Apple has asked the International Trade Commission to postpone an import ban on the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2 while a court considers its appeal. The ban is set to go into affect on August 5 — just under four weeks away — but Apple has argued that it will “sweep away an entire segment of Apple’s product offerings” and harm iPhone carrier partners.
I might be a lapsed Englishman, but there’s something that can never be bred out of me wherever I dwell: my love of a nice cup of tea. Unfortunately, even the Brits are getting lax when it comes to brewing God’s favorite beverage [1], relying on teabags instead of loose leaves and even (the horror!) letting the water sit off the boil for whole minutes before pouring it into the pot (I have seen my own brother do this).
It’s enough to get George Orwell turning in his memory hole.
Luckily, there’s an app for that.
Google has rolled out a major Google Maps update for Android smartphones and tablets, which is also “coming soon” to iPhone and iPad. It introduces a new design that finally boasts a dedicated user interface for tablets, as well as enhanced navigation and new features.
PopCap’s highly anticipated sequel to mega-hit Plants vs Zombies has hit some rough patches lately as the launch date has been pushed back to later this summer. But if you can’t wait a second longer we have good news – you can download the new game right now.
Rather than unleashing Plants vs Zombies 2 on the world all at once, PopCap has decided to do a soft-launch in Australia and New Zealand today to test things out. Which is a bummer for iOS users in the U.S. except it’s really easy to get the new game anyway.
To download the app you’ll have to create an Apple ID for the New Zealand or Australian App Store. Normally, iTunes requires new users to provide a credit card from that country to verify you actually live there, but there’s a workaround.
Being able to find a great restaurant in any city from your iPhone is pretty great and all that, but when you’re starving, the only thing that matters is injecting that food straight into your digestive system as soon as possible.
Rather than drooling on your way to a restaurant you found on Yelp, you can now order your meal straight from the app. Restaurants supporting the feature will have an “Order Pickup or Delivery” button on their Yelp page where you can binge on all the burritos, pizza, bonbons and kabobs you want.
Support for the new feature is limited to select locations, but Yelp says it will be rolling out to more locations in the coming weeks. The free update is available now in the App Store.
Source: iTunes
Using your iPhone while driving is a huge no-no unless you want to die in a fiery crash of metal and flesh. Rather than putting all of its hopes behind Siri though, Apple has dreams of replacing all of your dashboard controls with a touchscreen interface.
According the the U.S. patent filing No. 8,482,535, Apple has developed a concept that would replace the analog controls of car dashboard with tactile and touch screen controls so you can keep your eyes on the road while adjusting temperature or changing the radio station.
Here’s how Apple described its dashboard to the USPTO:
We already know that companies can track our location in real-time through a smartphone’s GPS and serve deals or ads relevant to your location, but what if your iPhone could predict where you’re going to go in 24 hours?
A group of researchers have created an algorithm that uses location tracking data on people’s phones to predict where they will be 24 hours from the present. Shockingly, the average error is within a mere 20 meters.
The Pandora app for iOS has today been updated with a number of new features that promise to make your listening experience all the more pleasurable. In addition to improved playback buffering, there’s a new automatic pause feature, Pandora URL support, and more.
Diamond Scale is what looks like a kind of fake novelty app which purports to turn you iDevice into a scale. The best thing is to just describe it to you.
Do you snap pictures for your blog using your iPhone, and then do the actual blog writing on your Mac? Or some other combination of devices? Then PUPS is for you. It’s a new iPhone app from the makers of crash-happy blogging app Blogsy, and it has one purpose – to upload pictures from your iDevice to your blog’s media library.
Garmin has just announced a neat new HUD box that takes the map info from your iPhone and projects it up onto your car windshield. Named after the Paul Newman character in the movie of the same name[1], the HUD is designed to work with Garmin’s Navigon and Street Pilot apps, connecting to the host phone via Bluetooth.
By now you’ve probably caught wind of the short list of great apps that’ve gone free in celebration of the App Store’s fifth anniversary (if you haven’t grabbed these apps yet, take a look now before all the free ends).
Missing from that list of free apps is Localscope, a fantastic navigation and discovery tool that Apple called the best navigation app of 2011.
Apple released the third beta of iOS 7 to developers this morning, and even though it doesn’t come with any big new features, the new update has plenty of small fixes and encouraging UI refinements.
Here are six GIFS of the biggest UI tweaks Apple made in the new beta:
The ability to jump into iTunes and download practically any major motion picture ever created is just one of the many reasons why the iPhone and iPad have become so successful, but a Florida lawyer claims Apple’s HD video rentals are actually a scam.
