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Users Spent $1.1 Billion on App Store During the Holidays

January 6, 2016 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

users paid $20 billion on apps in 2015

According to an Apple report, users spent $1.1 billion on App Store during the holiday’s season. This is the total sum spent during a period of two weeks ending Jan. 3.

Of all the days, users spent the most during the New Year’s Day when they purchased apps costing a total of $144 million in just 24 hours. The second single-day record was set only a week before, on Christmas Day.

According to Apple’s senior V.P. Philip Schiller who leads the App Store, users spent over $20 billion on apps during 2015, a figure that is more than double compared to 2013. Schiller said he is grateful to all the amazing developers who have created the exciting and innovative apps for the customers.

Since 2008 App Store has brought developers almost $40 billion of which more than one third has been generated during the last year.

App Store’s success has created almost 2 million jobs just in the United States. About three quarters of them (more than 1.4 million jobs) are app creators, entrepreneurs and software engineers creating apps and also non-IT jobs created and sustained by the app economy.

Besides the United States, Apple’s app economy has created about 1.4 million jobs in China and about 1.2 million jobs throughout Europe.

The most popular categories of apps in 2015 were Gaming, Entertainment and Networking. Of the gaming category the most popular games were Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Heads Up!, Monster Strike, Clash of Clans and Trivia Crack. The most famous social network apps were Facebook Messenfer, Snapchat and WeChat.

This year has been full of innovations for Apple, who has also launched Apple Watch and Apple TV which offered users completely new experiences and changed the way people were used to consume TV content. Apple TV has been launched in October and since then the most popular of its apps are HBO Now, Beat Sports and Rayman Adventures.

When it comes to the Apple watch, users preferred fitness apps such as Lifesum and Nike + Running but the travel category worked just fine with popular apps like Citymapper and iTranslate.

Schiller is excited about last year’s sales and looks forward into the future hoping that this year is going to be at least as better as the one that just passed. Apple products, from iPhone, iPad and Mac to Apple TV and Apple Watch will probably continue to lead the market.

Image source: pixabay

Users Can Now Stream iOS Photos On TV With AllCast

January 14, 2015 By Lori David Leave a Comment

Tired of struggling use the zoon to show the details of your holiday iPhone selfies to friends and family? Or maybe you made a really cool video with your phone and want to see it in a good resolution? Now you can boast your photos on a HD flat screen.Users can now stream iOS photos on TV with AllCast. iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users can, as of now, shaft photographs, features, and music from their gadget to a TV screen. Presently attuned to the Google Chromecast, AllCast streams to Roku boxes, Apple TV, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Google TV, and also Samsung, Panasonic, and Smart TV equipment, among others.

Designer Koushik Dutta initially manufactured AllCast (a while ago dubbed AircCast) to ease the sharing of local files stocked on a cell phone. As opposed to swarming around an iPhone to zoom in or out holiday photographs, clients can run a slideshow from their HD, extra-large flat display TV.

The developer initially released the service in autumn 2013. At that time Google’s Chromecast banned it and even the December 2013 Android application dispatch came without access to the program.

However, beginning with last year, Chromecast decided to back up AllCast, allowing users to access the content of their computers and smartphones and share it with friends and family far and wide via AllCast.

In May, Dutta discharged an upgraded rendition of AllCast, guaranteeing better synchronizing with other streaming media gadgets. For instance, the AllCast Superuser mode enables users stream Google Music to any AllCast gadgets from the Play Music application, according a statement released by the designers last summer. Additionally, he launched an AllCast Receiver aid app, which transforms any Android gadget into an AllCast mark. iOS clients have been holding up for the streaming app to hit Apple’s mobiles for over a year.

The move to iOS was made with little pomp; Engadget initially mentioned the release Tuesday morning, saying that even without any involvement with its Android correspondent, the platform is incredibly easy to use. Users can move photographs and features from Dropbox, iCloud and Instagram stored on smartphones to a plasma TV.

