phones

Apple patent shows better way to handle incoming calls

A new Apple technology could make it easier for you to manage incoming phone calls.

Approved today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the patent dubbed "Dynamic Context-Based Auto-Response Generation," describes a method to intelligently manage an incoming call, whether you're on the line with someone else or simply unavailable.

In one scenario, the system can be totally automated. So if you can't answer the call, the caller receives a specific pre-recorded message based on the caller ID and other attributes. In that case, the caller would be prompted to leave a voice mail. … Read more

Samsung exec: I use iPhone, iPad, Macs at home

Samsung's chief strategy officer, Young Sohn, is sure to ruffle some feathers in Seoul over his recent comments regarding Apple.

Speaking to MIT Technology Review in an interview published today, Sohn said that Apple's key strength might not be products, but the company's "ecosystem, such as iCloud."

"I like that my family 6,000 miles away in Korea is able to see my schedule and see all of my contacts and photos," Sohn said. "It is sticky, but it is a proprietary architecture. Look at your phone [pointing to the writer's … Read more

Google Maps already No. 1 among free iPhone apps

Google Maps didn't take long to capture the top spot among free iPhone apps.

Driving back into iTunes earlier today, the app had already reached first place after the first several hours. It's also garnered close to 8,000 reviews at this point, almost all of them earning five stars.

The new app offers all of the features that made it an iOS standard in the past but with a cleaner look and feel.

You can search for your destination by typing or speaking it. The app handles specific addresses as well as the names of businesses and … Read more

Google, Microsoft 'challenged' vs. Apple, says Goldman Sachs

Google and Microsoft will struggle to vend off Apple's smartphone-tablet juggernaut, according to a recent study by Goldman Sachs.

Titled "Clash of the titans," the 75-page study depicts Google and Microsoft as "challenged" in their bids to compete with Apple.

Some salient points made by Goldman Sachs, which based many of their findings on internal survey results:

Well positioned v. challenged: In the "context of platform adoption," companies that are defined as "well positioned" include Apple, Facebook, Samsung. Amazon is "straddling the line." Google and Microsoft are "challenged&… Read more

Getting started with Flickr's new iPhone app

Flickr updated its iPhone app today, ushering in a new design and features, including photo filters similar to those the world has fallen in love with over at Instagram. Allow me to walk you through the radically changed Flickr for iPhone app.

When you first launch the app, you'll need to sign up via Facebook or sign in to your account via Yahoo, Facebook, or Google. After logging in, you'll see a layout akin to Instagram's. Running along the bottom edge are five buttons to navigate the main areas of the app. From left to right they … Read more

Woman Tasered after trying to buy too many iPhones

Normally, when you hear screams outside an Apple store, it's because, oh, the doors have opened and there's a new gizmo for the insatiable.

However, at the Apple store in the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, N.H. on Tuesday, the screams were those of a 44-year-old Chinese woman being Tasered by police.

As WMUR-TV reports, Xiaojie Li, of Newton, N.H. says -- through her 12-year-old daughter's translation -- that she isn't proficient in English.

"She's certainly capable of coming up here and purchasing these things from the Apple store here. Whether her … Read more

Supposed untethered jailbreak for iOS 6 ends up being fake

An unidentified hacker behind a hack called Dream Jailbreak pulled a fast one on countless iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch owners today with the announcement and heavy teasing of an untethered iOS 6 jailbreak, or software that lets users gain deep access to their device without fear of losing it all after rebooting.

In a proof-of-concept video posted earlier, the unidentified hacker connects his iPhone 5 to a computer via USB; accesses a Web site through Safari (the identity of the site is blurred in the vid); and then runs an application called Dream (coming to Windows and Mac) on his computer. After a few flashes of code, the iPhone 5 reboots with popular third-party app and code installer Cydia in place and a world of third-party software just a tap away.… Read more

Sharper BlackBerry 10 L phone images surface

RIM's rumored BlackBerry 10 L series device, code-named London, has just come into sharper focus thanks to new images posted by Vietnamese site Tinh Te and reported by CIO.com. … Read more

Flickr's new iPhone app puts mobile front and center

Flickr released an overhauled iPhone app today, capping a year of effort to reclaim its lost glory with software that it believes will become central rather than peripheral to using the photo-sharing site.

The new app is designed to show off individual photos better, to ease sign-up for new users, to speed photo browsing, and to improve discovery. Better smartphone support was critical, given how much activity has moved to mobile apps.

"Engagement to a high percentage is happening on mobile," said Markus Spiering, head of the Flickr product at Yahoo. "It really brings Flickr into the … Read more