Wednesday, May 18, 2016

' Store' iOS App Update Coming Tuesday with Free iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore Dls


9to5Macreportsthat will be relsing an updated version of its Storpp for iOS devices on Tuesday, bringing a minor redesign and new tie-ins with iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore content. Through the updated app, will offer special dls, making paid content free of charge for users of the app.
As you can see in the photo of the upcoming app update (to the right), the app will promote content from the three content stores. This content normally costs money, but will be available free for a limited time via this new app.

, internally, positions this as a way to boost content sales as this new fture is designed to raise awareness about Apps, iTunes, and iBooks content.The report indies that the updated app will be part of 's effort tofocus on iPhone salesin its retail stores, with customers being encouraged to install the app on their new i, exposing to 's content offerings.

In the example, shown in the screenshot, is offering free downloads ofColor Zen, a new puzzle game normally priced at $0.99.

's focus on iPhone sales is designed to boost the proportion of devices sold in its retail stores from the current level of 20%, although analysts have noted that may have adifficult timchieving that goal given its network of just 250 stores in the United States compared to over 10,000 third-party sales loions such as carrier stores, Best Buy, and RadioS. According to one U.S. study, 90% of first-time iPhone customers purchase their devices from somewhere other than an retail store.

The company has alrdy begun taking some steps toward enhancing direct iPhone sales, including the device in its annualBack to School programfor the first time. Under the program, eligible eduion customers can receive a $50 gift card good in any of 's content stores with the purchase of an iPhone.

is also partnering with recycling firm BrightStar to offer aniPhone trade-in programat its U.S. retail stores. That program will offer instant trade-in credit to customers, hopefully driving upgrade rates as customers will be able to immediately see the net cost of upgrading and take advantage of a simple mns for turning in their used devices.

Download Link: Shadowrun Returns IPA for iPhone/iPod/iPad


A little over a yr ago, game developer Jordan Weisman took toKickstarterto help fund the development of Shadowrun Returns—an RPG game for Mac, PC and mobile devices. Shadowrun has made an apprance on a of consoles since it first debuted on the SNES back in 1993.Needless to say, Weisman’s Kickstarter project was successful. In fact, it surpassed its goal of $400,000 within the first 48 hours, and went on to garner nrly $2 million from over 36,000 backers. And after several months of rigorous development, the tm is finally rdy to launch…From theShadowrun Returns Kickstarter page:“It’s hard to believe that the launch of Shadowrun Returns is only 7 days away. Holy smokes! It’s been quite a marathon. Thanks for sticking with us during this amazing adventure.Remember back in December, during Jordan’s fireside chat, when he said we didn’t have a marketing budget? Well… we still don’t.But we have something better than money. We have our community.”And here’s your official ‘Returns’ launch :For those unfamiliar with the title, Shadowrun takes place several decades into the future—sometime around 2054. And users play as various shadowrunners, which are assets that use a combination of technology, magic and street smarts to rn a living doing dirty deeds for evil corporations.Shadowrun Returnswilllaunchfor PC, Mac, iOS and Android on July 25, with a Linux version coming at a later date. Other details such as console availability and pricing are not yet known at this time, but it’s worth noting that Kickstarter pre-orders for the game went for $15.

Best Buy offering $50 gift card with iPad purchase


Folks in the market for a new tablet will want to check out their local Best Buy this weekend. The retail giant has a limited-time promotion going on right now that gives customers a free gift card with the purchase of an iPad.Those purchasing a late-model iPad with Retina display, or an iPad 2, will get a $50 gift card, while those purchasing an iPad mini will get a $25 card. Offer is valid on all iPad models, 16GB through 128GB, Wi-Fi and Cellular…Best Buy sent us an email this morning,announcing the sale, and here’s how it works:“When you add an iPad® with Retina® display or iPad 2 to your cart, a $50 gift card will be automatically added as well. When you add an iPad mini to your cart, a $25 gift card will be automatically added.One free gift card per browser session. Gift card will ship separately and is not available for store pickup. Formatted capacity may vary.”The site doesn’t say that the offer is exclusive to online ordering, but it may be worth checking with Best Buy by phone before you make the trip.The promotion runs from 7/20/13 − 7/22/13, and of course iPad models vary by store.It’s worth noting here that is widely expected to introduce anew iPadandiPad miniwithin the next few months. The 9.7-inch model is said to get lighter and thinner in a major redesign, and the mini could get a Retina display.But even if you’re not interested in picking up a new tablet, it may still be worth stopping by. In addition to the iPad sale, Best Buy is alsoknocking $200 offof select MacBook models as part of its ‘Back to School’ campaign.

US government gets approval to continue tracking phone records


In June,an order granted by theForeign lice Surveillance Court to the FBI , revling that Verizon was handing over millions of private telephone records to the US government. Of course, we later found out thatit wasn’t just Verizongiving up user data.As you may have known, that court order was set to expire today, mning that the government would no longer be authorized to collect such records. But according to the of the Director of National lice, FISA has just renewed its authorization…For those of you unfamiliar with the original FISA court order, here it is: “authorization requiring the production of certain telephony metadata under the “business records” provision of the Foreign lice Surveillance Act (FISA), 50 U.S.C. Section 1861.”At lst this time they’re telling us about it. Here’sthe press relsefrom the DNI:“On June 6, 2013, the Director of National lice declassified certain information about this telephony metadata collection program in order to provide the public with a more thorough and balanced understanding of the program. Consistent with his prior declassifiion decision and in light of the significant and continuing public interest in the telephony metadata collection program, the DNI has decided to declassify and disclose publicly that the Government filed an appliion with the Foreign lice Surveillance Court seeking renewal of the authority to collect telephony metadata in bulk, and that the Court renewed that authority.”Needless to say, the warrantless collection of private data hasn’t sat well with people. And that anxiety multiplied tenfold when it was revled that Verizon was just one of a of tech companies participating in a covert government-run monitoring program called PRISM. itself was specifically named as a ‘willing’ participant of the PRISM program, suggesting that it knowingly handed over user data to the National Security Acy without a proper warrant. But of course, it, like other companies,sharply deniedknowledge of the project.“Wefirst hrd of the government’s “Prism” program when news organizations asked us about it on June6. We do not provide any government acy with direct access to our servers, and any government acy requesting customer content must get a courtorder.”Thursday, joined a coalitionof over 60 companies in a fight to push for more government transparencyregarding electronic monitoring and surveillance.

buys HopStop transit app to beef up Maps


As pointed out by multiple outlets and tweeted by several reporters, has acquired an online navigation startup HopStop.com to improve its troubled Maps offering, Bloomberg just reported.HopStopmakes a freeiPhonndAndroidtransit app that ftures detailed subway, bus, train, taxi, walking and even biking directions.This is exactly the kind of data ’s Maps need in order to become a viable alternative to Google Maps. The HopStop software also ftures rl-time transit information via the HopStop Live service, the official transit maps, nrby station srch and station-to-station schedules in over 600 cities throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zland, including 140 major metropolitan ars…According toBloomberg: Inc. agreed to buy online transit-navigation service HopStop.com Inc., people with knowledge of the dl said, seeking to improve mapping tools after a rocky debut for its directions software last yr.The people asked not to be identified because the dl isn’t public. AllThingsD reported rlier today that Cupertino, California-based is purchasing Loionary Inc., a Toronto-based company focused on business-loion maps. has confirmed the dl toAllThingsDusing its standard boilerplate text: buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we erally do not discuss our purpose or plans.The iPhone maker in yrs past acquired mapping startups Placebase, C3, Poly9 to help make the awesome iOS 6 Maps a rlity. Since the relse of iOS 6, multiple outlets have named HopStop one of the top transit apps to use in place of Maps.Business Insider, for example, wrote last August that HopStop users“can take advantage of schedules for hundreds of regional rails, subways, buses, ferries and more”Here’s HopStop CEO Joe Meyer revling back in 2011 that nrly three out of ch four HopStop users fired up the app at lst 25 times per month, almost amounting to an average of one run per day.HopStop is the seventh most popular free navigation app in the App Store.Check out HopStop for iPad.According to theofficial website, with HopStop you can:• Get directions or find nrby subway stations and bus stops with our free mobile apps
• Send directions by email directly from our website
• Plan a trip with multiple destinations
• Estimate travel time and cost for a taxi
• Get estimates for calories ed and carbon emissions savings for your route
• Find wheelchair accessible and stroller friendly routes
• Check out Rl-Time Alerts and Planned Service Changes
• See Transit Maps and Schedules
• Do Nrby Station srchesPublic transit option, or the lack of, remains the Achille’s heel of Maps for the time being. Although the company allows for some level of limited third-party integration with iOS Maps, asking for transit directions in iOS 6 yanks you out of Maps and into whatever supported third-party transit app you may have installed.The band-aid solution has always been far from perfect and many have hoped will someday fold high-quality transit data into its Maps. With this acquit-hire in place, the next major iteration of Maps could enable built-in public transit routes to travel by foot, bike, subway and car across hundreds of cities.This – and rlier today thcquisitionof Toronto-based business-loion maps provider Loionary – should be enough to silence the critics who happen to forget how Google has spent more than sever yrs iterating and perfecting its mapping service.

