We’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: When you’re buying an iPad at a deep discount from a complete stranger off the street, don’t be surprised when you end up with a box of useless junk. And even when that friendly back-alley retailer shows you what appears — through layers of bubble wrap — to be the real deal, be warned that it’s probably just a tarted-up floor tile. [More]
apple
“Kid-Friendly” Plastic Surgery Apps Pop Up On Apple, Google Stores
By 1.16.14
Because there’s nothing children love more than animated fat-shaming and liposuction, a supposedly youngster-friendly plastic surgery app has popped up in various forms (and has also been taken down) on both Google Play Store the and Apple App Store. [More]
Fisher-Price’s Apptivity Seat: Harmless And Educational Or Captive Brainwashing Device?
By 1.15.14
We know consumers’ love for all things technology begins early, but what’s too early? The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood defines too early is when you hold your infant or toddler captive with an iPad dangling infront of his or her face. [More]
Apple To Refund At Least $32.5 Million For In-App Purchases By Kids
By 1.15.14
Though Apple has already settled a class-action lawsuit over all those in-app purchases unwittingly made by free-fingered kids on their parents’ and other adults’ iPhones and iPads, that deal didn’t mean the folks at the Federal Trade Commission were going to stop looking into the situation. Today, the FTC announced that it has reached a deal with the electronics giant to issue at least another $32.5 million in refunds to consumers. [More]
Alleged Original iPhone Prototype Pops Up On eBay For $1,499
By 12.30.13
An eBay seller says his wife is making him part ways with some of the stuff he’s collected over the years, which is why he’s listed what he claims is an engineering prototype of the original Apple iPhone for sale for $1,499. [More]
7 Examples Why You Should Always Check Inside That iPad Box Before You Leave Walmart
By 12.17.13
As most regular readers of the site know, iPad boxes seem to be the perfect fit for scammers who buy the device, take it home, remove it from the box, seal it back up and return it for a refund… only to saddle some unsuspecting future customer with a box full of useless crud later. [More]
Christmas Ordering Deadlines For 25 Top Online Retailers
By 12.12.13
Still working on your Christmas shopping? If you’re going online to buy those gifts, you need to be aware of the sites’ wildly varying cutoff dates for placing orders in time to get them under the tree on the big day. [More]
Apple Wants Samsung To Start Paying The $60M In Lawyers’ Fees It’s Spent In Legal Fight
By 12.6.13
The back-and-forth legal fight between Apple and its current nemesis Samsung isn’t a cheap one: All that litigating and finger pointing has cost Apple about $60 million so far. [More]
Target Sells Demo iPad Pre-Loaded With Imaginary Lady’s Pictures And Contacts
By 12.3.13
A Canadian woman found the best Black Friday deal for an iPad at Target, a newcomer on the Great White Northern retail scene. She didn’t just get a tablet and a $115 Target gift card, but a bonus too: contact information and photographs belonging to another customer. Or so she thought. [More]
Apple Now Selling Unlocked iPhones Without SIM Cards
By 11.22.13
Maybe you’re always traveling to Siberia, Madagascar, Belize and back again. Or perhaps you just hate being tied down with a carrier contract. Apple has either been reading your mind or just decided it’s a worthwhile business move to offer customers unlocked iPhone 5s phones that are SIM card free. [More]
Samsung Owes Apple Another $290M In Damages — For A Total Of About $930M
By 11.22.13
Whoever is on penny-counting duty at Samsung is probably shaking his or head quite thoroughly at the job ahead. A jury ruled yesterday that Samsung has to pay Apple $290,456,793 in additional damages for patent infringement, which is quite a pretty penny. And that’s still less than the $380 million Apple had asked for. [More]
Apple Calls Teen An Hour After She Wrote CEO Tim Cook About Dictionary’s “Gay” Entry
By 11.14.13
If you see something you disagree with in a product millions of people use, you should say something — even if you think the CEO of a huge company like Apple won’t pay attention. A high school girl decided she wasn’t too pleased with one of the Apple dictionary app’s definitions of the word “gay” and fired off a letter to CEO Tim Cook about it. Much to her surprise, the company replied within an hour. [More]
Apple Slams Government ‘Gag Order’ On Customer Data Requests
By 11.6.13
Last night, Apple provided some very vague details about the number of requests for customer information it received from U.S. law enforcement and national security officials. At the same time, the company made it very clear that it would provide more precise information about the number of these requests, if only the government would let it. [More]
iOS App Vulnerability Allows Hackers To Attack Device Via WiFi
By 10.29.13
A group of mobile security researchers say they have discovered a vulnerability in many mobile apps running on iOS that could allow a hacker to hijack the information being provided to a mobile device when used over an unsecured WiFi network. [More]
Craving A New iPad? Walmart Adds Tablets To Trade-In Program
By 10.23.13
Less than two months after announcing a smartphone trade-in program, Walmart is taking yesterday’s announcement of the new iPad Air and upgraded iPad Mini as a good reason to add tablets to the offer. [More]
How The Heck Do I Decide Whether The New iPads Are What I Want?
October 22, 2013
While the smartphone market has become much more diverse in recent years, Apple’s iPad still dominates the tablet business in the U.S. Today, the company announced the latest iteration of the full-sized iPad — the iPad Air — along with an improved iPad Mini, hoping to continue this dominance. But many consumers aren’t fully informed of how these devices compare to already available Android and Windows tablets. [More]
Apple Makes Good On Pledge To Appeal E-Book Price-Fixing Ruling
October 4, 2013
Nearly three months after a federal court ruled that Apple had indeed conspired with the nation’s largest book publishers to anticompetively fix prices in the e-book market, the company has filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, possibly alleging that the court excluded important testimony that would have helped Apple’s defense. [via CNET] [More]
This Woman Says She’s The Voice Behind The iPhone’s Siri
By 10.4.13
If you ask Siri, “Siri, where did you get your voice?” she’s probably not going to tell you. In fact, Apple won’t say who, if anyone, is the voice behind the iPhone’s digital assistant. But one voiceover actress says she laid down vocals for a client eight years ago and says those recordings turned into Siri. Making her, in effect, Siri. But without all the handy knowledge. [More]
