Apple has reportedly been requesting prototype displays for iPhones and iPads that are larger than the displays the company currently uses. The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple has been working with displays larger than 4-inches for the iPhone, and iPad displays just under 13-inches. In a word, duh.

I agree with a lot of what Shaun McGill says in this article. We have come a long way from the days of Palm and using a device as a PDA. Now we have a computer in our pocket and your computer is a matter of personal choice.

∞ Read this on The Loop

Apple’s iPhone sales for the second calendar quarter of 2013 were pretty much evenly split between the iPhone 5 and its two precursors — the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s. This according to new data from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) that shows lower-priced legacy iPhones gaining share across Apple’s smartphone portfolio.

CIRP’s survey of iPhone sales between April and June found that the iPhone 5 accounted for 52 percent of all iPhones sold in the United States. Meanwhile, the iPhone 4S accounted for about 30 percent and the iPhone 4 about 18 percent. That’s similar to the iPhone model breakdown CIRP has charted for three quarters now, but it’s quite a bit different from the trend the firm saw following the release of the iPhone 4S, which claimed significantly more sales share following its debut and held onto it longer. Nine months...

Let's say you like to bet on football games. I know the rules of football, I know the teams, and I can even name a few of the players, but in terms of predicting which team will win any given game, my guesses aren't much better than flipping a coin. Now, let's say I've been right a few times before, several seasons ago, and I helped you win some big bets. But let's also say that absolutely every single prediction I've made during this season has failed to pan out. Are you going to keep placing bets based on my predictions? If not, then congratulations: you're smarter than the average Apple rumor blog, which still seems to be all Digitimes, all the time.

A look at some flexible batteries that could power iWatch (9to5 Mac)

While this tech is cool, associating it with the so-called "iWatch" is a pretty big stretch. Remind me again how many credible reports have come out indicating Apple is...

AT&T announced today that it’s expanding unlimited talk and text Mobile Share plans to include two new data options including 300MB and 2GB. The new options will fill the gaps between the carrier’s current 1GB and 4GB plans, allowing users that use less data to take advantage of a less expensive plan.

The 300 MB plan is only $20 a month, with additional costs per device added. Now, customers with basic and quick-messaging devices can share data and unlimited talk and text for as low as $50 a month and smartphone customers for $70 a month.

The new 300MB plan will be available for $20 and the 2GB for $50 when they become available later this week on July 26th.

Continue reading...

Notable software releases this week include MacBook Air (Mid 2013) Software Update 1.0, TextWrangler 4.5.3, BBEdit 10.5.5, and Logic Pro X 10.0.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Well this is certainly an easy story to make fun of. Patently Apple directs us to a patent filing from Google which appears to resemble, in rather specific detail, a patent diagram from one of Apple's own patent filings.

What you see above is a Google patent drawing detailing how presence detection might be implemented in future Chromebooks.

Below is a patent drawing from Apple from an already granted patent. Notice anything in common? Or rather, a more appropriate question or challenge would be to point out any differences between the two diagrams. Indeed, the only difference I see is that that video camera located at the top of the laptop is circular in Google's laptop and horizontal on Apple's.

Patently Apple adds:

As you could see for yourself, the hand positioning in the Google patent figure is absolutely identical to...

Following its acquisition of local data company Locationary last week, Apple also was confirmed to have acquired HopStop, an online transit navigation service that specializes in mass transit directions. HopStop offers mass transit travel directions in more than 500 cities — subway, bus, walking, cycling, and taxi directions…

Many reading this would probably agree with me that smartphones (the iPhone particularly) are amazing. As a journalist, the iPhone is my most valuable tool. It lets me have instant access to news, notes, and any other dozen things I need on a daily basis. More importantly, it frees me from my desk.

But as great as the iPhone is, it's easy for it to become hard to put down. Next time you're out just keep track of how many times you glance at your phone -- or your friends glance at theirs. For one guy, Jake Knapp, a Design Partner at Google Ventures, the amount of time he spent checking his phone became a problem. So, a few months ago, he made his smartphone less smart:

It started taking away my appreciation of what was going on right then, in the real world. When I got bored for just a moment I'd take the phone out. And each time I was basically saying, "Gee, anything is better than this."

