Items tagged with iPod
Back in 2005, the incredibly popular iPhone didn't exist, and one of the biggest money-makers for Apple was the legendary iPod. The iPod was still in its early days and looked very clunky compared to the svelte iPod Touch that's still available today. One of the engineers working on the iPod project at Apple was a man named David Shayer, and he was assigned a top-secret special project that only a few people inside Apple knew existed. Shayer has told the story of the top-secret iPod and the two government contractor engineers that turned up at Apple to work on the device. The story starts in late 2005 when Shayer's bosses' boss walked into his office and shut the door behind him. Shayer was told...
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You've heard the saying, 'All good things come to an end', just in this case the end feels rather abrupt and petty. You see, an app called Rewound was making some heavy traction by allowing iPhone users to turn their handsets into virtual iPod devices by way of downloadable skins, complete with the iconic clickwheel. This did not sit well with Apple, which has decided to remove Rewound from the App Store. I go back and forth on how I feel about this. The knee-jerk reaction is to rage at Apple for popping this balloon, especially after it already had allowed Rewound access to the App Store. As the developers of Rewound point out in a Medium post, the app "grew exponentially across the world from...
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It's been rumored for what feels like forever that Apple is planning to can its iPod lineup, and it's not hard to understand why. With the iPhone, and now, Apple Watch, Apple's lineup is becoming a bit vast, and fewer and fewer are picking up a device that's essentially an iPhone without phone capabilities. The same could be said about the iPod nano - it's hard to want to buy a dedicated device when our phones fill that void quite easily. It's interesting, then, that as soon as Apple Music was announced, earlier this week, Apple changed the iPod option on its site's menubar to "Apple Music". Clicking on it tells you everything you need to know about the company's new service, rather than feature...
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You know your chess opponent is in trouble when he has to hit the restroom after every turn. That was Tigran Petrosian’s thinking when he accused a fellow chess player during the Dubai Open this weekend. As it turned out, he seems to have been right: officials found an iPod in the bathroom running an app that displayed the chess moves from the game. Image credit: Dubai OpenAccording to the Telegraph, the tournament director got involved after people observed that Chess Grandmaster Gaioz Nigalidze, of Georgia, was partial to a particular stall for all of his emergency bathroom breaks. A search of the stall turned up a device running a chess app. Nigalidze apparently denied that the device belonged...
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A case against Apple regarding antitrust violations for the company’s iPod restrictions has been going on for roughly a decade. However, the case was finally closed today when the jury unanimously voted to clear Apple of the charges. Plaintiffs, representing a group of consumers who purchased iPods from 2006 to 2009, claimed that Apple had forced its users into iTunes software and locked out competitors. During that time period, the plaintiffs claimed that Apple had deleted songs from rival competitors and went on to use email correspondence from Steve Jobs to other Apple executives telling them to shut out other competitors, such as Music Match, from the platform....
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As Steve Jobs’ emails are being used against Apple in an antitrust lawsuit, the company is also being accused of deleting songs from consumers’ iPods that were purchased from rival music services between 2007 and 2009. During a court session at the U.S District Court in Oakland, California, Apple confirmed that it had deleted non-iTunes music but argued that it was a legitimate security measure. During this time period, consumers who tried to sync their iPods, which had non-iTunes music on it to their iTunes library, would receive an error message that would instruct them to restore their device to its factory settings. However, when users restored the settings, the music from rival services...
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Steve Jobs has been dead for three years, yet despite that fact, he is causing problems for the company he helped to build because of emails he previously sent that have been made public. The emails have been used against Apple as it defends itself against various lawsuits. This month, Apple is once again preparing to go to trial for its third major antitrust lawsuit since Jobs died. Scheduled to begin on Tuesday in Oakland, California, the latest class action lawsuit revolves around the company’s older iPods, which were limited to playing songs sold in the iTunes store or downloaded from CDs. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are consumers who have stated that the company violated antitrust law...
