Apple

Microsoft takes on Apple TV and Chromecast with $60 HDMI streaming stick

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Although dated last week, it's relevant so I thought I should share it with you guys. Windows maker Microsoft has introduced an interesting dongle which connects to an external display, projector, monitor or other HDMI-driven display device so you can stream content wirelessly from your phone, tablet or PC.

Much like Apple's AirPlay technology and the $99 Apple TV media-streaming box, Microsoft's $60 HDMI dongle makes it easy to enjoy games and media on your big screen HD TV, no cables needed.

The $59.99 accessory goes on sale next month at Best Buy locations in the U. S.

Apple poaches NFC and mobile payments expert away from Visa to expand Apple Pay in Europe

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple has hired Mary Carol Harris, former Director of Mobile at Visa Europe to help bring the NFC-based Apple Pay mobile payments system to Europe, PaymentEye reported Monday.

She's been with Visa since 2008 and previously headed up NFC at Telefónica, Spain's leading multinational by market cap and one of the largest private telecommunications company in the world.

Introduced alongside new iPhones earlier this month, Apple's mobile payments solution is scheduled to debut in the United States on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in October, and on the Apple Watch early next year, extending the service to over 200 million owners of the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s devices worldwide.

Harris has fourteen year experience in digital and mobile payments, including NFC technology utilized by the Apple Pay. Harris's LinkedIn profile lists her an employee of Apple Europe.

Apple Watch is headed to Paris for Fashion Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple has teamed up with Colette, the famous Parisian boutique, on a promotional event involving a “one day only experience” on September 30 from 11:00am to 7:00pm local time at the at fashion retailer's gallery on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, French blog Macplus reported Monday [Google Translate].

At the same time, members of the company's industrial design team are headed to Paris Fashion Week, vaguely indicating that the company's wearable device, the Apple Watch, could play a role at the semi-annual clothing trade show.

iOS 8.1, iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3 allegedly coming across 2015

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2014

Not one, not two, but three major updates to iOS 8 — iOS 8.1, iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3 — are in tow for 2015, perhaps signaling that Apple is speeding up its iOS development process, Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac reported Monday.

This would represent a break from Apple's practice of releasing a major new iOS version each Fall, followed-up by a substantial update early in the following year.

Gurman was able to confirm the three upcoming iOS 8 releases via “a developer of a major hardware-connected iOS application” who shared with him their analytics, in addition to traces of iOS 8.1, iOS 8.2 and iOS 8.3 spotted in Google Analytics for 9to5Mac.com.

O2 customers can now purchase iTunes credit and have it charged to their wireless bill

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2014

Telefónica-owned UK carrier O2 announced via a press release on Monday that its customers can now buy iTunes credit and have the purchase charged directly to their monthly wireless bill. Furthermore, customers can also purchase iTunes credit by taking it out of their Pay & Go phone credit.

The development is part of Charge to Mobile, an alternative method of payment already used by over a hundred merchants in the United Kingdom through O2’s online and mobile channels. Folks can use Charge to Mobile to pay for digital content, with O2 claiming that its customers have made over ten million transactions to date.

Rumor: Retina iMac in late testing, could launch next month

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

A rumored 27-inch iMac with a Retina screen featuring a “5K” resolution of 5,120-by-2,880 pixels is reportedly in late testing stages within Apple, as first reported Monday morning by Jack March and corroborated by 9to5Mac.

The reported “5K” resolution would quadruple pixel count versus the 2,560-by-1,440 resolution panel on the current 27-inch iMac model. To drive all those pixels, Apple is said to outfit the forthcoming all-in-one desktop with AMD's pro-grade graphics utilized on the late-2013 Mac Pro, as opposed to Nvidia GPU’s powering the current iMac lineup.

Waze gains car-parking features and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2014

Waze, the popular GPS-based maps and traffic app that Google purchased for undisclosed sum in June of 2013, has received an update Monday bringing out half a dozen new features and improvements, including enhancements related to remembering where you parked your car.

A free update, Waze 3.9 lets you add driving related information if a place has a parking lot or drive-thru. The app also saves your parking location so it's now a lot easier to find your vehicle in the parking lot.

Safari on iOS 8 found to support animated PNGs

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2014

Safari on iOS 8 has been found to support animated PNG images (APNG), a standard conceived as a replacement for animated GIF, as discovered by MacRumors on Monday.

The Animated Portable Network Graphics file format was proposed in 2004, but failed to take off as a replacement for the animated GIF file format widely used to embed short animations online.

Unlike animated GIFs, APNG files support 24-bit images and 8-bit transparency not available for GIFs.

iOS 8’s predictive QuickType keyboard found to suggest parts of your passwords [updated]

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2014

QuickType, Apple's new predictive keyboard featured on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 8, is reportedly plagued with a potentially dangerous oversight where the software would suggest parts of your passwords that you previously used on websites, as first reported by French-language blog iGen.fr [Google Translate].

A new thread on Apple's Support Communities website includes a note by one user who reported the keyboard offering “OrangeJuice” as a suggestion each time he would type in “AppleUser” because QuickType remembered the “OrangeJuice!2” password he previously used to log in to Outlook Web App.

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus said to launch in China on October 10

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 28, 2014

Hot on the heels of reports that Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were nearing approval for sale in China, a new report yesterday asserted that the new handsets are now scheduled to hit store shelves in the 1.33 billion people market on Friday, October 10.

According to an internal memo obtained by TechWeb [Google Translate], Apple's retail staff will receive their training material on October 7, giving them three days to familiarize themselves with talking points and features of Apple's flagship phones.

PDF Expert 5 and Documents 5 updated with iCloud Drive, Touch ID and other enhancements

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 28, 2014

Yesterday, Ukrainian developer Readdle released a pretty big update to its PDF Expert 5 and Documents 5, apps that let you edit, annotate and manage PDFs and other documents on your iPhone and iPad.

I wanted to share a few key improvements with you quickly because the app's now a showcase example of how iOS 8 enables a whole new level of inter-app integration.

A free update to existing owners, PDF Expert 5.2 features a number of enhancements, including a few iOS 8 exclusives such as support for iCloud Drive document storage and Touch ID authentication to unlock the app instead of a regular passcode.

Consumer Reports: new iPhones ‘not as bendy as believed’

Cody Lee ∙ September 27, 2014

Consumer Reports says the new iPhones "aren't as bendy as believed," after testing both handsets, alongside other top smartphones. Using a three-point flexural test, the outlet found that the iPhone 6 can withstand 70 pounds of pressure before deforming, and the 6 Plus can take up to 90.

That was good enough to beat HTC's One (M8)—which makes this bendgate tweet a bit ironic—but both iPhones still finished well behind the LG G3 and Samsung's Note 3. The bottom line, though, is Consumer Reports says it expects "that any of these phones should stand up to typical use."