iOS

Kindle iOS app enhanced for the blind and visually impaired

Amazon has enhanced its Kindle iOS app with new features of benefit to anyone but especially to those who are blind or visually impaired.

Released Wednesday, the latest version of the app supports Apple's VoiceOver technology, which reads aloud text that you've selected. More than 1.8 million books in the Kindle store are compatible with VoiceOver, according to Amazon. More than 900,000 of them are less than $4.99, while more than 1.5 million are less than $9.99.

You can turn on VoiceOver through the Accessibility options in the Settings menu on your iOS … Read more

Larger-screen iPhone to launch in 2014 -- analyst

Apple launched the larger-screen iPhone 5 last year, but the company isn't done upping smartphone display sizes, according to one analyst.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek wrote in a note to investors recently that he believes Apple's iPhone 6 will launch next year with a larger screen. According to the Canada-based Financial Post, which obtained a copy of the note, Misek didn't say exactly how big the screen size will be but said this year's launch -- the iPhone 5S -- will come with the same 4-inch display as its predecessor.

It would make sense that Apple … Read more

Jonathan Ive's keen eye for design to cause iOS 7 delay?

Jonathan Ive, Apple's senior vice president of industrial design and the visionary behind its hardware products, is taking his role as head of software design at the company very seriously, according to a new report.

Ive, just six months since taking over for ousted Scott Forstall as head of iOS design, has been going over the next iteration of the software, iOS 7, with a fine-toothed comb, Bloomberg is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the matter. His oversight and desire to dramatically change some parts of the software could cause the operating system to fall … Read more

Apple plans 'aggressive' move into car integration -- report

Apple is already making some inroads into the vehicle market, but the company has much broader plans, according to a new report.

Apple is currently working with car makers to integrate iPhones and perhaps iPods into car consoles, 9to5Mac is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of its plans. Apple envisions a way for iPhone owners to plug their devices into cars and then use specially optimized versions of Siri and Maps for in-vehicle use.

Last year at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple announced "Eyes-Free Siri," which was designed for car makers to integrate the … Read more

Apple's iOS 7 said to be visually different, flat

It's no secret Apple plans to show off the next major version of iOS at its annual developers conference in June, though what exactly will be different about the new software has been fuzzy.

Citing multiple people who have actually seen Apple's next iOS endeavor, 9to5Mac says Apple's making big changes in the look and feel of the software. Specifically making everything -- from app icons to interface features -- "very flat," as opposed to the bubbly and oftentimes realistic interfaces that have stayed mostly unchanged since 2007.

On top of this, the report adds … Read more

What iTunes needs next

The iTunes Store is 10 years old -- and iTunes, even older -- and it often feels like it.

Apple has certainly gone through some efforts to make iTunes look and feel different, but it's the load that iTunes bears that's the real problem. Once upon a time, iTunes was made to work with an iPod. The setup was simple; the software was good. It held MP3s and acted as the bridge.

Then a music store was added. Then, videos. And audiobooks. Now, apps. What started as a simple software-to-hardware relationship became the necessary portal for all software … Read more

Apple to award 150 free WWDC tickets to student programmers

Students who impress Apple by creating their own app have a chance at attending this year's Worldwide Developers Conference for free.

Apple's WWDC 2013 scholarship will reward 150 winners with one free ticket apiece to join the conference, which runs from June 10 to June 14 in San Francisco. To qualify, you must be a full-time or part-time student, 13 years or older, and a current member of Apple's iOS Developer Program, iOS Developer University Program, iOS Developer Enterprise Program, or Mac Developer Program.

Assuming you meet those qualifications, what's your homework assignment to score a … Read more

Apple CEO Tim Cook: Mobile payments still in their infancy

Apple doesn't seem ready to leap into the mobile payments arena, at least according to comments made Tuesday by CEO Tim Cook.

During Tuesday's conference call announcing fiscal second-quarter earnings, Cook responded to a question about mobile payments.

"I think it's in its infancy," the Apple CEO said. "I think it's just getting started. Just out of the starting block."

Reading between the lines, that likely means Apple has no plans to jump onto the mobile payments bandwagon, at least not at this point. Past rumors have continually suggested that the company … Read more

Apple sets WWDC for June 10-14

This year's edition of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, the place to find out about what's in the works for Mac OS and iOS, is set for June 10 to 14.

The five-day event will take place at San Francisco's Moscone West Center, bringing together Apple executives and engineers with developers from around the world working on apps and other software technologies for the iPhone, iPad, and Macs.

"Our developers have had the most prolific and profitable year ever, and we're excited to show them the latest advances in software technologies and developer tools to … Read more

Halo still in effect: Apple sees iPads as gateway to Macs

When the iPod first came out, Apple hoped it would help drive sales of the Mac. The reason was simple: at first, you needed a Mac to use the svelte little MP3 player. The phenomenon was dubbed the halo effect because customers would be expected to gravitate to Apple's other products.

Of course, what ended up happening instead was that Apple soon made iTunes and its music store available for Windows users, switched from Firewire to the more ubiquitous USB, and went on to sell millions of iPods, dominating both the digital music and MP3 player markets in the … Read more