John Brownlee - page 40

iTunes Match Comes To Scandinavia

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iTunes Match is getting a big upgrade.
iTunes Match is getting a big upgrade.
Photo: Apple

If you’re a Dane, a Swede, a Fin, or a Norse who likes having all his or her music in the clouds of Valhalla, or just wants to legitimize your pirated Lordi collection, good news: iTunes Match has come to Scandinavia.

In Court, Apple Tries To Squeeze More Blood Out Of Samsung’s Stone

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Right now, Apple has over $156 billion in its war chest, prompting investors like Carl Icahn to pretty much riot to try to get at some or all of it.

Compared to $156 billion, $16 million is a drop in the ocean of Apple’s money, an amount so small that Tim Cook wouldn’t think twice to even sign the check. But when it comes to Samsung, Apple’s intellectual property arch rival, Cupertino wants to wring out every drop of money it can.

Apple’s Official iOS 7 Adoption Numbers Make Android Look Absolutely Pathetic

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Many of the stats we have about iOS marketshare and demographics come from third-party companies, most of whom are tracking ad impressions within their network. As such, their stats have the potential of being inaccurate, and need to be taken with at least a little bit of salt.

Looks like online ad network Chitika can be trusted though. Earlier this week, we reported that Chitika was now tracking 74.1% of all devices as running iOS 7. Now, Apple is backing those numbers up, and it makes Google look pathetic.

Does Touch ID Decay Over Time?

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Photo: Apple

Although not a new technology by any means, fingerprint scanners have historically been hamstrung by issues that have caused their sensors to degrade relatively rapidly, no longer being able to correctly read a fingerprint after only a few months.

When Apple introduced Touch ID with the iPhone 5s, they claimed to have solved that problem. Protected by nigh-indestructible Sapphire Glass, the Touch ID sensor is supposed to be able to read the curves and contours of your fingerprints at a resolution of up to 500 pixels per inch. But could Touch ID be just as susceptible to degradation issues over time as previous biometrics solutions?

Yo Ho Ho! Assassin’s Creed: Pirates Now Available On App Store

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One of the most popular series of games for home consoles is Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed, in which a 21st Century cyberpunk is tasked with recovering memories of his ancestors from the past. The plot doesn’t make a lot of sense, frankly, but it doesn’t have to: it’s just the framing mechanism that allows players to take on the role of a number of assassins throughout history, from 15th Century Florence to ancient Jerusalem and Colonial America.

The latest game in the Assassin’s Creed series, Black Flag, brings the backstabbing and throat-slitting to the high seas, but it’s only available on the Xbox and PlayStation. No fear, though, because a companion game called Assassin’s Creed: Pirates has just been released on the App Store for iPhone and iPad users.

Obama Is Stuck On BlackBerry, Not Allowed To Have An iPhone

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When Barack Obama first made his run at the United States presidency way back in 2008, much fuss was made about how this politician was so cool, he used a BlackBerry.

Seems laughable now, doesn’t it? Yet at the time, Obama was considered so technologically hip for using a BlackBerry that he once laughingly said that if the Secret Service wanted to take it from him, they’d have to pry it from his hands.

Flash forward five years, and President Obama’s BlackBerry doesn’t seem so cool anymore. In fact, it seems ridiculous. So why isn’t he using an iPhone?

The Official iPhone 5s Case Was Almost As Hideous As The iPhone 5c Case

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The official iPhone 5c case isn’t exactly Apple’s most widely acclaimed product design ever. Even if you love it, you have to admit it looks a lot like those brightly-colored, foam rubber shoes with the holes in them known as Crocs. And if you’re like me, and think the iPhone 5c case is pure trash, it seems almost insulting that Apple overlooked the iPhone 5c case’s design flaws and released it anyway.

According to a new report, though, Apple wasn’t just about to unleash the so-called ‘Croc’ case on consumers once, but twice. Not only did Cupertino intend for the hole-filled design to be the official case for the iPhone 5c, but they wanted to give the luxury, high-end iPhone 5s the same treatment.

Apple’s 2013 Acquisitions Show A Focus On Maps, Chips & Making Data Useful

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Apple is ramping up production on a budget iPhone.
Photo: Cult of Mac

When Apple bought Twitter analytics company Topsy for over $200 million earlier this week, many commenters were taking aback. How does Twitter analytics of all things fit into Apple’s general acquisition strategy?