Allcast offers an easy way to send photographs, features, and music to the wide screen through Chromecast and different gadgets, for example, Xbox, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and certain smart TVs. Users can simply open the application, press the Cast symbol to join with the TV, and then select what they want to display.

Image Source: Android Central

iPad Air 2’s Smaller Battery Still Packs in the Power

October 23, 2014 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Apple may have surprised us with several innovations this year, the latest of which being their iPad Air2. The tech giant says that its new tablet still gets the same 10-hour usage time as last year’s iPad Air, despite the 15 percent smaller battery incorporated in the device.

Granted, we could have seen that one coming since the iPad Air 2 is 18 percent thinner than its predecessor, too. What isn’t yet clear is how Apple ensures the same battery life when providing less juice to do it with.

According to Apple statements, a new innovation, the A8X chip, combined with software improvements allow the iPad to make up for the difference in battery size.

“Usually, increased performance comes at the expense of battery life. Notice we said ‘usually,'”

the tech giant said in one of its marketing materials.

Apple’s iPad is considered the No.1 tablet in all battery life tests, and for the most part, Apple has continued to make great leaps every year to ensure that no one else gets their hands on the coveted No.1. spot. Since being released, the iPad has been lauded not just for hardware design but also for it’s longevity.

Several reviews, including that of Scott Stein, confirmed Apple’s claims, saying that the battery holds up to marketing statements.

“The iPad Air 2 is a nice refinement and finesse of last year’s model, with a bevy of tweaks, enhancements, a much faster processor, and the welcome addition of Touch ID. Simply put: it’s still the gold standard for tablets.[…] battery life remains the same, although its battery life is already pretty good.”

he said in a recent review.

However, despite Apple’s claims, there are some who aren’t convinced. Walt Mossberg, for instance, from Recode, found that the original iPad Air did much better in the department:

“In fact, in one key metric, battery life, the Air 2 actually regressed from the original Air. In my tough battery test, it lasted 10 hours and 37 minutes, exceeding Apple’s 10-hour claim. That’s quite good, better than most other tablets. But in 2013, the original iPad Air turned in the best tablet battery life I’ve ever seen on my test: 12 hours and 13 minutes — about 90 minutes longer.”

The tech giant did not immediately respond to requests asking for comments or future information on whether the smaller battery incorporated in its new iPad Air2 could result in a drop in battery life when compared to its predecessor.

Apple Unveils New iPad Mini 3, 27-Inch iMac With 5K Display and Apple Pay

October 17, 2014 By David Crozier Leave a Comment

Welcome to the second part of our October 16 Apple Media Event! In the first article we took a look at iPad Air 2, Mac Mini and OS X Yosemite. In this article, we’re going to check out the new iPad Mini 3, the iMac with 5k display and Apple Pay.

iPad Mini 3

The iPad Mini 3 was a wonderful surprise. There were many rumors that its launch would be delayed until the beginning of next year and we’re happy to see that those rumors weren’t right. The iPad Mini 3 has a A7 chip, FaceTime HD Cameras and a 5-MP iSight Camera. The iPad Mini 3 got its own fingerprint reader, Apple’s Touch ID, which will be of great help once Apple Pay gets launched. The iPad Mini 3 Wi-Fi will cost from $399 (16GB) to $599 (128GB). You can order the new iPad Mini 3 starting today in three colors: silver, space gray and gold.

27-Inch iMac With 5K Display

Another great surprise during the Apple Media Event yesterday was the introduction of a new iMac: the 27-Inch iMAc with 5k display. This device has 14.7 million pixles and a resolution of of 5,120 x 2,880, something that hasn’t been done before. Apple has managed, with this product, to pleasantly surprise the world, like it used to do back when Steve Jobs was still alive. The iMac with 5k display is a tool that closes in on perfection and if you’re willing to pay at least $2,499 for it, we’re sure you’ll enjoy it for a long time.

