Google is in talks with chipset manufacturers with a view to designing its own processors and other components for future Android devices, according to a new report.
The company is said to be interested in following Apple’s footsteps in an effort to make Android “more competitive” at the high end of the market, and to “solve other major problems.”
If you upgraded to an iPhone 6s, chances are the case on your old 6 fits just fine. But if the old case is waterproof, don’t go dropping that 6s in a puddle.
The iPhone 6s is taller, wider and thicker by 1/100th of an inch in either direction, hardly noticeable in hand but enough to compromise the protection on a waterproof case.
Catalyst, an accessories company favored by Apple users unafraid of a little water on their devices, has rolled out a new waterproof case for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus.
China’s legendary black markets have goods and services for every need, from organs to counterfeit designer handbags. For cashed-strapped Apple fans in this communist country, there’s also a thriving market around iPhone upgrades.
For as little as $100 U.S. dollars, the 16GB iPhone can get upgraded to 126GB. That’s a big deal to Chinese consumers, who have trouble affording the 16GB iPhone 6 at just over $700, let alone any models with more capacity.
Facebook has a problem of iPhone love: too many of its employees prefer Apple’s device when given the chance between an iPhone and Android smartphone. This means that up until now, far less workers have been able to truly live in an Android environment where they can identify bugs within Facebook and fix them. Now, the chief product officer is changing that by ordering some employees to switch to Android.
Bendgate is back, and this time, it’s an Android device that’s at the center of it.
Google’s brand new Nexus 6P, which is being dubbed the company’s best smartphone by critics and consumers, is nowhere near as durable as it is pretty. Check out the video below in which the device scratches, cracks, burns, and bends surprisingly easily.
Apple’s latest app for Android is a bitter, ahem, Pill+ for Fandroids to swallow — with numerous one-star reviews already hitting the Google Play Store.
Arriving yesterday, the app lets users control and manage their newly-launched Beats Pill+ speaker, including allowing multiple users to take control of the music playing from a speaker, or configuring two speakers to achieve a higher volume level.
But, of course, it’s made by Apple. So by the ancient laws of Android it must be punished!
Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has had a couple of good months as it aims to shed its image as a manufacturer of cheap devices. It released a new and now popular premium phone in September, surpassed rival Xiaomi in sales in their home market and, like Apple, had a glowing Q3 earnings report.
And with Apple boasting of rapid growth in China, Huawei answers the challenge by hiring Apple’s former creative director, Abigail Brody, to be the company’s chief user experience designer.
Bill Hader eats a hamburger while getting Siri to read him his email in this new fun video from Apple. The message from “Prince Oseph” offers Hader a life-changing opportunity, and having his iPhone read it really shows off the “Hey Siri” functionality in iOS 9.
Nerd cred: Obviously, Hader is using an iPhone 6s, because Hey Siri only works when not connected to power on the latest iteration of Apple’s flagship smartphone.
Check out the full ad below.
You may soon be able to make purchases in the iTunes store without a credit or debit card.
Apple has been working with a phone carrier in Germany on an agreement that would let people pay for items as part of their phone bills. Users’ phone numbers, rather than credit cards or bank account numbers, will be used to make purchases that will show up on the next bill.
Android Pay, the newest kid on the block in mobile phone payments, has found a way to get people using their smartphones to pay for goods and services: loyalty reward systems.
Like similar retail, grocery and airline programs, Android Pay will soon include points for specific purchases to encourage us all to use our smartphones more and more to pay for the stuff we already buy.
Coke is the first program up, according to Google exec Sridhar Ramaswamy, with points to earn each time you use Android Pay to buy a Coke through any one of some 20,000 NFC-enabled Coca-Cola vending machines. You’ll get points that will let you get free Coke, Coca-Cola gets to know where and when people are buying its products and Google gets people to use Android Pay. It’s win-win-win.
The latest entry to the Beats line of speakers and the first one under Apple’s supervision, the Beats Pill+ is now available. At $229, it’s $30 more expensive than its predecessor, the Beats Pill 2.0, but it has much more to offer. This Bluetooth speaker apparently has improved sound quality, a tweaked design, and unsurprisingly charges via Lightning cable.
Apple Watch is by far the most successful smartwatch to date in terms of sales, so perhaps it’s no surprise that Apple has been voted the “coolest wearables brand” by smartphone users.
The Cupertino company not only beat technology rivals like Samsung and LG to the top of the list, but also high-end watchmakers and fashion brands like TAG Heuer, Rolex, and Ralph Lauren.
When Apple enthusiastically introduced to the Apple Pencil in September, it left out one little detail – where we are supposed to put it.
