Apple ensnared in Chinese patent fight over Siri
Shanghai Zhi Zhen makes a product called Xiaoi, which the company calls a “chat robot system.” It says Siri violates a patent it holds on man-machine interaction. Read more »
Why Apple doesn’t need a cheap iPhone if T-Mobile does it for them
T-Mobile’s $99 unlocked iPhone 5 may be one way of putting an iPhone in the purses and pockets of more price-sensitive customers in the U.S. Read more »
Apple may expand retail presence in India, but plan still doesn’t include Apple Stores
A report out of India says that Apple plans to “triple its exclusive stores to around 200 by 2015″ in the country. Read more »
Apple loves China, but its government is not returning those feelings
Apple’s presence in China and how its products and brand are portrayed are critical to its future. That’s why the recent run-ins with the country’s state-run media could become a concern for the company. Read more »
How indoor location could find its way into Apple services
It’s not totally clear what Apple wants with WifiSlam, but Apple has several services that would benefit from indoor positioning and location tech like small startup has been working on. Read more »
Apple buys indoor location company WifiSlam
Apple is said to have paid around $20 million recently for the small, 2-year-old Silicon Valley company. Read more »
CheckThis: a simple mobile blogging tool for the iPhone (video)
The idea for the app came from the founder’s history running his own digital agency: his musician and creative friends wanted a way to share content online, but felt limited by some of the more popular social tools available. Read more »
Apple warns developers it will stop accepting apps that access UDIDs on May 1
Other apps that won’t make the cut: those that are not optimized for the iPhone 5 or Retina displays. Read more »
Apple’s Podcasts app gets playlist creation, iCloud syncing and custom stations
Improvements to the app are long overdue since the Podcasts feature was broken out from iTunes as a standalone app last fall. Read more »
Apple does the two-step: new layer of security added to Apple ID, iCloud
The company introduced two-step authentication for Apple ID and iCloud accounts on Thursday. Read more »
How search can solve big data problems
photo: Albert Chau
LucidWorks CTO Grant Ingersoll made his case at Structure:Data on Thursday for why companies tackling big problems related to large sets of data should give search another look. Read more »
Google chairman being coy about whether Google Now is ready for iOS
At the Google Big Tent Summit in India, Eric Schmidt wouldn’t give a straight answer about whether his company’s well-received contextual search app for Android would be coming to iOS soon. Read more »
People will give up their personal info if you give them a good reason
photo: Albert Chau
Just like internet cookies went from major privacy concern to an accepted part of web browsing, the sharing of personal information like location and DNA will become more acceptable once people understand the value they may get out of offering it. Read more »
Apple sued again, this time over security patents by Intertrust
Intertrust has 250 patents related to digital copy protection software security and has licensed them to plenty of Apple’s peers. Now it is using the iPhone maker for infringement. Read more »
Walmart inches toward mobile checkout with Scan & Go app for iPhone
The world’s largest retailer is expanding a new feature to more stores that enables customers to scan items as they shop with their iPhone and pay at a self-checkout station. Read more »
Adobe’s CTO leaving the company and heading to Apple
The move to Apple is tinged with a bit of irony considering the bad blood between the two companies. Read more »
Apple issues fix for lock screen bug with iOS 6.1.3 update
Apple says its latest iOS update should fix a security flaw discovered in February; it also includes an update to Apple Maps in Japan. Read more »
EU says Apple still not conforming with warranty laws
Apple’s warranty practices come under fire again in Europe as EU Justice Commissioner calls for better enforcement of current consumer protection laws. Read more »
Pot kettle BlackBerry: Thorsten Heins thinks the iPhone is outdated
While it’s amusing to hear critiques of iOS coming from the guy stuck with running BlackBerry, it’s clear that Apple’s competitors sense an opening. Read more »
Dropbox buys red-hot mobile email startup Mailbox
photo: Dropbox
Dropbox co-founders Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi said they liked that Mailbox is “simple, delightful and beautifully engineered.” Read more »
Former Apple retail chief John Browett admits he was a bad fit at the company
It was apparent former Dixon CEO John Browett probably wasn’t going to fit in at Apple to many of us watching. Five months after his firing, he says his tenure ended over “fit, not competency.” Read more »