Apple Pay

Apple has also announced that it was introducing the eagerly-awaited Apple Pay in October 20. Apple Pay is a mobile payment service that is going to allow iPhone users to pay with just their smartphones. You simply add your credit and debit cards and scan your display when you need to pay for something.

What are your thoughts on the new iPad Mini 3? Drop us a line in the comment section below and tell us about it.

Apple Reveals New iPad Air 2, Mac Mini and OS X Yosemite

October 17, 2014 By Daniel Giordano Leave a Comment

Earlier this week we talked about Apple Pay and now we’re happy to announce that Apple has finally given us a date, October 20. Apple held its Media Event yesterday and they revealed three new awesome devices, including the new iPad Air 2. Today we’re going to take a look at two of them, plus a software update.

iPad Air 2

The iPad 2 was the star of the Apple Media event and for good reason. The new Apple tablet is only 6.1mm thick and weighs 0.96 pounds. Apple says it’s 18% thinner than the previous iPad Air, which is pretty impressive. The Retina display is also better than it is on the previous model, which an added antireflective coating; Apple says that it’s the least reflective display every put on a tablet. The 9.7 inch display has a resolution of 2048×1536, with 3.1 million pixels and 265 pixels per inch.

The iPad Air 2 comes with an A8X chip that is 40% faster than the one on the previous iPad Air model. The battery will last you for up to 10 hours and its graphics are 2.5 times faster than its predecessor’s graphics. Better wireless also comes with the new iPad Air 2, as well as the eagerly awaited Touch ID fingerprint sensor. Apple also added another color: gold, for those who like the bling.

Mac Mini

Mac Mini is Apple’s first try into what the industry calls thin clients. It’s a small and compact desktop computer, that’s smart and quite cheap. It starts from $499 and you can customize it to suit your own needs. The Mac Mini has a 7.7-inch square frame and comes with no display, keyboard or mouse. It comes with the new OS X Yosemite, so you’re getting the best Apple has to offer, in a small device. Choose from a dual-core Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, up to 3.0GHz speed, up to 16GB of RAM, 1TB of internal memory and as many ports as your heart desires.

OS X Yosemite

Apple’s latest OS X Yosemite operating system is going to be free to all Mac users starting today, October 17. All Macs since 2009 are supported and also some morels that were introduced in 2008 and 2007.

Be sure to check out our second article about the October 16 Apple Media Event! In it we’re going to check out the new iPad Mini 3, the iMac with 5k display and Apple Pay.

Are you looking forward to getting your hand on either of these devices? Drop us a line in the comment section below and tell us about it!

Apple is Thought to Delay the Launch of Their Next-Gen iPad Mini

September 23, 2014 By Mary Duncan Leave a Comment

Amazon has just launched a new Kindle Fire edition for kids, which means they’re not that scared about the tablet drop in sales that many are talking about these days. Apple seems to take notice, though. It was just revealed by a report published in Commercial Times (a Taiwanese publication), that Apple will not be launching their next-gen iPad Mini this year, as it was expected.

Could it be that Apple is afraid of the drop in tablet sales and this is why it’s trying to delay the launch of their next-gen iPad Mini, the iPad Mini 3? Analysts believe this isn’t the case. Apple is believed to launch their new iPad Air 3 during an even that will take place in October of this year. They’ve always launched their main tablet in October and for the last two years they’ve launched the iPad Mini tablet along with their main tablet.

This year they won’t launch their next-gen iPad Mini along with their iPad Air 3 because many rumors are hinting at the fact that Apple has something much bigger (literally) up their sleeve. There have been rumors about a new iPad Pro, a 12.9 inch tablet computer that is thought to hit the market earlier in 2015.

The next-gen iPad Mini is believed to be introduced at the same time as the iPad Pro. The name iPad Pro or even the existence of such a tablet has not yet been confirmed by Apple and we don’t believe they’ll do any confirming until they present the device to the world. But history has taught us that Apple’s not so good at keeping secrets and the latest rumors have been accurate when predicting Apple devices.

