iOS

IDC: Apple, Android own 92% smartphone volume, Windows Phone beats BlackBerry

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 16, 2013

Just days after rival research firm Gartner released quarterly sales for iOS and Android, rival IDC today announced similar numbers for shipments of smartphones. Combined, iOS and Android maintained their stranglehold on the smartphone market, accounting for more than an astounding 92 percent of shipments during the first quarter of 2013.

In a surprising move, shipments of the Windows Phone smartphone operating system surpassed the BlackBerry OS, putting Microsoft in third place behind Android and iOS. I bet you didn't see that one coming...

Another concept imagines iOS 7 running on next-gen iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 16, 2013

Following recent budget iPhone concept by Martin Hajek (itself based on nice iOS 7 mockups by 3D artist Dámaso Benítez), German blog Apfellike.de yesterday shared a similar rendition by Jürgen Ulbrich. Like many 3D artists before him, Dámaso is striving to envision what iOS 7 running on the next iPhone might look like. I'm liking his work a lot and have included a few images and a nice video mockup right after the break...

EA bringing its Frostbite game engine to iOS

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 13, 2017

Games super publisher Electronic Arts is bringing its Frostbite game engine to the iOS and Android platforms, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Developed by EA Digital Illusions CE, creators of the Battlefield series, the Frostbite engine supports Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms and powers a wide range of video game genres, from first-person shooters to racing game and real-time strategies.

A mobile version called Frostbite Go will target "all major mobile platforms," Electronic Arts confirmed, specifically mentioning iOS and Android...

Martin Hajek’s new concept pictures budget iPhone running revamped iOS 7

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

The renderings use Hajek's past budget iPhone concepts as the basis for the hardware. As for the software, he incorporated a round of nice concepts by 3D artist Dámaso Benítez, picturing a flattened iOS 7 user interface that Apple's design head Jony Ive and his team are widely believed to be working on.

His mockups, Hajek explains on his personal blog, serve to illustrate "how Apple might introduce the new, cheap iPhone." More awesomeness can be found right past the fold...

New iOS 7 concept depicts Zen-like simplicity

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 10, 2013

Another day, another iOS 7 concept. In an attempt to depict what Jony Ive-ified, flattened user interface in iOS 7 might look like, digital agency Simply Zesty created this elaborate concept.

The video focuses on a clean look UI and pictures Lock screen widgets, a revamped Notification Center as well as a beautiful new Windows Phone 'Metro'-fied stock apps like Calendar, Music, Siri and Camera.

I love the cleaner Notification Center with animated widgets. If that's the future of iOS 7, then I'm very much looking forward to it...

iPhone passcode security prompts law enforcement requests

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

Apparently, the law enforcement community needs to hire a few 13-year-olds able to crack the passcode on Apple's iPhone. There is such demand to help unlocking iPhones that one federal agency had to wait nearly two months for Apple, which even manages a waiting list, to unlock the smartphone. One "flaw" in Apple's otherwise tight mobile security could worry privacy advocates: the company reportedly does not inform iPhone owners when it bypasses the device's security measures...

Apple expands Maps Flyover coverage in France

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 24, 2016

3D Flyover, a headline feature of Apple's in-house mapping service available on compatible iOS 6 devices, initially included only a handful of U.S. cities. The last major expansion was in March, when Apple added 3D Flyovers in twelve new cities - including such venues as Tokyo Station, Japan Imperial Palace and Tokyo Tower - and expanded Flyover coverage in more than a dozen U.S. cities.

Today, the company added 3D buildings for Paris, France and surrounding areas. I have a feeling iDB's own Sebastien Page will have lots of fun playing with Maps on his iPad...

Canalys: one in five smart devices are Apple

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 9, 2013

Research firm Canalys Thursday offered data on first-quarter smart mobile device shipments, with an estimated 300+ million new units for a 37.4 percent year-over-year growth. Google's Android powered 59 percent and Apple's iOS powered a little over nineteen percent of these devices, according to researchers. Key takeaways: Android leads the smartphone race, Apple is holding onto the tablet market and laptop demand continues falling.

Pay attention to Canalys's parlance because 'smart mobile devices' include smartphones, tablets and laptops. Another important caveat: Canalys stats don’t divulge shipped vs sold units. This is an important distinction as a device shipped into a channel does not automatically result in a device sold to a consumer...

iOS 7 spikes in web traffic logs ahead of WWDC

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

With a little over a month until Apple's summer conference for developers, web site owners are now beginning to see a noticeable spike in traffic from devices that run iOS 7 beta code. Analysis of traffic logs and IP addresses reveals some of that traffic originating from Apple's Cupertino campus, which is usually a tell-tale sign that Apple is seeding the work-in-progress code internally to select engineers.

However, the mobile site conversion firm Onswipe over the past week or so started seeing iOS 7 traffic spikes across a bunch of web sites that incorporate its solutions...

Apple wants to take a peek inside Android source code

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 8, 2013

Apple's proxy fight against Google and its Android platform has just taken an interesting turn as the iPhone maker asked the court to force Google into turning over Android’s source code. The request is part of Apple's ongoing California patent fight against Samsung. Bloomberg reports today Apple is dissatisfied with Google's handling of the request.

According to Apple's lawyers, the search giant in “improperly withholding information” related to Android's source code documentation. Google's mobile operating system, Apple argues, “provides much of the accused functionality” and argues the Google platform is used in all of Samsung’s allegedly infringing products...

New FIPS 140-2 certification could broaden government use of iOS 6

Cody Lee ∙ May 7, 2013

There's been a lot of talk lately regarding Apple and its efforts to broaden the use of iOS in government agencies. The latest report says the US Department of Defense is close to granting both the iPhone and iPad approval for secure use.

Today comes word that the DoD might have just received the green-light it needed to move forward. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (or NIST) just announced that iOS 6 has achieved FIPS 140-2 certification (Level 1)...

AllThingsD reaffirms Apple is working on ‘deForstallization’ in iOS 7

Cody Lee ∙ May 1, 2013

After months of silence, reports regarding the next major version of iOS have really picked up in recent weeks. Most chatter points to the same thing: iOS 7 will sport an all-new, flatter interface, and the redesign has Apple running behind.

And this afternoon, those two points are reiterated in a new report by AllThingsD. The tech blog says that, according to its sources, iOS 7 is such a big design overhaul, Apple has had to pull engineers from other projects to help it along...