Apple

Reeder for iPhone goes free, support for Google Reader alternatives coming soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 21, 2018

Whenever I feel like skimming through my RSS feeds, I turn to Reeder, Silvio Rizzi's excellent RSS client for the iPhone and iPad. I've been using it for years now and with the impending July 1 Google Reader shutdown, Silvio figured he could kick his value proposition up a notch by making Reeder for iPhone free. In addition, he's busy working on the next update which will enable a number of Google Reader alternatives such as Feedly, Wrangler and others...

Rich iTunes iRadio playlist customization in the works, patent suggests

Ed Sutherland ∙ June 27, 2013

When Apple announced plans to offer iTunes Radio, observers quickly compared the service to Spotify, and other streaming music offerings.

However, a new patent application reveals the iPhone maker wants to go far beyond a simple 'like' or 'dislike' to customize a user's playlist.

Apple's vision of a playlist connects a user's musical preferences already part of iTunes, while offering the ability to tweak a song list on the fly. The application, published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Thursday, also outlines playlist customization based on such ephemeral factors as how a certain song makes you feel...

Yahoo! News modernizes design

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 27, 2013

There's no denying that the Internet giant Yahoo has been on quite a roll lately.

Over the course of just two months, the company has managed to roll out the awesome Weather app (that Apple seemingly copied quite slavishly in iOS 7), launch the Mail app on iPad, update its Search iOS app with Summly summaries and acquire the blogging platform Tumblr for $1.1 billion.

Today, the company announced it is revamping its popular News portal on the web and mobile devices with a new design aimed at creating a more consistent feel across all of Yahoo. The all-new Yahoo News look is also available when browsing the website on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android devices...

Judge denies adding Galaxy S4 to Apple suit

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 27, 2013

Apple's plan to add Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone to its second California suit has just hit a major roadblock as U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal just denied Apple's request on the ground that it would be a “a tax on the court’s resources”. A lawyer for Apple told the judge that excluding the Galaxy S4 “would require Apple to file a new lawsuit” because the Samsung products covered by the case will be out of date by trial next year, Bloomberg reported Thursday...

Verizon’s LTE in 500 markets, VoLTE due in 2014

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2017

Just as U.S. wireless carrier AT&T yesterday said it rolled out its Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio technology to new markets while expanding coverage in several existing markets, rival Verizon Wireless Thursday said its LTE now blankets five hundred markets nationwide.

The Big Red carrier now has 4G coverage in nearly 200 more markets than AT&T does. Verizon added a hundred new LTE markets in just eight months and was the first U.S. telco to start deploying high-speed LTE cellular technology two and half years ago. The company also announced it will begin rolling out Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology starting next year...

First Google Hangouts update brings new features

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 27, 2013

In the first major update since its release back in May, Google's cross-platform unified messaging software Hangouts has just enhanced your chatting experience with a couple new additions. Addressing some of the top requests, Google Hangouts versions 1.1.1 features improved iOS 6 support and now finally lets you send URLs, as well as and click on links received in chat messages. I've included more information about this update after the break...

Apple sending out iTunes Radio terms to indie record labels

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

In dramatic fashion, Apple's iTunes Radio negotiations with the top 3 record labels came down to the wire. After a number of setbacks, the company was determined to unveil its new streaming music service at WWDC. And it reportedly spent the days leading up to its keynote closing deals.

But now that the [beta] launch has come and gone, Apple is looking to expand its streaming library. According to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, the company has been talking to various indie music labels, letting them know how the royalty pay scale work on the new service...

Apple applauds Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage

Cody Lee ∙ June 26, 2013

Normally, the words 'Apple applauds' and 'Supreme Court' don't go together. The Cupertino company isn't on the greatest terms with the US government at the moment, what with the whole tax evasion thing and the ongoing e-book trial.

But today is a different story. In a pair of 5-4 decisions this morning, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex couples in two major cases, effectively allowing federal benefits for gay couples. And Apple says it applauds the ruling...

Poppy turns your iPhone into Viewmaster style 3D camera

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 26, 2013

An interesting project is brewing up over at Kickstarter. An iPhone accessory called the Poppy wants to turn any iPhone into a kid's 3D camera capable of capturing, viewing and sharing 3D stereoscopic stills and videos. It has two eyepieces to look through, a slot where you insert your device and mirrors which capture two stereographic images using your iPhone's single camera.

Perhaps most surprising fact is that Poppy needs no electronics to turn 2D images into 3D because its mirrors do all the heavy lifting, resulting in a light accessory that needs no batteries to operate...

Malware infestation running amok on Android

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

It's not the sort of recognition any smartphone maker wants, but Android appears to be the platform of choice for nine out of ten mobile malware authors. The growth of malware apps targeting users of Google's mobile operating system rose an unbeliavable 614 percent in just the last year, author's of a new study found.

Perhaps even more discouraging is three-quarters of the mobile malware could easily be eliminated through software updates, yet ignored by 96 percent of Android owners. As for Apple's iOS, it's nowhere to be found on the malware hit-list, an area in which Apple is happy to hand to rivals...

Apple dogfooding iWork for iCloud Beta to all employees

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 26, 2013

Along with a host of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks announcements, Apple spent some air time during its WWDC 2013 keynote talking about the much-improved cloud component of its iWork productivity suite for Macs and iDevices.

iWork for iCloud, as it is called, for the first time provides rich Pages, Keynote and Numbers web apps that run smoothly in a web browser like Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer, much like Google's Docs suite.

After making iWork for iCloud Beta available to its registered developers via the beta.icloud.com web page, the company has just started dogfooding the software to all its employees...

Popular Limbo game hitting App Store next week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

Developed by Danish team Playdead, Limbo, the popular puzzle action adventure, became a smash hit shortly following its Xbox Live launch in 2010. Soon after, the game was ported to Windows and Mac PCs and Sony's PlayStation 3 console, winning numerous accolades and garnering over a hundred awards.

I've been looking forward to playing Limbo on my iPhone for ages so you can imagine me surprised realizing my prayers have now been answered because Playdead just announced that Limbo will land on the App Store as early as next week. Couldn't be happier!