iPhone

PUBG Mobile crossed 100 million downloads this month, cementing it as one of the most popular Battle Royales for smartphones and tablets. Despite its success, it still trails behind Fortnite, which hit 100 million downloads last month on iOS only. The new Android version of Fortnite may spell trouble for PUBG Mobile and Tencent games.

A recently-released piece of marketing by Huawei Taiwan appears to take the same approach with which Samsung have targeted Apple in the past. The apparently jokey image and text may make fun of the "innovation" involved in the design of the Galaxy Note 9.

Preorders for the Galaxy Note 9 have already started. The prices associated with this event confirm what has been suspected for months: the new Samsung phablet will set you back considerably. The prices also compare well with those of the iPhone X.

The European Union is looking into the current fragmentation in smartphone connectors and has setup an inquiry to see if a single connector type can be mandated across all smartphones. While the issue of multiple plugs is almost passe, Apple's Lightning Connector differs from the standard micro-USB or USB-C connector that is common amongst Android smartphones prompting the EU to investigate if some sort of standardization can be achieved.

A developer has turned up yet another icon that may represent another new Apple device. This one may correspond to the putative iPhone XI Plus. It may also be larger than its nearest predecessor, and retain some of its main front-panel features.

OnePlus overtook Samsung and Apple to become the biggest smartphone brand in India's premium smartphone segment, with the OnePlus accounting for 30% of sales of premium devices in Q2.

Thanks to record-breaking P20/Pro smartphone sales and additional support from the secondary Honor brand, Huawei snagged Apple's second place for most handhelds sold in Q2 2018. The Chinese company also aims to break into the U.S. market, a move that could pose some serious problems for Samsung's leading position.

Approximately 23 percent of all current smartphone users in the United States are using a Samsung model. Sales of the latest Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus smartphones, however, have been sluggish with a worldwide userbase that is less than one-third of the iPhone X.

If reports are to go by, the upcoming 12.9-inch and 10.5-inch Apple iPad Pros are all set to go almost bezel-less. These iPad Pros will also be getting the Face ID feature and in all likelihood, will be ditching the 3.5mm headphone jack.

In the backdrop of Qualcomm's earnings call for this quarter, the company stated that Apple intends to use only Intel modems in the coming iPhone release and thus, Qualcomm will not be supplying modems for the next iPhone. It remains to be seen if Intel would be the preferred supplier or Apple would be looking at alternatives such as MediaTek.

The upcoming OS 12 update for the Apple HomePod is slated to bring a slew of new features to the smart speaker including the ability to make and receive calls when paired with an iPhone and set multiple timers. With the upcoming MacOS Mojave update, the HomePod can also be controlled directly from the Mac.

The last of Siri's co-founders, Tom Gruber, has announced his retirement from Apple. Siri was acquired by Apple in 2010 but two of its founders left in the succeeding years. The news comes in the wake of Apple recently appointing Google's former head of Machine Intelligence, John Giannandrea, as Chief of Machine Learning and AI Strategy.

Research firm Blancco has published a Mobile Device Repair and Security Report that throws up some interesting facts. The report puts Samsung as the OEM with the highest failure rate among Android manufacturers and the Xiaomi Redmi 4 as the specific model with the highest failures in 2017. In the Apple camp, the iPhone 6 was the device with the highest failure rate.

Leakster Ben Geskin tweeted a photo showing the front glass panels for the three iPhone models Apple is expected to announce this September. All the panels sport the now infamous notch and while all of them are edge-to-edge displays, the 6.1-inch panel has slightly thicker bezels compared to the other two.

A comparison of various different quick charge technologies has shown that Huawei SuperCharge has the highest charge rate, along with OnePlus Dash Charge. Meanwhile, the non-OEM specific technologies trail behind, as does Apple Fast Charge.

If there is one area that Apple has been seriously lagging Google, it is in the effective application of AI technologies to advance its flagship iPhone. Enter Google's former head of Machine Intelligence, John Giannandrea, who is now Apple's first official Chief of Machine Learning and AI Strategy.

Ming-Chi Kuo is back with Apple predictions and expects the 2018 iPhone range to pack several new color options including blue, red, gold and orange. The new colors will vary according to model, with the gold color reserved for the 2018 iPhone X sequel.