What are your thoughts on the next-gen iPad Mini? Are you excited about a new, larger iPad? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Apple iPad Sales Will Contract All-along 2014 – New Report

September 1, 2014 By Micheal Baptiste Leave a Comment

We were warned a while ago that tablets’ golden age is in the past. Apple iPad sales are going down. Generally, tablet sales are dropping really fast because of a simple couple of reasons. Most importantly, tablets have not received drastically improved hardware or software. Surely, some of the newer models received higher quality displays, and better cameras, but most tablets retained similar specs compared to units released one or two years ago.

Secondly, smartphones are getting larger and larger. If just one year or two years ago 5 inches displays seemed a bit too large, now we are getting used to witnessing and owning smartphones with even larger displays. A couple of flagship smartphones sport 5.5 inches displays, the most common example being the LG G 3.

So owning a 7 or 8 inches tablet is starting to seem more and more redundant. Instead of owning two rather similar devices, users prefer to upgrade to the latest flagship smartphones.

Now, according to IDC, ComputerWorld reports, the global tablets shipment will barely have a 6.5 percent increase. IDC claimed just a couple of months ago that tablet shipments will have a double digit increase, as the company was extremely optimist. Right now, the only forecasted growth comes from emerging markets, as the North American and European markets are stagnating at best. With 12 percent increase, the emerging markets counteract the two most powerful market regions’ slowdown. However, even 12 percent increase is significantly less than the 19.4 percent increase prediction for this year by IDC.

Apple iPad sales may get a boost when a 12.9 inches model will be released

The next-generation iPad allegedly hit production in July, but so far Apple is among the most affected tablet producer. The iPad sales are contracted again for the second quarter of 2014. The revised tablet sale predictions for the whole 2014 picture the iPad witnessing a yearlong sale recessions, ComputerWorld claims.

Up to 25 percent of the tablets sold so far in 2014 are equipped with cellular reception modules supporting voice calls. So far there are no signs that the iPad will present this characteristic. However, Tim Cook is a defender of the tablet as a concept, but the Apple iPad sales will have to back him up. The latest rumors about a 12.9 inches iPad may be a winning bet for the successor of Steve Jobs. If his ideas on the tablet sector prove to be less successful than anticipated, there are chances to see Cook stepping down from his position at Apple.

Rumor Is iPad Gets Bigger: 12.9 Inches Display

August 26, 2014 By Brandi McCants Leave a Comment

Apple is preparing a new tablet to be released in 2015. The iPad gets bigger than any tablet produced by Apple so far. The news comes not so as a surprise, but rather as a challenge. Tablets have seen a dramatic decrease in sales numbers in the last two quarters and the iPad was not an exception. Customers who were interested in tablets already bought them. As no other major upgraded models were introduced, there was no incentive to buy a new one.

Microsoft aimed to maintain its profile as a company oriented toward productivity when it released Surface. Tablets are associated with leisure activities more than anything else. Sure, when there are important emails to read and answer immediately, tablets are fine. But laptops and desktops are still the main input device for businesses. So anything more complex than an email will probably be postponed until a physical keyboard is under the fingers. Moreover, the mouse cursor is still much more precise than a finger. How about working in Excel on a tablet?

But Microsoft was stubborn enough to continue promoting Surface even when tablets were all fun and games and in smaller sizes. The company even released i3 and i7 versions of Surface Pro 3 in August.

The iPad gets bigger as Apple plans to target businesses

In the meantime, Apple did not promote the iPad as a business device. Soon this will change and Apple will attempt to follow Microsoft’s model. Apple recently even partnered up with IBM in an effort to penetrate the business environment.

Right now Apple produces 7.9 and 9.7 inches tablets. Bloomberg reports that according to ‘some people’ who asked to remain anonymous as the information is not public yet, Apple will soon start producing a 12.9 inches tablet.

The first time rumors of a larger iPad occurred was in May, when a Korean website launched the information. That is when MacRumors decided to more precisely observe the difference between the three tablets would be and asked an artist for the rendering you can see.

