Tipbit helps you run your life better on your iPhone
Exclusive: Startup by Microsoft/Citrix alum emerges from stealth to help you make sense of all the information flowing to your iPhone. Read more »
iPhone’s Wi-Fi hotspot passwords are vulnerable to attack, researchers say
Researchers demonstrate that the list passwords for protecting the iPhone’s mobile hotspot are drawn from is just too small. The “randomly generated” passwords are also not random enough. Read more »
Lost in (hotel) Wi-Fi: My love & hate relationship with hotel Wi-Fi
photo: Shutterstock / Jiri Hera
If you live and work on the Internet like I do, and happen to travel all the time, then you need a good connection to the Internet. Unfortunately, hotels – both big and small fail to deliver, doesn’t matter at what price. Read more »
Apple sanctions iPhone game controllers: a first clue as to how they’ll look
What will iPhone gaming controllers look like? A first clue comes courtesy of Kotaku’s blurry shot of an alleged Logitech iPhone controller, said to be one of the first official Made for iPhone controllers. Read more »
Microsoft quietly pushes out Office for iPhone
Without any fanfare, the software giant has released the clumsily-titled “Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers”, which seems to do what it says on the tin. Read more »
Chrome, Vine, Yahoo use on the rise for iOS users
Exclusive: New usage data from Onavo shows that iOS users are taking to Chrome, to Twitter’s Vine and to Yahoo apps. Read more »
Apple shows off major design overhaul for iOS 7
Apple announced changes on Monday to iOS 7 at the company’s WWDC conference in San Francisco. The company has revamped and refreshed the overall design and feel of the operating system. Read more »
AT&T will offer an iPhone walkie-talkie service; makes a grab for Nextel’s customers
Sprint’s Nextel has always been the king of push-to-talk services, but the king is on its deathbed. AT&T hopes to capitalize on its demise with a new PTT app for its most popular smartphone. Read more »
Analyst suggests HTC One sales already peaked, blames next iPhone and delays
Although an anonymous HTC executive reported 5 million HTC One sales, a Citigroup analyst suggests a figure of 1.2 million. Why? A delayed launch and consumers already looking ahead to Apple’s next iPhone. Read more »
iPhone and Android are different, so stop trying to compare them
Months and months of the same data are pointing to one conclusion: iPhone and Android really can’t be compared. In fact, they’re on two different trajectories. Read more »
Cities with crime problems ask smartphone companies to solve crime problems
The district attorney of San Francisco and attorney general of New York would like to know why Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Motorola haven’t yet made a phone with a “kill switch.” Read more »
ITC sides with Samsung, issues sales ban on some older model iPhones, iPads
Tuesday’s ITC ruling has been labeled a “final” decision but it won’t go into effect right away. It will be sent to the White House and the president can still overrule it. Read more »
Here come the late adopters: iPhone popularity grows among first-time smartphone owners
The context for this is whether or not Apple needs a cheaper iPhone model — one that would allow Apple to sell a new model iPhone for a lower-than-typical price for an Apple premium device. Read more »
For your summer road trip: 7 recommended chargers for your iDevices
Never be without power and avoid carrying a myriad of odd cables and adapters as you enjoy the summer. These multi-functional accessories provide effective charging without weighing you down or taking up half your carry-on luggage. Read more »
Apple’s plan to make the iPhone more affordable in India is working
Credit Suisse’s analysis of recent sales in the country show Apple’s payment plans and cashback incentives are driving a spike in sales. But its overall market share in the country remains low. Read more »
Glide combines cloud accounts on iPhone but Apple seems upset about the message sent
Already on Windows 8 and Android, Glide adds support for Apple’s iPhone and combines cloud storage accounts into a single view. That’s smart but Apple isn’t too happy with the message it sends. Glide says consumers don’t care about platforms when it comes to data. Read more »
Report: Apple picks Pegatron to build low-cost iPhone, not longtime partner Foxconn
Pegatron is already an Apple partner — it made some iPhones and the iPad mini — but is set to take on a larger role, according to the WSJ. Apple will reportedly be “dividing its weight more equally” among it and Foxconn Read more »
BYOD is for amateurs. Try bring-your-own-laboratory
University of Illinois researchers have created an app and a sensor-filled cradle that turn an iPhone into a mobile spectrophotometer. The combination of that mobile lab data and metadata such as location might prove very valuable. Read more »
Box acquires Folders technology to enrich iOS offering
photo: Folders screen shot
Box recognizes that user experience is important, particularly on mobile devices. The company said Thursday it has acquired technology from the Folders iPhone app, which lets users open many kinds of files. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Where new opportunity lies in the mobile operating system space
Roughly half a dozen new mobile operating systems will come to market over the next 6 to 12 months. Many of these look to be more sophisticated than the older ones controlled by Apple and Google, for whom serious competition could be just around the corner. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Apple offering new incentives to make the iPhone more affordable in India
