Apple

Supposed iPhone 6 frame leaks: it’s ultra-thin and not very Apple-like

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 8, 2014

The notoriously unreliable Digitimes last month called for a larger size iPhone in May and today Chinese website Huanqiu reiterated that an iPhablet would arrive in time for the next Galaxy S smartphone confirmed for May 2014.

The next iPhone - let's call it the iPhone 6 for the convenience sake - is generally thought to come in two sizes, one 4.7-inch and the larger one with a phablet-grade screen measuring a whopping 5.7 inches diagonally.

And now, images of an alleged frame have appeared online to suggest a notably thinner appearance compared to the current-generation iPhone 5s. Could this part be genuine? My two cents are right below...

CES 2014: how about MFi air conditioner?

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 8, 2014

This year's Consumer Electronics Show is currently underway in Las Vegas and even though Apple isn't an exhibitor, its influence can be felt in so many ways. If anything, the show appears to have ushered in an era of iPhone-controlled everything, from Parrot's latest drones (and other iOS-enabled toys) and the world’s first app-connected toothbrush to a smart sleep tracking system by Withings, to name a few.

A Chinese manufacturer called Haier has now announced it's become the world's first appliance vendor to have been labeled with Apple's Made for iPhone (MFi) certification logo, which ensures its accessories meet Apple's exacting standards in terms of quality and performance.

Haier's first product to bear the MFi logo is a smart air conditioner dubbed Tianzun controllable from an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad device...

iRing lets you control music and apps with air gestures

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

IK Multimedia, the maker of iOS apps and accessories for musicians, has announced a Kinect-like controller which promises to bring air gestures to your music creation applications. Dubbed the iRing (not to be confused with a rumored Apple TV motion controller), it rests in your hands and uses an iOS device's front camera to detect mid-air gestures.

Hand movements are then translated into commands which get passed to supported apps. There's something inherently fun and sci-fi about creating music just by moving your hands in front of your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad and we have a video of iRing in action right after the break...

Samsung confirms new wearables coming in 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 8, 2014

You have to admire Samsung's persistence. Unfazed by lukewarm reception from fans and critics alike who aren't rushing out to buy its Galaxy Gear smartwatch in droves, the undeterred South Korean conglomerate is planning to release new wearable gadgets for the upcoming launch of the next Galaxy S smartphone in May and a Galaxy Note successor in Fall.

Dennis Miloseski, head of studio for Samsung Design America, told Re/code that 2014 is going to be “a really big year” for Samsung wearables, hinting at “some products around the launch of our flagship devices”...

CES 2014: Flir One case brings true thermal imaging to your iPhone 5/5s

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

Avid iPhone photography fans are always on the lookout for new ways of improving their snaps and photography skills to give their work an added edge.

Pitched as the world's first private thermal imager, the Flir One case slides right onto your iPhone 5 and lets you "see the heat wherever you go".

It slides onto your iPhone like an ordinary protective case and displays the infrared world on its screen.

We're talking true thermal imaging here, not the kinds of fake infrared effects you see in many photography apps on the App Store...

Asphalt 8 updated with LaFerrari and other cars, new Daily Bonuses and Win Streak rewards

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 8, 2014

Gameloft's free-to-play Asphalt 8: Airborne has seen one major update since its App Store debut last August, adding new cars, boosters, limited-time cups and other goodies. And now the time has come for another content expansion enriching your experience with additional features, game modes and cars.

The new update, now available in the App Store, brings a bunch of glamorous new sports cars, including the LaFerrari (also known as the F150), a limited production hybrid sports vehicle, along with new Daily Bonuses and Win Streak rewards...

Apple opens official store on major Chinese e-commerce site Tmall

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

According to a new report this morning, Apple has opened an official store on popular Chinese e-commerce site Tmall. The move serves as the company's latest play in an ongoing effort to boost its device sales and overall presence in the country.

For those unfamiliar with Tmall, it's a major online marketplace run by the Alibaba Group. It's sort of like an online mall, with high profile brands like Nike and Levi's paying the required deposit to create a digital forefront and peddle their wares...

Free iPhone and iPad streaming goes live for everyone in latest Spotify update

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 27, 2016

Spotify, the popular Swedish startup, has upped the ante in the music space when it said recently it would enable free streaming on smartphones and tablets.

Desktop users have been able to stream ad-supported music free of charge since Spotify's inception, but mobile streaming has always required a $9.99 Spotify Premium subscription. This ad-supported free desktop tier has now migrated to mobile.

Now available on the App Store, the new Spotify version 0.9.2 fixes many bugs and flips the switch on free mobile streaming for everyone (they've been rolling this out gradually), here are your caveats...

Apple’s iWatch project reportedly plagued by screen, battery problems

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 27, 2018

A new report is out this afternoon claiming that Apple is experiencing multiple problems with its long-rumored 'iWatch' project. The company is said to be troubled by challenges related to the device's screen technology, battery life, and manufacturing.

The device, believed to be a smartwatch of sorts, is expected to be Apple's first big entry into the budding wearables space. It's said to feature a display of up to 2-inches, and run a version of iOS capable of communicating with both iPhones and iPads...

Yahoo launches News Digest iOS app, new Food and Tech website hubs for normals

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Today at its CES 2014 keynote in Las Vegas, the Internet giant Yahoo announced new Tech and Food hubs and introduced a new iOS application, News Digest. The free iPhone and iPad download utilizes a technology from Yahoo's March 2013 acquisition of mobile news startup Summly that distills information down to small gists.

The company has since rolled out Summly to some of its existing iOS apps, but this is the first time Yahoo's iPhone app tapped the summarization tech to the full extent to "get you in the know in no time".

It's quite ingenious - all of the hallmarks of great iOS 7 design are present: it's clean, elegant, self explanatory and updates you cleverly on the biggest news stories twice a day, once in the morning at 8am and once in the evening at 6pm EST.

Does the world need another news app? Existing App Store offerings more often than not overwhelm with information you may not necessarily care about. If all you need are key headlines of the day and quick gists presented in a finite and visual manner, then by all means give News Digest a whirl, you won't regret it...

CES 2014: Samsung preempts rumored iPad Pro with new 12-inch Galaxy tablets

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 1, 2018

It's day two of Consumer Electronics Show and we're expecting a flurry of new Apple-related product announcements throughout the day. Our continually updated CES 2014 coverage does not include yesterday's Samsung press event, but it's not too late to rectify the omission and tell you about some new tablets Apple's fierce competitor announced at the show: one new Galaxy NotePro and three new Galaxy TabPro devices (it pays to keep tabs on competition).

Available in up to 12.2-inch variants (here's why), all four tablets sport a new Windows 8-style home screen called Magazine UI and some nice multitasking improvements such as the ability to run up to four apps concurrently and resize their "windows".

And as an amusing ide-note, I'm also going to tell you about film director Michael Bay's disaster at Samsung's press event (bonus: video).

All that goodness is right after the jump...

Apple seeds iOS 7.1 beta 3 to developers: here is what’s new

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple has released the third beta of iOS 7.1 to registered developers this morning. The update, which carries the build number 11d5127c, can be downloaded via Apple’s developer center.

Today’s release comes just under a month after the second beta, which brought about only a handful of changes like bringing the Touch ID and Passcode menu to the front of the Settings app...