iOS

Apple patent outlines proximity iPhone-to-Mac file transfers

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 17, 2013

If you have some media content on your iPhone that needs to get to a Mac, the transfer can be cumbersome. Apple appears to be tapping wireless technologies to smooth out such operations, simply by having your mobile device near your desktop or portable Mac computer.

A patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office outlines a way for Macs to sense when a mobile device is nearby. Your iPhone can then transmit that great vacation photo to the Mac, which then inserts the image into an email, or even photo manipulation application...

Apple granted patent for iOS app folders, ‘jiggle’ interface

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 17, 2013

Apple Tuesday was granted a patent for how it manages folders on the company's iOS devices, including the familiar "jiggle" user interface. The patent, awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, describes a "device, method, and graphical user interface for managing folders." In the 2010 application, Apple said the interface relieves the "significant cognitive burden" and wasted energy traditionally required for moving files and icons on a computer desktop...

Nearly half of U.S. teens own an iPhone, 62% are planning to buy one

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 10, 2013

Although it sometimes seems like every teen has an iPhone, we are not quite there, according to new research. Some 48 percent of teens say they own the Apple smartphone with 62 percent expecting to buy an iPhone as their next handset.

The 48 percent of teen-owned iPhones is up from 40 percent registered during fall 2012, according to Piper Jaffray's 25th bi-annual teen survey. Meanwhile, just over 20 percent of teens surveyed said they either own or plan to purchase a smartphone powered by Google's Android mobile operating software...

Yahoo and Apple said to be in talks over deeper iPhone partnership

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

It looks like Yahoo could stand to gain from the war that has broken out between Apple and Google. Now that the iPad-maker has cleared nearly every trace of Google from the stock iOS experience (besides web search), it's apparently in the market for a new partner.

And that partner could just be the Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo. The web company already provides data for a few iOS apps, including Weather, Stocks and Siri. And according to a new report, it's in talks with Apple to take that relationship to the next level...

The online Apple Store, now with iOS touch-friendly navigation

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

Apple's online store has over time implemented a bunch of tweaks aimed at improving navigation and browsing product pages on Apple's mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad.

For instance, I've always liked the ability to swipe through teaser images on landing pages for specific products.

Here's an example: fire up Safari on your iPhone or iPad, visit www.apple.com/iphone and swipe through those big, beautiful product shots at the top. But the company isn't stopping there.

Having recently hired dozens of engineers, visual designers and web developers, Apple has now introduced a fresh set of tweaks to the online Apple Store, including the touch-friendly navigation bar which appears right below the main product sections (iPod, iPad etc.)...

Upcoming firmware update to force VPN behavior changes over VirnetX patent loss

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 5, 2013

VirnetX, a patent holding firm with an impressive intellectual property portfolio, in November 2011 sued Apple over a breach of a collection of its network patents, originally seeking north of $900 million in damages. A year later, in November 2012, a federal jury in a Texas court ordered the iPhone maker to pay $368.2 million in damages.

The two parties later worked out a royalty agreement that should be decided upon on April 12, but as a result of the damages awarded to VirnetX, Apple today has acknowledged via a support document that it "will be changing the behavior of VPN On Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later"...

Facebook Home for iOS? Talk to Apple, Zuck says

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lep_DSmSRwE

Facebook has found a new home on Android, so to speak, as the social networking giant at a news conference earlier today unveiled a Home launcher, a new feature for select Android devices which marries cherry-picked Facebook applications to a beautiful user interface described as putting "people first in an app first world."

Alongside the new software shell, Mark Zuckerberg and HTC's Peter Chou announced the HTC First, an Android smartphone born out of the collaboration between Facebook and HTC which runs the Home interface. Zuckerberg confirmed his company will be rolling out the new launcher to select Android devices beginning April 12, as a free app download from Google's Play Store.

But what about iOS? iPhone users are unfortunately shut out. Initially hiding behind 'Apple's walled-garden' argument, Zuckerberg in wide-ranging interviews with Forbes and Wired.com shed more light on the matter...

Apple exploring custom iPhone hold messages with contextual ads

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 2, 2013

Everyone has been on hold. The irritatingly insincere messages about 'your call is important to us' followed by 1970s Muzak and advertising come-ons.

A new patent granted to Apple may make your wait a bit more entertaining - if not productive - for iPhone owners. The patent outlines a way to display information that is contextually relevant to your phone call.

But buried in the ties to your calendar, local weather and other data is a hook that could display personalized ads on your phone, akin to Google's contextual ads...

Flurry finds phablets are ‘insignificant’ and a ‘fad’

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 24, 2018

There has been debate whether Apple should offer an iPhone with a larger screen, competing with Android selling what some have dubbed 'phablets' for spanning both phones and tablets. Now comes a well-known mobile research firm calling phablets just 'a fad.'

In a note to mobile developers entitled "Size Matters for Connected Devices, Phablets Don't," analytics firm Flurry Monday said phablets comprise only a single-digit portion of devices compared to mid-size phones and large tablets, such as the iPhone and iPad...

BMW folds 4 new iOS apps into Apps-enabled cars

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 27, 2013

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, better known as BMW, features a special option dubbed Apps which integrates iOS software from third-parties for some cool in-car entertainment and driving experience.

Part of the luxury automaker's ConnectedDrive initiative, the Apps platform supports model year 2011 and later vehicles and is controlled through a dedicated iOS app aptly named BMW Connected App. These apps are still few and far between so today the German car maker launched new additions.

A total of four iOS programs that integrate with the BMW Apps platform have been confirmed: Amazon's Audible app which lets you listen to audio books, real-time location sharing software Glympse, the subscription-based music streaming service Rhapsody and Pandora-like TuneIn app that features offers over 70,000 stations and two million shows...

webOS-inspired iOS 7 multitasking concept

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 25, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRt5qagkGBU

Remember webOS? Say what you will about Palm, but the HP-acquired firm has pioneered what's arguably the most efficient implementation of multitasking on a mobile device to this date (no jailbreak required, of course). For those not in the know, the webOS multitasking metaphor is a stack of cards which represents your running tasks.

Each card can be moved around, dismissed and manipulated with a flick of your finger. It's a remarkably fun and engaging solution to efficiently interact with your apps, one which gets the job done while moving out of the way. Designer Jesse Head took that idea and applied it to the problematic iOS multitasking tray, replacing the boring grid of icons with app tiles sporting nearly full-screen live previews. It appears as useful as it's gorgeous to look at, no?

Eric Schmidt on Google Now for iOS: the ball is now in Apple’s court

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 21, 2013

An alleged promo video thought to show off an unreleased build of Google Now for the iPhone and iPad has piqued our interest, as you could imagine. It was pulled from YouTube soon after, posing questions about the state of the official Google Now software for Apple's mobile platform.

Speaking at the Google Big Tent Summit in India, Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt hints Google Now has been submitted to Apple for approval. He suggested the ball is now in Apple's court. If approved, Google Now features are likely to be added to the Internet giant's native Search iOS app.

Update: Apple confirmed to CNET that Google never submitted Google Now to the App Store in the first place...