Although they broke the story, it looks like The Wall Street Journal were wondering the same thing themselves. The result is an excellent breakdown of Apple’s major acquisitions in 2013. Unfortunately, it doesn’t shed much light on why Apple bought Topsy, but it does show Cupertino’s areas of interest.

Chart Proves That Android Smartphones Are Bad Deal Compared To iPhones

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When people talk about Android’s “fragmentation” problem, what they are referring to is the fact that the majority of Android devices are not running the most current version of Google’s mobile operating system.

The reason this is a big deal is because an ecosystem is only as strong as how many devices are running a current version of the operating system: older versions of Android are not only more vulnerable to malicious exploits that have been patched in more recent versions, but apps running on them can’t make use of newer Android features.

A new chart released by Fidlee shows exactly how bad Google’s fragmentation problem has become. Although iOS 7 runs on almost all Apple iPhones released in the last five years, there are few Android devices that are supported by the most recent version of Android just two years after they are purchased.

PayPal Starts Selling iTunes Gift Cards

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You can't go wrong with gift cards.
Photo: Apple

PayPal has been making a creep into gift cards lately, announcing just a week ago that it would start accepting prepaid gift cards as a form of payment online. Now it’s going even further, launching a digital gifts store where you can buy iTunes Gift Cards and, for now, only iTunes Gift Cards.

Dragon Quest VIII Coming To iPhone & iPad

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When we talk about Japanese games publisher Square-Enix bringing their games to iPhone, we’re usually talking about their popular Final Fantasy series: in the past few years alone, Square-Enix has brought a number of the games in its world famous CRPG series to the App Store.

The next game Square-Enix is bringing to iPhone isn’t a Final Fantasy game, though. Instead, it’s a title in their other popular RPG series (and a personal favorite game of mine): Dragon Quest VIII.

Late 2013 27-Inch iMacs Now Available At Up To $400 Off If You Buy Them Refurbished [Deals]

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Some of the best deals you can find on Apple products comes from buying refurbished. Far from second-hand rejects, refurbished Apple units come with a full year’s warranty, steep discounts and a personal once-over from an authorized Apple technician, meaning they are <em>more</em> likely to be technologically sound at a lower price.

If you’ve been interested in picking yourself up a late 2013 27-inch iMac, but were hoping to score a deal, good news: they’re now available refurbished on Apple’s online store.

And Our First Glimpse At 2014’s 24-Inch iMac With Retina Display Comes From… Dell?

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We’ve seen the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros go Retina. When will the iMac get ultra high resolution screens, though?

It’s unknown, but it looks like we’re edging closer. Dell — the company whose founder once laughingly suggested that Cupertino return all of its money to shareholders — has just posted details for a new 24-inch monitor sporting a 3840 x 2160 4K display.

Amazon: In 4-5 Years, We Will Start Delivering iPhones & iPads Using Robotic Drones

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Amazon Prime delivery is pretty fast. As long as you pony up $99 every year, you can have pretty much anything shipped to you overnight — even iPhones and iPads — for just $3.99.

But what’s after Prime? According to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on a 60 Minutes interview last night, it’s PrimeAir, a new service in which Amazon will deliver your goods to you via drones within half-an-hour.

Black Friday Comes Early As XCOM Goes On Sale [Deals]

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As Black Friday and Cyber Monday come creeping up on us, so do some of the best app deals, as developers slash prices on their software to get us all geared up for the holidays. One of the first great deals of the season is now here: if you love turn-based-strategy and want to help the Earth repel a wave of alien invaders, XCOM: Enemy Unknown has dropped to just $9.99.

Reeder 2.1 Coming With Themes, Safari Reading List Support, And More

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Reeder 2– the best RSS reader on iOS — is getting a beefy new update soon, hopefully in time for holidays. The app’s developer has just submitted an update to Apple for approval that adds some big new features — including themes, Safari Reading List support, and more — as well as tweaked features and a load of bug fixes.

Here’s what you can expect when Reeder 2.1 hits the App Store.

Angry Birds Gets Electrifying New Update, Now Has Almost 500 Levels

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Few companies are better at keeping their games updated than Rovio, who’ve released more updates for its Angry Birds games than one can count. Add another grain of sand to the beaches of infinity, then, because the bird-vs.-pig physics strategy game has just gotten a new update, adding 30 levels to the core game as well as giving the bomb bird a new electric power.