Apple

Apple’s next-gen Mac Pro ad hits YouTube ahead of Fall release

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 23, 2013

As Apple engineers scramble to finalize the next-generation Mac Pro for US-based assembly, the company's marketing department has been increasingly teasing and hyping the dream machine ahead of its Fall launch. Moviegoers who'd gone out to see the new Jobs biopic last weekend, or any other movie for that matter, spotted a Mac Pro video.

The clip, which later started airing in theaters nationwide, shows the radically new machine from various angles without revealing too much. Now that Apple has uploaded the commercial to YouTube, expect to see it rolling on television nationwide. I've queued up the video right after the fold...

Bloomberg: Apple’s slowing growth now worries case makers

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 23, 2013

People love to accessorize their mobile devices. Indeed, the multi-billion dollar industry for gadget accessories has been thriving for years now on the seemingly unstoppable popularity of Apple's mobile devices. The accessory industry had really started to take off a decade ago, after the iPod came out.

It boomed following the iPhone and iPod touch introduction in 2007, with tablets such as the iPad having become the latest lucrative market for case vendors out there. So, what do you do if you're an established case maker in Asia at a time when Apple's growth has been slowing?

As you fortunes are most certainly closely tied to Apple's, priorities change as you start giving more attention to non-Apple gadget makers, namely to Samsung but also to a bunch of local vendors who produce inexpensive smartphones and tablets...

Apple revamps Education mini-site

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 23, 2013

Slowly but surely, Apple has been revamping sub-section by sub-section of its website to bring the visual language, navigation and overall design in line with the flattened and cleaned up iOS 7 look and feel.

We've just received a word that Apple has redesigned the Apple and Education mini-site with a much simpler navigation and layout that revolves around larger teaser images and less text.

The mini-site strives to provide resources for teachers and parents about how Apple products can help them educate their kids...

Gold iPhone could pave way for Apple riches

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

All the chatter over whether a gold (or champagne) iPhone would be a good move on Apple's part has served to highlight a glaring gap in our global knowledge.

What started out last week as a report on the economic value of a golden iPhone, quickly morphed into suggestions that gold was a preferred color in China - even a 'lucky' color for consumers there. Now comes the coup de grâce of the color debate: a comparison of auto tints...

CEO Steve Ballmer will retire within 12 months, Microsoft confirms

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

I bet you haven't seen this coming. Microsoft's controversial and enthusiastic chief executive officer Steve Ballmer will retire within the next twelve months, the company said in a media release.

The company cunningly chose Friday to break the unexpected news so investors have the time to chew on the development over the weekend.

The Windows giant said Ballmer will retire as CEO upon the completion of a process to choose his successor. In the meantime, Ballmer will continue as CEO and will lead Microsoft "through the next steps of its transformation to a devices and services company that empowers people for the activities they value most"...

Apple opens iWork for iCloud Beta to everyone

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 23, 2013

Previously available only to Apple's registered developers and and later on to some select users, Apple has today decided to open iWork for iCloud web apps to everyone ahead of its September 10 keynote. That's right, you can now log in to the web interface at iCloud.com using your existing Apple ID, regardless of whether you are a developer or a regular user.

The service provides Apple's suite of iWork apps - Pages, Keynote and Numbers - that run in any standard web browser such as Apple's Safari, Google's Chrome and Microsoft's Internet Explorer and support editing functionality...

The iTunes Radio effect: Pandora will no longer cap free mobile listening

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 27, 2016

Pandora's 40-hour limit on mobile listening went into effect in February, quickly becoming the most hated "feature" of the otherwise stellar streaming music service. The firm argued it felt compelled to introduce the capping due to rising royalty costs, even if the 40-hour limit affected only four percent of its avid listeners. Backflipping now, Pandora said Thursday it will be removing the 40-hour free listening on mobile devices real soon.

The good news conveniently coincides with Apple's impending launch of its ad-free iTunes Radio, a streaming music service set to arrive next month as part of the iOS 7 release...

Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders is Apple’s new Free App of the Week

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 22, 2013

Boy, I've spent countless hours and had tons of fun playing the Sky Gamblers games by Atypical Games. It's one of those system sellers that every avid gamer should have on their device to show off to friends, it's that good.

In terms of graphics, these games literally have it all: lots of detail, interactive cockpits, special effects galore, specular masks, bump mapping, atmospheric scattering, volumetric clouds with realistic lighting and sun glare.

There are also beautiful day and night transitions, God rays, high definition textures, 4x anisotropic filtering, high dynamic range rendering, radial blur, heat haze, refractive raindrops and lots more. The care and thought that had gone into designing Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders, the most recent installment, has clearly caught Apple's attention.

Previously, the iPhone maker featured Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders as one of its 2013 Design Award winners and now the company has decided to feature the game as its Free App of the Week. Trust me, Storm Raiders is the ultimate World War II air combat game and you'd be foolish to pass on it..

Apple buys Embark, maker of free transit apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

The former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin has some high-quality sources at Apple and has enjoyed the kind of unprecedented access to company executives that only News Corp. could bring to the table. In between forming a team of star bloggers for her upcoming news venture and tweeting, she finds time to post an exclusive every once in a while. Back in July, for instance, Jessica scooped a story about Apple's rumored ad-skipping feature for an upcoming television service.

And during her WSJ tenure, she revealed that Apple had snapped up indoor GPS company WiFiSLAM for $20 million, confirmed a chip deal with TSMC and scooped many, many other exclusives. Today she broke on her blog that Apple has acquired another transit app startup, a small Silicon Valley upstart called Embark, for un undisclosed sum...

Apple and Google push Nintendo and Sony into No. 3 spot in mobile gaming

Ed Sutherland ∙ August 22, 2013

We've seen how mobile killed traditional music, draining sales from retail CD stores. Console games appear headed for the same fate. Worldwide revenue for handheld console makers fell during the second quarter of this year, pushing companies like Nintendo and Sony into third place behind the first-place Apple App Store and No. 2 Android-based Google Play.

According to a joint report by research firm IDC and app analytics company App Annie, consumers spending on mobile games in the Google Play store rose during the quarter as Android games picked up 1.6 percent of the market between the first and second quarter of 2013. The Google Play store has taken steps to attract more gaming dollars by tailoring its service for developers...

Apple updates Find My Friends and Find My iPhone ahead of iOS 7 release

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 22, 2013

With less than three weeks left until Apple's big Fall reveal, the company has started updating some of its own apps on the App Store to bring them more in line with the all-new iOS 7 look.

Find My iPhone and Find My Friends apps have both been updated with bug fixes and stability improvements, but no new features have been added and the design remained unchanged.

Find My iPhone is particularly interesting. Not only has the update broken the app for non-developers, but the software now comes with a brand new flattened icon which essentially mimics its counterpart on the recently revamped iCloud Beta website. More findings right below...

iTV said to come with pay-TV service

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 22, 2013

The Apple television saga continues with a new report by Quartz today offering a fresh insight behind the curtain of Apple's ongoing negotiations with content owners. The crux: while the talks have stalled as Apple's faced significant hurdles, the company is cunningly hoping to get at least a few content providers on board for a rumored iTV launch.

Afterwards, Apple is hoping to get cable companies to play along, the report notes. Apple's ultimate goal is to have the rumored standalone television set launch with a pay TV service that would see Apple “essentially becoming a cable company itself”...