We've always held that the iPhone can be like a drug, its users addicted to just one more app, just one more high score. Now comes word from the horse's mouth, so to speak: criminals. Theft of the iPhone and other cellphones is increasing in popularity with criminals who once sold crack cocaine.
Turns out, a new twist on iPhone thefts can be more profitable - let alone, less dangerous - than selling drugs on the street...
Robot-aided surgery has become common, but now comes word that Apple's iPad assisted German surgeons during a recent liver operation. During a three-hour procedure, the first of its kind, the tablet's camera photographed the liver, then a special iPad app provided a 3D model which surgeons in Bremen, Germany used to remove two tumors, Reuters reports...
In every analysis listing market share, there is that mysterious 'Other' category which lumps together all the lesser-known players. Now comes word 'Other' is making a name for itself, as the Apple iPad's share of the increasingly important China market was almost cut in half during the second quarter.
Researcher IDC said Tuesday Apple's tablet market share in China fell to 28 percent during the second quarter of 2013, down from its usual level above 50 percent. Some 46 percent of tablets shipped to China were made by 'Other' tablet brands, often low-cost Android devices, according to the research firm...
Imagine the iPad's touch screen gaining a third dimension, enabling users to extract a 2D image, then manipulate it using new gestures, such as 'pull', 'push' and 'sculpt'. That's the gist of an Apple patent filed in 2012 and published Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Titled 'Working with 3D Objects,' the patent outlines a touch screen interface where users "generate and manipulate 3D objects using 3D gesture inputs." At the core, the technology employs both capacitive touch sensors and proximity sensors in the iDevice screen...
One Wall Street analyst has some comforting words for Apple fans watching the iPhone in China submerged under the waves of cheap Android smartphones: wait until the iPhone 5C arrives. Apple's highly-expected budget handset dubbed the iPhone 5C could pole-vault the Apple brand into first place, overcoming Samsung and other Google-powered devices.
The key to giving the iPhone the lead in China: the right price and wide availability. A Morgan Stanley survey of Chinese smartphone consumers suggests an iPhone costing about $486 and offered by China Mobile could give Apple's marketshare a double-digit boost...
Although Apple is set to buy back $60 billion of company stock through 2015, experts are advising CEO Tim Cook and others to boost that figure. An additional $50 billion stock repurchase could add $4.25 to share value at little cost to the cash-rich technology giant, according to one Wall Street analyst and activist investor Carl Icahn.
Icahn, who recently bought $1.5 billion of Apple stock, helped Apple tock surpass $500 per share...
A new survey of iPhone and Samsung buyers includes both confirmation of what we suspected, as well as a few surprises. Topping the list: 20 percent of new iPhone owners previously used an Android smartphone, or one out of each five iPhone owners.
The South Korean Android handset wasn't capable of doing much damage to Apple, however - just seven percent of new Samsung owners switched from the iPhone. Overall, Apple does well at retaining iPhone owners, its largest group of buyers having owned a previous version of the smartphone.
For Samsung, its strength is in attracting other Android handset owners and first-time smartphone buyers, according to the survey released Monday...
Yet more encouraging news that Apple is designing its devices for users, rather than engineers. The original designs of headphone connectors were brittle, permitting headphones to be inserted and removed at perfect right angles. However an Apple patent application published Thursday outlines flexible headphone connectors.
In other words, you'll likely be able to wrap plugged-in headphones around your favorite iDevice without harming the hardware. The invention doesn't come too soon - the headphone jack is seen as the one roadblock to creating thinner, more svelte iPhones...
Some interesting research is out, indicating that some iOS users tend toward the iPhone, while others are more likely tapping away at the iPad. While mobile advertising analytics firm Flurry gathered the data to help companies better target their apps and ads, the findings are intriguing for us all.
Of the various 'personas' tracked, so-called 'Value Shoppers' (those bargain-hunting souls) are most strongly attached to their iPhones, while 'Pet Owners' prefer the iPad. Overall, 72 percent of iOS owners tend to use the iPhone most, while the iPad garners 28 percent of the mobile iDevice users...
Retail giant Walmart is putting its own spin on the growing trend toward trade-ins. Ahead of the expected September 10 unveiling of Apple's next smartphone, the retailer is offering credit toward in-store purchases.
The 'Gadgets to Gift Cards' program lets you trade your iPhone or iPad in for a quick gift card for Walmart products either in-store or online. However, unlike strictly cash for your iPhone, the retailer is essentially turning your gadgets into grocery money by offering you a line of credit, bringing some reservations to the offer...
One of the hangups with Apple's iTunes is that currently there is no way for you to directly 'gift' digital media to a friend or family member. Though you can easily trade, re-sell or give away a music CD, you can't do that with movies, books any other digital content types offered on Apple's iTunes Store.
A patent application published Thursday could solve this dilemma, thanks to near-field communications (NFC) technology, which has yet to be deployed across Apple devices.
According to the filing published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, instead of a second party receiving an email from iTunes that a song or video has been purchased, an item could be gifted to a nearby iOS device simply with the press of a button...
Are you ready for a break from the usual headlines concerning Apple's likely introduction of a low-cost iPhone? The perception of low-cost smartphones as some technological game of limbo between the iPhone maker and Google's Android is all wrong, says one analyst. Those thinking Apple needs to join the race to the bottom misunderstand that hardware price is not the overriding factor for every consumer shopping for a handset...