Author

Mike Beasley

Digitimes: iWatch circuit board samples being delivered to Apple in preparation for September reveal

Mike Beasley Apr 8 2014 - 10:37 pm PT

6 Comments

Concept: jivaldi.com

On Tuesday we reported that Apple was planning to reveal its entry into the wearable market in August or September. Now a new Digitimes report corroborates that timeframe. According to the new report, three different firms have supplied Apple with samples of flexible circuit boards that will be integrated into the iWatch for a fall release.

The companies involved are Flexium Interconnect, Career Technology, and Zhen Ding Technology Holding, according to Digitimes. Zhen Ding Technology Holding is currently Apple’s largest supplier of such parts and is reportedly planning to increase production in order to meet increased demand for iPhone and iPad circuitry.

As with all Digitimes reports, it’s probably best to take this with a grain of salt given their less-than-stellar track record.
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Digitimes: Apple working on in-house baseband chip design to appear in 2015 iPhone

Mike Beasley Apr 7 2014 - 10:30 pm PT

4 Comments

Apple is reportedly putting together a new engineering team that would focus on creating baseband hardware for future iPhone models, according to Digitimes. Apple’s current chips are supplied by Qualcomm, but is said to be considering a move to an in-house design as it did with its mobile processors with the launch of the iPad.

The report indicates that any such design would not appear in hardware this year, but could be considered for the next round of iPhone updates. That would put it on track for what we could tentatively call the iPhone 6s.

Of course, this report should probably be taken with a grain of salt. Digitimes doesn’t have the most solid track record, although they have been known to be right on occassion.

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Apple notifies winners in the WWDC ticket lottery, offers a chance to buy a ticket until April 14

Mike Beasley Apr 7 2014 - 5:14 pm PT

7 Comments

WWDC 2014

Apple has just sent out emails notifying entrants in the WWDC ticket lottery whether they won a chance to purchase a $1,599 ticket to the conference. Winners will be able to purchase a ticket to the event before April 14th. The conference kicks off on June 2nd and runs through the 6th.

Those who didn’t win a spot haven’t gotten any notification from the company (Update: rejection emails going out now, see below). Those unable to buy a ticket will have to settle for watching the stream of the keynote presentation and recorded videos of the sessions after they happen. If you just want to read all of the announcements early, why not check out 9to5Mac‘s roundup of what to expect this June?

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American Express offers $5 credit to iTunes customers for the month of April

Mike Beasley Apr 7 2014 - 4:38 pm PT

8 Comments

American Express is running a special offer through the month of April allowing cardholders to get $5 back on any $5 purchase through the iTunes music, app, or iBook stores. If you’ve got an American Express card and want to take advantage of the deal, you’ll need to opt-in to the offer through your account online.

Once you’ve done that, just make $5 worth of purchases on iTunes Store with your American Express card. You’ll see the money credited back on your statement during the next billing period. Unfortunatley not every user will be eligible for the offer. If you are eligible you’ll find the offer listed on your dashboard.

Apple launches iPhone trade-in program in German retail stores, offers big savings on new iPhones

Mike Beasley Apr 6 2014 - 10:17 pm PT

4 Comments

In August of last year, Apple launched a trade-in program that allowed iPhone customers to turn in their old iPhones in exchange for a discount on a new device. The program has expanded to several countries since it launched last year. Starting today the company now extends the offer to German customers as well.

German users of the Apple Store app have started seeing the program listed within the app, though the update has yet to roll out to Apple’s retail website. Under this program, qualifying devices can be traded in and recycled for up to €230 off the price of a new, upgraded iPhone at any Apple Retail Store in the country.

Thanks for the tip, Marco!

New Steve Jobs email a treasure trove of information about Apple TV, Google ‘holy war,’ and behind-the-scenes strategy

Mike Beasley Apr 4 2014 - 6:11 pm PT

13 Comments

A new email from Steve Jobs that was published during today’s Samsung lawsuit (via The Verge) has revealed a lot about Apple’s plans for its products in 2011 and beyond. As we’ve previously noted, Jobs referred to 2011 as a year of “holy war” against Google, but this document goes above that and describes how exactly Apple planned to wage this war.

A few choice bits are below, followed by the complete email.

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New video compares Touch ID to the Galaxy S5’s fingerprint scanner

Mike Beasley Apr 3 2014 - 5:04 pm PT

43 Comments

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3C6OW8eMGk]

Samsung hasn’t officially launched its next-gen smartphone, the Galaxy S5, just yet but the comparisons to Apple’s latest model are already starting. The S5 features a fingerprint-reader much like the iPhone’s, so YouTube user iCrackUriDevice put both phones head-to-head to determine which device sported the superior scanner.

