Articles about iPhone

Pebble Time app now reaches iPhone users

Pebble Time on wrist

Pebble Time, the latest watch from the manufacturer, is beginning to slowly roll out, rewarding Kickstarter backers first. For those already sporting the wristwear, and who happen to be iPhone customers, Pebble has now released the official app to the iTunes store.

This will allow customers to begin setting up rewards, grabbing new watchfaces and getting apps for their new watch. Users can even manage software updates for the watch, contact support and drag to reorder the apps, a process that will sync to the watch.

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Japanese porn sites may infect your iPhone and iPad with malicious apps

If you are an adult that likes to visit Japanese porno websites on your iPhone or iPad, I will not judge you. It is your life and you can do with it what you want. Quite frankly, watching x-rated videos is safer than visiting sex workers, as you cannot catch a virus from your Apple device.

Or can you? While not a virus per se, Symantec has discovered a malicious app in the wild that is targeting iOS users that search for Japanese sex videos and visit certain spam links. Unfortunately, wearing a condom on your finger will not protect you -- here is how to stay safe.

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Tim Cook is an opportunist

Nine years ago, a NPR interviewer asked me about Google and other U.S. companies censoring search results in China. The question was one of morality -- to which I gave answer she didn't expect. That response, or my recollection of it, is appropriate for rather ridiculous and self-serving statements that Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly made two days ago.

"We believe that people have a fundamental right to privacy", Cook said, Matthew Panzarino reports for TechCrunch. "The American people demand it, the constitution demands it, morality demands it". Oh? What is moral? The answer I gave NPR in 2006 applies: There is no moral high ground in business. The high ground is quagmire, because all public companies -- Apple surely among them -- share a single, moral objective: Make profits for stockholders. Plain, pure, and simple.

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Apple offers official workaround for nasty iPhone Messages bug [Update]

iPhone 6 showing a white/blank screen like it is rebooting

All that it takes to mess with an iPhone user these days is a text message. Send it, and their beloved smartphone, along with its Messages app, will crash. You can do it from any phone, making this whole situation rather embarrassing for Apple.

Apple is now working on a fix for this annoying bug, which will be delivered in an upcoming iOS software update. In the meantime, however, the company has posted a workaround that should help iPhone users in case they encounter the nasty text message.

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A simple text will bring your iPhone to its knees [Update]

iPhone 6 showing a white/blank screen like it is rebooting

It does not take sophisticated software or advanced knowledge of iOS to cause an iPhone and its Messages app to crash, as a simple text message can do the job just fine. As an iPhone 6 Plus user, this is the first time that I am feeling vulnerable for using an Apple smartphone.

And I am not alone, as an increasing number of iPhone users are taking to Twitter to complain about this bug, which can be triggered with anyone who is also using an iPhone. The text that has to be sent contains a specific sequence, which triggers the crash.

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Firefox for iOS Beta coming to iPhone and iPad very soon -- source code available now!

I have a love/hate relationship with iOS. My iPad Air is a satisfying tablet; I enjoy using it, but I feel guilty. Why? I have some specific computing beliefs that Apple's operating system is at odds with. Namely, I do not like that users cannot change the default web browser. Even worse, I find it horrible that alternative browser engines cannot be used. While I am sure Apple has its reasons, it is an undeniably bad practice which harms users by limiting choice.

Firefox is not found on iOS for this reason. Mozilla initially refused to cave to Apple and release a neutered version without its own Gecko engine. Last year, however, Mozilla announced that it was bringing a version of the browser to the mobile operating system by saying, "we need to be where our users are so we're going to get Firefox on iOS". While I am still dismayed that browser will not use the Gecko engine on iOS, I've come to accept it as a necessity for Firefox to survive. Today, Mozilla announces that the project is still on track and a beta is on the way soon.

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Apple may have leaked its upcoming iPhone 6c

Apple leaks iPhone 6c with Touch ID on UK listing of Lightning Dock

There has been another leak of an Apple smartphone -- far from an unusual event in itself, except this time Cupertino itself is responsible for spilling the image.

The Guardian spotted the picture which popped up on the Apple Store, advertising a new charging dock with a lightning connector. Inside the dock was an iPhone 5C with a difference – rather than a home button, it appears to have a fingerprint scanner.

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Microsoft to launch new iPhone messaging app

iPhone in Red leather case held in left hand, tapped on the screen

Microsoft is reportedly planning another messaging app for the iPhone, this time utilizing Outlook contacts without all of the formalities on email.