How to get more battery life on Macbook by reducing tabs in browsers


Gizmodopointed us to someresrchcarried out by someone who must be the poster child for having too much time on your hands: he decided to msure the amount of power aMacBook Prouses for ch tab open in a browser. The answer, in case you were curious, is 0.19 watts per tab inSafariorChrome.There is some point to it, though: the experiment showed that having 100 tabs open reduces battery-life by around an hour. While I doubt that many of us have quite that many tabs open at any one time, it does suggest that when you’re trying to eek out as much usage as you can from a battery, closing unnecessary tabs will buy you at lst a little more time.

at Q3 call: iCloud rches 320M accounts, 900B iMessages, 125B photo uploads



Senior vice president and Chief Financial rPeter Oppenheimer is on first today for ’s Q3 2013 rnings report and just provided some updates on the company’s iTunes sales, retail stores and much, much more. Not only did the App Store have its best week and best month last quarter, added a ton of content to the iTunes store thanks to new additions to the with HBO and WatchESPN. It also confirmed that it’s now at 320 million iCloud accounts, up around 20 million since WWDC in June.Hd below for a roundup of the updated s:Best month and best week ever for App Store billings. 2.4B for App Store.. total quarterly revenue of 4B from iTunes software and services.60K , 230k episodes availablecustomers downloaded more than 1B episodes, 390 million (800k episodes, 300k per day)11 billion paid to developers, half in the last four quarters320 million iCloud accounts900 billion iMessages125 billion photo uploads240 million Game Center accounts8 trillion push notifiions900K apps, 375k for iPad retail stores:–6 new stores across 5 countries, 408 stores total, 156 outside US–9 new stores coming in September–23 reloions coming in 2013–average revenue per store 10.1M–84M visitors during the quarter, 16K per store, per week

reports $35.3b revenue for Q3 2013: 31.2m i, 14.6m iPads, 3.8m Macs


Asplanned, today announced its rnings results for the Q3 2013 quarter.CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 third quarter ended June 29, 2013. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $35.3 billion and quarterly net profit of $6.9 billion, or $7.47 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $35 billion and net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share, in the yr-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent compared to 42.8 percent in the yr-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
The Company sold 31.2 million i, a record for the June quarter, compared to 26 million in the yr-ago quarter. also sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 17 million in the yr-ago quarter. The Company sold 3.8 million Macs, compared to 4 million in the yr-ago quarter.
’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $3.05 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on August 15, 2013, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 12, 2013. reported revenues for Q3 of $35.3 billion, which is within ’s estimates for the quarter of between $33.5 billion and $35.5 billion. This compares to $35 billion in revenues in the yr-ago Q3. also reportednet profit of $6.9 billion. This compares to $8.8 billion in profit during the yr-ago Q3 quarter.In terms of product sales, reports that it sold 31.2 million i, 14.6 million iPads, 3.8 million Macs, and 4.57 million iPods.This compares to the 2012 Q3 quarter in which sold: 26 million i, 17 million iPads, and 4 million Macs, and 6.8 million iPods. CEO Tim Cook on the results:“We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services,” said Tim Cook, ’s CEO. “We are rlly excited about the upcoming relses of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.” CFO Peter Oppenheimer on the results:“We erated $7.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and are plsed to have returned $18.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases,” said Peter Oppenheimer, ’s CFO.’s guidance for next quarter (Q3 2013) isrevenue between$34 billion and $37 billion.At 2 PM Pacific time, will hold a broadcasted rnings call.Full press relse below:
CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2013 third quarter ended June 29, 2013. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $35.3 billion and quarterly net profit of $6.9 billion, or $7.47 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $35 billion and net profit of $8.8 billion, or $9.32 per diluted share, in the yr-ago quarter. Gross margin was 36.9 percent compared to 42.8 percent in the yr-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter’s revenue.“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”The Company sold 31.2 million i, a record for the June quarter, compared to 26 million in the yr-ago quarter. also sold 14.6 million iPads during the quarter, compared to 17 million in the yr-ago quarter. The Company sold 3.8 million Macs, compared to 4 million in the yr-ago quarter.’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $3.05 per share of the Company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on August 15, 2013, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on August 12, 2013.“We are especially proud of our record June quarter iPhone sales of over 31 million and the strong growth in revenue from iTunes, Software and Services,” said Tim Cook, ’s CEO. “We are rlly excited about the upcoming relses of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, and we are laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products that we will introduce in the fall and across 2014.”“We erated $7.8 billion in cash flow from operations during the quarter and are plsed to have returned $18.8 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases,” said Peter Oppenheimer, ’s CFO. is providing the following guidance for its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter:• revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion• gross margin between 36 percent and 37 percent• operating expenses between $3.9 billion and $3.95 billion• other income/(expense) of $200 million• tax rate of 26.5%

Sprint’s caption-calling CapTel service for hring impaired is now iOS-friendly


Wireless CapTel, Sprint’s nationwide caption-calling service for the hring impaired, is now available to owners of ’s iOS devices. America’s third-largest wireless carrierannouncedTuesday that owners of theiPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices who have a hring losscan download a brand new iOS app, free to users on an Everything Data plan (voice-only plans are not supported).As the software taps the power of the cloud, a network connectivity is a must. The app lets you spk and listen to your caller while at the same time rd everything the other person says, right on your iDevice’s screen…Here’s how it works:Specially trained ats use an enhanced voice recognition technology to caption your calls. All calls are kept secure and confidential. Captions are provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in English, and from 7am to 11pm Central Time, 7 days a week in Spanish.Unlike traditional relay services, with CapTel thecaller never has to spk to a relay operator.The service is only available to folks who have a hring loss.On first run, you’ll be asked to sign up for the service. After registering, the app will get you a CapTel phone (different fromyour device phone )to use and receive captioned calls through the app.When people call your CapTel , or vice versa, the call will get routed to the iOS app. Therefore, it must be running to receive the call or otherwise the call will get forwarded to voicemail. CapTel will store your (captioned) voicemail for up to 30 days after the message is left.Check out a tour.Sprint’sWireless CapTelservice ispowered byUltratecandRaketutechnology.Sprint’sFAQprovides an insight into the magic behind CapTel:Specially trained ats use an enhanced voice recognition technology to caption your calls. All calls are kept secure and confidential. Captions are provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in English, and from 7am to 11pm Central Time, 7 days a week in Spanish.The U.S.-only app (international are either blocked or terminated) ftures integrated contact list, call history, font size and color modifiions, built-in voicemail and more. It supportshands-free devices like hdsets and Bluetooth devices, but strangely enoughdoes not allow use of the spkerphone.Another cavt: although it can be used for emercy calling, Sprint cautions that such emercy calling“may not function the same as traditional 911/E911 services”.Available for some time on select Android devices (the Evo 4G, Optimus G, Galaxy SIII and others), theWireless CapTel app is now live on theApp Store.

T-Mobile Launches New Ad Calling AT&T's 'Next' Upgrade Program 'Calculating, Snky, and Underhanded'


Following the introduction of T-Mobile's "Jump" and AT&T's "Next" rly upgrade programs, T-Mobile has launched a new anti-AT&T ad campaign that calls the company's Next policies "calculating, snky, and underhanded," reportsAllThingsD.

First introduced last week,Nextis AT&T's answer toJump, a T-Mobile program that allows users to upgrade their at regular intervals with a $10 monthly fee. Like Jump, Next provides AT&T users with an option to upgrade their more frequently, but its $32.50 monthly charge is on top of standard monthly fees, ultimately causing customers to pay double for their devices.

Acomparisonof the two plans revls that a T-Mobile customer using Jump would pay $518 for a 16 GB iPhone 5 over the course of a yr while a customer using Next would pay $630, a premium of $112. With both plans, customers have to trade in existing devices and pay the monthly fees in order to obtain an upgrade.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere has been vocal about AT&T Next since its debut, relsing a of tweetscondemning the program. The company's newest ad includes a quote fromThe Vergethat Legere highlighted last week: "AT&T's rction to T-Mobile's transparency is to be more deceptive than ever."


Verizon has also introduced an upgrade program called "Edge," whichshares similaritieswith AT&T's Next program. A 16 GB iPhone 5 costs $565 on the plan. According to T-Mobile marketing chief Mike Sievert, Verizon will be targeted in ads set to run later this week.

"There are rl and material differences between what we are doing and the so-called upgrade programs that AT&T and Verizon are doing," he said.

T-Mobile and AT&T have an ongoing feud that originally began in 2011 after AT&T wasunable to purchasethe T-Mobile network due to objections from the Federal Communiions Commission and the Department of Justice.

Tensions ramped up in January after Legere called the AT&T network "crap," lding to anadvertising warbetween the two companies as T-Mobile unveiled its "Un-Carrier" policies, designed to decouple device fees from service fees.

/iOS continues ld as top mobile advertising platform by impressions & revenue


Opera Mediaworks, the“world’s lding mobile advertising platform”, is out today with its reportcovering the state of mobile advertising for Q2 2013. Using data from the over 35 billion mobile ad impressions its platform handles ch month, Opera Mediaworks gives some insight into ’s dominance with iOS and its huge ld over Android when it comes to revenue & impressions from tablets. continued to ld as the top platform in terms of monetization, with 44% of all ad impressions and close to half of total revenue (49.36%). Its ld over Android is largely due to the success of the iPad, however, as removing tablets from the equation puts Android smart and the iPhone neck and neck:However, when comparing mobile using iOS and Android the two OS are in a virtual tie for share of ad impressions, with just over 30% ch. Late last yr, Android inched ahd of iPhone with a slight ld (31% vs. 29%), but iPhone has been inching back and, within one percentage point ever since.Despite that, the iPhone still grabs the most revenue from those impressions with 36.4% of revenue compared to just 27.8% for Android. The report adds that “while in Q1 Android tablets began appring in our data set, their market share is still almost imperceptible.”When it comes to ad impressions by manufacturer, not surprisingly has quite a jump on two , with 43.8% of all impressions compared to ’s 17.4%.That’s just for smart, though, as the report has ’s share among tablets at 91.2% compared to just 6.1% for : is still the top manufacturer of mobile devices, with 43.8% of all impressions served on its devices. is the strongest contender from the rest of the pack, with a 17.4% share. Among tablets, captures the lion’s share (91.2%) with following at 6.1%.However, when segmenting the view to focus solely on Android device manufacturers, emerges as the clr lder, with 58.5% of impressions going to devices. , and fall far behind, all in the 7-11% range.

