Apple

Sprint’s Q3 losses shrink to $398M, courtesy of iPhone

Ed Sutherland ∙ October 30, 2013

Sprint, America's third-largest wireless carrier, announced Wednesday that 1.4 million of the five million smartphones it sold during the third quarter were iPhones, of which 40 percent were to new customers.

The iPhone sales are just under the 1.5 million Apple smartphones Sprint activated during the same period in 2012.

The iPhone numbers have helped the carrier reduce the gap from a $398 million operating loss, rebounding from a $767 million loss during the same quarter in 2012. By comparison, Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest carrier, announced selling about 3.9 million iPhones during the third quarter...

Infinity Blade III ‘Soul Hunter’ update coming soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 27, 2019

The iOS-exclusive Infinity Blade III (a $6.99 download for the iPhone and iPad) arrived mid-September as the third installment to Chair Entertainment's elegiac masterpiece, the Infinity Blade series.

The game is about to get its first free 'hunter' content pack and it's going to be something really special. The Soul Hunter update features four new explore quest and a new main quest that you can play as Isa or Siris.

More importantly, it pits your character face to face against Oslim, the Deathless Bloodmage sent by the Worker of Secrets to track you down and kill you. Just to make things a little more interesting, Oslim is armed with not one, but two Infinity Blades. More on that below...

Intel relents, will make third-party ARM mobile chips in 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 30, 2013

In a surprise announcement that sent shockwaves throughout the technology industry, Intel said it will open kimono to arch-rival TSMC and begin making chips for third-parties, based on CPU blueprints from the British fabless semiconductor maker ARM Holdings, plc. Apple is among the licensees of ARM's technology for its own in-house chips which serve as the engine powering the iPhone, iPad and iPod devices.

This is a huge development. Not only will Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor company, now fabricate its own ARM-based 64-bit mobile chips starting next year, it will now undoubtedly compete for the lucrative Apple business, especially given the iPhone maker has long been looking to take its chip-making contract elsewhere...

Apple highlights 64-bit A7 processor in new iPhone 5s print ad

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Earlier this month, Apple began running a magazine advertisement for its iPhone 5s with a byline reading "your finger is the password." It briefly explained some of the benefits of Apple's new Touch ID security system.

Well new iPhone 5s print ad has surfaced this week, this time highlighting Apple's new 64-bit A7 processor. Similar to the previous spot, the ad features a large photo of the 5s and a byline: "Desktop Power. Pocket Size."

iPad Air reviews are in…

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Apple's iPad Air is scheduled to land on store shelves in the United States and a few dozen countries worldwide this coming Friday, November 1, and online shoppers should be able to order theirs with in-store pickup option starting at 3am Eastern, midnight Pacific.

As we inch closer to the big day, a number of big media outlets and respected bloggers have now published their reviews which mostly focus on the device's thinner and lighter appearance, the new design and the powerful innards, though some mention the free iLife/iWork apps and the supreme app ecosystem.

We've compiled the best review quotes for your reading pleasure, so you could make an informed purchasing decision...

Apple admits some iPhone 5s units exhibit battery woes due to ‘manufacturing issue’

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 29, 2013

In a rare but not entirely unprecedented response, Apple's gone on the record Tuesday with The New York Times (of all publications) to admit that a fairly limited number of iPhone 5s units may be plagued with lower than expected battery life and slow charging issues due to what the company attributed to an unspecified "manufacturing issue".

This isn't your typical teething problem fixable in software: Apple has said it will provide owners of the affected phones with a replacement unit. Here's Apple's full statement on the matter...

New ways to awesomize your Google+ Photos

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

Photography fans are in for a nice treat as Google today rolled out a series of photo-related announcements. iDB already told you about full size uploads and background sync, coming soon to Google+ for iOS, and the new HDR Scape effect in Google-owned Snapseed app which can deliver results comparable to high dynamic range imaging, but working from a single photo.

But Google's only warming up. The company has also unveiled scheduled Hangouts On Air and rolled out a bunch of enhancements to Google+ Photos on the web such as Auto Awesome Movie, Auto Enhance Action and Eraser and much, much more.

I've got a quick rundown for you ready right after the jump...

Southwest Airline and Dish launch iPad 2 loan program ahead of holiday travels

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated December 23, 2017

Just in time for the maddening holiday travel rush, one U.S. airline has announced plans to provide flyers with a loaner iPad and satellite programming. The 'DISH Anywhere' offer by Southwest Airlines and the satellite television network is available to passenger flying between Denver, Oakland and Chicago.

The iPad 2 loaner program follows Southwest's earlier Watch on the Fly service, bringing free DISH programming to airline customers owning an iDevice...

Snapseed update brings out Shadows slider and HDR Scape filter

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 29, 2013

Snapseed, the popular mobile image editing application Google acquired in September 2012 (making it a free download) is quite a piece of work.

As our resident iPhoneographer Emil wrote recently, with just a few simple steps, Snapseed can turn your dull and boring iPhone shots into beautiful and lively Fall photographs that dazzle with just the right amount of color, saturation, emphasis and detail.

As part of its 'A Morning With Google+' event which revealed interesting developments on the Google+ iOS front, the Internet giant just started shipping a new version of Snapseed which comes with a cool new filter and the 'Shadows' image tuning option.

Important caveat: avoid this update if you're not running iOS 7...

Facebook previews new-look Messenger with phone number integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 23, 2017

We were told last month Facebook had been working on a new version of its iPhone client with Graph Search and testing a major rethinking to the standalone instant messaging software, Facebook Messenger (a free download from the App Store).

Today, the social networking behemoth announced a new Messenger experience is now available for limited testing on Android and coming soon to iOS. Representing a major refresh, Messenger has undergone a substantial facelift and now lets folks instant-message each other using only their phone numbers, putting Messenger on a collision course with WhatsApp...

Google+ iOS app to get full-res uploads, background sync

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 29, 2013

The Internet giant's 'A Morning with Google+' event is underway and the company's just made it official: the Google+ app for the iPhone and iPad will soon be updated with the ability to upload full resolution images to Google+ Photos, previously Picasa Web Albums and now part of Google's social thing.

Another new feature being mentioned is support for Background Refresh in iOS 7 which will allow the application to automatically synchronize your photos in the background, even when it's not running.

Currently, background photo sync only works if you have the app open...