In what was undoubtedly an ironic coincidence involving Apple’s automated profanity filters, the title of Naomi Wolf’s new book Vagina — which is about how society chauvinistically stigmatizes the female sexual origin into something so profane it can not be talked about — was briefly censored in the iTunes Store.
Are you still using the official Twitter app on your iDevice nstead of Tapbots’ superior Tweetbot client? Well, bully for you, then, because Twitter has just updated their universal iOS app with some new tweaks to the iPad UI, new profiles with header photos, and more.
Remember Samsung’s dishonest, offensive “It Doesn’t Take A Genius” ad that, as my colleague Alex heath wonderfully put it, tried to proclaim the Samsung Galaxy SIII to be a better handset than the iPhone 5 by making its “contrived spec list” longer?
Well, two can play at that game. If you’re going to selectively leave features off of one phone to make yours look like you can do more at it, well, we’re only a quick Photoshop away from turning the tables.
As a final note, I love what this ad says about Samsung. They still just don’t get it: they’re still playing the spec game when Apple has built its billions upon the true fact that no one gives a shit about specs anymore. The proof is in the experience.
Source: Reddit
Looks like T-Mobile’s serious about getting you to come to their network with your unlocked iPhone 5, even if they still don’t have a deal in place to sell them directly. What you see here is that T-Mobile is already ordering nano-SIMs, and you’ll be able to slap them into an unlocked iPhone 5 starting in mid-October. You won’t get LTE, of course, but if that doesn’t matter to you, you might save a few bucks.
Source: TMO-News
Upset that after almost a decade, Apple is finally changing the Dock Connector with the new, smaller Lightning Standard? Redditor Ima13X puts it in perspective.
The image makes a great point: Samsung’s had a million proprietary connectors for its devices over the last decade, while Apple’s only had two. However, it’s worth noting that it’s this very consistency in proprietary connectors that allowed Apple to build up a massive third-party “Made for iPhone”, “Made for iPad” and “Made for iPod” licensing business… a business that Samsung’s never managed at all.
So changing the 30-Pin Dock Connector to Lightning is a big deal. The ramnifications on Apple’s accessory ecosystem are huge. As long as Apple doesn’t get in the habit of changing this connector frivolously, though, and has built Lightning to be as future proof (or more so) than the 30-Pin Dock Connector, this changes means fresh billions earned, not just for Apple, but its accessory partners.
Source: Reddit
With the new Lightning Dock, Apple has ruthlessly ditched a lot of the cruft of the 30-pin past, leaving a lot of existing accessories less functional than they were. Although you’ll still be able to use audio-out and charging functionality in your iPhone 5 using older iPhone accessories using the Lightning to 30-Pin Adapter, Apple’s ditched video out and iPod out this generation.
But the new Lightning Adapter, while closing some doors, also opens some new possibilities. A new report says that Lightning gives USB host abilities to the iPhone 5.
It’s the middle of the night and we want to get back to bed, so we’ll make this quick: you can now pre-order the iPhone 5.
Well, it’s a little more confusing than that. As of writing, if you’re doing it through the web, the Apple Store is still down. However, you can complete your preorder quickly using the Apple Store app, and we were able to preorder our iPhone 5 directly from Verizon’s website a few minutes before the slated time with no trouble. Doubtlessly the Apple.com preorder page will go live soon.
Update: iPhone 5 preorder page on Apple.com is now up for us. Hurrah!
We got the 64GB Verizon iPhone 5 in white. What did you get?
Although Apple hasn’t directly confirmed the exact time yet, iPhone 5 preorders look set to begin tomorrow morning at 12:01AM PST, exactly… the same time iPhone 4S preorders started last year.
The iPhone 5 is slated to be Apple’s most wildly in-demand phone yet, and while Apple is attempting to balance the crush on their website by starting preorders in the middle of the night, it will, in all likelihood, still be a madhouse when Apple starts selling iPhones later tonight.
