Apple

Now free in the Apple Store app: Rise Alarm Clock

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

As part of its ongoing push designed to increase foot traffic in its retail outlets, Apple via the free Apple Store app for the iPhone and iPad has so far given away free music, books, apps like 7 Minute Workout Challenge and the Rhonna Designs photo editor and games such as Tetris, Temple Run: Oz and more. Today, the beautifully done Rise Alarm Clock app by Kellen Styler has gone free via the Apple Store app, a $1.99 saving.

It's a great little piece of software with a gorgeous interface and a lot of smart features. Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this offer. And if you passed on Rise Alarm Clock as the App Store's Free App of the Week a year ago, here's how you can grab it free of charge for a limited time, via the Apple Store app...

July was the best-ever month for App Store revenue and downloads

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2014

As a prelude to the most recent numbers detailing the impact of so-called app economy on Europe's job market, Apple yesterday underscored that July files as the App Store's best-ever month in terms of downloads and revenue.

Although the company stopped short of backing up the claim with some cold, hard numbers, a spokesperson confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday that the App Store in July generated more revenue and had more customers make purchases than ever before...

Yahoo Mail now lets you filter search results by emails, photos or files

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2014

A little more than a month ago, Yahoo added a slew of nice-to-haves to its native Mail for iOS app, including handy mail filters on the iPad and personalized web features to easily track scores, stocks, weather and more, all without switching apps.

Today, a new update has surfaced in the App Store featuring welcomed search enhancements to the app's built-in search feature.

Now sitting at version 3.2, the refreshed software makes it easy to filter your results by emails, photos or files...

Rumor: 4.7-inch iPhone 6 has 2,100mAh battery

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

As Apple gears up to unveil the iPhone 6 on September 9, rumors of the handset's battery capacity have been picking up steam lately, especially in light of Samsung's anti-iPhone 'Wall Huggers' advertisement which slams the handset's inadequate battery module.

We've already shown you images of a purported 1,810 mAh iPhone 6 battery and now one analyst has reopened the topic, alleging that a 4.7-inch variant will have a bigger 2,100mAh module versus a 1,570mAh battery found inside the iPhone 5s/5c...

App economy at work: App Store created 500,000 jobs in Europe and other highlights

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2014

Apple today released a plethora of freshly-updated stats and pretty charts that paint a rosy picture of the company's positive contributions to the European job market and the continents's economy as a whole.

The so-called app economy is now sustaining half a million jobs across Europe, with a total of 629,000 jobs created or supported by Apple in Europe. Apple paid out $6.5 billion to European app developers so far, representing nearly out-third of the $20 billion the company paid to developers globally.

I've include additional stats and key charts right after the break...

iPads and MacBooks can’t be bought with China’s public money over espionage concerns

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2014

First Russian, and now China. Just as news hit us a week ago that the Russian government is demanding access to the source code for Apple software to ensure it isn't enabling U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on the 145 million country, Bloomberg Wednesday reported that the Chinese government has taken Apple's iPad tablets and MacBook notebooks off the procurement list.

As a result, no government agency in China is allowed to buy Apple products with public money.

While government purchases are not a major sales driver for Apple, it's worth remembering that China is home to 1.33 billion people and filing as Apple's third-biggest market by revenue...

Steve Jobs saw shared home Wi-Fi as the future of Internet access. Utopian vision?

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2014

Would you be willing to open your home Wi-Fi network to total strangers, so that passersby and folks in your near vicinity could join it and surf the web for free?

These questions kept Apple CEO Steve Jobs up at night back in 2007 as he envisioned building an open Wi-Fi Utopia. The idea was born out of his frustration with sluggish mobile data networks at the time.

Re/code's Walt Mossberg, the famous technology reviewer and columnist who used to enjoy unparalleled access to Jobs, recounts how Jobs's intense loathing of AT&T almost gave everyone free Wi-Fi...

Apple and Samsung agree to settle all foreign patent disputes

Cody Lee ∙ August 5, 2014

The Financial Times reports this evening that Apple and Samsung have settled their patent disputes over smartphones and tablets in several countries around the world. In a joint statement, the two firms say that they have dropped litigation in all countries and regions outside of the US.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. But it doesn't sound like there is any kind of cross-licensing deal in place, and no money changing hands, so there will be little to prevent new lawsuits between the two companies from sprouting in the future, should circumstances change...

Apple said to unveil iPhone 6 on September 9

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 5, 2014

We know the iPhone 6 is coming at some point this Fall and if history is anything to go by, there should be a media event in or around mid-September. No reputable publication has pinpointed the exact timeframe for such a high-profile event, however. That is, until this morning.

Enter well-informed John Paczkowski of Re/code, who just reported that Apple has scheduled an iPhone-focused event on Tuesday, September 9, so better mark your calendar accordingly...

Opinion: why I’d rather throw my money into a fire pit than give it to Verizon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 11, 2016

Verizon Wireless may be the nation's #1 carrier, but that doesn't mean it's America's most beloved wireless provider. Notorious for the love-hate relationship with its customers, Verizon frequently draws ire of the press and consumers alike who crucify the company and criticize its questionable business practices.

In the wake of a series of customer-friendly moves by T-Mobile, collectively branded under the 'Uncarrier' tagline, one after another horror story concerning Verizon is getting unfold and making headlines.

The press likes to dis Verizon as a greedy corporation that shamelessly takes its customers for a ride under the presumption that everyone else is doing it, too. Verizon's past and present business practices have been ticking me off for quite some time so here's why I’d literally rather throw my money into a fire pit than give it to them...

Apple rolling out on-site iPhone 5s screen replacements to U.S. retail stores

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 5, 2014

Well, it had to happen someday. Call it a stroke of bad luck or inattention on my part, but it only took a fraction of a second for my shiny new iPhone 5s to slip out of my hand and fall on the concrete face down, just a few short weeks after purchasing the device! For the record, I am the type of person who handles my devices with utmost care so you could imagine my sorrow and feel my heartache.

Now I'm left with a pricey device that has a damaged screen with nasty cracks appearing all the way down to the steel Touch ID ring. A quote my nearest Apple Store gave me for an out of warranty screen replacement was just unbearable. And, it would take them at least a week to, or even more, to service the device, which was unacceptable to me.

Worse, iFixit at the time didn't yet sell an iPhone 5s screen replacement kit. In addition, history has taught me all to well to avoid inexpensive screens sold on eBay. More often than not, these third-party components don't hold a candle to Apple's Retina screen in terms of color accuracy, overall image quality and touch sensing.

Luckily for our U.S. readers, after introducing in-store iPhone 5c screen repairs back in January, Apple Stores in the United States can now replace your damaged iPhone 5s screen in a matter of an hour...

Analyst: 5.5″ iPhone 6 to have faster A8 processor and different touch modules

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 4, 2014

Disclaimer: an analyst says stuff about Apple that may or may not come true. That being said, Cowen & Co. analyst Timothy Arcuri thinks he got it all figured out, writing that a 5.5-inch iPhone 6 would include a faster A8 processor than its 4.7-inch counterpart. Not only that, but a variant of the A8 chip inside Apple's phablet-class device would be physically bigger, indicating perhaps that the bigger handset might feature additional graphics cores compared to its 4.7-inch counterpart.

In addition, the Wall Street analyst thinks that the device will pack in a different touch module than the 4.7-inch model...