Apple

Asphalt 8 with Twitch broadcasting, The Great Wall tracks, new cars and more now available

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 9, 2016

Earlier this week, Gameloft, the prolific maker of mobile games, has announced a partnership with the live streaming video game platform Twitch that would bring the first ever mobile streaming game experience to Asphalt 8: Airborne.

The following day, Gameloft teased the forthcoming update and it's now live in the App Store so best thing you grab it now and live stream some action right away.

In addition to Twitch integration, Asphalt 8 now includes six new tracks scattered throughout the gorgeous Asian-inspired location, the Great Wall, as well as new soundtrack, new cars, new events in career mode, an improved main menu and more...

GarageBand for Mac gains three new Drummers, can now export to MP3 and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2014

If you're an aspiring musician and a user of Apple's free music-making software for the Mac, you should know there's a new GarageBand update sitting in the Mac App Store.

The free GarageBand version 10.0.2 edition contains multiple enhancements to Accessibility and adds the option to export a song as an MP3 file.

The latter is much welcomed as you were previously required to export songs as QuickTime or some other format and then use iTunes or a similar app to manually convert the digital file into the commonly used MP3 format. There are also some new Drummers, but more on that after the break...

Christian Bale reportedly front-runner for Steve Jobs role in Sony’s biopic

Cody Lee ∙ March 20, 2014

Academy Award-winner Christian Bale is said to be the front-runner for the Steve Jobs role in Sony's upcoming biopic about the Apple founder. And if you're a fan of the Cupertino company, or just a fan of good movies in general, this is exciting news.

Bale is highly regarded in Hollywood for his ability to play a wide range of characters—he's done everything from a sociopathic serial killer to the cape crusader—and his commitment to the art. He once dropped 60 pounds in just a few months for a role...

iPhone 6 to have 8MP camera, report claims

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2014

Instead of the twelve or sixteen-megapixel camera upgrade in its 2014 iPhone offerings anticipated by watchers, Apple is said to stick with the eight-megapixel module and focus on improving image quality through software advancements and features like optical image stabilization, a new report asserts.

Apple is seemingly expected to skip the megapixel race with the iPhone 6 "to concentrate on other ways to better images," people familiar with the matter apparently told AppleInsider...

China Mobile sells one million iPhones in February

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 28, 2017

China Mobile with its 776 million customers is the world's largest wireless carrier by subscribers and it's been selling Apple's iPhone for two months now. So how many iPhone units did the carrier move?

According to media reports Wednesday, China Mobile's CEO Li Yue has confirmed that his company has managed to add one million new iPhone users last month since offering the device in mid-January.

To give you some context, that's a nice 75 percent share of the 1.34 million 4G-capable smartphones the carrier moved in February...

New Samsung ad takes simultaneous jabs at iPad, Surface and Kindle

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 20, 2014

Samsung's just posted a new ad to its YouTube channel inviting viewers to "do more" on the new multi-tasking Galaxy Tab Pro series tablet, featuring three different scenes dedicated to bashing Apple's iPad, Microsoft's Surface and Amazon's Kindle tablets. The ad is actually humorous, which is a refreshing change change for Samsung.

The commercial's anti-Apple scene envisions sending email on the Samsung tablet while on a video call, using snapping two apps side by side. Have a look at it after the break and tell us what you think in the comment section...

2015 iPhones and iPads could achieve photorealism with ray-traced graphics from Imagination

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

Imagination Technologies, a fabless UK-based semiconductor maker, has been supplying PowerVR-branded mobile graphics IP for Apple's in-house designed iDevice chips since the iPhone's inception.

Detailed 3D graphics, speedy animations and smooth performance have always been one of the hallmarks of the iPhone and iPad so it's no surprise that Apple is an investor in Imagination.

Following Imagination's announcement of a next-generation PowerVR GX6650 GPU that promises to smoke graphics giant Nvidia's own Tegra K1 mobile processor, Imagination yesterday said it is taking PowerVR graphics architecture to the next level by adding ray-tracing capabilities.

Apple likely won't utilize this technique in its upcoming A8 chip for the iPhone 6 and 2014 iPads because Imagination's technology won't be making its way into products until 2015.

This means that come 2015, your iPhone and iPad could easily give dedicated game consoles a good run for their money graphics-wise, by supporting high-quality lighting and shadows, accurate transparency and photorealistic reflections...

Several users complaining of Hotspot issues in iOS 7.1

Cody Lee ∙ March 20, 2014

Folks having trouble with their Personal Hotspot feature in iOS 7.1 aren't alone. A number of users have been complaining of tethering issues since installing the latest iOS update, as evidenced by this 16-page thread in Apple's support forums.

Specifically, the problem seems to occur when trying to save custom APN settings in a device's Cellular menu. Apparently you can enter information into the text fields, but the values don't save and any attempt to make a connection errors out...

Eddy Cue calls out inaccuracy in new post-Jobs Apple book

Cody Lee ∙ March 19, 2014

Early reviews are out for former WSJ writer Yukari Kane’s new book on post-Jobs Apple: 'Haunted Empire' ($14.99 in the iBooks Store), and they aren't good. Many readers believe that Kane fails to make her obvious preconceived point that Apple is doomed, and doesn't even appear to try.

Even Tim Cook had something to say about the book, telling CNBC yesterday that "this nonsense belongs with some of the other books I’ve read about Apple." And today, another executive has spoken out. SVP Eddy Cue says that the epic 'pen' story Kane tells in her book never happened...

Hackers caught using EA Games servers to phish for Apple IDs

Cody Lee ∙ March 19, 2014

According to a new report from security research firm Netcraft, Electronic Arts' servers have been compromised. Two websites from the video game publisher's domain have been hacked and are now hosting phishing pages setup to steal Apple ID and credit card information.

It works like this: when a potential victim arrives at one of the pages, they are asked to enter their Apple ID and password. Once completed, they're taken to a second page which asks for personal details and credit card info, and then redirected to the official Apple ID website...