In the weeks leading up to Apple’s rumored September 12th media event we’ve seen real-looking and not-so-real-looking leaks of the next iPhone. Rumors say that the sixth-gen iPhone (commonly referred to as the “iPhone 5” for clarity’s sake) will be taller and thinner than its predecessor. The device is expected to boast a 4-inch display, 4G LTE, and a redesigned form factor.
A new video has surfaced alongside a series of images comparing the current iPhone 4S front panel with the iPhone 5’s larger front panel.
As the NFL pre-season gets started, check out the official iPhone/iPad apps and iTunes content.
As the NFL pre-season kicks off, the league has begun reminding fans about the various online programming and mobile apps that it offers. While we still have a month before the season starts, August is the time to check in with how your favorite teams are shaping up for the new season. It’s also the time to begin researching your fantasy football draft options – if you haven’t already.
For the preseason and fantasy prep time, the NFL is offering a mobile apps – many of which will be familiar to fans with iPhones and iPads. We’ll be taking a look at the various official and third-party fantasy tools for Mac and iOS users as the pre-season rolls on, but here’s a quick look at the official options from the NFL.
A Japanese repair house posted photos of what looked like the iPhone 5, and we were all sold. They looked like what the rumor mill predicted, and they had just the right amount of realness to send the internet into a tizzy. Now, Neowin has pictures from an anonymous source in Bangkok, Thailand of what could be the next iPhone. Maybe. Possibly.
You know that feeling you get when you see an iPhone accessory that’s so ridiculous you feel like you have to have it? Behold the Philips FWP3200D 300W Mini Hi-Fi System (say that 10 times fast). This giant jambox wants to make you the ultimate party rocker, but only if you’ve got £299.99 ($470) to drop. With a pair of 2-inch tweeters and 5.25-inch woofer, the “Party Machine” features a dual iPhone and iPod dock made to look like two classic turntables. Plug your iPhones in, and they will literally spin around as the beats blast.
See that big building right there? It’s part of Apple’s huge new data center over in North Carolina that powers all the iCloud magic that makes your iOS experience possible. Apple’s data center compound is massive. It comes with a 500,000 square foot data center, a 100-acre solar farm, a 4.8-megawatt fuel cell array, and a few other little buildings sprinkled all over.
The little 21,000 square foot building in the picture above is what Apple’s calling a “tactical data center.” No one knows just what it’s supposed to be, and of course Apple’s not going to tell anyone. So Wired jumped in their spy plane to get a closer look, and this is what they found out:
It’s hard to overstate my love of the Paparazzo light, despite the fact that I have never touched or even seen one outside of the photos on its Kickstarter page. Maybe it's the idea I like so much: it's an old-style flashgun which pumps out a ridiculous 300 lumens of subject-petrifying light whilst making you look like and old-school newspaperman.
Yes, this was taken with an iPhone. Photo Dan Chung
The idea that you need a fancy camera and a bag of lenses to take good photos is utter crap. It’s a myth beloved of camera makers, and lapped up by amateur snappers who think that a Leica M9 or a Nikon D700 will somehow improve their tawdry, insipid holiday snaps.
Don’t agree? Here’s exhibit A: Photographer Dan Chung is covering the Olympics for the Guardian with an iPhone 4S, a pair of binoculars (used as a telephoto lens) and the iOS app Snapseed, and his photos are – too put it plainly – better than yours and mine.
This is the Franc, a clever, minimal iPhone wallet which the maker Chris Anderson (no, not that Chris Anderson) inexplicably pronounces as “fronk,” in some crazy attempt at a French accent I guess.
Despite this oral boo-boo, the Fronk itself appears to be a rather desirable Kickstarter project.
More juicy tidbits keep surfacing in the Apple vs. Samsung patent trial. We’ve already seen dozens and dozens of early iPhone and iPad prototypes, and we all learned that Apple literally designs products around a kitchen table. A new finding reveals that Apple had “strong interest” in curved glass for the original iPhone, but the idea was shelved because it would have costed too much to make at the time.
O2 executive James Le Brocq points out what an iWallet needs in order to be a success.