rolls out update to Store iPhone app


Followingour report that would be rolling out an updated Store apptoday, the company has just updatedthe iPhone appto version 2.7. The updated app includes several performance improvements, one of which bringsimproved product srch capabilities. is also working on a fture that would display offers to download free content to users while in the App Store, but it’s unclr if this version of the app includes that functionality. It’s possible the functionality is only displayed to users when inside an Store loion, or if the update lacks the content because it requires a yet-to-happen server-side push.rlier this month,we reported that was working on a new initiativt Stores that would encourage store employees to install the Store app on newly purchased i. The new version of the app would also then promote content from iTunes, the App Store, and iBooks by offering users the ability to download content free for a limited time.Below is a screenshot from an source showing ’s internal documents detailing free content downloads and other new ftures:

AT&T falls behind Verizon in Q3 2013 iPhone s for the first time since 2007, announces 3.7M s



Interesting news from AT&T’s Quarterly report today. T only activated 3.7 million i in the quarter. Verizon announced last week that it had activated almost 3.9 million making AT&T now the #2 iPhone mobile network in the US for the first time since it began selling the device in 2007.AT&T/Cingular was ’s launch partner and it has been the one seller of i ever since.Strong Smartphone Sales Continue. AT&T sold 5.1 million smart in the second quarter. Smart represented 77 percent of postpaid device sales. At the end of the quarter, 61.9 percent, or 43.1 million, of AT&T’s postpaid subscribers had smart, up from 49.9 percent, or 34.1 million, a yr rlier. AT&T’s ARPU for smart is twice that of non-smartphone subscribers, and about 88 percent of smartphone subscribers are on FamilyTalk® or business plans. Churn levels for these subscribers are significantly lower than for other postpaid subscribers. More than one-third of AT&T’s postpaid smartphone customers use a 4G-capable device.
Android, iPhone and device sales were supported by AT&T’s 4G network. Only AT&T’s 4G network lets iPhone 4S download three-times faster than any other U.S. carrier’s network. In the quarter, the company activated 3.7 million i, with 22 percent new to AT&T.The is still up yr over yr.Last quarter,AT&T activated 4 million ibut that was a lower 67% of Smartphone sales.

makes ‘clr improvements’ to iDevice crime prevention, SF DA says


At lst one critic is satisfied by ’s efforts to slow a growing of iPhone crimes. San Fran’s District Attorney, who rlier called on the iPhone maker to install a so-called kill switch in its handsets, now believes a fture in the company’s upcoming iOS 7 shows“clr improvements”by the tech giant.San Fran District Attorney George Gascón made the comment Friday after testing ’s Lock fture alongside the Absolute Software’s Lojack running on ’s Galaxy S4…“I’m very optimistic that they came and were willing to share their technology with us,”Gascón told theSan Fran Examiner.The Lockfture is part of iOS 7, expected to be relsed in September. Unveiled in June, Lock prevents a stolen iPhone from being activated unless the thief knows the owner’s ID.Last week, Gascóngathered security expertsto test the ftures included in both the and handsets. At the time, the DA said the experts would“see if [the ftures] stand up to the tactics commonly employed by thieves.”In June, both the San Fran law enforcement official and New York City Attorney eral Eric Schneiderman announcedSave Our Smart(S.O.S.), an initiative aimed at protecting smartphone owners from a growing trend of theft, especially i.Around one in three thefts involve smart, according to the FCC.While impressed with ’s efforts, the two men said they will not drop the topic until they get a response from Android maker Google and Phone crtor . Both company have yet supplied anti-theft msures for tests, according to the report.Along with the Lock fture in iOS 7, reportedly is expected to include a fingerprint sensor in its iPhone 5S, a handset many believe is up for introduction this Fall.As smart become as commonplace as wallets and other everyday accessories, security must be a fture for handset designers. Building in virtual kill-switches in phone software, as well as hardware which ties ownership to biometrics, should be seen as important first steps.

Popular voice and messaging service ‘Viber’ by Syrian Electronic Army


Popular voice and messaging service Viber has been by the Syrian Electronic Army, reports The News. The grouphas a history of the Twitter accounts of the Associated Press, The Guardian,and other news sources.Proof of today’s attack came in the form of a warning message on Viber’s support website (which has since been). The S claims that the messaging platform is spying and tracking its users, and it posted a screenshot of alleged evidence…Here’s the posted by THN:Initially, it wasn’t clr how much information the S was able to snag, or what it planned to do with it. But in a statement to9to5Mac, Viber said the attackers didn’t get beyond their support servers andthat no sensitive user data was exposed.“Today the Viber Support site was defaced after a Viber employee unfortunately fell victim to an email phishing attack. The phishing attack allowed access to two minor systems: a customer support panel and a support administration system. Information from one of these systems was posted on the defaced page.It is very important to emphasize that no sensitive user data was exposed and that Viber’s databases were not “”. Sensitive, private user information is kept in a secure system that cannot be accessed through this type of attack and is not part of our support system.We take this incident very seriously and we are working right now to return the support site to full service for our users. Additionally, we want to assure all of our users that we are reviewing all of our policies to make sure that no such incident is repted in the future.”The attack comes at an interesting time, as s have been in the news quite a bit lately. ’s developer center, for instance, is still down aftersuffering a security brchlast week. And the S’s claim that Viber tracks its users isalso timely.As of May of this yr,Viberhad around 200 million users, communiing in over30 languages, around the globe.

San Fran District Attorney Impressed by iOS 7's Lock Fture


Afternewsthat government officials would be testing the efficiency of iOS 7’s Lock against thieves, San Fran District Attorney George Gascón has come out in support of the fture, saying that “clr improvements” have been made to stop criminals,according to theSan Fran Examiner.


Last week, Gascón and New York Attorney eral Eric Schinderman brought in security experts from the Northern California Regional lice Center to test out ’s Lock fture as well as Absolute Software’sLojackservice on the Galaxy S4 in order to determine how effective they are against thieves.
"I'm very optimistic that they came and were willing to share their technology with us," Gascon said in a statement, also noting that and Google had not yet come forth with their plans to combat theft. Gascón did not detail how the specific ftures work, explaining that they were not yet finished.Both attorneys called for the tests as a part of theSecure Our Smartphone(S.O.S) program that aims to stop the theft and black market resale of stolen mobile devices. While carriers have alrdy established a database to track stolen , it has proven to belargely futile. Prior to these tests, Gascón and Schneiderman called for smart to have a kill switch that would disable them in the event of theft.

Announcedat WWDC, Lock is set to be included in iOS 7, which is expected to be relsed to consumers this fall.

AAPL rnings preview: what the analysts expect from Q3


With ’sQ3 rnings callstarting at 2pm PT/5pm ET today (which we’ll of course be covering live),Fortunehas posted the results of its usualquarterly into what analysts are predicting.The executive summary is that the analysts are pessimistic, though in line with ’s guidance.rnings [per share] estimates are down across the board — anywhere from -7% yr over yr (according to independentPatrick Smellie from the Brae Group) to -29% (Susquehanna’s Chris Caso) …
There is consensus that yr-on-yr revenues will be either flat or slightly down, but interestingly theconsistency we saw in the predicted s for Q2 (whichturned outto beunder-estimates) have gone.In eral, the converce we saw developing in Q2 has started to reverse. In April, the gap between the pros’ and the amateurs’ revenue estimates was just1.3%.Now they seem to be drifting apart again. The revenue gap for Q3 has more than doubled, to 3.5%. On rnings, the two groups are, on average, 7.1% apart.Here’s the full set of estimates (institutional analysts in blue, independents in green, ’s high and low guidance in red):As ever, it’s the institutional estimates that tend to drive the share price, so the s the market is looking for in terms of sales are these:iPhone: 26.57M
iPad: 17.62M
iPod: 4.98M
Mac: 3.86MAnd translated into the financials:Revenue: $34.94B
Gross margin: 36.6 percent
rnings Per Share (EPS): $7.29If hits or bts these s, the stock price will likely rise; if performance falls short, the stock price likely falls.

Jobs star Ashton Kutcher rumored to be close to $10M dl to sell PC



Ashton Kutcheris continuing to rake in the dough. We’re told the “Jobs” star is close to inking a $10 million endorsement dl with computer company , which will include him appring in a of ads. Kutcher is no stranger to posing pretty with technology, acting as the face of Nikon since 2009. In April, rumors arose that the relationship soured when Kutcher asked for double his multimillion-dollar salary, with reps for Nikon denying a split. Kutcher is still ironing out divorce proceedings withDemi Moore. In May, Page Six reported the pair were battling over his venture-capital fund withGuy OsryandRon Burkle, A-Grade investments, which sources said was being worked on for a private offering based on a $100 million valuation. “Ashton made a lot of money after [he and Demi] married, but he doesn’t believe he owes her as much as she’s asking for,” a source told us. Kutcher, now datingMila Kunis, is ’s highest-paid actor for “Two and a Half Men,” which netted him $24 million between May 2011 and May 2012.

to Dump AU Optronics as Display Supplier for Next-eration iPad Mini?


ETNews.comreportsthat is discontinuing its relationship with AU Optronics to supply display panels for the iPad mini as production on displays for the second-eration models is expected to ramp up in the coming months. According to the report, Display is alrdy onboard and Sharp is in solid position given its technological advantage in energy efficiency, while other display manufacturers such as are competing to replace AU Optronics' production share.
Display alrdy secured order from . Sharp seems to have no problem in getting approval from as a supplier for iPad mini 2 despite some product quality problems, because it is the only supplier of oxide semiconductor L. Oxide semiconductor L has an advantage of saving electricity. plans to apply oxide semiconductor L to iPad mini 2 despite the initial low production yield, because it gives the advantage of saving electricity.AU Optronics won a share of display production for the original iPad mini, butstruggled with production issuesand reportedly did notch upon production until months after the device's launch, contributing to tight supplies.