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Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other caregivers the world over who let their little charges play with iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches have probably all at one time or another experienced the cold sweat that comes with the fear that Junior may have gone crazy making in-app purchases in whatever game he’s been into lately. It’s happened enough that Apple has had to deal with a class action lawsuit over kids racking up purchases on an iTunes account that belonged to a parent or caregiver. Now Apple has offered a settlement in which affected users can opt for a single $5 iTunes gift card; an iTunes store credit equal to the amount a minor charged to your account without your...
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When it comes to Apple products, discounts are few and far between. The company just doesn't offer up coupons and price slashings on any sort of regular basis, and in fact, most of the retailers certified to sell genuine Apple products don't offer any discounts, either. Walmart has typically shaved a few dollars from iPod and iPhone products, but not much else. Unless, of course, a new product is en route. There has been no formal indication from Apple that a next-generation iPhone is on the way, but Walmart has just taken the axe to the MSRP on its iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 handsets. The iPhone 5 can now be found in Walmart retail stores for just $129 with a new 2-year contract on Sprint, Verizon...
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Prices for Apple iPads and iPods have shot up sharply in Japan amid desperate attempts by the country’s financial leadership to stop deflation. According to Reuters, Japan’s economy is struggling as the yen has fallen 20% against the U.S. dollar in a matter of months. While the Bank of Japan is promising to pump billions into the economy to try and achieve a small inflation rate, several foreign companies companies have raised prices on their goods to make up for the falling exchange rate. The 64GB iPad is now at 69,800 yen compared to 58,800 yen just days ago (about $691/$583), and the 128GB version is up to 79,800 yen from 66,800 yen ($791/$662). Prices for iPad minis and some iPods...
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It has been over six years since Apple introduced the iPhone. Millions of apps have been written for the platform in that time, with collective downloads into the billions. Apple's App Store is a thriving marketplace with a huge amount of software available on virtually any topic you can think of. But not Microsoft Office. There are plenty of third-party applications that handle Word and Excel files, but no apps from Microsoft itself. Office documents can be viewed through the SkyDrive application, but there's no editing capability. There's a version of Office for iOS supposedly in the works, but Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer threw cold water on the idea when asked about upcoming events for the...
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With Microsoft trotting out Windows 8, Apple is trotting out some huge, huge numbers in a bid to steal back some of that spotlight. The company's Q4 2012 earnings report just came out, and while some of the figures missed Wall Street's debatable inflated expectations, it's hard to argue with what it has going on. It managed to record revenue of $36.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $28.3 billion and net profit of $6.6 billion, or $7.05 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 40.0 percent compared to 40.3 percent in the year-ago quarter, while international sales accounted for 60 percent of the...
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For a company that knows how to dish out the lawsuits, it's pretty funny to think what would happen if the tables were turned. Of course, it doesn't look like it's coming to come to that in this particular case. Shortly after iOS 6 hit the iPad, Swiss Federal Railways recognized that the clock icon in the new Clock app looked a lot like a clock that it has a patent on. Too alike. So much alike, that it quickly sought out Apple and informed it that it best pony up. Now, it looks as if the two companies have reached an agreement on the use of SBB's station clock on certain devices such as iPads and iPhones. This arrangement has been mutually agreed by both parties in a license agreement. For the...
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If your appetite for Apple rumors isn’t currently sated, here’s another. According to (the poetically named) iMore, Apple has scheduled an event for September 12th, at which time the company will unveil the iPhone 5, iPad mini, and possibly the next-generation iPod nano. The iPhone 5 (or whatever Apple will call it) will then be released on September 21st, nine days later. There’s no firm word on release dates for the iPad mini and iPod nano. The iPhone and iPad releases are of particular interest, as rumors have indicated that Apple has been experimenting with alternative screen sizes for the next iPhone, and the reportedly 7-inch iPad mini would signal Apple’s aggressive...