Apple may be the only major company operating the mobile space that hasn’t announced a partnership or trial related to delivering mobile payments and creating an iWallet. While it seems a forgone conclusion that Apple will eventually enter the mobile payment market, a recent statement by James Le Brocq, managing director at O2 Money (a division of the U.K. mobile carrier O2) illustrates why Apple hasn’t yet entered the that market and why that’s a good move for Apple: consumers aren’t that interested in mobile payments.
According to a new report this morning, Sharp will begin shipping larger 4-inch iPhone displays throughout Apple’s supply chain this month as production for the September launch ramps up. Production of the iPad mini’s smaller display is also expected to begin in August leading up to Apple’s event in September.
No doubt some of you will spring for these simply after hearing the name; but Fanny Wang is hoping their new bud-style Wang Buds earphones will conquer a territory they feel noone really owns yet: The earphone middle ground between the comfort, safety and simplicity of the iconic Apple buds, and the sound reproduction generally achieved by in-ear monitors — think really, really good Apple buds.
You can keep unlimited data on Verizon, but there's a catch.
A report this morning claimed that AT&T employees were being instructed to push Windows Phone and Android smartphones over iPhones to customers. Not only that, but the report claimed that employees are being forbidden from buying an iPhone as a company-owned device. AT&T later released an official statement in a poor attempt to clear the air, saying “The idea that we would steer any customer away from a particular device couldn’t be more farfetched.”
Several readers have since shared their experiences of AT&T reps pushing Android phones over the iPhone, with one even noting that a buddy who works at AT&T gets more commission on Android smartphone sales.
According to a new testimony, it appears that Verizon may be also instructing/incentivising its reps to push other smartphones over Apple’s iPhone.
It’s August, which means two things. One, there’s no news to report on, which means that most of a gadget blogger’s workday is taken up with siestas and refreshing beverages. And two, it’s vacation time! That’s right: The whole northern hemisphere likes to take a break at exactly the same time, all the better to enjoy congested roads, overpriced plane tickets and overcrowded hotels.
To ease your pain, we’ve put together a list of the best travel gadgets. You may not enjoy spending a hot and stuffy month with your in-laws, but at least your tech won’t let you down.
Here’s an obvious yet often overlooked tip – something that I’ve personally looked at every time I use the Messages app on my iPhone, but never really “connected” with.
I’ve often needed to send along a specific text message, to a boss or co-worker, or even to a family member. I’ve often copied an individual message, then pasted it into a message of my own to the new person.
Starting in iOS 5 iOS 4, though, there’s an easier way – forwarding it. Here’s how.
With new iOS and Android apps, ownCloud becomes a serious business cloud option.
We’ve taken a couple of looks at ownCloud over the past few months. The company launched its signature cloud server software in April and issued a major update about a month ago. Today, ownCloud announced its iOS and Android apps, making the product a serious option for many businesses that need to develop a secure internal cloud strategy.
If there were ever a medal for Most Staggering Misnomer, the iPhone would find itself in serious contention for gold; the little glass slab is so stuffed with useful functions it makes the “phone” element of its name ridiculously misleading. Consider the action-packed roles my iPhone has filled over the years: Bicycle computer; running partner; navigator; wilderness scout; survival guide; weather advisor; and visual story-telling tool, not to mention being able to score all these adventures to music. And yeah, it makes calls too.
The iPhone is the most indispensible piece of hardware since man discovered sharp rocks. Problem is, the iPhone is also a fragile weakling, easily damaged by sharp rocks, gravity or water — things that exist in copious amounts around precisely the places you’d want to use the iPhone to adventure with.
The people at LifeProof, however, have recognized this paradox, and they think they have a solution. They’ve come up with a quiver of clever, well-designed, mission-specific exoskeletons that work as a seamless, modular system, all designed around the core armor: a lithe, shock-resistant, fully sealed (yes, waterproof) iPhone 4/s case. And for the most part, it works brilliantly.
When AT&T reported last month that their iPhone activations only grew by 3% compared to the last quarter, a few analysts were scratching their heads at first but decided people probably weren’t buying as many new iPhones because of iPhone 5 rumors.
But what if there was a more sinister hand at play in the slumping iPhone sales? According to a new report, that’s exactly what’s happening as AT&T Regional Retail Sales Managers have instructed store managers to stop trying to sell the iPhone.