According to today's report, AU Optronics has been unable to meet technical and timing milestones for the next-eration iPad mini, and 'simproving relationshipwith 's display arm may be giving more flexibility in managing its suppliers.

's plans for its next-eration iPad mini have been the subject of numerous conflicting rumors, with some suggesting that a Retina iPad mini will launch later this yr, while others have indied that the company will launch a new non-Retina model later this yr before adding a Retina display rly next yr. Just yesterday, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuoreportedthat will not be updating the iPad mini until it can launch a Retina display version in March or April 2014.

New Details Emerge on Security Resrcher Potentially Responsible for Dev Center Outage


rly this morning, independent security resrcher Ibrahim Balicspeculatedthat he may responsible for thesecurity brchthat caused an extended outage of 's Developer Center, which hasbeen offlinesince late last week.

Despite Balic's claim that he reported his findings directly to and did not intend to act maliciously, information that he gave in an interview withTechCrunchsuggests somewhat questionable behavior.

Balic, who has reported 13 different bugs to , originally discovered an iAd Workbench vulnerability on June 18 that allowed a request sent to the server to be manipulated. This security hole could be used to acquire the names and email addresses of iTunes users (even non-developers). After finding the loophole, Balic wrote a Python script to harvest data from the vulnerability and then displayed it in a YouTube , which may have put him on 's radar.

A screenshot of Balic's submitted bug reports. Click to enlarge.
In addition to the iAd Workbench bug, Balic also discovered and submitted a report on a bug that caused the Dev Center site to be vulnerable to a stored XSS attack. While Balic says that it was possible to access user data by ing the Dev Center issue, he claims that he did not do so. According toTechCrunch, Balic's YouTube (which has since been removed) contained full names and email addresses, and it is unclr where they originated.
It's too bad, though, that the seemed so definitive: After showing off s of 's downed Dev Center and the company's official response, Balic then showed a slew of files that seem to contain full names and email addresses. It seems pretty damning, but Balic says that he never went after the Developer Center site directly, and all that user information he highlighted came from the iAd Workbench. Two separate bugs paved the way for one very confusing .Balic claims that he harvested data on 73 employees and 100,000 other iTunes users, but he says that he did not use the Developer Center that he first submitted on July 16, instd garnering the data from the iAd Workbench issue.

TechCrunchreports that the data that Balic gained (limited to email addresses and IDs) may have come from non-developer accounts, though has clrly stated that only developer accounts were affected.
Throughout our conversation, Balic maintained that he was only ever trying to help . When asked why he downloaded all that user data rather than simply reporting the bug, Balic says he just wanted to see how "deep" he could go. If he wanted to do ill, he says, he wouldn't have reported everything he found. For what it's worth, he also says he never attempted to reset anyone's — the farthest he went was to email one of the addresses he had discovered and ask if it was rlly the person's ID. Balic didn't get a response.Due to the ambiguity of the source of the names and email addresses shown in Balic's , it is unclr whether or not he caused the Dev Center outage by manipulating the iAd Workbench bug and it is equally unclr what his intentions were.

says 1 billion podcasts subscribed to via iTunes, celebrates with special section


On its Podcasts page in the iTunes Store, has announced that one billion podcasts have been subscribed to via iTunes. launched its Podcasts section in 2005 as an alternative to radio shows. Podcasts allows individuals to companies to crte their own shows and offer them for download to ’s iTunes customers. has also made the announcement viaTwitter:In celebration of the significant milestone, has crted a special section in iTunes that lists some of the most popular Podcasts available. This section highlights “classics” such as60 Minutes,NPR,andThis American Life, in addition to some currently popular offerings such asNBC Nightly NewsandTEDTalks.The specialiTunes pagerds:From comedy to hard new to to innovative eduional content and so much more, podcasting has transformed the global media landscape. Podcasts on iTunes launched in the summer of 2005 and since then, we’ve seen countless episodes downloaded and strmed.But the hrt of podcasting is finding your favorite voices in this exciting field and subscribing to the best ones. To celebrate rching 1 billion podcast subscribers, we’re highlighting some of the most popular podcasts of all time, as well as a collection of captivating new shows.

Download Link: Thor: The Dark World – The Official Game IPA for iPhone/iPod/iPad


Gameloft and Marvel announced the official tie-in game for the upcoming Thor sequel this weekend. It’s called ‘Thor: The Dark World – The Official Game’ (that’s it’s rl name), and it will be arriving on iOS and Android platforms this November.We don’t know much about the game, outside of its title. But judging by this Gameloft posted this afternoon, it looks like it’s going to fture gorgeous graphics, and the usual-and-slash gameplay. We’ve posted the clip after the fold…The caption of the rds: “Take the role of Thor! Ld Asgardian forces in the exciting and varied missions against Marauders and Dark Elves and save the world!” Gameloft says it will be a free-to-play title, and offer up more than 100 missions.Fromthe studio’s blog:“Thor: The Dark World – The Official Game will allow fans of the franchise to play as one of Marvel’s most iconic Super Heroes in a game of epic scope and buty.” said Javon Frazier, VP Games Marketing at Marvel. “With this new game, we are further expanding the successful relationship between Marvel and Gameloft.”Frazier is right, Gameloft is developing quite the relationship with Marvel. It has handled a of their tie-in games, such asIron Man 3andIron Man 2,The Amazing SpidermanandUltimate Spiderman Total Mayhem. The list goes on and on.That mns that we’re expecting’Thor: The Dark World – The Official Game’ to be a good one. No official relse date has been mentioned yet, but given that the opens in November, we’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that the game will land around then.So, who’s excited about the new Thor game/?

iPad 5/iPhone 5S/budget model in September, no Retina iPad mini in 2013


KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is fast becoming the de facto most reliable watcher. Expanding on hisApril notewhich advised investors to brace themselves for a delayed iDevice roll-out over manufacturing“challenges,”his just-updated shipments timetable now offers more in way of detail.Long story short, the analyst is expecting theiPhone 5Sin late-September, but in limited quantity, with the oft-rumoredplastic iPhone(he’s calling it an ‘iPhone Lite’)becoming available even sooner than the iPhone 5S in rly-September because its chassis is sier to make than the two-tone iPhone 5S design.rly September will also bring us an updatediPad 5, he said, but there will be no iPad mini successor this yr due to engineering issues. As for the Mac family, Kuo sees a mid-September launch of a Haswell-enabled Retina MacBook Pro, with a Haswell-driven iMac up for a late-August introduction. The full brkdown is right after the brk…Check out the shipments timetable, part of a resrch note obtained byInsider.The full brkdown follows:The iPhone 5S– ongoing difficulties with the handset assembly coupled witroduction setbacks over“numerous components”(fingerprint sensor, much?) will affect availability following a late September launch. He noted the same quality issues had caused problems with the iPhone 5 supply post-launch.Plastic iPhone– because plastic is sier to mold and mass-produce compared to the exquisite two-tone iPhone 5S chassis, the rumored off-contract$450-$550budget iPhone with“novel”new fturesshouldbe available sooner than the iPhone 5S, as soon as rly-September. He pegged 2013 shipments at 26 million vs market consensus of 30 to 40 million units.iPad 5-the redesigned fifth- iPad adopting the iPad mini’s apprance will be the“highlight of iPad in 2013″when itlaunches in rly-September (DigiTimesconcurs).iPad mini 2–Unlike DigiTimes, Kuo isn’t holding his brth for a Retina iPad mini because hasn’t yet solved energy and performance requirements of squeezing four times the pixels in much a smaller form factor than the 9.7-inch iPad. He sees anA7 chippowering the iPad mini 2 and calls for a launch no sooner than March or April 2014. What might transpire in 2013 is a slightlycer iPad mini ($299?) fturing the same A5 chip a the current model, around December at the rliest.iMac and Retina MacBook Pro– havingrefreshed the MacBook Airaround ’s fourth-eration Core architecture at June’s WWDC, should launch a next- iMa the end of August. There will also be an update to the Retina MacBook Pro lineup in mid-September. Both updates will fture the new Haswell chips and possibly other goodies.If Kuo’s timetable is anything to go by, there should be a major media event in late-August or rly-September to announce the next iPhone and iPad (the iMac refresh could be handled via a press relse and a website update).So there you have it.Sounds pretty much spot on to me.What do you guys make of this?

refunds father $6000 for App Store purchases made by 8-yr-old daughter


I don’t have kids yet. But when I do, I’m going to make sure that I take all of the necessary steps to prevent them from making purchases in the App Store. There arevarious ways to do this, and for me it’s just common sense—I wouldn’t lve them with rl money.But apparently, it’s not such a cut-and-dry matter for some folks. Take this story by UK’s Mirror publiion, which went viral this weekend, about an 8-yr-old girl racking up a staggering $6000 App Store bill on her father’s iPad by making several in-app purchases…The Mirrorreports:“An eight-yr-old girl ran up a massive £4,000 bill by playing free games on her dad’s iPad.Lee Nle said he may have to sell his car and two motorbikes after daughter Lily blew a small fortune in ’s iTunes App Store.The youngster spent more than £2,000 in six days paying for in-game upgrades and bonus content through 74 transactions.Horrified Lee found out when the bank froze his account and banned him from withdrawing cash.He said the schooirl was unaware she was being charged “rl money”.Lee, 43, fumed: “Lily is only eight and hasn’t grasped the concept of money.”Lee, an aerospace engineer fromSomerset, U.K., says that his daughter had admitted that she had seenhim enter his into his iPad when downloading things from the App Store, and she used it to buy hundreds of IAPs from games like Campus Life and My Horse., of course, sent Lee dozens of e-mail receipts confirming Lily’s purchases, but he admits he didn’t notice them until it was too late. He called to try and get them to erase the charges, explaining that she was only 8-yrs-old, but they refused to refund his money.But for rsons that are still unclr, the Cupertino company has since decided to reverse its course. “ called me to say they will be refunding the money I have lost,” he told the outlet, “and apologized for closing my case so rly.” The change of hrt isn’t surprising. has taken a lot of ht over the yrs for its ‘in-app purchasing’ mechanism. The company has not onlyhad to refunda parents for unauthorized purchases, but it’s also spent an estimated $100 million on a recentclass-action lawsuit settlementover IAPs. Yikes.

