The Apple Newton. Failure, or precursor of the iPhone?
Apple’s Newton platform was considered to be ahead of its time, even though Steve Jobs eventually axed the iPhone-like device when he made his return back to Apple. But even though the Newton was futuristic, it could have been even better if Apple had listened to Qualcomm’s advice.
During an interview with Charlie Rose, Qualcomm’s CEO Paul Jacobs said that he tried to convince Apple to put a radio chip in the Newton PDA during the 90s, but was shot down, so he struck up a deal with Palm instead.
Just because you’re blind and can’t see what you’re taking pictures of does not mean you can’t use Instagram. Thanks to the Accessibility features in iOS, Tommy Edison is able to use an iPhone and take pictures through Instagram to give his followers a view of his world, even though he can’t see.
The process is mind blowing and seems incredibly tedious, but it’s awesome that even blind people can connect with people through Instagram. And you know what, Tommy’s photos aren’t all that bad compared to some of my friends’.
Even for a guy like Steve Jobs, you don’t just wake up one day knowing how to build a phone, let alone the iPhone. So when Jobs had questions about the nitty-gritty of mobile phone design back in 2006, he called up AT&T (then Cingular’s) COO, Ralph de la Vega, for help… but in typical Steve fashion, he became angry when Cingular told him his phone needed to have physical keys.
When I was a kid, magnets promised everything and delivered nothing. Wile E. Coyote’s scheme to feed the Road Runner iron filings and trap him with a giant horseshoe magnet mightn’t have work exactly as planned, but the magnet did at least drag any and every metal object in the vicinity into Mr. Coyote’s cave.
These days, magnets are as strong as the cartoons always promised. And they make things like Mesh’s JustMount possible.
The holidays were great for me, but they were probably even better for Apple. Fiscal Q1 is when Apple always has record-breaking sales numbers, and this year will probably be no different.
Apple has announced that they will release their first quarter earning report and call on Wednesday, January 23, 2012 at 2:00pm PT.
Do Not Disturb on. Even when you don't want it to be.
Apple has posted a brand new iPhone 5 ad to YouTube called “Dream.” Featuring tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, it humorously promotes the Do Not Disturb feature that Apple introduced with iOS 6. However, Apple could have picked a better time to publish it. The clip comes a day after iPhones switched over to 2013 and the Do Not Disturb feature stopped working properly.
Apple was on fire in 2012. Along with the incredible iPhone 5, we saw the first retina tablet and the pocketable iPad mini. This was also the year in which Apple let the iPod touch out to play, giving it features on a par with the iPhone 4S instead of using leftover components from Google’s leftover Nexus parts bin.
But not everything from Apple made it into our top ten. The Retina MacBook Pro, despite being an amazing machine, is still a laptop, albeit one with a hi-res screen and no DVD player. And the new iMac’s most interesting contribution to tech is the HDD/SSD Fusion Drive. Sure, it’s skinny, but who really cares about a thin desktop machine? It’s like making the world’s thinnest lawnmower.
Most of the rest of my picks reflect the fact that high-tech consumer electronics are now as utterly mainstream as the iron or the microwave oven. Sure, us nerds still love to play with the latest crap, and there will always be plenty of ill-informed consumers who are suckered into buying cheapo Android tablets, but these days gadgets generally Just Work, and the differences are in the little details.
That’s why we have fitness widgets alongside fancy portable speakers and implausibly good-for-the-price headphones.
So, should you be in the mood to read yet another end-of-year best-of list, carry on.
Looking to design an app that gets the attention of those shopping in the iTunes Store? Today’s Cult of Mac Deals offer consists of a free video tutorial that explains important aspects of design – aspectx that propel apps ahead of the competition.
Apple has always been against the stylus and touch-based devices that require one for input. Its iOS operating system was designed specifically for fingers — not pens, and Steve Jobs once said “if you see a stylus, they blew it.” But that hasn’t stopped the Cupertino company from working on one of its own.
A new patent application published by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office last week shows Apple’s work on an “Active Stylus,” a revolutionary new multifunctional stylus that’s designed to overcome the common problems with existing solutions.
I’m not sure what I like best about this fantastic lobster-shaped iPhone case. It could be that it puts protects your handset by putting it on the back of a creepy crawly crustacean. Or it could be that it is made by the improbably-named Noddy Boffin.
Or, most likely, it could be the name itself, which hearkens back to the days when just tossing a lobster into the mix was enough to earn the coveted “surreal” tag: “Lobster Mobile Telephone Case.” [emphasis added]
Just in the last year, we’ve published over 400 helpful tips and tricks for both iOS and OS X. That’s a lot of learning, and a lot of information for you to go through. We though it might be nice to take a look back through them all and come up with our favorite tips, organized into topical sections for your browsing pleasure, below.
