Tag: apple

Apple Replaces Entry 2nd Gen iPad with 4th Gen iPad

Apple has dropped the old iPad 2 from its range of tablets as an entry level tablet and replaced it yesterday with the relatively recent Apple iPad 4th Generation.

Doing this has not decreased the availability of the different variants, as the company has brought back the fourth-generation iPad with Retina display as the new entry-level full-size tablet at $399 for the Wi-Fi only variant. This relaunched 4th generation iPad comes with Retina Display and the new lightning connector.

The 16 GB iPad 2 was selling for 28,900 INR and 37,900 INR for the Wi-Fi and cellular models respectively. You can expect the new variants to be sold at the same price tag.

March 19, 2014
Apple iPhone 5C 8GB Officially Launched

Apple has officially unveiled the 8GB variant of the iPhone 5c on the UK Apple store for a price of £429.00 For an unlocked variant. It is worth noting that the price is about £40.00 cheaper than the outgoing 16GB model which costs US $ 549 in the US and Rs. 39000 here in India. Which means that the price for the iPhone 5c 8GB model for the Indian market should be Rs. 34,500 or around that region.

The iPhone 5C has received huge response since its launch alongside the iPhone 5S in India last year, especially thanks to the EMI and cash back offers from banks. The Apple iPhone 5c features a 4-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD display with a resolution of 640×1136 pixels and a 326ppi pixel density. It is powered by the Apple A6 chipset, which is also seen on the iPhone 5. It also features a hard-coated polycarbonate body an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. Essentially the 5c is the iPhone 5 in new clothes.

Stay tuned for more updates.

March 18, 2014
WhatsApp’s VOIP functionality for iOS Leaked in a Screenshot

During WhatsApp’s recent Facebook acquisition, CEO Jan Koum hinted that WhatsApp may get voice call functionality by the summer. This new leaked screenshot of the App’s upcoming update for iOS shows off those supposed calling capabilities, designed to work along with iOS 7’s design layout.

The camera button on the top also hints at video call functionality. WhatApp will allow free voice calls and video calls with your friends on your WhatsApp list over Wifi and Cellular.

It is also rumored that this functionality comes via Skype or using Skype’s voip technology as Facebook currently integrates Skype calling within its chat windows.

With this feature WhatsApp may become the single point of social networking that everyone has been looking for. Now if only they could work out their battery drain.

March 16, 2014
Apple Rolls Out CarPlay, Allows More Fun Use of iPhone in the Car

Apple has officially announced CarPlay, which is a new in car interface that will be compatible with Ferrari, Mercedes and Volvo cars.

CarPlay has been designed from the ground up to provide drivers with an incredible experience using their iPhone in the car,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPhone and iOS Product Marketing. “iPhone users always want their content at their fingertips and CarPlay lets drivers use their iPhone in the car with minimized distraction. We have an amazing lineup of auto partners rolling out CarPlay, and we’re thrilled it will make its debut this week in Geneva.”

Once iPhone is connected to a vehicle with CarPlay integration, Siri easily access your contacts, make calls, return missed calls or listen to voicemails. When incoming messages or notifications arrive, Siri provides an experience by responding to requests through voice commands, by reading drivers’ messages and letting them dictate responses or simply make a call.

Users can easily control CarPlay from the car’s native interface or just push- and-hold the voice control button on the steering wheel to activate Siri. Vehicles from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo will premiere CarPlay to their drivers this week, while additional auto manufacturers bringing CarPlay to their drivers down the road include BMW Group, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia Motors, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan Motor Company, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Subaru, Suzuki and Toyota Motor Corp.

[Apple]

March 3, 2014
Apple Details iPhone 5s Touch ID Scanner

Apple has updated its iOS Security document to include intricate, detailed information pertaining to the Touch ID sensor that is found on the iPhone 5s.

Apple reiterates that Touch ID and its Secure Enclave store only data from scanned fingerprints, rather than actual images. Using a secure boot process, the Enclave – a coprocessor inside of Apple’s A7 processor – verifies and signs information independently of other iOS hardware and software.

All Secure Enclaves can function independently even if a kernel is compromised and each one contains a unique ID inaccessible to other parts of the system and unknown to Apple, preventing the company or any other third parties from accessing data contained within.

“Each Secure Enclave is provisioned during fabrication with its own UID (Unique ID) that is not accessible to other parts of the system and is not known to Apple. When the device starts up, an ephemeral key is created, tangled with its UID, and used to encrypt the Secure Enclave’s portion of the device’s memory space,” the document said.

“Additionally, data that is saved to the file system by the Secure Enclave is encrypted with a key tangled with the UID and an anti-replay counter.”

And while the A7 processor deals with data from Touch ID, this information is encrypted by the scanner, making it unreadable to the rest of the phone. Only Secure Enclave can authenticate the data.

“It’s encrypted and authenticated with a session key that is negotiated using the device’s shared key that is built into the Touch ID sensor and the Secure Enclave,” the document reads. “The session key exchange uses AES key wrapping with both sides providing a random key that establishes the session key and uses AES-CCM transport encryption.”

