Archive for July, 2013
Apple builds a solar farm in Nevada
Apple is paying for the construction of an 18-megawatt photovoltaic solar plant in Nevada. It will power the company’s Reno data centre. According to Apple’s 2012 Environmental Footprint Report,Nevada centre will be the same environmentally responsible as the one in Maiden,North California. The latter helped to lessen unemployment by hiring hundreds of people during its construction.
The new station will use endless resources of natural solar radiation as well as geothermal recourses to supply the data centre with sufficient energy. It will cover 60% of power needs while the remaining will be acquired from local and regional sources.
Apple's New Microsoft 365 and Google Docs Rival
Rejoice all those who don’t like neither Google Docs, nor Microsoft Office 365 as a few days ago their new rival was born. Announced in June at WWDC, this rival is a purely new cloud-based iWork version. Well, actually, this is still only a beta and at the moment it is available only for Apple developers. However, what that means is that the relatively short-term Google-Microsoft domination in the sphere of cloud editing tools might be soon over.
Here’s the link for the developers that haven’t yet tried the new product and some screenshots for people that don’t have a developer account. Take a look at those photos.
Japan largest carrier refuses to work with Apple
NTT DoCoMo, the biggest mobile carrier in Japan, is facing a serious problem of losing clients. Its firm denial to work with Apple iPhone cost it 3.2 million users over the last 4 and a half years. It is put down to high popularity of iPhone in Japan. Being the most desirable smartphone, it occupies a 42 % share of cell phone sales.
NTT DoCoMo CEO Kaoru Kayo says:
Our aim is to develop a special “lifestyle system”. It requires preinstalled software on mobile phones.
Naturally, remembering how closed iOS system is, Apple does not let NTT DoCoMo install any programs on its devices. Another problem issue is placing carrier’s logo on the iPhone. It is obvious that California-based company refuses to accept there conditions.
Yves Saint Laurent CEO will work for Apple
Yves Saint Laurent CEO was hired by Apple to work on some “special projects”. Or should we say hired again? Paul Deneve already worked for Apple in Europe in the 1990-s as a sales and marketing manager.
Although Cupertino company tends to promote from within, it is not the first time Apple’s CEO Tim Cook looks outside to fill some senior post. For instance, Mickey Drexler, the chairman and CEO of J Crew Group Inc., is on Apple’s board.
New Apple Strategy to Sell More iPhones via Apple Store
Apple CEO Tim Cook is reported to have held a three-hour meeting on new sales strategy for company’s employees and shareholders. According to 9to5Mac, he was talking on possible ways to increase the number of iPhones sold through the Apple Store. So far, the percentage of phones bought on the Internet or from other retailers like Walmart and Best Buy is close to 80. Quite obvious, that the result of only 20 percent is not enough good as for the company's main retail store.
South Korean Customers Prefer iPad to Samsung Tablets
iPad was reportedly ranked as the best device on South Korean market. According to South Korea's National Customer Satisfaction Index, Apple tablets are more preferred among the customers than the Samsung and LG ones.
The detailed rankings were published by Kim Tae Woo (BetaNews) soon after the official release, made by South Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which runs the whole research program.
ScreenFade – wake and sleep your device with animation
If you do not like abrupt waking and sleeping of stock iOS devices, then ScreenFade is the program you need. Install this jailbreak tweak on your gadget and enjoy fade in and out animation!
It is a simple program with no options and settings. Just remember that it works only if you wake the device with Home button.
Now have a look at the video to grab the idea.
Poster for the upcoming Steve Jobs movie is already available
Moviefone published the poster for the upcoming Steve Jobs movie starring Ashton Kutcher. It is designed in psychedelic colors and features a close up shot of Ashton Kutcher (Steve Jobs).
The movie will be released August 16th. You can check out the trailer here.
How to Replace the Battery in an iPhone 5 [Video]
iFixit has posted a nice video detailing the steps necessary to replace the battery in the iPhone 5.
I was right in the middle of putting an awesome filter on my latest Instagram when my iPhone 5 died. Of course I was devastated, because lets face it, how else will my friends know what it looks like outside today. This is becoming a frustrating trend with my phone so I think its time for a new battery. This video will give you an overview of replacing the Battery in your iPhone 5.
Play as Texas Ranger in the Wild West.
You can become a legend in the new role-playing game by Disney. It was inspired by the popular movie The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp.
When playing the game, you will become a Texas Ranger, who rides horses, helps people from Colby Town, passes judgment and fights foes.
Apple corners mobile ad market.
iOS products are used to being outnumbered by Android, although Apple manages to become a market leader in advertisement sector. According to a recent study, Apple controls 75% of mobile ads market.
The share of Android is diminishing, as Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphones are delivering hardly any impressions.
Ad firm Velti studied the mobile advertising market of Apple and Android, comparing figures of May 2013 to findings from 2012. The share ofCupertinocompany grew by 5%, from 59% to 64%. Whereas Android decreased its presence on the market by 5% to 36%, despite its domination of smartphone shipments. The figures of dynamics are the same, but Android loss cannot be referred to by Apple’s increase in share.
Angry Birds Update.
The new version of Angry Birds is full of Bad Piggies, which keep on building contraptions throughout the game.
The aim of Angry Birds is to destroy the pesky pigs. It is a challenge to the very existence of Angry Birds. Avenge on the Bad Piggies, who dared to steel the eggs. The unique power of each bird should be used to fight the greedy pigs. Angry Birds boasts physics-based gameplay and wide replay opportunities. You should concentrate all your logic and skill to clear each level.
TSMC will produce A-Series Chips for Apple.
According to Wall Street Journal, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) has agreed to supply Apple with A-series chips. Although the matter has been discussed since 2010, the deal was only signed this month, and TSMC starts producing some of the chips in 2014. By that time, the Taiwan company will improve the quality of the products so that they meet Apple’s requirements. The chips will become smaller and more energy efficient by using 20-nanometre technology.
When negotiating the deal, the American company offered either to invest in TSMC or to assign one factory as an exclusive Apple supplier. However, the Taiwan company did not accept either of the options to keep TSMC independent and adaptable.
Samsung used to be Apple’s main A-series chips supplier, but present ferocious competition between the companies is forcing the latter to diminish its dependence on the Korean company.
High-Quality Renderings of Apple's Lower-Cost Plastic iPhone
Macrumors published very well made high-quality renderings of future low-cost iPhone. Renderings are based on the most recent rumors.
Based on the information from WeiPhone low-cost iPhone is expected to have yellow, red, and green shells. There were also many rumors regarding new iPhone's dimentions. The renderings show a slightly thicker device than the iPhone 5, measuring at 8.5 mm thick compared to 7.6 mm for the iPhone 5. The lower-cost iPhone is also slightly taller and wider than the iPhone 5 to account for the thicker plastic shell.
Apple is expected to release new iPhone this fall. Take a look at more pictures:
MuscleNerd Denies Rumors of a Bootrom Exploit
Popular hacker MuscleNerd has denied rumors that a bootrom exploit has been found for the iPhone. Earlier today, he tweeted:
There is no A5+ bootrom exploit, by anyone. Not even a bootrom dump. Nothing.
Speculation that a bootrom exploit may have been found began after p0sixninja tweeted that he would be releasing something bigger than a jailbreak.
The bootrom exploit can devices permanently vulnerable to a tethered jailbreak regardless of iOS version. The last bootrom exploit was limera1n found by Geohot which supported A4 devices like iPhone 4 and below.