Apple

U2’s Bono says Apple has 885 million iTunes accounts, talks new music format

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2014

Paul David Hewson aka Bono Vox (also known by his stage name Bono), the frontman of the Dublin-based rock band U2, revealed that Apple now has an astounding 885 million iTunes accounts in an interview Monday with Dave Fanning on the Irish radio station 2FM.

Moreover, he shed more light on the rumored new music format designed to revitalize stagnant digital downloads. The 54-year-old rocker also said he complained to Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs five years ago that the iTunes application “looks like a spreadsheet” and more.

Google updates Chrome for iOS with support for App Extensions in Share menu

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2014

The Internet giant Google on Monday issued a minor update to its Chrome browser for the iPhone and iPad adding support for the new third-party App Extensions in iOS 8 using the multi-purpose Share sheet.

This allows you to download apps which advertise their own extensions and actions to the system, making them available in any app that makes use of the standard Share menu, Chrome included.

This edition of Google's web browser also includes iOS 8 compatibility as well as stability improvements and bug fixes.

Apple announces record-smashing ten million iPhone 6/Plus opening weekend sales

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 22, 2014

After announcing record pre-orders for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus topping four million units in the first 24 hours, the Cupertino firm on Monday said it sold ten million units of both the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 during the opening weekend, including the four million units sold in the first 24 hours of preorder sales.

The figure breaks the previous record of nine million units in the first three days of availability held by the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c last year (the iPhone 5 sold five million unit during its opening weekend).

It must be noted that the iPhone 5s was not available for pre-order. On the other hand, unlike last year's iPhone launch, this time around the iPhone 6 has not launched immediately in China, Apple's second-largest market by revenue.

The new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were announced on September 9 and Apple started accepting pre-orders on Friday, September 12. This past Friday, September 19, the handset hit Apple and carrier stores across the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Where did your iOS 8 Camera Roll go?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

Following Wednesday's public release of iOS 8 and today's launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the Apple Support Forums are already buzzing with disgruntled users who are venting their frustration with iOS 8 presumably removing some of their photos, a point driven home by the company's inexplicable removal of the Camera Roll album in iOS 8.

Indeed, it looks like Apple has introduced a major customer pain point by not elaborating whether the missing Camera Roll has anything to do with iOS 8's newly gained ability to access large photo libraries in iCloud within the Photos app.

So, where did your Camera Roll go and is there anything sensible to be done about it?

Apple updates iCloud for Windows utility with iCloud Drive integration in Windows Explorer

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 19, 2014

Apple on the iPhone 6 launch day Friday issued an updated version of its iCloud utility for Windows users with support for iCloud Drive and the ability to manage your cloud documents and upload/download files directly from Windows Explorer.

iCloud Drive can also be accessed in any desktop browser through the web interface at iCloud.com.

Photographer tests iPhone 6/Plus cameras, Focus Pixels, Exposure Control, OIS and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 19, 2014

As Apple's iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus hit store shelves in the United States and a few major markets around the world, first hands-on videos are appearing online (and let's not forget about torture tests, too).

Teaming up with The Verge, professional photographer Austin Mann put the handsets' enhanced cameras through the paces on beautiful locations in Iceland.

He took a series of photographs and videos that do an excellent job showing off improvements such as the new Focus Pixels, manual Exposure Control, higher-resolution Panorama photography, Slo-Mo video enhancements and Optical Image Stabilization.

The results are quite impressive: the more accurate sensor, Apple's enhanced signal image processor inside the A8 chip and iOS 8's software improvements enable noticeably sharper images, despite the same eight-megapixel camera resolution.

Google’s Search for iOS app gains Google Now traffic info and TV recommendations, more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 19, 2014

The Internet giant Google on Friday refreshed its native Google Search application for the iPhone and iPad with enhancements to the built-in Google Now feature in the form of new cards for personalized TV recommendations and traffic information.

Furthermore, version 4.2 of Google Search for iOS now includes better Chromecast integration allowing owners of the $35 HDMI dongle to ask Google “what’s on Chromecast?” to open the Chromecast for iPhone app and start casting.

First iPhone 6 drop-test videos surface

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

As Apple Stores around the world opened this morning to the legions of fans and early adopters eager to get their hands on the company's new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets, enthusiasts have already recorded first drop-test videos that provide non-scientific evidence as to whether the new phones are more easily damaged versus the previous models. I've included a nice drop-test video by YouTube users PhoneBuff who was among the first customers at Apple's retail store in Australia.

I've also put in another clip of a brand spanking new iPhone 6 slipping out of its packaging and slamming onto the concrete — as the cameras were rolling — much to the horror of its proud owner.

TeeVee 3 updated with iOS 8 Today widget, interactive alerts and now free

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

TeeVee 3, a TV show-tracking app that I reviewed in May by Tomas Perzl of the Czech Republic and Slovakia-based CrazyApps Team, now lets you tweet out upcoming episodes or mark the ones you've seen as watched, directly from the notification itself, and also see which shows are coming next in the Today view of the iOS Notification Center, thanks to its iOS 8-focused update released yesterday.

Other new features available in this excellent iPhone and iPad app include new sorting options (Alphabetically, Reverse, AirDate and Unwatched), the ability to delete a show by long-pressing it in the list and several bug fixes.

As a cherry on top, the team has decided to discount the $2.99 app to zero bucks, for a limited time, in an effort to bring in new customers. If you're going to grab the latest TeeVee 3.1 update, please keep in mind that the app now requires iOS 8.

Twitter’s iPhone app gains interactive notifications on iOS 8, revamps profile pages

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 18, 2014

Twitter, the popular micro-blogging service, is rolling out a brand new profile experience on Twitter for iPhone, in addition to another cool new feature — support for interactive notifications for incoming tweets on iOS 8 devices — the startup announced in a blog post Thursday.

While the new profiles will be available for everyone using iOS 7 or above, the ability to interact with alerts on the Lock and Home screen is not because this capability is part of the great new features available only in iOS 8.

The survival guide to waiting in line for iPhone 6

Sébastien Page ∙ September 18, 2014

We're almost there, folks! After months of rumors, speculations, and leaks from "sources familiar with the matter," iPhone 6 will be launching tomorrow Friday at 8am. For many of us, this is arguably one of the most exciting days of the year. If you have pre-ordered your iPhone 6, then you'll likely be waiting for it from the comfort of your home, or maybe it will just be waiting for you at the door when you come back from work.

But for those of us who haven't pre-ordered and opted to get in line to pick up an iPhone 6, some decisions have to be made, and a game plan has to be drawn. Today, I'll share with you some of the things I've learned from waiting in line for an Apple product several years in a row. This is not rocket science, but it might as well be.