The iPhone maker has been tweaking its pricing strategy and incentive offerings in markets where smartphone ownership has only recently begun to take hold. In India it’s offering discounts for trade-ins and a cash back offer. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Survey: How apps can solve photo management
A recent survey found that 76 percent of respondents store their digital photos on multiple devices using multiple services.That means ample opportunity exists for companies offering solutions that tackle this “dispersed photo problem.” This report analyzes the aforementioned survey’s results, and also measures 18 different vendors against what respondents value most when it comes to photo-organizing solutions. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
What Apple really means when it says it has “sold” a product
photo: Getty Images / Daniel Barry
When Apple says it sold 37.5 million iPhones and 19.5 million iPads this is often interpreted as Apple declaring that 37.5 million iPhones and 19.5 million iPads have been purchased by customers. That’s not quite the whole story. Read more »
Hold on tight: Nokia Lumia 928 camera shines in roller coaster video demo
The Lumia 928 hasn’t been announced yet but a demo of the phone’s low-light camera performance is already throwing down the gauntlet against the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S 3. Read more »
Prepaid boosted T-Mobile customers last quarter, but 500K iPhones sold speaks to the future
A gain in prepaid customers offset a loss in T-Mobile’s postpaid subscriber base, bringing a branded net add of customers for the first time since early 2009. But the iPhone and LTE network is more likely to help in the future. Read more »
Recruiting new iPhone carriers may be harder than adding individual users
The key to Apple’s growth is finding international carriers that will sell the iPhone to new smartphone users. But, as Bloomberg points out, that’s getting harder to do because of Apple’s requirements. Read more »
iPhone remains top US smartphone, while iOS gains a bit of ground on Android
photo: Samsung
The U.S. smartphone story didn’t change too drastically in the first quarter of 2013: Android is still used by more than half of all smartphones and the iPhone is still by far the most popular smartphone in the U.S. Read more »
Apple devices coming to regional carrier U.S. Cellular this year
The carrier didn’t specify which Apple devices, but the iPhone seems a safe bet, in addition to possible LTE-capable iPads. Read more »
Subscriber Content
Forecast: Global mobile subscribers and handsets, 2012-2017
Saturated markets and a slumping global economy shrank sales of mobile phones in 2012. But demand for smartphones will help restore growth moving forward, as shipments of smartphones worldwide will surpass those of feature phones in 2013. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As the iPhone matures, Apple looks to older versions to drive growth
Apple’s CEO says the nearly three-year-old iPhone 4 is an important part of the company’s strategy for expanding the ranks of iPhone owners to include first-time ever buyers. Read more »
Older model iPhones are more popular than ever
By the end of March, Apple was selling more iPhone 5 devices as a share of iPhones than in December. But at the same time, the share of older model phones it is selling has never been higher. Read more »
Yahoo outs new Weather, Mail apps for iOS, Android. And they’re nice!
The newest Weather app for iPhone and iPod touch to hit the market uses gorgeous photography, well-designed informational icons and simple navigation. And it’s from Yahoo. Really! The company also has a new take on email for tablets. Read more »
Apple stock tanks on bad news from audio chip supplier
Cirrus Logic is believed to be the main supplier of audio chips for the iPhone and iPad. It missed badly on revenue and has some investors worried that Apple way overestimated the number of mobile devices it could sell during the quarter. Read more »
Intel’s dilemma and the slowly crumbling PC ecosystem
photo: ArtyFree
Intel is looking for a new CEO and its looks at internal candidates. The big problem: they are all kids of the PC revolution. What Intel needs is fresh thinking, much like Microsoft to get out of the crumbling PC ecosystem. Read more »
Snapchat CEO: users taking 150M images a day (before they disappear)
Most users are snapping photos with iOS devices, though Spiegel predicts Android growth will come. Eighty percent of users are in the U.S. Read more »
What Apple is up against in two growing mobile markets: China and Brazil
Xiaomi, a high-end smartphone maker in China, and Movile, Brazil’s biggest and most important wireless carrier, showcase the challenges Apple faces in those two markets. Read more »
Foxconn nearing new iPhone production, reports point to summer launch
photo: Credit: Bowen Liu/Apple Inc. via Bloomberg
Bloomberg says the hiring began in mid-March at a Zhengzhou factory for work on a new Apple device as well as older model iPhones. The Journal says Foxconn has been hiring 10,000 new workers every week since then. Read more »
Apple set to pay $53M in water-damaged iPhone warranty dispute
According to court documents found by Wired, Apple’s method for detecting water damage in iOS devices may not have provided totally clear-cut evidence. Read more »
O2 UK moves away from handset subsidies with decoupled Refresh tariffs
Although it claims the move “isn’t about subsidies”, O2 is effectively moving away from the traditional model where carriers subsidize the phones they sell up-front, then bury the real cost in a combined monthly tariff. Read more »
As smartphones get bigger, could Android’s user base get smaller?
The trend of larger screens on flagship Android phones shows no signs of stopping. At some point, however, one has to wonder how big “too big” is. At this rate, could Android smartphones outgrow their user base as one-handed phone use disappears? Read more »
