Apr 08
Some new Apple iWatch rumors are making the rounds this week including one that suggest that the device could have a UV light exposure sensors inside. That sensor would allow … Continue reading
Apr 06
Ever since Walter Isaacson’s biography of the late Steve Jobs hit the market, there have been talks that Apple could be working on an “iTV” of their own. The reports stem from a quote in the book in which Steve Jobs claims to have “cracked” the TV market. However apart from that, we haven’t seen any evidence that Apple is indeed working on such a device.
That hasn’t stopped the rumors from circulating and according to the latest one from The Korea Herald, it suggests that Apple could be currently testing 65-inch display panels. The report cites IBK Securities analysts who believes that Apple could have requested for the display panels from a Korean manufacturer which could potentially be used towards manufacturing an Apple TV device in the future.
No word on who this alleged manufacturer is, but according to the report, “Around 2 million Apple‘s iTVs with 65- and 77-inch liquid crystal displays were expected to hit the market in the second half of this year. However, Apple employees visited this local company in October 2013 to delay the plans to next year,” said a source close to the matter on Saturday. “Following the visit, the display maker’s stock prices plunged.”
In any case the report itself is pretty vague so we wouldn’t put too much stock into it at the moment, although it does serve to revive iTV rumors which have recently been relatively quiet, at least in the face of new rumors that suggests that Apple could instead be revamping its Apple TV set top box, but what do you guys think? Do you reckon we will be seeing the rumored iTV anytime soon?
Apple Rumored To Be Testing 65-inch Display Panels For iTV , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Apple, Rumors, itv, 
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Apr 06
We’re sure many have heard the rumors that Apple is planning on releasing a larger iPhone later this year, but why? Is it just Apple reacting to the market? After all Apple has not been known to play by the rules and as we can see in previous iPhones, Apple has stuck to their guns and kept to a 3.5-inch display in the face of 4-5-inch Android devices.
Recently we reported that Apple’s sales team had expressed concern over the competition and now thanks to recently leaked slides from the Apple versus Samsung trial, it shows that Apple is truly concerned about the competition.
The slides, which apparently dates back to April 2013 for 2014’s planning, suggests that Apple could start losing out as growth is happening in the sub-$300 market, as well as in the market where there is demand for phones with displays bigger than 4-inches.
There is even a slide which is labeled “Consumers want what we don’t have”, and showed more charts on where the growth in the smartphone market is currently taking place. Of course none of this is evidence that Apple is planning on releasing a larger iPhone, but why would Apple bother creating such slides and expressing their concerns if they had no plans on doing something about it, right?
What do you guys think? Are these slides an indication that a larger iPhone will be gracing the shelves later this year?
Leaked Apple Slides Shows Their Concern Over The Competition , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Apple, Samsung, 
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Apr 06
I had to clean my old Macbook Pro 15 and Macbook Pro 15 Retina laptops before I get rid of them, so I wanted to be able to install a new, clean, version of Mac OS X Mavericks and ensure that none of my apps and data is left on the computer. I don’t have a CD with Mac OS X Mavericks v10.9.2 (nor an optical drive for that matter). Since Mac OS X v10.9.2 is a free update, procuring it pretty easy, but Mac OS X does not have an easy mechanism that lets one build a USB bootable version for a clean install. Here’s a way to do just that in a few steps
Prerequisites
your mac needs to run on Mavericks for this to work
You will need
- an access to the Mac App Store (an Apple user account)
- have Mavericks v10.9.2 free update installed on your mac (the script will rely on this and won’t work on Mac OS 10.6. Update to Mavericks before taking the steps below.
- a USB drive with 8GB of space
Step 1: prepare a target USB drive
Insert a USB drive and change its volume name if needed
Prepare a USB disk of 8GB+ to receive the Mac OS Mavericks installation (the compressed download from the App Store is 5.3GB, so it will expand somewhat on our disk). Insert it into a USB slot and launch the Disk Utility. Erase all data and rename the drive to a specific name: the script that we will use later will erase the data again, but it does need the correct name for the USB drive.