Apple has also spelt out that it has strict no-third party app rule when it comes to TouchID data. “Touch ID authentication and the data associated with the enrolled fingerprints are not available to other apps or third parties,” reads the document.

February 27, 2014
Video : iOS in The Car Functionality Shown Off

Last week, app developer Steven Troughton-Smith shared a series of screenshots of what seemed to be Apple’s “iOS in the Car” feature announced by Apple as “coming soon” to iOS 7 devices.

The developer has now taken this a step further by posting a video showing the feature running via iPhone Simulator. The video below shows iOS in the car running on iOS 7.0.3 in the iOS Simulator software which is available for developers, the in dash display is shown by an 800 x 480 pixel window.

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5OZMu5u0yU”]

Apple first demoed the new feature at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2013. During an earnings call last summer, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the feature a “key focus” for the company.

Since then, a number of car manufacturers have announced their support for the feature. These have included: Acura, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Kia, Volvo, Opel, and Jaguar.

Troughton-Smith points out that the iOS in the Car feature supports multiple resolutions of external displays, touch input and hardware controls, and voice input.

– Supports Multiple Resolutions
– Supports touchscreens (presumably single-touch?), hardware buttons, wheels and touchpads
– Does not support multitasking – car display will always show same current on-screen app as iPhone (which can be locked/asleep)
– Whitelisted to specific Apple apps – no public API for developers [yet?]
– Has no keyboard UI – voice recognition as input
– UI clearly subject to change
– Missing functionality in video is due to iOS Simulator not containing all the stock iOS apps

January 28, 2014
Report: Apple to Build a Mobile Payment Service

After adding the touch sensor to the iPhone 5s, Apple is looking to do more with the fingerprint sensor it seems. As per a report, Apple is looking forward to build a Mobile Payment Service.

The Wall Street Journal reported that, Eddy Cue, the company’s senior vice-president of Internet software and services, has met with “industry executives” to discuss Apple’s role in handling payments for physical goods and services. The mobile payment service is not used by many as people are sceptical about it, with companies like PayPal are working to give easier experience to users to pay for physical goods with their smartphones.

Having said that, the App Store is the only store with these many users registered with credit cards. In June of 2012, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that its then cache of 400 million iTunes accounts with credit cards made it “the store with the most credit cards on file anywhere in the world by far.”

As per the report, Apple is building a payment service which will not only be used in the app store but for other purchases as well. Apple has not commented on this yet, stay tuned for more.

January 26, 2014
Apple: 74% of App Store Users Are Using iOS 7

Three months back, Apple launched its latest OS – iOS 7 in the market. Ever since then, users have treated the iOS 7 with mix reactions, as for some it is improved and for some it lags and freezes.

Despite of the mixed reactions from users, the iOS 7 is now on 74% of Apple devices registered in the App Store. Apple has mentioned this on its developer page. This is a 10% increase in iOS 7 users from the month of October. Coincidentally, Google also announced that in just a month of release, 1.1% of Android users are on KitKat OS.

However, alongside the iOS 7 other iOS versions are still in use. As per the report from Apple, 22% of users in the App Store are still on iOS 6 and 4% users are still on older versions of iOS. The rest 26% might want to know what is iOS 7 all about from the video below:

[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5-KmW1QhcE”]

[Apple]

December 6, 2013
Apple Acquires Twitter Analytics firm Topsy, Wants to try hand at Social Again

With many a failed attempts at Social markets, looks like Apple is far from giving up. Apple has acquired Topsy Twitter analytics, for a reported $200 million. Most Companies use Topsy to utilize the data for tweet mapping, and trend filtering on Twitter. What Apple’s intentions are, however is currently unknown.

Apple had earlier launched Ping as a social network which, was a software-based, music-oriented social networking and recommender system service developed and operated byApple. It was announced and launched on 1 September 2010, as part of the tenth major release of iTunes.The service launched with 1 million members in 23 countries. The service allowed users to follow artists and see short timely postings by both friends and artists. Ping was also accessible via iTunes for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Apple officially closed the service on September 30, 2012 and replaced it in iTunes with Facebook and Twitter integration. Lets hope a better fate can be received to Topsy.

December 3, 2013
Apple Confirms Buyout For PrimeSense, Get Ready For Motion Controlled Future

Apple has confirmed its acquisition of the Microsoft’s Kinect maker, Prime Sense. Last week, an Israeli news source Calcalist confirmed that Apple has acquired PrimeSense for $345 Million.

Now in an official statement to All Things D, an Apple spokesperson said: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans”. The deal is said to have been completed on Sunday and the total cost involved was around $360 million.

Apple’s intentions behind this acquisition is not clear, but one can sense a motion controlled future ahead. Apple is also believed to use this technology for its rumored iTV. Like many other Apple rumors, only time will tell what Apple will do with this tech.

