iOS devices refer to any of Apple’s hardware that runs the iOS mobile operating system which include iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Historically, Apple releases a new iOS version once a year, the current version is iOS 10. Here is the complete list of iOS 10 compatible devices.
China Unicom, the second-largest wireless carrier in China and currently Apple’s sole carrier of the iPhone in country, announced a new promotion that would provide customers with a free iPhone 4S when signing up for a multiyear commitment. The carrier announced on its website (via Bloomberg) that a 16GB iPhone 4S will be available free on a two-year contract starting Jan. 13, while the 32GB model will be free on a three-year agreement.
Plans for the promotion appear to commence at 286 Yuan (approximately $46 USD) per month for the 32GB model on a three-year agreement. However, the 16GB model seems to be available for 386 Yuan on a shorter two-year commitment. According to Alen Lin at BNP Paribas Securities, who closely follows China Unicom and spoke with Bloomberg, the carrier lost money on the previous 286-yuan plan available with two-year agreements and changed it to the three-year agreement in order to have “one additional year to recover the expense.”
China Unicom is the second largest carrier behind China Mobile. The third largest carrier in the country, China Telecom, is also rumored to begin offering the iPhone to over 100 million subscribers soon. China Mobile has yet to sign a deal to offer the iPhone, but reports from October claimed around 10 million iPhone users already use the network. The iPhone 4S just recently received necessary China compulsory certification by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China late last month.
Speed increases are an expected part of Apple’s iOS device hardware upgrades, but what Apple has up their sleeves for speed enhancements is typically up for debate. The first-generation iPad clocked around 1GHz with the single core A4 processor, and —a year later—Apple bumped the iPad’s chip to dual-core-speed with the A5 processor. While not quite confirming that a quad-core processor will power Apple’s third-generation iPad, we have obtained evidence that suggests Apple is currently working on quad-core iOS devices.
Hidden deep inside the latest iOS 5.1 beta is updated processing-core management software that not only supports the dual-core processing enabled by the A5 iPhone and iPad chip, but also quad-core processing. The references to quad-core iPhone and iPad chips come by way of a hidden panel that describes cores that are supported by iOS device hardware. The updated core management software includes an option of “/cores/core.3,” and this represents a fourth available processing core… more details after the break:
Corning Inc., announced today its plan to unveil Gorilla Glass 2 at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, and the company said more product details would be made available Jan. 9.
The Corning, N.Y.-based company plans to “showcase the critical role of highly engineered specialty glass in addressing emerging trends” at CES 2012. Some of the highlights include increased functionality from smaller form factors; connected devices in new applications; touch technology; and, large-format design aesthetics.
However, the main attraction to the Corning booth will be the introduction of Gorilla Glass 2, which is the next generation of the damage-resistant cover glass found on practically every consumer electronic today. CES attendees will have access to Corning experts and products featuring the latest Gorilla Glass applications.
The timely debut of Gorilla Glass 2 comes just before the rumored early-2012 launch of the iPad 3, as well as the rumored summer-to-fall launch of the iPhone 5, leaving room for Apple to include the latest technology on its upcoming devices.
Although not confirmed, it is worth speculating whether Corning supplied Apple, before today’s announcement, with Gorilla Glass 2 for iOS device production. The idea does not seem far-fetched considering the nature of both companies’ relationship…
Sure, there are things like “terminal velocity” and the definition of “space” that are used a little loosely here, but it is still all kinds of awesome. The conventional definition of the beginning of space is 100 km above sea level, which is 328,084 feet. This is ‘just 100,000’ feet.
As a G-Form Extreme Sleeve owner with an abusive toddler, I can attest that ours has survived about 100,000 feet of drop-age, albeit in 3-foot increments.
iLounge‘s Jeremy Horwitz tweeted multiple details from sources regarding the next iPad. First, the next-generation iPad is said to be getting heavy improvements on the camera side. The front camera will reportedly become a FaceTime HD camera and the back camera is supposedly in line with either the iPhone 4 or 4S (based on lens size). 9to5Mac independently heard that Apple was prototyping next-generation iPads with eight megapixel sensors during the last summer, but this, of course, could have changed by now.
