Apple

Samsung planning health-related announcement days before Apple’s WWDC

Jake Smith ∙ May 1, 2014

Samsung has announced a media event "around health" set to take place on May 28 in San Francisco. The invitation came from the company's sensors and components unit, rather than its devices unit, so the announcement could be centered around next-generation tech for Android and Tizen-based devices, rather than a new Gear Fit 2.

The event is notable given Apple is holding its Worldwide Developer Conference on June 2, also in San Francisco. Apple is rumored to have some big health-centered announcements at its Conference keynote, and it looks like Samsung is trying to get a leg up.

iTunes Match now available in Japan

Cody Lee ∙ May 1, 2014

Apple continues its international expansion of iTunes services this afternoon, with the launch of iTunes Match in Japan. iOS users in the country can now access the service, which first launched in the United States back in 2011.

For those unfamiliar with the service, iTunes Match allows users to 'mirror' their music libraries to the cloud. This enables them to access their songs from any compatible device, without having to spend hours uploading them...

Expert in ear-worn vital signs monitoring joins Apple’s iWatch team

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

According to a source who spoke to MacRumors, Eric Winokur who does research at MIT's Medical Electronic Devices Realization Center will be joining Apple's wearables team in the coming weeks.

He's the latest in a string of high-profile hirings of experts with diverse interests in medical devices, sleep monitoring, wearable tech and fashion design.

This isn't talent Apple typically needs so these hirings serve as the strongest indication to date that the firm is assembling a star team to take on wearables.

And why precisely should you care about this particular hire? Read on as I lay out everything for you after the break...

Apple expands iTunes in the Cloud support in Germany to movies and TV shows

Cody Lee ∙ May 1, 2014

Good news for iOS users in Germany today, as Apple has expanded iTunes in the Cloud in the country. The cloud-based sync-and-storage service now supports the streaming of movies and television shows.

What this means is that German users will now be able to access previously-purchased movie and television content on any Apple device, including the Apple TV, by accessing the 'Purchased' tab in iTunes...

Beats Music updated with native iPad support, adds Find Your Friends feature

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

As teased yesterday, the new streaming music startup from music mogul Jimmy Lovine and musician and producer Dr. Dre, called Beats Music, has been updated with support for the iPad. The 17.1MB download is now live in the App Store and universal so a single binary now supports all your form-factor iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices. As a bonus, regardless of the device you can now easily add Beats Music users from your Twitter friends...

Notability for iOS drops to $0 for the first time ever as Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2014

Notability by Ginger Labs launched in the App Store in January of 2011 with a $4.99 price tag. Despite numerous price changes, this nicely done productivity app for the iPhone and iPad has never gone free, up until today.

Named Apple Editors' Choice, Notability is now free for a limited time so do yourself a favor and download the app now in the US App Store before it goes back up to its regular price of $2.99...

Infuse 2.3: connect to UPnP/DLNA apps like XBMC and Plex to stream videos, new gestures and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

One of the best iOS media players around, Infuse by jailbreak developer FireCore of the aTV Flash Black fame, has received a major updated today that enables support for UPnP and DLNA media streaming protocols which allows the software to stream, download and sync media residing on compatible UPnP/DLNA device such as XBMC, Plex, WMC, PS3 Media Server and more.

The release includes a plethora of other new features and improvements such as half a dozen new gesture controls, the continuous playback feature, improved streaming for certain NAS devices and a bunch of user interface tweaks.

The new Infuse 2.3 is available free in the App Store, with an optional in-app purchase to unlock advanced features like AirPlay subtitle streaming, support for additional video formats and more...

CEO of indoor positioning startup Wifarer has joined Apple ahead of iOS 8 Maps push

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

According to an exclusive TechCrunch report Thursday, Philip Stanger, the CEO and co-founder of indoor positioning startup Wifarer, has joined Apple's Maps team ahead of the anticipated push to improve the company's in-house mapping software in time for the assumed launch of iOS 8 this Fall.

He's now with the Apple Maps team in a “leadership role,” the publication has learned though the report cautions that Apple did not acquire the startup as some sources have speculated.

Wifarer, which is available as an iOS and Android app, features dynamic real-time indoor positioning to help people navigate malls, museums and other venues. Apple of course has its own micro-location indoor positioning system in the form of iBeacons.

Watchers have speculated that these micro-transmitters installed in shopping malls, retail stores, airports and elsewhere could also be used to collect data to improve Apple Maps and Stanger's hiring certainly seems to point in that direction...

Google Drive update adds passcode protection

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2014

Google's frontend iPhone and iPad app for its Drive cloud-storage service has received a much-needed passcode lock feature in an update this morning.

If your productivity depends on the Google cloud and you store your documents, presentations and spreadsheets in Google Drive, a thief was able to access all your files simply by launching the Drive app on a stolen device.

Fortunately enough, this won't be possible going forward as Google Drive 3.0 is now live in the App Store with a handy new passcode feature...

Microsoft updates OneNote for iPhone/Mac with new look, Office Lens and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2014

After updating Office for iPad apps with a new printing capability and a few other useful features that boost your mobile productivity, software maker Microsoft today issued a refresh for its note-taking app, OneNote, that contains some much appreciated enhancements on both the iPhone and Mac systems.

The new versions of OneNote, available free in the App Store and Mac App Store, have gained a dozen new features.

Most notably, OneNote for the iPhone now lets you create new notebooks and sections, includes a new design and comes with an optical character recognition feature called Office Lens. The Mac edition has received even more goodies...

Rumor: larger OS X 10.10 presence at WWDC as some iOS 8 features shift back to iOS 8.1

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 1, 2014

Reliable blogger Mark Gurman is stepping back from some of his earlier claims regarding rumored iOS 8 features like Healthbook and public transit in Maps.

Apparently, the blogger's sources have had a change of heart, now cautioning that some of the headline features planned for iOS 8.0 (code-named 'Okemo') could be moved to iOS 8.1.

As a result, Apple could place a larger emphasis on the next major release of its desktop operating system for Macs, code-named 'Syrah' after the wine.

It is speculated that the company's been allocating iOS user interface teams to OS X as Apple races to finalize a brand new OS X design in time for WWDC, which kicks off with a keynote on June 2...