News

Latest Chrome for iOS update comes with a hidden game

Google yesterday pushed a small update to its Chrome browser in the App Store, bumping the app's version number to 54.0.2840.66. In addition to the usual stability improvements and bug fixes, the latest version of Google's mobile browser for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch packs in a charming side-scrolling mini game that you can play when without an Internet connection.

Pixel XL teardown reveals modular components, earpiece mesh made of cloth & more

YouTubers like JerryRigEverything and repair wizards over at iFixit tore apart their Pixel XL smartphone from Google to peek under its hood, revealing easily removed battery, standard screws, the use of modular internal components that can be replaced independently and—quite surprisingly—the front-facing earpiece slit which is made of cloth.

Launched on October 4, both new Google-designed smartphones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, are exclusive to Verizon in the U.S. Contract-free Pixels are available via Google's online store and from Best Buy.

A watershed moment in App Store’s history: China displaces U.S. as #1 app market by revenue

Some quite interesting data points in a new report from app marketing firm App Annie suggest that China has now overtaken the United States as Apple's top market for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch apps, with a fifteen percent higher App Store revenue than the U.S. in the September quarter.

Chinese users spent more than five times the amount they spent just two years prior in the App Store.

Apple Watch popup shop in Galeries Lafayette closing January 2017 due to poor sales

The original Apple Watch debuted in April 2015 in a few markets, with Apple pushing the $10,000-$17,000 Apple Watch Edition aggressively via pop up shops found in high-profile department stores, including Galeries Lafayette in Paris, Selfridges in London and Isetan in Tokyo. But those pop up shops won't be open for much longer, it would seem.

As reported by French blog Mac4Ever, Apple will be closing the mini-store in Galeries Lafayette effective January 2017 due to poor sales of the device at the location.

iPhone 7 hitting Armenia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Central African Republic on November 4

Two weeks from today, November 4, Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will arrive in Armenia, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Central African Republic. The next wave of iPhone 7 expansion has been confirmed by local Apple websites for the aforesaid countries.

With about three-dozen countries left to go, the iPhone 7 will have been available in all of the markets Apple sells handsets by the end of this year.

iPhone 7 catches fire and destroys an owner’s car, Apple investigating

As local outlet 7 News reported, Australian surfing instructor Mat Jones said he had left his iPhone 7 under clothes in his car while taking a surf lesson. Upon returning to his vehicle, he was shocked to discover it filled with smoke and burned up in the same area where he'd placed the phone.

“His pants, which he had wrapped the iPhone 7 in before heading to his lesson, were still on fire when he got to his car,” Fortune added. Could Apple have a massive iPhone 7 overheating problem on its hands akin to Samsung's exploding Galaxy Note 7?

Apple Pay could launch in Germany soon

Apple Pay could launch in its fifth European country soon. As first discovered by German blog iPhone-ticker.de, Apple's support document highlighting participating banks and card issuers for Apple Pay in Europe appears to have accidentally highlighted Germany on a world map, suggesting the next possible expansion for the iPhone-driven service.

Beats 1 Radio now has official Facebook page

Apple has created the official Facebook page for Beats 1, its 24/7 radio station that broadcasts in more than a hundred countries via the Internet. The new Facebook page is in addition to the service's presence on other social media channels, like Twitter. Before today, Beats 1 Radio posts were published through Apple Music's own Facebook page.

AT&T and Time Warner discussing possible merger

Senior executives at AT&T and Time Warner met in recent weeks to discuss various business strategies, reports Bloomberg. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the outlet says that the talks are informal at this point, and neither side has hired a financial adviser, but the discussions have included the possibility of a merger.

Data Saver mode is reportedly coming to Facebook Messenger in a few weeks

I use Facebook Messenger literally every single day to message my friends and family and have always hated how the mobile app discriminately downloads media content regardless of whether I open the message or not.

Sometimes my friends would attach really long videos or high-resolution shots to their messages, prompting me to completely disable cellular access for Messenger on my iPhone, but then I don't receive their texts on the go.

Wouldn't it be better if Messenger handled data-hungry attachments more intelligently when the user is connected to a cellular network? As per a report by The Next Web a few days ago, a new data saver option is indeed coming to Messenger in a few weeks.

Apple will live-stream October 27 Mac keynote

Invites for a new media event went out yesterday and Apple just confirmed that the keynote will be live-streamed through its website. As you've come to expect from iDownloadBlog, we will be providing remote coverage of the keynote along with details of the announcements. This could be the last event at Infinite Loop’s Town Hall campus.

That's because the massive Campus 2 building AKA “iSpaceship” should open come January 2017, barring any unforeseen delays. The site includes a massive underground auditorium where future corporate and press events will be taking place.

Apple seeds tvOS 10.0.1 beta 4 for Apple TV to developers

Following fifth betas of iOS 10.1 and macOS Sierra 10.12.1 that were seeded yesterday to the registered developers and public beta testers, Apple today released a fourth beta of the upcoming tvOS 10.0.1 software update. tvOS 10.0.1 beta 4 (build “14U71”), a developer-only release, is available as an over-the-air update via the Software Update mechanism on fourth-generation Apple TVs with an appropriate configuration profile.