Category: Apple

Vines Are Now Only A Swipe Away on the Apple Watch

After being worked upon for the past couple of months, Vine has finally come to the Apple Watch. The app had been under construction since at least this summer when it was first showcased in an on-stage demonstration at an Apple event in June.

The launch of the watchOS app, that took place yesterday on the 24th of November, allows users to run videos on their gadget, while at the same time allows a feature that other than being borderline obsessive also lets you keep track of the number of times your video has been looped.

However despite all of Apple’s efforts, there is a sense of incompetence with various apps on the Watch. It seems like too many iPhone features are being crammed up in a small space of a tiny watch-screen. This new app will shrink down a lot of your favourite Vines on the gadget making them available simply a swipe away. The entire endeavour, however, still seems a little wasted, owing to the size of the screen and the fact that they load at quite a slow speed.

November 25, 2015
Oppo’s New Handset Seems Heavily ‘Inspired’ by the iPhone 6 Plus

After design overlaps between HTC’s One A9 and iPhone 6, looks like Oppo has also joined the league with its new smartphone. As hardware leaks of Oppo’s latest addition to the world of smartphones emerge, we see a device with a metal uni-body which looks very similar like that of the iPhone 6 Plus.

HTC had given its device a dash of originality by placing its camera in the centre of the back of the phone. Oppo, on the other hand, has refused to be too creative with its design -its camera is located exactly where it is in an iPhone. The only thing different is the orientation of the LED flash.

To add this, there are also other identical features which include a bottom-firing speaker grille, headphone jack and port for charging, all positioned on the underside of the phone.

What is this charm of Apple that has captivated both consumers and manufacturers all over? Whether you hate it or love it, or love to hate or hate to love it -either way it’s hard to ignore the presence the Apple in the tech world. Do you think the design of the iPhone is actually as popular as all other companies are making it out to be?

Image Source

November 24, 2015
iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Prices to Drop by 10k in India Mid December

Apple is ready to launch itself in the country later this year, with news of Apple launching official stores and finally breaking free of the 5 year minimum entry tie up clause with its partners including Reliance. Apple will launch as an independent company with flagship stores all around the country.

Sources inside of Apple tell iGyaan that the Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus that launched with huge price disparities between the US and Indian markets , will see some price moderation and capping. Apple will follow global pricing standards and soon, try to match up to US prices to make consumers buy locally in India.

The Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, that feature new 3D touch and 4k Video recording among many hardware improvements, launched in India with a starting price of Rs. 62,000 and Rs. 72,000, respectively for the 16 GB version.

Apple follows a global warranty policy with all it’s products. The iPhone which has been left out of the Global warranty, here in India, due to tie ups with Indian distributors, will also come within Apple’s warranty standards. Meaning, people buying iPhones anywhere else in the world will enjoy warranty in India.

It would only make sense for Apple to offer products at a nearly matched price to reduce imports of their products from global destinations, including Thailand and UAE.

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are expected to drop in price by Rs. 10,000 making them slightly more pocket friendly. You may want to hold of your purchases for a month, incase this turns out to be true. Here are the current prices.

iPhone 6s

<br /> <br /> <br />

iPhone 6s Plus

<br /> <br /> <br />

Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Review

November 21, 2015
iPhone 7 to be Waterproof and Have 3GB of RAM

There’s still about 10 months left before Apple comes out with its next flagship devices, and yet there have been tons of rumours and speculations already in the air about every little detail related to the iPhone 7.

Research company TrendForce has revealed some more dirt on the iPhone 7. Apparently, the highlights of the next generation of iPhones will be a 3GB RAM and waterproof design. These are supposed to be the defining new features of the iPhone 7, though as usual, you should take these rumours with a grain of salt. Furthermore, it seems like only the iPhone 7 Plus variant will get the bumped up RAM.

TrendForce also reiterates what many sources have speculated that a 4-inch iPhone is in the offing and will see an early 2016 release, while the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus will be unveiled sometime during the second half of 2016.

Lastly, while Apple will likely beat its own sales performance next year with an estimated 260 million units, the Cupertino giant, however, might not manage to take the smartphone sales crown from Samsung, which is expected to sell around 310 million units next year.

