Apple

Retina iPad mini shortages deepen as shipping estimates slip at U.S. carriers

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 21, 2013

Supply of Apple's iPad mini with Retina display remains tight as the holiday season approaches fast, a new report has it. The Wi-Fi + Cellular models appear to be in short supply as the device is basically a no-show at three major United States wireless carriers - AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile. The three telcos all back-ordered on the cellular version, with shipping estimates slipping to December.

In one instance, T-Mobile is now showing the device back-ordered 6-8 weeks. As for T-Mobile and AT&T, their web stores show 6-8 week and 21-28 day delivery estimates, respectively...

Tim Cook issues Business Conduct Policy video message to employees

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 21, 2013

In an unusual move yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook reached out to company employees via a video message urging them to familiarize themselves with Apple's Business Conduct Policy. The message, posted to Apple's internal system, quotes Dr. Martin Luther King Jr saying “The time is always right to do what is right” in order to encourage employees to speak up about conduct that may violate Apple's policy.

Along with the video message, employees also received an email from Apple's top lawyer who goes on to reiterate Apple’s core values of honesty, respect, confidentiality, and the "critical obligation of every Apple employee to adhere to legal principles", such as antitrust and anti-corruption laws.

Apple has even put together a new code of conduct iBook for employees with multimedia content including galleries, video, audio and multitouch widgets. The full message is right after the break...

Good deal: get Parallels + 7 awesome Mac apps for one super low price

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 20, 2013

Black Friday is nine days away, but that's not stopping companies from advertising huge holiday discounts like there's no tomorrow. Notable deals Cody told you about in the past week or so include 28% off the iPhone-controlled Cobra iHelicopter, 46% off id America's iPhone 5/5s accessory bundle, 55% off Jony Ive and Inside Steve’s Brain book combo and more.

You can put Parallels on your shopping list as the virtualization company is now offering eight great Mac apps for the price of Parallels Desktop 9 alone - that's 82 percent off or a cool $356 in savings right off the bat...

Tumblr redesigns iPhone and iPad app for iOS 7

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 20, 2013

Tumblr, the popular blogging platform that Yahoo acquired for north of $1 billion earlier in the year, has won me over with its sleek little iOS app.

I'm sure the millions of mobile bloggers would agree that Tumblr for iPhone lets really just about anyone publish their own news stories, images, videos and other content in just a few taps, without too much hassle or messing with complicated CMSs.

Though Tumblr wasn't immediately updated for the new iOS 7 look following the software's September 18 release, today's refresh has seen to that. Tumblr for iPhone and iPad has been bumped to version 3.5 and the biggest news is of course the revamped user interface which now follows overall aesthetics and animations of Apple's latest mobile OS.

As the saying goes, that's not all for Tumblr now has a few new tricks up its sleeve that allow for even easier mobile blogging. As per usual, I've included a few nice screenies along with some highlights after the break...

T-Mobile considering buying $3B worth of airwaves from rival Verizon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

It is no secret that T-Mobile USA, the nation's fourth-largest wireless carrier, could use some additional spectrum to expand its network and improve the quality of its coverage.

According to Reuters, the Deutsche Telekom-owned telco is mulling the possibility of buying $3 billion worth of additional spectrum from its rival Verizon Wireless.

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters yesterday evening that T-Mobile might agree to the price as it needs more to bolster up its network coverage and quality...

Apple’s aggressive iPhone trade-ins in India could include try-and-buy

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 20, 2013

India Today on Monday said Apple has partnered with India's local distributors (Apple Stores don't operate in the country) on a smartphone trade-in program against new iPhone 5c and iPhone 4s purchases in an attempt to boost sales of the colorful new iPhone that has largely failed to attract buyers compared to the flagship iPhone 5s.

The Times of India today shared some additional tidbits about the initiative and it seems the country's would-be iPhone buyers can now bring in their old iPhone or one of non-Apple handsets to claim lower prices against new iPhone 4s/5c purchases, and other benefits. More on that right below...