SteelConnect, a company known for designing smart watch accessories, has come up with with a pencil holder that connects to the new iPad Pro. The Quarter provides a way to store the pencil, dock it in a ready position or keep the cap from getting misplaced while the pencil is charging elsewhere.
Want the new iPad or MacBook for Christmas? You’re not alone. Big box store Best Buy found the iPad the most desired tech gift this holiday season, according to a survey of 2,000 people.
The MacBook came in third behind the Bose QuietComfort noise cancelling headphones. Of the 15 tech items listed, the Apple Watch ranked 12th.
HTC has been getting a lot of stick for its brand new One A9, which looks just like another iPhone clone. But the Taiwanese company insists that the design was its own idea, and that Apple actually copied HTC’s first unibody phone that was released in 2013.
Remember in grade school when you learned what the middle finger meant? Twitter was kind of like that Thursday morning as giggly and astonished people reported their discovery of a middle-finger emoji in their iOS update.
This is not new news. We knew the finger would fly when the iOS update was announced earlier. Maybe it got lost in the excitement of finally getting a taco emoji. Who knows. But the tweets about the bird were refreshing 20 and 30 at a time every few seconds this morning.
To most taking to social media, the middle finger feels naughty and delicious.
Tim Cook heads a company that devotes massive brain power in developing and understanding algorithms. And it was an algorithm that ranked the Apple CEO the nation’s top executive from a list of 250.
ExecRank, a kind of social network for companies to find advisors and board members, uses a statistical and algorithmic analysis to measure 24 categories, including experience, business resolution, company growth and earnings and industry reputation.
Maybe there aren’t a ton of new features in iOS 9, but you may find yourself getting tighter with Siri.
Siri is out to earn the title of “Best Assistant” with a series of new tricks aimed at making your life easier.
You no longer have to set a time for Siri to remind you to do tasks. You will automatically get reminders once you arrive or leave a location. No time to read an email or an interesting article? Ask her to remind you later and she will do so.
Siri can call up any photo you like based on a location or timestamp. She can also give you sports scores without directing you to a website, can convert measurements and, if you have a shiny new iPhone 6s, there is no need to press the home button to summon her. Just say, “Hey Siri.”
To see how Siri worked for me, check out the video below.
Tim Cook may like the “runway” for Apple Music’s take off, but Spotify is currently soaring.
Apple’s competitor in the music streaming business found itself in the No. 1 position on the iPhone App Store’s Top Grossing charts for the first time in the United States. This is on the same day that the Apple CEO Cook told the audience at the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference that Apple Music has 6.5 million paying customers.
The iPhone 6s hit shelves in India over the weekend – and on the shelves are where most of them stayed.
According to reports in that country, Apple saw lukewarm sales of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus during launch there. With the cost on the entry level 16 GB iPhone 6 at $925, many analysts say Indian consumers may be waiting for prices to drop before upgrading.
Fingerprint scanners on Android devices have been hit-or-miss (mostly miss) in recent years, but they’re getting a whole lot better. There’s no better example of that than the new Nexus 5X, which is even faster at recognizing your print than the new Touch ID sensor in iPhone 6s.
You might not think of IBM as a Mac-friendly place to work, but Fletcher Previn, VP of Workplace-as-a-Service at IBM might beg to differ.
Previn used to think like you do: that Apple PCs are more expensive, they’re challenging to support, and require a ton of re-training for help desk staff (who serve a 50,000 employee global work force on Windows PCs)
Turns out, that’s all fairly inaccurate.
When it comes to specifications, Apple’s latest iPhones look like they’re lagging far behind their Android-powered rivals. But thanks to super-efficient software, they’re not as slow and as outdated as they might look on paper.
This is demonstrated in the real-world speed test below, in which the iPhone 6s Plus somehow batters a Galaxy Note 5.
Whether you like it or not, 2-in-1 tablets that turn into laptops are a thing. Microsoft’s Surface was one of the first to kick off this trend, and with the Surface Pro 4 that was announced this week, it is making the 2-in-1 an even more compelling device.
For the same price as an iPad Pro with Apple Pencil, you can get a Surface Pro 4 with powerful notebook internals that runs desktop-class software when you need it. So, why wouldn’t you?
What makes the iPad Pro a better option? And did Apple miss a trick by not making the iPad Pro the ultimate 2-in-1 for iOS and OS X users?
Join us as we battle it out over these questions and more in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac!
Heading to social media to vent about Chipgate, some iPhone 6s owners are upset to discover that not all A9 chips are created equal.
Worse, some feel duped by Apple, which used two vendors to supply different versions of the chips in “identical” phones. Others worry about reports of inferior battery life — and some are thinking seriously about returning their new iPhones. Still others are playing the latest Apple controversy for laughs.