Killian Bell - page 249

As is often the case with Apple products, feelings towards the new iPad mini were mixed following the Cupertino company’s special event in San Jose on Tuesday. Many were wowed by its good looks and tiny form factor, which still manages to run regular iPad apps just fine. While others were confused over its $329 price tag.

We had expected Apple to price the iPad mini along the same lines as cheap Android tablets, such as the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire, which sell for $200. We didn’t quite expect Apple to go quite that low, but we felt around $250 would be just about right.

Instead, Apple chose to ignore what its competitors were doing. You might say that this is a big mistake, and that the iPad mini doesn’t stand a chance against its 7-inch rivals. But many analysts feel the iPad mini will do just fine at $329.

AT&T has announced its financial results for the third quarter of 2012 this morning, and once again, Apple’s iPhone has been its biggest-selling smartphone. The carrier sold 6.1 million smartphones in total during the three-month period, a whopping 77% of which were iPhones.

On Monday, we learned Gearbox Software was finally gearing up to bring its Borderlands franchise to iOS. An advert in a digital game guide for Borderlands 2 revealed the title’s name, Borderlands Legends, and promised that the title would arrive this month.

Gearbox has now confirmed that Borderlands Legends will be hitting the App Store on October 31, but it might not be what you were expecting.

Apple has fired its South Korean boss, Dominique Oh, reportedly due to sluggish sales of its products there. Oh has been with the Cupertino company for just over a year, joining from LG Electronics where he oversaw the company’s Android and Windows Phone divisions. 

Phishing emails are some of the most frustrating emails I have delivered to my inbox. While I’ve never fallen for one, the sheer audacity of the sender, who makes a lame and shameless attempt to steal my login and/or bank details (often using the name of a bank I’ve never dealt with in my life) really infuriates me.

There seems to be one going around at the moment that claims to be from Apple targeting iCloud customers. Unlike traditional spam emails, however, this one won’t attempt to steal your login details when you click on its link. Instead, it wants to sell you flowers.

Sharp has been hard at work on a new display technology known as IGZO which looks set to be a perfect solution for mobile devices. Not only does it offer higher touch sensitivity, but it’s so energy efficient it can triple the battery life of devices. We’ve been expecting Apple to use IGZO displays for some time, but reports have suggested that Sharp simply cannot make them quick enough to meet the demand of Apple’s consumers. However, it seems that’s all changed.

Just hours ahead of Apple’s iPad mini event in San Jose, Sharp has announced that it soon expects sales of its IGZO displays to surge.

While most of Apple’s stock iOS apps are pretty handy, there are a few that the large majority of us probably never open. I’m talking about apps like Stocks, Voice Memos, and Weather (which always seems to be inaccurate in the U.K.). Unfortunately, the Cupertino company doesn’t allow us to remove these, so the only way to do it was to jailbreak. Until now.

Thanks to a nifty new web app, you can temporarily remove stock iOS icons from your device without jailbreaking. Here’s how.

Stainless Games brought the 1997 classic that is Carmageddon to the App Store last week, but its launch was marred by a nasty save game bug that was capable of wiping all the progress you had made in the game.

Thankfully, the company has now issued an update that fixes the problem.

When Apple holds a press event to announce its latest gadget, the vast majority of us are frantically refreshing our favorite websites in an effort to keep up with the news as it’s breaking. It’s not often we get to watch the event live.

But sometimes, Apple treats us to a live video feed. And it’s doing that today for the much-anticipated iPad mini event.

While it introduced a stack of great new features, iOS 6 also brought a few bugs to our iOS devices this summer. Users have reported problems with Wi-Fi, iPhone 5 display glitches, and more. But Apple could be preparing to fix those before it starts its holiday celebrations.

According to one report, the Cupertino company is currently testing iOS 6.0.1 for a release within the coming weeks, while iOS 6.1 will arrive after the holidays.

Two iPhone users claim Apple has violated the Sherman Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by locking their handsets to the AT&T network without their permission. They’re now suing the Cupertino company in an effort to get their iPhones unlocked, and for monetary damages. They also want a restraining order that will prevent Apple from locking its smartphone to carriers completely.

