Every year, a new trend seems to hit the smartphone market, and if it isn't large displays or gold color configurations, then it's the manufacturers' new found love for a curved display. Naturally, Samsung was first to the draw with the Galaxy Round, closely followed by its compatriot LG with the impressive G Flex, and although an iPhone featuring an angled panel would seem quite a way off right now, a newly-awarded patent suggests that the Cupertino company is very much considering it.
Apple’s 12 Days Of Gifts App For Christmas Goes Live; US Gets A Taste Of Holiday Deals Too This Time
We're now firmly into that time of year where people start panicking about what they should be buying for their loved ones, and Apple will no doubt be hoping that at least one of those gifts has a perfectly crafted Apple logo on the back. Already preparing for the raft of new iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners that will no doubt be scurrying towards the App Store come December 25th, Apple's has made its '12 Days of Gifts' app available on the App Store - a full two weeks early.
With the news late last week that the iPhone 5s was shipping within 1-3 days for the UK and many other markets across the world, the signs were there that Apple was finally getting on top of supplies. Now, it has emerged that - in the U.S., at least - the Cupertino giant has achieved 100 percent stock rate in all of its Retail Stores, with each variant of the iPhone 5s available in every single outlet.
Tim Cook and Apple's executive team are always keen to wax lyrical about how many apps have passed through the App Store over the last five years. The majority of the company's media events heavily feature slides featuring the number of available third-party applications available and the amount of revenue that has been paid out to the developers who create and publish those apps. In the relatively short lifespan of the App Store, Apple has managed to hit, and go beyond some pretty impressive milestones. Recent data from AppsFire suggests that Apple have hit yet another notable goal by now having over one million apps live in the U.S. App Store alone.
Siri caused more than a stir when it first hit the scene along with the iPhone 4s back in 2011, but even though consumers and commentators alike were fascinated by this feature that could answer back (if you had the right accent), the novelty did seem to wear off, and apart from the Eyes Free in-car integration, it's been a while since Apple's much-loved voice assistant really made the headlines.
Apple has been working hard over the past year or so to noticeably improve the Apple Retail Store experience. The Apple Store app, for example, has been greatly enhanced, offering all kinds of free content including a Christmas-themed playlist earlier this week, and now, the Cupertino giant has rolled out its iBeacons infrastructure across the entire network of U.S. retail outlets. For the benefit of the uninitiated, iBeacons hubs will reside in various locations throughout each Apple Store, and depending on whereabouts you are at any given time, beam information about certain products within that proximity via the Apple Store app.
Apple's Siri voice-recognition technology might not yet have made waves among the iOS-using community, but the implementation first seen with the iPhone 4s back in 2011 shows no sign of disappearing. We've already seen how the likes of Honda and General Motors announce plans to include the Siri Eyes Free technology into upcoming production cars, and now, a new patent filing from Apple suggest that it too is ready to take Siri to the next level. Published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday, the filing outlines a speaker dock system that includes Siri integration, which would be interacted with via the in-built speaker system.
It's common knowledge that Apple's desktop computers are fairly popular, but according to research compiled by Parks Associates, the iMac, Mac mini and Mac Pro comprise the most sought-after product line in the desktop market - beating off competition from Dell in second place. Although the MacBook range remains extremely popular - more so than the desktop offerings from Apple - portables weren't considered in Parks' study, but even so, with some reputable brands for company including the likes of HP and Acer, it would seem the lure of a computer bearing that iconic bitten-apple logo is very strong indeed.
The stunning new Mac Pro is set for a December 16th launch according to Germany based Conrad Electronics. The extremely powerful and redesigned Pro has caused something of a stir after it was initially teased during this year's Worldwide Developer Conference. Apple provided us with more intricate details of the machine during a recent media event that also welcomed the official release of OS X Mavericks, but stopped short of actually providing power-hungry technology aficionados with an official release date for the professional desktop computer.
BlackBerry may find itself facing a whole myriad of troubles in the consumer and business smartphone market, but it seems they still have one extremely loyal and extremely influential user. U.S. President Barack Obama became extremely well-known for relying heavily on his BlackBerry handset during his initial 2008 presidency campaign, and it seems his trusty smartphone has stayed by his side ever since. Now into his second term as U.S. President, Obama has claimed that he would love to switch to an iPhone to handle his mobile needs but is unable to do so due to legitimate security concerns.