Hence this guide. We’re going to walk you through the best ways to make absolutely sure you get your iPhone 5 preordered right at the stroke of midnight and in your hands next Friday when it officially launches in the minimum amount of time, so you can go right back to sleep.
Wondering which iPhone 5 to buy? Check out our guide to finding the iPhone 5 that is right for you here.
Apple quietly killed off a lot of things yesterday, including Ping, the old “watch-style” iPod nano, the iPhone 3Gs and more.
When we looked at Apple.com, though, we were surprised to notice that Apple seems to have decided with this generation to kill off the Bumper Case as well. They still sell the rubber-band-style case for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, but they have opted not to stretch it to fit the iPhone 5.
Turns out, though, there’s an excellent reason why Apple didn’t update the bumper case for the iPhone 5. It no longer needs it.
One of the best aspects of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S design was that, if you wanted to personalize your iPhone, you had more options than just picking out a nifty case: by just undoing two screws at the bottom of the device, you could replace the entire back panel on your iPhone.
This opened up a lot of cool options for modding your iPhone. I, for example, replaced my iPhone 4S’s white glass back panel with a Don-Draper-esque slice of teak.
I loved my wood-backed iPhone so much that I emailed the mod kit’s maker, Monolith, asking them when a similar mod would be coming out for the iPhone 5. The disapponting response? Never. The iPhone 5’s design seemingly makes it impossible.
One of the best things about the iPhone 4S was that it rolled GSM and CDMA into the same baseband. What that means is if you have, say, an AT&T iPhone, it could technically run on Verizon as long as you unlocked it. Likewise, if you had a Verizon iPhone, you could just slap in a GSM pay-as-you-go SIM card if you were traveling in any other country in the world to avoid exorbitant international roaming fees.
With the iPhone 5, though, things are changing. There will be two versions of the iPhone 5, a separate device for both GSM and CDMA carriers. Why? Seems to all be about LTE.
Today, Apple made official the eagerly-awaited latest version of the world’s most popular smartphone, the iPhone 5. Apple has historically been a trendsetter when it comes to building smartphones, using cutting-edge technology and top-of-the-line materials, but over the past few months, the competition — Samsung, Motorola, Nokia and HTC — have started catching up.
So, spec-by-spec, how does the iPhone 5 stack up? We have compared the specs of the iPhone 5 with the iPhone 4S, Nokia Lumia 820, Nokia Lumia 920, Motorola DROID RAZR HD, Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX HD, Motorola DROID RAZR M, Samsung Galaxy SIII and the HTC One X. To see how the iPhone 5 fares, check out the comprehensive table below.
Apple’s replacing their stock earbuds — those horrific, cochlea-massacring, mass-produced pieces of crap — with new horrific, cochlea-massacring, mass-produced pieces of crap. Meet the EarPods.
They probably suck, given Apple’s track record, but apparently, they’ve been three years on design.
According to Jony Ive, “Making earphones that fit for everyone would be like making shoes that are the same size that fit everyone’s feet. But that’s what we’ve tried to do.”
“EarPods are designed to direct sound into the ear.” O RLY.
“I think music lovers will love these. We’re going to start shipping these as a standalone accessory. Available today,” says Apple.
I’d hold of on some reviews, if I were you. Given how terrible Apple’s earbuds have been for a decade, I see no reason to stop.
Image: The Verge
It’s a lanyard. A fucking lanyard. Push a button on the iPod touch, and it pops out from where it’s hidden so you can secure a lanyard. And they are even color coordinated according to the color of your iPod touch. Is there anything Apple can’t revolutionize?
Image: GDGT
Apple just sent out the official press release for the iPhone 5, the thinnest, lightest iPhone ever with an all-new aluminum design, stunning 4-inch Retina Display, A6 chip and LTE Ultrafast Wireless.
