The United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) this morning issued an interesting patent grant that proves Apple's been actively thinking about a new kind of dock that would let you charge your iPhone or iPod touch wirelessly, by placing your iOS device in an upright position but also along its other sides...
Different stats and market research all point to the same conclusion: that the mobile market is being reduced to a two-horse race between iOS and Android (or Apple and Samsung, specifically) as once great incumbents such as RIM and Nokia get pushed aside, their market shares seriously declining.
In fact, it's fairly safe to say that on the fifth anniversary of iPhone, both RIM and Nokia are fighting for survival, quite possibly their lifecycle coming to an end. Meanwhile, only four companies are turning profit in the increasingly crowded smartphone space...
Google has just pushed out an incremental update to its native Gmail client for iOS. The new version brings three little nice-to-haves to your email arsenal, including the ability to send email messages from your alternate email addresses and stay logged in longer.
The biggest enhancements is the full support for iOS notifications, meaning you can now finally set up banners, alerts and lock screen options in Notification Center...
Steve Jobs used to defend his "thermonuclear" option against Android by stressing how Apple did not enter the search space while Google had decided to challenge the iPhone with its Android.
Jobs' words no longer hold true. With Siri, an AI-driven personal digital assistant, Apple has begun slowly but surely eating into Google's significant search traffic coming from iOS devices.
As such, Siri is emerging as a key tool for casual search on iOS devices. And with iOS 6, Apple is expanding her reach with new alliances, making it easier for users to bypass Google, especially for local search...
As expected, Microsoft has just taken the wraps off of Windows Phone 8 — the latest iteration of its mobile operating system — during a nightclub-themed media event in California.
Similar to Apple's WWDC keynote, Microsoft took this opportunity to go over a handful of new features in the software. And so far, it looks fairly solid. Should Apple be nervous?
It looks like Tim Cook wasn't joking underscoring Apple would "double down on secrecy" during his fireside chat with Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the D10: All Things D conference. As noted by TUAW, the latest beta of iOS 6 lacks certain references to future Apple devices that have long been the staple of the rumor mill's crystal ball peering. Not like this changes anything, mind you...
Despite what Google's Eric Schmidt would have you believe, developers still prefer Apple's iOS platform over any other mobile operating system. More importantly, the vast majority of programmers don't think a rumored introduction of a taller iPhone this fall will complicate their life as adapting their apps to a larger canvas shouldn't be a biggie...
According to Peter Kafka of AllThingsD, and verified independently by my sources, podcasts in iOS 6 will have a dedicated app come this fall. Though the Podcast section is still present in desktop iTunes 10.6.3, released earlier this week, removing it from iOS 6 iTunes storefront indicates plans that a brand new Podcast app is in the works. Another tell-tale sign: at first run, the iTunes app tells you the iTunes U section has moved to a dedicated app, released back in January. Oh, Audiobooks too are MIA...
Although this has been announced in the WWDC keynote, we are beginning to receive reports that Siri in iOS 6 Beta is now able to find places internationally, at least in certain countries and with limited precision. By the way, jailbreakers can get this functionality by way of an AssistantExtensions plugin called International Locations...
In what could only be called a major agreement, the dominant Chinese search engine Baidu will share its search revenue with Apple for making it the default choice for Chinese iPhone users, it's been confirmed.
Though Baidu also shares revenue with Google on Android handsets that use its search engine, strong sales of Apple's devices in the 1.33 billion people market are bound to maximize opportunities for both companies...
Today's a particularly bad day for Apple's legal sharks. Just as we learned that Apple won't be able to stop June 21 launch of Samsung's Galaxy S III in the U.S. as it hoped it would, Reuters now reports that Apple also failed to fend off the high-profile iPhone tracking lawsuit. Though a federal judge ruled against Apple, he conspicuously let the likes of Google, AdMarval, AdMob, Flurry and Medialets off the hook...
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Developer who goes under a code-name "Businesscat2000" posted something really interesting-looking on the CrackBerry forum, an app player of sorts which can run native iOS apps on Research In Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
The program is demoed runnin a number of popular iOS apps and games, such as Tom Tom, Super Monkey Ball, Tiny Tower, Sushi Cat, iFart and more. It's also available for various other platforms, including Windows. Two more videos are right after the break...