iOS Devices

Just off the wires, Apple appears to be ready to offer trade-ins on iPhones for the first time according to Bloomberg. Apple currently offers a free recycling program for older devices but this would seem to follow efforts by companies such as Gazelle, Amazon and others who offer big bucks for older iOS devices and Macs.

Apple Inc. is starting an iPhone trade-in program this month aimed at getting users to upgrade to the iPhone 5 and turn in older models, people with knowledge of the plans said.

Apple has teamed up with Brightstar Corp., a mobile-phone distributor, to run the exchange program, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Apple hasn’t publicly announced the plan.

The trade-ins will only be done at Apple Retail Stores and will allow customers to recieve credit instantly. Recently, Best Buy began offering Free iPhone 5s with plan for an iPhone 4 or 4S trade-in. Apple apparently liked the idea – Brightstar counts both Best Buy and Apple amongst its client list. Apple also worked with Brightstar to help AT&T and T-Mobile with their recent trade-in promotions.

Used iPhones collected in the U.S. will only be resold in emerging markets, where Apple’s share is lower and demand for cheap devices is greater according to the report.

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The removal of the ad-free built-in YouTube app from iOS seems to have paid-off for Google, with the ad-enabled replacement version contributing to a tripling of the video-sharing site’s mobile ad revenue in the last six months.

YouTube owner Google reports (via Bloomberg) that more than half of all U.S. smartphone owners have used the YouTube app, and that a quarter of traffic comes from phones and tablets. Figures released earlier this year by Ooyala showed that iOS users account for two-thirds of mobile video viewing, and Google previously revealed that the same proportion of its mobile searches came from Apple’s iPhone and iPad users. iOS users are more engaged than Android users and Google clearly knows this …

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In a move designed to save $1B a year, Apple is now replacing damaged iPhone screens in-store in place of its previous policy of swapping them for a new handset. 512pixels.net grabbed this photo of the machine used to calibrate the screens after replacement.

The move is good news for customers too, as out-of-warranty screen replacements will cost $149 instead of the $229 cost of a replacement handset, and you won’t have to restore your data from backup (although you are of course still advised to do a backup before any kind of repair is carried out).

The move raises a question-mark about the value of AppleCare coverage for an iPhone … 
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While Apple typically uses a shell corporation abroad to register for trademark names of upcoming, unreleased products, Russian newspaper Izvestia (via AppleInsider.ru) reports that the company has filed for the “iWatch” trademark in Russia, further fueling speculation that “iWatch” will be the name of Apple’s much rumored wearable, wristwatch device.

Tonight newspaper “Izvestia” gave a sensational news: the company Apple has filed with Rospatent application for registration of the trademark ” iWatch “. We think, do not even need to explain what this might mean.

While the report gives the impression that this is confirmation of an upcoming watch product from Apple, it’s of course not that simple. Apple has a couple times ran into issues with trademarks of new products, most notably with its long-lasting trademark battle over the iPad trademark in China and its decision to rename Apple TV from its original “iTV” moniker due to troubles with the British TV network of the same name. Apple, and most other companies for that matter, also typically trademark several names and variations prior to product releases that may or may not ever see the light of day. Apple would also have to go through a number of companies developing smart wristwatch-like devices that have filed for the trademark in the US (many as recently as February).
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Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66081658@N05/6131940674/sizes/o/in/photostream/">Geekah on Flickr</a>

The United States Trade Agency has ruled that Apple has violated one of Samsung’s smartphone and tablet-related patents.

Due to this ruled breach of Samsung’s patent, Apple could face limited bans on certain AT&T iPhone and iPad models. Some of the products named include: iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2 3G, and the original 3G-capable iPad.