You can read the press release below:
Every major iPhone announcement is accompanied with a new iPod touch announcement, and this year is no different. There’s a new iPod touch, a new iPod nano and a new iPod shuffle.
Apple’s starting with a new iPod nano, which they want to reinvent.
“First we want to give it a large display. Give it nice controls. Make it thin and light. And of course, the Lightning connector,” says Eddy Cue.
The new nano isn’t a watch anymore, it looks more like the previous generations: a longer, thinner touchscreen iPod. It’s 5.4mm and 38% thinner.
It has controls on the side, and an iPhone/iPod touch style home button. It also gets Bluetooth and an FM tuner, which are pretty awesome upgrades.
No price or availability yet.
Image: The Verge
Apple just announced when iOS 6 is coming out, and it’s sooner than the iPhone 5: it’ll show up on September 19th.
It will support the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, new iPad, iPad 2 and iPod touch.
If September 19th’s launch day, the GM has to be coming out today. Stay tuned to Cult of Mac: when it’s here, we’ll let you know.
Image: The Verge
This seems new: Apple just announced that in iOS 6, you’ll be able to share photos through Photo Stream with friends, and when you share, you can comment on the photos, have your friends comment on photos and even like photos, with all changes pushed to you by notification. It looks like Facebook integration into Photo Stream, but Apple’s not calling it that. Is this Apple getting into the photography social networking game?
Also, Apple’s right. Alex Heath is a slob. Someone get that poor hobo a clean shirt.
Image: The Verge
One of the biggest upgrades to the iPhone 5, though, is the new 8-pin dock connector. It’s called Lightning, and its going to throw third party accessory makers into havok.
The iPhone 5’s improvements aren’t all visual though. It’s also got a bitching new audio system.
First of all, the new iPhone has three microphones, at the front back and bottom. That gives much better voice clarity.
Speakers have five magnet transducers, which is up from three.
And the earpiece? Built in noise canceling of your own audio out. That’s actually super impressive.
These are the silent killer upgrades. Expect the iPhone 5 to be the best sounding smartphone in the world.
Image: GDGT
Phil Schiller has again taken the stage, and now he wants to make some points about the iPhone 5’s battery life.
“We’re really proud that the iPhone 5 battery life exceeds the iPhone 4S.”
The iPhone 5 doesn’t just have a lighter, thinner construction, though. As rumored, it also has “ultrafast wireless.” Yep, that means LTE.
“We have some very exciting news to tell you about the iPhone,” Tim Cook says. And now Phil Schiller’s up.
“I think Time Magazine said it best ‘it is the phone that has changed phones forever’ and boy were they right,” says Schiller. Every year they raise the bar. Here comes a hole new bar.
“Today we’re introducing the iPhone 5.” The iPhone 5 rises from a pedestal in front of the audience. Holy crap.
Tim Cook is going through the preliminary statistics of Apple’s business right now, which is usually where people snooze in these events, but this number really stuck out to us: Tim Cook says that the iPad has sold “more iPads than any PC manufacturer sold of their entire PC line.”
Read that quote again. It’s absolutely nuts. There are 84 million iPads out there, as of June. And Apple has done this while still growing the Mac 15% year-over-year compared to just two percent year-over-year growth for PCs.
Apple rules the computer world.
Image: GDGT
It’s finally here. The event everyone’s waiting for. Tim Cook has just walked on stage at the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts in San Francisco, California to announce the iPhone 5.
What will the iPhone 5 be? Rumors peg it as wide screen, thinner, better battery, and LTE capable, along with a new Dock Connector called Lightning which is much smaller than previously.
What else is coming? The iPod Touch, new iPod nanos, new iPod shuffles, a new version of iTunes and the possibility of new iMacs and a 13-inch MacBook Pro.
We’ll know shortly. Now Tim Cook’s opening his mouth: “It’s an exciting time for Apple. An amazing time. An extarodinary time…”
It sure is.
Image: The Verge