Apple

Bloomberg: Apple to keep Beats as a separate brand, improve headphones design

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

A report last Thursday by The Financial Times on Apple's alleged $3.2 billion purchase of Beats Electronics, LCC. - potentially Apple's most pricey acquisition to date - has taken the technology industry by surprise.

And as pundits continue to assess the rationale behind Apple's purported move, Bloomberg on Monday ran a revealing story explaining that the two firms share more commonalities than meets the eye, despite a world of difference in terms of corporate culture.

Moreover, Apple apparently intends to keep Beats hardware around while improving upon the design of the startup's pricey headphones...

Cheaper 8GB iPhone 5c heading for India in June

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

Now we know why Apple recently pulled its four years old iPhone 4 from store shelves in India, just a few months after re-introducing the handset to the 1.24 billion people market in January: according to a new report by an Indian newspaper, the Cupertino company is gearing up to launch its 8GB iPhone 5c in the country by early next month.

Apple's mid-tier handset with eight gigabytes of storage will cost Rs 35,000/37,000 with a buyback offer, which works out to about $585/$618 in U.S. dollars...

Native iPad interface found in Google Play Music for iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

Google's official Play Music app for iOS, in case you didn't know, is an iPhone and iPod touch only affair as the software does not support iPads natively. That could change soon because hidden inside the code of the iPhone app, a free download in the App Store, is a native iPad interface. This indicates Google may be putting finishing touches on the universal binary which will take advantage of the iPad's bigger canvas...

Apple cuts refund times for returns in half

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 12, 2014

One of Tim Cook's latest tricks meant to improve shopping experience and boost sales at Apple's online store is decreased refund turnaround times for product returns, according to a Reuters report Monday. Previously, it took about ten working days to get a refund, according to estimates by retail-intelligence firm StellaService. These refund times have now been cut in half so customers can get a refund in a less than a week...

Samsung was Apple’s top iPad display supplier in Q1 this year

Cody Lee ∙ May 12, 2014

Despite their frequent disputes in the court room, Apple and Samsung remain close supply chain partners. The Cupertino company has been trying to distance itself, but Samsung still makes a number of components used in the firm's line of mobile products.

In fact, according to a new report by ZDNet Korea, the South Korean tech giant was Apple's number one iPad display supplier in the first quarter this year. The outlet says Samsung claimed the top spot by shipping 5.4 million panels for the iPad Air during Q1...

Some theories on why Apple would want to buy Beats

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Since word got out last Thursday that Apple is in the final stages of purchasing Beats Electronics, it seems like everyone and their dog has written an op-ed on why Tim Cook and company would want to spend $3 billion on the headphone-maker.

While I normally love playing armchair analyst on topics like this, I've decided this time not to add to the noise. Instead, I've rounded up a handful of some of the better theories I've seen around the web on why an Apple-Beats deal makes any sense...

Apple Store app offering ’Rhonna Designs’ photo editor for free right now

Cody Lee ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

Apple is currently offering the popular photo editing app 'Rhonna Designs' for free right now in its Apple Store app. Users can skip the $1.99 price tag by launching the app, and tapping on the promotional banner to receive their redeem code.

The offering is part of a larger effort by Apple to get more people to use its retail app, and ultimately purchase more products. The company's online sales jumped some 24% over the last year, making it the 2nd largest web retailer behind Amazon...

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine to take on senior roles at Apple after Beats buyout

Cody Lee ∙ Updated March 1, 2018

The Wall Street Journal added some new details to the Apple-Beats discussion last night, reporting that Beats co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine are likely to take on senior roles at the Cupertino company following the high profile acquisition.

Now, just what exactly they'll be doing at Apple is still unclear. It sounds like the positions are not going to be full time, with the pair commuting from Los Angeles—where Beats is headquartered—to Cupertino, and other places if necessary...

WSJ: Apple playing ‘catch up’ with Beats acquisition

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

The disruptor has become the disrupted. Apple, the company that turned the music industry upside down with the launch of the iTunes Store in 2003, saw digital download sales drop for the first time ever last year. Why? Streaming music services.

The folks out in Cupertino failed to see the rise of the Rdios and the Spotifys, and thus have been forced to play catch-up. And according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, that's exactly what this rumored Apple-Beats acquisition is all about...

Facebook streamlines its iOS offerings: Camera and Poke pulled from App Store

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 9, 2014

The writing has been on the wall for quite some time now for Facebook's ill-fated Poke and Camera apps.

Ever since releasing the revamped Messenger - and especially the beautiful Paper app - it's been clear to me that the outdated Poke for iPhone and the meaningless Camera would be headed to the technology graveyard.

Starting today, Camera and Poke can no longer be downloaded from the App Store.

Facebook has discontinued these two programs because their functionality has long been folded into the firm's main iOS client, as well as into Messenger and Paper...

Apple kicks off in-store iPhone upgrade event

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

As rumored earlier in the week, Apple has kicked off a new in-store iPhone upgrade program today. The company has put up signs and other marketing materials in its retail stores, and has begun emailing customers with older model handsets.

The purpose of the event is to get those who still have an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4s into a 5s or 5c, as Apple attempts to move remaining stock ahead of the fall's anticipated refresh. The company has even upped its trade-in offers to sweeten the deal...

You can now open local Mac files with supporting Chrome apps, right in Finder

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 9, 2014

Fans of Google Chrome who run the browser's Canary edition can now associate local files with Chrome apps, right in their Mac's Finder. What this does is it lets you open local documents using Chrome apps that run in the browser. This is quite handy if you've long gone Google and depend on various web apps. Chrome's Canary build is aimed at early adopters who are willing to experiment with upcoming new features. But don't worry, Canary won't mess up your existing Chrome settings...