Best Buy to reboot iPad trade-in program tomorrow, $200+ gift card offered through Aug. 3



In a move to close out the fiscal quarter strong, Best Buy will re-launch its iPad trade-in program tomorrow, July 23rd. The program, which offers a $200+ gift card toward the purchase of a fourth-eration iPad with Retina display, will run until August 3rd.Best Buypiloted an iPad trade-in-program rlier this monthfor two days due to thesuccess of the iPhone version.For this new trade-in-program, iPad 2 and third-eration iPad models without water damage or a display are eligible. While Best Buy will formally announce the special tomorrow, a Best Buy employee provided the above memo to employees detailing the dl.
Full memo below:

relses OS X Mavericks Developer Preview 4


Two weeks afterseedingOS X Mavericks Developer Preview 3 to developers, has made Preview 4 available via Software Update on the Mac App Store. If you find anything new, you can let us know at vinit5320@gmail.com. We’ll update this post with a running list of changes.Changes below:
- New installation screen:
- LinkedIn quick posting to Connections via Notifiion Center:
- Subtle new Time Machine icon while taking a backup:
- While in Mission Control, you can scroll through pages/

Older i comprise almost half of ’s U.S. handset sales


’s iPhone 5 accounts for just over half of the company’s smartphone sales, with 48 percent coming from the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, according to new resrch. That compares to the iPhone 4S which comprised about 75 percent of sales almost a yr after launch.The figures illustrate how a larger portion of ’s smartphone revenue is being erated by lower-cost iPhone models, a concern for investors hding into Tuesday’s third-quarter financial report…Although the iPhone 5′s share of sales briefly rose to 68 percent in October 2012, the level fell to 50 percent by December, rising to 52 percent in June 2013, according toConsumer lice Resrch Partners, viaAllThingsD.The iPhone 4S – which had 23 percent of iPhone sales in October 2012 – rose to 30 percent of handset sales by June of this yr.Likewise, the iPhone 4 saw its portion of sales double between October 2012 to June 2013, according to the CIRP figures.iPhone 5 apprs to have settled in at about half of all iPhone sales, nine months after its initial launch.In contrast, the rlier flagship model, iPhone 4S, accounted for almost three-quarters of i sales almost a yr after its launch.Furthermore, iPhone 4S had 90 percent of all iPhone sales in the period immediately after launch, compared to 70 percent for iPhone 5.In other words, the iPhone 4S saw grter initial demand and longer-lasting demand than the iPhone 5.But why?One rson for the difference may have been due to the view by consumers that the iPhone 4S had enough new ftures to be worthy of upgrading the handset.In another sign that iPhone 4S owners felt there wasn’t enough rson to upgrade to the iPhone 5, the majority of people buying an iPhone either came from Android (26 percent) or from simple fture (24 percent.)Only thirteen percent of iPhone buyers were upgrading from the iPhone 4S.The findings come as U.S. carriers attempt to spark more smartphone sales by offeringmore flexible upgradeterms. The new data shows only T-Mobile, which just recently began offering i, is attracting iPhone buyers.AT&T, Verizon and Sprint saw their percentage of handset sales fall between March and June. Verizon has announced it mayowe billionsfor unsold i it had pledged to buy.The s also suggest both and the carriers have much to gain by offering an iPhone 5S that is significantly different than the iPhone 5. Perhaps the best fture could be a lower price. There has also been much talk about amid-range iPhonethat could attract price-conscious buyers in emerging markets.As we’ve seen with the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, those marked-down handsets have proved popular both in the U.S. and elsewhere, such as China and India. Likewise, T-Mobile could take advantage of a low-cost handset, since the carrier has positioned itself as the low-cost alternative to the other three wireless providers.

AT&T Launches Two New Mobile Share Data Plan Options


AT&T today announced the launch of two newMobile Share plan options, including a 300MB and a 2GB data plan, both of which include unlimited talk and text.

Firstintroducedlast summer, AT&T's Mobile Share service plans are designed to allow users to share monthly data allotments across multiple devices. The plans come with both a monthly data cost and a per-device charge that ranges from $10 to $45 based on the data plan selected and the type of device.

Previously, AT&T's Mobile Share plans started at 1GB of shared data and then jumped to 4GB, so the new options give customers who use less data additional pricing choices. The 300MB option is available for $20 per month with a $50 charge per smartphone bringing the total plan cost to $70 per month, while the 2GB option costs $50 with a $45 charge per smartphone, for a total cost per month of $95.



As AT&T rolls out new Mobile Share plans, its rly upgrade pricing has also been gaining some attention. A report fromGotta Be Mobilepoints out that a of AT&T customers have begun receiving rly device upgrade options, which appr to be part of the 24-month upgrade policy that AT&Tintroducedlast month. AT&T has offered similar rly upgrade discounts in the past.
rly upgrades. Once you’ve completed six months or more of your Service Commitment, you qualify for partial discount off the full retail price when you sign a new two-yr wireless agreement.
Several AT&T iPhone customers have logged in and found themselves eligible for a discount on an upgrade, and according to AT&T, users that have completed at lst six months of their contracts should be eligible for a partial discount off of the full retail price of a new device.

It is, however, unclr how AT&T is doling out its rly upgrades as it apprs to be limited to an upgrade on a phone brand that is alrdy in use (an iPhone user can only rly upgrade to another iPhone, for example) and other users have reported not seeing an rly upgrade discount at all.

AT&T's new Mobile Share plans will be available beginning on July 26.

Canary aims to be home security for all of us


iOS continues to change modern livingfor the better by improving upon the connected home id through various innovative app-enabled accessories from third-parties, like the butiful and smartNest thermostat,thelit light bulbsand clever locks by the likes ofJawbonndKwikset, to name just a few.Canary,“the world’s first smartphone security device for everyone”by a New York-based startup, promises to beef up your home security by bringing motion detection, push alerts, strming spycam and other goodies to your iPhone by way of a IndieGoGo crowd-funded project.
The stylish device, reminiscent of Jony Ive’s industrial design work, comes packed with a 720p HD camera, wide angle lens, Wi-Fi connectivity and smart sensors that detect motion, and is sy to set up on your mobile device. I’ve included a promotional for your viewing plsure just after the brk…Here it is.According to the project’s IndieGoGo web page:Canary is a single device that contains an HD camera and multiple sensors that track everything from motion, temperature and air quality to vibration, sound, and activity to help keep you, your family and your home safe.It works in conjunction with an iOS or Android device and alerts you of sudden temperature changes possibly indiing a fire,the sound and movement that could mn an intrusion and so forth. When you notice an out of ordinary activity at your home, the app lets youtext someone to check in, call the police or sound a nasty siren in the hope of scaring the burglar away.Akin to the lit Nest thermostat, Canary gets smarter over time as itlrns your home’s rhythms to send you smarter alerts, resulting infewer false alarms. Users are able to installup to four Canary devices in one loion that connect through the app.Design-wise, the six inches tall and three inches wide appliance looks like something out ofNest’s(or Jony Ive’s) kitchen.In terms of hardware, the gizmo packs in a 720p camera with night vision and wide angle lens, Wi-Fi connectivity, a high-quality mic, motion detection (passive infrared), a spker, a powerful siren, a three-axis accelerometer and sensors that msure temperature, humidity and air quality.They are planning on introducing optional premium service plans (contract-free) after the products ship. These will include a 24-hour call-center backup (it canalert the authorities in case of burglary if you’re unable to respond immediately)and storing events over a longer period of time (by default, Canary logs eventson its servers for several weeks).Available in Matte Black, Classic White and Silver, the $199 device will start shipping in January 2014.The IndieGoGo campaign is seeking toraise $100,000, ending on September 20. rly backers geta $50 discount so hd over to the project’sIndieGoGo web pagnd decide for yourself.

Popoveractions - (Cydia Twk)


Popoveractionsis acydia twk launched by Bensge in the BigBoss Repo for Free.

The Information Provided by the developer on this twk is:

" Make UIActionSheets ('action sheets') use the iPad-popover style on the iPhone. Works in any app, for example s, Safari, any Appstore App... except root apps like iFile or Cydia.
This twk is open-source, the source available at Github
No options to configure. "


Download Popoveractions Cydia Twk
Screenshot:


Popoveractions - (Cydia Twk)

Sleep2EndCall For CallBar - (Cydia Twk)


Sleep2EndCall For CallBar is acydia twk launched by Ron Thakrar in the BigBoss Repo for Free.

The Information Provided by the developer on this twk is:

" Because there's a better way to end the call than swiping the CallBar!
No icon added to the home screen or options to configure in Settings. For iOS 5 and 6."


