apple news, reviews & info

Kid faces legal threat for selling white iPhone 4 conversion kits

Feil Lam photo

It looks like Apple, despite huge demand, won’t ever release a white iPhone 4. One person who’s benefitted from this is Feil Lam, a 17-year old geek from Queens who started whiteiphonefournow.com, a website that sells kits to let people convert their black iPhone 4 to white. The business was quickly noticed by major media such as CNN, TechCrunch and CNET, which made sales soar to $130,000 USD. According to Lam, he has a friend who knows someone working for the infamous Foxconn (the factory where iPhones are produced), that made this all possible. Yesterday, Lam allegedly received an email from a private investigator accusing him of selling stolen goods. He says that he has no plans to change or shut down his business, and why would he? He just earned immeasurable amounts of free PR from all over the internet.

Source: The Observer


SkyFire Cashes in a Blazing $1,000,000 in two days

The demand was sky high as Flash-enabled browser SkyFire rolled out in Apple’s AppStore this past weekend. The counter hit 300,000 downloads when the servers over at SkyFire came crashing down, forcing the withdrawal of this high-awaited app.

For now, the app becomes available in batches; U.S. customers only, as more bandwidth becomes available. For $2.99 a piece this app has made at least $1 million from iOS users as of yet, the only platform on which SkyFire is not free.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with SkyFire, it’s a browser based on WebKit (same as Safari, Google Chrome, etc.) that analyses web pages as you visit them. Flash video is converted on the fly by servers at SkyFire Labs Inc. which means that Flash playback isn’t actually on the device itself. Apple has refrained from implementing Flash support on their mobile devices in response to Adobe’s reluctance to optimize Flash for iOS devices.

Source: MobileCrunch


See the BlackBerry PlayBook whopping some iPad ass

Following the success of iPad, the tablet space is really heating up. Lenovo is preparing the lePad, while other rivals are creating improved netbooks. Today, RIM (creators of the popular BlackBerry phones) released this video of the BlackBerry PlayBook in a head-to-head browser battle versus the Apple iPad. The test includes browsing speed, flash rendering, standards compliance and javascript rendering. Sign me up for a PlayBook!

Source: CrunchGear


Apple’s iTunes announcement a big letdown

Beatles now on iTunesHey Apple. Beatles was hot, 1964. The year is currently 2010, and Beatles is becoming less and less important to us consumers. Teasing us like you did yesterday, and then announcing the addition of Beatles to your library is just wrong. This isn’t exciting news, and those who really like the Beatles have already added them to their iTunes libraries through other means. By over promising and under delivering, you have helped undermine your credibility. Please show more concern to us, your fans, in the future.


What is Apple unveiling tomorrow?

Oh, you’ve got to hand it to Apple. Who knows how to keep their fans on their toes better than they do? If you head over to their US homepage, you’ll be greeted with this special splash page telling you that tomorrow is just another day that you’ll never forget and that they’re announcing something exciting for iTunes tomorrow. So what revolutionary new technology are they announcing tomorrow? That’s anyone’s guess, but we’re hoping they’d finally do something with their acquisition of Lala.com.

Apple Homepage


Apple iPhone design patent may be illegal in China

Apple is known for going to great lengths to protect their intellectual property, but in this case karma might have come back to bite them in the butt. A Shanghai company, Luoen Network Information, has taken the Chinese Patent Bureau along with Apple to court after it found problems with how the Patent Bureau handled Apple’s design patent for the iPhone. When Apple failed to specify what product the patent covered, the Chinese Patent Bureau acted on their behalf and filed it under mobile phones. According to Chinese law, this is forbidden. Apple’s design patent seeks to cover the iPhone’s rectangular form factor with rounded edges, the vertical screen and the design featuring a round button under the screen. Luoen Network Information has also raised concerns over this patent being too broad, and means that it could hurt other companies.

Source: Meizu Me


E-Stary HY118 – MacBook Air clone complete with Apple logo

Although you don’t see it on their official product page, apparently you can pay extra to have an Apple logo on the E-Stary HY118. With its metallic surface and 11.6-inch form factor, this must be the best clone of an Apple product to date. Ghettotastic!

The HY118 is said to come with a Intel Atom N270 processor (N450 optional), 1GB of DDR3 RAM and a 160 GB non-SSD harddrive. As for graphics you’ll enjoy 1366×768 resolution on your choice of Intel GMA 950 or 3150. For connectivity you have 2 USB ports along with a ethernet port a wireless card. HY118 comes with a 2200 mAh battery and weighs around 3 pounds (1.35 kg). Apparently, it’s already available in a Shenzhen near you at $260 USD (or 1750 Chinese RMB).

So all you people thinking you’ve found yourself a deal for a MacBook Air online, be careful. As cliché as it may sound; if a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Via shanzhaiben, more pictures after the break!


Buttons for iOS games? Hello Tactile+Plus stickers!

At a glance, this might look like the crappy stickers people put on their phones, but this product might actually come in pretty handy for the iOS gamers among us. The concept is very simple, the transparent sticker provides bumps so you can feel where you should place your fingers to control the virtual buttons on your iOS device, which eliminates the constant need to look down on your device to check if you are touching the right places. Allegedly, the stickers are made of a conductive material, so your touches will go straight through to the screen.

Since Apple refuses to create or approve any decent gaming accessories for iOS, I guess we’re left to wacky workarounds like this. However, at only ¥630 ($7-8), they just may be worth trying out. That is, if you can make it to Akihibara Japan.


Apple quietly slashes prices for the Mac mini outside the US

Being the awesome ninjas that they are, Apple have now quietly cut prices on their Mac mini offerings in non-US markets by around € 100 EUR. This is a quite substancial price cut of over 10% and might have come as a result of the US dollar’s continued decline relative to other world currencies. Therefore, people living in the land of the free need not get their hopes up.


iPad now for sale at Verizon and AT&T

Major news for Apple fans! Today, the WiFi-equipped iPad makes its way to Verizon, may this be the start of a new friendship? That remains to be seen. Verizon’s offer MiFi 2200 mobile hotspot bundles with a choice of 16GB ($629), 32GB ($729), or 64GB ($820) iPads and 1GB ($20), 3GB ($35), or 5GB ($50) of data per month without any contract commitments.

AT&T will also begin selling the WiFi and 3G version of the iPad today! In 16GB ($629), 32GB ($729), and 64GB ($829) with contract-free data plans for 250MB of data ($14.99) or 2GB of data ($25) per month. As an added benefit, you’ll get free access to AT&T’s 23,000+ domestic WiFi hotspots. AT&T’s also offering international plans starting from 20MB for $24.99 per month all the way up to 200MB for a whopping $199.99 per month.

Source: AT&T, Verizon


Page 18 of 18« First...101415161718