Traveling for business? Don't forget to pack an expense tracker app.
Traveling for business is a lot different from taking a vacation. While you may get to experience far off cities, meet new people, and have some genuine fun on a business trip, you’ll also need to work, worry about delays that could make you miss critical meetings, ensure you leave your hotel room looking your most presentable, and keep track of every expense related to the trip.
Of those stress factors, tracking expenses so that you can submit them for reimbursement or explain charges you make to a company credit card may not seem the most stressful. The majority of the time it isn’t (unless you lose some big-ticket receipts or have unusual charges to justify). It is, however, often tedious drudgery that is prone to human error and mistakes.
There are many iOS expense tracking apps out there and there are some very good reasons to invest in one of them.
The new Digg site features more editorial content, and an updated iPhone app.
Betaworks purchased Digg, the social news aggregator, earlier this month. In that short span of time, the purchasing company has rebuilt Digg from the ground up to include editorial content instead of user-promoted news stories as well as better performance across the site.
In addition, a new iPhone app launched right alongside the revamped web site, giving iPhone users a new app-based interface for the site content. Betaworks promises more features to come soon, including personalization, commenting features, more accessible data, and some API development — all great stuff that promises Digg may not be as dead as some have claimed.
Seven simple rules about push notifications help craft killer iPhone/iPad marketing campaigns.
Over the past few months, a number of different studies have shown the iPad (and to a lesser extent the iPhone) is a near-perfect advertising vehicle that enourages ad click-throughs, user engagement, and purchase decisions in ways that generally aren’t seen with other technologies.
A truly well-crafted marketing campaign aimed at iPad and iPhone users in, however, is more than just a series of ads. Instead it’s a series of interactions that build a relation with mobile customers. According to the marketing gurus at MarketingProfs, one key to building those relationships is using push notifications – and using them in the right ways.
This thing is absolutely insane. That’s all we can think of when watching the video of this huge mech suit built by Suidobashi Heavy Industries. Not only is it gigantic, but it’s fully functional, with robotic arms, BB gatling guns, water bottle launchers, and a kick-ass cockpit that looks like something out of your favorite video game.
The Kuratas, is a 13-foot, 4.4-ton metal mech suit. The best part is that you can completely control it with your iPhone or jump in the cockpit and run around town terrorizing dogs, cats, and little old ladies. The only catch is that it costs a whopping $1.35million, so most of us will only be able to dream about it. But if you have a few extra mill to spare, Suidobashi made this handy operation instructions video about the Kuratas –
At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, the only thing I was hunting down more than free drinks and after-parties, was power outlets. Yes sir, I love my purdy white iPhone 4S, but on days of heavy use, I find I need to charge it two times or more before the day is through.
The Dual USB Power Bank from Verbatim (about $65), provides a a massive amount of portable power that should keep anyone from outlet-hunting in the inky-shadows of Vegas convention halls. But the question is, how does it perform while charging two connected devices or the power-hungry new iPad?
Every time Apple holds a keynote or earning call they love to brag about how many apps are available in the App Store. Right now Apple’s boasting that there are 500,000 apps for the iPhone, which you know, sounds really freaking amazing when you’re thinking about buying and iPhone. Think of all the cool stuff you could with 500,000 different apps.
Yes, the App Store is awesome and it’s packed with some truly solid apps, but the truth is that most of the 500,000 apps that Apple brags about don’t ever get noticed. In fact, a recent analysis revealed that two-thirds of all apps in the App Store are “zombies,” meaning they never get downloaded, are invisible to users, and have no ranking.
Apple is one of the world’s only companies that isn’t content to push out a great product with a few flaws. They want everything to be perfect. It’s one of their biggest strengths, but it also prevents a lot of neat products and ideas from reaching production. It turns out that the iPhone was no different during its inception, and even after all the cool prototyping and public demand for a great smartphone, Apple nearly axed the iPhone before it was launched.
Apple’s chief designer, Jony Ive, stated in a recent interview that small design flaws with the iPhone nearly caused it to get shelved, because even though the iPhone was good, it wasn’t excellent until they figured out how to fix some fundamental problems, like the proximity sensor.