Until the iPad gets bigger, the existing under 10 inches iPad models will be released in updated versions just in time for holidays.

Equally important, according to the same sources, Bloomberg confirms that Apple will unveil two new iPhones on September 9, both the 4.7 and the 5.5 inches models.

New Apple iPad Entered Production

August 11, 2014 By David Leave a Comment

Apple has a full schedule this fall but it just got fuller as the new Apple iPad entered production.

We are all awaiting for the iPhone 6 to be released in just a couple of weeks from now, on September 9. Maybe more rumors surrounded this model than the previous models combined. The Android smartphone market progressed dramatically since last year. All the major producers released their next generation flagships and the displays got bigger and bigger. But the iPhone 5s, the present day model, sports just a 4 inches display. iPhone 6 will come in two models, a first for Apple. The 4.7 inches model will be accompanied by a 5.5 inches one later in the fall, if we are to believe the rumors. The iPhone 6 production started in July.

So much debate covered the next iPhone that the iPad remained aside for a while. The only notable news referring to the iPad referred to a drop in tablet sales, which is a general trend.

However, Bloomberg declares that sources informed them on the new iPad model. As the information is not public yet, the sources chose to remain anonymous. They told Bloomberg that the new iPad already entered production. The new model will be unveiled by Apple in the last part of this quarter or soon after. A mini iPad will enter production soon as well. The little brother will have the same display dimension, 7.9 inches.

New Apple iPad entered production, encountered problems with new anti-reflection coating

Apple teamed up with IBM recently. The main reason and benefit for Apple will be a subsequent penetration of the business market with its products. Apple bet on something else so far, but is willing to adapt its strategy to increase sales.

Bloomberg states that there are problems in the iPad production. The larger iPad might suffer a launch delay, because of display issues related to a new technology. Apple plans to add a new anti-reflection coating which will make the information displayed on the iPad easier to read.

The new Apple iPad entered production, but there is another device to be launched this fall too. According to a patent application, we could end up calling the new device iTime, but iWatch is a potential alternative. Apple gathered a super team around the new device and this fall might be Apple’s once again. Ultra performant Android devices flooded the market in the last year, so Apple faces stronger competition than ever.

Apple Rumor Roundup – What We Know About the iPhone 6 and Other iDevices

March 27, 2014 By Nicholas Anderton 1 Comment

We already know that Apple is getting ready for the assembly of the new iPhone, and this means that the iPhone 6 is out there somewhere, complete and ready to have photos taken of it and leaked to the public. Until that happens, we’re going to make an Apple rumor roundup and see what we know so far about the iDevices that Apple will most likely launch in the summer or early autumn.

Apple rumor roundup

iPad

The Apple rumor roundup concerning the new iPad reveals that we’ll have a bigger tablet from Apple, called the iPad Pro. The 13-inch iPad is believed to have been put on hold, but with Apple you never know until the day of the launch. We’d like to say that we would absolutely love a 13-inch iPad!

iPhone

What we already know about the new iPhone 6 is that, most likely, it is going to have sapphire glass display, the same glass that it now has on the home button of its 5s model. The latest Apple rumor roundup has revealed that the company is getting ready to release not only one iPhone, but two, just like it did last year, one with a 4.5-inch display and one with a larger than 5 inches display. Could this be Apple’s way of holding its own against the huge Samsung Galaxy S5 and other Android smartphone with large screens? We’ll just have to wait and see.

MacBook Air

The latest apple rumor roundup is hinting at the fact that MacBook Air will be finally getting a Retina display, which is the best news we can think of! If this is true, then the device will be the first 12-inch MacBook to offer the high-resolution screen.

Another interesting rumor is that Apple might be adding some new trackpad technology on its MacBooks that would replace the clicking trackpad button. This would mean that the new MacBooks would get even thinner!

Do all these rumors get you excited? We have to admit we’re pretty stoked about the new iPhone 6 and MacBook Air! Before you get too excited, remember that these rumors are just that, rumors that have not and most likely will not be confirmed.