Horwitz again reaffirmed his earlier claims that the next-generation iPad will be close to 1MM thicker to make room for new parts, and he said: “Curve radiuses on the body will change only a little to accommodate the added thickness, not dramatically. Think iPad 2 Pro, not a redesign.” In terms of a release date, Horwitz’s sources are calling for a launch close to when the iPad 2 launched. That would be early March. Finally, the iPad 2 is said to stick around $399, finally turning the iPad into a product lineup with multiple models. The iPad 3 has also been long rumored to contain a Retina Display.
An odd application made its way onto the iPhone App Store called “GameStore” a few days ago. The application was deemed an Apple internal testing tool for their iOS in-app-purchase system, and the June 2009 date -the month of the event in which in-app-purchase was formally announced- on the application’s store page seems to affirm that.
You recently purchase the GameStore app. The app was made available for sale prematurely. We apologize for the problem and have refunded the purchase amount back to your account. These funds will be applied to your original payment method within 5 business days.
The application was quickly removed from the App Store, and today, buyers were informed that refunds for the application were issued to their iTunes accounts. Interestingly, Apple noted that the “GameStore” application went live on the App Store “prematurely.” We do not want to read too much into Apple announcing this GameStore application was publicly released early, especially because of the June 2009 date attached to the application, but one can infer that it is an App Store dedicated to gaming software.
Verizon Wireless’ Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo told attendees at a conference today that Verizon sold a total 4.2 million iPhones during the holiday quarter, according to Bloomberg. Interestingly, the numbers reported by Shammo show that Verizon more than doubled iPhone sales from the previous quarter, where they sold 2 million. This sales hike was likely helped by pent up demand for the iPhone 4S, a cheaper iPhone 4, and the influx of shoppers during the holidays. Verizon’s previous iPhone sales were said by some to be a disappointment.
Apple’s fiscal Q1 earnings call is coming up on Jan. 24, where we will hear the total number of iPhones sold during the holiday quarter. We will also hear specific numbers from Sprint and AT&T in the coming weeks. Last quarter’s total amount of iPhones sold should blow out any previous quarters with some experts putting estimates as high as 35 million.
It’s Caucus Day in Iowa, and most Americans will be tuned into their favorite news channel to see who the winner will be. This year, though, the elections entered the twenty-first century due to The New York Times’ “Election 2012” free iPhone application available through the App Store.
According to the NYT, the app gives iPhone users “news, opinion, polls and live election night results,” from its own publication and other top sources, while providing “the best campaign coverage anywhere.”
359gsm (via My Nokia Blog) recently pitted the iOS 4.3-based iPhone 4 and the iOS 5-based iPhone 4S against a Windows Phone 7.5 Mango-based Nokia Lumia 800 smartphone in various benchmark tests. In every test, both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S significantly outperform one of the best Windows Phone options on the market. This is in contrast to reports in April, prior to Mango’s release, that claimed Window Phone’s IE 9 on Mango devices beat mobile Safari in similar browser benchmark tests.
You can view the results in the video above or get the full results below (via 359gsm). As you can see, the iPhone 4S significantly passes the Lumia 800 in all tests, including: Browsermark tests, Speed Reading test, Sunspider, Acid3, and HTML5. The iPhone 4 also outperforms the Lumia in most tests, although by a narrower margin.
We broke the news yesterday that developers Steven Troughton-Smith and the TheMudKip were working on bringing iOS applications to the Apple TV in a native experience. We have been updating with the developer’s progress since our initial report, but now a major leap was achieved: full-screen applications. Troughton-Smith was awesome enough to exclusively pass on the images (above and below) of full-screen applications in action.
The port was initially able to run multiple applications side-by-side on a display connected to an Apple TV, but now the developers have figured out a way to run iPad applications —because of the artwork resolution— at a full 720p resolution. The possibilities of what applications can do at the full television resolution on an Apple TV seems endless, and the two types of application presentations (side-by-side and full screen) show the versatility of this application porting.
Since the developers have achieved this feat by rewriting the springboard itself, we will surely see some more innovation as their work progresses. As Troughton-Smith posted on Twitter: “Remember how the unofficial iPhone applications back in ‘07 forced Apple’s hand in creating an App Store? I’d like Apple TV to get the same treatment.” However, we hope this becomes something more than just an unofficial tweak.
