Category Archives: Apple

iPhone muggings are in the increase but the carriers/networks won’t cooperate

Apple, Tech News,

iPhone crime is a problem. In New York, the crime rate went up for the first time in twenty years because people are getting mugged violently for their iPhones.

Apple has made improvements to iOS, including requiring users to enter their iCloud password to turn “Find my iPhone” off, and the new ‘Activation Lock’ feature which allows users to disable stolen or lost iPhones remotely. However, most thieves circumvent this by simply turning off an iPhone once it is stolen.

Apple wants a cellphone killswitch that would allow you to make your iPhone totally nonfunctional, even if it was turned off. But you the carriers have said no as they are afraid it would effect their bottom lines. Seriously!

Well it turns out the carriers would not be able to sell as many insurance policies if your phone could be rendered useless. Is this world insane? Surely people’s safety should come first.

Breaking news – Apple wins $290 million from Samsung in patent retrial

Android, Apple, Tech News, ,

Samsung will be paying an additional $290 million in damages to Apple. A jury in California on Thursday said that the Korean smartphone manufacturer owed Apple $290 million for infringing upon its intellectual property. Apple had asked for $380 million in damages, so the jury’s reward is a good outcome.

Samsung had said that it should only pay an additional $52 million to Apple, so the jury’s verdict is a success for a Apple. Samsung has already paid $600 million to Apple after a jury found it guilty of patent infringement in 2012, which means that the total damages the company will have to pay to Apple will be $890 million for this patent case alone.

But will it matter to Samsung who makes a huge amount of money every day and now has market share.

Here come the Game Controllers for iOS – Logitech Powershell

Apple, Tech News,

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Yesterday I wrote about Moga’s new iOS game controller. Now Logitech reveals all.

Logitech is using Apple’s standard MFi configuration, which gives you a D-Pad, A/B/X/Y face buttons, and left and right shoulder buttons. Moga, on the other hand, is using Apple’s extended layout, which adds an extra set of shoulder buttons and left and right thumbsticks.

Priced at $99 or £89 again it will be interesting to see which controllers wins the day. Based on using the Moga Pro controller on android I would be confident on Moga stealing the crown again. UK availability will be from December.

It will also be interesting to see who else announces a game controller.

Apple iBeacons being deployed

Apple, Tech News

The Apple Store App already offers a great experience and allows you to pay for accessories without a member of staff.

Now Apple is looking at integration of iBeacons within Apple’s stores which will be used in cohesion with a future update to the Apple Store app, which can give detailed information on a product when a user walks near an item.

Apple is also testing its iBeacon system to better provide services in its stores, such as notifying consumers about upcoming workshops.

This technology has loads of potential and could replace NFC.

Will Nokia release it’s Music app for iOS and android?

Android, Apple, Tech News,

Nokia is potentially looking to roll out its Nokia Music application to iOS, Android, according to a leaked internal document reported by Phone Arena.

The radio streaming service offers Nokia Lumia users free access to genre-themed stations and specially-curated playlists, while for a monthly fee users can also save tracks for offline playback. So will Nokia charge the same fee as it does on its windows phones.

And do you think it will undercut the competition or even release it’s service ? I think it will release it, and I hope is cheaper than Google and Apple.

iPad Air vs iPad Mini Retina – so there is a significant difference between the two iPads

Apple, Tech News,

Anandtech have written a fabulous review comparison of the iPad Air and iPad Mini Retina.

“When I concluded our iPad Air review I assumed the iPad mini with Retina Display was a true no-compromise, smaller alternative to the iPad Air. In many senses that’s true. Wireless connectivity is identical between the models, battery life is pretty much the same as well. Peak performance is close and you no longer have to accept a lower resolution display. Last year’s iPad mini was easy to recommend, and this year’s is even easier. To my surprise however, the iPad Air continues to hold some advantages that may resonate well with some users.