[via]

November 25, 2013
Samsung to Pay $290 Million More To Apple

A jury on thursday decided that Samsung will have to pay Apple a sum of $290,456,793 more for its patent infringement case. This comes after Samsung has already been asked to shell out 1 billion US $ to Apple. This amount is still less than what Apple had demanded, which was $390 Million.

The total money Samsung has paid or will pay to Apple has now reached approx. $930 million, just to let you get a fair idea it is approx. 5833,23,90,000 in Indian Rupee.

For Apple, this case has always been about more than patents and money,” Apple said in a statement. “It has been about innovation and the hard work that goes into inventing products that people love. While it’s impossible to put a price tag on those values, we are grateful to the jury for showing Samsung that copying has a cost.”

Samsung, said it is “disappointed by today’s decision, which is based in large part on a patent that the US Patent and Trademark Office has recently deemed invalid.”

While we move forward with our post-trial motions and appeals, we will continue to innovate with groundbreaking technologies and great products that are loved by our many customers all around the world,” the Korean company said in a statement.

During the session, Apple said that if Samsung did not use infringement devices they would have sold alot of iPhone’s throughout the world. Apple claimed that Samsung was the reason for the company to not earn more profits from iPhone’s, so Samsung should compensate it.

On the other hand, Samsung showcased reports of why people bought Samsung phones. Samsung showcased that all of its consumers got attracted towards bigger screens, better battery and alot more.

However, as said by the jury members: Samsung didn’t provide enough information to make its case. We hope this ends the lawsuit, and both the companies continue the innovation and stop the endless war.

Have something to say? Share your view below.

November 23, 2013
Apple Buys Kinect Co-Creator: PrimeSense

Apple has just acquired Kinect Co-Creator PrimeSense for a whopping sum of US $ 345 Million, according to Israeli news source Calcalist.

If the news is true, this could mean that Apple’s future devices may have motion sensing technologies. Alternatively it could mean that Apple could make displays with this technology built in. Maybe Apple’s rumored iTV will have this tech inbuilt to interact with the hardware. According to reports, the last time Apple tried to acquire PrimeSense, the deal was scrapped due to legal woes. However this time around the company was eager to acquire the ex-kinect maker to improve on the Apple TV.

[VIA]

November 18, 2013
iOS 7.0.4 Update Brings Bug Fixes and Improvements

Apple has released iOS 7.0.4 update for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch which is now available for download as an OTA update as well as via iTunes.

According to the company iOS 7.0.4 brings bug fixes and improvements, including a fix for FaceTime call issue which used to fail for some users. The update also include a security features which fixes a issue where app and in-app purchases could have been completed with incomplete authorization.

Users with iPhone 4 or later, iPod touch 5th generation or later and iPad 2 or later running iOS 5 or later, the iOS 7.0.4 should be available as an OTA update. If you did not get the update automatically you can try to check it manually by checking the Software Update part of your iPhone/iPod/iPad.

[Apple]

November 15, 2013
Apple iPad Mini with Retina Display On Sale Now

Apple has now put the new iPad Mini with Retina display on sale on its Online US store, with shipping dates for US customers from November 20-22. Pricing is set as announced starting $399 for a 16GB Wi-Fi model, all the way till US $ 829 for 128 GB LTE cellular variant.

Apple was vocal about supply constraints at the time of launch, as Tim Cook mentioned that Apple was unsure if it will be able to meet the demand of the iPad Mini with Retina display at launch.

If you are planning to get this mini powerful tablet in your hands now may be the right time.

[Apple Store]

November 12, 2013
Samsung Tops J.D. Power Tablet Customer Satisfaction Survey, Beats Apple

J.D. Power and Associates is an American-based marketing information services firm that’s highly regarded for its research on customer satisfaction. Apple loves to quote their surveys, and does so at media events and on earnings calls.

But this is one report Tim Cook and company are probably not going to be mentioning. In J.D. Power’s latest tablet customer satisfaction survey, Apple was bested by Samsung on overall satisfaction and in particular areas like device cost.

“Samsung showed particularly strong improvement in the cost factor (25-point increase),” the firm said in a statement. “Apple ranks second scoring 833 and performs particularly well in performance and ease of operation.”

Apple scored 5 out of 5 stars for Overall Satisfaction, Performance, Ease of Use, Physical Design, and Tablet Features, as shown in the chart below. For Cost, apple scored 2 out of 5. In comparison, Samsung scored a 5, 3, 3, 5, 4, and 4 in those same categories, losing to Apple on four of categories, tying in one, and winning on the sixth, Cost.

Samsung tablets received 835 points on a 1,000 scale, with Apple (833), Amazon (826) and Asus (821) right behind it. This is commendable, seeing as in its April study, J.D. Power’s survey ranked Samsung under the study average, with a score of 822, while Apple took the top spot with 836. The surveyors from the marketing firm also note that Samsung is the only manufacturer to have improved in all five areas that are being examined since the last study. These include performance, ease of operation, styling and design, features and cost.

November 1, 2013