RadioShack announced through Twitter that the iPhone 4S would be on sale today in celebration of the New Year. Specifically, Radio Shack retail stores will slash $50 iPhone 4S purchases for all capacities and both colors. Unfortunately for Sprint and Verizon users, the deal is for AT&T customers only.
Video of iOS apps running side-by-side on Apple TV.
Developer Steven Troughton-Smith has been working with a developer named TheMudKip to add iOS application functionality to the Apple TV. The tweaking is still in its early stages, but the concept of running applications was at least proven. In order to accomplish the task of running iOS applications on the Apple TV, the software that powers the app launcher, the iOS Springboard, had to be rewritten.
Rewriting the springboard also allowed for another neat, new feature: side-by-side apps. This concept was demonstrated as early as WWDC 2011 on an iPad, but is much more powerful and important on a device like an Apple TV. One can imagine opening several news applications to have a big view of what is going on in the world, or having different chat applications for different services simultaneously in use. We will update on the progress of this hack as more information comes in. More images after the break:
AppTrackr is the most popular marketplace for downloading cracked iOS applications. The company announced in a blog post, via Installous, that Apple began sending “take down” notices over cracked applications and have been scraping AppTrackr’s links looking for infractions (via iJailbreak). To combat Apple’s wrath, the crew at AppTrackr have moved several of their servers offshore to countries without copyright laws and have added CAPATCHA code to all outbound links. AppTrackr will now place an ad on the CAPATCHA page to pay for moving servers.
It looks like Apple has begun to make the leap and crack down on cracked iOS applications. AppTrackr uses their installer tool called Installous to install cracked applications, and makes available applications like Apple’s Numbers, NOAA Radar US, Nike+ GPS, and more to those who jailbreak. Obviously with the wide range of applications that AppTrackr makes available, it could potentially hurt some of Apple’s sales (right now). Check out a screenshot of AppTrackr’s blog post after the break.
I have been using the Otterbox Defender case for the iPhone 4S for a couple of months now and it is one of the most versatile and most protective pieces of phone protection currently on the market. The outer design of the case, what you and others see, is an apparently rubberized material – but do not be deceived by that soft appearance and soft feel. It is a heavy-duty case that does a fantastic job at protecting your phone.
The Defender is a three-layered case. The first layer is an inner plastic shell that you slide your phone into, and this hard, yet lightweight, plastic protects your iPhone 4S from dents. That first layer is augmented with the rubbery layer that adds more protect against drops, but also protects against scratches. Its rubbery material makes sure that when your phone is dropped in any environment it is safe. The third layer is a belt clip that adds some more protection, but its main purpose is to, of course, allow you to wear your iPhone on your belt or clothing…
Popular developer of jailbreak applications chpwn released another powerful tweak for iOS users, this time an enhancement to the software’s multitasking feature. The tweak is called Zephyr and it brings new multitasking gestures that are inspired by Meego’s Swipe interface. The foundation of Meego-known for running on the now defunct Nokia N9-was the ability to maneuver around the operating system with edge swipes.
The Swipe navigation method was very smooth on the Nokia N9 and the port through Zephyr to iOS is just as handy. As you can see in the video above, a user just has to flick up from the bottom of their iOS device’s display to open the multitasking bar. In addition, you can swipe in from the edge-just the like the iPad on iOS 5, but one with one finger-to move between applications.
“I think this is probably the most efficient way to multitask on the iPhone,” said Grant Paul (chpwn) in his video demonstration of the tweak. From what we can see, we tend to agree. The tweak was inspired by a tweet from popular developer Steven Troughton-Smith from just a couple of week ago.
“iOS on the iPhone really needs edge-swipe multitasking gestures,” said Troughton-Smith. “Or similar. I’ve said this before. Anyone make a JB tweak for such?”
Zephyr is currently exclusive to jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches and the edge swipes are not currently customizable for features other than multitasking. Paul promises additional functionality through future updates. The tweak is currently available through the Cydia jailbreak application market for $2.99. For those interested in comparing Zephyr’s edge swiping to Meego’s, we have a video demonstration of the Meego interface navigation after the break.