Download Sleep2EndCall for CallBar Cydia Twk
Screenshot:


Download Link: Chainsaw Warrior IPA for iPhone/iPod/iPad


Chainsaw Warrior, a one-player zombie board game published way back in 1987 byGames Workshop(best known in the US for theWarhammer 40,000andBlood Bowlfranchises), will be making the lp to iOS later this yr, the British publisher announced.Crted byAuroch Digital, an indie development studio based in UK’s Bristol Games Hub, the game is set in the nr future: the yr is 2032 and you must defend the mankind from a zombie apocalypse which has ensued after a dimensional rift opened up in a New York slum…Your character – named Chainsaw Warrior – is abrutal, mysterious and eponymous hero.But why resurrect last century’smutant and zombie infested classic?Tomas RawlingsAuroch’s Design & Production Director, explains in amedia relse:It’s a game I played as a kid and loved. I see it as the pre-cursor of First Person Shooters when games technology could not rlly do the first person or the shooting.For me this is not only a grt game, but a classic of board game design – a solo shooter that rlly challenges the player.He says the tm has kept much of the 80s style of the game, updated for the 21st century apprance. But it won’t be your typical casual time-killer though.“The game has many ways to kill you and is unafraid to use them,”Rawlings said,“which makes it all the sweeter when you finally win.”And if you can’t stand multiplayer gaming like myself, you’ll love the individual experience ofChainsaw Warrior.We’re expecting tons ofguns blazing and chainsaw-blades revving, that’s for sure.Check out the originalad from White Dwarf.The new cover artwork is top-right and the original board game is pictured below.I also couldn’t resist sharingthe original spoof ad for the game, via@D_Nye_Griffiths.Older rders will recall the original game ftured some rlly butiful artwork byBrett Ewins.Chainsaw Warrioris due on the iPhone, iPad and Android devices at the end of summer, followed by the Mac and PC edition soon therfter. Stay tuned as we share more information in the run-up to its relse.Publisher Workshop Games is also behind two other popular digital ports of board games,Space HulkandWarhammer 40,000: Armageddon.To lrn more about the upcomingChainsaw Warriorreboot, check outAuroch’s website,theirFacebook pageorthe officialmini-website.

launches Dev Center status dashboard


Seven days into theDev Center outagnd there’s no end in sight to this major blunder. Developers use ’s Dev Center to access technical documentation, download iOS 7 and OS X beta builds, file bug reports, give feedback, use web tools to manage their and much more.Therefore, this downtime is entirely unacceptable and it’s become totally conceivable now that such a significant downtime might spoil ’sblockbuster Fall.Rlizing as much, the firm on Wednesday posted a notice outlining its steps going forward.And, a brand newdashboardstatus page charts ’s recovery from the …To assure its registered developers it mns business and is scrambling to bring Dev Center back online, wrote:We apologize for the significant inconvenience caused by our developer website downtime. We’ve been working around the clock to overhaul our developer systems, update our server software, and rebuild our entire database. While we complete the work to bring our systems back online, we want to share the latest with you.We plan to roll out our updated systems, starting with Certifies, Identifiers & Profiles, Developer Forums, Bug Reporter, pre-relse developer libraries, and s first.Next, we will restore software downloads, so that the latest betas of iOS 7, X 5, and OS X Mavericks will once again be available to program members. We’ll then bring the remaining systems online.To keep you up to date on our progress, we’ve crted a status page to display the availability of our systems.The company has emailed this announcement to its developers as well.It surely makes sense to bring up low-priority systems before allowing developers to download beta software.However, even though is able to deliver the next iOS 7 build as an over-the-air update, it would be of little use to developers without the documentation and the tools.There are lots of complex dependencies involved here and that ’s been working around the clock to“overhaul our developer systems, update our server software, and rebuild our entire database”is certainly rssuring but sorting this mess out is simply taking too long.The new Dev Center Status Page doesn’t look promising either.Yh, it’s reminiscent of theiCloud status page.At post time, only iTunes Connect, a web-based tool to upload and manage iTunes content, was up and running.The remaining 14 systems were all offline, including iOS/Mac/Safari Dev Center, s,App Store Resource Center and others.UPDATE:Bug Reporter went online right after publiion of this article.The Dev Center controversy hted up with a security resrcher stepping forward claiming he informed of a bunch of vulnerabilities he’d found on its servers.One of the bugs was aniAd Workbench which might have enabled him to download developers’encrypted private information. immediately took the entire Dev Center down andconfirmedno credit card information or personal iTunes accounts were compromised as a result of the security brch.Developers whose program membership was set to expire during the downtime needn’t worry as has alrdy extended their membership.And,“your app will remain on the App Store,”the firm said.That’s little consolation to programmers who have been tirelessly testing their work against iOS 7 builds and are now forced to wait until gets its act together.

to discontinue iPhone 5 alongside budget, 5S launch


A new report out of Kor today claims that is goingto be discontinuing production of the iPhone 5 this fall, transferring all of its efforts to its next eration flagship handset,the iPhone 5S, and the long-rumored ‘budget iPhone.’Citing ‘industry partners’ with knowledge of the situation, ETNews is reporting this afternoon that has asked its supply chain partners to wind down iPhone 5 production. And, according to the report, it plans to halt it altogether this fall…The move would certainly mark a major departure from ’s usual routine, as the company has in yrs past kept the previous two erations of its smartphone in production alongside its new handset. But perhaps it doesn’t need to this time.Look at the current iPhone lineup. sells the iPhone 5 starting at $199, the iPhone 4S at $99 and offers the iPhone 4 for free (with contracts of course). Maybe, though, feels it can rch the low-end markets with its new budget iPhone.
But today’s report says ’s rsoning for discontinuing the iPhone 5 is just as much of a production strategy as it is anything else.ETNewssays thatthe in-cell techused in the iPhone 5′s touchscreen isn’t suitable for “low volume” production.That’s odd, because the iPhone 5S is widely expected to be an almost exact replica of its predecessor, with only internal changes. But again, maybe is confident enough in the budget iPhone’s future that it’s changing stuff up to accommodate it.Here’s a hands-on with what is believed to be the budget iPhone’s plastic shell:For those who haven’t been keeping up with the low cost iPhone reports, they’ve all been very consistent, pointing to a device made of plastic and metal. The design resembles the iPhone 5, with rounded edges, and it’s believed to be priced around $300.Needless to say, it’s expected to be a huge hit.So what does all of this mn? It’s hard to say. While I wouldn’t be surprised to see discontinue the iPhone 4 and 4S this yr—as it moves towards an all-Lightning lineup—it’s hard to imagine that it’d discontinue itsmost popular (by far) handset.But hey, I guess that’s what speculation is for. What do you think, does keep or get rid of the iPhone 5 this yr?

's iPad 5 Set to Continue Driving Market Shift Toward In-Cell Display Technology


Digitimesreportsthat the adoption of new touch-sensor systems in both the iPhone 5 and iPad has caused a notable shift in the supply chain of the touch panel market, according to resrch carried out by the firm DisplaySrch.
Displays with in-cell touch are expected to rise from 7.3% of mobile phone shipments in 2012 to 13.7% in 2013, while shipments of GG DITO (double-sided ITO glass) structure are expected to decline from 10.3% to 0.6%. For tablets, shipments of GF2 sensor structure are expected to rise from 4.7% in 2012 to 28.4% in 2013, while shipments of GG DITO structure decline from 37.2% to 8.1%.Calvin Hseih, resrch director at DisplaySrch, notes that has been primarily responsible for this shift, despite the massive of touchscreen devices alrdy on the market. 's shift from a GG type touch-sensor system (glass on glass) to in-cell touch technology and GF2 (whereby the second layer of glass is replaced by an optical ) has rapidly influenced the entire supply chain


Touchscreen architectures (Source:Displaybank/ElectroIQ)
switched from GG to in-cell touch technology with the iPhone 5 relse back in September 2012 and the iPad mini and fourth-eration iPad also fture GF2 technology.Another reportby Digitimes reiteratesprevious rumorsthat the upcoming fifth-eration iPad, which is slated to be relsed sometime in Q4 2013, will fture GF2 touch technology.

That technology will allow the new iPad to be thinner and lighter than previous models, with the technology being supplied by TPK and GIS. The fifth-eration iPad has been rumored and shown in parts to besignificantly smaller and thinnerthan the current iPad, taking design cues from the iPad mini.

navigates low revenue, tight margin future


Tuesday’sannouncementby that it sold more devices but with less profit during the June quarter seems to have reset investor expectations about the tech giant. The to introducing new productsgoing forward now apprs to be the abilityto sustain Wall Street confidence that CEO Tim Cook can continue steering the ship effectively without the hand of late co-founder Steve Jobs.Although overall quarterly revenue of $35.4 billion topped the consensus of $35 billion, profit fell 22 percent to $6.9 billion. As a result, Cook tried to rssure investors, announcing was“laser-focused and working hard on some amazing new products”set for the fall and 2014…“The hardware is like the skeleton, and the content and services and apps are like the muscle,”JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Mark Moskowitz tellsBloomberg.While much talk has gone into the need for to introduce amid-tier iPhoneto compete with Android devices in the sub-$300 range, Cook argued his company alrdy offers the iPhone 4, which along with the iPhone 4S accounts for about halfof all iPhone sales, according to a recent report.Indeed, one analyst advises to remain“the Cadillac of smart,”with roughly a third of the market share, but a majority of the profits.
Chart viaCNN.While June quarter was asurprising comeback for , itwas largely due to topping rather low Street expectations. On top of selling 31.2 million i, a record for the June quarter (26 million in the yr-ago quarter), the firmalso announced $18.8 billion in stock buybacks, double the amount forecasted.The company provided the following guidance for its fiscal 2013 fourth quarter:• revenue between $34 billion and $37 billion
• gross margin between 36 percent and 37 percent
• operating expenses between $3.9 billion and $3.95 billion
• other income/(expense) of $200 million
• tax rate of 26.5 percentAlthough demand for smart is slowing and tablet owners pass on upgrading their gadget untilthe next iPad, there are some msures can quickly take to goose investor excitement.Most perplexing, however, is how will wn investors away from expectations of triple-digit growth and high gross margins. Making matters worse ’s gross margin in the June quarter dropped to36.9 percent, down from 42.8 percent a yr ago, while internationalsales accounted for 57 percent of the quarter’s revenue.The most obvious tactic would be other good news, such as a landmark dl with China Mobile to improve flagging sales in the Asian giant, or more efforts to grab market share in the nascent smartphone nation of India.

Google Takes Aim at with New 7, Google Play Games and Chromecast


At a press conference today in San Fran, Google announcedits second eration 7, which comes with a of enhancements. The tablet, which is thinner and lighter than the previous version, has an improved screen with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 and a pixel density of 323 PPI.

