Samsung and Apple are going head to head in court right now, so doesn’t it make sense for the Galaxy S III and the iPhone 4S to go head to head behind a speeding car? OK, maybe it doesn’t follow, but it’s fun to watch. More »
Today brings news that Apple is matching its competitors’ prices on iPhones at its own retail stores, but the company doesn’t want to make a big deal about it. MacRumors reports that Apple has implemented a new quiet policy that allows employees to price match on all iPhone 4S models and the iPhone 4, so if you want to buy directly from Apple but still want to get the best price possible, now is your chance. It should be noted, however, that Apple will only be price matching on sales made in-store, meaning online orders aren’t eligible for the promotion.
That, obviously, is because Apple requires that customers present evidence of a lower price before it will drop its own prices. Apparently, Apple is willing to part with the iPhone 4 for as low as $49.99, while iPhone 4S models can dip down to $149, $249, and $349. That’s a discount of $49.01 on all models, which isn’t too bad.
Apple has rolled out this price match promotion in response to carriers and other major retailers who have been dropping the price on the iPhone in order to get more people through their doors. In the past, Apple hasn’t really cared too much about partners dropping their prices below its own, with the mentality being that a sale is a sale, and more having more iPhones in the hands of consumers is a good thing. Apple makes more money on iPhone sales at its own stores though, so we can’t really blame the company for trying to bring in as much money as it can on each iPhone sold.
There isn’t any word on how long this promotion will last, and Apple is telling employees that they can only price match offers from “approved” retailers and carriers. We don’t know which retailers those are, precisely, but it seems safe to assume that prices from all the big carries and retails chains (AT&T, Best Buy, Verizon, etc.) are fair game. Keep an ear to SlashGear, as we’ll be sure to let you know if Apple gets any more specific about this price match promotion.
iPhone discounts go deep at Apple retail is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
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According to a leaked screengrab hosted up at MacRumors, Apple retail shops now have the authority to price match carrier and rival retail discounts on iPhone. Specifically, the note informs employees that prices from Best Buy, “carriers,” Radio Shack and Target can be matched, with $49.01 seeming to be the savings across the board. Curiously, places like Wirefly, Amazon, Negri Electronics and even Walmart aren’t mentioned, so we wouldn’t recommend trying to work the price down based on ads seen from any of those. The note also mentions the iPhone 4 and 4S exclusively, and we’re fairly sure this sort of goodwill won’t ever been applied to iPad, Mac hardware or pretty much any other Apple kit. Of course, crazier things have happened. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment, and will update this article should it choose to reply.
Filed under: Cellphones
Apple reportedly price matching iPhone discounts from carriers and other retailers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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With the highly anticipated next generation iPhone—iPhone 5—only a couple more months away, now is a pretty silly time to throw down a few hundred bucks for Apple’s smartphone. No sense in buying something that’s about to be outmoded; if yours was recently broken or snatched, use a burner and wait it out. More »
Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we’re tapping away on our brand-new smartphones — and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of August we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — you can hit up the hub page right here!
It’s a good time to be a student. Last year, there were some solid picks, but it was still very clear that those willing to scrimp and save a little longer had a much better experience. This year, it’s a people’s revolution. Thanks to cutthroat competition, there are some exceptional phones out there, even for those of you hoping to avoid eating ramen noodles for a month. Software has taken a leap forward too, with many phones now offering a vital way to remember when that term paper is due… or to procrastinate at the pub. We have nine choices of phones in our shortlist, spread out across three categories to serve everyone from the I-just-need-a-phone freshman to the overloaded doctoral candidate. While you’re eying the selection, don’t forget to enter our giveaway and potentially ease the burden — who knows, you may get a phone you want rather than the one dictated by your student loan.
Continue reading Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: smartphones
Filed under: Cellphones
Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Despite the millions of dollars of profits that it’s raking in, Apple still hasn’t come up with a way to include native support for physical controllers in iOS games. The best that we can hope for is for a gamepad manufacturer to step up and get support from developers. I really hope Bladepad does that.
The Bladepad is a Bluetooth 4.0 gamepad that comes with all the buttons and sticks present in a modern console controller: a D-pad, two analog sticks, four face buttons, four shoulder buttons and even a select and start button. It comes with a case, but you can detach the Bladepad itself if you choose. It even comes with a charger that can simultaneously juice up the controller and the iOS device that it’s attached to.
Now for the bad news. Because it uses Bluetooth 4.0, the Bladepad is only compatible with the iPhone 4S and the new iPad. Worse, as of this writing the controller is confirmed to work with – drum roll please – only one game. The makers of the controller did say that they’re working with “several major game studios and many independent studios as well.” I really like how the Bladepad looks and fits, so I hope it gets widespread support from developers.
A pledge of at least $59 (USD) on Kickstarter gets you a Bladepad, but if you ask me I think you should pledge less than that. You might be stuck with a beautiful controller that has no games to control.
