News

Sprint’s new tablet-exclusive unlimited plan degrades your video, music and gaming streams

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 18, 2016

I don't trust “unlimited” wireless plans because they're all but unlimited and often come with a bunch of caveats one needs to consider carefully. The latest example: Sprint's newly announced data plan for tablets which promises unlimited 4G LTE data in exchange for $20 per month. So far so good, but the devil—as always—is in the detail.

If you take a closer look at the fine print, you soon realize that the plan limits video streaming to DVD-like 480p resolution, music streaming quality to 500kbps and your online gaming streams to up to 2Mbps.

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Spotify for Apple TV should not be expected anytime soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 17, 2018

Have you been keeping your fingers crossed for Spotify for Apple TV? If so, you'll be disappointed to learn that a Spotify tvOS app has been “down prioritized,” with a company executive stating that a release supporting tvOS should not be expected anytime soon. It's unclear why the Swedish startup does not want to support the Apple TV, more so given its rivalry with Apple in the music-streaming space.

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Report: new MacBook Pros, USB-C MacBook Airs coming this month

Cody Lee ∙ Updated May 17, 2018

New MacBook Pros are still on for October, reports the often accurate Japanese site Mac Otakara. Citing a reliable source within Apple's supply chain, the outlet says the long-awaited refresh of the premium notebook line is still on schedule for this month.

In addition to the MacBook pro update, the site also says that the MacBook Air line is also getting a refresh. It expects Apple to drop the 11-inch model, to focus on the larger 13-inch version, and it will include USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 ports.

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Apple seeds iOS 10.1 beta 4 to developers and public beta testers

Sébastien Page ∙ October 17, 2016

Apple today released a fourth beta of iOS 10.1 to its registered developers and public beta testers. Coming just a week after the previous beta, iOS 10.1 beta 4 has an interesting build number of “14B72 | 14B72b”. Today's release does not, however, appear to contain any outward-facing user features. We'll make sure to update the article with any new information as it becomes available.

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Beats 1 Radio host Zane Love will talk music as a keynote speaker at 2017 SXSW

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 17, 2016

Zane Lowe, who used to be a host for BBC Radio for many years before moving to Beats 1 and Apple Music more than a year ago, has been announced as a keynote speaker for 2017's South by Southwest (SXSW) music and film festival, Billboard reported Monday.

In addition to a keynote speech from Lowe, the annual confab in Austin will include keynotes from “Rogue One” filmmaker Gareth Edwards, author Adam Grant and Mount Everest photographer and climber Cory Richards.

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iPhone 7 will be launching in seven more countries later this month

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 17, 2016

Apple today announced via its international websites that the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets will be arriving in an additional seven markets this month: Colombia, Cameroun, Botswana, Egypt, Kenya, Mozambique and South Korea.

In addition to the latest phones, customers in South Korea and Colombia will be able to purchase the Apple Watch Series 2 later this month, too.

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The lengths Apple goes to in order to keep trademark filings undetected for six months

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 17, 2016

There have been at least 343 instances in which Apple took advantage of section 44(d) of the US Trademark Act to keep its trademark filings confidential for a period of six months, Quartz reported Monday in an interesting write-up titled “Why Jamaica knows about Apple’s new products before the rest of the world”.

The article explains that Apple files trademark applications in places where these databases are not searchable online, via shell companies to conceal its identity and six months before applying for the same trademark in the U.S.

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KGI: Apple could add 5-7 million iPhone sales due to Note 7 discontinuation

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 17, 2016

Global Note 7 recall and discontinuation could prove to be a blessing to Apple, helping the Cupertino firm boost iPhone sales by five to seven million units, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

In a note to clients this morning, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, the analyst speculates that Apple and Chinese Android manufacturer Huawei could be the primary beneficiaries of the Note 7 discontinuation, with Apple potentially seeing an influx of orders for the iPhone 7 Plus due to its dual-camera system.

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Tim Cook says Apple wants to use AI to boost iPhone battery life

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 17, 2016
iPhone 7 battery

Apple's boss Tim Cook traveled around Japan on a bullet train last week as part of his whirlwind tour of the country, his first visit since becoming CEO.

Speaking to Nikkei Asian Review, Cook expressed hope that Apple Pay will help realize a cashless society and hinted that the company's new research and development center in Yokohama, near Tokyo, would be “very different” from its Chinese R&D center as it would explore “deep engineering”.

He then said that Apple wants to use artificial intelligence to turbo charge the iPhone battery life.

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Bloomberg: Apple gives up building a car, for now

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 17, 2016

Project Titan, Apple's ambitious initiative to build an electric vehicle by 2020-2021 reportedly fell apart amid management crisis, supply chain issues and departures, prompting the company's leadership to shift gears and focus on autonomous self-driving software, for now.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported Monday that Apple will decide fate of self-driving software by late 2017 as the new direction no longer includes building its own car.

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