iphone

"Do you have that phone," one of my boys asked me earlier this year, after a Windows Phone ad came on TV. "Yeah, and could we try it?" said the other.

Thus was born the experiment we've run over the past month. Could Windows Phone entice one or both of my kids away from the iPhone?

My boys, 14-year-old Declan and 12-year-old Rhys, were fascinated by the ad showing the distinctive "tile" home screen of Windows Phone, with application tiles being moved around and resized. It looked different, cool, and unique from the … Read more

Apple's built-in browser, Safari, is not very friendly to outside plug-ins or services. For them to work, often a proxy or invasive app is needed that can access your data. It's not an ideal solution. So, AdBlock for iPhone, iPad, and iTouch, produced as a hobby by developer Benjamin Loewe, is a fantastic solution. Designed and implemented as a standalone Web browser, AdBlock promises to stop pop-ups, layer ads, blinking banner ads, and subscription traps from appearing on screen -- an increasingly common problem in the age of smartphone Web browsing. The browser starts up immediately, much like … Read more

Are you a Mac user who wants to pull a photo off your iPhone, iPad, or Android device quickly, without having to go through iPhoto? There's an easy way to do that, built into your Mac: the Preview app.

For ages, I was frustrated that the Mac wouldn't let me browse my iPhone or Android phone to drag-and-drop pictures I wanted, in the way that I could when plugging them into my Windows PC.

If only I could browse like on the PC

On the PC, my phones appear like a drive within Windows Explorer, which is wonderful:… Read more

iPhone 5S production has already kicked off, a Japanese-language Apple blog reported today.

Foxconn has begun "partial production" of the iPhone 5S, a "reliable source" has told Macotakara. Both MacRumors and AppleInsider cited the report earlier today.

The 5S is being built on the same production line as the iPhone 5, according to Macotakara.

The Japanese blog goes on to claim that NTT Docomo is cutting back on orders for Android devices to make way for introduction of the iPhone. NTT Docomo does not currently carry the iPhone.

Rumors have been swirling in the last 24 … Read more

Fresh data from KGI Securities reiterates that the iPhone 5S and a lower end model should begin to rollout by July.

Following a research note in January, KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo says the iPhone 5S along with a low-cost iPhone 5 will be announced in June and be available by July, according to reports at Mac Rumors and Apple Insider.

Kuo, often cited as one of the more prescient and accurate Apple analysts, believes the 5S will pack a new A7 chip. Apple has gotten quite adept at designing some of the fastest phone and tablet processors on the planet, … Read more

The tower defense genre is very popular. The concept is simple: place defensive structures strategically on a map, use your gold wisely, and kill all of the enemies before they can reach your base, castle, home, or whatever else you are trying to protect. TapDefense for iPhone takes this formula and marries it with a throwback graphical style from the 1990s, numerous maps and objectives, and a slew of different types of enemies to create an engaging but often frustrating entry in the genre.

TapDefense is very similar to other tower defense games. You start with a certain number of … Read more

No matter how powerful smartphones and tablets become, most people have a desktop computer at home on which they perform the vast majority of their work. Word processing, number crunching, and file editing are all easier and faster with a large screen, a keyboard, and a mouse. But that cumbersome desktop can't go on the road with you, so apps like JumiMouse for iPhone are powerful tools, allowing you to instantly access your desktop remotely. Designed for a smaller screen, JumiMouse is intuitive and easy to use, only slowed by the slightly confusing installation process. Once you have installed … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--Smartphone accessory maker Mophie may have launched the Juice Pack Helium two weeks back, but the successor to its iPhone 4 and 4S Juice Pack Air case has just been revealed at Pepcom's MobileFocus Global event here at Mobile World Congress.

While the Juice Pack Air looks similar to the Helium, we're told that the Air is slightly heavier (helium floats because its lighter than air). Not that we could tell, both cases felt pretty light in our hands. The Air sports a 1,700mAh battery, and the Helium has a charge of just 1,500mAh. Both … Read more

BARCELONA, Spain--We stopped by Powermat's booth at Pepcom's MobileFocus Global show (which happens just before the first day of Mobile World Congress) and found that the company was showing off a new prototype of a wireless charging case for Apple's iPhone 5.

Like the Powermat Receiver Case designed for the iPhone 4 and 4S, the iPhone 5 version will let you put your smartphone on a wireless inductive charger from Powermat, but it isn't quite as thick as the older model.

It does, however, have a strange design, with two gaping holes at the bottom of … Read more