Update: Apple has commented on the ruling to AllThingsD:

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Digitimes shares what it believes to be Apple’s iPad roadmap for the rest of 2013. According to the site, a redesigned version of the full-sized iPad with a 9.7-inch display will go into production in July-August and begin shipping at some point in Q3 of this year. The report also shares that Apple will begin shipments with 5 million units during that quarter. As for what this new iPad model will include, the report repeats our previous claims of a thinner, lighter, iPad mini-like body with narrower bezels. Digitimes previously claimed that the new iPad could weigh in at under one pound (for comparison, the iPad mini weighs 0.68 pounds)…

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While it certainly has some competition in this arena, major Apple accessory maker Belkin today announced a new ‘Grip Power Battery Case’ for iPhone 5. Similar to popular offerings from some of Belkin’s competitors including Mophie and Otterbox, the case builds in a 2000 mAh battery that claims to double the battery life of the device.

Belkin says the Grip Power case includes a shock-resistant bumper with secure-hold TPU grip, an anti-glare camera ring, and four color combinations including Civic Blue/Stone and Purple Lightning/Fountain Blue, Blacktop/Gravel and Whiteout/Blacktop.

Belkin is selling the case for $99, slightly less than Mophie and Otterbox, through its website and BestBuy.com. Full list of features below:
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Apple is currently testing versions of iOS 7 internally that include the AirDrop WiFi-direct file sharing tool from the Mac, according to people familiar with the software.

Like with the Flickr and Vimeo integration that we previously reported on, it is very simple for Apple to remove any single feature from the new operating system ahead of the mid-June unveiling. 

Additionally, Apple has scrapped AirDrop late in software development from iOS before. Last year, we reported that Apple was developing an AirDrop tool to take advantage of the new WiFi hardware inside of Apple’s latest iOS devices. Because Apple has postponed the feature before, we believe it is possible that the feature could be pushed back again…

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From 9to5Toys.com:

Update: Deal is now live.  Today / in-store only.

This morning CNET confirmed some of the same rumblings we’ve been hearing from retail tipsters.  Best Buy will be offering $150 trade-in value for any iPhone 4 / 4S, yielding a free 16GB iPhone 5 (Sprint, Verizon or AT&T) with a 2 year contract thanks to their current $50 off promo.  This deal is only valid in-stores on Saturday June 1st.

Definitely a solid deal for heavily used, less desirable models (Sprint, Verizon), but be sure to check other trade-in services before heading into a Best Buy store.  For instance, Gazelle will pay you $215 for a 64GB iPhone 4S AT&T (good condition), plus another $10 if you use the special 9toToys promo.  In some cases, Amazon will pay upwards of $300 for an iPhone 4S.  Per usual, selling privately (eBay, Craigslist, etc) generally yields the highest payout but requires the most time and effort.  Make sure you survey all of your options before jumping into bed with Best Buy.

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Late Wednesday night, Apple quietly removed the fourth-generation iPod touch from their online store, replacing it instead with a modified version of the current generation. The new model features only a few differences from the fifth-gen, but the omissions are significant.
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iPhone owners spend 50 percent more time using their phones than Android owners, according to new data from Experian, which sampled 12,770 American smartphone owners.

iPhone users spend an hour and fifteen minutes using their phones per day, a full 26 minutes more than the typical Android phone owner. Additionally, iPhone and Android smartphone owners use their phones in markedly different ways. For instance, 28% of the time that Android users spend using their phones is dedicated to talking, whereas iPhone users spend only 22% of their smartphone time talking on the device. Android owners also devote a greater share of time visiting websites on their phone than iPhone owners. On the other hand, iPhone owners spend a disproportionately greater share of smartphone time than Android owners texting, emailing, using the camera and social networking … 
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Tim Cook noted during his interview at the D11 conference tonight that “Apple has no religious issue porting an iOS app to Android,” but was careful to point out that they would only do so “if it made sense.”

When asked about Facebook’s Android home screen replacement and whether such access would ever be available to developers on Apple’s platform, Cook noted that there are plans to allow deeper access to iOS, but such changes will only be allowed if they don’t impact the customer’s experience. Kara Swisher specifically asked about the possibility of Chat Heads becoming part of iOS, but Cook was quick to shoot the idea down:
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