News

The new HTC 10 is the first Android smartphone with native support for Apple’s AirPlay technology

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 12, 2016

HTC's latest flagship smartphone, the 10, supports Apple's AirPlay right out of the box. Celebrating the tenth year since the Taiwanese handset maker's been making smartphones, the new HTC 10 was unveiled this morning and is the world's first Android device with built-in native support for Apple's wireless media streaming technology.

Owners of the new phone can swipe with three fingers up anywhere on the screen to bring up HTC’s Connect overlay, which allows them to choose AirPlay as their streaming destination for photos, music and videos.

BBC releases iPlayer Kids app

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 12, 2016

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Tuesday announced a kids-friendly version of its iPlayer video-streaming app, called iPlayer Kids. Available in the UK App Store at no charge, the ad and In-App Purchases free software offers kids a safe environment to watch all of BBC Children’s world-class content in one place.

These include over 10,000 episodes being made available this year alone, including both new and old CBeebies and CBBC favorites such as “Wolfblood”, “Blue Peter”, “The Dumping Ground”, “Topsy & Tim” and “Go Jetters”.

Facebook Messenger gains Dropbox integration

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 12, 2017

As Facebook continues advancing its mobile Messenger app, the company just announced in a blog post that users can now take advantage of a brand new integration to share their Dropbox files from within the mobile Messenger app.

The new feature is accessible through the More button in Messenger chats, where Dropbox is now listed as an available source. Simply tap the new icon to open the Dropbox app on your device and select cloud files that you'd like to share in a chat.

A bunch of new ads for the Apple Watch have surfaced on Apple’s YouTube channel

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 11, 2016

More than half a dozen new commercials for the Apple Watch surfaced Monday on the company's official channel on YouTube. Titled “Rain”, “Surprise”, “Golf”, “SWAP”, “Find”, “Chase” and “Row”, these ads are fifteen seconds each and showcase specific facets of the wearable device, such as changing bands and switching faces to suit any occasion, fitness and activity tracking and more.

They also highlight specific first-party apps, including the Messages and Workout apps, as well as third-party ones like the Dark Sky weather app while detailing other capabilities of the device such as pinging a connected iPhone right from a glance.

Google optimizes the layout of Now cards in native search app for iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 11, 2016

Google on Monday pushed a small refresh to its native Search app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad in the App Store. Bumped to version 14.0, the software features an optimized layout of the Now cards to make better use of the iPad's screen real estate.

“Updated structure for Now cards on iPad, designed to keep your content organized and better surface the info you need most,” reads a line from Google's release notes accompanying the 65.4-megabyte download.

Doodling over live video coming soon to Periscope

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Periscope is currently testing a brand new feature that allows you to draw with your finger on top of a live video feed, The Next Web reported today. You can pick any color to draw with by tapping on a live video feed or use the new selection interface to draw in three primary colors.

Facebook too is working on ability to draw on video as part of the Facebok Live features so we're not surprised that rival Periscope, which is owned by Twitter, would work on this.

Many iPhone SE users complain about audio issues with Bluetooth phone calls

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

As evidenced by a growing thread on the Apple Support Communities, many owners of the new iPhone SE smartphone are plagued with various Bluetooth issues.

Folks are reporting distorted or inaudible calls when the handset is paired with a car or headset.

These issues appear to only affect Bluetooth phone calls, not music playback. Apple had not commented on this problem at post time.

Apple Maps Transit data now available in Montreal and Portland, Oregon

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 11, 2016

Over the past few days, Apple's expanded availability of Transit data on its mapping service to include Portland, Oregon and Montreal, the second-largest city in Canada. Just a month ago, Transit data was added for Austin, Texas, in time for the annual South by Southwest festival.

It also brought 3D Flyover views to five new locales in Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom and expanded the Nearby feature to select new places in Austria, Denmark, Japan and Switzerland.

DigiTimes: Apple turns to established Chinese server vendor to bolster iCloud infrastructure

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

Apple has reportedly started buying servers from a government-backed Chinese firm, called Inspur, to use in its data centers, Taiwanese publication DigiTimes reported this morning. Apple's never confirmed nor denied industry speculation that much of its iCloud data centers run on Amazon's Web Services and Microsoft's Azure platforms.

That being said, Apple's reportedly embarked on a project to migrate iCloud services to its own data centers in order to satisfy increasing demand for iOS devices, reduce expenses and further reduce any possibility of attacks on the iCloud platform.

KGI analyst predicts 25 percent lower Apple Watch shipments this year

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 11, 2016

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is one of the most reliable Apple analyst out there, estimated in a note sent to clients Monday that shipments of the Apple Watch will decline 25 percent in the calendar 2016, despite the expected introduction of a second-generation model some time later this year.

According to the note, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, Apple will sell a total of 7.5 million Apple Watch units this year versus an estimated 10.6 million Apple Watch sales in 2015.

Mobile forensics firm that unlocked terrorist’s iPhone 5c thinks it can hack iPhone 6

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 11, 2016

Mobile forensics firm Cellebrite that helped the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation bypass the passcode protection on the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone 5c is adamant that it can also work around Apple's security protections and hack into an iPhone 6, CNN reports.

Italian father Leonardo Fabbretti, who wanted to see the photos stored on his dead son Dama's iPhone but was told by Apple that it was impossible to get into the device without a passcode, has now met with Cellebrite executives who have been working on accessing the files.

Apple releases new Apple TV ad starring Lakers player Kobe Bryant and actor Michael B. Jordan

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 10, 2016

Apple on Sunday released a brand new commercial for the fourth-generation Apple TV, titled 'Father Time' and available on YouTube.

The 60-second ad features LA Laker's star Kobe Bryant and actor Michael B. Jordan and focuses on using tvOS's Siri features in conjunction with the Siri Remote to “make it easier than ever to find and enjoy whatever you’re looking for.”

The two men are sitting on the couch in a trailer and Jordan picks up his Siri Remote to ask the personal digital assistant to open the official NBA app.

Then, they start arguing over... Well, just watch the ad.