UK

iPhone 5s/5c will support 4G LTE on UK’s O2 and Three, carriers confirm

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 14, 2016

Apple's new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c can work on more than thirteen different LTE bands, "more than any other single model of smartphone," per Apple. Whereas last year's iPhone 5 launched in a hundred countries across 240 different carriers, 2013 iPhones will be released on an additional 30 carriers, bringing the number of world carriers which carry Apple's device to 270. Now, there's been some commotion whether or not the handset's updated LTE capabilities support 4G LTE flavors of United Kingdom's O2 and Three carriers...

AppleCare+ launches in UK, France, Italy as Apple quietly jacks up incident fee to $79

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 10, 2013

If you're planning on buying a brand spanking new iPhone 5c or treat yourself to one of the colorful new plastic iPhones, you'd be wise to consider Apple's $99 AppleCare+ extended warranty coverage.

Because, for all the talk of the iPhone 5c's seamless hard-coated polycarbonate plastic shell ("you won’t see seams, or part lines, or joins,” Apple boasts; here's how it's made), the device is in fact prone to scratches and can be damaged.

The problem is, AppleCare+ is only available in the United States, Canada and Japan. Well, not anymore. Today, the extended warranty coverage is available to customers in the United Kingdom, France and Italy. Learn more just after the break...

NBC’s Sports Live Extra iOS app to stream all English Premier League matches in US

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

If you live in the United States and are a fan of the English Premier League, good news as 148Apps reports that NBC's Sports Live Extra app for the iPhone and iPad will be streaming all of the matches, right as they happen in real-time. The English Premier League is the single largest sports league in the entire world so you don't need me to tell you why this is newsworthy. Streaming matches will be free to subscribers of one of the eligible cable providers. Full details are right after the break...

Apple could face hurdles applying for iWatch trademark in US and UK

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Apple's iWatch trademark filing world tour could hit major roadblocks in the United Kingdom and over in Apple's home turf of the United States, it has been discovered.

According to two separate reports, a small California firm has taken steps to trademark 'iWatch' in the United States.

And over in the United Kingdom, a network services firm owns a Community trademark on 'iWatch', basically a trademark that applies across the European Community, which includes Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, France,, Netherlands, West Germany, Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom, Greece, Portugal and Spain.

As a result, Apple is likely going to have to either pay these companies to buy the trademark or face a legal battle should it in fact decide to launch a rumored wristwatch product...

Apple apparently paid no UK corporate taxes on $103 million profit in 2012

Ed Sutherland ∙ July 1, 2013

Apple's clever accounting practices are again under scrutiny after the iPhone maker paid no UK corporate taxes in 2012, despite three units of the California firm making more than $100 million, according to a British financial newspaper Monday. According to the Financial Times, Apple used tax-deductible employee share awards (essentially stock dividends) to "wipe out the corporate tax liabilities of the UK subsidiaries" during 2012 up to September...

London’s sushi place tests iPad-controlled iTray

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 10, 2013

Yo! Sushi, a UK restaurant franchise, made a name for itself by delivering sushi to customers using the Japanese style 'kaiten' conveyor belt method. In a nice marketing gimmick, they are testing out the iTray, an iPad-controlled quadricopter which delivers sushi on flying trays to surprised customers. The method is being trialled by staff at Yo! Sushi in Soho, central London. Your video is right after the break...

Subway UK implements Passbook loyalty card

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 6, 2013

With just five days left until Apple's WWDC keynote, some notable holdouts are at last integrating Passbook into their business.

The latest example: Subway, an American fast food restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. The company on Thursday updated its free Subcard iOS app with Passbook support for users in the United Kingdom.

This allows Subway customers to access their Subcard ID and recent transactions via the stock iOS 6 Passbook application on their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices and sync those across Macs and iOS devices via iCloud...

Facebook voice calling now available in UK, seen elsewhere

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 25, 2013

The social networking giant Facebook back in early-January updated its free Messenger app with the ability to share audio snippets, having added that feature to its official iOS client, also a free download, later that month. Initially only available to Canadian and North American users, today the company has expanded in-app voice calling to people in the United Kingdom in the form of a quiet backend update.

The handy feature should presumably become available to UK users through the company's main iOS client at a later stage as well...

Samsung hires judge who ruled against Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Remember a UK judge who took at face value the ruling that Galaxy devices didn't infringe any of Apple's patents because Samsung's tablets "are not as cool" as the iPad? The one who recently chastised Apple for lack of integrity and opined for the appeals court it should be ordered to apologize in newspaper ads for asserting Samsung's tablets had copied the iPad? Yeah, that guy.

A well-known patent blogger revealed Thursday that same judge is now receiving paychecks from Samsung as a legal expert through a law firm which represents Samsung Electronics in its case against Ericsson. Conflict of interest, much?

AT&T now offers travelers 1GB of free data across UK’s 16,000 Wi-Fi spots

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 12, 2018

U.S. carrier AT&T today expanded its 4G LTE coverage in several markets and now word has reaches us that the company has signed an interesting roaming deal with The Cloud to offer travelers free access to 16,000 Wi-Fi spots in the United Kingdom. The Cloud is a BSkyB-owned Wi-Fi hotspot provider and the agreement entails up to one gigabyte of free roaming data.

RIM has always bested the iPhone and other handset vendors with reasonable service terms that typically include free or inexpensive messaging and data for BlackBerry users traveling abroad. While Apple's dealings with the world's carriers don't included these benefits, it's nice that one of the most important carriers globally is now appeasing to its customers with a fair roaming deal...

Ousted Apple retail boss John Browett lands CEO job at fashion retailer

Cody Lee ∙ February 15, 2013

In today's episode of 'Where are they now?' we take a look at Apple's former SVP of retail John Browett. He began his career at Apple in January of last year, replacing the highly-regarded Ron Johnson, but only lasted about 9 months at the company.

Browett has been fairly quiet since he left Cupertino in October. But his name surfaced in headlines again last night when word got out that he has accepted the position of chief executive, or CEO, of U.K.-based retail chain Monsoon Accessorize...

Vodafone UK warns iPhone 4S owners not to upgrade to iOS 6.1 due to 3G bug

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Vodafone UK subscribers with an iPhone 4S who haven't upgraded to iOS 6.1 may want to hold off on doing so. The carrier is currently sending out text messages to customers stating that there's a bug in the new firmware.

According to the warning, the issue has to due with 3G performance. Apparently 4S users on Vodafone UK have been experiencing problems with both cell service and battery life since updating to the latest version of iOS...