Format the drive using “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” and use a new name. I’m using mavericksinstall. If you already have a volume using that name, pick another name and change the script below accordingly).
Before doing this, verify that there is nothing that you need on this USB drive – data from it will be lost.
Step 2: retrieve the Mavericks.app file from the Mac Store
Download Mavericks from the Mac Store. You have to do this since the Mavericks.app installation file was deleted at the end of the previous upgrade. The Mac Store will save it as a file on disk, and we will use a script to quickly access it.
As you download it, the Mac Store will point out that you are already running on Mavericks, but click on Continue and it will download the file.
Step 3: install Mavericks as a bootable USB drive with a script
Open a Terminal Window and copy or type the following command:
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia –volume /Volumes/mavericksinstall –applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app –nointeraction
This command will basically delete data on the USB drive, and it will make it bootable using the update file downloaded from the store, and named Mavericks.app. It will also install a recovery partition on the USB drive, so don’t be surprised to see it later. Thanks to forum user tywebb13 for sharing this command.
The process will take a while, and you will see something like:
Erasing Disk: 0%… 10%… 20%… 100%…
Copying installer files to disk…
Copy complete.
Making disk bootable…
Copying boot files…
Copy complete.
Done.
Once the USB installer is ready, the Mavericks install will appear
Step 4: Reboot on the USB drive and start the clean install
Method 1
Go into the settings, and select the boot drive. Pick the newly built USB drive with the installer for Mavericks and restart.
Method 2
You can also reboot your Mac and hold the “Options” key to enter the boot menu. Pick the USB drive to boot on it and start a clean Mac OS X Mavericks installation.
Step 5: All done, happy clean installation!
Hopefully, the installation should be easy and by now, you have a clean Mac with Mac OS X Mavericks. Enjoy!
If you know an easier way to do this, let me know and I’ll be happy to give it a try. If you can’t make it work, double-check that the USB drive volume name matches the name in the script.
How To Install Mac OS X Mavericks From A USB Drive , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Apple, os x, os x mavericks, 
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Apr 04
One of the more iconic features of the iPhone and the iOS software would be its ability to “slide to unlock”. Apparently this was a feature that was thought up in order to prevent the phone from accidentally unlocking itself while in bag or a pocket which can happen when you use physical buttons.
However it seems that the feature was only created as an after-thought because according to Apple’s head of human-interface, Greg Christie, the company had opted for an always-on screen which could be ready to go at the touch of the screen, but apparently due to the amount of power that would require, they weren’t able to include that feature.
Christie was testifying at the Apple-Samsung trial where he was quoted as saying. “We couldn’t meet our power requirements if we had that active a state. We had to resort to a power button.” This eventually led to Apple going with the “slide to unlock” feature, which at the same would also solve the problem of issues like pocket dialing.
His recount of the history and the feature was to stress the importance of some of Apple’s patents and that they are valuable and are worth the damages that Apple is asking from Samsung. Christie states that the “slide to unlock” feature is important because it would be the first thing that a customer would see, whether it be at the store or at home after purchasing an iPhone.
Like we said, the feature has become somewhat iconic and is usually linked to Apple’s iOS devices, much like how the pattern unlock feature is usually thought of to be an Android feature.
Apple’s iPhone Almost Had An Always-On Display , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Apple, Cellphones, iOS, legal, 
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Apr 04
With all the fuss that Apple made about launching the iPhone in China on the country’s largest carrier, we guess Apple had expected that the phone would do well in a country with so many potential customers.
So far we have heard how China Mobile has managed to sell over 1 million iPhones, although there are also reports that suggests that the iPhone 5c isn’t doing that well. That being said it seems that overall demand for the iPhone in China is apparently disappointing, according to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst, Brian White.
