iOS

While worldwide phone sales fell slightly during the third quarter, sales of smartphones are continuing to rise, according to new figures from Gartner.

More than 427 million phones were sold in total during the third quarter, 3 percent down on the same quarter a year ago, Gartner said, but up slightly on the 419 million devices shipped in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, smartphone sales are continuing their upward trajectory compared to feature phones -- 169 million smartphones were sold during the quarter, an increase of 47 percent year-on-year.

Samsung, Nokia and Apple remain the top three vendors by sales for … Read more

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is set to appear as a playable video game character alongside the likeness of "Machete" star Danny Trejo in an upcoming iOS title called Danny Trejo's Vengeance "Woz with a Coz."

The game, which is due on or before November 22 to coincide with Thanksgiving, puts the unlikely duo together in an 8-bit platformer with weapons against a city full of baddies. It's a tie-in and promotional vehicle for Trejo's film "Vengeance," due out next year.

So where exactly does Wozniak fit into all this? According to … Read more

Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky and Apple's Scott Forstall may forever be associated with one another in business school case studies on what happens to effective product leaders who can't play nice with the other kids.

Sinofsky, who ran the Windows division with the single-mindedness of General Patton racing through the French countryside, last night abruptly announced that he was leaving Microsoft. It's too soon to say whether the company's recent Windows 8 launch is a success or disappointment, but as our Jay Greene wrote last night, you shouldn't be terribly surprised. Sinofsky battled with other … Read more

OK, I'll admit it. The iPad Mini hasn't left my hands in the last three weeks. It's been no contest, really. While the larger fourth-gen iPad has sat alone by my bedside table, the Mini has gone on field trips on the bus, gotten dragged in my jacket pocket while I dropped my kid off at school, been coddled at the cafe over breakfast, and slipped alongside my laptop on work excursions.

As I predicted when I reviewed it, the Mini's had a hard time leaving my hands, because few places seem inappropriate for it. At a Kindle size, it's bedroom-friendly. It'll set up nicely on a kitchen counter. It slides into otherwise lesser-used front pockets on backpacks. And it might be the best gaming handheld Apple's ever made, based on the sheer size of the screen and its thin, two-hand-friendly frame.

But, what does that mean?… Read more

Registered Apple developers can now grab the second beta of iOS 6.1.

Released yesterday, Beta 2 comes about two weeks after the first and offers the usual bug fixes along with some improvements.

The new build lets app developers take advantage of Apple's maps service, so that users can search for specific places based on a simple term. As one example, cited by AppleInsider, people could search for the word "coffee" to find names, locations, and other details of local coffee bars.

iOS 6.1 will include a better explanation of Passbook for users who don'… Read more

Android will finally knock the iPad off its throne next year, at least according to one analyst.

Apple's iPad has remained the king of the tablet market for the past few years but has gradually shed market share to the onslaught of Android devices. For the third quarter of 2010, the iPad enjoyed an 87 percent cut of the market, according to IDC. For this year's third quarter, that number had fallen to just 50.4 percent.

That trend will continue as the share collectively owned by Android tablets surpasses that of the iPad in the first half … Read more

iPhone users scratching their heads over how to use Apple's Passbook app will get a little more help as part of an upcoming software update.

iOS 6.1 adds an updated explanatory note to the digital-wallet app, which comes pre-installed on new iPhones and iPod Touch devices. Apple delivered a second beta testing version of the OS version to developers this morning.

Instead of kicking users out to the App Store to go find applications that offer Passbook integration, Apple now puts information about the feature inside a card that sticks around even after you've started using the … Read more

Apple's freebie gadget-tracking app led to a quick recovery of goods stolen in a string of multiple robberies in Hollywood over the weekend, as well as the arrests of the suspected thieves.

CBS Local today notes that Apple's Find My iPhone app was used by an owner of one of the stolen devices, along with the help of the Los Angeles Police Department, to track down where the goods -- which included wallets, too -- were stashed. … Read more

Apple's patent-licensing settlement with HTC might actually net the company some more cash.

Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said in a note to researchers today that he has spoken with industry sources who told him that Apple will generate about $6 to $8 in licensing fees for each smartphone HTC ships in 2013. Based on his estimate of 30 million to 35 million shipments, Wu believes that Apple will generate $180 million to $280 million in licensing fees.

Apple and HTC announced yesterday that they had inked a 10-year licensing deal to settle patent disputes. The companies said that … Read more