Top stories - page 820

Apple is gearing up to launch its fifth-generation iPad this September, according to sources in its supply chain. The device is expected to offer a new form factor much like the iPad mini’s, as well as some backlighting modifications and better battery life.

We may have to wait a little longer for the second-generation iPad mini, however. The sources claim Apple is still deciding whether to bring a Retina display to the 7.85-inch device, and if it does, the launch could be delayed until “the end of the fourth quarter.”

As the App Store’s fifth anniversary approaches, a whole host of developers have begun makes some of their most popular apps and games for iOS completely free. Some of the titles included in the sale are Infinity Blade II, Disney’s Where’s My Water?, and Traktor DJ, which is usually priced at $20.

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.

In the ongoing smartphone culture wars, Samsung spent a reported $5 million engaging the latest song stylings of Jay-Z as an exclusive for Galaxy owners.

Owners of that phone contended for a million copies of the impressively-titled album “Magna Carta Holy Grail”  launched July 4 in a special app, three days before the rest of us can get it in iTunes. Media saw the promotion as a tactical move by Samsung to gain position on the music front over Apple.

The cachet lasted about as long as a cheap sparkler: there are thousands of torrents of the album available.

As one of the guys who decided to spread the work of Beyoncé’s husband up for everyone put it: “I should clarify it was available to the first million (I think…) Samsung Galaxy owners to chime in with an app for the album. My wife got it but I’m not rocking a Samsung :/”

Apple is on a quest to register the “iWatch” trademark worldwide ahead of its rumored smartwatch launch later this year, with filings already made in Japan, Taiwan, and Mexico. But the Cupertino company will hit a snag in the United States and the United Kingdom, where the iWatch name is already spoken for.

Twitter’s Vine app was at the top of the mini-video sharing game until Instagram came along and crushed it by allowing users to upload 15-second video clips. With Instagram’s massive user base, you would think that Vine doesn’t have a fighting chance.

In the biggest update the iPhone app has seen yet, Vine has proven otherwise.

Andrew “Weev” Auernheimer, one of the hackers responsible for exploiting a security flaw in AT&T’s website to steal over 110,000 email addresses from iPad subscribers, has appealed the 41-month sentence that was handed to him back in March.

Auernheimer still maintains he did not violate any laws when he accessed AT&T’s servers, and notes that all of the information he obtained was already available to the public on the Internet.

Suing Apple for patent infringement is so de rigeur right now that even colleges are getting in on the action: Boston University has just sued Apple for infringing upon one of their 1997 patents.

Every time you turn on your MacBook, iPhone or iPad, an invisible force field starts pulsing out from it, made up entirely of complex patterns of magnetic and electric fields.

These fields can be visualized. And as it turns out, they make really cool looking light paintings.

Apple is close to securing a deal that will bring Time Warner Cable subscribers access to their cable television service through the Apple TV, according to sources with knowledge of the company’s plans, who have been speaking to Bloomberg.

The two companies are expected to announce the deal “within a few months.”

We already have a pretty good idea of what Apple’s rumored low-cost iPhone will look like, thanks to a number of images which purportedly show the handset’s plastic rear casings on the production line. And today yet more have surfaced, this time showing off potential blue and white models.

July 1st has come and gone, and Google Reader is dead. The beloved RSS aggregator has been an invaluable tool for legions of news junkies throughout the years, but it wasn’t popular enough for Google to keep it running.

You can look at Google Reader’s death two ways: as either a misfortune, or an opportunity.

In the wake of Reader’s demise, numerous RSS platforms have sprung up, and many of them have built upon what made Reader great. Enter Feedly.

Apple is starting to give more attention to the Apple TV, as the recent additions of content like HBO Go and WatchESPN prove. Negotiations to stream cable content via the Apple TV have been underway, and Apple is almost ready to close a deal with Time Warner Cable. Former Hulu executive Pete Distad has also been hired by Apple to handle negotiations with content companies for the Apple TV, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

Apple has today kicked off its annual Back to School promotion through the Apple online store. As it did in 2012, the Cupertino company is offering a $100 App Store gift card with every new Mac, or a $50 card with a new iPad.

