Apple

Apple’s marketing honcho Phil Schiller launches attacks on Android on eve of Galaxy S4 launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Following today's unexpected news of Google's SVP Andy Rubin leaving Android to focus on moonshot projects at the Internet giant - and conveniently just 24 hours ahead of Samsung's big unveiling of the Galaxy S4 at the Unpacked event in New York City - Apple's SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller sat down with The Wall Street Journal to pooh-pooh the Android platform.

He's touched upon several controversial topics, including Android fragmentation and lack of integration. And dismissing the looming Samsung launch, the exec called Android "a free replacement for a feature phone" and cited Apple's own research claiming four times as many iPhone users switched from Android than to Android during the fourth quarter...

AT&T’s LTE is the fastest, Verizon rules coverage

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 20, 2013

Aren't you sick and tired of top U.S. carriers advertising their 4G LTE service as the nation's fastest and most reliable? This mostly false advertising has been ticking me off for quite some time, especially how T-Mobile promotes its 3G HSPA+ network as 4G. Time for a reality check.

Research firm Rootmetrics yesterday published the results of its survey of U.S. carriers and their fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks. Surprisingly or not, AT&T's LTE came on top as the fastest, but rival Verizon grabbed the title of the nation's best LTE coverage. More tidbits right after the break..

Regional carriers voice support for cell phone unlocking

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2013

I find it peculiar that regional wireless carriers in the United States have traditionally been way more vocal in their support of Apple and sound business practices than the corporate behemoths like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile, the nation's top carriers.

A new report out this morning praises some regional carriers for having the guts to back a broader initiative to make cell phone unlocking legal again. Contrast the move to AT&T's "straightforward" policy of locking your device to its network until you've met the terms of your service agreement.

Specifically, rural carriers such as U.S. Cellular and Bluegrass Cellular are now backing these looming bills, likely in a bid to appease to its iPhone customers. Remember, these same guys happily undercut major carriers' iPhone deals by at least $50...

Apple adds Flyover and 3D buildings to several new cities in Maps

Cody Lee ∙ March 13, 2013

When Tim Cook wrote his open letter last September, apologizing for the quality of the new Maps app, he said that Apple would work on it non-stop until it lived up to its incredibly high standards. And it has been.

Though it hasn't garnered much media attention, Apple has made a number of improvements to its Maps app over the past six months, including adding Flyover support and 3D building images to several new cities...

Apple actually removed one CPU core from Apple TV’s die-shrunk A5 chip

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Silicon analysts over at Chipworks were able to conclude yesterday that the smaller A5 package, which was recently discovered inside a retooled Apple TV, is still being fabbed on Samsung’s 32-nanometer process rather than on TSMC's 28-nanometer technology, as some watchers speculate. Compared to its 2012 counterpart, the new A5 with a 2013 die is noticeably smaller, prompting questions on how Apple has managed to achieve a smaller die without changing fabbing technology.

The full A5 floorplan Chipworks published this morning reveals the culprit: the new die is smaller because the package contains just one ARM CPU core. Now, Apple has always rated the Apple TV as single-core, but previous implementations called for dual-core designs with one core intentionally disabled, though still present.

In removing one CPU core altogether, Apple's silicon team was able to shrink the die size without having to switch to a more sophisticated fabbing process technology...

Training docs indicate Staples will sell iPhones, iPads and Macs as well

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

We've known for a while now that Apple-friendly peripherals and accessories were headed to US Staples stores. The retailer already sells the products in Canada and internationally. And late last month, they started selling them in their US webstore.

But according to newly leaked internal documents, the stores are going to be offering more than just plug-ins and add-ons. The images, which are believed to be of associate training materials, suggest they'll be selling Macs and iOS devices as well...

PayPal outs in-store payment software for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2013

eBay-owned PayPal operates in 190 markets and in 25 currencies around the world and has more than 123 million active accounts.

The company has had the PayPal Here iPhone app available on the App Store since March of last year. The free software has now been released on the iPad, marking PayPal's first tablet app ever.

Essential to merchants who prefer PayPal and want to get paid directly at the point of sale, the program works in conjunction with a free credit card reader to let you scan an item’s barcode for faster checkout, wirelessly connect to a cash drawer and printer, track sales activity and more...

Official: Apple’s boss Tim Cook to testify for four hours in e-books trial

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2013

This past Sunday, Bloomberg reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook may be required to testify in an antitrust lawsuit the United States Department of Justice filed against it and major e-book publishers over an alleged price fixing of e-books. Reuters confirms today that U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan granted the Justice Department's request to compel Cook to sit for a deposition.

The Judge said the death of Jobs was a key reason in ordering the deposition. Cook will be testifying for four hours in the lawsuit, a risky move for the CEO and potentially damaging to Apple. The Cupertino company is now the main target of the suit after all named publishers had settled with regulators...

Security firm says iOS configuration profiles pose malware threat

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Last week, Apple's Marketing SVP Phil Schiller tweeted out a link to a mobile malware report that showed Android devices accounted for a staggering 79% of new mobile threats last year, while iOS devices accounted for just 0.7%.

Of course, the fact that he tweeted the link was far more surprising than the report's data. After all, we've known for years that Android is far more susceptible to mobile malware than iOS. Right? Security experts say not so fast...

Netflix rolls out the improved social experience to US viewers

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc82e7GGHl8#!

Netflix, the popular provider of on-demand Hollywood movies and television shows, Wednesday showed off a slew of new features aimed at making the experience more social and engaging. After being available internationally for well over a year, Netflix customers in the United States can now finally connect their Netflix account with Facebook.

This enables you to check out what your friends are watching and optionally share your favorite shows with them. Interestingly enough, there's a new Do Not Share button to mark those kinky videos you don't want your parents to know about. More Social Settings are available in Your Account on Netflix.com, where you can turn on additional sharing to Facebook or stop sharing altogether...

Teardown reveals the Pebble isn’t repairable at all

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2013

Perhaps in a slight indication of the kinds of limitations we could expect from Apple's rumored iWatch, repair wizards over at iFixit tore apart the Pebble smartwatch, having concluded that the components are so densely packed in such a tiny space that the gizmo is not repairable at all. As a result, iFixit refrained from giving the Pebble a repairability score in the first place.

And because the makers of the Pebble smartwatch had to use excessive adhesive for waterproofing, the battery is “very inaccessible” and there's no way of prying open the device “without compromising the display”...