A German engineering student has designed a 'mobile airbag' case that protects your phone by detecting when it has been dropped and deploying springs to cushion the fall. The prototype has won a national mechatronics award in Germany, and the product will be launched in Kickstarter later this month.

Latest leaks show that the iPhone 9 and the iPhone X Plus will feature bigger screens compared to last year's iPhone X. The Phone 9 gets a notched 6.1-inch display, but only one camera on the back, while the iPhone X Plus boasts a big 6.5-inch notched screen and features a tri-camera rear setup. Apple is also rumored to finally ship the 2018 models with an 18 W USB-C charger with Fast Charging tech.

Apple just released the first public Beta of iOS 12. Committed Apple users can download the Beta for free from Apple's site, but be warned - as beta software, there are quite a few bugs still being worked out. Still, this is the only way to get some of the new features in iOS 12 for free.

Despite all the leaks and rumors about the successor of the iPhone SE, it seems that Apple has recently decided to stop its development. Insiders familiar with the inner workings of the Cupertino giant mention that three other handsets are in the making, all featuring large screens (between 5.8 and 6.5 inches in size).

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Apple is currently redesigning the chargers and the charging interface for its next-gen iPhones and iPads. The iPhones expected to arrive next year will probably drop the existing Lightning connector and replace it with USB Type-C, but — unsurprisingly — Apple still has to confirm this.

Apple's App Store Review Guidelines have recently been updated with a section dedicated to cryptocurrencies. In sum, Apple's app stores (iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS) will no longer allow apps that create or generate cryptocurrencies. Crypto wallets and trading apps are still kosher to distribute, but the rules surrounding these kinds of apps have become much more strict.

iPhone X clones are a dime a dozen, and the latest device to join that hallowed list is the subtly-named Ulefone X. The new device may be a shameless clone but it does look good on paper, which is more than can be said for a few other devices in that niche.

The latest version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 12, refines a few existing features while introducing few new ones. All said, iOS 12 is exciting for the Apple fanbase, but it seems like the iPhone is playing catch-up to Android.

Join us as we share our thoughts during Apple's WWDC 2018 developer conference.

A report from analytics firm App Annie has stated that the iOS App Store has made revenue of over US$130 billion from July 2010 to December 2017. The report offers a number of incredible statistics, including the fact that 170 billion downloads were made between the same dates mentioned above, and that there are now over two million live apps available on the App Store.

A report from the research company Gartner has stated that global sales of smartphones in the first quarter of 2018 have risen slightly from figures issued in the same quarter of 2017. Over 383.5 million smartphones were sold in 1Q18 compared to 378.5 million units sold in 1Q17. Samsung was the quarter’s largest vendor, with 78.5 million sales.

Reports have started to surface of customers complaining that their iPhone X rear camera lens covers are cracking, even though they haven't been dropped. Apple uses sapphire crystal for its lens covers which are resistant to scratching, but are more susceptible to cracking under pressure than Corning Gorilla Glass.

Apple could beat Qualcomm to market with the first consumer smartphone equipped with a 7 nm SoC. Its custom A12 processor is predicted to power the next generation of iPhone and iPad devices coming later this year. As usual, the iPhone maker is keeping quiet until its annual WWDC press event next month where refreshed MacBooks are also rumored to make an appearance.

The iPhone SE 2 has been in the headlines for a few weeks now. The successor to the pint-sized, cheaper iPhone released two years ago is on its way, and could very well be released sooner than expected, in September.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Apple has teamed up with investment bank Goldman Sachs to produce a joint credit card. The Cupertino-based company already has a deal with Barclaycard in regard to financing purchases of Apple products. Apparently, the upcoming card may feature the Apple Pay brand.

Leaker Ice Universe claims that TSMC is manufacturing A12 prototypes using the new 7 nm process, and the performance gains over the current A11 are considerable, sitting at ~30%. However, the power consumption is not on par with what 7 nm chips should yield, and this could be caused by the lacking lithography. The A12 SoCs should be launched next year wit the tri-cam smartphones.

