Apple

Appeals court tosses out VirnetX’s $368 million victory over Apple

Cody Lee ∙ September 16, 2014

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit tossed out a verdict today handed down by a Texas jury in late 2012 that would've forced Apple to pay $368 million to patent holding firm VirnetX. The jury determined that Apple's FaceTime feature infringed on on the firm's intellectual property.

The Wall Street Journal reports this afternoon that the appeals court has ruled that the verdict was "tainted" by erroneous jury instructions in the case and therefore is invalid. It also held that some trial testimony from a VirnetX IP "expert" should have been completely excluded from the case.

Apple launches guide for moving content from your Android phone to iPhone

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple launched a web page on Tuesday guiding new iPhone users on how to move their content from an Android device, just in time for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus' launch on Friday.

The webpage is a first for Apple, as it's usually Android OEMs who have posted similar guides in the past taking jabs at the competition - aka Apple. However with the larger screens on the new iPhones gunning to take market share from Google, Samsung, HTC, Motorola, and others, it's now Apple's turn.

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus may not launch in China until 2015

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple could have to wait until next year to launch the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in China, according to 21st Century Business Herald. The Chinese news site is reporting today that the handsets have failed to receive the necessary approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

If true, this would be a huge blow to Apple, who some believe was hoping to ship as many as 80 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units by the end of the year. China of course has two of the largest carriers in the world, China Mobile and China Unicom, and is an important market for the company.

iCloud web portal again employing two-factor authentication

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Several users have noticed that iCloud.com is once again employing two-factor authentication for users who have activated the security measure. The two-step process first popped up on the iCloud web portal back in June, but the feature was quickly pulled for unknown reasons.

For those unfamiliar with Apple's implementation of two-factor authentication, it requires users to verify their identity via text message or Find My iPhone push notification. It provides an extra layer of security in the event a user's device or Apple ID info becomes compromised.

Some extensions not working yet in iOS 8-optimized apps

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

After announcing last week that iOS 8 will be released to the public on September 17th (that's tomorrow), Apple invited developers to begin submitting their apps and app-updates for the new firmware. In fact, it's already approved a number of iOS 8-optimized apps into the App Store.

But there's a problem that you've probably noticed if you're running a beta version of iOS 8 right now: extensions for many iOS 8 apps aren't working properly. According to MacRumors, the issue seems to be related to code-signing on Apple's end, and it's currently working on a fix.

Apple won’t open iPhone 6 NFC features to developers for at least a year

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The NFC chip found in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will only work with Apple Pay and won't be opened up to developers who make third-party apps, Apple confirmed on Monday.

The pair of smartphones, due to be released Friday after a record amount of pre-orders, are the first devices from Apple to feature NFC technology. Like Touch ID on the iPhone 5s, Apple is keeping a lock on the technology presumably for security purposes.

Apple: new U2 album accessed by 33 million users thus far

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple issued a statement this afternoon from Senior Vice President Eddy Cue regarding its new U2 album promotion. Cue says that over 33 million iTunes account holders have accessed "Songs of Innocence" since the promo launched last week.

Mr. Cue called the number "record-breaking," but didn't elaborate. He did, however, note that the figure includes customers who downloaded the album from their iCloud account, streamed it, or listened to it in iTunes Radio's First Play channel.

Tim Cook already being questioned about Apple Watch and privacy

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen announced this afternoon that he's sent a letter to Tim Cook regarding the new Apple Watch and user privacy. Jepsen wants Cook to explain what data the device will collect, how that data will be stored, and what Apple's policies are on apps that access health information.

Specifically, Jepsen asks whether Apple will allow consumers to store personal/health info on its servers, and if so. how will that information be safeguarded. He also wants to know what kind of data Apple Watch will collect from users, and how it and its developers plan to obtain consent for this collection from users.

Apple seeds Developer Preview 8, Public Beta 3 of OS X Yosemite

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Nearly two weeks after releasing the last beta, Apple has today seeded Developer Preview 8 of OS X Yosemite. The update, version 8 1.0, is available for download to users currently running DP 7 in the Mac App Store, as well as in Apple’s online developer center.

Additionally, Apple has released Public Beta 3 for OS X Yosemite. The Public Beta program began in July, and received its second update late last month. If you're a member of the program, you can find today's release in the 'Updates' tab of the Mac App Store.

Apple creates tool to remove U2’s free album from both your iTunes music library and purchase history

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 2, 2017

After taking some heat over its decision to force the free U2 album, “Songs of Innocence”, onto users' devices last Tuesday, Apple today published a support document and released a tool which removes the album from users' iTunes music library, as well as from their iCloud purchase history.

The decision to give away the Irish rock band's latest album has backfired because having added it to purchase history has automatically downloaded the album for folks with automatic music downloads enabled in Settings.

iLife and iWork apps to come pre-installed on 64/128GB iPhone 6/Plus

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 15, 2014

Customers who've purchased a 64 or 128-gigabyte edition of either the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus won't need to download Apple's iLife and iWork productivity suite when the handset hits store shelves this Friday as the apps will come pre-loaded on their device, according to an internal Apple Retail training document obtained by Dan DeSilva of 9to5Mac.

Apple since last September started providing Pages, Keynote, Numbers, iMovie, GarageBand and iTunes U apps as free downloads to every new iOS device owner.

T-Mobile to add iPhone 6 to ‘Test Drive’ program

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 15, 2014

T-Mobile, the nation's fourth-largest wireless carrier, this past weekend told technology website Re/code that devices upgraded to iOS 8, including the latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones, will be soon available through its 'Test Drive' program. Introduced at its 'Uncarrier 5.0' event back in June, 'Test Drive' allows customers to borrow an iPhone free for a week to test out T-Mobile’s network.