According to a class action lawsuit filed this June by Scott Weiselberg at the San Francisco federal court, Apple may have violated consumer production laws and deceived customers into paying $1 more for HD videos by serving up HD versions of iTunes video rentals on iOS devices that don’t support HD video.
Twitter is continuing to refine its Mac and iOS apps with a new update that brings direct message notification syncing and a host of other features. Now when you view a DM on your iPhone, Mac, iPad or Android or Twitter.com, all other devices with your account info will be updated to show that you’ve read the message.
The new Twitter update for iPhone and iPad also features a new reply composer to make it even easier to join conversations on Twitter. There’s also a new “People” button to help users find new accounts to follow and a ton of bug fixes.
Here are the full release notes:
There’s nothing wrong with the default unlock animation on iOS, but having lived with it for six years, it’s nice to have a change. With LiveWire Pro, a new tweak for jailbroken iPhones, you can choose from seven different unlock animations and quickly switch to another when you fancy a change.
Android has held a pretty sizable lead over the iPhone for a long time now, and in the United States, it would appear there’s little chance of that changing any time soon. But Apple’s smartphone is gaining ground on its rival, and it’s all thanks to T-Mobile.
One of the features that still differentiates various iPhone carriers is the ability to tether your laptop or tablet to your iPhone’s data connection without paying an extra fee. Some carriers let you do this, some don’t… and if you want to avoid tethering charges, your only option is a jailbreak, or find an app that enables the functionality somehow before Apple inevitably pulls it.
Now you have another option. From the same hacker who found ways to improve network performance on AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Moble, as well as hack in HD voice for a few networks, you can now turn on personal hotspot on any carrier… no jailbreak required.
If you believe the rumors, Apple has been working on a cheaper, ‘budget’ iPhone for quite some time. Reports have started picking up momentum in recent months, as Apple is expected to announce the new device by early as this fall.
Just a few days ago we saw some of the first leaked images of the rear casing in a variety of bright colors. Now a collection of photos give us the closest look at the budget iPhone we’ve seen yet.
Have you ever thought about becoming an app developer? If so you’re probably familiar with the following statistic:
“Mobile phone apps are expected to generate $25 billion in worldwide sales in 2013, up 62% from last year.” – Gartner, Inc.
So if you’re serious about learning the finer points of app development, Cult of Mac Deals has an offer right now that will be right up your alley. With this course, you’ll learn how to create fully functioning iOS apps – with no experience required. And you can do it for only $49.99.
Here’s what you’ll get with this course:
Whenever you’re able to load up your Mac with a slew of useful apps, it’s something you should take advantage of – and this Cult of Mac Deals offer is no exception.
Right now you can get $517 worth of Mac apps for just $29.99 with The iStack Mac Bundle 3.0. That’s 9 powerful Mac apps to add to your digital toolbox for a fraction of what it would cost to be them on their own.
iOS 6 gave us the Compass, which, honestly, I’ve never really used that much.
The new iOS 7 beta, however, has given me some functionality I’m much more likely to need and use. Heck, I even have a third-party app to make sure my handyman projects around the house aren’t crooked.
I’m talking about a level, and there’s a new one built right into iOS 7 beta, within the Compass app on the iPhone. I haven’t found a comparable app on my iPad running iOS 7 beta, but maybe in the future?
Either way, here’s how to find and use the compass and level app.
Have you been looking for unbridled file transfer between any computer and your iOS devices, without the authorization limits imposed by iTunes? Want to be able to do it anywhere and anytime? Now you can…with DiskAid.
DiskAid is iPhone file transfer software for PC and Mac, giving you access to the iOS file system via USB connection or wi-fi. And Cult of Mac Deals has it for just $10 – a savings of 66% – but only for a limited time.
Samsung has produced a new Galaxy S4 commercial for Iceland, and it’s possibly one of its weirdest smartphone adverts yet. It features some really strange dancing from a bunch of unconvincing ninjas, and a less than subtle dig at Apple using real apples.
There’s nothing worse than having a cable that is too short to be very useful. The 3 foot stock iPhone 5 would be a classic example of such a a cable. This Cult of Mac Deals offer gives you the chance to get a cable that will go a long way to solving that problem.
This lightning fast 10 foot USB 2.0 cable will keep your iDevice charged, updated, and ready for use – and without you having to worry about whether it will reach where you’re at. For a limited time, Cult of Mac Deals has it for just $13.99 – plus free global shipping!