iPad

Microsoft released an update of its SkyDrive for iOS app today, indicating that Apple is no longer blocking the app's updates from the App Store.

Until today, Microsoft hadn't updated its cloud storage service app since June 1. This was reportedly due to a dispute between Microsoft and Apple over fees. The app's 3.0 version includes support for iPhone 5 and the iPad Mini, and the ability to download full resolution photos to an iPhone or iPad.

In December, a report surfaced that Microsoft allegedly didn't want to pay Apple a 30 percent fee for … Read more

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied Apple's bid to trademark the term "iPad Mini," contending that "mini" is "merely descriptive" of goods or services sold in miniature form.

In a letter sent to Apple in January but only recently published, the USPTO reviewer denied Apple's application because "the applied-for mark merely describes a feature or characteristic of applicant's goods." Apple can appeal the decision, but to win a reversal the company will need to address the office's reasons for denial.

The reviewer argues that "… Read more

Apple's nearly year-and-a-half old iMessage service has been found to be vulnerable to an attack that uses a flood of messages, or messages so long that the application is rendered unstable.

According to a report from The Next Web, a small group of developers have found themselves the target of an attack that does one of those things -- sending what could be thousands of messages.

The source is suspected to be someone with involvement in pirated iOS software, who could have gotten some basic information needed to send another user a message through Apple's messaging service, The … Read more

It's always troubling when a salesman looks into the future and tells me that I'm going to love something.

How can he possibly know? It makes me feel so terribly obvious, devoid of secrets and subtlety.

Oddly, Apple has decided to use the opportunity of this weekend to tell me why I'm going to love the iPad.

How does Apple know I don't? Perhaps I dated it for a while and decided it was too short or too demanding or just too beautiful for me?

A new Web campaign for the iPad swoops in after a similar exercise for the iPhone, … Read more

Apple will reportedly trim iPad Mini shipments for the next quarter, according to tech-news site DigiTimes.

Citing industry sources who provide parts for the tablet," Taiwan-based DigiTimes claims that iPad Mini shipments for the second quarter will fall to between 10 million and 12 million units. The cut may be as high as 20 percent in April and then decline slightly throughout the rest of the quarter, the sources said.

DigiTimes' sources further claim that Apple recently adjusted this year's shipment estimates for the iPad and iPad Mini to 33 million and 55 million, respectively.

If the claims … Read more

As part of a flurry of changes today, Google updated its Gmail app for iOS.

The core structure and design of the app remain largely the same, but Google added several new useful features that make browsing and organizing your messages easier. Here are the highlights.

Apple is starting to catch up to Samsung Electronics when it comes to smart connected devices, or total sales of desktop PCs, laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

That's according to IDC, which pegged leader Samsung at 21.2 percent of the market for smart connected devices as of the end of 2012, with No. 2 Apple just behind it at 20.3 percent.

Given the premium price on its products, Apple already dominates Samsung from a revenue perspective. Apple captured 30.7 percent of the industry's total revenue, to Samsung's 20.4 percent share.

The smart connected devices … Read more

True story: Attracted by the sounds of Star Wars, my kids wandered over to where I was playing a game on my iPad. "What's that?" they asked. "Star Wars Pinball," I said. "What's pinball?" they replied.

I told them pinball was a game people used to play at the arcade, before video games came along. They said, "Whats an arcade?"

I said an arcade is where kids used to go after school when they got tired of listening to records. All together, now: "What's a record?"… Read more

Alongside its decree to have developers phase out a retired device-tracking technology in their apps, Apple yesterday also set down a rule that requires developers to support its latest devices.

In a notice on its developer site, Apple set a May 1 deadline that will require all new apps and app updates to support the Retina Display and taller, 4-inch display found on the iPhone 5 and latest iPod Touch.

These devices have only been out since September and October, though developers could continue to submit apps designed only for the older, 3.5-inch displays.

The move is the latest … Read more