This year’s promotion also includes the iPhone, which now comes with a $50 gift card, too.

Apple is in the middle of negotiations to launch an iPhone 5S with LTE-Advanced technology on SK Telecom, according to an unnamed executive for the Korean carrier. The news comes just days after Samsung announced a new Galaxy S4 variant with LTE-Advanced, which is an upgraded version of LTE that promises faster data speeds.

French antitrust watchdog Autorite de la Concurrence raided Apple offices, wholesalers, and retail stores in France last week as part of an investigation into claims that the Cupertino company carries out anti-competitive practices against third-party retailers by offering consumers better deals through its own stores.

Can it be jailbroken? That’s the first question a large number of iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users ask when Apple releases a new iOS update — particularly when it’s a release as big as iOS 7. Apple attempts to block all the vulnerabilities that make jailbreaking possible with iOS updates, so there’s always a concern that the next will kill jailbreaking once and for all.

Thankfully, it doesn’t look like that will be the case with iOS 7, which has already been jailbroken.

Apple has applied for the “iWatch” trademark in Japan following months of speculation that has claimed the company will launch its first smartwatch later this year. According to the June 3 filing with the Japan Patent Office, which was spotted by Bloomberg, the iWatch name will cover products including “a handheld computer or watch device.”

It’s looking very likely that the so-called “budget” iPhone will be announced in September. In reality, it will be less budget than mid-range, costing about $350 before contract subsidations. Even so, that should be enough for carriers to sell for $0 with a two-year contract, strengthening Apple’s presence in the market.

We’ve heard before that the budget iPhone would come in an iPod-style assortment of colors, and now new pictures purport to show exactly what the rear shell of the budget iPhone will look like.

I’ve been exploring for months what the ultimate mobile setup would be — my laptop, tablet, phone and other mobile devices — and now I’m starting to put it together.

There’s no way around it: The Apple, Android and Windows fanboys are all going to hate my conclusions and barbeque my decisions.

Why? Because you’re expected to take sides, for some reason. You’re supposed to be an Apple fanboy and get all your stuff from Apple. Or you’re supposed to be an Apple hater, and denounce everything that the company does.

Objectivity and reason get buried under the vitriol.

I’m not out to help Apple or Google. I’m out to help myself, and get the best mobile experience I possibly can.

My conclusion is that as of right now, no one company can provide the best overall mobile experience by itself anymore — not even Apple. And neither can Google, Samsung or any other company.

So let’s start with the opinions, conclusions and decisions that are going to make the haters hate. 

A new shot published by Letemsvetemapplem — which has a credible history with Apple leaks in the past — suggests that Apple might make a major change to the home button in iPhone 5S, replacing the icon that exists there now with a big, glowing Apple symbol.

One of iOS 7’s signature new effects is parallax tilt shifting, which gives the operating system a 3D effect. But how does it work?

Apple is expected to seed its third iOS 7 beta to carriers and registered developers on Monday, July 8, according to “trusted sources” familiar with its plans. If the date is accurate, it suggests the Cupertino company is planning to release iOS 7 betas in two-week intervals.

Often times when you install a new piece of software on your Mac, you’re presented with a lengthy end user license agreement that you must agree to before you can use the application. You’re supposed to read it, but none of us ever do because they’re incredibly boring and long-winded.

But the iTunes end user license agreement gets particularly interesting towards the end, where it stipulates that you must agree not to design and develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.

Seriously.

Google made a big splash into wearable tech with Glass and even though they haven’t sold a single unit in stores yet, Google already has its sights on making a smartwatch – similar Apple’s rumored iWatch – and a videogame console powered by its Android operating system.

The Wall Street Journal reported this afternoon that Google is developing the products on its own in an effort to combat the rumored iWatch and the possibility of an updated Apple TV that could support third-party apps.