Apple

iTunes movies, rentals launch in 42 new countries

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2012

As part of the massive iPhone 5 holiday roll-out in fifty new countries, Apple last week launched the iTunes Music Store in 56 new countries, including Russia, Turkey and South Africa. Now, early reports revealed places like India, Indonesia, Russia and Turkey got access to iTunes movies as well. Apple on its part promised in a media release that the movie store "will be available in select additional countries". According to a new report, the company on Wednesday activated iTunes movie store in as much as 42 new countries where the music store just launched...

Analyst projects higher iPhone sales, cannibalized iPad purchases

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

As we enter the last weeks of December, Wall Street analysts are adjusting their forecasts for Apple and its keystone products, the iPhone and iPad.

Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu Wednesday told investors increased supplies of the iPhone 5 likely means more sales, while tablet buyers are shifting toward the iPad mini, resulting in slightly fewer sales overall.

After talks with supply chain sources, Wu expects Apple to sell this quarter 47.5 million of the new handsets, up from his earlier projected 47.3 million units. As for iPads, the analyst trimmed his sales forecast to 23.5 million, down from 25 million. In both cases, supply was the critical factor...

Analyst: Apple could buy out TomTom to fix Maps

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 12, 2012

Apple's boss Tim Cook in a recent shakeup at the company's top added Maps and Siri to the already vast range of responsibilities of SVP Eddy Cue. Apple's 'Mr. Fixer', as he's been called because of his expertise in Internet software and services, also a member of the Ferrari board, could be looking to make a takeover bid for TomTom, a Dutch vendor of automotive navigation hardware and software and Europe's leading maker of navigation systems.

TomTom is a major data provider for Apple Maps and bringing the company's expertise and data sets under Apple's roof could help accelerate the pluming work needed to fix Apple's service. Rabobank analyst Hans Slob wrote in a research report today that there's a 30 percent chance that Apple will seek to acquire TomTom "because the Dutch software maker has the capacity to make speedy changes to correct any mapping errors or create new functions"...

Google chairman: Android is clearly winning the smartphone war

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Google chairman Eric Schmidt thinks his company is clearly winning the smartphone war with Apple and he goes on the record to say it in no ambiguous terms. The numbers certainly support Android's position as the world's most popular smartphone platform in terms of volume.

According to Gartner, both Samsung and Apple controlled nearly half the world's smartphone market in the third quarter, or 46.5 percent. When it comes to mobile operating system share for smartphones, Android is in the clear lead with nearly three-quarters the market, or 72.4 percent, up from 52 percent in the year-ago quarter. Apple's iOS held 13.9 percent. However, when it comes to the profits, Apple leads smart device profits and by a large margin, too...

Yahoo updates Flickr app with the obligatory Instagram-like filters

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 29, 2012

Following Instagram's update that added a new Willow filter and yesterday's big refresh of Twitter's iOS client that now lets you crop a photo and apply up to eight brand new filters before tweeting it out, Yahoo too has joined the fray by revamping its aging Flickr iOS client this morning. And guess what? The redesigned app also touts filters as Yahoo attempts to stay relevant in the social photography space. There are sixteen unique camera filters to choose from, twice as much as in Twitter's app (and also powered by Aviary). More features and screenies right after the break...

WSJ: Apple testing TV set designs with Asian suppliers

Cody Lee ∙ December 12, 2012

Finally, after months of listening to pundits and analysts wildly speculate on an Apple TV set, there's actually some real evidence that it exists. Well, sort of. Citing the usual 'people familiar with the matter,' The Wall Street Journal is reporting that it has learned that the Cupertino company is working with component suppliers in Asia to test several TV-set designs...

FTC investigating children’s apps over privacy concerns

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 9, 2023

The US Federal Trade Commission released a report yesterday regarding mobile apps that are aimed at children. It has been investigating kids titles from both the App Store and the Google Play marketplace, and has found that there has been little done over the past few years to address privacy concerns. These apps are still collecting kids' data, and sharing it, without their parents' knowledge or consent...

Time names the iPhone 5 ‘Gadget of the Year’

Cody Lee ∙ December 11, 2012

The year is winding down, and like clockwork, TIME Magazine has released its annual collection of 55 lists showcasing the best and the worst of the past 12 months. And as you've probably already gleaned from the title, the publication has named the iPhone 5 its 'Gadget of the Year.'

Apple's handset beat out several rival products from Samsung and Microsoft, including the Note II and the Surface tablet, as well as Nintendo's new Wii U gaming console. In fact, author Harry McCracken says that it's is one of the most artfully polished gadgets anyone’s ever built...

Reuters scolds Americanos for spending way too much money on Apple gear

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2012

Whenever one parts with one's hard-earned cash in order to get one's hands on a shiny Apple device, there's always people questioning the buyer's sanity.

The inevitable 'Apple tax' every now and then raises its ugly head through click-bait blog posts.

Even more worryingly, this non-topic somehow manages to find its way into write-ups of traffic-hungry newspapers. You can now totally put Reuters on your list of sensationalist media outlets. The otherwise respectable news gathering organization yesterday published an article titled 'Your Money: The "Apple Tax" - America's costly obsession'.

Here's what's wrong with their story and why I'm bitching about it on a lazy Tuesday afternoon...

Microsoft pressing Apple to take smaller cut on Office for iOS sales

Cody Lee ∙ December 11, 2012

Apple has just rejected the latest update to Microsoft's iOS SkyDrive app, a client for its popular cloud-based storage service. The reason for this is that the update includes the ability for users to purchase more storage through the app, and Microsoft isn't giving Apple its 30% cut of the sales.

Apparently the two companies are at serious odds over the commission fee, and the situation may not be resolvable. Microsoft has even offered to remove all subscription options from the app, but to no avail. And according to a new report, the beef has spilled over into Office for iOS discussions...

Google News improves iPad experience with cleaner UI and new gestures

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2012

Google today announced some welcome (if not way overdue) changes to its free news aggregator platform, Google News. The enhancements are aimed specifically at Apple's iPad and, of course, Google's own Nexus tablets and include new gestures and more breathing room between articles, which de-clutters the interface. If you used to dislike Google News because it threw every link it could at you, give the updated web app another try as it does feel more natural and fluid on iPads than before...

Twitter app update with Instagram-like filters now available for download

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2012

As I reported yesterday, Twitter has updated its Android app with the promised Instagram-competing photo filters, a first for the micro-blogging service seeking to supplant Instagram as your favorite photo sharing service. That, my friends, is a pretty tall order given Instagram's popularity, the Facebook backing and a growing number of new features Instagram's gaining. Be that as it may, Twitter has waited until this morning to roll out filters to its iOS client.

You're gonna love the ability to snap a scene, edit the photo with the filters supplied by Aviary and tweet out your work without jumping back and forth between Twitter and your go-to iPhoneography app. You can grab the free download right now from the App Store. More on other features right after the break...