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Patent gives a peek into Apple’s retail prowess

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 3, 2013

No matter if you are in Syracuse, NY or Singapore, when you step into an Apple Store, you're likely to be greeted in a singular manner. That's no mistake. In fact, the 'brain' of Apple's retailing success is part of a patent filing for a centralized floor plan management. It's entitled "System and method for planning layout of a retail store" and details, well, everything.

Starting from how the tech giant uses the iPad and centrally-controlled in-store displays to offer customers a unified appearance, no matter which Apple Store around the globe you happen to waltz in. Indeed, if tech retailing were part of the Star Trek universe, Apple locations would be manned by the Borg - seeming to operate with one mind...

Minimalistic puzzler Hundreds from Canabalt makers now available for download

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 3, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM0Vo7neVpw#at=17

If you're a fan of iOS puzzlers with a twist, don't miss out on Hundreds, an unusual puzzle game for the iPhone and iPad from the guys that brought you Canabalt, the popular side-scrolling platformer with retro graphics. Pitched as a game "about the space between you and the serene", its premise involves growing floating bubbles by tapping them until they add to 100. The only problem: the bubbles turn red when touched and if they collide when red, it's game over. If you'll excuse me, I've got some bubbles to grow...

How to create a custom carrier logo without jailbreaking using Windows

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated March 14, 2018

A few days ago we showed you how to add a custom carrier logo to a non-jailbroken cellular iOS device. The app to enable the hack — CarrierEditor — is a Mac only app, so only Mac users were able to take advantage of the feature.

Now it's your turn, Microsoft faithful, as developer Dany Lisiansky steps up to the plate to provide a custom carrier logo solution for Windows users

If you read our original post on CarrierEditor, then you'll be happy to note that the process for adding a custom carrier logo using a Windows machine is virtually the same as it is on the Mac. Take a look inside as we break down the entire process in our full video walkthrough...

Apple passes LG for second U.S. spot as iOS-Android duopoly tops 90%

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 3, 2013

Lots of interesting data points to chew on in the latest comScore survey pertaining to cell phone sales in the United States during a three-month period ending November 2012. According to data, having knocked LG out of the position it held, Apple rose to become the second cell phone maker in the United States, despite only making smartphones.

Furthermore, nearly one out of each five mobile phone owners in the country is now using an iPhone. Looking just at smartphones, more than one in three U.S. subscribers now own a 'boring' iPhone. And as Apple and Samsung remain the only two smartphone vendors seeing growth in the U.S., no wonder iOS and Android now hold 90 percent of the country's market for smartphones. Talk about duopoly!

Apple probably sold 50 million ‘boring’ iPhones during the holiday quarter

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 10, 2018

What should we expect to hear from Apple when it announces quarterly earnings later this month? One Wall Street observer Thursday forecasts a huge December quarter of 50 million iPhones and 24 million iPads sold. Although the company could report iPhone sales 86 percent higher than the previous quarter, an aggressive roll-out of the iPhone 5 may prompt Apple to reduce production by mid-year.

According to analyst Rob Cihra of Evercore Partners, the December quarter will reveal 86 percent growth of iPhone sales, compared to the previous three-month period. What's more, the iPad mini will sell ten million of the 24 million Apple tablets moved during the holiday period, up 71 percent over the September quarter...

The next iPhone will fix touch screen lag with Touch-On-Display tech

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

The iPhone 5 introduced a bunch of both small and big advances in terms of display tech, most of them centered around the in-cell display process which laminates the cover glass to the display itself. As a result, in-cell tech reduces the iPhone 5's thickness while increasing the image clarity by removing a third layer, which reduces light refraction noticeably. On the downside, this technology reduces the response speed of the touch panel.

This becomes especially evident when moving your finger across its screen in a rapid succession. Given the slow response speed of the iPhone 5's touch panels caused by the in-cell technology, Apple reportedly is going to adopt the new Touch-On-Display technology from Chimei Innolux, a Foxconn subsidiary, to solve the problem...

China Mobile needs the iPhone now more than ever

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 3, 2013

With a whopping 1.1 billion mobile phone users at the end of November 2012, China is the biggest telecom market in the world by subscriber base. And with about 703 million subscribers, state-owned China Mobile remains the world's largest wireless carrier.

Unfortunately, it's also the country's sole holdout when it comes to the iPhone.

China Mobile and Apple have been in iPhone talks for years now, but neither caved in yet. Apple in particular is unwilling to share a portion of App Store sales in China with the carrier. But seeing its 3G subscriber base eroding as a result of not having the iconic smartphone, China Mobile could be starting to need the iPhone more as it finds itself in a position of softening of its tough stance on doing business with Apple...

Apple files for patent on advanced ‘Active Stylus’ for iOS devices

Cody Lee ∙ January 3, 2013

Apple has always strongly opposed the stylus, even though other manufacturers have continued to push for them. Steve Jobs had a number of quotes on the matter, famously saying things like "nobody wants a stylus" and "if you see a stylus, they blew it."

But despite its public disdain for the touchscreen accessory, Apple obviously sees some value in it. The Cupertino company recently filed a patent for an advanced "active stylus" that works with the capacitive touch screens on its different iOS devices...

Apple gains 4% ahead of CES and a smart watch

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 2, 2013

If you are just shaking off the holiday headaches, just think of Apple. After taking a drubbing from Wall Street analysts worried about everything from the fiscal cliff to too few (or too many) sales of iDevices, the iPhone maker woke up this morning to its stock actually up. After rising 4 percent in early morning trading, AAPL shares remain positive. Why the better performance, after being jostled around like a visitor to Time Square on New Year's Eve? Apparently, it has to do with next week's CES and talk that Apple could create an iWatch...

Court won’t seal Samsung sales data

Ed Sutherland ∙ January 2, 2013

Samsung of South Korea has lost its bid to keep court records sealed indicating how many products were sold. The ruling by a San Jose, California federal judge denied the request, writing the information required by the court does not reveal product pricing or profit information. However, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, still deliberating whether Apple should receive additional damages to the $1.05 billion awarded in August, did seal a document showing Samsung operating profit for two phones, according to a report from yesterday...

Apple bringing Broadcom’s Gigabit Wi-Fi to 2013 Macs, AirDrop file sharing in iOS 7 next?

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 2, 2013

The inability to wirelessly share documents directly between Macs and iOS devices using Wi-Fi Direct, a feature Samsung's Galaxy S III and some other devices supports, is one of the top complaints on the minds of folks of all stripes. Yes, it is possible to share files through the iTunes jukebox program.

You can also share files via iTunes wirelessly, provided Wi-Fi iTunes Sync is enabled. On the downside, the feature requires a running copy of the iTunes app on your Mac and the experience leaves a lot to be desired due to a pretty slow and unreliable connection.

Meanwhile, the popular Dropbox service Steve Jobs once dismissed as "a feature" is gaining more traction with each passing day, winning crucial support from the ever growing number of third-party apps. Apple may be stuck in the old ways, but under the surface the company's been quietly putting the pieces of the file sharing puzzle in place...

Japan is happy to finally get iBookstore in 2013

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Apple will open an iBookstore in Japan during 2013 with a handful of local publishers supplying their electronic books. Unlike Apple, rival tech giants began selling e-books in the Asian nation last year. However, multiple reports disagree on the timing. One local report suggests as early as January, while another tech news site calls that "far too optimistic". Although the iBookstore has been in Japan since 2010, it has offered only public-domain titles due to reluctance by Japanese publishers, who feared e-books would cut into sales of traditionally printed books...