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Fake iPhone 5 screws get a Joy of Tech treatment

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

News of Apple working on special screws for the next iPhone with asymmetric heads to prevent tampering spread like wildfire across the blogosphere. It wasn't that the made-up story was attributed to a particularly credible source, not at all. At least on the surface, the report came across as perfectly plausible.

After all, Apple did switch to Pentalobular screws for the iPhone 4, provoking an outrage from repair experts iFixit. As you know, the story was exposed as an elaborate hoax by a Swedish design shop Day4, a case study of sorts on how sticky crazy Apple rumors really are.

Joy of Tech, a webcomic created by Canada-born Liza Schmalcel and Bruce Evans, has a funny take on the short-lived iPhone 5 screws meme, see it right below...

We’re giving away 10 copies of BrowseInApp

Cody Lee ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

A little over a week ago we reviewed BrowseInApp, an extremely handy jailbreak tweak that allows you to open URL links in apps like Messages and Mail without ever having to switch to Safari.

If you liked the tweak, and haven't purchased it yet, you'll be happy to know that iDB has teamed up with the developer to give away 10 copies of BrowseInApp to our awesome readers...

Samsung designer: we didn’t copy Apple’s icons

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 14, 2012

Attorneys for Apple embarrassed Samsung last week by showing the jurors half a dozen images meant to prove that the Galaxy maker shamelessly ripped off the look of the iPhone's icons. Though Apple believes that Samsung’s TouchWiz interface makes it a copycat, that's ultimately up for the jury to decide.

Today, a Samsung designer took the stand to testify that she didn’t copy Apple when creating the icons for the Galaxy line of products. Call me stupid, but how the heck then she'd managed to come up with icon design that strikingly resembles Apple's?

Fragmentation? Here’s your iOS platform matrix

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 14, 2012

A developer took it upon himself to create a handy chart with all of Apple's iOS devices, their key hardware characteristics and iOS software builds running. Even a brief glance reveals very little fragmentation as approximately 70 percent of all iOS devices in the wild are shown running iOS 5, the latest public version of Apple's mobile operating system.

The upcoming iOS 6 is already on five percent of devices in the wild and iOS 4 is still found on approximately ten percent of devices. On the hardware front, both the third-generation iPod touch/iPhone and newer plus all iPad models run on the ARMv7 application processor.

This makes software optimization much easier than on the Android platform, where a variety of form factors, hardware configurations and device models contribute to high fragmentation....

Apple granted patent for rumored in-cell display tech

Cody Lee ∙ August 14, 2012

Among the many changes we're expecting to see in Apple's new smartphone, one of them is a reduction in thickness. The new handset is said to be noticeably thinner than its predecessor.

So how is Apple going to pull this off while still adding things like LTE and a larger display? By doing things like reducing the size of the charging port, and using in-cell touchscreen tech...

Video shows off the Pebble wristwatch user interface

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 14, 2012

Pebble, an iPhone-connected wristwatch, made rounds earlier this year. It took the iOS community by storm with its advanced features like the ability to pull various data off your iOS or Android device, the stuff like caller ID, email, calendar alerts, Facebook messages and Twitter notifications.

It also has a software development kit and features an e-paper display viewable in direct sunlight, a built-in accelerometer and a battery that will last you a staggering 7 days.

And now, the folks behind this interesting Kickstarter project have decided to show off an early beta of the Pebble's gorgeous user interface...

Gartner blames Q2 smartphone decline on the iPhone 5 wait

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 14, 2012

Gartner is out today with their second-quarter phone sales data and the results confirm what avid readers of this site have known all along, that a lot of people are holding off their planned purchases as the next iPhone looms. With less than four weeks left until the rumored September 12 unveiling, Gartner has registered a 2.3 percent decline in worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users.

Out of the 419 million cell phones that shipped during the quarter, more than one-third were smartphones, or 36.7 percent. While the whole cell market contracted a bit, smartphone sales grew 42.7 percent year-over-year.

The fight for smartphone supremacy continues to be a two-horse race between Google's Android platform and Apple's iOS, which together accounted for nearly 83 percent of the world's market for smartphones. Other branded vendors all experienced a decline, with the notable exception of China's ZTE and Huawei whose global growth continues unabated..

An interesting case for why Apple may call it the iPhone 5

Cody Lee ∙ August 14, 2012

While it seems we know just about everything there is to know about Apple's next smartphone — looks, features, launch date — there is one thing that still remains a mystery: what's Apple going to call it?

According to our poll we conducted last month on the topic, the two most likely candidates are "the new iPhone" and the "iPhone 5." And if you think that Apple would never call it the iPhone 5, read this...

The new coco controller isn’t your average iOS gamepad

Cody Lee ∙ August 14, 2012

The physical game controller space for iOS is still up for grabs. There are some nice options already on the market, sure. But none of them have really managed to stand out, or pull ahead of the pack.

That's why we continue to see new iOS controllers pop up all the time — it's still anyone's game. And as you've probably already gleaned from the title, we've got another one to show you.

The coco controller, by Milkshake Labs, is a new gamepad for iOS devices (and a few Android handsets). On the surface, it looks like your average controller. But it's definitely not...

Apple survey says folks predominantly go Android to stay with current carrier

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 13, 2012

Like Henry Ford did, Apple tends to never ask consumers what they want. But contrary to popular belief, the Cupertino firm does believe in market research and regularly polls people in respect to competition and its position in the marketplace. One of such research notes has surfaced today in court documents as we enter the third week of the Apple v. Samsung monster lawsuit.

In it, Apple asks consumers why they chose Android over the iPhone. Turns out regular consumers' choices have little to do with their love (or hatred) for Apple or Google, with more than four out of ten responding they had gone Android just to stay with their current wireless operator...

Play more than 100 old school Nintendo games in your iPhone’s browser

Cody Lee ∙ Updated October 11, 2018

Nintendo hasn't released games for its NES or Game Boy systems in more than 20 years, but that doesn't mean people have forgotten about them. Emulators for old Nintendo games exist on nearly every platform imaginable — even iOS.

Until now, however, your iOS device had to be jailbroken to play these older games. That, or you had to snatch up one of the handful of emulator apps that popped in the App Store before Apple pulled them. But we've found another way...

Apple licensed its prized design patents to Microsoft with an “anti-cloning” agreement

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

A surprising revelation from the Apple v. Samsung litigation as Apple patent licensing director Boris Teksler took the stand today to testify before a San Jose court, revealing that Apple licensed its design patents to Microsoft, but with an "anti-cloning agreement" to prevent copying of the iPhone and iPad.

To make this matter more interesting, we're talking about essentially the same design patents that Apple is asserting against Samsung in the high-stake trial...