iPhone - page 164

The war between iPhone and Android will wage on for years to come, but in this week’s Friday Night Fight, we’re not going to be bickering about which is best. At least not in terms of design, features, flexibility — and the other things normally discussed during a platform war.

Instead, we’re battling it out over the supposed class divide — the notion that the wealthy only buy iPhones, and the poor only buy Android because they can’t afford that Apple logo. It’s going to be a fun one!

So, join us below for one of our hottest Friday Night Fights yet, and be sure to weigh in at the end!

Harvard classmates Lei Guo and Oliver Hayen created what could have been just another messaging app. They knew they had something unique, as every app development team claims, so they put it in the hands of 2,000 people and hit launch.

Within 30 days, their app SOMA Messenger had 10 million users and has been growing since. They’d love to brag about who is using it, except they can’t because of security measures built into the app that prevents even them from knowing SOMA’s users.

The iPhone can do a lot of things, but work as a functional piece of furniture? Yes, as one design studio proved when it created a tiny lampshade that clips to the iPhone.

Activate the flashlight app and behold, a nightstand reading light.

Lens attachments for your iPhone can bring a fresh point of view to your photos but there are drawbacks. Some force you to remove the phone’s protective case to properly fit the lens. Others require a sticky mounting plate.

The mount for the Iris lenses by Photojojo looks like a little girl’s ponytail holder with a silicon housing holding one of three pop-in lenses that is attached to an elastic cord stretching and securing snuggly to diagonal corners of your iPhone or Samsung Galaxy.

Apple’s always on the lookout for ways to improve the resiliency of its devices. For this reason, the U.S. Patent and Trademarks Office today published a new patent application from the company — calling for retractable drop-proof bumpers to be built into future iPhone housing, capable of doubling as a flotation device in case your handset accidentally lands in water.

Apple Pay has finally made its way to iPhone and Apple Watch users in the Land Down Under, but only if they’re using American Express.

One day after the mobile payments service launched in Canada, Apple has flipped the switch for Apple Pay in Australia, allowing iOS device owners to make payments at any retailer that accepts Amex contactless payments.

Here are some of the stores participating in the launch:

Samsung is already fighting Apple Pay head on in the U.S., and now the South Korean company wants to beat it to new markets. A new report claims Samsung Pay will make its way to China, Spain, and the U.K. next year — only one of which is already supported by Apple Pay.

Ever wanted to see a chart depicting Apple’s perilous decline from the moment Tim Cook took over as CEO until now? Well, you’ll just have to keep on looking, because this particular infographic shows nothing of the sort.

Instead, this spectacular infographic visualizes the year-on-year growth of Apple’s iPhone business, from a “puny” 1.36 million units in 2007 to a whopping 231.22 million this year. Check it out below.

My iPhone 6 Plus is a battery hog. I routinely get around 12 hours off of one full charge. I carry around external battery packs to make sure I’m not short when it matters.

I’d do pretty much anything to increase the amount of battery I have left at the end of the day, including the following fairly extreme trick.

Your iPhone can now distinguish between a light tap and a hard press thanks to 3D Touch, but the geniuses at a Carnegie Mellon University spinoff called Qeexo have found a way to one-up the iPhone 6s display with some new software that can determine the exact angle of your finger as you tap.

Qeexo’s researchers created ‘FingerAngle’ by using a new algorithm that estimates the direction your finger is pointing along with the angle as it makes contact. FingerAngle also keeps track of the rotation of your finger while it’s making contact.

The new tech could especially useful on small smartwatch touchscreens where pinching and pulling on the display isn’t really practical. Best of all, it doesn’t require any extra hardware and could implemented on Android and iOS with a software update.

Check out the full demo:

A good iPhone case protects your handset from the blunt force of a fall. Then there’s the case that protects the force of your blunts.

The iHit is a case for the iPhone 6 and 6s with a slide out odor-free compartment that can stash up to five pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes. It is the latest evolution of the iHit case, which started with a case for the iPhone 5 that had a spring-loaded chamber for a single joint.

The iPad Pro’s display is huge. 5.6 million pixels huge.

It’s hard to comprehend just how gigantic a display with ‘78% more display area than the iPad Air 2’ is, so developer Dennis Munsie put it into the perspective by showing that there’s actually more pixels inbetween the iPad Pro’s app icons, than there are on the entire display of the original iPhone.

Check it out:

Watch snobs say the Apple Watch could never be a true collector’s items. But there is one Apple Watch charger guaranteed to be a pricey collectible.