The biggest in my eyes is the iPad Air’s wider gamut display with full sRGB coverage. The mini’s Retina Display is good, the Air’s is just better. There’s also more thermal headroom on the iPad Air, which can come in handy if you’re doing compute intensive work on it. If neither of those things matters to you, then the decision becomes one of usage model and portability. I believe the iPad Air does a better job of approximating a primary computing device, particularly in its ability to give you a reasonable sized virtual keyboard to work on. The iPad mini on the other hand is substantially more portable. Although the iPad Air is light enough to come along with me more than any prior iPad, the mini’s form factor makes it even more likely that’ll I’ll bring it with me (the best tablet is the one you have with you?).”

If you read one review of the iPad Air and iPad Mini, this is the one to read.

Finally Google releases it’s own Google Music app on iOS

Apple, Social

The iOS version of Google Play Music has finally appeared and nearly equals to its Android counterpart, allowing users to store and stream their own music libraries or, with the £7.99-per-month All Access upgrade, tracks from major labels. Users can also create custom radio stations from any song or album, or listen to one of several predefined stations.

Unlike competitors Pandora and iTunes Radio, there is no limit to the number of tracks a user can skip when listening to radio stations. The inclusion of skip limits has long been a pain point for users of other services.

If you are new to the service, Google is offering a 30 day free trial to All Access. Personally, I decided after using the All Access trial not to renew it. That’s because my own library is extensive and I would rather buy the music so that I owned it outright rather than pay nearly £100 a year and not own anything.

I would recommend everyone backing up their digital music collection to Google, as getting 20,000 stored free is ideal, and then you can stream them wherever you are. It is also worth remembering that if you buy mp3 downloads via Google’s own web store the songs are added to your cloud collection without affecting the 20,000 song maximum allowance. Also note you cannot purchase music on this new iOS app. One last point, Google offers higher quality bit rate at 320mp3 than Apple’s iTunes Store at 256 AAC bit rate.

And what will the developers of the third party iOS apps do now, especially gmusic2? For years they provided the only way to get Google Music on iOS.

So what will Apple do with $578m of sapphire ?

Apple, Tech News

Apple just bought upfront $578m of sapphire glass. In addition , Apple is building a manufacturing plant in Arizona that will be used by GT Advanced Technologies to make sapphire crystals for use in its products. Apple currently uses sapphire in its home buttons and camera lens covers, but now it seems Apple with GT are expanding its interests in the hard crystalline substance over the next several years.

So what will Apple do with all this sapphire. Well the iPhone retina screen will be upgraded in 2014 and sapphire could be used going forward. The iWatch could do with a scratch resistant glass. And if an Apple TV really does materialise maybe this. And of course the next wave of iPads.

Mini Retina or Air – my views on the new iPads

Apple, Tech News

I already have the iPad Air and love it but out of the blue Apple started selling the smaller updated iPad Mini retina. So I happened to be passing thru an Apple store over lunch and spent some time comparing the two iPads.

I looked at each iPad, but whichever way I cut it, I still preferred the iPod Air. I just felt the larger screen offered a better reading and viewing experience.

If you are restricted on space and travel a lot then maybe I could understand the need for the Mini. Anyway, I just thought I would share my views on which iPad I would own, now that both are officially released.

MetroTalk for Windows Phone hit by Google Decision to ban all 3rd Party Voice Apps

Android, Apple, Tech News, Windows

From MetroTalk –

We are sad to announce that after a request by Google, MetroTalk will be removed from the Windows Phone store on May 1, 2014. We apologize to all our users for this but the decision is beyond our control, and in fact affects all third-party Google Voice apps. The good news is that the app will remain available and fully functional for 6 more months, and you can expect bug fix updates during that time. A huge thank you to all of our users for making us one of the top downloaded and highest rated apps of the Windows Phone store. Once again, we truly apologize to everyone affected by this.

This is a decision by Google that will affect all 3rd-party apps, due to Google locking down on security in Google Voice. The Google Voice API was never publicly available. So if you use a 3rd party app for Google Voice you have 6 months notice.

Bit by bit the openness of Google as a platform is closing down and this is another step towards that end game.