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It wasn't that long ago that Apple's iPod line sold like gangbusters, taking the MP3 player market by storm and creating a frenzy that other companies have been unable to replicate. Fast forward to 2012, a time when iPad and iPhone sales are booming, and some are wondering if the iPod is on the verge of obsolescence. A peek at Apple's latest financial report reveals that iPod sales are down 10 percent sequentially and have dropped 17 percent in the past nine months. Monetarily, Apple notes that "iPod net sales decreased by $256 million and $1.6 billion during the third quarter and first nine months of 2012, respectively, representing decreases of 20 percent and 24 percent compared to the same...
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As was the case with every iOS release before it, Apple is promising some fairly major enhancements and new features with iOS 6. iOS 5 was a major release in its own right, but a year has past, and at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco last week, the veil was removed from iOS 6. Apple apparently has a thing for offering "200 new features" in their operating systems; iOS 6 seems to be following Mountain Lion in that regard. 200 tweaks may sound like a lot (and it is), but there are a few key additions, updates and changes with iOS 6 that deserve a closer look... Apple's iOS 6: What's New and What's Missing...
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As was the case with every iOS release before it, Apple is promising some fairly major enhancements and new features with iOS 6. iOS 5 was a major release in its own right, bringing Siri -- a voice-controlled assistant -- to the mix and yet again raising the bar in mobile operating systems. It also introduced a drop-down Notification shade, similar to that which was already a part of Android. But a year has come and gone, and at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco this past week, the veil was removed from iOS 6. The beta version actually became available for devs to download a few days ago, getting the new code into the hands of those that produce the apps...
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AOC announced the new Aire iPlay monitor with a built-in iPod/iPhone docking station. This 23-inch monitor is 12.9 mm-thin and features Full HD 1080p resolution, a 50,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio and 2 ms response time. With the built-in 30-pin docking station, iPhone and iPod users can play video, audio, and photos directly from their devices using AOC's plug-and-play technology. The base of the monitor houses both the integrated dock as well as speakers with SRS Sound. The AOC Aire iPlay (e2343Fi) is available for $279.99. AOC Unleashes the Aire iPlay, the First Monitor with Built-in iPod/iPhone Docking Station Ultra-slim Full HD monitor with built-in iPhone®/iPod® dock available...
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It's the hot new thing, don'tcha know? Reading magazines on a tablet -- paper is so last year. And now, Google is joining the ranks of Flipboard, Hearst, Amazon, etc. with a new initiative called Google Currents. For now, it's a US-only product, but it's a really impressive one. It's available for both Android and iOS, and it'll work on both tablets and phones. It's a free app that's graphically-heavy, and it supports offline viewing to boot. Naturally, Google+ integration is alive and well, allowing for easy sharing so long as you're linking up with Google's Facebook rival. There's a video here for those who are still unsure, but it's free -- so why not give it a whirl?...
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A couple weeks ago, Google released a dedicated Gmail application for iOS. After discovering the app had a bug which broke notifications and displayed an error message, Google removed it from the App Store. Now, the bug has been fixed and the app has returned to the App Store. With the Gmail app, you can be alerted of new messages with push notifications and sounds, search your entire inbox, organize your mail, and much more. The app supports any iOS 4+ device. Gmail app for iOS available in the App Store (again) Wednesday, November 16, 2011 | 9:45 AM, Posted by Matthew Izatt, Product Manager Two weeks ago, we introduced our Gmail app for iOS. Unfortunately it contained a bug which broke notifications...
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Apple seems to have the worst luck with batteries lately. In addition to battery drain issues plaguing iOS device owners who updated to iOS 5, Apple says it has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in your first generation iPod nano could overheat and pose a safety risk. "This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect," Apple said in a statement. "While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages." Affected iPod nano devices were all sold between September 2005 and December 2006, and if you own one, Apple recommends that you stop using it immediately and a order a replacement, on...
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Apple's lawsuits against Samsung and HTC have drawn commentary that the company might be attempting to litigate its competitors out of the market rather than relying on the free market to decide who had superior products. The new, authorized Steve Jobs biography, however, paints the company's legal actions in a different light. Jobs is famous for his blunt commentary—he once declared "We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash," and "We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash," but his anger over Android was an order of magnitude greater. Eric Schmidt, Google's former CEO, was an Apple board member...
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