Macy’s becomes first retailer to implement iBeacon tech

Cody Lee ∙ November 20, 2013

Following reports that Apple is working to implement iBeacon tech in its retail stores comes word that Shopkick has beat it to the punch. The shopping app has teamed up with Macy's to deliver the first major retail iBeacon system.

The technology, which is new to iOS 7, uses Bluetooth LE signaling to enable micro-location services and is expected to be a huge hit with retailers. The tech will allow stores to deliver targeted sales and information to their customers...

How NBA teams are using iPad to improve their game

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 6, 2018

The Wall Street Journal a month ago revealed that Samsung of South Korea signed a lucrative deal with the NBA worth a hundred million bucks to provide its tablets and TVs that referees will use to review close calls. It's part of the Galaxy maker's ongoing and massive advertising push which includes big name celebrity endorsements, event sponsorships, sports tie-ins and more.

But despite the partnership which moves Samsung into the valuable space so close to the action, Bloomberg is reporting today that NBA is still very much in love with their iPads and has produced a video explaining how NBA uses Apple's devices to improve their games. More on that right after the break..

Apple reportedly shaking up supply chain to preserve more profits

Cody Lee ∙ November 20, 2013

Apple has long been known for its supply chain prowess, mostly thanks to one man: Tim Cook. Before taking over the CEO position in 2011, Cook was the company's chief operating officer and oversaw a number of successful product rollouts that garnered impressive profits.

But according to a new report, the iPad-maker isn't resting on its laurels. Apple is apparently adjusting its supply chain model from having OEMs being responsible for both component procurement and production, to purely production, as it moves to raise its product margins...

Google launches Newsstand for Android, iOS app coming in 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 20, 2013

The Internet giant Google today moved closer to consolidating its digital magazine offerings by merging magazines and newspapers along with the Currents app into a new software, known as Google Play Newsstand (seriously?). Google Currents functionality has now been folded into Newsstand, now available for download on Android devices via the Play store.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed that an iOS version is coming in 2014. In addition to subscriptions to digital magazines like Hearst, Conde Nast and Time Warner’s Time Inc. sold through Google Play Magazine, the company has now started selling newspaper subscriptions, with The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times and Los Angeles Times acting as premium launch partners, among other publications.

Apple of course has its own digital store for magazines and newspapers in the stock Newsstand app on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices so it'll be interesting seeing how Google's latest endeavor plays out in the greater scheme of things...

Readable’s iOS 7 redesign does away with RSS in favor of Tweeticles

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

Tweeticles? Say what? Just bear with me for a second...

I happen to consume a ridiculous amount of written content every day, fast-reading tons of news stories, review articles, op-ed pieces and what not. And when I'm out and about, I need a clean-reading app to do away with bells and whistles on web pages so I can focus on text, akin to iOS 7 Safari's Reader feature (this also helps save precious cellular bandwidth).

Readable for iPhone is one of the best apps for this purpose and with today's massive 2.0 update it's become way more useful.

For starters, it's moved away from HTML5 to native experiences as Readable has been re-written from the ground up with iOS 7 design and features in mind.

It's 64-bit, Dynamic Text aware, syncs across devices via iCloud, lets you navigate using one-tap pagination or read hands-free using 10x speed auto-scrolling, can share specific page positions, accesses your favorites and history offline and lots more.

Tweeticles?

Read on...

PayPal refreshed with iOS 7 design, bar code payments, Wallet improvements and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 4, 2013

PayPal has long had a nice albeit somewhat limited iPhone application available in the App Store. Back in September, they gave the software a much-needed redesign while expanding on feature set with useful new capability like the ability to pay at local shops, save offers and order ahead, to name a few.

Today, the team followed up with another feature-laden update. PayPal 5.2 for iPhone does away with skeuomorphism in favor for a much cleaner look that fits nicely into the overall iOS 7 aesthetics. More importantly, you are now free to withdraw cash, pay using QR codes and more...