Apple

Apple TV got an over-the-air update today that added a couple of great new apps to the platform—Vevo, Disney, Disney XD, and an app from the Smithsonian.

iOS 7 Could Debut September 10th, The Same Day As The New iPhones

The Apple-shaped stars are aligning, once again suggesting that September 10th is the big day for a hardware and software refresh of everyone’s iOS devices. The maker of Apple’s Siri tech claims iOS 7 is now said to be launching early next month alongside the updated iPhones. The news comes from a mailout issued by…

Apple, the iPhone, and the End of Surprise

This might not be a video of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5c. It might not show that Apple’s next flagship will look nearly identical to the iPhone 5. It might not reveal that the current black and white models will be joined by a gold—pardon, champagne version—when they are announced on Sept. 10th. But…

Blackbar for iOS: Your Very Own PRISM-Like Sci-Fi Adventure Put to Text

With most of the documents released by the NSA being an exercise in fitting as few letters as possible between strings of black bars, it’s no wonder that a whole slew of [Redacted]-oriented games have been cropping up. The newest comes in the form of a surprisingly engrossing, interactive app composed entirely of text. What…

Siri Gets Sassy If You Ask Her About Google Glass

Everybody knows that Siri gets silly from time to time and starts cracking jokes. Most of them are not funny (e.g. “Two iPhones walk into a bar… I forget the rest.”) But when Siri starts trash-talking Apple’s competitors, things start to get interesting. At some point in the past few months, Siri got an update…

The new iPhones look like crap

Gold or Graphite (or Russian Gangsta and Bland, if you will.) Those may be the new—and only?—iPhone 5S colors. The gold iPhone is clearly the worst offender but the grapshite doesn’t look very good either. It actually looks a bit like the original iPhone, but without any of its charm. If this is really the…

An iPhone Camera Periscope Makes Stalking a Breeze

Whether you’re documenting something bizarre you saw on the subway, or secretly capturing images of your crush, this rotating spy lens from Photojojo makes it incredibly easy to covertly capture images on your iPhone. Think of it as a tiny periscope for your smartphone, but instead of torpedoing frigates, you can use it to sink…

If There’s a Graphite iPhone 5S, It Had Better Look Nicer Than This

Apple rumormonger du jour Sonny Dickson has outed the latest in a series of reputed scoops: An iPhone 5S in not white, black, or gold, but graphite. It sounds potentially lovely! It looks… not so much. Which is why it seems particularly unlikely that this is the real deal. While there’s almost no question that…

Report: The iPhone 5S Processor Is 31% Faster Than Today’s

Let’s start by saying that this isn’t much to go on; if it were more concrete it would be more than just a tweet. But Fox newsperson Clayton Morris—who’s had some success with Apple rumors in the past—has claimed knowledge that the A7 chip that will power the iPhone 5S is 31% faster than its…

iPad Apps of the Week: YouTube, Quick Graph, and More

It’s been a long week, you deserve to take it easy for the next few days. Which is why we’ve rounded up the iPad apps that will do all the dirty work (e.g. “thinking”) for you, leaving you free to kick back and let your mind wander. Quick Graph: Even the most liberal of liberal…

iPhone Apps of the Week: Human Body, KeWe, and More

Welcome to the weekend. The sun may or may not be shining, but you’ll always have the warm glow of your mobile applications to keep you company. And that’s all that matters after all, right? Here’s a few more friends to add to your ever-loyal gang. Human Body: While most educational apps are generally intended…

Who Has the Best Mail Refresh Animation: iOS or Android?

Because sometimes it’s just fun to scream at each other for no reason, let’s figure this thing out. There are plenty of GIFs of Apple’s iOS Mail refresh animation. It’s squiggly, like an earthworm you’re stretching out and snapping back onto itself, like a jerk. But Android’s version is equally satisfying, expanding its horizontal bars…

Samsung has been denied a new trial over the long-standing dispute of Apple’s ‘bounce back’ scrolling patent. Finally!

Remember a few months ago when Pandora announced that it would impose a 40-hour listening cap on mobile users who don’t pay for a subscription? Well, it’s going away September 1st—just days before Apple’s iTunes Radio is expected to go live. Coincidence?

Emojify for iOS: Turn Your Face Into a Piece of Emoji Art

Look at the text message conversation between any two people in the 12 to late 20s age range and there’s a pretty decent chance you’ll get a deluge of brightly colored cartoon icons that, just a few years ago, would have seemed entirely nonsensical. Now they can tell entire tales. Yes, Emojis have taken over,…

Apple seems to be bolstering the public transportation offerings in Maps. It just acquired Embark, a small start up that specializes in transit. It’s unclear how much Apple paid for the company, but the technology will be a welcome addition to iOS devices.

Is there really going to be an Apple television? New rumors says “yes”

The magical Apple HDTV set is nigh! Analysts, newspapers and blogs have quoted “reliable sources” claiming that for years. It feels like a decade, really. But again and again, the fabled appliance has failed to materialize. Now there’s a new rumor—stronger than ever, someone claims. (Of course, if you keep repeating rumors about company X…

Report: Apple’s Future of TV Is an Actual Television

We’ve said it time and time again: Something like half a dozen companies are working on their own versions of the future of TV. The latest rumor, via Quartz, mentions that Apple’s been chatting up Viacom, HBO, Disney, ESPN, et al about offering their content on a new TV service. But apparently content is just…

iMessage and Parts of iCloud Are Down (Updated)

Looks like Apple is having a tricky time of things this morning: its iCloud and iMessage services are currently experiencing difficulties. The hiccup means that users are having problems with Photo Stream, iCloud documents, back-ups, iPhoto journals and iMessage. So, if things aren’t quite working properly this morning, it’s not you—it’s Apple. It’s not clear…

Is This the Gold iPhone 5S?

With all this talk of a golden iPhone you may have been expecting something terribly bling. But this leaked image, published by Japanese website Weekly Ascii, claims to show off the new “champagne” iPhone and it… it doesn’t look that bad. As ever, the usual rumour disclaimer applies: take with a massive pinch of salt…