Articles about Apple

Apple makes some wonderful hardware, like MacBooks, iPads and iPhones to name a few. Plus, its OS X and iOS operating systems are well-designed and rock solid. However, the company's apps and programs are rather hit or miss.

iWork used to be a very capable office suite. Sure, it was not as good as Microsoft Office, but it got the job done. Last year, Apple updated iWork and while it looked pretty, much of its functionality was removed. The same was done to Final Cut Pro X in 2011. In other words, Apple seems to be focusing more on casual users than professionals. Today, the company kills popular photography program Aperture which continues this trend of dumbing down its own software.

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Twenty-fourth in a series. Apple refreshed its aging iPod touch lineup this week, introducing a new 16GB model with an iSight camera, and lowered the price of the existing models. If you’ve been tempted to pick up an iPod touch, but were put off by the price, now is the time to go for it.

The App Store saw some excellent releases this week, including a free app which lets you store unlimited photos and videos in the cloud, a Ministry of Silly Walks game voiced by John Cleese, a travel app that covers everything from planning to booking, an origami based puzzle game, and a slot machine that lets you put pictures of friends and family on the reels. And that’s just for starters!

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Last week Apple quietly introduced a new entry-level iMac. This week it’s added a new entry-level iPod touch to the Apple Store, and slashed the price of existing models.

The new iPod touch comes with 16GB of storage, a 5-megapixel, 1080p rear iSight camera and color-matched wrist strap loop. It’s priced at $199. The price of the 32 and 64GB models have been slashed to $249 and $299 from $299 and $399 respectively.

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It is no secret Microsoft is marketing its new Surface Pro 3 Windows 8.1 hybrid as a direct rival to Apple's venerable MacBook Air ultrabook. As someone who owns the latter of the two I can see why. Both are premium devices that are similarly priced (Surface Pro 3 is more expensive, however, when purchased with Type Cover) and offered in near-identical configurations, power-wise, which yield comparable battery life (MacBook Air is better in this regard, even if only by mere hours). However, as I wrote in a past article, Surface Pro 3 offers extra features, like a touchscreen and tablet credentials, which can, arguably, make it more appealing.

As I said before, Microsoft's best chance of persuading MacBook Air users to switch to Surface Pro 3 is come upgrade time, as, right now at least, this upgrade, as appealing as it may be for those willing to dump OS X for Windows, is not worth the cost penalty. Microsoft appears to be aware of this, as it launched a new trade-in offer for MacBook Air owners. And, unexpectedly I might add, the Surface Pro 3 maker offers quite a bit in return.

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Third in a series. In business perception is everything. Many companies succeed or fail not because their products are great but their brands are perceived to be that way. Apple is a remarkable perception manager. Consider iPhone 5s, which features and benefits fall far behind many competing devices. Rather than innovate, the fruit-logo launches an evocative marketing campaign -- "You're more powerful than you think" -- that makes the smartphone look better. Improved. The ads are compelling because they communicate: Your life will be better, you shall achieve your dreams, by buying iPhone 5s.

Meanwhile, competitors like Microsoft truly innovate and take the kind of risks that once defined Apple. Last year I asked: "Will 2013 be another year of Apple iteration masquerading as innovation?" Yes, and halfway into another year, little is changed. The answer is the same. Last month I explained "Why Apple no longer innovates". OS X Yosemite and iOS X 8 are prettier, but so what? Meanwhile, Windows 8/8.1 is a radical rethinking of the platform -- as is Surface, which delivers refreshing change to computing. What's that long-forgotten Yellow Pages tagline? Let your fingers do the walking. They do on Surface.

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"Abandonware". It’s the scourge of the industry. Every time a vendor abandons a software product, a puppy dies. Or an orphan. Or a Java developer.

Regardless, nobody likes to see their favorite app/game/platform get left behind. It’s the worst kind of techie betrayal. You spend days, weeks or even months mastering a product only to have the virtual rug pulled out from under you.

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Hate all you want, but Skype is awesome. The fact that it is supported on like, everything makes it one of the best video chat solutions. It works on Linux, Android, Windows Phone, iOS, OS X -- it is the bomb. Microsoft shows no favoritism to platform when this software is concerned.

Today however, in a bit of shocking news, Microsoft announces that in an effort to move everyone to the newest version of Skype, it will be retiring older versions for Windows and Mac. Does this mean that outdated versions will move to Florida and join AARP? No, well...maybe. Actually, it is not at all clear what retirement means in this case.

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Both Microsoft and Google have agreed to add a kill switch their mobile operating systems. Following an agreement with the New York Attorney General, the next versions of Windows Phone and Android will include a feature that will render handsets useless if they are stolen. The attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, published a report yesterday outlining the importance of such a feature, and revealed that two of the biggest names in technology are on-board.

