If you've ever used a Mac running OS X Lion, then there's a good chance you've played with AirDrop. The drag-and-drop feature allows users to share content between computers on a common Wi-Fi network with understated ease.
It's such a cool feature, in fact, that a lot of folks have wondered when Apple is going to bring it to iOS. Just imagine dragging and dropping files to your iPhone or iPad — it'd be awesome. Especially if it looked anything like this...
With WWDC coming up on Monday, there's only a few days left to speculate on what new goodies Apple will unveil. We know for sure that iOS 6 is on the menu, but what new features will the update bring?
The consensus seems to be that, other than a number of revamped applications, Apple's mobile OS will remain largely unchanged from its predecessor. But that doesn't mean that we can't dream big...
So mere four days before the WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs' favorite analytics company posts some peculiar numbers making Google's former CEO Eric Schmidt look ridiculous.
Though Android continues to lead the pack in terms of shipments, the iOS train just keeps on chugging along in terms of loyalty and profitability.
Seven out of ten mobile apps in the first five months of this year were built for Apple's platform, where developers on average earn four times more revenue...
About a month ago, Facebook announced that it was going to be launching a cross-platform app store encoded entirely in HTML5. Dubbed App Center, the store would contain both third-party titles, as well as Facebook's own creations.
The social network gave the store a tentative release date of "the coming weeks," but we have yet to hear anything else about it. Until today. A screenshot of App Center surfaced this morning, leading folks to believe that a release is near...
Citing "two people familiar with the matter", Bloomberg reports that Apple is said to add Baidu as a default iOS search engine in China. Since Baidu commands a lion's share of search queries in the world's biggest smartphone market, this decision is thought to have potentially serious repercussions for Google's biz in China...
Today's a bad, bad day for LinkedIn and a field day for privacy advocates around the world as someone has just managed to leak over 6.5 million hashed and encrypted LinkedIn passwords on a Russian hacker forum.
What are you waiting for, change your LinkedIn password now!
On top of that, the LinkedIn for iOS app, which was recently updated with iPad support, has an opt-in feature that lets you synchronize your iOS calendar to view upcoming events inside the app.
But similar to the unauthorized Path address book access, this feature sends your meeting notes to LinkedIn's servers without you ever knowing it...
Geeks have been holding their breath for direct file system access in iOS ever since the original iPhone's debut five years ago.
Unless you jailbreak, your ability to get down and dirty with the file system is limited by Apple's vision that basically boils down to Jobs' mantra that the app is the only file system you'll ever need.
It would be unwise to bet on Apple progressively breaking away from this kind of philosophy with the introduction of iOS 6 come next Monday, no matter how strongly you may feel about the rumored Files.app.
Here's why. And before you jump straight to the comments, bear in mind that this is just one writer's opinion...
It looks like Apple has just pushed out an update for its Apple TV, bringing the software to version 5.0.2. No details have been posted yet about the new build, numbered 9B830, but we expect Apple's site to be updated shortly.
Owners of second and third generation Apple TVs can download the update over the air by opening up the device's Settings menu and selecting General > Software Update. Full changelog, once Apple posts it, after the break...
Whoa, looks like another iOS app developer (not exclusive, though) just ended up engulfed in the Google ecosystem as the search giant announced its acquisition of the popular mobile app productivity maker Quickoffice for an undisclosed sum.
The news arrives just as we learned yesterday of Google's intentions to snap up popular instant messaging maker Meebo for a rumored hundred million dollars...
When social network Path released its Android app following the successful debut on the iPhone, barely anyone paid notice. But when Instagram went Android, it spurred lots of controversy. Even Apple’s marketing boss Phil Schiller stopped using the app because it “jumped the shark” when it went to Android.
The debate over iPhone exclusives going Android really heated up with yesterday’s announcement of Instapaper of Android, Marco Arment’s read-later program which became a huge success on the iOS platform.
Should Apple work harder to secure iOS exclusives, which have been around in the console business for ages? Or perhaps this is nothing to get worked up about? Cast your vote now...
The usually well-informed Wall Street Journal is throwing its weight behind rumors that Apple with iOS 6 will ditch a Google Maps backend and instead pursue own in-house mapping solution. Sources tell the paper that although Apple could, and probably will, show off the enhanced Maps app at WWDC next Monday, the feature won't launch until later this year.
This should give developers a much-needed head start to incorporate Apple's mapping technology into their apps and take advantage of the reportedly unique features. The story offers other interesting tidbits, including the new calendar-integrated mapping system...
In what seems to be the norm lately, another popular iPhone app has expanded to Android, Marco Arment's Instapaper. This awesome and elegant tool to save web pages for reading later can now be used on Android devices natively.
While it lacks the polish and elegance of the iOS version, Instapaper for Android comes with one major advantage...