Apple Rejects ‘Breaking’ App Due to One Small Mention of Android in a Screenshot [iOS Blog]
News alert app Breaking [Direct Link], which feeds topical news stories via a widget into the Today portion of the Notification Center, has faced a bit of blowback from Apple due to the mention of the term “Android” within a screenshot on the app’s store page (via iPhoneHacks).
The app was denied its newest update, version 1.3, due to the Android mishap, which is only mentioned within the screenshots for the app and not anywhere in its actual description. As a few fellow app developers voiced on Twitter, the screenshot in question doesn’t overtly promote the rival’s brand, either. 
Wow Breaking 1.3 rejected by Apple because one of the screenshots has a news item with the word ‘Android’ in it 😮 pic.twitter.com/8gnc9S5UPa
— Michael Flarup (@flarup) May 20, 2015
A few similar stories have emerged so far this year, including a copyright issue Apple had with GIF curating app GIF Finder and creator Matt Cheetham’s heavy usage of copyrighted characters, despite his adherence to the individual terms of service for both Tumblr and Imgur. Prior to the Apple Watch launch, the Cupertino company also rejected boating app SeaNav US for citing Pebble support in its App Store description.
While the future of both apps was initially foreboding, both GIF Finder and SeaNav US returned to the App Store, with developer Cheetham documenting in detail his experience with facing Apple’s app review board. Today’s rejection of Breaking lies in a similar rejection field compared with SeaNav US, both appearing to violate App Store review guideline 3.1, which prohibits the mentioning of competing platforms.
Most developers haven’t faced such strict stonewalling on the issue before, which made SeaNav US‘ rejection – due to the use of “Pebble” – a day before the Apple Watch launch particularly interesting. Today’s rejection of Breaking appears to be a bit of a fluke, but no doubt Apple will allow the app’s 1.3 update once the particular screenshot in question is removed.
SwiftKey Keyboard for iOS Gains New Theme Store [iOS Blog]
SwiftKey is one of the more popular third-party keyboard choices on iOS, due to its autocorrect and word prediction capabilities that are able to adapt to an individual’s usage style over time. Since its debut last September, SwiftKey has been updated several times with features like predictive emoji and typing stats, and as of today, it’s getting another major update that will allow for deeper customization: a theme store.
The new SwiftKey theme store allows users to purchase new themes to personalize the look of their keyboards with unique color schemes. There are 12 new themes available for purchase, available in a range of different colors and styles.
Organized into categories, there are five new Nickel themes, six Minimal themes, and one animated theme — Shooting Stars. Colors range from black and white to pink, blue, and orange. In combination with the three free existing themes SwiftKey offers, there are now a total of 15 themes available. Themes range from $0.99 for basic themes to $1.99 for the animated Shooting Stars theme.
Shooting Stars, which features a beautiful night sky, changes as you move your phone, giving the theme a more realistic and dimensional look and feel by making use of parallax. Parallax is just a fancy word for when an object, or objects, seem to be in a different positions depending on where you’re viewing them from.
For $1.99, you can give your keyboard a twinkling background with stars that are dynamically generated each time the keyboard loads. If you look closely you may even see some shooting stars fly across the keyboard…
Today’s update also includes performance and stability improvements, along with a fix that cuts down on instances when SwiftKey is unintentionally replaced by the default iOS keyboard. SwiftKey recommends that existing users should restart their iPhones or iPads after installing the update to see the performance improvements.
SwiftKey can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Apple Watch Demand Flattening as 42mm Models Estimated to Represent Over 80% of Orders
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo issued a note to investors today that claims Apple Watch demand may be slowing down, resulting in shipment forecasts being revised down by 20% to 30% to 5-6 million units in the third quarter.
Kuo expects total Apple Watch shipments to fall within the 15 million range for the 2015 fiscal year, lower than the consensus of 20-30 million units, but remains upbeat about the Apple Watch and long-term wearable trends.
KGI Securities conducted a survey that reveals most Apple Watch orders are scheduled to ship in June, and concludes that 2Q15 production output is likely sufficient for the orders placed so far. Kuo also notes that over 80% of orders are for larger 42mm models, implying a male-dominated customer mix based on the assumption that 42mm and 38mm watches are mainly purchased by men and women respectively.