I felt like my...

Twitter may be loads of fun, but the constant barrage of email notifications? Not so much. You can, however, get those email notifications back under control with a quick trip to your Twitter account settings. Get ready for lots of mouse clicks.

A man named Ibrahim Balic has identified himself as the person behind a hack of the Apple Developer Center. Balic describes himself as a "security researcher," only interested in seeing "how deep" he could go rather than causing any problems. He adds that he reported 13 bugs to Apple, one of which allowed him to gain access to user information....  ...

Last night we reported that Apple confirmed that its Developer Center was hacked and taken offline as a precaution, but now a UK security researcher named Ibrahim Balic says he is the one who performed the hack to highlight a security hole that could leave developer data exposed. As The Next Web Reports:

Balic claims that showed Apple 73 user accounts from its own workers to illustrate the flaw when he contacted the company to help them fix it. Though he admits he managed to get hold of data from more than 100,000 users, he maintains he did not hack the system for malicious purposes.

Balic also says that he is "a bit irritated" Apple is citing the incident as an attempted security breach. Below is a video he...

Apple is testing larger screens for both iPads and iPhones, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to company suppliers, Apple has “asked for prototype smartphone screens larger than 4 inches and has also asked for screen designs for a new tablet device measuring slightly less than 13 inches.” The…

Apple is experimenting with different iPhone and iPad screen sizes, if the rumors are to be believed. Chris Foresman

iPhone and iPad users looking with envy at the ever-ballooning screen sizes of Android devices shouldn't lose hope just yet. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has been experimenting with iPhone screen sizes larger than the current four inches, echoing rumors from earlier this year that the company may be looking to supplement its current offerings. The WSJ also says that Apple is experimenting with larger iPads, specifically a model with a gigantic 13-inch display—while a larger iPhone would be in line with current trends, the trend in tablets has been toward...

Apple will be issuing an important update to the Apple Store app for the iPhone on Tuesday, an anonymous source claims. The app is reportedly redesigned, with an interface following after the App Store, iTunes Store, and iBookstore. Part of the reason for this is that the app will promote downloadable content, even offering some of it for free for a limited time....  ...

Apple has snagged HopStop.

Per AppleInsider and AllThingsD, Apple on Friday purchased transit navigation service HopStop, which also has an iPhone app of the same name, in a possible bid to bolster its own in-house mapping solution.

Citing sources with knowledge of the deal,...

They’re just babies.

Following in the footsteps of AT&T's "Next" program and T-Mobile's "Jump" offering, Verizon last week introduced the Edge program:

If you want to stay on top of the latest technology, the new Verizon Edge device payment plan offers an affordable way to upgrade to the newest device and satisfy your love of technology. Verizon Edge is a flexible equipment payment plan that spreads the retail price of a phone over 24 months. You can also upgrade to a new phone after six months if 50 percent of the retail cost has been paid.

Here's how it works: Choose the phone you want and sign up for a month-to-month service plan, it's as easy as that. The full retail price of the phone will be divided over 24 months and you'll pay the first month at the time of purchase. If you want to upgrade after 6 months, just pay off 50% of the full retail price of the phone and you can choose a...

This is great. Just click on the number of beers at the top of the video and everything instantly changes.

Being able to take loads of photos means the quality will vary widely, and the act of judging your photos is what Jeff Carlson discusses in the fifth chapter of “Take Control of Your Digital Photos.” You’ll learn how to set up a workflow that will help you easily determine which shots you want to share with others, which need work in an image editor, and which should be culled. In the process of evaluating each photo critically, you’ll become a better photographer too.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products....

New York startup Canary aims to bring affordable and easy to use home security to iPad and iPhone users in a single canister-like device, which delivers 720p streaming video, motion detection, push notifications, and more.   ...

Security researcher Ibrahim Balic says he reported a Developer Center security vulnerability hours before Apple shut down its developer Web site. The vulnerability enabled Balic to access the email addresses and real names (but not passwords) of more than 100,000 users. Balic told 9To5Mac that he promptly reported the vulnerability to Apple and is planning to delete the information he collected.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

Image: joyenjoys.com

A two minute SIM card hack could allow an intruder to listen to your phone calls, send text messages from your phone number and make mobile payments from your account. The vulnerability, discovered by a German security researcher, is present in an estimated 750 million SIM cards – around one in four of all SIM cards.