At the moment White is currently in China and has spoke to various parties and found that demand for the iPhone is not as strong as it should be. Instead it seems that customers these days are more excited for local brands like Xiaomi. However there is good news for Apple and that is that many vendors have expressed their enthusiasm for an iPhone with a larger display.
According to the rumors, Apple is pegged to release an iPhone with a larger display this year, which is rumored to be of the 4.7-inch variety (a 5.5-inch model has been rumored as well). “In our view, the iPhone 6 with a larger screen (e.g., 4.7-inch, 5.5-inch) has the potential to meaningfully accelerate Apple’s growth trajectory in China during 2H:14. We have not heard this type of excitement in China around the iPhone in at least two years and thus we believe this could be a very special iPhone launch for Apple.”
iPhone Demand In China Waning In Face Of Local Competition , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Apple, Cellphones, china, iPhone, 
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Apr 04
In the past you might have seen some Apple products on sale with the (PRODUCT) RED tag on them. For those unfamiliar, these products when sold have their sales contribute to a charity foundation, so if you’d like to do something for charity and buy yourself a new gadget or accessory from Apple, these are the products to keep an eye out for.
That being said, it seems that Apple’s (PRODUCT) RED has been something of a success as the charity has recently announced that Apple’s contributions thus far have managed to reach the $70 million mark, which we have to say is a lot of money! In fact it was back in September 2013 that Apple hit the $65 million mark, so we guess they have managed to raise another $5 million from then until now.
As it stands the (PRODUCT) RED products that Apple sells includes version of the iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPad Smart Cover, and several iPhone cases which bears the charity’s branding as well. Sales of the products go straight to the Global Fund to fight AIDS. This is not the only way Apple has participated in the charity.
In the past, the company has changed its white Apple logo to a red logo to in support of World AIDS Day. Apple’s designer, Jony Ive, has also created several Apple products, like the (PRODUCT) RED Mac Pro and Ear Pods which have been auctioned off and have the proceeds donated to charity.
Apple’s (PRODUCT) RED Have Contributed $70 Million To Fight AIDS So Far , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Apple, charity, 
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Apr 04
Apple’s competitors, namely Android OEMs, have been releasing phones with much larger displays for a very long time now, and it was only with the iPhone 5 that Apple finally stepped up to the plate and made some changes, even though it wasn’t exactly a huge leap from 3.5-inches to 4-inches.
On the surface it seemed that Apple was not too fussed about the competition and the decision to stick to their guns, even in the face of the original Samsung Galaxy Note, was pretty apparent. After all Apple has long had a history of doing whatever they wanted, but apparently it seems that internally the company was worried.
It was revealed in the courts today that according to an internal email, it showed that there were some at Apple who were concerned about the company’s lack of large screened devices, and that they might have trouble growing in a market where large screen phones are currently a popular choice amongst customers.
It should be noted that the email does not necessarily represent Apple as a whole, but it was instead sent from one member from Apple’s sales team which was titled, “Competitors have drastically improved their hardware and in some cases their ecosystems.” When providing testimony, Apple’s Phil Schiller stated that he didn’t agree with the document and stated that it did not represent Apple policy.
However that being said, there are rumors that Apple could be prepping a 4.7-inch iPhone for launch later this year, and that there are apparently plans for a 5.5-inch iPhone as well that could be launched after that.
Internal Email Reveals Apple’s Sales Team’s Worry About The Competition , original content from Ubergizmo, Filed in Apple, Cellphones, iPhone, legal, Samsung, 
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Apr 04
In the newest trial involving Apple and Samsung, documents have been introduced noting Apple’s concern about dimming market share and sales with regard to the iPhone. The concern generated from … Continue reading
Apr 04
Back on September 26th, 2013, Bono himself made clear that Apple’s contribution to Product RED were over $65 Million USD. Here in April of 2014, that number has jumped to … Continue reading
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