Mark Zuckerberg ousts Tim Cook as top employee-approved tech CEO, according to Glassdoor
photo: Flickr user Anirudh Koul
A year after Apple’s CEO topped Glassdoor’s employee rankings as best chief executive, he dropped down to No. 18 this year. SAP and Facebook’s CEOs are the new highest-rated CEOs. Read more »
Google augments reality with Field Trip app for iOS [video]
Using location-based information, notifications and an optional Bluetooth connection, Field Trip turns your phone into the ultimate tour guide. Read more »
Not just for iPhone anymore: YouTube Capture comes to iPad, iPad mini
The folks at YouTube are aware that filming with an iPad can be physically and socially awkward — it reminded users of the iPad app to “film wisely so your iPad isn’t blocking everyone’s view.” Read more »
On eve of Galaxy S4 launch, Apple exec dumps on Android
Surprise! Apple thinks Android is lame. In a brief, curiously timed interview with the Wall Street Journal, SVP of Worldwide Marketing Schiller ticked off reasons why he thinks iOS is better. Read more »
Andy Rubin out as head of Android, Sundar Pichai to take over
Sundar Pichai, SVP of Google Chrome and Apps, will now head up the company’s mobile operating system, the company announced unexpectedly on Wednesday. Rubin will take on a new yet-to-be-explained role within Google. Read more »
How to use your smartphone to get a better seat during a baseball game
By connecting its smartphone app with real-time ticket inventory, MLB will let baseball fans in four cities (at first) find better seats after arriving at a game. Read more »
Samsung spent $401M on Galaxy ads and iPhone mockery in 2012
photo: Samsung
Samsung’s U.S. smartphone spending in 2012 saw a huge jump from a total of $78 million in 2011. In the meantime, the company actually outspent Apple, which put $333 million toward iPhone ads during the year. Read more »
Readdle joins effort to improve iPhone’s calendar with new Calendars app
If you have room on your schedule, there’s another iOS calendar app to check out. This one’s from the same developers as PDF Expert and Scanner Pro. It’s free and simply called Calendars. Read more »
Philips opens an iOS SDK for Hue, its connected lightbulb system
Philips announces its new developer outreach effort and hints at future features for the Hue lighting system. Read more »
Why, again, isn’t there an iPad-optimized Instagram app?
When you look at the ownership trends among tablets, and particularly iPads, it starts to become rather puzzling that there aren’t as many photo apps made specifically for the iPad. Read more »
Analyst: Apple, could you be more like IBM, please?
UBS compares Apple and IBM and suggests based on their similarities Apple should do a bigger stock buyback and start a yearly analyst meeting to get analysts more face time with company executives. Read more »
Sunrise: a smart way to access Google Calendar on your iPhone (video)
Sunrise is good for Google Calendar users hunting for a mobile calendar app that’s more sophisticated than the default app that comes standard on the iPhone without being overly complex. Read more »
Comscore: Android still top US smartphone OS, but iPhone top smartphone and iOS gaining
photo: Samsung
Even though it fell 1.3 percent between October and December to 52.3 percent share, Android still is the most popular smartphone operating system in the U.S. Apple’s share grew 3.5 percent to 37.8 percent. Read more »
Report: Apple still talking about a music streaming service
A Reuters report says Apple’s CEO and SVP of Internet Services paid a visit to the CEO of Beats Electronics, which is launching a music streaming service this year. Read more »
Google Maps for iPhone gets Google contacts integration
The latest update to the app also includes quicker nearby search options and English language versions of the app and a choice of kilometers or miles in seven Middle Eastern countries. Read more »
After Band of the Day success, app maker tries event curation with Applauze
955 Dreams, known for its successful music curation app, tries its hand at event-finding and ticketing. Like Band of the Day, the design is a standout. Read more »
Updated: Apple expands iBookstore in Japan with new publisher partnerships
For the first time Apple’s iBookstore will offer paid ebooks in the Japanese market, from major Japanese publishers including Kodansha and KADOKAWA. The iBooks 3.1 update also brings reading improvements for other Asian languages. Read more »
A future iWatch could test Apple’s cloud chops
Like MobileMe and Apple Maps did, a future iWatch could reinforce the notion that Apple isn’t good at web-based services. But — if done right — it could push Apple to get its web-based act together. Read more »
Ticking down to an iWatch debut: Reports say device to arrive this year
Both Bloomberg and The Verge say it could debut in 2013. Plus, other details emerge about potential battery life and feature set. Read more »