Source

November 21, 2015
Apple Crosses $1 Billion in Annual Sales in India

The latest report on Apple sales have now silenced the skeptics. Apple has reportedly crossed the $1 billion sales mark in India for the first time in the year-ended March. according to results filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) on Wednesday.

Economic Times revealed how Apple managed to pull off a 44 percent increase in sales from Rs 4500.35 crore up to Rs 6472.89 crore with a doubled net profit of Rs 242.85 crore.

These figures were bound show up. Apple had a great year since the launch of the iPhone 6. Along with the sales of the iPhone 6, Apple also introduced a number of offers like buyback and installments schemes to the excitement of many fans. The offers have only grown more and more since. In fact, in October, Apple also launched some buyback schemes for the latest iPhone 6s series.

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were launched to the dismay of many for its ridiculously high price tag. Apple saw the problem and was quick to offer buyback schemes to upgraders with up to Rs 34,000 off in exchange for an older model.

Apple has also tied-up with Croma and will soon open up Apple Stores in India, which is surely going to help with the figures all the more.

November 19, 2015
Apple’s Next Macbook To Launch On 27th November

New reports suggest that you can expect Apple to launch the Macbook Air 2016 on the 27th of November 2015. This date has been chosen strategically in order to coincide with the annual Black Friday extravaganza.

The only fear is that the Macbook 2016 might not get the attention it deserves if launched on Black Friday as most people would be looking for budget deals instead of buying a new laptop at its launch price. Reports also suggest that the launch of the Macbook Air and Pro were delayed so as not to take away the limelight from the iPad Pro. Let’s just hope their decision won’t cost them a fortune.

The Macbook Air 2016 will come with an Intel Skylake U-chipset under the hood and will run El Capitan, the latest version of Apple’s desktop OS. Would you buy a Macbook Air 2016 on Black Friday?

November 18, 2015
Apple to Release the iPhone 6c in Mid-2016

There have been a lot of rumours lately surrounding Apple’s upcoming iPhone 7 devices. While majority of the rumours suggest that Apple is working on two versions of the iPhone 7, other rumours also hint at a third device. However, this third device will not be part of the iPhone 7 series but will be a cheaper version of the iPhone 6. Like the iPhone 5c, Apple could come out with an iPhone 6c by mid-2016.

Kevin Wang from IHS has stated that Apple is working on a budget-oriented iPhone 6 handset. This handset will be a smaller version with a 4-inch display and will come with a plastic body similar to the 5c. This rumour also aligns with an earlier report from Ming-Chi Kuo, who has an excellent track record with predicting Apple’s product pipeline. Kuo predicted the 4-inch iPhone would launch in the first half of 2016.

The scaled down version of the iPhone 6 will indeed come with a few missing features. As the device was pegged as a cheaper iPhone 7 variant rather than a 6, what’s for certain is that the 6c will not come with 3D Touch. This makes sense as Apple will still look to push sales of its main flagship devices next year. As usual, these rumours must be taken with a grain of salt. The image above of the iPhone 6c is a concept design released a couple of months ago by 3DFuture.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://weibo.com/login.php”]Weibo[/tw-button]

November 18, 2015
Apple iPad Pro Units Unresponsive and Prone to Freezing While Charging

Tim Cook has been in news lately for making confident comments about Apple devices and calling the recently launched Microsoft Surface Book “deluded“. However, the comments may have come a tad too soon in the day as some users are already complaining of glitches in the recently launched iPad Pro 4.

There have been numerous complaints on Apple Support forums -all playing to the same tune:

“I’m having the same problem. I’ve charged my new iPad Pro twice and both times it required a hard reset to get it working. Very frustrating.” Another complaint: “I have the exact same issue. When I connect my iPad Pro to the charger for more than an hour, it goes dead. It takes multiple hard resets to bring it back to life.”

The device freezes or gets unresponsive during charging. Apple is aware of the problem and has given tips like performing a factory reset and restarting the device using iTunes. Affected users can also hold down both the Sleep/Wake as well as the Home button simultaneously for a few seconds to force a restart on the tablet.

Many iPhone 6, 6s and 6s Plus units have also been facing the same glitches lately. This means it could be an iOS 9 problem which could be fixed with a simple software update. Either way, post all the confidence that surrounds the launch of every Apple device, these problems are a bit of a downer. We’ll hold our breath until Tim Cook has something to say about this as well. Is that the sound of Microsoft giggling behind the curtains?