Facebook recently introduced a new feature for profiles called Timeline, and the social network giant describes it as “[telling] your life story with a new kind of profile.” The feature, as demonstrated for the web in Facebook’s promotional video shown above, places all of your photographs, interactions, status updates, and more on a timeline that starts from the day you were born.
The feature works great on the desktop web and mobile version of Facebook’s website, and now Facebook plans to bring Timeline to the iPad’s Facebook application. Timeline was supposed to come to the iPad in December, but the feature’s release was pushed back due to last minute bugs found during advanced testing. Facebook is now planning to launch the update between mid-January and late January.Read on to learn more about Timeline for iPad…
BGR reports that the iPhone 5, slated to be released in the fall of 2012, would have a number of differences to the current 4/4S models. The back will be aluminum and it will likely be surrounded by a plastic or rubberized bezel according to the report.
It will join the glass iPhone face with a new aluminum back plate. It will also cover a redesigned antenna system that surrounds the device, allowing Apple to build the rear case out of aluminum without having to use a large plastic insert above the antennas as the company does on its iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G.
The last we had heard from our contacts at Foxconn was that the iPhone 5 would be delivered in the summer of 2012 along with a slightly bigger screen at the same resolution, faster processor and redesigned form factor.
The port mirrors all the iPhone 4S Siri functionality and works on the jailbroken iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, third generation iPod touch, fourth generation iPod touch, and first generation iPad. We previously revealed that iPod touch Siri performance is not on par with iPhone Siri performance due to the lower quality microphone system.
Spire is available free on the Cydia jailbroken application market, and the download comes in at approximately 100mb, according to a blog post from Chpwn. The developers recommend that users connect to a Wi-Fi network for downloading, not a standard cellular network, because of the large file size.
A few Siri ports have gone public through jailbreak application markets in the past few weeks, but they were deemed unsafe and illegal by the development community due to its distribution of Apple copyrighted materials.
“Spire uses a new method to obtain the files necessary for Siri, so it doesn’t have the copyright issues encountered by previous attempts,” said Chpwn
Of course, with any port of this kind, there will be a caveat: you have to still gain authorization through your own server and an iPhone 4S. Chpwn explained the issue:
The above image is a comparison of an iPad 2 home button and an iPad 3 home button. At the surface, not much as changed, but the prospects of some minor structural tweaks do hint at something greater. The iPad 3 home button, which has been handled in both black and white flavors, looks almost identical to the iPad 2 home button. However, the gray glyph representing the frame of a home screen application icon is slightly thicker. This, obviously, is not all the interesting…but we do learn a few things:
– The iPad 3 will likely come in both black and white-just like the iPad 2-if these iPad 3 home buttons pan out to be the ones used in the final.
– The buttons floating around right now-in large quantities-signal that the iPad 3 is either in production or close to the production stage
– The iPad 3 will not lose the home button (iOS devices have been rumored to soon be losing the home button).
Perhaps the most interesting part about the iPad 3 home button is that its internal structuring is smaller than the iPad 2’s connector (easy to tell in the comparison image above). Apple tweaking the home button structural design and making its size smaller may indicate that Apple is trying to make room for something else. The iPad 3 is already rumored to be nearly 1 mm thicker to accommodate a more pixel-dense Retina Display. Perhaps this slightly smaller home button is one method Apple is using to keep the extra thickness required to a minimum.
Power and volume rockers with a similar design to their iPad 2 counterparts are also floating around, perhaps hinting a minimal design changes. Stay tuned for more.
With the service launching in the United States last month, it may seem a little late, but Apple has very recently launched a website dedicated to iTunes Match. Previously, iTunes Match was given a slab of the iTunes in the Cloud website.
The new iTunes Match website is very descriptive and tries to clear up much of the confusion that has surrounded the product since its announcement. Apple thoroughly explains the basics of iTunes Match with a paragraph worded similarly to their previous literature on the subject:
With iTunes in the Cloud, the music you buy from the iTunes Store automatically appears on all your devices.1 And for music you haven’t purchased from iTunes, iTunes Match is the perfect solution. iTunes Match is built right into iTunes on your computer and the Music app on your iOS devices.2 It lets you store your entire collection in iCloud, even music you’ve imported from CDs or purchased somewhere other than iTunes. When it’s in iCloud, it’s available on all your devices. So you can enjoy all your music anywhere, anytime — on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC, or Apple TV.