Imagine your delight as a teenage boy who’s just unwrapped a shiny new iPhone for Christmas. It’s probably your first smartphone — maybe even your first cellphone period — and you can’t wait to turn it on and start playing with it. But before you can do that, you must sign an 18-point contract, laid out by your mom, which details the terms and conditions of your iPhone ownership.
That’s what happened to 13-year-old Gregory this Christmas. Before he claimed his new iPhone, his mother, Janell Burley Hofmann, made him agree to a number of “rules and regulations,” some of which you’ll certainly find amusing.
Did Santa forget to bring you an iCade controller for your iPhone this Christmas? Well, don’t feel too downhearted, because you can now pick up ThinkGeek’s iCade Jr. for iPhone and iPod touch for just $9.99. That’s a whopping 80% off its regular $49.99 price tag.
Some carriers don’t appreciate the simplicity of the iPhone and iOS, and they slap big ugly carrier logos in the status bar that just look nasty. I use my iPhone 5 on Vodafone in the U.K., which is guilty of this very thing. Thankfully, there’s finally a way to change your iPhone’s carrier logo without jailbreaking.
Ever wanted to check your email in your car, or while cooking? Running? Eating? Now you can with Talkler, a new app from Talkler Labs LLC. Talkler is out now in the App Store, ready to get you checking and sending email without using your hands or even your eyes.
All you need to do once you’ve installed the app is say, “Hey Talkler,” and you’ll be able to listen to your email, and reply using your voice. You can navigate through all your email with your voice, as well.
Apple and Samsung have been raging a legal war against each other across the globe. While Apple won a $1 billion lawsuit against Samsung in the U.S. earlier this year, the two giants have exchanged blows in Europe as well, but neither side has come out on top yet.
However, a new report claims that Samsung might be facing a serious blow from the European commission that is seeking to impose some huge fines on Samsung for trying to get Apple products banned in Europe.
There were a lot of happy people in the world on Christmas Day. Millions of lucky people received and activated a record number of smartphones and tablets on Christmas Day this year.
According to Flurry, more than 17.4 million iOS and Android devices were activated on Christmas Day, which was a 332% increase above average.
For the last few decades, developers have always flocked to Microsoft’s operating system while Apple’s Mac OS X has been an afterthought. In the post-PC world though the tables have turned.
Apple’s App Store has the highest quality apps for iPhones and iPads while Microsoft has been struggling to get developers to come over and make apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. In an effort to sway the tide of the battle, Microsoft is now trying to woo popular iOS developers over to Microsoft.
I’ve barely met a person or two who love Macs but prefers to run with an Android handset instead of an iPhone. They’re a rare breed, but they’re out there, supposedly. And if you’re a Mac user who has ever been curious about the Google Play store, you’re about to be able to sample the entire buffet thanks to Bluestacks.
This morning Bluestacks announced that the latest version of the Bluestacks mobile app player will support OS X, meaning Mac users will be able to play with almost every Android app available.
My hands shake worse than a crack addict when I take video. I’m too cheap to go buy a tripod, so I just don’t try and take video anymore. There’s a new app that’s ready to cure some of my problems though. It’s called Cycloramatic and it’s the most amazing app you’re going to see today.
Rather than forcing you to buy a tripod to take perfect 360º videos, Cycloramic uses the vibrations of your iPhone 5 to swivel around and get a clean shot every time.
Are you a designer? Do you want to become a designer? Have you ever thought about bringing out the creative in you? Well, Cult of Mac Deals has an incredible offer that’s tailor-made for someone just like you – allowing you to feed your inner design spirit with over 3,000 creative items! That’s right…The Mega Design Bundle is here and is stronger than ever!
In the future you’ll never have to worry about taking blurry pictures whenever you go out on the town and get drunk. No matter how crappy your photography skills are future cameras will have infinite focus just like the Lytro camera that let’s you choose which objects to put in focus after you’ve taken a picture.
According to a new rumor, Toshiba is working hard on a chip that will bring perfectly focused pictures to your smartphone really soon. Their new sensor is a lot like the Lytro, except it’s small enough to fit in an iPhone.
Although New York has traditionally been viewed as crime-ridden since the seediest days of the 1970s, the crime rate has actually been sinking for the last twenty years. No longer, however, and it looks like the desirability of Apple products are indirectly to blame.
Last week we told you about Auxo, an innovative concept for the iPhone app switcher that was brought to life in the form of a jailbreak tweak. Auxo takes the bland iOS multitasking bar to the next level with live app previews, gestures, settings toggles, and more. iPhone jailbreakers on iOS 6 can now install Auxo in Cydia for $1.99.
Unlike Apple’s stock app switcher, Auxo shows you live previews of apps you have running. You can use swipe gestures to close apps or kill all running apps at once. Auxo also comes with an enhanced music player that gives you basic controls and even the ability to view album artwork. Swipe to the far left and there are toggles for various settings, like Wi-Fi and Airplane Mode. If you hate having to go into the Settings app to constantly toggle Wi-Fi or change your screen brightness, then Auxo is a breath of fresh air.