It is equipped with a Qualcomm 1.5GHz quad-core S4 Pro, 2GB of RAM, a 9 hour battery life, and it comes with NFC and Bluetooth 4.0. The iPad mini, relsed in late 2012, less impressive internals in comparison as it has yet to be updated, including a dual-core A5 processor and 512MB of RAM, along with a screen that is 1024 x 768.


Google has not focused much effort on the camera of the 7, which is in line with the iPad mini’s 1.2-megapixel front camera and 5-megapixel back camera. The 7 is also slightly hvier than the mini, with a smaller screen and a smaller profile.

In addition to relsing an updated 7, Google is also aiming at services on several other fronts, taking on both Game Center and AirPlay.

The company has launched its Google Play Games app, which is designed to be the Android version of ’s Game Center. It works hand in hand withGoogle Play games services, a fture that lets developers build cloud saving, multiplayer gameplay, and achievements into apps.

Chromecast, another fture Google introduced today, is an HDMI accessory that functions similarly to AirPlay, allowing users to mirror content from a tablet, smartphone, or computer. Chromecast works with , music, and apps like Netflix, and can be used with a of devices, including i and iPads. Chromecast, which will retail for $35, will be available later today through Best Buy, Amazon, and the Google Play Store.


While Google’s 7 willbe availableon July 30 with a $230 price tag, there apprs to be no iPad mini upgrade on the horizon. has plans to relse a redesigned fifth eration iPad with a thinner design and smaller bezels, but it remains unclr when the company will offer a new iPad mini. Arecent reportfrom reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that the company might not relse an updated mini until March or April of 2014.

’s Q4 guidance implies likely iPhone launch(es) by late September


: wallsfeed.comAnanalysisof ’s Q4 guidance by BTIG’sWalter Piecyk suggests that the company will launch new products in Q4, which ends on 28 September.We don’t think that can hit its newly issued revenue guidance for the September quarter unless it launches new products. After delivering $35 billion in revenue in the June quarter, management guided to $34-$37 billion next quarter. Revenue would more typically drop multiple billions if the company had no new products planned.Piecyk says that the guidance on margins suggests that the product will be an iPhone …The margin guidance also likely indies that the new product launch this quarter will be an iPhone and not a lower margin iPad. While new i are lower margin at launch, they are still higher margin than iPad’s.Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, quoted in aBusiness Insiderpiece, backed up this view. provided a wider than normal revenue guidance range of $3B, noting many moving parts in the September quarter [...]which coincides with suppliers ramping iPhone shipments in September.The big question, of course, is whether the new product is the5S,plastic iPhoneor both. Either way, for significant chunks of revenue to show up in Q4 suggests a mid-September launch at the latest. Tim Cook has reptedly made references to product launches in the fall (which technically starts on 22 September this yr).“I’m just saying we’ve got rlly grt stuff coming in the fall, and across all of 2014.”BTIG has incrsed its forecast of Q4 iPhone sales from 25M to 30M.

BuddyLock - (Cydia Twk) for Free


BuddyLockis a cydia twk launched byJacob Caraballoin the BigBoss repo for $0.99

The Information Provided by the developer on this twk is:

" Compatible with iOS 5 and 6

BuddyLock is a butiful lock screen replacement. Quickly unlock and go to any app straight from the lock screen. Not only that, but you will also have the ability to set a folder with extra icons!
Other Ftures:
- Side Views: Enable side views with a simple swipe from the left or right side of the screen to quickly access music playlists, contacts, or widgets.
- Hder s: Activate options like wifi, bluetooth, facebook, twitter, and more, by tapping, swiping, or tap-holding your lock screen hder.
- THEMES: Add life to your lock screen with BuddyLock Themes! Change the color of the hder, status bar, lock slider, or clock text. Change the clock font, or size/opacity of lock screen items. So many combinations to fit your personality.
- Hide Items: You have various options and combinations of hiding lockscreen elements. You can hide the status bar or simply hide the status bar background. You can also hide the hder completely or just remove the hder background. BuddyLock also allows you to hide the battery charging view/background and the now playing view/background. "
BuddyLock cydia twk is available for free in the repo: http://repo.insanelyi.com
Screenshot:

BuddyLock - (Cydia Twk) for FreeBuddyLock - (Cydia Twk) for FreeBuddyLock - (Cydia Twk) for FreeBuddyLock - (Cydia Twk) for FreeBuddyLock - (Cydia Twk) for Free

BMarks Bar - Chrome - (Cydia Twk) for Free


BMarks Bar - Chromeis a cydia twk launched byWilliam V.in the BigBoss repo for $1

The Information Provided by the developer on this twk is:

" Compatible with iOS 6

Adds a bookmarks bar to Chrome. The iOS version of Chrome lacks an essential fture, a bookmarks bar! BMarks Bar alleviates this problem with a sleek bookmarks bar the way it should have been from the start. Open folders by either tapping on them or panning down from them, when you pan to open a folder you can even select bookmarks and sub folders just by moving over them and lifting your finger. The bar is also highly customizable based on your needs.

Configure options from Setttings. "
BMarks Bar - Chrome cydia twk is available for free in the repo: http://repo.insanelyi.com
Screenshot:

BMarks Bar - Chrome - (Cydia Twk) for FreeBMarks Bar - Chrome - (Cydia Twk) for Free

First Fully Assembled Budget iPhone Pics Online


We have seen all kinds of rr casing s of the budget iPhone and evenrlier today a , but we have yet to see it fully assembled. Today this changes though thanks toTactuswho has sharedwhat very well might be the first s of the budget iPhone in full.While comparing both the iPhone 5and proposed budget iPhone you can see that both devices appr to have the same 4-inch display. On the budget iPhone you will also notice that everything apprs to be assembled correctly. There is the camera, LED flash, spkers, buttons etc. that all look like they are assembled and in a working state. Of course none of the pictures actually show the device powered on so it might not be a working unit, rather a dummy.As for design wise the budget iPhone doesn’t look much bigger than theiPhone 5and it looks similar to that of the iPod Touch. According to Tactus the handset msures9mm thick(1.4mm thicker thantheiPhone 5)and 120mm wide.Although these s shared by Tactus are of high quality the device itself just doesn’t look right to me. It is likely using a mixture of c parts or is a very rly prototype. It is also possible that this is one of those budget iPhone clones that have started appring in China.What do you think? Is it a good representation of what the budget iPhone is going to look like fully assembled? Drop us a line in the comments section below.

App Store is now ’s biggest retail partner


Electronic Arts, the most prolific games publisher, during a conference call discussing its June quarter rnings, paid a nice little lip serviceto by acknowledging that the App Store has become its biggest retail partner in terms of sales – and for the first time, too. That’s another important milestone for both ’s strides in the mobile gaming space and its appliion store, which last month celebrated itsfifth birthdayand50 billionth app download…PerVentureBt, the super publisher has raked ina total of $90 million in smartphone and tablet revenue during the June quarter. And in an interesting twist, made more money on the App Store than through Origin, its own games store.’s op-chief Peter Moore said in a conference call with investors:Our quarter was notable was for its strong digital sales. To that end, was ’s biggest retail partner as msured by sales.“That is a first,”he pointed out.Some of the highest-grossing games for the platform includeThe Simpsons: Tapped Out,Rl Racing 3andThe Sims FreePlay, he noted.On average, the free-to-playRl Racing 3has two million daily users and has rched 45 million downloads since its staggeredFebruary roll-out.The Simpsons: Tapped Out, which launched in August, had its biggest quarter ever, making more money in the June quarter than in any other quarter.Moore also saidThe Sims Freeplaywas among the highest-grossing iPad games during the first quarter of this yr.In aJune quarterchat with investors yesterday CEO Tim Cook said his company’s registered iOS developershave made an astounding $11 billion in sales, half of which in the last four quarters.That’s a billion dollars more versus $10 billion in cumulative payoutmentioned during the WWDC note. The$10 billion in revenue for developers (after ’s customary 30 percent cut) is also more than all other platforms combined.

Google Drive iOS app can now open links in Chrome or Safari


Google is building a nice little ecosystem around ’s iOS by feverishly updating its iPhone and iPad with deep cross-app integration. For example, rlier this month the Internet giantrefreshed its Chrome iOS browserwith the ability to open URLsfor YouTube, Maps, Google+ and Drive in Google’s native iOS apps instd of the browser.Notably absent from that update: the Google Drive client for the iPhone and iPad. Well,Google saw to that with today’s Drive iOS relse which can now open links in Google’s Chrome or ’s Safari browser. Google Drive version 1.5 also adds support for insertingrows and columns using the “+” button in Google Sheets…The srch monster says clicking on links from within Google documents gives you the option to open in Chrome and Safari. This is different from Google’s other iOS apps which normally fture a toggle in settings to always open links in Chrome.This relse of Google Drive also contains“stabilization and bug fixes”.The universal app is available free from theApp Store.

AT&T’s LTE expands to seven new markets


The nation’s second-largest carrier continues expanding its fourth-eration Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless technology coverage. On Wednesday, the carrier announced it has deployed LTE across seven new markets, includingCalifornia’sMerced and Velleyo regions, alongside additional LTE pockets in Missouri, Delaware, Alabama andConnecticut.The development follows AT&T’s majorLTE expansion in nrly three dozennew markets last month…The new markets are as follows:•Columbia, Missouri
•Sussex County,Rehoboth Bch, Delaware – LTE coverage includesRehoboth Bch, Bethany Bch, Lewes, Fenwick Island, Ocn View, Georgetown, Millsboro and Frankford
•Allejo-VacavillndMerced/Madera-Chowchilla, California – LTE coverage now availabllong the Highway 99 corridor in both Merced and Madera-Chowchilla
•New London County,Connecticut
•GreenvillndTroy,AlabamaThe telco additionally confirmed anagreement with Disney Parksto make it the official wireless provider for Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort.Ahd of’s rnings relseyesterday, AT&T confirmedactivating 3.7 million i, having added551,000 postpaid subscribers from March to June and helping it fuel rnings of 67 cents per share and post a solid revenue of $32 billion.Just recently, AT&T found itself in hot water with both rival Verizon and T-Mobile, the nation’s fourth-largest telco owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.First,Verizonrespondedto AT&T’s ‘most reliable 4G LTE network’claimwith a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal citing independent third-party data to prove Verizon enjoys the“highest success rate for delivering mobile content across 4G LTE networks.”Shortly after, the ever-vigilantT-Mobile criticizedAT&T’s rly upgrade initiativeNext,rightfullycalling AT&T’s terms“snky and underhanded”.For what it’s worth, tests conducted byConsumer Reports,RootmetricsandPC Magagree thatAT&T has the nation’s fastest LTE as Verizon rules LTE coverage.Juniper Resrchestimatedthere will be 220+ million 4G LTE subscribers around the world by 2014. Currently, 4G LTE is available in 70 countries around the world.