Give me any phone number and there is some chance I will, a few minutes later, be able to remotely control this SIM card and even make a copy of it … 

The vulnerability was discovered by Karsten Nohl, founder of Security Research Labs in Berlin – the man who, back in 2009, created a tool to break the GSM encryption, enabling anyone with a scanner and a laptop to listen in to...

Our own Jeff Carlson joined Chuck Joiner of MacVoices to discuss his new book, “Take Control of Your Digital Photos.” Jeff and Chuck discuss the experiment of publishing the book as in-progress chapters for TidBITS members, and then move on to chat about choosing a photo-management program, importing photos, assigning and exporting keywords, setting up smart albums, working with online services, backing up photos, and much more.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free version of our Web site, email delivery of individual articles, the ability to make long comments with live links, and discounts on Take Control orders and other Apple-related products.

As the site puts it, “every bloody designer on the planet has had a go, so you might as well try too.”  This tongue-in-cheek interactive design tool lets you create your own take on iOS by selecting from a range of backgrounds, fonts, colors, corner shapes and shadows.

Here’s our own Seth Weintraub’s application for the post of deputy to Jony Ive:

For more information about iOS Devices, humor, and Satire continue reading at 9to5Mac.

What do you...

The Apple Developer Center has been offline since Thursday, 18 July 2013, and after days of silence and much speculation, Apple finally sent email to developers on Sunday, explaining that it had detected an intruder and shut down the developer Web site. Apple says that it is completely overhauling its developer systems, updating server software, and rebuilding the entire database, so it is uncertain when the system be available again. In the meantime, developers can’t obtain identities, certificates, or provisioning profiles, making it impossible to distribute an app for testing or submit it to the App Store. The developer forums are also offline.

Read the full article at TidBITS, the oldest continuously published technology publication on the Internet. To get a full-text RSS feed, help support our work and become a TidBITS member! Members also enjoy an ad-free...

Roman David DeSilva

HopStop, the transit navigation app Apple recently acquired for an undisclosed sum, appears to have had its platform availability narrowed a bit since the deal closed.

Though it was available for Windows Phone as recently as last week, HopStop’s support for Microsoft’s mobile operating system has been discontinued without explanation. The app has disappeared from the company’s Windows Phone Marketplace; it’s been erased from the HopStop Apps page; and its Windows Phone iteration now pops a “HopStop no longer supports the Windows platform” alert when launched....

Security researcher Ibrahim Balic is claiming to have reported a Developer Center security hole just hours before the portal went down.

After reviewing the information and speaking with Balic, it seems as if Apple’s website could be breached through a simple unescaped injection attack. We haven’t seen the script ourselves, so this isn’t completely confirmed.

Balic was able to access first and last names, Apple IDs/email addresses, and user IDs. From the information he showed in a YouTube video (update: the video has now been taken down) and what he described to me in an email, the leak does not show any other information.

the video is now removed from youtube, i appoligise for sharing some of the confidential information, i had to, to proof the blames wrong—
ibrahim BALİÇ (@ibrahimbalic) July 22, 2013...

Apple reported that its website for third party developers was compromised by "an intruder" seeking access to personal information. The site remains offline as the company investigates the matter and works to "completely overhaul" the system in a bid to prevent future attacks.  ...

In an email to developers on Sunday, Apple acknowledged that the reason behind the lengthy developer site outage was because of a hacking attempt on Thursday. Apple said that personal information was not accessed, however it is double checking to make sure that developer names, emails and physical addresses were not compromised.

Apple said it is working around the clock to overhaul the developer system, including server updates and rebuilding the database. While it did not give an estimated time when the developer site would be back online, the company said it would be soon.

If your membership in the iOS or Mac developer programs was set to expire during this time, Apple has automatically extended it.

The interesting thing to see is how the release of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks will be...