The company then explains how the service works by detailing the song matching and uploading process. The new website, also spotted by AppleBitch, features a clear setup guide, FAQ, and walkthrough video – three things that publications have taken to themselves to create. Apple seemingly wanted to create their own so users have the clearest explanation possible directly from the company.
Apple also posted answers to frequently asked questions, settling the downloading vs. streaming debate, and clarifying other concerns such as what happens to songs when your one year iTunes Match subscription expires. Read on for the full FAQ and Apple-made iTunes Match walkthrough video.
Apple offers a wide variety of digital content for those looking to find their Christmas spirit this holiday season. Classic flicks adorn iTunes and the App store as digital downloads, audio books, albums and applications, and each media selection gives global users the opportunity to find good cheer…
Leading up to the New Year, Sprint is running a limited time promotion that allows customers of the soon-to-be discontinued Premier service to access an early upgrade, according to internal documents obtained by SprintFeed.
The promotion is not advertised, but according to the report – all Sprint CDMA devices are eligible. Sprint will apparently check to make sure your account is in good standing, and this will of course replace your next available upgrade. The promotion is already available now through Sprint brick-and-mortar stores and will expire before the end of the year on Dec. 31.
In other Sprint/iPhone news, a minor update to the Google Voice iOS client yesterday brought one major feature: the ability to send GV calls to a Sprint iPhone’s native dialer.
Apple is one of the only online retailers left to offer free next-day shipping during the holiday season.
Still haven’t finished shopping this holiday season? Well, luckily for you, most online retailers are catering to slackers looking to spend an extra buck on gifts.
Those who are down to the wire can still get their gadgets delivered before Dec. 25, and 9to5Mac has put together a list of popular places to order these tech toys before it is too late.
First, and foremost, is Apple. The 2 to 3 day shipping option passed yesterday, but the technology giant is now offering free next-day shipping on all products across the board. The cutoff date is Dec. 21, but iPods and iPads can no longer be engraved, nor can a Mac be customized. The Apple TV is also available for complimentary next-day shipping.
Best Buy is second on the list. Standard shopping ended today at 11 a.m. However, expedited delivery is available until tomorrow at 11 a.m. Express delivery is guaranteed until Dec. 22 at 11 a.m. Both services cost additional, but after that, customers will need to rely on free store pickup. You can always buy online then pick up in store…
UPDATE [Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 5:35am ET]: Bloombergreports that Apple confirmed the acquisition, whose cost the company wouldn’t disclose.
Last week’s big Apple rumor was Apple’s purported talks to purchase an Israeli flash memory firm called Anobit. Now, Israeli news website Calcalist reports that the rumored deal is finalized. Anobit’s purchase price is still up in the air, but the report is calling for a dollar amount between $400 million and $500 million dollars, likely making Anobit Apple’s most expensive acquisition thus far. Anobit would come first ahead of NeXT ($400+ million), the company Apple co-founder Steve Jobs launched after being ousted from Apple.
Update: From the official Twitter account of the Israeli Prime Minister:
Welcome to Israel, Apple Inc. on your 1st acquisition here. I’m certain that you’ll benefit from the fruit of the Israeli knowledge.
It is unclear if this tweet from the Prime Minister’s office is confirmation of Apple’s entry into Israel or if it was tweeted in response to the news report.
Anobit’s executive team, comprised of Chairman and CEO Ehud Weinstein, President Ariel Maislos, and more, reportedly informed their employees that the deal was finalized. Anobit’s campus is located in Herzliya, a major sector of Israel known for the technology that has grown from it. Perhaps just as exciting as Apple’s investment in new flash-based memory technology is Apple’s purchase in Israel: an Apple research and development facility in the country known for technological breakthroughs, such as its early work in mobile phones and instant messaging.
According to our sources, Anobit’s executive squad has not been formally introduced as Apple employees. However, if Calcalist’s report proves accurate, that should happen sometime soon. Something else to consider is if Apple chooses to formally announce the acquisition. For example, Apple bought a 3D-mapping company called C3 Technologies earlier this year, but it never announced the acquisition.
Anobit offered a fancy explanation of their technology:
