Apple

Although it might struggle in some markets like India — where it lost the crown to Xiaomi — Samsung remains the leader of the global smartphone market. On the other hand, the smartphone production drop of 3.3 percent expected for 2019 could help Chinese brand Huawei to finally beat Apple and to become the world's second smartphone maker.

Although Apple has recently asked its suppliers to cut the iPhone production by 10 percent in the second quarter, it looks like the brand's handsets are not doing well in China. In an unprecedented move, Apple authorized mid-cycle price cuts that go as high as 22 percent for the iPhone 8 and 20 percent for the iPhone 8 Plus handsets on JD.com.

Apple has been teasing the release of the AirPower since 2017. However, the company has let numerous subsequent relevant launches go by without mentioning it again. Nevertheless, a credible source now claims that a known supplier to the OEM has started to manufacture these products.

An article posted to the online outlet Motherboard has alleged that the carriers T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T have been selling their US customers' geolocation data to private companies, who then went on to sell it to other parties such as those who issue bail bonds. The carriers in question have subsequently committed to put an end to these practices.

A new article in the Wall Street Journal has lent further weight to speculation that Apple will jump on the triple-rear-camera bandwagon this year. According to the report, this feature will be found in the most premium model the company will release this year. It may be accompanied by two additional SKUs with dual rear cameras.

Apple's hardware suppliers have been hit by a 10% decrease in the volume of new iPhone production requests for the first quarter of 2019. These claims have emanated from sources cited by a new report on Nikkei. It suggests that Apple's recent financial woes have translated into an anticipated negative effect on sales for the first 3 months of this year.

TVs that can curl up and store themselves in a box are becoming a staple of CES. This technology, introduced by its maker LG in 2017, has yet to appear in stores. However, this year, the company has brought them to the event again - as well as the news that they will go on sale in 2019.

At one point, Belkin was the go-to brand for third-party Apple accessories, not to mention USB power banks and cables. However, it had gone quiet for a good while following its amalgamation with Foxconn. This year, Belkin and its current international brands (Linksys, Wemo and Phyn) have made a comeback to CES this year to showcase their new products.

Samsung has announced a new partnership between it and Apple. The frenemies have collaborated to bring a new iTunes app to Samsung’s new 2019 TV range in over 100 markets globally.

Apple may not be at CES this year; however, that hasn’t stopped them poking fun at other companies who are likely to present at the show. A billboard that was almost certainly commissioned by the Cupertino giant had appeared on an exterior face of the Marriott Hotel in Las Vegas on January 5, 2019. It reads: “What happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone”, alongside a black-and-white outline of a 2018 Apple flagship mobile device.

Thanks to Google Analytics, Macrumors has noticed that some of the devices visiting their website were running the beta version of iOS 13. Devices with iOS 13 installed have been spotted on the website as early as October 2018.

Apple has published a new support page that addresses the Bendgate 2.0 controversy. As it has in the past, however, the company continues to insist that there is nothing wrong with straightness and durability of its latest flagship iPad Pro models.

US President Donald Trump has been giving his opinion about Apple’s recent rollercoaster ride at the stock market. The POTUS stated that he had told Tim Cook, who is apparently one of Trump’s friends, that Apple should bring production of the iPhone and its other hardware to the US. The Chinese-US trade war is believed to have affected the Cupertino company’s revenue.

Project Soli is a Google initiative that wants to make in-air, screen-less gestures to control technology a reality. In other words, the user should be able to control their devices through certain hand gestures, which are converted into workable commands by innovative little radar sensors. Google has reportedtly secured FCC approval for this form of hardware.

An official Huawei Twitter account (@Huawei) has been caught sending its celebratory New Year's message from an iPhone. It was quickly picked up by the vlogger MKBHD on his own Twitter feed. A Reuters report claims that the employees responsible for this mishap had been fined and sanctioned by the company, as it "damaged the Huawei brand".

Apple’s stock price plummeted on the NASDAQ today. The previous close for the Cupertino company stood at US$157.92. However, at the time of writing, the stock price had fallen to US$142.19, leaving the iPhone maker with a market capitalization value of around US$674.7 billion. Apple’s stock price hasn’t been this low since the first half of 2017.

Tim Cook has had to start his year by sending an open letter to Apple's investors, telling them the company's revenues for the first fiscal quarter of 2019 had been revised downwards. Cook noted that this decision had been influenced by factors such as the increased strength of the US dollar and reduced iPhone revenues. However, the letter also also highlighted areas in which Apple performed well in 2018.

The Pocophone F2 may be the second device to come from the popular Xiaomi brand POCO. A new concept illustration for this smartphone suggests that it may upgrade to a newer, more waterdrop-like notch rather than the larger, iPhone-esque one of last year. It seems that this device has also made it onto Geekbench; according to these listings, it will stick with the Snapdragon 845 of yesteryear.

Apple is putting its customer’s nerves to the test. After recently confirming that some of its Ipad Pro devices do indeed have a bend that occurred during the manufacturing process, information about the total repair costs have now been released.

If user tests are to be believed, the initial rollout of AT&T's 5G home internet network may be disappointing to most. Download and upload speeds aren't much better than those on 4G LTE. These tests raise concerns about the viability of 5G in its current state. Numerous problems associated with wavelength penetration and power draw may not be worth the cost if the performance increase for 5G is this marginal.

2018 has come and gone and with it the promise of an Apple-made wireless charging pad. Announced back at the 2017 iPhone X event, Apple's AirPower wireless charging mat is still MIA. At that event, Apple promised a 2018 release. However, the company has silently removed all references of AirPower from its website and hasn't said a word about the product since its 2017 announcement.

Apple retained a majority in the premium smartphone market in the third quarter of 2018, as iPhones made up 47% of all phones sold in it. Samsung achieved second place in this arena, with 22% of the market share. On the other hand, the growth of this market was driven by increased brand diversity; for example, Huawei captured a share of over 10% for the first time this year.

Citing predictions that the 2018 iPhone line may soon enter a destocking phase, Citi Research cut production estimates for the iPhone XR, iPhone Xs, and iPhone Xs Max by a collective 10% (50 million to 45 million). Most of this cut was driven by lowered expectations of the iPhone Xs Max; Citi Research estimates Apple will produce only half as many iPhone Xs Max units as previously predicted.

An article published by iDrop News reports than an Ohio man has suffered injury from his iPhone XS Max catching fire whilst in the back pocket of his pants. Apparently, the device was completely destroyed in the incident, and the blaze also damaged his pants and burned the skin of his buttocks. It seems the individual is now considering legal action against Apple.

Epic Games is now sitting on US$3 billion in gross profits this year. According to a new article in TechCrunch based on the claims of a 'knowledgeable' source. This level of success is (somewhat obviously) made off the back of Epic's flagship, Fortnite. It is a particularly impressive claim, considering that this title's revenue is largely derived from in-game purchases.

Michael Gartenberg describes himself as "Former Sr. Marketing Director @Apple, ex Jupiter Research, Gartner & other stuff" on his Twitter bio. He also now implies that he is unhappy with the iPad Pro 2018's build quality on this platform, as he documented his return of this product in a Tweet.

With already half the smartphone camera market cornered, Sony has unveiled what it thinks will continue to drive OEM interest in its camera sensor technology. It’s new 3D-capable rear camera sensor features the same type of Time of Flight technology found in the front-facing Face ID camera in Apple iPhones with Face ID and it has got Apple interested, reports Bloomberg.

A case design purported to be associated with the upcoming iPad Mini 5 appeared to show that the tablet would have a dual camera and a headphone jack. This may have been an encouraging sign, as the iPad Mini line hasn't been upgraded since 2015. However, a subsequent comment on the matter from another leaker asserts that the case in the initial leak is in fact from 2016.

The Zanco smart pen is a stylus with (nearly) all the features of a smartphone crammed into it. It has physical buttons, a click-pad, front and rear cameras and even a teeny tiny screen. It is intended as a smartphone replacement or companion (much like the Palm phone) and can also function as a Bluetooth remote for screens for purposes such as presentation. So far, it has raised just over US$50,000 on Kickstarter.

'Bendgate 2.0': the saga continues; an iPad Pro customer who emailed Tim Cook about the situation in which the US$799+ devices arrive deformed out of the box claimed to have gotten a response. This reply was not from Cook himself, however, but from another Apple executive who explained how well the new iPad fits in with Apple's design philosophy.

A report by the China Times has stated that Apple is planning on releasing a new iPad Mini device and a revised iPad model in 2019. The supposed iPad Mini 5 tablet would be the first new slate in the Mini series since 2015. The larger iPad has a rumored size of 10 inches, making it slightly larger than the current 9.7-inch version of the popular tablet computer.

Lemmings, the classic PC puzzler, has launched on iOS and Android. The smartphone port retains many of the gameplay elements of the original, but controls and level design have been optimized for mobile gaming. The levels themselves will be procedurally generated, but there will (sadly) be a variety of in-app purchases.

Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Google (Alphabet Inc.) have been experiencing further depressions in the stock market, according to recent NASDAQ data. Apple has seen its stock price fall under US$160 as Microsoft continues to lead in terms of market capitalization value. The Cupertino-based iPhone maker also has had bad news in regard to “Bendgate 2.0” and a legal battle against Qualcomm.

Qualcomm's patent war against Apple has escalated this December following bans in China and now Germany on the sale of iPhones. Intel has now accused Qualcomm of "stifling competition" in a scathing Intel Newsroom article that alleges Qualcomm's actions will only serve to "reduce innovation and increase prices."

The 2018 MacBook Air may be a good option for those who want the Apple-ultrabook looks for a more moderated price. B&H Is currently holding a sales event for this device, which takes between US$100 and $150 off most of its SKUs. However, these offers are only valid until December 22.

Apple has mired itself in a new bending device controversy. The latest structural integrity issue affects the new 2018 iPad Pro models, some of which are shipping out of the factory to customers with slight bends in the chassis. According to a statement it provided The Verge, this is apparently “normal” and is something the company doesn’t consider a defect.

Tencent Games has asserted that it has drawn level with Epic Games' Fortnite in terms of mobile user numbers for its own game, PUBG. This means that PUBG has made it to about 200 million users. It is estimated that both games also have the same approximate number of users who play at least once a day (30 million).

A Forbes reporter had a replica of his own head, made via 3D-printing, commissioned from a company that specializes in the same. He was able to use this object to unlock four Android phones (from different OEMs), but not an iPhone X. This suggests that Face ID remains the more powerful device-security tool.

A new leak based on a purported internal Apple document reiterates the rumor that Smart Battery Cases are coming back. This one suggests that this product will be compatible with the iPhone XS and XS Max only. On the other hand, the slightly disputable evidence does not match the leaked watchOS icon on which the earlier leak is based.

Less than 40% of all smartphones are thought to have LCD (or a variation on it) these days. This was reported as part of a new release from the analysis firm IHS Markit. It indicates that the type of panel once only associated with high-end Samsung phones are becoming much more commonplace and popular with manufacturers.

More than a decade after its founding, Tumblr has finally reached a critical point and has decided to turn into "a better, more positive" version of itself by banning adult content, including nudity (with some exceptions). The new guidelines will be enforced starting today, but the affected pages will not disappear overnight.

Apple users trying to get their NVIDIA GPUs to work on macOS Mojave 10.14 may be out of luck as Apple has not approved any NVIDIA drivers for the OS yet, even months after release. The only NVIDIA GPUs supported are the Quadro K5000 and the GTX 680. This leaves out those wishing to use the improved CUDA acceleration and other proprietary NVIDIA development tools on macOS Mojave out of luck.

This week, Qualcomm succeeded in its petition to a Chinese court to have the sale or import of several iPhone models banned in the relevant jurisdiction. The company is also pushing the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to take similar action. The ITC has stated that it will review the case and release its final verdict next year.

An infographic published by LetsGoDigital makes for interesting reading for those curious about how the foldable market could end up playing out. Unsurprisingly, it seems Samsung and Huawei will be the first major manufacturers to offer this exciting form factor to consumers, with Microsoft and Apple willing to bide their time, possibly to see how the market develops.

During the launch event for the latest series of iPhones, many tech correspondents remarked on the company's official images which gave the impression that the devices lacked the profound notches that do in fact exist. It appears that this strategy worked too well in the case of one consumer, who is now reportedly suing Apple for misrepresenting the XS Max's appearance.

Despite winning a victory against Apple earlier this week, Qualcomm is continuing to pressure the iPhone manufacturer in China. Qualcomm is petitioning Chinese courts to expand the ban of iPhone sales to include the iPhone XR, Xs, and Xs Max. However, Apple is claiming that these devices should not be included in the initial ban as they run iOS 12. Chinese courts have yet to make a decision.

Facebook has informed its developers of "a photo API bug" that allowed third-party apps to access photos uploaded to the social media's servers, regardless of whether the user then chose to share these images on their timelines or not. The company has admitted that this new flaw had been in effect for eight days in September 2018 and may have affected as many as 6.8 million users who logged in on those dates.

The respected Apple-focused business analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has made a departure from the general consensus in his industry that the Cupertino company will see 200 million iPhones sold in 2019. Kuo now asserts that this number will be significantly reduced compared to 2018. He has also revised his previous estimate on this subject for the first quarter of next year downwards.

Apple has pulled the pin on its Connect platform contained within its Apple Music service. Artists have received notification that the service will be pulled and artists will no longer be able to directly connect to their fans through the service.