We mentioned last week that the Los Angeles Unified School District somehow thought it could hand out hobbled iPads to thousands of students without any of these kids figuring out a way to use the device as something other than a really expensive, incredibly fragile textbook. But now that it’s realizing that the temptation to use iPads the way they are intended (and marketed) can be too great for some students, the school district is taking them back. [More]
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L.A. Schools Now Taking Back iPads From Students Who Dare To Use Them For Purposes Of Fun
By 10.2.13
Is iOS 7 Giving Some iPhone & iPad Users Motion Sickness?
By 9.30.13
Of all the design tweaks and updates to the latest iPhone and iPad operating system, did Apple forget to mention “free motion sickness”? Some users claim the update has left them feeling nauseated, and some experts believe there might be something to it. [More]
Martha Stewart Is Still Waiting For Someone To Come Pick Up Her Broken iPad, Fix It
By 9.27.13
Martha Stewart has an iPad, a gift from Steve Jobs, and it is broken. Shattered, after she dropped it on the ground. But no one has come to pick it up, prompting her to tweet about it and wonder where in the world the Apple rep is that is supposed to rescue the broken device. Twitter loves this. [More]
L.A. School District Shocked That Kids Would Figure Out How To Use iPads For Purposes Of Fun
By 9.25.13
If you hand out iPads to a bunch of adult employees and tell them the devices can only be used for work purposes, some of them will abide by those guidelines. Do the same thing with a school full of kids and most of them will be Tweeting and on Facebook in a matter of seconds. And yet the nation’s second-largest school district is shocked that several hundred students have taken advantage of a simple work-around that turns a boring school tablet into a fun tablet computer. [More]
Apple Treads Lightly, Offers Compromise In ‘Breaking Bad’ Season Split Controversy
By 9.24.13
As we explained not long ago, it’s not at all Apple’s fault that the fifth season of “Breaking Bad” aired in two separate blocks of eight episodes each. Apple didn’t decide to charge fans for the second half of the fifth season as if it were a separate season. Yet Apple gets blamed because it’s their name on our credit card statements. [More]
Did These Hackers Just Win $20K, Booze & A Dirty Book By Beating Apple’s Touch ID?
By 9.23.13
Someone — or, as it turns out, a number of someones — might be the proud new owner(s) of a couple books, a bottle of wine and another of bourbon and oh yeah, around $20,000 in cash after a hacker group claims to have beaten Apple’s new fingerprint scanner, Touch ID. This, just a few days after the iPhone 5S descended on the public. [More]
Cash & Booze Rewards Offered To First Person To Fool iPhone’s Fingerprint Scanner
By 9.20.13
As soon as Apple confirmed rumors that the new iPhone 5S would use a fingerprint-scanning technology to unlock the device, people began imagining different ways in which it could be hacked. Now that it’s finally going on sale, folks are offering rewards — from cash to booze — to the first person who can trick the fingerprint scanner into accepting a bogus print. [More]
Apple Promises To Fix iOS 7 Security Flaw That Renders Lock Screen Useless
By 9.20.13
Whenever there’s a new operating system released for a smartphone, users get all excited about a sleek new look or increased capabilities. But just like all other releases before it, the fresh iOS 7 for iPhones has its share of issues. Namely, a pretty easy hack that handily sidesteps the security of your lock screen and grants anyone acesss to your apps, including email and social media. [More]
How To Keep iOS 7 From Sucking Your iPhone’s Battery Dry
By 9.19.13
Whether you’re awaiting the arrival of a shiny technological baby in the form of an iPhone 5C or 5S, the new iOS 7 is here already and iPhone 4 or later users as well as iPad owners may be updating their phones with it. But what if you don’t want your constant companion to lose its battery life due to the upgrade? First of all, stop playing with your phone so dang much, if that’s possible. [More]
Thieves Just Love Plucking Our Apple Products
By 9.16.13
For the last few weeks, every media outlet has been yapping about the proposed (then confirmed) new fingerprint-reading feature of the iPhone 5S. While it’s technologically interesting, the sensor could have an important impact on consumers’ lives and even on the crime rate in major cities. That’s because it could make snatching Apple products from consumers a lot less lucrative. [More]
Best Buy Will Trade You A Free iPhone 5 For Your Old Smartphone
By 9.13.13
Yet another retailer really wants your old phone and is willing to give you something pretty decent in exchange for it. Through Sept. 16, Best Buy is offering a minimum $100 trade-in credit to customers who trade in their old phones and switch to an iPhone 5. [More]
Walmart Will Again Sell New iPhones Cheaper Than Apple’s Retail Price
By 9.12.13
Walmart knows you’re positively panting with anticipation at getting your greedy little paws on Apple’s newest dingledongles, the iPhone 5s and its purty plastic counterpart, the iPhone 5c. And in order to make sure customers come a’swarming through its doors on the big day, the retailer is offering a discount on both phones. [More]
Apple Charging 33% More In China For “Cheap” iPhone 5C
By 9.11.13
While some Apple enthusiasts might have been put off by the colorful plastic shells of the new iPhone 5C, it’s hard to complain about the $99 price point. Even the full, unsubsidized price of $549 is lower than what you’d pay for many new, comparable smartphones. But customers in mainland China are scratching their heads and wondering why they are being charged $733 for what is supposed to be a bargain phone. [More]
The World Is Allowed To Continue Turning Now That Apple Has Unveiled New iPhones
By 9.10.13 — Updated: 9.11.13
For months, crowds have been huddled outside Apple HQ in Cupertino, CA, residing in makeshift tent cities, living off the land and what food they can barter with townsfolk, all while waiting for the good lord of the manor, Tim Cook, to exit his chambers and announce unto the world the details of a new iPhone. Well, it’s finally happened and… it’s a phone (well, two phones), just like you’d expected. [More]
Breaking Bad Fan Sues Apple Over Split 5th Season
By 9.9.13
Our readers, largely people with excellent taste in TV, complained when they realized that buying a “season pass” to download the fifth season of the TV show “Breaking Bad” only entitles them to download the first half of the fifth season. One viewer has taken this a step further, suing Apple. [More]
Report: The iWatch Is Coming, The iWatch Is Coming… In 2014
By 8.28.13
We’ve had an eye on the iWatch lately, especially in light of other whispered gossip about Apple’s competitors also coming out with smart timepieces (anyone remember the Pebble?), and now it’s happening. Or at least it’s probably happening, if analysts whose very job it is to watch out for news of this kind are to be believed. [More]
Siri Is Apparently Working Through Her Issues With Google Glass
By 8.26.13
So there’s Siri, holding court in the cafeteria and straight up lovin’ it: Everyone’s asking her questions, and how to do stuff and being like, “But what do you think about this, Siri?” Suddenly everyone is buzzing about the new kid, this Google Glass guy who says he knows a thing or two about this and that. And Siri, apparently, is not taking to sharing the virtual assistant throne well. Or rather she’s taking it with just a grain of sass. Glass sass. [More]
iPhone Feature Would Tell Friends Not To Bother Calling Because You’re Very Busy & Important
By 8.23.13
Have you ever had that awful feeling where your phone rings and you see it’s that one friend you haven’t talked to in a while, and although you do have a few minutes to chat it’s just not the time to get into a long, extended, “How’s your baaaaby?” discussion, you still feel awfully guilty hitting “Ignore”? Apple is looking to alleviate some of that guilt with a patent for an iPhone feature that would dissuade friends from calling you when you’re otherwise engaged. [More]
