Apple

Apple may be working to supplant Siri’s Nuance speech recognition with in-house tech

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 26, 2013

Although Apple's Siri uses Nuance's speech recognition technology, the digital assistant may be getting a new voice soon. Although Nuance continues to power Siri's speech recognition, a number of former Nuance employees reportedly are now part of Apple's in-house efforts to develop a new speech recognition technology to power Siri, reducing its technological dependency on third-parties.

For instance, a number of former employees of VoiceSignal Technologies, a speech software firmed acquired by Nuance, now appear in leading roles developing Siri as an in-house application for Apple, according to a Friday report...

For this analyst, Apple needs both low-cost iPhone and iPhablet to stay ahead of curve

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Although Apple managed to surprise investors with better-than-expected iPhone sales, some observers see a more daunting future for the flagship Apple smartphone.

Apple's global smartphone marketshare may have fallen by some estimates to as low as fourteen percent amid increasing pressure from rivals seeking higher margins and more sales.

Strategy Analytics describes the iPhone being "trapped in a pincer movement" between Android cheapos and high-end monster phones with five-inch screens. In other words, as iPhone competitors that churn out inexpensive handsets increasingly march toward the mid-range in hopes of gaining more profit, Apple's high-end rivals are now moving toward the middle, seeking increased sales...

Suspicious plastic iPhone backplate with certification markings surfaces

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 3, 2017

Here's a nice little nugget naysayers should chew on. A photograph that surfaced on a Chinese website earlier today appears to seemingly depict a plastic chassis, presumably belonging to Apple's rumored less-pricey iPhone model.

Now, we've seen these things previously shown off extensively in a high-resolution video, hires close ups and a bunch of previously published photographs. What distinguishes this particular "leak" from others are the certification markings on the back - and that's an unexpected treat in my book...

T-Mobile slashes down payment to zero bucks for all devices

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 4, 2016

T-Mobile USA today announced an awesome summer deal for smartphone buyers: zero dollars down for all devices, including Apple's iPhone 5. Previously, buying an iPhone 5 from T-Mobile required a down payment of $149.99 plus 24 installments of $21 per month.

With today's announcement, smartphone buyers get their device free from T-Mobile and pay it off completely via monthly installments. In the case of the iPhone 5, you'll be paying $27 per month for 24 months so you're looking at a total cost of ownership of $648 over a two-year period, plus of course monthly wireless service fees.

Samsung's Galaxy S4, HTC's One and BlackBerry's Q10 are available for $25 per month over 24 months. Nokia's Lumia 925 will set you back $20 per month for 24 months. The limited-time promotion is available starting tomorrow, July 27. Full details are right below...

WSJ: Google working on own set-top box with Kinect-like motion gestures

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 26, 2013

The Google TV project has seen modest success (and that's putting it nicely), but nowhere near the level of interest of Apple's set-top box which holds more than half the world's market for streaming boxes.

People who are serious about software make their own hardware, Alan Kay once famously said. In this regard, Google is just as eager to become a hardware maker as Apple is adamant to double-down on online services.

That being said, it's no surprise Google is rethinking its approach to the living room. Earlier this week we were offered a glimpse of Google's renewed living room effort as the search giant announced a $35 TV dongle called the Chromecast, alongside the second-gen Nexus 7 tablet.

That's just the beginning, though. The Wall Street Journal now reports that Google is working on its own set-top box hardware with built-in motion recognition technology akin to Microsoft's Kinect...

L.A. school district to hand out 31,000 iPads to students this year

Cody Lee ∙ July 26, 2013

Last month, word got out that Apple had won a bid for a colossal tablet deal with the Los Angeles Unified School District. The district, which is the second-largest in the country, agreed to buy some $30 million worth of iPads.

Today comes more details about the massive tablet rollout. According to a new report from CITEWorld, the LAUSD plans to distribute over 30,000 free iPads to students this school year in an effort to improve education...

Apple wins ‘Brand of the Year’ for computers, smartphones and tablets

Cody Lee ∙ July 26, 2013

Apple may be losing smartphone and tablet marketshare, but it's still the top brand in those categories. This, according to data from a recent US-based study on consumer brand perception by Marketing research firm Harris Interactive.

The firm polled some 38,000 Americans regarding their perceptions of their favorite brands, and Apple came out on top in 3 categories. As a result, Harris named the company the 'brand of the year' for smartphones, tablets and computers...

Penguin agrees to end Apple ebook deal to appease the European Commission

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

The EC announced yesterday that it has reached an agreement with book publisher Penguin, ending its antitrust probe into the company. As part of the settlement, the New York-based firm has agreed to terminate its iBooks deal with Apple.

Penguin is one of 5 major publishers that allegedly conspired with Apple to lower ebook prices, sparking antitrust investigations in both the US and Europe. But it looks like this resolution will put an end to the European Commission's quest...

Apple randomly signing iOS 6.0.x firmware [update: signing is over]

Cody Lee ∙ July 25, 2013

Good news for folks who lost their jailbreak updating their iOS device to try out iOS 7, it appears that Apple is currently signing 6.0.x versions of iOS firmware. This means that you should be able to downgrade your iPhone or iPad to iOS 6 and re-jailbreak.

Well-known iOS hacker and jailbreak developer iH8sn0w was the first to spot the reopening of the signing window, and we have since had multiple users confirm to us that they have successfully downgraded and re-jailbroken their devices. More after the fold...

Free Dailymotion Caméra arrives, get downloading

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Dailymotion, a French video-sharing website, today released its first video recording application on the App Store. The aptly named Dailymotion Caméra software can be used to capture, edit and share HD clips across Dailymotion's web, mobile and connected video platforms. Featuring the pause/resume recording functionality, the app also includes the obligatory filters, contrast/brightness controls, is flattened and doesn't cost a dime. What more could a gentleman ask for?

Verizon asks Obama to prevent upcoming iPhone sales ban

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 25, 2013

In April, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ordered an import ban on the iPhone 3G/3GS/4 after determining Apple had violated Samsung's 3G cellular technology patent. Apple was hoping the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) would overturn ITC's decision on the basis that Samsung was asserting a standards-essential patent.

Needles to say, Apple asked ITC to stay an order while the court considered the appeal, arguing the sales ban would "sweep away an entire segment of Apple's product offerings." And in an interesting twist earlier this week, the nation's top carrier Verizon Wireless pressured President Obama to intervene in the Apple v. Samsung case and veto the impending ban...

Warning: new phishing scam exploits Dev Center outage

Cody Lee ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

As most of you know, Apple's Developer Center has been offline for going on 7 days now. The company posted an update to the situation yesterday, outlining when services will be available, but it's still not clear when the portal will be fully functional again.

The breadth of the outage is far-reaching—Apple has hundreds of thousands of app developers worldwide. So it's no surprise that some not-so-nice people have decided to exploit the situation by sending out malicious emails, pretending to be the company...