Apple

Instagram update adds front-cam stabilization, landscape support

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 8, 2013

Like it or not, video on Instagram video is here to stay. And with five million videos uploaded to Instagram in the first 24 hours and given the Instagram brand strength, small wonder that Vine shares on Twitter have plummeted since Instagram video debut.

Not resting on its laurels, just this past weekend Instagram received a small update adding support for the Cinema video stabilization feature for your iPhone's front camera, previously available on the rear camera only. Not only that, you can now shot video holding the Instagram camera in landscape orientation...

DigiTimes: iPad 5 with optimized battery in September, Apple ‘still adjusting’ new iPad mini

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 8, 2013

According to the supply chain sources who spoke to DigiTimes, the Taiwanese trade publication infamous for its mixed track record, Apple will release a fifth-generation 9.7-inch iPad in September. As for the second-generation iPad mini, the company is "still adjusting" that device.

What this means is that iPad mini 2 specs have not been decided on yet. Its bigger brother may sport a longer battery life than the usual ten-hour rated performance iPads are known for due to an optimized battery design...

Apple moves up 36 spots in Fortune’s Global 500, lands as #19

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Each year, the Fortune Global 500 chart ranks the world's most powerful corporations based on their revenue. The 2013 edition of the rankings is now out and, based on 2012 revenue, Apple moved up 36 spots, soaring from 55th to 19th place. In fact, Apple previously cracked the Fortune 10 for the first time based on its 2012 revenue of $157 billion.

In terms of market capitalization, Apple is second only to the oil giant Exxon Mobile, in spite of ongoing woes concerning its share price...

Target giving away gift cards on iPhone, iPad, iPod and Apple TV purchases

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

The United States retailing corporation Target is advertising a promotion where they're giving away free Target Gift Cards for every qualifying purchase of iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Apple TV device from Apple. Free gift cards range in denominations from $10 to $50 and are good against purchases at the retailer, including iTunes Gift cards which Target has been offering for some time now.

And if you're planning on getting an iPhone 5 from Target, the retailer just sweetened the deal by throwing in a $25 coupon and reducing the entry-level 16GB model down to $149.99 with a qualifying two-year plan...

Apple caught testing offline Dictation for iOS 7

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 6, 2013

Among the headline new Mac features set to debut when OS X Mavericks gets released this Fall is a little but important enhancement to Dictation.

Hawk-eyed readers will recall that Dictation was brought to the Mac as part of OS X Mountain Lion last summer. Based on Siri's speech-to-text component, Dictation on the Mac requires a broadband Internet connection.

In Mavericks, Apple will let you optionally download a nearly 1GB package to power offline Dictation.

But Apple's engineers aren't stopping here and are reportedly privately testing offline Dictation for iOS 7. More details right after the break...

Apple invents flexible batteries, likely for iWatch

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2013

With iWatch trademarks linked to Apple spotted in places like Japan, Russia and a slew of other countries, it is no surprise speculation is intensifying that the iPhone maker is secretly developing a wearable gizmo of some sort. Another piece of the Apple smartwatch puzzle has now fallen into place as The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) published Friday a patent filing detailing a flexible battery design specifically conceived for a wristwatch and/or other bendable mobile devices...

Tasting Apple’s bitter pill: Samsung’s smartphone growth story running its course

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

In an age of demand for simple, inexpensive smartphones, big is not always better. The latest example is Samsung, viewed until recently as the Asian Apple, it's Galaxy smartphones keeping Android from sinking into mediocrity. After snickering at the iPhone maker's spate of bad luck on Wall Street, Samsung Friday lost 3.6 percent of its stock value amid a disappointing quarterly forecast.

With 70 percent of its profits coming from mobile devices, Samsung is in the same leaky boat as Apple. Addicted to high profits from sales of expensive smartphones built cheaply, Samsung Friday forecast $8.3 billion in profit during the second quarter, lower than the $8.9 billion Wall Street expected.

Since early June, the South Korean firm's stock value has lost $34.2 billion, the market capital of Sony and LG combined, according to one report...

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo not getting iPhone over Apple’s volume and carrier crapware stance

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Japan's top wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo still doesn't carry the iPhone, a decision its executive Katzuto Tsubouhi defended in an interview with the Wall Street Journal by arguing that Apple's device is no longer "the god of all smartphones."

For DoCoMo, Google's Android software provides more opportunities to customize the experience by preloading the handsets with a flurry of the carrier's many services and applications, something Apple strictly prohibits.

But holding out on the iPhone has come at a price as NTT DoCoMo since the iPhone's inception lost 3.2 million users of its 60 million subscribers to rival telcos who sell the iconic smartphone. In pointing the finger of blame at Apple the carrier told Reuters that the California firm wouldn't let it put its logo on the device and preload its lifestyle apps...

Ireland opposes grilling Apple and Google execs over tax shelters

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 5, 2013

Apple executives, and other tech titans under fire for their tax avoidance practices, can sigh with relief. An Irish committee voted earlier against asking Apple CEO Tim Cook and others about how they used the Irish tax laws to limit what they owe the IRS. Instead, a finance committee of the parliament will put European finance officials on the hot seat.

An investigation by a U.S. Senate subcommittee found Apple funneled a large portion of its income through an Irish business unit, which charged a very low tax rate. As part of that investigation, Cook was called to answer Senator's questions...

Is Apple’s magic wand ‘the simplest interface’ for iTV that Steve Jobs envisioned?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

As Tim Cook & Co. continue “pulling the string” on the TV space, readers with a keen interest in Apple's many patent applications are aware of a 2009 filing involving a wand remote of sorts that may include a motion detection component meant for the television interface.

Last June, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) granted that patent. And just last month, another major wand-related patent surfaced in USPTO's database that could be the magic required to make the TV experience “just work.”

It outlines a remote control containing fingerprint sensors, theoretically enabling identity and trust in order to authenticate viewers securely and deliver personalized content. It's especially noteworthy in the context of the rumored fingerprint scanning thought to be the killer feature of the upcoming iPhone 5S...

Samsung lambasts Siri dictation in weirdest Galaxy S4 ad yet

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 5, 2013

I appreciate memorable, creative advertising as much as the next guy, but I just don't get a new Galaxy S4 commercial Samsung is airing in Iceland.

Instead of focusing on the handset's features or the usual iPhone bashing, this time around Samsung's creative agency has gone over the top in depicting a guy trying to make a phone call on a real apple.

Realizing swiping across fruit makes no sense, the ad then switches to a happy scene where our hero operates a Galaxy S4. The not-so-subtle jab at Apple is plain weird, to put it mildly. I know ads are supposed to take into account the often vast cultural differences across markets, but I'm not sure Samsung did itself a favor with this particular commercial...

Kim Dotcom’s Mega iOS app in the works

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 18, 2016

If anything, the controversial Megaupload file-sharing service got the Internet mogul Kim Dotcom filthy rich. The German-Finnish entrepreneur is currently residing in New Zealand, where he manages a new cloud-based storage service startup called Mega that promises to protect your privacy from the government's prying eyes.

To help with that, the company acquired an Android app that's now being maintained by Mega contractors. Editions for Apple's iOS and Microsoft's Windows Phone being worked on, which is good news if you were looking to bolster up security of your personal cloud files in light of the ongoing scandal involving NSA spying and the PRISM intelligence program...