Find out how to personalize your iPhone or iPad by changing its name to make it easily identifiable and give it a unique touch.
How to change your iPhone or iPad device name
Apple
Runtastic Pro is temporarily free in Apple Store app
Runtastic Pro, which normally sells for $4.99, has gone free exclusively through Apple's free Apple Store application for the iPhone and iPad (not to be confused with the App Store). The official Apple Store app is a sleek and awesome way to browse thousands of products carried on Apple's online and brick-and-mortar stores. It also offers exclusive deals: not just to Apple Store visitors, but to anyone who has downloaded the software to their device.
Case in point: last week, the gorgeous Rise Alarm Clock went free in the Apple Store software. This week, the app is offering Runtastic Pro free for a limited time. Again, this offer is exclusive to the Apple Store app: Runtastic Pro still costs money if you download it directly from the App Store. With that off my chest, here's how you can redeem your free copy of Runtastic Pro in the Apple Store app...
Uber mobile apps gain turn-by-turn navigation and destination entry features
Uber, the popular venture-backed ride-sharing service, today announced a pair of useful new additions to its strong arsenal of mobile features, aimed at both drivers and users.
Uber customers can now add a desired destination into the free rider app that the driver will see at pick-up time.
And if you're a driver using Uber to find customers, Uber's driver app now supports turn-by-turn navigation for the destination customers have provided in the rider app...
iOS email client Dispatch gains 10 new actions, adds new features
Dispatch, the popular TextExpander-enabled, action-based email client for the iPhone and iPod touch, has received a major update adding nearly a dozen new features and ten new actions for your emails while fixing a ton of bugs.
Dispatch 2.1, available free in the App Store to existing owners, is one of the most efficient iPhone email clients.
For those unfamiliar with Dispatch, the app makes it ridiculously easy to triage your emails and get rid of ones you don't need by swiping, respond faster with snippets and much more...
Amazon unveils iOS-compatible Local Register card reader
Taking the likes of PayPal Here and Square head on, the online retail giant Amazon today unveiled an iOS-connected credit card reader. Dubbed the Local Register, the accessory allows iPhone and iPad owners to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover credit and debit cards on their device.
The tiny dongle connects to an iOS device via the headphone jack and has a magnetic stripe that reads data from your credit card and transfers it securely to the device as an audio waveform.
A free mobile app then verifies payment information and completes the transaction using Amazon's processing backend. Amazon is savagely undercutting both Square and PayPal with lower transaction fees, starting at just 1.75 percent per swipe...
Rumor: iPhone 6 enters product validation testing ahead of full blown mass production
According to a Chinese source, Apple's iPhone 6 has now entered the so-called Product Validation Test phase, indicating that mass production is looming around the corner.
Product Validation Test, or PVT, is typically carried out on first engineering prototypes in order to ensure that the basic unit performs to Apple's exacting design goals and specifications.
Apple along with its favorite contract manufacturer, Taiwan-based Foxconn, is now reportedly producing a very limited run of iPhone 6 units for a final quality control. During this phase, the assembly lines are running at full speed to detect any potential issues that may hinder the assembly process and ensure that quality control standards have been properly implemented ahead of mass production...
Newly updated Facebook for iOS cuts crash rate in half
Facebook late today issued a maintenance update to its primary iPhone and iPad client.
Listing only "bug fixes", Facebook 13.1 would have probably slipped by unnoticed if it weren't for a post over at the official Facebook Engineering blog which has detailed significant under-the-hood changes to fix a longstanding bug that caused unexpected crashes.
Long story short, code changes the team's implemented have helped reduce the software's crash rates on the iPhone and iPad by more than fifty percent...
Apple.com pays tribute to Robin Williams
Following the tragic death of Robin Williams, Apple has paid tribute to the actor and comedian with a new 'Remembering Robin Williams' webpage on Apple.com, in addition to a similar section on iTunes published earlier today.
Moreover, Apple CEO Tim Cook yesterday published a tweet expressing grief and sorrow caused by Robin's passing.
"Heartbroken by the news of Robin Williams' passing," Tim's tweet reads. "He was an incomparable talent and a great human being. Rest in peace." The company is also honoring the Oscar-winning actor with a special iTunes Store section featuring more than forty movies and stand up comedy routines.
Williams died yesterday at the age of 63. The actor was found unresponsive at his residence in Marin County, California, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Marin County Sheriff's Office wrote in a statement that Williams died of asphyxiation caused by hanging himself...
Apple releases video of Yaoband’s use of iPad in musical experimentation
Following yesterday's release of two new 'Your Verse' stories from Apple, the Cupertino giant has made an accompanying video to one of the stories available on its YouTube channel. The clip showcases Yaoband, a China-based music band that was featured in one of the two recent iPad stories, as they demonstrate ways in which Apple's tablet is used in their music creation process...
Apple releases diversity report: 55% of US employees are white, 70% male
As promised, Apple has released a report on the diversity of its workforce today. The iPad maker is the latest tech firm to post such data in response to the growing debate on whether or not women and minorities are underrepresented in Silicon Valley.
Accompanying Apple's report is a letter from Tim Cook, who says he's not happy with the numbers, but says the company is making progress. Of its employees here in the US, 55% are white, and around the world, 7 out of every 10 of its employees are male...
Apple honors Robin Williams with dedicated iTunes Store section
Apple has created a dedicated section in its iTunes Store entitled 'Remembering Robin Williams.' The addition follows yesterday's tragic news of the actor's passing, and it features links to his popular movies, TV series and stand-up comedy routines.
In addition to the media, the section also includes a photo of Mr. Williams and a brief paragraph on his career and philanthropical achievements, calling him "one of the most beloved and unforgettable performers in the history of show business."
Siri inventors working on next-gen AI assistant, Viv
Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer co-founded a SRI International spin-off in 2007. The startup eventually got acquired by Apple for its intelligent personal assistant technology which would later become (in)famously known as Siri.
But they haven't been standing still.
The co-founders of Siri are now taking the concept to the next level with Viv, a new breed of digital personal assistant which couples a myriad of data sources to next-generation artificial intelligence algorithms in order to do virtually anything you ask.
Viv's implications can't be overstated. And rather than sell out to the highest bidder, this time around the team has broad ambitions to rethink the future of intelligent agents while possibly giving birth to a multibillion-dollar industry.
An exhaustive feature published Tuesday by Wired explains how the new San Jose, California-headquartered startup, Viv Labs, plans on advancing artificial intelligence and taking over the world, why Viv eclipses Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Google's Google Now and how it differs from literally every digital assistant out there...