Both devices have pros and cons. The iPhone 5s has the ability to scan your fingerprint from any angle, while the Galaxy can only detect a downward swipe across the scanner at a very specific angle. On the other hand, the Galaxy can use its fingerprint reader to authorize PayPal purchases, while the iPhone can only authenticate sales on Apple’s own iTunes store.
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Doo moves beyond document syncing, releases Scanbot for iPhone

Mike Beasley Apr 3 2014 - 8:00 am PT

14 Comments

Earlier this year, the developers of the document-syncing application Doo announced that the company was shutting down its backend and removing its app from sale. The company wasn’t going anywhere, however, and had plans for a brand new product that would be revealed soon.

Today, the company has taken the wraps off of its newest app, Scanbot, which allows users to scan documents into their iPhone and store them as PDFs or JPGs on a variety of cloud services. We had a chance to talk to Frank Thelen, CEO of Doo, about why the original service was shuttered, how the company decided on a new direction, and and what lies ahead for Scanbot.
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iOS 7 bug allows anyone to disable Find My iPhone and bypass Activation Lock without a password

Mike Beasley Apr 3 2014 - 12:00 am PT

83 Comments

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvbter05UpA]

Starting with iOS 7, deleting an iCloud account or restoring a device requires Find My iPhone to be disabled. Find My iPhone, in turn, requires the user to enter the password for the Apple ID attached to the iCloud account. This system ensures that phone thieves can’t remove the account and avoid being tracked through the Find My iPhone website.

Unfortunately, there’s a pretty easy way to bypass this requirement, as demonstrated in the video above. To do so, you first need to tap both “delete account” and the switch to disable Find My iPhone at the same time in the iCloud settings panel. That’s actually the hardest part of the entire process. When prompted for a password, hold down the power button and shut down the phone.
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WhatsApp announces 64 billion messages sent through its texting app — in just one day

Mike Beasley Apr 2 2014 - 12:14 am PT

4 Comments

Whatsapp, the popular messaging client for iOS and Android, announced today on Twitter that it had reached a new record for messages sent in a single day. With 20 billion outgoing messages and 44 incoming messages handled in a single 24-hour period, the grand total came out to 64 billion.

[tweet https://twitter.com/WhatsApp/status/451198381856014337 align=’center’]

Here’s a little perspective on that number: Instagram recently announced that its users had posted 20 billion photos to the service. You’ll notice that’s not a statistic for one day. It’s the total number of photos shared in the history of the network.

That means that in one day, Whatsapp handled over three times as many requests as Instagram has since it launched three years ago. Not too shabby.

Apple releases Safari 7.0.3 with push notification changes, security improvements, and more

Mike Beasley Apr 1 2014 - 2:59 pm PT

2 Comments

After updating iWork for iCloud and its Mac and iOS counterparts, Apple has pushed out a new Safari update as well. The new version is 7.0.3 and contains mostly bug and security fixes. Apple has been beta testing this update with developers for the past few weeks. The two biggest parts of this update are changes to push notifications and the way URLs are handled.

For users who don’t want to be asked about push notifications from any site, there’s now a checkbox in the notification preferences that disables them entirely. Unchecking the box for “Allow websites to ask for permission to send push notifications” (seen above) will block all notification prompts in the future.

The second big change enables Safari to recognize new generic top-level domains (the .com bit at the end of the URL). The organization responsible for managing these has recently created several new ones for generic terms (like “.pizza”). Safari will now recognize these and go to the correct URL rather than trying to search for the term.
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Apple updates iWork for Mac and iOS with read-only sharing modes and much more

Mike Beasley Apr 1 2014 - 2:15 pm PT

7 Comments

Following today’s iWork for iCloud update, Apple has pushed out new versions of the iOS and OS X version of the productivity suite, providing feature parity with the online version. Pages (iOS / Mac), Keynote (iOS / Mac), and Numbers (iOS / Mac) each received a new read-only sharing mode to work with the iCloud version of that feature.

Each app also got a long list of changes and enhancements, which are listed below. You can get all of the updates for free if you already own the latest version of iWork. Apple recently started including a copy of the iWork and iLife suites along with new iOS devices and Macs, but users with older devices will need to purchase the current version separately if they haven’t already.
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iPhone 6 displays could go into mass production next month, 5.5-inch model reportedly delayed

Mike Beasley Mar 31 2014 - 11:12 pm PT

21 Comments

Reuters is reporting that the displays for the next-generation iPhone could go into mass production as soon as May, with Japan Display, LG, and Sharp all said to be working on them. Previous reports indicated that the iPhone 6 would be available in two different sizes: 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches. According to today’s new report, however, the larger model could see delays of several months due to manufacturing difficulties.

Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 6 later this year.

The updated smartphone will run a new version of the company’s iconic iOS software that—as reported by 9to5Mac—will feature a new focus on health and fitness; better iCloud tools for developers; Preview and TextEdit companion applications; changes to Messages and Game Center; and improvements to the Maps application, including public transit directions and better 3D support.

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AAPL Company

Apple to hold second quarter earnings call on April 23rd

Mike Beasley Mar 31 2014 - 2:56 pm PT

7 Comments

Apple has just announced that it will hold its quarterly investor conference call on April 23rd at 5 PM. As usual, Apple executives will go over all of the sales and earnings for the second quarter of 2014. The company will also likely continue teasing “new product categories” to be announced later this year.

The first half of FY2014 hasn’t been especially full of new Apple products. Instead, the company has focused on revising its existing lineup. It launched an 8 GB iPhone 5c in five markets to help boost lagging sales, re-launched the 4th-generation iPad to replace the ancient iPad 2, and pushed out the first major iOS 7 update since the operating system was released.

BlackBerry wins injunction against Ryan Seacrest’s iPhone keyboard in patent dispute

Mike Beasley Mar 28 2014 - 8:27 pm PT

18 Comments

The Typo iPhone case has been blocked from sale by BlackBerry, according to a report from Reuters. The smartphone maker sued over the design of the case earlier this year, saying that it infringed on several of the company’s patents and its “iconic” keyboard design. The case is designed to add a BlackBerry-like keyboard to the iPhone 5 and 5s.

The injunction blocks the sale of the Typo, which is made by a company co-founded by TV personality Ryan Seacrest. A San Fransisco federal judge ruled that BlackBerry had established a “likelihood” that the Typo case infringed on its patents, while the case maker was unable to prove that it had not.

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Judge grants class-action status to e-book customers in Apple price-fixing lawsuit

Mike Beasley Mar 28 2014 - 7:16 pm PT

4 Comments

Apple is facing a new class-action lawsuit from iBooks customers over price-fixing practices according to Reuters. As has been previously argued, Apple conspired with book publishers to hike the prices of ebooks, a violation of U.S. anti-trust law. The Department of Justice won its case against Apple for the same reason last year, and Apple is currently in the middle of appealing that case.

This new lawsuit is a civil case being brought by customers affected by the price-fixing scheme. Today U.S. District Judge Denise Cote ruled that the customers suing could do so as a group despite Apple’s objections. The actual trial will be scheduled for later this year.
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Japan Display shows off 5.5-inch, quad-HD mobile phone display that might land in iPhone 6

Mike Beasley Mar 28 2014 - 4:01 pm PT

23 Comments

Full-size image below

Japan Display—one of Apple’s iPhone display suppliers—announced a new 5.5-inch mobile phone display this week that could provide a hint at what we’ll see in the next iPhone. The display. The display sports a resolution of 1,440x 2,560 (or quad-HD) and a pixel density of 538ppi—well above “Retina” quality.

The display will go into mass production very soon, lining up with reports that the next iPhone display would also be entering this phase in the next month or so in order to achieve a September launch. The new Japan Display model matches up with the iPhone 6 rumors in size, resolution, and production schedule.

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Microsoft to hand out free Office 365 subscriptions to iPad owners in retail stores tomorrow

Mike Beasley Mar 27 2014 - 6:59 pm PT

20 Comments

Microsoft finally took the wraps off of its long-awaited Office for iPad suite this morning, only to reveal that most of its functions require a $99 subscription to the Office 365 service. Even though you can get a discounted subscription through Amazon, $70 may seem pretty steep. Rest assured, Microsoft is planning to offer free one-year subscriptions to the service tomorrow.

All you have to do to get your free subscription is show up at one of Microsoft’s retail stores with your iPad in hand. The first 50 people to do so will get the sub completely free of charge. Microsoft announced the promotion in a tweet earlier today:
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Facebook Messenger updated to version 4.0 with groups and message forwarding

Mike Beasley Mar 27 2014 - 5:26 pm PT

1 Comment

Facebook has updated its Messenger app for iPhone to version 4.0. The new update introduces the ability to create and manage groups of contacts within the app. You can find all of your groups in a new tab and quickly select one to send a message to everyone at once.

