iPhone

Apple has acquired a camera sensor startup called InVisage Technologies, TechCrunch reports. InVisage touts its QuantumFilm Image Sensor as specializing in capturing light while using a thinner camera module.

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Update: Apple has issued a full statement on the device used by the Texas shooter:

We were shocked and saddened by the violence in Texas last Sunday, and we join the world in grieving for the families and community that lost so many loved ones.

Our team immediately reached out to the FBI after learning from their press conference on Tuesday that investigators were trying to access a mobile phone. We offered assistance and said we would expedite our response to any legal process they send us.

We work with law enforcement every day. We offer training to thousands of agents so they can understand our devices and how they can quickly request information from Apple.

A new report from Reuters says the FBI may have made a crucial mistake in attempting to unlock the iPhone used by the gunman responsible for Sunday’s shooting at a Texas church.

The report explains that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies did not ask Apple for help in unlocking password and Touch ID protected devices, and waited 48 hours, rendering Touch ID useless…

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If you’re a designer, you’ll know that font selection can make or break the effectiveness of your work. Often times when I’m away from home I’ll see signs and ads with perfect type on them, and snap a photo for later. What you may not know is that your iPhone can automatically identify fonts for you from photos, thanks to new apps that are harnessing the power of machine learning to analyze photos. I took a look at the best options available to see which may be right for you.

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iPhone assembler Wistron, is preparing to expand its manufacturing operations in India. It follows Apple announcing during its recent earnings call that revenue in the country had doubled year-on-year.

India is a key market for Apple, representing huge growth potential, but with a number of challenges …

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A new investor note is out today from Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. In the note, Kuo explains that it’s likely Apple “won’t repeat” the supply and production struggles it experienced with the iPhone X with the new 2018 iPhone models…

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One of the privacy features of iOS is that apps are required to ask permission if they want to access things like your photos, camera and location. But a Google engineer has created a demo app to show how a rogue app could abuse permissions to surreptitiously photograph you as you use the app – or even livestream video from your front or rear cameras.

The issue, says Felix Krause, is that users are asked to grant blanket permission. There may be a legitimate-seeming reason for an app to request access to your camera, to take a photo within the app, but it is then able to shoot photos and video anytime it is in the foreground without alerting you in any way …

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The FBI has been unable to access data from “more than half” of the devices it has tried to unlock over the past year, according to a new report from The Associated Press. FBI director Christopher Wray made the comment while speaking at a conference over the weekend, acknowledging that there needs to be a balance between encryption and public safety…

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That years-long patent infringement battle between Apple and Samsung isn’t over yet. A judge has just ordered the two sides to return to court yet again.

Apple was originally awarded $1B after a court ruled that Samsung infringed its iPhone patents. That was later reduced to $339M, but Samsung argued that it was still too much and fought the case all the way to the Supreme Court – where it won. But it didn’t end there …

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I’ve been using the iPhone 8 Plus for about a month now, and while it’s largely a holdover until the more exciting iPhone X next month, the iPhone 8 is a great phone in and of itself. The improvements are subtle yet contribute nicely to a notable improvement over its predecessors.

More than anything, however, the iPhone 8 – as well as the iPhone X –  represent the beginning of what is likely the future of iPhone design: a single, port-free, fully enclosed slab of glass…

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We’re fully expecting the iPhone X pre-order and launch period to be chaotic, and Apple wants its iPhone Upgrade Program members to have the smoothest experience possible. For that reason, Apple is pushing IUP members to ‘get a head start on your upgrade to iPhone X’ starting Monday, October 23, ahead of pre-orders on Friday, October 27.

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Apple is working with AT&T and Google parent-company Alphabet to enable emergency LTE in Puerto Rico after the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria last month. TechCrunch reports that Apple is issuing a carrier update this week using the service enable LTE Band 8 support. As 9to5Google reported earlier today, this emergency LTE is enabled by Alphabet’s X division using Project Loon.

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The iPhone has long been well-regarded for its photographic capabilities, but as of late it’s becoming quite the outstanding tool for videographers as well. For example, with the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X, Apple has stepped up the device’s video feature set, adding both 24 and 60 frames per second options for 4K video capture.

But when it comes to capturing rich and dynamic video content, the iPhone hardware is only half of the equation. Apple devices, and smartphones in general, are benefited by a wide variety of add-on hardware, such as lenses, tripod mounts, filters and more. These tools can help iPhone videographers take their productions to the next level.

With this in mind, Seattle, WA-based Rhino Camera Gear, creators of the popular Rhino Slider for DSLRs and mirrorless cameras, have built the ROV — a compact slider specifically with the iPhone in mind. Slider movement produces a cinematic feel in videos, and now that same feeling can be easily captured by iPhone videographers.

Like it’s done for previous products that it has brought to market, Rhino is introducing the ROV Camera Slider via a Kickstarter campaign that officially launches today.
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Apple’s ongoing legal battle with Qualcomm is heating up today in a serious way. The chip maker has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Apple in China in an effort to block the sale and manufacturing of iPhones in the country.

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The latest Kantar data shows that iOS saw year-on-year market share growth during August in seven of the nine major markets monitored by the firm, but saw a two-point fall in the UK thanks to aggressive promotions by Samsung.

U.S. market share climbed 3.7 points, from 31.3% in August 2016 to an even 35% in the same month this year. Android dropped 2.9 points in the same period …

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There have been a number of indications that Apple plans to add Pencil compatibility to a future iPhone, starting with an apparent slip of the tongue by Tim Cook, in which he talked of having used the two together.

There are also multiple patents for the idea, the most recent one specifically referencing the iPhone. And a new report goes even further, suggesting that the Apple Pencil – or some similar device – may be bundled with a 2019 iPhone …

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Part of the iPhone tradition every year is the in-depth, high-quality teardown performed by the folks over at iFixit. This year, in honor of the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, the site has partnered with Bloomberg to provide a detailed, interactive look at how the guts of the iPhone have changed over the years…

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KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out tonight with a new investor note. Kuo explains that, despite initially believing Apple might readopt fingerprint technology, it’s now likely that all 2018 iPhone models will move to Face ID and leave Touch ID in the past…

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