November 17, 2015
The Mozilla Firefox iOS App Is Finally Available On the App Store

Mozilla had been testing an iOS version of its browser for a while now, and it has finally launched a Firefox version for iOS. This app will now be available on the Apple Store on all iOS run devices ranging from the iPhone to the iPod Touch.

Firefox had previously held a stance against developing software for Apple’s app store, but has clearly moved on since then. The first iOS Mozilla tester had rolled out in May this year, following another one in September, before going live with the final version.

This app is being introduced amongst much competition in the sphere of web browsing, especially with iOS owned Safari already in the picture. This new app will allow Firefox loyalists to continue using the web browser even on their Apple products. Let’s all hope that Firefox is able to gain some new customers whilst keeping its old ones too.

Here is a link for you to download Mozilla Firefox on to your Apple devices. Just make sure your device runs the iOS 8.2 or above.

November 16, 2015
There Will Not Be a Macbook/iPad Hybrid, Says CEO Tim Cook

Just a couple of days after his comment on the Microsoft Surface Book where he called it “deluded”, Tim Cook has rubbished any rumours and speculations of a Macbook and iPad hybrid. This comment follows what Apple marketing head Phil Schiller said about the hybrid market. He sees it as a nascent realm unlikely to grow into anything significant.

Elaborating further, while talking to an Irish newspaper, Cook said any hybrid device would mean an inefficient product that would satisfy neither the iPad user nor the Macbook user.

“We feel strongly that customers are not really looking for a converged Mac and iPad. Because what that would wind up doing, or what we’re worried would happen, is that neither experience would be as good as the customer wants. So we want to make the best tablet in the world and the best Mac in the world. And putting those two together would not achieve either. You’d begin to compromise in different ways,” said Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

November 16, 2015
Apple To Discontinue Beats Music By the End Of November

Recent reports suggest that Apple will shut down Beats Music on the 30th of November 2015. Even though all the Beats subscriptions will end on that day, Apple is still encouraging subscribers to migrate their user profiles to Apple Music by saying that:

“…on Apple Music, you’ll get even better recommendations based on music you already listen to and love, 24/7 global radio with Beats 1, exciting material from your favorite artist, and more.”

This decision to shut Beats Music down has come less than six months after the company unveiled Apple Music. The appearance of Apple Music is said to have marked a departure from Apple’s stance on resisting the adoption of any music subscription model for its users. This service offers users recommendations based on purchases made over Apple’s iTunes Store or chosen on-demand from an online catalog. Apple Music also includes Beats 1, which is a 24X7 radio station. Apart from this the service also offers something called ‘Connect’ where artists can interact with their well-wisher or fans to share songs directly to their iPhones.

Since its launch, Apple Music has gathered 6.5 million subscribers, however this number still does not beat Spotify’s 25 million paid members and 50 million unpaid members. Furthermore, Apple has even released the service for Android users. Therefore, with the reach of Apple Music extending to more than just its customers, the discontinuation of Beats Music should not make much of a difference to the tech mogul.

November 14, 2015
Apple Watch Successor in Works : Confirms Apple Supplier

The Taiwanese company, Quanta Computer, the company which assembles the wearable device for Apple, says that work has already begun on the successor of the Apple Watch. Barry Lam, the chairman of Quanta Computer has confirmed the news.

The comment about the reiteration of the Watch was recently made by Lam at an investor meeting. He affirmed that the device would perform better than its predecessor. Rumours about a launch at the end of Q2 next year are rife.

Rumours about a 2016 launch of the next-gen variant of the Apple Watch have been around for a while now. The gadget is expected to have enhanced features with the same external design and body. The square screen of the Watch is highly likely to stay. This is all from Apple on the Watch front for now. We’ll keep you updated as soon as we have more.

November 14, 2015
Apple Pay Likely to Incorporate Peer-to-Peer Payments in 2016

Apple is in talks with a number of top U.S banks to create its own person-to-person mobile payment service, which could see an early 2016 launch. Banks like Chase, Capital One, Wells Fargo, and U.S. Bancorp have discussed the prospects with Apple.

Apple Pay currently deals with sending money to businesses, but that could change by next. Currently, apps like PayPal’s Venmo and Google Wallet allow for person-to-person transactions, while some banks have their own apps that allow you to make payments directly. To get this plan off the ground, Apple will have to navigate its way through individual bank platforms and find a way to incorporate the banks within the Apple Pay world.