An anonymous reader writes "Apple has informed developers that an intruder gained access to its developer site database. Quoted email from Apple: 'Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website. Sensitive personal information was encrypted and cannot be accessed, however, we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers' names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed. In the spirit of transparency, we want to inform you of the issue. We took the site down immediately on Thursday and have been working around the clock since then. In order to prevent a security threat like this from happening again, we're completely overhauling our developer systems, updating our server software, and rebuilding our entire database. We apologize for the significant inconvenience that our downtime has caused you and we expect to have the developer website up again soon.'"

John and Dave kick off the week (and end the weekend) by digging into the mailbag and answering your questions. Topics covered include speeding up your workflow using Starred documents in Google Drive, finding your iOS device's UDID no matter what the circumstance, should you upgrade from Snow Leopard (and how), finding drivers for third-party mice, and using the Eye-Fi card in your camera this summer. Download for free and enjoy!

Apple on Sunday addressed a multi-day outage afflicting its developer site, acknowledging that its systems were hacked.

In an email to developers, Apple wrote:

Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website. Sensitive personal information was encrypted and cannot be accessed, however, we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers’ names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed. In the spirit of transparency, we want to inform you of the issue. We took the site down immediately on Thursday and have been working around the clock since then.

In order to prevent a security threat like this from happening again, we’re completely overhauling our developer systems, updating our server software, and rebuilding our entire database. We apologize for the significant inconvenience that our downtime has caused you and we expect to have the...

Apple just started sending out the above explanation for the Developer Center outage that has been going on since Thursday. According to the note, Apple’s security was breached and an intruder might have gotten some personal information (specifically names, mailing addresses, email addresses, etc.). In the spirit of (just a bit late) transparency, Apple is now informing developers who may have been affected.

Seems that the hackers attempted to use the stolen info: multiple people say they've received Apple ID password resets in recent days.—
Mark Gurman (@markgurman) July 21, 2013

Also, because of the intrusion, Apple has decided to totally overhaul its developer systems, including updating server software and rebuilding databases seemingly from scratch. That would explain the significant, now over 4-day, outage.

Apple expects the developer site to be up soon. The...

NimbleTV wants to deliver pay TV, over the Web, to any device, anywhere in the world.

But right now the startup, which launched a trial service last summer, isn’t delivering any TV anywhere. Dish Network, the satellite TV company NimbleTV was using as its initial backbone, has cut off service to NimbleTV’s customers.

NimbleTV says it is working “around the clock” to fix things with Dish and restore service, which has been out for more than a week. In the meantime, it says it has provided refunds to its customers.

The outage, noted last week by FTAblog, underscores the potential downside of NimbleTV’s business model, which is based on piggybacking on top of other pay TV services and...

The Boston Bruins weren’t taking any chances when Justin Bieber played the TD Garden this weekend.

∞ Read this on The Loop

As I was making my list of devices and chargers to bring on vacation last week, I realized that I was going to have to get something that could easily charge my iPhone 5 on the go. I’m a hardcore mobile Internet user and the battery life has never met my needs, especially on vacation, where it’s often my most used gadget. I started off by looking at standalone power packs like the Mophie Powerstation, which we’ve reviewed before.  I was intrigued by those type of devices because they could...

Viewfinder (free, with some in-app purchase options) is a bit like the Photo app in iOS, but on steroids. With your permission, It takes your image library and arranges it by time and location. All photos remain private and only you can see them unless you choose to share them. Nothing is uploaded to the cloud, although the app requires a free account. Photos you share with others can be shared by them to others, so keep that in mind before you use the sharing options.

You can import contacts from your phone, from Gmail, and Facebook. Once contacts have been imported, Viewfinder shows you which friends have also set up an account on Viewfinder. In-line messaging and commenting are supported for creating communities around your photos. None of this sharing is done online -- everything stays within the app, except the communications out and back that is managed by Viewfinder.

The app gives each...

In Part Two of his two-part article, Sandro Cuccia shows you how to apply the Instant Alpha Tool to images in iWork's Keynote, Pages and Numbers. Instant Alpha is yet another easy tool to make your presentations and documents stand out above all others.

It’s an hour and a half movie.

This is the second article in our new Saturday how-to series (see last week’s post about safely deleting an iCloud account)

It is highly recommended that you tie an active, valid email address to your Apple ID. The Apple ID is your login for Apple services such as iTunes, App Store, iMessage, and FaceTime.

