It’s pretty clear that something went very wrong between Apple and its bankrupt sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technologies over the past year. That said, Technology Review points out that there are good reasons to believe that Apple’s sapphire display plan for the iPhone 6 may have been doomed from the start because it seems both Apple and GT Advanced underestimated the major difficulties involved in mass producing large sapphire screens.
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An oddball Russian satellite that launched to orbit last May is now raising suspicions. The so-called Object 2014-28E was put into orbit at the same time with several communications satellites, but Russia has not elaborated on its purpose. The object has been maneuvering in a precise way and it’s possible its purpose is to clear out space junk or refuel other satellites.
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Texting apps on smartphones are very popular with users, and third-party social apps with instant messaging features are gaining ground as well. But most of them also come with one annoying feature, at list for some people, that lets senders know the recipient has read the message. The “read receipts” feature can be turned off on most popular instant messaging apps, though not on all of them, with Facebook being one such example.
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Just as previously teased, LG’s top Android handset of the year is receiving its official Android 5.0 Lollipop update a lot faster than initially expected, with the company having already announced that the Korean version of the G3 is ready to be upgraded to Google’s latest Android version.
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Apple’s massive iOS 8 update was released this past September and developers are still updating their apps to take full advantage of the thousands of new capabilities Apple added in its new mobile software. In fact, developers will continue to add new features made possible by iOS 8 for many months to come.
One of the most interesting new user-facing features added in iOS 8 is the addition of Today widget support, which is a battery-friendly compromise that adds widget functionality to iPhones and iPads but moves it off of the home screen. And now, a new app has brought what is definitely one of the most fun and creative Today widgets we’ve seen so far.
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One of the interesting things about smartphone subsidies is that they’ve essentially convinced many people that they’re getting a steal when they buy a smartphone for $200 with a two-year service agreement, even though they’re making up the difference by being obligated to pay the carrier’s contract rate over the next 24 months. Now gadget trade-in website Gazelle has shared some new survey data with us that suggests many us are completely clueless when it comes to how much we’re really paying for our smartphones.
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For many people nowadays, smartphones such as the iPhone (and any other similar device running Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and other mobile operating systems) are ubiquitous, must-have, devices that offer instant access to information and entertainment. And while they’re certainly important gadgets that come in handy during modern-day life, they can also have some negative effects on the human body The Register reports, quoting two different studies.
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Microsoft’s push to get the Xbox One into as many homes as possible this holiday season is getting more aggressive every week. On Tuesday, Major Nelson published an article on the Xbox Wire rounding up every Xbox One and Xbox 360 Black Friday deal that the company and its retail partners have on offer.
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T-Mobile’s move to hide throttled customers’ actual data speeds has just been shot down. Per Ars Technica, the Federal Communications Commission this week said that T-Mobile can no longer exempt speed test results from its wireless data caps.
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If Yahoo and Microsoft have anything to say about it, Google won’t be the default search engine for the iPhone in 2015. According to The Information, Apple’s contract with Google, the contract which allows Google to remain the default search engine in the Safari mobile and desktop browser, is up next year.
It’s unclear whether or not Apple is actively looking to replace Google, but Yahoo and Microsoft have reportedly both begun pitching their search engines to Apple’s senior VP Eddy Cue.
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