Apple may look to simply tap into an existing payment service from top banks called clearXchange, and loop that into Apple Pay. That would allow users to send money from a checking account to anyone with an email address or mobile number. Apple may not be looking to make money off this latest idea, and likely wants to broaden the scope of Apple Pay and the overall benefit of the iPhone.

This is all part of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s vision that paper money will no longer exist in the future. “Your kids will not know what money is,” he said during his address at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. In today’s technological world most transactions are taking place online. The biggest challenge here is to avoid cyber attacks.

During his speech, Cook said that Apple will dedicated itself to preventing hackers from stealing customers’ information. “We plan to continue to encrypt end to end with no back door,” Cook said. “We will productively work with the governments to try to convince them that’s also in their best interests in the national security sense.”

November 12, 2015
Tim Cook Comments On the Surface Book, Calls It “Sort Of Deluded”

The tech war between Apple and everything else continues, as Tim Cook goes on record about his feelings towards the Microsoft Surface Book. At a talk in Trinity college Cook said that the Surface Book was:

“a product that tries too hard to do too much. It’s trying to be a tablet and a notebook and it really succeeds at being neither. It’s sort of deluded.”

Tim Cook later said that he was actually going for “diluted” rather than “deluded”. This comment comes after the release of Apple’s 12.9 inch iPad Pro and is not even the first time that Cook has dissed the 13.5 inch Surface Book. However, he has not only dissed the Surface Book, but has also praised the iPad Pro by implying that it is one of the most efficient products available. He also implied that if one uses the iPad Pro, you would no longer require a PC and added that he himself travels only with an iPad Pro and an iPhone. Tim Cook also announced the launch of Apple Pay in Ireland stating that future generations will no longer know what hard cash is.

This is all very confident and progressive and everything, but really, isn’t it high time Apple just moved on from making petty comments about their rivals? Apple tried to bridge the gap between tablet and laptop with the iPad Pro (which also includes a stylus and keyboard), so the comment on Microsoft’s Surface Pro feels highly ironical. Do you think a response suggests weak spots? Let us know in the comments below.

November 12, 2015
Android Safer Than iOS According to Reports

The mythbusters are back, and this time one of the all time popular myths regarding iOS has been busted. According to a new study, it turns out that iOS isn’t as malware-proof as people have come to believe. In fact, reports suggest that Android is safer and more secure than iOS.

The study carried out by Checkmarx and AppSec Labs claim that Apple’s ‘wall garden’, that is the App Store, is filled with apps that have greater percentage of critical or high severity security vulnerabilities when compared to Android apps.

According to the report, a critical vulnerability is defined as one “that exposes a major security risk with a direct exploit (not needing user involvement). If exploited, the security threat might cause major damage to the application and/or have major impact on the company.”

Here’s what the claim means for everyone. Firtsly, it breaks the image of iOS being regarded as the most fool-proof operating system. Secondly, it also means that there is now no safe operating system out there as all the major players are now on the same boat. Of course, it was only a matter of time for a report such as this to come out. Hackers do tend to target big names, especially ones that claim to be unbreakable.

“With more than 1.5 million apps available in the two main app stores, Apple and Android, and hundreds of billions of downloads to date, the mobile landscape has quickly become the main playground for hackers and attackers.”

As the reports suggest, 36 percent of Android apps were found to be potentially critical or highly severe while a surprising 40 percent of iOS apps were deemed critical, crushing the common misconception that iOS is a safer platform.

There seems to be some credibility to this report, especially after the recent news that a popular app on the App Store, called InstaAgent, has been leaking Instagram username and passwords and sending them off to a remote server as well as publishing unauthorized images to users account without their consent.

Checkmarx’s Amit Ashbel explained to GeekTime that most of the security flaws are the result of vulnerabilities in developers’ code. “The mobile application industry as a whole is lagging behind on secure coding best practices,” he added.

Well, that’s one less thing for iPhone users to brag about now.

Source: [tw-button size=”medium” background=”#07ABE2″ color=”” target=”_blank” link=”https://www.checkmarx.com/2015/11/05/the-state-of-mobile-app-security/”]Checkmarx[/tw-button]

November 12, 2015