Like every software vendor, Apple likes to impress users of iOS with one or a number of so-called "killer" apps, and while some have gone down particularly well in recent years, others, like iOS 6's Apple Maps, have fared decidedly worse. With iOS 7 now in the works for release later this year, we're expecting some significant changes to the look and feel of the Cupertino's mobile OS in general, but aside from a lot of blogosphere-fuelled bluster, we've heard precious few details with regards to what exactly we should be expecting. Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty has sought to shed some light on the matter by revealing that she expects the Tim Cook-led outfit to unveil a “killer app” in the form of a mobile wallet. More details can be found right after the jump.
The existence of an entry-level iPhone, at least in concept, has been a matter of fierce debate over the past couple of months. It is widely thought Apple could use such a device as bait in a push to increase its presence in developing markets, but with the Cupertino company ever reluctant to sell less-capable devices to meet that low price point, there have been quite a few naysayers. Today, however, the guys over at Japanese blog Macotakara have gotten their hands on a previously-unseen dual-head vibration motor, which, due to its low-end nature, is not the kind of thing you'd expect Apple to be packing into the eventual successor to the iPhone 5.
Smartphones and tablets, while often lambasted for their lack of durability in dealing with those everyday mishaps, certainly appear to be getting stronger as we saunter on through the generations. But perhaps some of today's revered gadgets are, in fact, a lot more robust than we'd give them credit for, and in the case of one Apple iPad that inadvertently found itself in a head-on collision with an automobile, the device actually seemed to come off better than the car itself. The owner of the iPad in question accidentally drove off while leaving the Apple slate atop the roof of their car, but as it flew off and towards the vehicle behind, the impact left the device embedded within the bumper.
T-Mobile, the United States' fourth largest mobile carrier, recently revealed its intention to officially carry the Apple iPhone. Since then, PR mode has been in full flow, and as well as already offering one of the best deals around - particularly with the flagship iPhone 5 - T-Mo has now begun a trade-in program hoped to entice consumers into making the switch.
Spring is here, and the analysts are out in force with all kinds of predictions and estimations pertaining to Apple's upcoming major products. According to a series of previous reports, Apple's one-per-year iPhone release cycle could be finally breached in 2013, with many reckoning the Cupertino company to be readying two separate devices. This sentiment has been echoed today by Topeka Capital's Brian White, who believes the device will retail in "at least" two different screen sizes, in a move said to help counteract the vast range of choice offered by Android-powered handsets.
Like many jailbreakers, one of the very first tweaks I install upon jailbreaking a device for the first time is SBSettings. Its effortless toggling of any and every major setting within iOS is a commodity that cannot be enjoyed at stock level, but it's certainly something quite a few of us would love to see right off the bat. Designer Ran Avni certainly seems to concur, and has dared to dream with a very elegant design bringing toggles for alarm, orientation, Wi-Fi and others right to the home / lock screen.
Ever since an Apple patent lodged back in 2011 was rubber-stamped last month by the USPTO, the world of tech seems to have gotten itself carried away with the idea of a near-future iPhone featuring, among other things, a variant of the curved AMOLED display outlined in the filing. It didn't take long for a leak of a 'prototype' of an iPhone 5S / 6 to leak into the wild amid all the hullabaloo, and today, designers Nickolay Lamm and Matteo Gianni have come through with a rather striking render of how an iPhone with a curved display may eventually look.
Love or hate Apple, it cannot be denied that, when it comes to branding and marketing, the Cupertino is the envy of its peers. With a seemingly unique ability to lure consumers into paying often a great deal more than they would for a similar product in another store, it has been the cost, and not the advertising techniques, which have drawn the most scrutiny. However, a critic of Apple's rather unpredictable device naming system has arrived in an unlikely package, with Ken Segall, former advertising client to Apple and advisor to Steve Jobs, delivered a few home truths to his former employer.
Smartphones and tablets have been touted on numerous occasions as "Post-PC" devices, and with most now offering the same levels of capability as desktops and notebooks, this assertion is perhaps an accurate one. Research firm Gartner's latest figures show just how pivotal these Post-PC devices have become within the tech industry, having estimated that in 2013, Apple devices will outsell their Windows counterparts for the very first time in history.
As expected, T-Mobile has today pushed a carrier update out to unlocked iPhone 5 handsets running on its network. Released just as official pre-orders began for the T-Mobile iPhone 5, the carrier update enables some of the typical iPhone 5 features on the network whilst also boasting one or two extra additions along the way.