According to a Yuanta Securities report, Apple already expressed its interest in integrating rear tri-camera setups for its upcoming high-end smartphones. The future iPhones could get 5X optical zoom per lens and it looks like there will be at least a 12 MP sensor. Apple's tri-cam devices are slated to be released in 2019.

Despite concerns that Apple might miss its targets for the quarter, the company has instead returned record numbers for its fiscal Q2. The Cupertino giant raked in a net profit of US$13.8B for the quarter on gross revenue of US$61.1B.

Ming-Chi Kuo, serial leaker of Apple's product plans, has left KGI Securities. The news could mean a slow down in the number of accurate leaks about Apple's product plans, much to the relief of many an executive at Apple's Cupertino HQ.

Barclay's analyst Blayne Curtis is predicting that Apple will stop bundling the Lightning to 3.5mm audio adapter with the iPhone released this fall. If this prediction comes true, iPhone users that want wired audio would have to separately purchase the adapter at a small (but annoying) additional cost.

TSMC has revealed that its new 7nm FinFet process will deliver mobile chips that are at least 20 percent faster and 40 percent more efficient. It has also revealed that it has developed two separate 7nm FinFet tracks, one optimized for mobile applications, the other for "high performance computing applications."

Daisy can dismantle up to 200 handsets per hour while salvaging a variety of materials that can be reused in future devices. This is part of Apple's GiveBack program that incentivizes users to turn in their old models for dismantling, which, in turn, contributes to a donation fund for the Conservation International non-profit organization.

A recent EEC approval filing revealed that Apple could be preparing to launch a slew of unannounced mobile devices and one of these could be the iPhone SE 2. No specific hardware specs were revealed in the EEC file, but the iPhone SE 2 could come with the A10 Fusion SoC coupled with 2 GB of RAM, up to 128 GB storage and improved cameras, plus the latest iOS 11 version, but would still retain the 4-inch display found on the original model.

Apple could be set to introduce the rumored 6.1-inch LCD iPhone "9" starting from as low as US$550, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo. Kuo also predicts that Apple will start selling dual SIM, dual standby (DSDS) iPhones starting September as well.

An internal memo warning Apple employees about the consequences of leaking information has been leaked. The tech giant has suffered from a considerable number of leaks in the past, and the memo warns that leakers face losing their jobs and may be fined and even imprisoned. Apparently, the Cupertino-based firm caught 29 leakers in 2017.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has published a patent application for “Luminescence shock avoidance in display devices” that was filed by Apple in December 2017. Luminescence shock occurs when a device is turned on in a dark environment and the brightness of the display temporarily impairs the user’s vision.

The trendsetter may become the copycat: rumors coming out of Taiwan speculate that Apple may be releasing an iPhone with three lenses in 2019, a design that may be inspired by Huawei's P20 Pro.

Apple has announced the impending release of the Product Red Special Edition iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. The devices will be available to order from April 10 and physical units will start appearing in Apple stores in some countries on April 13. The Special Edition smartphones will come in an eye-catching red finish. Part of the money made from selling these devices goes to The Global Fund financing organization.

Apple has published a press release today claiming that the company is now 100% powered by renewable energy. The tech giant has heavily invested in a number of sustainable energy projects such as wind farms and solar power production. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, has called the news a “significant milestone” and insists that the company will continue to be committed to a cleaner environment.

Facebook will allow users to delete/unsend their messages soon. This "feature" was unlikely to be released anytime soon but the company has promised to do so after it was revealed that company executives have had the ability to unsend messages in their private conversations for a while now.

In an event hosted for creative professionals earlier today, Apple executives clarified that the new Mac Pro desktop will indeed be released in 2019. In a somewhat surprising move, Apple will be working with professionals outside of the company to refine the product, which the company says will be designed from scratch.

A report from Bloomberg has suggested that Apple is working on a couple of interesting features for future smartphone releases. The first feature is touchless gesture controls, which would enable the user to operate the phone by moving a finger near to the screen rather than actually tapping it. The other rumored feature is a curved display, possibly to help differentiate a future iPhone device from other similar products in the smartphone market.

If Intel was counting on keeping Apple as a customer into the future, it might have to think again if a new report from Bloomberg is accurate. The Cupertino giant, which has long made the market-leading silicon powering its iPhone lineup, could end up powering its Mac line as soon as 2020.