[via AVING]
The iPhone 4S’ camera is regarded as being one of the better smartphone cameras currently available in the market, and we’ve seen photos and videos taken with it that could have fooled us into thinking that more professional equipment was used instead. However it seems that the iPhone 4S’ camera was good enough that a journalist for The Guardian, Dan Chung, has decided to use it in place of a DSLR to cover the London 2012 Olympic games!
Taking a pair of binoculars to double up as a zoom lens, Chung uses his iPhone to snap photos of the event, after which he edits them using the Snapseed photograph editing app before sharing them online. One of the perks of the iPhone is that since it is already connected to the internet (assuming there is sufficient coverage), sharing photos is only a matter of taps away. Granted some of these photos could have been sharper/less noisy/etc. when captured with a DSLR camera, they certainly are impressive nonetheless and goes on to prove that sometimes it’s not the equipment that makes the photo, but it is the photographer. You can check out the rest of Chung’s photos at The Guardian’s website.
[Image credit – Dan Chung/The Guardian]
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Underwater camera that can tweet photos of swimmers used in London Olympics, London Olympics committee deploys Wi-Fi Police to hunt unauthorized Wi-Fi hotspots,
There’s no doubt iPhone accessories are a dime a dozen nowadays, but every now and then we come across one or two that vigorously stand out from the rest of the peripheral pack. Here’s where Mophie’s newly introduced Outride comes in, which clearly — and as the company’s quick to point out — takes a heavy cue from GoPro’s action shooters. All inspirations aside, though, the Outride iPhone companion’s pretty well-stacked on its own, with Mophie offering an integrated polycarbonate case / mounting system that features waterproof and high-impact protection to help the daring folk during those intense, rush-filled adventures. Additionally, Mophie’s taking things beyond the hardware and also announced a free application to pair alongside the Outride unit; this will give people a place where they can create a profile and share their video recordings with other riders. The outfit’s pricing the iPhone 4 / 4S accessory starting at a peaceable $130, and it should be up for grabs around “mid-September.” In the meantime, there’s an extra pic and PR right after the break, for anyone interested in catching a different view and the conclusive word from the Juice Pack maker.
Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras, Peripherals
Mophie’s Outride turns iPhones into action cameras, comes with dedicated app and starts at $130 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 07:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Many photographers will tell you that their least favorite shooting situation involves a portrait with the sun to the subject’s back: there’s a good chance the shot ends up an unintentional silhouette study unless the shooter meters just perfectly from that grinning face. Apple has just been granted a patent for the metering technique that takes all the guesswork out of those human-focused shots on an iOS 5 device like the iPhone 4S or new iPad. As it’s designed, the invention finds faces in the scene and adjusts the camera exposure to keep them all well-lit, even if they’re fidgety enough to move at the last second. Group shots are just as much of a breeze, with the software using head proximity and other factors to pick either a main face as the metering target (such as a person standing in front of a crowd) or an average if there’s enough people posing for a close-up. You can explore the full details at the source. Camera-toting rivals, however, will have to explore alternative ideas.
Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras
Apple patents iOS 5’s exposure metering based on face detection, keeps friends in full view originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 Jul 2012 19:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Despite the sweltering heat waves, our spirits are high at Engadget, and for good reason: it’s time for our summer edition of the smartphone buyer’s guide. Here, you’ll find our top recommendations for the best smartphones across several US carriers, along with the best QWERTY and budget alternatives. In many ways, it’s now easier than ever to find a world-class smartphone, but unless you’ve developed a strong brand preference, choosing one is likely more difficult than ever before. It’s no secret that the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S III have firmly cemented themselves as the premier smartphones of the day, but if you’re torn between the two, we’ll reveal our preference in this latest installment.
Summertime also brought a bit of a shock, as Microsoft revealed that Windows Phone 8 apps won’t be compatible with the current generation of Windows Phone hardware. For this reason, we’ve excluded all Windows Phone handsets from consideration in the latest buyer’s guide. While the future of Microsoft’s mobile platform looks incredibly bright, a purchase now would guarantee obsolescence in the short-term. Instead, all prospective Windows Phone purchasers must wait for the next generation of handsets to become available — you’ll regret it otherwise.
Naturally, there is no shortage of rumors surrounding the next Apple iPhone, and given the handset’s current lack of LTE connectivity, the iPhone 4S is certainly showing its age. While cautious purchasers may choose to bide their time, the iPhone remains top-notch in many other respects, and its arrival at a number of prepaid carriers brought a breath of fresh air to an otherwise stagnant environment.
If you’re curious to see how it all unfolded — and we know you are — join us after the break, where we round up the very best smartphones of the season.
Continue reading Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: summer 2012 edition
Filed under: Cellphones
Engadget’s smartphone buyer’s guide: summer 2012 edition originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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