Apple loses bid to have lawsuit over FaceTime on iPhone 4 dismissed
Earlier this year Apple was hit with a class action lawsuit over FaceTime being disabled on older iPhones that can’t run iOS 7, and this week an attempt to have the lawsuit dismissed has failed. Reuters reports that U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh made the decision not to dismiss the lawsuit…
Gboard for iOS now supports Google Maps, YouTube, and drawing pictures
Gboard for iOS is today adding a few handy new features for iOS users. In its latest update, available now through the App Store, Google is adding integration with Google Maps and YouTube, along with a fun new option for “artists.”
‘Clarification’ of Jamaican trademark search rules make it harder to unearth new Apple product names
Ring announces new external security camera, in wired, battery & solar versions
Ring has announced a new external security camera designed to provide a neater and cheaper alternative to the Floodlight Camera it first announced back in January and launched later in the year.
Along with more compact lighting, the Spotlight Cam is available in three versions depending on how you want it to be powered: wired, battery and solar …
Russia to follow China’s example in clamping down on VPN use, from November
A couple of days after Apple started pulling VPN apps from the App Store in China to comply with government restrictions on their use, Russia looks to be next in line to clamp down on the use of virtual private networks …
Former Google SVP says Android phones ‘years’ behind the iPhone in photography
Former Google senior vice president of Social, Vic Gundotra, has said that Android phones are literally years behind the iPhone when it comes to photography – and it’s Android’s fault.
Gundotra started by praising the quality of the iPhone 7 Plus camera in a Facebook post.
The end of the DSLR for most people has already arrived. I left my professional camera at home and took these shots at dinner with my iPhone 7 using computational photography (portrait mode as Apple calls it). Hard not to call these results (in a restaurant, taken on a mobile phone with no flash) stunning. Great job Apple.
But he went further …
Microsoft shutters one-handed Word Flow keyboard for iOS, points users to SwiftKey instead
Microsoft has shuttered its Word Flow keyboard for iOS, made popular by its one-handed mode in which the keyboard was laid out in an arc …
iPhone 8 success depends on how well Apple responds to China challenges, say analysts
The success of the iPhone 8 largely depends on how well Apple responds to the challenges it faces in China, say analysts. China is the world’s largest smartphone market, and for iPhone sales is second only to Apple’s home market of the USA.
Those challenges are significant ones. Greater China – which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan – is the only market where Apple saw a sales decline in the first half of the year. Revenue was down 13%, twice the drop it experienced in the previous year. Market share is now below 10%, from its peak of 13%.
Apple’s biggest challenge in China can be summed-up in one word …
HomePod firmware seemingly confirms iPhone 8 front design & support for ‘Face ID’
Last week, Apple released the first build of the upcoming HomePod’s firmware, allowing curious developers to unpack the code and learn a few additional details about the smart speaker. Now, developer Steve Troughton-Smith has discovered code that seemingly confirms that the upcoming iPhone will support face unlock…