By actually using an active email address for your Apple ID, you will receive important emails from Apple. Additionally, iTunes will email you whenever you purchase paid content from iTunes, including iBooks and Apps.

Apple will also email you if the password for your Apple ID was changed, someone tried using Find My Device, or your Apple ID was used on a brand new device.

It is important to track this information in order to stop an issue if someone has hacked your account. Keeping tabs on iTunes purchase alerts...

Next week, Apple will debut a new element of Tim Cook’s plan to sell more iPhones direct from Apple Retail. The company, on Tuesday, July 23rd, will release an updated version of its Apple Store application for iPhone and iPod touch, according to a source with knowledge of the app. The new app has been redesigned to fit more in line with the user-interface of the App Store, iTunes Store, and iBookstore in iOS 6.

This slight interface change comes for a good reason: one of the main new features of the app is downloadable...

If you enjoyed this week's roundup of iPad cases, check out last week's edition, Fireworks.

Introduced by Hong Kong-based Muku Labs, Shuttr is, as its name implies, a tiny Bluetooth-connected remote shutter release that can be used with almost any iOS device, as well as many Android smartphones and tablets.  ...

Though Apple and Samsung remain tied up in patent litigation in a number of jurisdictions across the globe, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the two companies have been engaged in settlement talks with the aim of putting all their legal squabbles behind them.

Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. have held a series of private negotiations about their numerous patent disputes since a court victory by Apple in one case last summer, according to legal documents and people familiar with the situation.

The negotiations included face-to-face meetings in Seoul, South Korea, in December, one document states. The two companies even appeared to come close to a settlement in February before talks cooled off.

The report adds that the two tech behemoths are still talking to each other, but there's no word as to how close they are to actually reaching a mutually acceptable...

Alternative payment methods seem to be all the rage these days, from retailer-specific virtual cards that can be loaded with currency to the movement to make NFC-based payment kiosks an option at retailers. As VentureBeat reports, New York's Dash wants to do things a bit differently and by targeting eateries and bars it may have a good chance to carve out its own niche.

The Dash app for iPhone allows patrons of participating bars and restaurants to view, split, and pay their tabs without ever reaching for a purse or wallet. The system has the added benefit of keeping you from having to wave down a waiter or waitress when you're ready to hit the road - but food service workers don't have to worry about missing a tip, as Dash has a built-in feature for that as well.

It's a novel idea, but since getting restaurants nationwide to jump on board isn't easy, Dash is starting with New York City, where the company...

As we inch our way towards the public release of iOS 7, we are treated to a rather interesting benchmarking video courtesy of YouTube user adrianisen. The clip showcases two different benchmark tools running on iOS 7 Beta 3 on both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5. It's not clear why the tester chose the standard iPhone 4 as opposed to the more powerful 4S, but it certainly makes the performance difference between the two handsets remarkably apparent.

An interesting note: Using Geekbench 2, the iPhone 5 used in the test scores a 1672 with iOS 7 Beta 3, while my own iPhone 5 running iOS 6.1.4 tops out at 1664 consistently. It's a small increase, sure, but a promising result regardless. The iPhone 4, on the other hand, doesn't even break the 400-point barrier.

iOS 7 Beta 3 gets benchmarked on iPhone 4 and 5 originally appeared...

The Griffin Survivor + Catalyst waterproof case (US$69.99) is said to keep your iPhone dry up to 3 meters deep in water and protect your iPhone from drops from a height of 2 meters or less.

On a day-to-day basis I don't use a case for my iPhone. However, there have been plenty of occasions when I've wished I did use one, so as not to worry about protecting and shielding it in certain situations, like when I'm at the beach, hiking or camping etc.

Design

The Griffin Survivor + Catalyst (GSC) case has TPE shock-absorbing bumpers, a PET-integrated screen cover, a silicone O-ring to seal the case together and keep water out, and a polycarbonate frame. Though light, it feels sturdy -- especially with an iPhone inside it. Two nylon latches lock the case together, there's a charge port door as well as volume control, home button and power button. It also comes with a lanyard to attach...