Apple

Snarky comments revealed by Steve Jobs’ testimony in iPod class-action lawsuit

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2014

A decade-old class-action lawsuit over the iPod and Apple's practice of locking the media player to its iTunes ecosystem is kicking off this week and with it comes a videotaped deposition of Steve Jobs, recorded in 2011 shortly before he died.

It's full of snarky comments and as if that wasn't enough, attorneys have unearthed emails between Apple executives and other evidence casting light on the company's inner workings at the time.

The suit revolves around the iPod, iTunes and FairPlay, Apple's digital-rights management (DRM) system for copy-protection of music sold through the iTunes Store. FairPlay was dropped in 2007 following the 'Thoughts on Music' open letter by Steve.

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Kantar: iPhone 6 helps Apple gain share over Android, iPhone 5c outselling iPhone 6 Plus in US

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2014

In the last three months up to October 31, Apple's misunderstood iPhone 5c outsold the iPhone 6 Plus in the United States.

Moreover, overall sales of both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets has bumped up Apple's market share against Android around the world, according to the latest smartphone survey by Kantar Worldpanel, the WPP-owned market researcher.

The research firm reported Wednesday that Apple is poised for a record quarter amid “a huge jump in sales share across almost all major markets” thanks to the new iPhones.

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Apple’s appeal to trademark ‘App Store’ in Australia tossed out of the window

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 3, 2014

It looks like Apple has been unsuccessfully in its appeal to trademark the term ‘App Store’ in Australia on basis that its application does not distinguish the applicant on its own, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported.

According to court documents, Justice Yates on Wednesday ruled that Apple’s appeal be dismissed and that the company pay the court costs of the Registrar of Trade Marks.

To get you up to speed, the Registrar of Trade Marks initially refused to greenlight Apple’s proposed ‘App Store’ trademark in March of last year because it was “too descriptive,” prompting the California firm to appeal the decision in the Federal Court.

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Apple threatens removal of another Notification Center widget from App Store, this time Drafts

Jake Smith ∙ December 2, 2014

Apple is about to force the removal of yet another Notification Center widget from the App Store, this time saying the Today view is for information presentation only and not buttons.

The Drafts 4 app, which contains the widget in question, once enabled users of the app to create new documents by simply pressing a button in Notification Center to launch the text editor app. Not anymore, says Tim Cook and Co. 

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Mozilla planning to develop Firefox for iOS to ‘be where our users are’

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Mozilla has long stayed away from bringing its Firefox web browser to iOS, however it's looking to change its plans to "be where our users are".

The company's release manager, Lukas Bakk, took to Twitter on Tuesday announcing the company will develop Firefox for iOS. He didn't provide word on when it may be released, or if it's even in development yet, but it's definitely comforting words for the Firefox fans out there - which includes our own Sebastien Page. 

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AT&T is out with Emoji Carols

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 2, 2014

In time for the holidays, carrier AT&T unveiled Emoji Carols and it's exactly what it sounds like.

Teaming up with its favorite marketing agency, BBDO Atlanta, good ol' Ma Bell has created the Emoji Carols website which aims to allow anyone to emojify their favorite holiday songs with their own personalized emoji characters.

The nicely done web app invites you to customize your emoji by selecting hair, eyes, nose, skin color and mouth, each available in several pre-made variants that you can select and combine with each other.

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Twitter unveils better reporting and blocking tools

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 2, 2014

Twitter isn't exactly a great example of what you'd call a privacy-minded online service with a wide-ranging set of comprehensive tools to prevent harassment and block poor souls who spew abuse at others.

And who could blame them? At its core, Twitter is about sharing quick thoughts with the web at large. Of course, Twitter over the years did roll out a bare minimum of reporting features.

Now Twitter's privacy capabilities have gotten a tad better. Announced Tuesday, a sweeping update to Twitter's existing reporting and blocking tools calls for simplified forms that mobile users can fill out with easy when reporting abuse, a change to blocking policy, a better web interface to manage blocked users and more.

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Snapchat opens up Geofilters feature to everyone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

Back this summer, Snapchat introduced Geofilters, a set of custom image filters that only work on photos taken in specific geographic locations. Up until now, only Snapchat devs have been able to create these. Tuesday, the company has opened up Geofilters to the community at large.

Now everyone can create interesting images and share them with friends who will be able to see them when they're in a specific location.

Once shared, your little pieces of art will be also available through the newly set up Community Geofilter website.

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Apple TV seen losing ground to Roku and Google’s Chromecast

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 2, 2014

Apple's $99 Apple TV box is reportedly losing ground to rivals in the media streaming space, according to a new study by market research firm Parks Associates shared by CNET.

At a time when as much as ten percent of U.S. households with a broadband connection have bought a media-streaming device in the first nine months of this year, Apple's market share went down to seventeen percent.

As a result of increased competition, the Apple TV fell down to the number three slot, with Roku and Google's Chromecast holding the #1 and #2 slot, respectively.

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Department of Justice compelling smartphone makers to bypass encryption

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 2, 2014

The United States Department of Justice is reportedly pursuing an unusual legal strategy to compel cellphone makers to assist investigations by removing device encryption on iPhones and other mobile devices, according to findings by technology website Ars Technica.

Tapping the All Writs Act, feds want Apple’s help to defeat encrypted phones, as revealed by newly discovered court documents from two federal criminal cases in New York and California.

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