Apple

Apple Pay has gained several new bank and retail partners in recent weeks

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple on Tuesday told The New York Times that it has signed up "dozens more banks, retail stores and start-ups to adopt Apple Pay" in recent weeks. The mobile payment service launched in October with a handful of official partners, and has been adding new ones on a near-weekly basis.

This latest round of additions includes Associated Bank, BB&T, Commerce Bank, TD Bank North America, UW Credit Union and 5 other institutions. Apple says that with the new partners, Apple Pay now supports the cards that represent ~90% of the credit card purchase volume in the US.

Apple did not harm consumers with iTunes’ FairPlay digital rights management, ruling finds

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 16, 2014

Apple's proprietary digital rights management software, FairPlay, that prevented users from loading songs from rival music stores on early iPods, did not harm consumers nor did it violate the United States antitrust laws, an eight-person jury has determined.

As reported by The Verge, the jurors have sided with Apple in a decade-long suit and have not found Apple guilty of exploiting FairPlay DRM as a lock-in preventing rival music stores from syncing with iPods. Though the iPhone maker is off the hook now, an appeal will be filed with a higher court.

Opera Coast 4.0 is now live with Discover, Turbo Compression, Coast Cards and Handoff

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2018

Opera Coast, a minimalist browser that Opera Software launched for the iPhone back in April (and released on the iPad in September 2013) has received a substantial update on Tuesday bringing out four new features.

For starters, the app now supports Apple's Handoff technology (requires iCloud, iOS 8, Yosemite and Bluetooth 4.0) so you can start browsing on your iPhone or iPad and continue right where you left off in your OS X browser, be it Safari, Opera or whatever app happens to be set as your default Mac browser.

And if you own an iPhone 6 Plus, the elegant Coast app will delight you with its all-new two-pane landscape mode support. Jump past the fold for other enhancements in Coast 4.0.

Google refreshes Photo Sphere Camera with better image quality, new library organization and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 16, 2014

Following its App Store debut four months ago, Google's Photo Sphere Camera has been bumped to version 1.1.

The useful photography software which allows anyone with an iPhone 4s or higher to create panoramic images now features enhanced image quality when creating 360-degree images on an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.

Additionally, the library view now separates private from public panoramas and the built-in map has been upgraded so that you can expand or contract it as needed.

Apple halts online sales in Russia due to ‘extreme’ currency fluctuations

Cody Lee ∙ December 16, 2014

Apple has halted all online sales in Russia this morning, due to "extreme" fluctuations in the country's ruble currency, reports Bloomberg. Spokesman Alan Hely told the outlet that the company has decided to shutter the store while it "reviews pricing,” and it “apologizes to customers for any inconvenience.”

The Russian economy has been in trouble for months, but things have gotten significantly worse in recent days due in large part to the falling price of oil and economic sanctions. The ruble has plummeted a staggering 19% within the last 24 hours—the worst single day drop for the currency in the last 16 years.

Instagram adds five new filters, Slow-Mo video uploading and more in iPhone app update

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 16, 2014

Instagram, a Facebook-owned mobile photography service, today issued an update adding five new filters to its iOS and Android app.

In addition, the popular software has gained a couple handy enhancements such as the ability to upload Slo-Mo video content as well as real-time comments, photo perspective adjustments, a customizable filter tray with live previews and more.

Inspired by the photography, art, fashion and design, the five new subtle filters available in Instagram 6.4 are being marketed as the company's best yet and include: Slumber, Crema, Ludwig, Aden and Perpetua.

Electronic Arts releases SimCity BuildIt on App Stores worldwide

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 16, 2014

Following a soft-launch in select App Stores weeks ago, Electronic Arts' SimCity BuildIt is now available worldwide.

The freemium iPhone and iPad game, the latest installment in the popular city-building franchise, lets you build a city of your dreams, with the choices you make evolving your city in a variety of ways. Graphics look great, especially with simulated night and day, and the game includes the usual assortment of challenges to solve such as traffic, fires and pollution.

As a mayor on a mission to keep his or her citizens happy, you'll need to keep basic city services running. Jump past the fold for the full reveal.

Samsung allegedly taking on Apple Pay with ubiquitous solution powered by LoopPay

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Re/code is reporting that Samsung is prepping a response to Apple Pay in the form of its own mobile payment solution that doesn't require NFC and should support virtually 100 percent of credit cards and payment terminals.

The service should be announced sometime in 2015 as the South Korean giant is reportedly in talks with the Burlington, Massachusetts based mobile payments startup LoopPay about possibly incorporating their technology into its wireless mobile payment system.

Google Wallet for iPhone adds Touch ID and iPhone 6 support, more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 16, 2014

The Internet giant Google has upped the ante in the mobile payment arena with Tuesday's refresh to its Wallet iOS app. The new version brings out support for Touch ID allowing owners of the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3 and the iPhone 5s and onward to unlock the app with their finger.

And with native display support for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus display resolutions, the app now takes full advantage of the screen real estate available to owners of Apple's latest handsets.

Google’s iOS app picks up Nest integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 15, 2014

Following a recent refresh with Material Design, iPhone 6 support and Maps in search results, Google's main search client for iOS and Android today gained the ability to interact with your Nest smart thermostat, along with other Nest-branded devices for the connected home, using Google Now voice commands.

Replicating some of the functionality provided by Nest's own iPhone application, Google's native search app for the iPhone and iPad takes advantage of voice input and Now cards to help control your Nest hardware.

Just fire up the app and either tap the mic or say "Ok Google" to get started. This is a silent feature upgrade on the backend so no download is required.

Foursquare finally launches iPad app

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 15, 2014

The Foursquare app is at last available on the iPad! The freshly released update takes full advantage of the iPad's bigger canvas and increased screen resolution, so you'll now see more content and scroll less when browsing Foursquare content on your Apple tablet.

It’s focused on helping you plan smarter with a personalized list of all the great places for a chosen city. Plus, it's a lot easier now to save anything to your itinerary with a tap.

The team's added another new section dedicated to all the top picks in your area. Tapping Foursquare’s vast database of crowdsourced locations and check-ins, it suggests places that are newly popular, up-and-coming and local mainstays.

The app was updated back in September with full support for iOS 8 and Interactive Notifications with the ability to save, like and follow right from the notification.

And yes, it looks great on the bigger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus screens.

Massive Kindle update adds Book Browser on iPad, Goodreads integration and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 15, 2014

Just in time for the holidays, Amazon on Monday issued a massive update to its Kindle mobile client for the iOS platform, bringing out integration with the Goodreads recommendation engine, an all new Book Browser allowing iPad users to retrieve additional information about the books with personalized book sample suggestions to download and read.

Other highlights of this update include the ability to start playing Audible audiobooks as they're downloading with progressive playback, book details in the Library, the Next In Series information and so forth.