Spotted by Twitter user @h0x0d, Microsoft has named the app Flow and is preparing to launch it in the coming months. Instead of sending an email with titles and signatures, Flow will allow Outlook contacts to chat like they would on Facebook Messenger or any other messaging platform.

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Your smartphone is too big

I love my Nexus 6. This morning, while waking to the rush of caffeine from steaming coffee, I read headlines on the device. "I’m Phed Up With Phablets: They're too big to prevail" caught my attention. The short commentary, by Brian Rubin for ReadWrite, rails against the bigger-is-better-smartphone trend. Screen on my cellular is massive: 6 inches, and I forever promised myself to never use a phone so large -- until I did and converted. Much as I enjoy using the N6, for which I can still manage many operations one-handed, smaller would be my preference. Perhaps yours, too.

Here at BetaNews, we first raised doubts about ever-expanding screens four years ago. I still remember the discussion about the story, and more importantly the headline, before Ed Oswald wrote "Is that the Samsung Galaxy S II in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" In 2015, what seemed large then -- a 4.3-inch screen -- is puny. Even iPhones are bigger. Rubin rightly raises alarm about choice: "The real problem isn’t so much that there are too many phablets, but that there aren’t enough non-phablets these days -- at least none that are truly interesting".

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Apple resurrects the iPhone dock, adds Lightning connector -- still stupid

When I bought my first iPod, a click-wheel model, I excitedly bought some accessories too; a silicone case and the official dock. Docking the iPod was such an elegant thing, I was excited to do it. I connected the dock to my Windows PC, put the case on my iPod and...FAIL.

Yes, with the case on, my iPod would not fit in the dock. I had to decide between elegant docking and protecting my investment. Fast forward to today, and Apple introduces a dock for the lightning-connector iPhones and iPods. While it may work with some thin cases, once again, users will have to decide between the dock and protection, which is surely foolish.

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Court of Appeals says Samsung's legal payments to Apple should be reduced

Patent lawsuits in the world of technology are nothing new, and the case between Apple and Samsung resulted in one of the largest fines ever being handed down. Samsung was ordered to pay $930 million in damages after a court found that the company had violated Apple patents with its smartphone and tablet designs.

Today the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned part of the original ruling, saying that the jury was wrong to say that Samsung infringed on Apple's trade dress intellectual property. The exact details of what this will mean are yet to come out, but it should lead to a fairly hefty reduction in Samsung's legal costs.

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Apple buys high-precision GPS firm Coherent Navigation

Apple buys high-precision GPS firm Coherent Navigation

The accuracy of GPS on iPhones could be on the verge of becoming significantly better. Apple has confirmed that it has acquired GPS company Coherent Navigation, a start-up that specializes in super-precise global positioning systems.

As is usual, Apple remains tight-lipped about future plans, going no further than confirming the purchase in an email. The wheels of activity are already in motion and the Coherent Navigation website has already vanished from the internet.

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Microsoft brings searchable handwriting and Apple Watch support to OneNote

Microsoft brings searchable handwriting and Apple Watch support to OneNote

The latest update to OneNote sees the addition of support for Apple Watch as well as the ability to search through handwritten notes. Thanks to handwriting recognition, it is possible to perform a search that looks through not only typed notes, but also those that have been written with a stylus.

The feature is available in the mobile and desktop versions of the app, and Microsoft says that any new handwritten notes that are saved to OneDrive will be automatically rendered searchable in a few moments. Over the coming weeks older handwritten notes will be indexed in the same way so they can also be searched.

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International access to BBC iPlayer ends in two weeks

International access to BBC iPlayer ends in two weeks

The BBC has announced that access to its iPlayer service from outside of the UK is to end from 26 May. Originally only made available to those living in the UK, the international version of iPlayer provided access to a selection of its content for a monthly subscription.

Those with a subscription have a month to access the content they have paid for, so the final date that iPlayer can be used will actually be 26 June. The timing of the BBC's announcement is interesting, coming just a week after the European Commission revealed plans to break down the barriers of geo-blocking.

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iPhones and iPads rule the enterprise market, Windows is slowly gaining ground

While Android is the clear leader in the mobile market, in the enterprise space arch-rival iOS is the platform that actually comes out on top. Apple's iPhones and iPads make up 72 percent of all mobile device activations, while handsets running the green droid operating system have to make do with just 26 percent.

Unsurprisingly, it is iPhone 6 which sustains Apple's enterprise dominance, coming out as the most-popular handset in the enterprise thanks to it making up 26 percent of all activations between January and March. Apple's flagship is followed by Samsung's Galaxy S5. Together, the two leading vendors offer 28 out of the 30 most-popular devices in the enterprise.

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