Apple

Apple’s online store down ahead of iPhone 6 pre-orders

Apple has just taken its online store down, ahead of the pre-order launch for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Beginning at 12:01 am Pacific Time, or 3:01 am Eastern Time tomorrow, customers will be able to place pre-orders for both of the handsets.

Apple unveiled the 6 and 6 Plus at a major media event on Tuesday, announcing that both models have bigger screens than any other iPhone before them. The iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch display, and the iPhone 6 Plus has a larger 5.5-inch display.

Apple to allow in-store pickups for iPhone 6 pre-orders

It looks like Apple will be giving folks who pre-order the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus the option to pick up their devices in-store, rather than having to wait for them to be shipped to their houses. The retail iPhone page on Apple's website invites users to pre-order the new handset, and choose to "have it shipped to you for free, or pick it up in store."

Bicolor goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Folks who missed the opportunity to grab Bicolor when it was offered for free in the Apple Store app will be happy to hear that it's gone on sale again. Apple is offering the popular game for free from now through next Thursday as part of its App of the Week promotion.

For those unfamiliar with the title, Bicolor is a deceptively-complex puzzler that tasks players with solving 240 handmade puzzles. In each level you must figure out how to draw a path with one color, and then cover it up with another using the right amount of moves.

iCloud Drive and Settings web apps go live on iCloud Beta, we go hands-on

As we count down the remaining days until the September 17 public release of iOS 8, Apple is busy updating a beta version of the iCloud web interface with a pair of newly-added web applications: iCloud Drive and Settings.

iCloud Drive is especially interesting as a web-based fronted for Apple's file-hosting service which can be accessed through a desktop web browser on any Internet-connected computer.

Though not as fully-featured as, say, Dropbox's web interface, iCloud Drive provides basic features to manage that cloud-based storage of yours, browse the file structure, as well as add, remove and download files.

Both web applications are available after logging in to beta.icloud.com.

Apple dispatching Greg Joswiak to speak at inaugural Code/Mobile conference next month

Greg Joswiak, Apple's Vice President of iPod, iPhone and iOS Product Marketing, will be speaking at the inaugural Code/Mobile conference next month, Re/code confirmed today.

“Joz,” as he is called by friends and colleagues, will be sharing details on Apple's latest product announcements, the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Pay and Apple Watch.

He's also expected to talk about iOS 8 and more.

EA confirms SimCity BuildIt coming to iOS

Electronic Arts, the world's top games publisher, announced yesterday that it's readying SimCity BuildIt, the latest installment in the popular city-building franchise, for Apple's iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Once again, the game will task you with building a city of your dreams, with the choices you make evolving your city in a variety of ways.

“Meet your citizens’ needs to keep them happy, or make questionable choices and feel your citizens’ wrath,” the company wrote. Pricing and availability information will be publicized in due time.

Poll: will you pre-order or buy your iPhone 6 in store?

Apple will start accepting pre-orders for the newly-introduced iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus tomorrow, September 12, a full week before the device is scheduled to land on store shelves the next Friday, September 19.

Busy folks may opt to have their phones delivered to their doorsteps while others may prefer the excitement of launch day festivities and mingling with like-minded fans at one of Apple's brick and mortar stores.

Are you going to pre-order your iPhone 6 from the comfort or your home or will you waltz inside your nearest carrier or Apple Store on September 19 at 8am?

Concept imagines round Apple Watch

The Apple Watch has been long in the making so it doesn't come as a surprise that resident critics would scratch their head over its square design as soon as Apple took the wraps off the $349 device on Tuesday.

But what it the Apple Watch was round like the $249 Moto 360, sans Motorola's bezel chin at the bottom? That's precisely the kind of question that a set of gorgeous conceptual renderings designed and shared on Facebook by Alcion strive to answer.

Samsung ads lampoon iPhone 6 screen, battery, multitasking, Apple Watch and more

Galaxy maker Samsung on Thursday published a series of advertisements on its YouTube channel. The commercials have been designed to ridicule Apple's latest announcements.

The six-installment series, which Samsung is running under the 'Note The Difference' tagline, targets pretty much everything, from Apple's botched live stream to the iPhone 6's screen size, multitasking and battery life to  — funny you should ask — the star of the show: the Apple Watch.

I've included the videos for your viewing pleasure right after the break so watch them now and join us in comments.

Viber rolls out video calling

Viber, the once promising VoIP service, on Thursday introduced video calling across its mobile apps for the iOS and Android platforms.

Now available in the App Store as a free download, the new Viber 5.0 lets you place or receive video calls over Wi-Fi and cellular networks to your Viber contacts who use the service on their smartphones or desktop.

This release also includes enhancements to stickers, improvements for adding friends, better media forwarding and more.

Apple’s free U2 album is automatically appearing in your Music app

U2's first studio album in five years, Songs of Innocence, is automatically appearing on users' iPhone and iPads on Wednesday evening, following Apple CEO Tim Cook announcing it will be available for free on iTunes, only from Apple until October 13th. You may have thought you'd get to choose if you'd want to place the album in your iOS device's Music app. But no, when we say automatically we mean automatically.

Apple facing delays launching iPhone 6 models in China, still hasn’t gained approval

Apple informed the top-three carriers in China on Wednesday it would not be offering the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on September 19, leaving them caught off-guard, the New York Times reported. China is seen as the company's fastest growing market, so it's definitely an odd move, as China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and customers in the area are eagerly awaiting the launch alongside the US and other countries worldwide.