When Apple unveiled the third-generation iPad earlier this year, it reduced the price of the iPad 2 to just $399 in an effort to provide fans with a more affordable option, and to stave off the competition from cheaper Android slates as much as it could. But with the iPad mini set to make its debut tomorrow, will there still be a need for the iPad 2?

One analyst thinks not.

Apple’s iOS lock screen has remained largely unchanged for the last five years. That’s probably because it serves its purpose pretty well, but sometimes it’s nice to try something different. Thanks to Pinch to Unlock, a new tweak for jailbroken iPhones, you can do just that. Rather than sliding to unlock your device, you just pinch.

Borderlands, Gearbox Software’s awesome first-person shooter series, is set to make its debut on iOS this month. Revealed in a advert within a Borderlands 2 digital strategy guide, the game will be called Borderlands Legends and it’ll allow you to play one of four original Borderlands heroes for the first time on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

A wonderful new news app from Reuters kicks off this week’s must-have apps list, providing you with an “unprecedented photography experience” that allows you to immerse yourself in the biggest news stories from around the world. Also included in the roundup is a terrific app for making mobile websites from your iPhone, a new weather app, and more.

Kicking off this week’s must-have iOS app is the 1997 violent driving sensation that is Carmageddon. It finally makes its debut on iOS, and it’s an exact port of the original. It’s accompanied by Sonic Jump, Sega’s latest release; Mikey Shorts Halloween, and True Skate.

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The iPhone 5 has been a sell-out since it went on sale on September 21, and it’s still incredibly difficult to get hold of in some markets even a month later. With five million units sold, it’s the fastest-selling iPhone to date, so it’s no surprise one analyst is predicting that iPhone sales could be even better than originally expected.

Microsoft claims its new Surface RT tablet, which begins shipping later this month, has a display that’s superior to the Retina display in the third-generation iPad. But according to DisplayMate CEO Dr. Raymond M. Soneira, that may not be the case. After some basic comparisons, Soneira found the Surface tablet’s display is “significantly less sharp” than the new iPad’s.

Apple has begun work on the first phase of its Prineville data center, which will include clearing and flattening the land for one of two 330,000 square-foot buildings. Each building is said to be more than twice the size of a typical Costco store, and this initial phase of construction alone is expected to cost Apple $68 million.

Earlier this week, Stainless Games brought the 1997 reckless driving sensation that is Carmageddon to iOS, and I haven’t been able to put it down since — it’s as good today as it was 15 years ago on the Dreamcast. However, it does have one issue holding it back: a save game bug that could wipe all your progress.

Here’s a nifty little tweak that’ll help you write new emails a little quicker: It’s called SpotMail, and it lets you create new emails from directly within Spotlight on your jailbreak iOS device. All you have to do is type in the recipient’s email address and hit search.

Apple’s App Store review policy has received a lot of criticism in the past. Often times it rejects apps for a good reason, like if they contain nudity or they’re offensive. But on the odd occasion, its decision to reject a certain app leaves us puzzled. Here’s a good example of that.

Nuskha Labs recently submitted its new app to the App Store. Called Steve Jobs Timeline, it documents the life story of Apple’s co-founder, and includes famous quotes and images. It sports a nice, creative user interface; it’s not offensive, and it doesn’t break Apple’s App Store terms. But the Cupertino company rejected it anyway.

Verizon announced its financial results for the third-quarter of 2012 today, and it has some impressive figures when it comes to the iPhone. The carrier sold more than 3.1 million iPhones in total during the three-month period, which is around 400,000 more then it sold during the second quarter. 21% of those were the new iPhone 5, according to Verizon, which translates to around 650,000 sales in less than a month.

EA’s free Theme Park game for iOS broke down yesterday, and gamers were unable to access the parks they’d spent time building. The company managed to get everything working again, but once the game was back online, users found that all of their progress had been wiped.

The parks they’d build, the achievements they’d earned, and worse, the items they’d bought using in-app purchases were gone.

Apple’s upcoming iPad mini is set to shake up the tablet industry for a second time later this month. Its 9.7-inch tablet is the king of premium slates, and the smaller model is expected to dominate the entry-level market. But it won’t just cost rivals like Amazon and Google — it’ll cost Apple, too. You see, for every five iPad minis sold, the Cupertino company is expected to lose one 9.7-inch iPad sale.