Apple

SkyDrive, Google Maps and other iOS app faves of 2012

2012 was another year that kept me glued to my iPhone and iPad, checking out the latest batch of iOS games and other apps. So which ones proved to be among my favorites? In alphabetical order...

Angry Birds Star Wars My wife and I love to play Angry Birds, and the Star Wars edition is a great take on the familiar franchise. This app could've easily taken a turn to the dark side. But Rovio knew just how to pair its birds and piggies with the classic Star Wars characters and settings that fans know and love. The challenging … Read more

Apple applies for patent on 'active stylus' technology

Apple has filed for a patent that the company says, improves the overall functionality of a stylus.

Dubbed "Active Stylus," the technology describes a way in which a stylus, outfitted with an electrode at the tip, can interact with a "capacitive touch sensor panel" and allow users to tap around on menus, buttons, and text fields. The technology doesn't necessarily reinvent the stylus -- it is still handheld and functions just as today's styli do -- but it attempts to improve accuracy while maintaining costs.

Here's what Apple's patent says about the … Read more

Type 'sell' into Google Finance and take a bite out of Apple

Update, 5:40 p.m. PT: Google says the situation isn't deliberate. See the note at the end of this story.

Fiscal cliff or not, Google Finance seems to have developed a sense of humor.

A Reddit reader noticed earlier today that if you type "sell" into the search field at Google Finance, the site serves up Apple's presently somewhat sullen stock chart.

Ouch. Is this some sort of nasty Christmastime Easter egg/lump of coal? That's what some in the blogosphere are currently trying to figure out -- Google watcher, Search Engine Land proprietor, … Read more

Details of proposed sanctions emerge in Apple-Samsung case

Details have emerged about how Samsung might be affected by an October 24 ruling against it in an Apple patent case before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

A public, partially censored version of the presiding judge's initial determination and recommendations in the case was published by the ITC yesterday, showing Judge Thomas Pender's suggested sanctions, which include an import and sales ban on infringing products, and the posting of a bond for 88 percent of the value of the smartphones at issue in the case.

Pender ruled that Samsung is violating one of Apple's iPhone design … Read more

iPad Mini in hot demand in China -- analyst

Apple's iPad Mini is creating a frenzy among Chinese tablet buyers, according to Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White.

Checks of retailers in China and Hong Kong show "an insatiable appetite" for the Mini, leading to a supply shortage, White said in an investors note out today. Stores in China are out of stock, while those in Hong Kong are sold out of nearly all flavors of the 7-inch tablet.

The iPad Mini is proving much more popular in China and Hong Kong than its bigger 4th-generation brother, which remains in stock.

"Prior to the China … Read more

Apple's Christmas gift -- app downloads jump 87 percent

Apple certainly enjoyed a jolly Christmas, at least to judge from its App Store downloads.

Data out yesterday from mobile analytics firm Distimo revealed an 87 percent jump in iPhone and iPad app downloads on Christmas Day as compared with the average for the month. Sales from all those downloads rose by 70 percent on December 25.

The iPad seemed to be an especially popular gift this season, according to Distimo. App downloads for Apple's tablet lineup grew by 140 percent on Christmas compared to the monthly average, while revenue for iPad apps shot up by 83 percent.

Among … Read more

Turns out Snapchat, Poke videos don't actually disappear

Snapchat and Poke videos shared with other people are supposed to go poof after a few seconds, but their vanishing act isn't working exactly as advertised.

Snapchat and Facebook's Poke apps are designed for folks who want to share photos and videos with their socially networked friends -- though only briefly. The appeal of both apps is that the photos and videos vanish after up to 10 seconds. That's supposed to mean you can send someone a potentially embarrassing or "sexty" clip of yourself, firm in the belief that it won't stick around for … Read more

'Twas a holly jolly Christmas for smartphones, tablets, and apps

More stockings were stuffed with Android and iOS devices this Christmas than ever before, according to new data released today. And new device owners spent much of December 25 downloading apps for their new toys.

The analytics firm Flurry said device activations soared from their daily December average of 4 million to 17.4 million on Christmas Day, a 332 percent increase. And it's more than double the 6.8 million devices activated on Christmas last year, the previous single-day record holder. More tablets were activated on Christmas this year than phones. Apple tablets dominated the category, but the … Read more

Flexy iPhone someday? Apple patents method to bend glass

Apple has patented a method that could help propel traditional glass screens into a flexible future.

The new patent, first discovered by Wired, was awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. U.S. patent 8,336,334 details a method of using heat while bending glass over a mold in order to encourage a particular shape -- and so who's to say that Apple's iPhone and iPad might not one day sport the curved equivalent of a traditional, straight glass screen?

Apple's not alone in exploring the possibility of flexible screens for gadgets. Samsung, for … Read more