It is saucer-shaped, gold in color and encrusted with 1,000 Swarovski crystals. Act now and you could own one of 10 for $5,000.

Apple may be about to broker a deal with Samsung, which would see the South Korean tech giant exclusively supply Apple with OLED panels.

According to a new report, Samsung is currently expanding its OLED production capacity on the basis that a deal with Apple is “on the fast track.” A source claims that negotiations are progressing rapidly, and that Samsung may end up building a dedicated OLED facility with the sole purpose of supplying to Cupertino.

Apple has been taking steps to make the iPhone more water resistant than it has been previously. However, a newly-published patent application suggests the company may go even further — by using cutting-edge electrode technology to actively expel water that has become trapped in the device, rather than just fighting to keep it out.

Here’s how it could conceivably work.

Are iPhones really more secure than Androids? Google’s platform certainly gets more stick thanks to high-profile vulnerabilities like Stagefright, but according to a new study, Android is still safer and more secure than iOS.

After working with third-party smartphone vendors on the Nexus lineup for years, Google is finally toying with the idea of building its own handset, according to some employees. It’s thought the search giant is keen to have a stab at taking on the iPhone all by itself.

We fit all the music in the world in our pocket; if only we could also carry around a great way to listen to it. Enter the Soundfreaq Pocket Kick Bluetooth Speaker, a pocket-size brick that brings the beat and fits anywhere you can keep your wallet. And you won’t have to empty your wallet to get one, either: Right now you can get a Pocket Kick for just $59.99.

Apple Music for Android has finally arrived on the Google Play Store today after being publicly demoed at WWDC in June.

The new app brings Android users over 30 million songs from the Apple Music catalog, Beats 1 Radio, Playlists, Connect, and more. Apple’s offering users a 3-month trial, just like iOS. Pricing starts at $9.99 for a single plan, but Apple says your’ll need a Mac or iOS to sign-up for a $14.99 family plan.

Apple VP Eddy Cue says the launch is part of Apple’s plan to do things in music for everyone:

What happens when a rose gold iPhone 6s undergoes a bizarre “burnout” stress test beneath the wheels of an Italian Ducati pocket bike? A completely implausible scenario that would never in a million years happen to a handset in the real world, that’s what!

But, hey, if seeing brand new iPhones destroyed in bizarre ways is what gets your engines revving, click below for the oddly-compelling video.

There’s being careful about iPhone security and then there’s…. this.

Over the weekend, Japanese Twitter user yossy1999116 posted a video clip shot on the subway, showing a user with an historically long and complex passcode unlocking their iPhone. If you’ve ever wanted an advert for how Touch ID can improve your life, this is almost certainly it.

TAG Heuer is ready to take on the Apple Watch.

Its first smartwatch, powered by Android Wear and called the Carrera Connected, is set to make its debut later this week, and it will retail for $1,500.

When charging your phone or transferring data between devices, it’s only a matter of time before the soft white plastic of the stock Lightning cable frays and breaks. Given how much we use and rely on our devices, that’s just got to stop, which is why Titan’s MFi-certified Lightning cable is a must-have. It’s built tough enough to outlast us all, so you can take the worry of a busted cable out of your mind by putting one of these in your bag for $27.95.

Titan’s cable is wrapped twice in flexible industrial-grade steel, with its USB and Lightning connectors sealed and protected from fray. The MFi rating means Apple vouches for it to keep your devices safe, and it’s even backed by a limited lifetime warranty. Rough handling and time itself are no match for this Terminator-grade charging cable.

Get a Titan MFi-Certified Lightning Cable for just $27.95 at Cult of Mac Deals.

Runkeeper is one of the first big-name running apps to offer full watchOS 2 support, which means you can log a run on your Apple Watch even if you leave your iPhone behind.

The Apple Watch’s built-in Workout app has always offered this feature, but it is new for third-party apps. I had never tried it before, but Runkeeper got me curious. So I left my iPhone charging at home, put on a pair of Nikes and went out for a run.

The billboards and ads featuring beautiful photographs shot with an iPhone 6 are nearly gone. Apple is now promoting a new iPhone. But that does not mean Apple has forgotten the photographers whose work helped sell phones and treat the world to art in public spaces.

Photographers from the “Shot on iPhone 6” campaign have been getting packages in the mail, a pair of cloth-covered coffee table books featuring their work. The books were apparently a surprise and included a pair of white gloves for handling with care.