Apple

eBay app, now with AirDrop and Pinterest sharing, in-store pickup and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 13, 2013

If you shop at eBay and have used their free iPhone and iPod touch app, there're some nice goodies for you in the latest version 3.2 update. For starters, the iOS 7-ified application now comes with a handy in-store pickup option allowing you to purchase stuff from local retailers on eBay for personal pickup.

The team has added two new sharing options via the iOS 7 AirDrop feature and Pinterest, the latter allowing you to easily share your favorite products to your Pinterest board. The selling features have been improved a bit, you can now swipe through images on the item screen and more...

Bloomberg details Apple’s sophisticated robots and production machinery

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

'Gadgets that build gadgets' should have been the headline of the Bloomberg piece which details Apple's multi-billion dollar investments in custom-engineered manufacturing equipment, machines and robots which dutifully churn out your shiny new iPads and iPhones with their diamond-cut chamfered edges, precision crafted down to the micron.

'The Rolex of smartphones' is impossible to mass-produce using the existing tooling and manufacturing techniques. Because Apple custom-designs everything, it shouldn't surprise you that it also designs its own manufacturing processes, techniques and cutting-edge production equipment.

Just how does the company utilize its billions on these pricey robots?

Retina iPad mini teardown: LG Display Retina panel, larger battery, A7 and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 13, 2013

Yesterday, I wondered on Twitter what was taking the repair magicians over at iFixit so long to do their ritual teardown of Apple's stealthily-released iPad mini with Retina display. My prayers have been listened to as iFixit has torn apart the device, revealing its guts and components for the whole world to see. As you could imagine, they found an Apple-designed A7 chip inside, slightly underclocked versus the iPad Air.

On top of that, there are usual suspects in terms of wireless and supporting chips. As for the titular update to this iPad mini - the Retina display - the teardown analysis has identified an LG Display-supplied 7.9-inch in-plane switching LCD with a 2,048-by-1,536 screen resolution.

While the resolution is the same as the iPad 3/4/Air, the images are crisper at 326 pixels per inch (264 ppi on the iPad Air) due to a shrunken form factor, as noted MacStories editor Federico Viticci noted in his hands-on article.

Other tidbits follow...

Retina iPad mini: first shipments due Friday, tight supply until 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 13, 2013

Have you ordered your iPad mini with Retina display yet? If you're still on the fence of buying the device, make up your mind sooner than later because the popular Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is expecting tight supply this holiday season.

Kuo is very reliable and this is the first time he posted estimates of the numbers so it pays to take his remarks at face value. Corroborating his analysis, Rhoda Alexander of IHS iSupply cautions that shipments of the supply-constrained device won't double until the first quarter of next year, meaning shortages are to be expected throughout the Christmas quarter.

Meanwhile, early adopters are now reporting receiving an Apple Store-estimated delivery date of this coming Friday, November 15. Jump past the fold for the full reveal...

Two iWatch sizes: 1.7 inches for men and 1.3 inches for women

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 13, 2013

If you believe research firm DisplaySearch, the Apple smartwatch project, the iWatch, has taken the front seat as the company sharpens its focus on wearable technology, allegedly at the expense of a full-on television set which one reliable analysts now thinks is more of a 2015-2016 thing.

According to a new report by The Korea Herald, DisplaySearch thinks the iWatch will come in two sizes accommodating for men and women's wrist. In the case of men, the iWatch should have a 1.7-inch display, the research firm said. On the other hand, women should get a tinier device outfitted with a smaller 1.3-inch display...

Verizon says data-hungry users hamper LTE network quality in big cities

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 23, 2017

When was the last time you heard a major United States wireless carrier admit that its network is facing pressure to meet the needs of its users? That's exactly what Fran Shammo, Verizon's chief financial officer, said in response to reports that its LTE network is folding under pressure in major cities such as New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

The network strain results in some users in metropolitan areas seeing their data throughput dropping to slower 3G speeds. Verizon blames its deteriorating network quality on "capacity constraints."

The company has promised to allocate more resources toward fixing the network in high-congestion areas so that these slowdowns dissipate by the end of the year...

Kuo: A7-driven Apple TV in 2014, iTV in 2015-2016

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Citing supply chain sources, DisplaySearch yesterday shattered analyst Gene Munster's 'Apple-televison-set-due-this-Christmas' pipe dream to pieces by claiming Apple has put the iTV project on the back burner as it focuses on wearable projects, a new priority for Tim Cook & Co. And guess what reliable analyst restrains himself from making wild Munster-like iTV predictions?

That's right, Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities.