’s dual- sensor patent focuses on higher quality s


While we’ve all hrd the saying “two hd’s are better than one,” a new patent applies that thinking to digital s. The patent, granted Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark , describes a method of combining two sensors to produce the a photo with the best quality.In its U.S. Patent No. 8,493,482 filing, outlines a ‘Dual sensor processing system and method.’ The company mentions the iPhone, iPod and some Macs as potentially benefitting from the technology, suggesting a likely iSight camera bump up and better imaging on future devices…The patentexplains the invention could work either with one sensor (as is the case with conventional digital cameras) or is able to process the imaging data from two sensors.The system detects imaging flaws, such as dd pixels, coloring or lighting problems which are then compared against various stored msurements. Afterwards, flaws present in one sensor will be replaced by imaging data from another sensor.The comparisons reportedly work both with photos and s.
The patent describes use of Bayer filtering techniques.According to the filing, a Bayer sensor may be interpolated when applying green non-uniformity correction techniques during processing to produce a full color RGB .As the iPhone grows in popularity as a device forserious photographers, ’s patenting efforts have often returned to enhancing the process. Previous patents have described ways toavoid camera shakeby comparing s taken, providing the user several choices.Another patent outlined a way to link iDevice cameras toact in unison, such as when requiring a flash to fill a scene. rlier this yr, acquired a ofimaging patentsfrom camera pioneer Kodak.

’s iPad grabs 84 percent of tablet web traffic


It is pretty well understood that ’s iPad is a major player in tablet traffic online. However, new s only emphasize the iPad’s dominance as the device has accelerated further and now accounts for 84 percent of web traffic. Specifically, more than eight out of ten online ads were served to tablet devices carrying the logo, a web analytics firm announced yesterday.Competing tablets are left fighting over the remaining crumbs, with the No. 2 tablet – Amazon’s Kindle Fire – accounting for just 5.7 percent of traffic detected between June 15 and June 21…According toad network Chitika, the iPad’s 84.3 percent of web traffic is a nrly 2 percent gainover May’s 82.4 percent, which itself was an incrse from April’s 81.3 percent.That compares to slippage in usage among all other tablets except Barnes & Noble’s Nook during a Father’s Day discount. The Nook saw its ad traffic incrse to 1.2 percent.Check out the charts.’s Galaxy tablets ranked third in web ad traffic at 4.2 percent, a drop from 4.7 percent in May.Google’s tablet rounded out the top five with 1.2 percent. Among the cellar-dwellers:’s Surface(themighty iPad killer) registered a paltry 0.5 percent of ads served to tablets. CEO Tim Cook shared Chitika s with investors on yesterday’sconference call, re-iterrating that non- tablets obviously don’t get used much.“In terms of how other people are doing,if there are lots of other tablets selling, I don’t know what they’re being used for,”he quipped. The CEO remarked that Chitika only takes into account web browsing, a fundamental tablet fture.

updates touch tech in upcoming iPads


DigiTimesin January wrote ’s fifth-eration iPad could adopt the iPad mini’s thin- touchscreen technology calledGF Ditto, also better known as GF2. NPD DisplaySrch is well-versed in all things concerning mobile screens and yesterday they corroborated the rumor.Specifically, DisplaySrch notes ’s shift toward in-cell display tech for theiPhone 5and GF2 for the upcoming iPads has resulted in major shifts in the touch-panel industry supply chain.Basically adouble-sided ITO , GF2has allowed to make theiPad minimuch thinner and significantly lighter compared to the bulkier G/G touchscreen tech driving the iPad 3.As theiPad 5is widely expected to adopt the iPad mini’s thin and light apprance, obviously a major part of that will be ’s adoption of the advanced GF2 technology…NPD DisplaySrchresrch director Calvin Hsieh says mobile phone and tablet PC touch technologies and sensor structures are evolving quickly,“due in large part to ’s move away from GG structure to in-cell touch technology and GF2”.And because has a relatively high market share and sells premium products that incorporate premium technologies, any technological movement on the firm’s part is“felt throughout the component supply chain,”Calvin noted.As for the iPad mini,DisplaySrch previously said is still torn betweenoxide TFT or LTPS backplane technology. Sharp is notably the biggest Oxide TFT cheerlder, while Display and prefer LTPS.DisplaySrch expects in-cell touch tech to nrly double from 7.3 percent of mobile phone shipments in 2012 to 13.7 percent in 2013. Shipments of GF2 sensor structure for tablets should rise from 4.7 percent in 2012 to as much as 28.4 percent in 2013.Call it the effect.Asian mediaclaimsFoxconn will exclusively assemble thenext iPad mini, though the device probablywon’t launch before 2014due toongoingchallengesdling with mass-production of 7.9-inch Retina panels.At any rate, should show its cards in October and KGI Securities analystMing-Chi Kuo is adamantthat the iPad 5 will be the“highlight of iPad in 2013.″’s current full-size iPads use a GG touch screen structure, as do all2007-2011 i. For the iPhone 5, engineers switched toin-cell technologywhich allows for a much thinner apprance by eliminatinga layer by building the capacitors inside the L assembly itself.The firm again switched to the more advanced GF2 for the iPad mini in 2012. Again, adopting GF2 tech in the upcoming iPad 5 is believed to have contributed in large part to its rumorediPad mini-like apprance, down to the skinnierbezels and chamfered edges.As for the iPhone 5S, is said to switch from the in-cell process toTouch-On-Display, a technology that shouldaddress the multitouch lag observed on the iPhone 5 when rapid-swiping.

Plastic iPhone shell compared to 3GS, iPod touch in new hi-res


Most of the reports we’ve seen over the past 6 months have suggested that is going to be relsing a new,low-cost iPhonlongside itsiPhone 5Sthis fall. And the theory has been corroborated by a mound of evidence, including a barrage of plastic iPhone shells.Adding to the evidence today isMichael Kukielka, also known asthe DetroitBorg, who has posted a high quality of what apprs to be a white plastic iPhone shell. Kukielka gives us a clr view of the case and compares it to the iPod touch and other iPhone models…Here’s his (via9to5Mac):There’s a few things worth noting in the . First, the plastic shell clrly matches up withthe other ones we’ve seenover the past few weeks, in various of colors. And two, notice how Kukielka describes the phone as a cross between the iPhone 3GS and the iPod touch.This matches up with a report from a January report byiLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz—well before shells started turning up:“’s budget housing looks closest to the iPod classic in shape, though not in materials. Unlike the plastic iPhone 3G/3GS, which ftured soft curves on all sides, the budget iPhone’s curves start and end at flat surfaces, so ch side and the back are flat. This seems like a trivial change, until you rlize that it allows to use flat rather than curve-matched parts: the right side has a flat, centered SIM card tray just like the iPhone 5’s, while all of the buttons and ports are on flat rather than curved surfaces. A flat-backed iPhone won’t rock on a flat surface when it vibrates, either.”And that’s the thing with this so-called budget iPhone. The rumors and reports have beenveryconsistent for averylong time, all pointing to a handset made up of plastic and metal, resembling the iPhone 5, with more rounded edges and a price tag somewhere around $300.Pundits expect that such a device, even with mid-tier pricing, would help dramatically incrse its marketshare in emerging markets like India, Russia and China. It would also likely do well here in the US,where carriers seemto be slowly doing away with device subsidies.

Study finds users more likely to share web content via iPhone versus other devices


Social media marketing company ShareThis has just posteddata from a recent study of social behavior across multiple platforms. The study, whichcompared billions of social actions across desktop and mobile web, set out to determine which devices see the most social sharing.And surprise, the data shows thatthe mobile web is more social than the desktop web, and among mobile devices, the iPhone is king. The firm found thatiPhone users are three times more likely to share links than on a desktop, and 1.5 times more likely to do so versus other mobile devices…In fact,ShareThis crownedthe iPhone as the “most social device.” The popular handset racked up the highest per-device stats, with 12.4% of users more likely to share while on the device. Second and third place went to Android and , which came in at 7.4% and 6.3% respectively.The data isn’t surprising, considering that it lines upwith other reportsthat have shown iPhone users to be far more engaged than any other platform. It’s also not surprising to see that social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest account for a majority of mobile sharing activity.For what it’s worth, ’s tablet has also been pegged as a user favorite for all things web. Yesterday, during the company’s June quarter rnings call,Tim Cook notedthat a recent study showed that the iPad accounted for 85.3% share of tablet web usage in the United States and Canada.Which device do you use most to share web content?

VineDownloader - (Cydia Twk) for Free


VineDownloader is a cydia twk launched byStevie Hetelekidesin the BigBoss repo for $0.99

The Information Provided by the developer on this twk is:

" It is a twk which allows you to download s from Vine directly into your Camera Roll.
Configure options from Settings. "

VineDownloader cydia twk is available for free in the repo: http://iGoldHouse.myrepospace.com
Screenshot:

VineDownloader - (Cydia Twk) for FreeVineDownloader - (Cydia Twk) for Free