It's something that authorities have been calling for for some time now, citing the sheer number of mobile phone thefts taking place around the world. Schneiderman's report points to Apple as proof of the efficacy of a kill switch. Thefts of iPhones dropped by 17 percent in New York City after the introduction of a remote wiping and locking feature. The Secure Our Smartphones report took fire at Samsung. The company had opted not to include a kill switch, and thefts of Samsung handsets jumped by 40 percent in NYC. "Reactivation Lock" has since been implemented on a small number of new Galaxy handsets.

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You might recall that we recently reviewed the ChargeKey and ChargeCard USB charging gadgets. These are now being relaunched with an updated design using more durable materials and have had a name change to NomadKey and NomadCard -- though we’re guessing they won't recharge your camel.

There's also an extra product, the carabiner-style NomadClip that you can fit on your key chain, belt or anywhere else to ensure you’re never without a charger. It’s non-load bearing but with a steel frame and polycarbonate outer shell it should be tough enough to survive life's day-to-day knocks.

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Amazon today unveiled the latest entrant to the smartphone race -- the Fire phone. The handset continues the Fire name that is more readily associated with Amazon's range of Android tablets, and it has a few tricks up its sleeve to make it stand out from the competition. A press event in Seattle brought to an end weeks of rumor and speculation as the phone, which features Dynamic Perspective that allows for maps and other images to be displayed in three dimensions, was revealed.

Run by four ultra-low power specialized cameras and four infrared LEDs, Dynamic Perspective has numerous uses. One application makes it possible for users to gain a different perspective on an image or object on screen by moving their heads. In games, a move of the head can be used to switch views, and there is scope for unique navigation options within apps. Some applications are slightly simpler, and mimic those found in other handsets such as Samsung's Galaxy range. For example, auto-scroll allows for easy reading of lengthy documents and web pages without the need for swiping.

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If you’re in the market for a new Apple computer, but can’t afford a top of the line model, you’ll be pleased to know Apple has today rolled out a new entry-level iMac.

The new system is available now and comes with a 21.5 inch screen, 1.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive and Intel HD Graphics 5000.

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Apple has avoided an $800 million bill from a clutch of US states and other complainants by reaching an out of court settlement in a controversial price-fixing case.

The settlement, the terms of which are yet to be revealed, still has to be ratified by the court and both sides involved in the deal have 30 days to submit a filing to US District Judge in Manhattan Denise Cote for it to be approved.

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Nowadays, if you buy a brand new laptop, it is hard to buy an absolute lemon. Unless you scrape the bottom of the barrel at Best Buy and get some god-awful $200 underpowered computer, you should be fine. Hell, even that inexpensive computer may meet some people's needs. However, some of us spend many hours of each day on a computer, so it makes sense to invest in something great. If you are reading BetaNews, I'm sure you fall into that category. If you ask me which computer to buy, I would recommend many (depending on budget), but two stand out among the rest.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and Apple MacBook Air are great balances between portability, power and cost. Yes, there are more powerful computers, but they are often very heavy and have terrible battery life. Portability cannot be underestimated when it comes to a laptop's value and both of these machines are super thin and light. Last month, my colleague Mihaita pondered the question of which was better based on specs alone. However, as someone who has used both, hands-on, for long periods of time, I am ready to definitively tell you that the Surface Pro 3 is better. Do you agree?

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Has Apple painted itself into a corner with iOS 8 multitasking? I ask because, like many technology enthusiasts, I came away from WWDC feeling a bit let down. After all, everyone and their grandmother was expecting Apple to announce some sort of split-screen multitasking capability for iOS 8. Yet when Mr. Cook and friends took the stage there was no mention of the feature.

So, what happened? According to my sources, it all comes down to a programming mechanism known as "Auto Layout". Introduced with iOS 6, Auto Layout allows developers to create apps that support dynamic resizing, using pre-defined rules for object spacing to adapt an app’s UI to fit a particular screen resolution or orientation.

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Eyes were focused on Microsoft as the company held an Xbox One press conference at E3 2014, with the focus being very much on games. Not to be outdone, Sony also held a press conference at the event. Consoles from Sony and Microsoft are still largely reliant on traditional controllers -- dull! But the SteelSeries Sentry Eye Tracker is something to, almost literally, keep an eye on as it allows for controlling games with your peepers. PS4 users have the arrival of YouTube to look forward to, and Chromecast owners will soon be able to stream files from VLC.

In security news, AVG publicized details of yet another OpenSSL flaw. While less serious than other vulnerabilities that have been discovered recently, it's still something of a cause for concern. We're still feeling the fallout of the Zeus botnet, and F-Secure set up an online testing tool that can be used by anyone to check for the infection. One tactic used to attack websites is bombarding them with comment spam, and new research shows that 80 percent of such spam is generated by less than a third of site attackers.

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