $56 billion worth of shares from stockholders in 2014.

That's a staggering amount, especially when you consider that the company that came in second place among buyback spenders in 2014, IBM, only spent $19.2 billion. Apple spent almost that much ($18.6 billion) during its first quarter this year.

Apple Pay now 1.7% of mobile payments market, most popular at Whole Foods

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple Pay now accounts for 1.7 percent of the mobile payments market after its launch on October 20, still lagging behind Google Wallet's 4 percent share of the market, according to ITG research picked up by MarketWatch.

Facebook Messenger gains read receipts, fresh holiday content and a huge speed boost

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2014

Facebook-owned WhatsApp quietly introduced blue-ticked read confirmations in its mobile iPhone app a month and a half ago and now the social networking behemoth has refreshed its backend to bring read receipts to Messenger for iOS and Android.

And with Christmas around the corner, the company is helping us celebrate the upcoming festivities by adding holiday-themed content to Messenger like fresh sticker packs, a new festive frame and more.

As if that wasn't enough, Facebook's engineers have done a lot of work under the hood to make the app more fluid and responsive than ever before.

Facebook launches Stickered, a Messenger companion app

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2014

There's a brand new app from Facebook in town and it's hitting iOS real soon. Having launched on Android today, Stickered is a companion app for Messenger which allows you to add some fun stickers to a photo before sending it to a friend on Messenger.

The first companion app for Messenger, the lightweight Stickered app should make it easy and fun to pick a photo and then resize and slap a sticker on top.

T-Mobile agrees to pay $90 million to settle with FTC over unwanted charges

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2014

Following a complaint that the United States Federal Trade Commission filed over T-Mobile this summer over fraudulent services, the Deutsche Telekom-owned wireless carrier today announced it has agreed to pay $90 million to settle cramming accusation. Carrier cramming, a form of fraud popular among major US carriers, results in small charges being added to a bill by a third party without the subscriber's consent or disclosure.

Such unlawful charges typically cover unwanted text message alerts and other services like unauthorized SMS subscriptions for horoscopes, sports scores, ring tones and similar services that cost ten bucks per month or more.

Apps get pricier in Russia over collapsing ruble

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2014

Apple is increasing App Store prices in Russia over the plummeting ruble, the basic monetary unit of the 145 million people country and some other former republics of the USSR, reports 9to5Mac.

So after halting online sales due to the fluctuating currency, now Apple's virtual store is feeling the repercussions of Russia's troubled economy.

Russian ruble, and consequentially the country's economy as a whole, have stagnated for months now due to the falling price of oil and economic sanctions imposed by EU and USA over President Putin's annexation of Crimea.

Top Farm, a FarmVille-like game from Fruit Ninja creators, now available globally

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2014

As Fruit Ninja and the rest of Halfbrick's lineup of paid iOS games has gone free for a limited time, the company on Friday released a brand new iPhone and iPad game in the App Store. Top Farm, a would-be FarmVille killer, actually soft-launched in select markets a year ago and it's now available worldwide.

A free-to-play download, Top Farm is a farm simulation game created by Brazil-based studio Vostu in which you must harvest crops, craft goods and explore new colorful and vibrant lands.

Apple Maps 3D coverage continues with new cities in France, Hungary, Netherlands and Sweden

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

After introducing nine new markets to its three-dimensional Flyover view in its in-house mapping service earlier this month, Apple has now brought 3D aerial imagery along with virtual city tours to three new locations across Europe.

Specifically, customers who live in the city of Strasbourg, Dijon or Millau in France, Hungary's Budapest, Sweden's Malmö or in the city of Rotterdam located in the Netherlands are now able to enjoy a highly-detailed 3D representation of their city or take a City Tour.

Tim Cook ‘deeply offended’ by BBC’s allegations of factory worker mistreatment

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 19, 2014

An undercover documentary released yesterday by the BBC about working conditions in Pegatron's iPhone factories has reportedly sent CEO Tim Cook and the rest of Apple's executive team through the roof, The Telegraph reported Friday.

BBC's investigative report makes fresh allegations about continued poor working conditions at the iPhone manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Shanghai. The documentary's found poor treatment of workers after Apple's stated several times that it’s cleaned up its act.

The full video of the BBC documentary surfaced on YouTube this morning though it's probably going to get taken down soon so we've embedded it for your viewing pleasure.