Apple

Why Foxconn must ensure survival of cash-strapped Sharp

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 7, 2016

Though the world's largest product assembler Foxconn is taking advantage of Sharp's financial woes, the company will want to offer a lifeline to the struggling Japanese giant, not just because it's one of the suppliers of mobile displays for iPhones and iPads, but also because Apple is seeking to reduce its dependency on Samsung, the world's largest maker of flat displays. That's the crux of today's report by Bloomberg, which also mentions the inevitable Apple television set rumor...

Is this a Nano SIM tray for the next iPhone?

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 6, 2012

Hot on the heels of recent news that European carriers were stocking up on a 40 percent smaller Nano SIMs as they got to test the new SIM card standard extensively ahead of the next iPhone's release in September, a French blog this morning posted a series of image depicting a purported Nano SIM tray for the iPhone 5. Also leaked, a slightly reworked and a bit smaller home button thought to be making an appearance on the next iPhone. More pics right after the break...

Nuance unveils Nina, the virtual assistant for iOS and Android apps

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 12, 2017

Nuance, the voice recognition engine that powers Siri, today announced a new kind of digital personal assistant aimed at mobile customer service apps. Called Nina, she "transforms iPhone and Android mobile apps into powerful engagement tools that allow customers to serve themselves". Nina promises to cover everything from paying your bills to getting answers to your questions to changing or adding service on the fly.

Built on the same voice recognition engine from Nuance that Apple licensed for Siri, Nina can be added to iOS and Android apps via a software development kit (SDK) issued today as part of the announcement. What's best, Nina doesn't require that you tediously type in your password for various services and instead recognizes your voice to provide secure authentication...

Apple gave hackers access to user’s iCloud account

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

As we continue to upload more and more of our lives to the web, the dangers of being hacked multiply. Our credit card numbers, our home addresses — they're all there for the taking. That's why so many security experts preach using a complicated password.

But sometimes, using a strong password isn't enough. Just ask former Gizmodo writer Mat Honan. Mat's world was turned upside down this weekend when a hacker gained access to his iCloud account, wiping his Mac, iPhone and iPad, thanks to Apple...

Question of the week: Should Apple develop a dedicated gaming controller?

Jeff Benjamin ∙ August 4, 2012

As we all know, Apple has found itself in the desirable position as one of the leaders in gaming industry. This wasn't something Apple planned to do; as iOS popularity increased, it just sort of fell into its lap.

With that in mind, do you think that it's time for Apple to take gaming more seriously? Further, should Apple develop a dedicated gaming controller and increase its presence in the industry?

Emails show Apple was interested in a clickwheel iPhone

Cody Lee ∙ August 4, 2012

Earlier this year, ex-Apple engineer Tony Fadell mentioned something interesting during an on-stage interview. He said that among the handful of prototype iPhone designs that Apple originally considered, one of them was actually built around the infamous iPod clickwheel.

That prototype came up again yesterday during the Samsung-Apple trial. Samsung brought up an email exchange between Steve Jobs and Jony Ive discussing a Samsung phone with a wheel-like interface, hoping to prove that Apple too found inspiration in its competitors...

Rovio teases next major Angry Birds release: Red Planet

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

It looks like the Mars Curiosity rover isn't the only thing landing on Mars this year. Rovio just took the lid off of its next major Angry Birds update, Angry Birds Space: Red Planet.

Earlier this year, Rovio took its popular franchise into outer-space, and within 12 hours it was the number one paid application in the App Store. But can lightning strike again?

Purported iPad mini shells show no camera hole

Cody Lee ∙ Updated November 28, 2016

With Apple expected to unveil the long-rumored iPad mini in a few short weeks, we anticipate component leaks for the smaller slate to start picking up.

In fact, some photos started floating around this afternoon of what appear to be rear shells belonging to the highly anticipated tablet. But are they real?

Apple’s case against Samsung explained in 3 images

Cody Lee ∙ August 3, 2012

As you've probably noticed, Apple and Samsung are locked in a high stakes courtroom battle in northern California right now. Apple believes that Samsung intentionally copied its smartphone and tablet designs, and is seeking more than $2 billion in damages.

The debate on whether or not Samsung copied Apple has been going on since the Cupertino company filed its original lawsuit back in April of last year. But it's hoping to convince the California court journey with the help of these three product timeline images...

Scott Forstall on the early days of the iPhone project

Cody Lee ∙ August 3, 2012

It's day 5 in the ongoing patent trial between Apple and Samsung, and Scott Forstall, Apple's SVP of iOS software, is on the witness stand. As you can imagine, his time under oath has been fairly interesting thus far.

Earlier this afternoon, we told you about the internal email from Eddy Cue to Forstall that talked about Jobs' interest in a 7-inch tablet. And now we're moving on to the early days of Apple's smartphone project...

Internal email shows Steve Jobs was receptive to 7-inch tablet idea

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

Opponents of the rumored iPad mini have continued to recall Jobs' disdain for a smaller screen as evidence that it won't happen. And technically, they're right. The CEO has been quoted as saying 7-inch displays are too small.

But that doesn't mean it won't happen. And in fact, according to an internal email that just popped up in the ongoing Samsung-Apple trial, the CEO actually showed some interest in the idea as recent as January 2011.

Updated: screenshot of the actual email thread after the break...