Also new in this update is the ability to select a message to forward to a new recipient, much like you can do with an iMessage in the native Messages application. The usual general bug fixes and improvements round out the 4.0 update.

You can grab the app for free on the iPhone App Store. The full change log is below:

What’s New in Version 4.0
Groups: Now you can create groups for the people you message most. Name them, set group photos and keep them all in one place

Forwarding: Want to send a message or photo to someone who isn’t in the conversation? Just tap to forward it

Plus, continued improvements to make the app faster and more reliable

Yes, Apple is taking 30% of every Office 365 subscription purchased through Office for iPad

Mike Beasley Mar 27 2014 - 3:18 pm PT

11 Comments

When Microsoft announced its Office for iPad apps earlier today, it confirmed that the software will require a subscription to Microsoft’s $99/year Office 365 service for most functions. If you don’t have one already, you can get a subscription directly through the Office apps for the regular price of $99.

As you may recall, Apple and Microsoft went toe-to-toe last April on the issue of whether or not Apple should get a 30% cut for SkyDrive storage space purchased through the SkyDrive app. Apple has always maintained the position that any goods or services sold through iOS apps should use the in-app purchase system created by Apple—allowing the Cupertino company to take its regular 30% cut of the price.

In the case of the SkyDrive dispute, Apple’s decision remained unchanged, which prompted Microsoft to simply remove the option to purchase additional storage space through the SkyDrive app altogether. In the case of today’s Office launch, however, the two companies seem to be on much better terms.

Apple has confirmed to Re/code that the company is taking its full 30% share of all Office 365 purchases made through the iPad software. This apparent agreement, along with friendly tweets between the CEOs of both companies, could be the first signs of a much less combative Microsoft under the leadership of new CEO Satya Nadella, who replaced Steve Ballmer in the role this year.

Perhaps in the future we’ll see even more collaboration between the two companies.

UpTo calendar app relaunches with a renewed, balanced focus on what matters

Mike Beasley Mar 27 2014 - 7:00 am PT

6 Comments

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXELeBT8L2o]

When UpTo originally launched, it focused on being what it described as “half-social, half-calendar.” Unfortunately, that didn’t work out so well as the social side and the calendar side fought for dominance, resulting in an app that felt like it didn’t know what it wanted to be when it grew up.

Today the company behind UpTo is re-launching the app with a new design and a new focus: rather than trying to turn calendars into a social network, the app is now focused entirely on being the best calendar app it can be. That being said, the new version of the app is not entirely devoid of social features.

Keep reading to find out how the developers finally figured out how to balance these two sides to the software.

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Russian government drops iPad in favor of Samsung tablets over spying fears

Mike Beasley Mar 26 2014 - 5:53 pm PT

42 Comments

Russian government officials have stopped using iPads in an official capacity, instead opting to use offerings from Samsung according to a new report by Business Insider. The new Samsung devices are custom, secured tablets designed to be used with the confidential information government officials often need to handle.

Russian officials have denied that the swap is an effort to stop supporting American companies following sanctions related to the Ukrainian crisis. It also doesn’t seem to relate to recent rumors that the US government had backdoor access to Apple’s iOS devices—a claim Apple has denied.

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Twitter announces photo tagging, multiple photo uploads per tweet rolling out to iPhone users

Mike Beasley Mar 26 2014 - 2:15 pm PT

4 Comments

Twitter has announced a few new features for its iPhone app today. Users with the latest update to the Twitter for iPhone app will soon see the ability to select up to four photos at a time to upload when composing a tweet. These photos will be displayed as a collage on the tweet’s detail screen.

Along with the multi-photo support, users are also now able to tag other people in their photos. A new “who’s in these photos?” button allows you to add the username of other people in the picture. Photo tags won’t take up any characters in the body of the tweet, so the full character count will be available for composing a message.

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Apple working with Unicode Consortium to create more diverse emoji icons

Mike Beasley Mar 25 2014 - 6:42 pm PT

2 Comments

Apple responded to recent inquiries about the lack of diversity among the emoji characters that ship with iOS, saying that the company is working with the Unicode Consortium to remedy that.

Our emoji characters are based on the Unicode standard, which is necessary for them to be displayed properly across many platforms. There needs to be more diversity in the emoji character set, and we have been working closely with the Unicode Consortium in an effort to update the standard.

Apple first introduced native support for the Emoji character set on the iPhone with iOS 5. A few character additions shipped with iOS 6, but that was the last update mostly because they’re based on a cross-platform standard and need to remain consistent across devices. That’s why it is important for Apple to work with the Unicode Consortium to update the standard to include more characters.