Joe Rossignol

Joe Rossignol is a former iDB editor.

Mexican carriers can no longer use ‘iPhone’ name in ads

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 17, 2018

As reported by the Mexican publication El Universal, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) has ruled that Mexican carriers are no longer allowed to make use of the "iPhone" name, since it violates the phonetically identical sounding "iFone" trademark owned by a small call center in Mexico. The trademark is filed under Class 38, which covers telecommunications services.

To be clear, Apple will still be able to sell the iPhone in Mexico and use its own trademark as it sees fit, but carriers won't be able to. The basis behind the ruling is that, since Apple is not considered to be a telecommunication services provider, it is acquitted of being at fault. Instead, the IMPI has placed the blame directly on Mexican carriers, which do provide telecommunications services…

Philips demos Notification Center widget on iOS 8 for controlling Hue lights

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Just a few hours ago, Philips tweeted a concept image of a prototype Notification Center widget that could be used for controlling its Hue lineup of iOS connected bulbs and lights. As it stands, this functionality is provided through the Philips Hue app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. But this extension concept reveals that users could have more convenient access to an off button and different lighting settings without launching the app.

Notification Center widgets are a new feature in iOS 8 that Apple announced at its WWDC keynote earlier this week. Developers are able to build extensions that provide systemwide functionality through widgets in Today view, something that has been possible through jailbreaking for several years. In fact, there is already a jailbreak tweak called HueHueHue for controlling Philips Hue lights through Control Center. This prototype is a similar concept…

Beats features iPhone 5s in this inspiring World Cup ad

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Football — or soccer, if you live in the US — has the potential to captivate a nation, perhaps no more than at the World Cup every four years. In just a matter of days, the world's biggest stars of the sport will be fighting for the ultimate title in front of tens of thousands of fans in Brazil. The culture behind the event is incredible, fueled by the fact that football has some 250 million players across over 200 countries worldwide.

For one month, even the hockey-crazed nation of Canada that I call home will put aside its love for the rink and turn its eyes to the field. Living in a country that is very culturally diverse, it takes just a quick drive around the neighborhood to see Italy and Brazil flags attached to car windows and other World Cup paraphernalia scattered across front lawns and houses.

Beats wants everyone to know that it is part of this culture, releasing a new cinematic ad called The Game Before The Game. The five-minute spot captures the intensity leading up to the World Cup, including the pressure and fandom surrounding the players. The ad features over a half-dozen football stars, ranging from German players Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Götze to Neymar da Silva and Chicharito...

‘République’ goes free as Apple’s App of the Week

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 5, 2014

Apple has named the first episode of the action-adventure thriller game République as its Free App of the Week on the App Store. The game will remain free through next Thursday, after which it will return to its regular $4.99 price. Episode 2: Metamorphosis is available as a $4.99 in-app purchase, building upon the Exordium storyline from the first episode…

Apple airs new ‘Strength’ TV ad focusing on fitness apps and accessories

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated January 27, 2016

Apple has just uploaded a new TV ad called "Strength" to its YouTube channel, centered upon the various health and fitness accessories for the iPhone 5s. The one-minute spot debuted just a few hours ago on national television, during the first period of the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers. The upbeat commercial is backed by a song called “Chicken Fat” by Robert Preston, released in 1961 to get schoolchildren to do more daily exercise…

Apple moves much of its TV advertising in house

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 4, 2014

Apple is moving away from its longtime ad agency TBWA\Chiat\Day and creating more of its television advertisements from within, according to Bloomberg. The report, which cites sources with knowledge on the matter, claims that Apple has an in-house creative team consisting of at least two former employees that the company hired away from Media Arts Lab, a division of TBWA that works exclusively for the iPhone maker.

The company moved to in-house campaigns just a few months after marketing chief Phil Schiller contemplated leaving Media Art Labs in January 2013. The team has gone on to create the iPad Air ad last year that showed off its thinness, and also produced a spot featuring Robin Williams reciting the American drama film Dead Poets Society just five months ago…

Apple posts WWDC 2014 keynote to YouTube

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 3, 2014

In case you missed it, Apple has made available a full-length video of its WWDC 2014 keynote on its official YouTube channel. "Watch as Apple previews iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite," the description reads, "all-new and more powerful than ever versions of the operating systems for iPhone, iPad, and Mac." If you would prefer to watch the two-hour keynote in other ways, read ahead…

15 jailbreak tweaks that iOS 8 made obsolete

Joe Rossignol ∙ Updated April 10, 2023

Whenever a new iOS version is released, it is always interesting to reflect on which features Apple added to the software that were already possible by jailbreaking your device. iOS 8 took a lot of people by surprise, with several new major features as opposed to minor refinements. As a result, the software update rendered a lot of jailbreak tweaks obsolete going forward. But it also isn't all bad news for the jailbreak scene. Read ahead for a list of jailbreak tweaks on the chopping block and more…

Apple could use new Intel chip to create a silent MacBook Air

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 3, 2014

Apple just refreshed its MacBook Air lineup a few months ago with faster Haswell dual-core processors, so it is safe to assume that the notebook series will not be updated for at least another several months. But when the Cupertino-based company does eventually release the next generation of MacBook Airs, it is more than possible that the new models could be completely silent…

Safari adds DuckDuckGo support in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 3, 2014

Safari just got a lot more private in iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. The web browser on iPhone, iPad and Mac now includes the private search engine DuckDuckGo that users can set as default. For Mac users, this goes alongside an all-new private browsing option that functions like incognito mode on Chrome. DuckDuckGo is a search engine that doesn't track you, allowing you to browse the web knowing that your privacy is intact…

iOS 8 gains intelligent Instant Hotspot feature

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 3, 2014

iPhones and iPads have long had a feature called Personal Hotspot for tethering your cellular data connection to a Mac or another device over Bluetooth, USB or Wi-Fi. To setup the personal hotspot, users had to navigate to settings and toggle on the feature. Then, the device would appear as a Wi-Fi network or under network services in settings if connected using USB…

iOS 8 adds Handoff feature for completing tasks across multiple devices

Joe Rossignol ∙ June 3, 2014

Apple has introduced a handy new feature in iOS 8 called Handoff, which lets you start a task on one Apple device and pick up right where you left off on another. For instance, you might start composing a long email on your iPhone and sit down at your desk to finish it on your Mac later. Or perhaps you are browsing the web on your Mac, and then keep looking at the same link from your iPad…