Jake Smith

AT&T to begin shutting down Cricket’s CDMA network in March, iPhone users won’t be affected

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

AT&T announced on Thursday that it will begin, as planned, shutting down Cricket's CDMA network in March, taking many Cricket plans and phones with it.

The shutdown comes after AT&T purchased Cricket in March 2014. AT&T is shutting down the CDMA network to roll customers over to its GSM network. Furthermore, AT&T has slowly been farming Cricket’s unused spectrum for use with its own GSM network. AT&T will use Cricket's spectrum, after a spruce up for its standards, to offer better coverage to customers.

CES 2015: Griffin unveils reversible USB Lightning cable since Apple hasn’t

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

With CES 2015 winding down, accessory maker Griffin has unveiled a $29.99 Lightning cable with a reversible USB connector, allowing users to plug in the USB portion of the connector on either side.

Sprint’s not finished yet, preliminary quarterly earnings show

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Sprint took Thursday to report preliminary results for its third fiscal quarter, and showed T-Mobile still has its work cut out for it. During the quarter, Sprint's net customer additions totaled 967,000, including postpaid net additions of 30,000, prepaid net additions of 410,000, and wholesale net additions of 527,000.

T-Mobile has practically been going for Sprint's neck over the last year. T-Mobile's CEO John Legere wants to be the third-largest carrier, bad.

How to try the Apple Watch’s UI early through the web

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

A new project from the folks behind the news app Pipes allows prospective Apple Watch buyers to test the user interface on the web, before the Apple Watch's launch in March.

All you need to do is head to DemoAppleWatch.com, where you can "use" the Watch, play with 19 apps, and try the Apple Watch's Digital Crown to return to the home screen. The Apple Watch is modeled on official images from Apple, and lets users see how their messages, emails and home screen will look and work.

Apple announces new records for the App Store, New Years day was its best day ever

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple on Thursday announced that the first week of January set a new record for billings from the App Store, with customers around the world spending nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases. It also revealed New Year’s Day 2015 marked the single biggest day ever in App Store sales history, as customers presumably used gift cards and took advantage of App Store sales.

Research: Yosemite close to 50 percent of OS X installs in two months

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple's model of releasing new versions of OS X for free seems to be working, as analytics vendor Net Applications reports steady growth for the two month old OS X Yosemite. According to the research firm, OS X Yosemite now accounts for 45 percent of all instances of OS X it tracks, closing in on the halfway mark.

Samsung saw 37 percent drop in operating profit during Q4 2014

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

The drama continues for electronics giant Samsung, as it posts preliminary results for yet another lackluster quarter. The company reported a 12 percent drop in revenue and a 37 percent decrease in operating profit during the fourth quarter of 2014.

UBS research: Apple sold 69 million iPhones last quarter

Jake Smith ∙ January 7, 2015

The latest numbers from research firm UBS indicated Apple has blown its previous iPhone sales records by selling 69 million iPhones in the last quarter of 2014, fueled by the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus holiday sales. The rest of Wall Street believes Apple sold 65.5 million, however research from the UBS Evidence Lab says it sold close to four million more.

What T-Mobile is doing seems to be working, preliminary Q4 earnings show

Jake Smith ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

The fourth-largest carrier T-Mobile is out with its preliminary fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday, and they show it might not be the fourth-largest carrier for long. The mobile carrier, lead by scrappy CEO John Legere, posted a total of 8.3 million total net customer additions in 2014, providing the biggest year of growth for the company yet - 89 percent from the prior year.

Photos: Apple planning second cylindrical glass Apple Store in China

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Amid a global retail expansion that's been spanning recent years, Apple is duplicating the iconic design of the cylinder glass architecture of its Shanghai store to a new store in Chongqing, China. IFO Apple Store reports the Cupertino-based company dismantled the huge steel structure that has been covering the entrance for nearly the past year on Wednesday, revealing a 30-foot tall glass structure that will lead to the underground store like in Shanghai.

CES 2015: LifeProof debuts waterproof battery case, water and electricity mix

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

LifeProof, the maker of insanely protective waterproof cases, has outdone itself at CES 2015 in Las Vegas with the announcement of the LifeProof fre, a case that is both waterproof and packs an extra battery for more power throughout the day.

Facebook’s WhatsApp popularity continues with 700 million active users, vows improvements

Jake Smith ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

WhatsApp, the huge messaging app owned by Facebook, announced on Tuesday that it now has 700 million monthly active users, making it one of the most popular networks on the entire web. The app, which allows users to send texts without paying for messaging plans through carriers, has reached its new milestone of 700 million active people by adding 100 million users since August.