Thus, it goes without saying that Kuo's note to clients in which he analyzes Apple's television plans hasn't gone unnoticed with us. In short, he's suggesting that with the technological pieces all in place now Apple is about to introduce significant improvements to the existing $99 Apple TV set-top box.

Bonus: I also get to deconstruct some of the outrageously inaccurate predictions by crazypants Apple analysts Gene Munster!

Poll: are you buying Retina iPad mini?

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2013

Apple's iPad mini with Retina display is finally here and available via online orders, with shipping or pickup at the company's brick-and-mortar outlets. In fact, the new iPads are already being featured prominently on the online Apple Store.

Wasting no time whatsoever, Apple's web store is now pitching both new iPads as perfect holiday gifts, even with the initially severely constrained supplies of Retina iPad minis.

With that in mind, today I want to focus on a Retina successor to Apple's best-selling tablet, the iPad mini. Do you think you'll be getting an iPad mini with Retina display this coming holidays? The poll is right past the fold so cast your vote and meet us in comments. Should be fun!

Christmas comes early as Apple refreshes web store with holiday gift ideas

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

A seeming barrage of Apple product refreshes over the past few months has helped a great deal overhaul virtually the company's whole lineup. For starters, with September's dual-launch Apple's replaced the iPhone 5 with the fingerprint-reading iPhone 5s and the colorful iPhone 5c and released iOS 7 for public consumption.

Moreover, Tim Cook & Co. have finally managed to give the iPad mini and 13-inch MacBook Pro some much-needed Retina/Haswell love while at the same time introducing the iPad Air and rebooting Mac Pro around a radical new industrial design.

Doomed, indeed!

This has become Apple's modus operandi as of lately: they time product updates so that everything gets revamped ahead of the all-important holiday season. With less than three weeks until Black Friday, Apple's now updated its online store with some nice gift ideas for holiday shoppers...

California inventor gears up for legal showdown with Apple over iPhone features

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2013

"Boy, have we patented it!", quipped Steve Jobs in wrapping up the segment of his January 2007 MacWorld Expo presentation dealing with the iPhone's multi-touch user interface.

Months later, Jobs through the combination of sheer willpower, yelling and F-bombs would impose restrictions on early Android releases.

The goal was to prevent Google's smartphone software from employing multitouch gestures on mobile devices that Apple had been researching for years. The strategy eventually failed, prompting Apple to launch proxy battles against Android backers such as HTC, Samsung and Motorola over prized iPhone inventions.

One guy was unimpressed, though: a California inventor has been claiming for years now that he holds a patent related to an essential iPhone feature. He's not afraid to take the consumer electronics powerhouse to court in order to prove the infringement and seek a five percent cut of Apple's US sales, Bloomberg reported Tuesday...

Retina iPad mini’s A7 chip slightly underclocked versus iPad Air

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

In a surprise non-announcement, Apple's iPad mini with Retina display has unexpectedly gone on sale this morning. For the time being, the device is available online for shipping or with in-store pick-up.

What you can't do (yet) is just walk in and purchase one due to supply constraints and ongoing manufacturing woes as Apple is "working hard" to meet demand. Availability issues aside, what's there to get excited about the device?

For The Loop's Jim Dalrymple, the answer is simple: the iPad mini with Retina display is a no-compromise play - thou shall no longer sacrifice clarity for portability as the tablet packs in the same Retina display like its bigger brother, the iPad Air.

In fact, the only difference between the two is the screen size as the new iPad mini runs the same A7 processor that debuted on the iPhone 5s and made its way into the iPad Air. And just how speedy is the Retina iPad mini vs. the iPhone 5s and iPad Air?

Here are the first benchmark scores...

How Steve Jobs imposed limitations on Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 12, 2013

I clearly remember September 2008 when the HTC G1 debuted in partnership with Google and T-Mobile. Google's first usable Android-driven handset arrived some fifteen months after the iPhone had gone on sale in June 2007 and tech die-hards were startled that it didn't incorporate the pinch-zoom gesture.

Android would be deployed across lots more handsets before eventually implementing not only pinch-zooming, but other familiar iPhone features as well. There was an unconfirmed rumor at the time that Google removed multitouch gestures from initial Android builds at Apple's request.

In all honesty, the notion seemed a bit crazy. Why would Google take the iPhone head on and yet cave in to Apple's demands? According to a new 272-page book titled Dogfight: How Apple And Google Went To War And Started a Revolution by Fred Vogelstein, Apple's then CEO Steve Jobs imposed that choice on Google's Android head Andy Rubin by sheer willpower...