“We have learned that 42mm Apple Watch accounts for 60-70% of production. However, the shipping times of 38mm models are generally earlier than those of 42mm. We believe this is because demand for 38mm watches is significantly below that of 42mm ones. We estimate that 42mm models account for over 80% of sales. Assuming that 42mm and 38mm watches are mainly purchased by men and women respectively, the Apple Watch has attracted mostly men.”
Kuo concludes that the Apple Watch, like the original iPhone, has potential albeit several areas that could be improved. In particular, he says the Apple Watch has a lack of killer apps, not a very useful Digital Crown, insufficient battery life, room for form factor improvement, sometimes sluggish processing and response times and iPhone dependance for most settings and internet access.
Apple iPhone Lightning Dock Review: Simple Design With Broad Compatibility, but Some Stability Concerns [iOS Blog]
Apple’s history of iPhone docks is rather hit-or-miss, with the company’s recent designs generally tailored tightly to the profiles of the iPhones they were designed for, preventing the use of cases on the iPhones and making the docks incompatible with later iPhone designs.
That changes with the new iPhone Lightning Dock, introduced yesterday a full eight months after the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The new dock forgoes a form-fitting iPhone-shaped depression in favor of a simple Lightning connector embedded in a small, slightly pliable nub to cushion the device as it rests on the connector.
iPhone 6 Plus with Apple Leather Case on iPhone Lightning Dock
The design has some advantages: it offers a clean and simple look and it’ll fit any iOS device with a Lightning port, including many of those with cases. The lack of a recessed docking area also keeps the iPhone’s Touch ID home button easily accessible while the device is docked.
There are definitely some downsides, however, with the most obvious being stability. With the Lightning connector being the sole means of support for the iPhone, the device does tend to rock side to side if bumped. And while the Lightning connector is very firmly embedded in the base of the dock and does not feel in danger of being damaged, users may have concerns over potential damage to their iPhone’s Lightning port if the device should happen to be bumped strongly while mounted on the dock.
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New details surface on the Galaxy Note 5 and Project Zen
According to a report just out, Samsung has internally renamed the upscaled variant of the Galaxy S6 Edge from codename Project Zen to Project Zero 2. The handset will carry model number SM-G928 when it’s unveiled at IFA in September.
The report also sheds some light on the South Korean company’s upcoming flagship phablet of 2015, the Galaxy Note 5, which is being referred to in house as Project Noble. We now know that the device will pack a 2K or 4K Super AMOLED display and an updated octa-core Exynos chipset.
Samsung will release a Clear View and S View case for both the Galaxy Note 5 and Project Zero 2, as well as a brand new cover for the pair, this new case will house a detachable keyboard so users who want to can use their smartphone as a tablet.
If you’d like to read the full report — hit the source link below.
Source: SamMobile
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Verizon starts rolling out Lollipop OTA for the LG G Pad 8.3 LTE
Verizon is currently in process of rolling out the Android 5.0.2 update to all its carrier-branded variants of the LG G Pad 8.3 LTE in the U.S. This upgrade transports the latest build of Lollipop to the handset, along with a truckload of bug fixes and stability improvements.
Hit the break for the full changelog.
- Material Design: You will quickly notice a whole new colorful look and feel to your device – from fluid animations to new application and system themes, colors and widgets.
- Notifications UI & Priorities: In order to alert you to the mosttimely and relevant information, the format and behavior of notifications have evolved:
- notifications will appear on the lock screen and are intelligently ranked by type and who sent them.
- you double-tap to open one, swipe left or right to clear one, or clear all notifications from the bottom of the list.
- you can set the priority and privacy of notifications for each application.
- very high priority notifications will pop up briefly over other applications so that you can take action.
- when you dismiss a notification on one device it will be dismissed on your other Android devices, if they are connected to the Internet.
- you can further tailor how notifications behave with the new Downtime and Ambient Display settings (see below).
- New Interruptions & Downtime Settings: You can tailor how interruptions behave, choosing to allow all, none, or only priority interruptions. You can personalize what counts as a priority interruption (reminders, events, calls, messages) and even tailor them to be from only contacts you specify. The Downtime setting will allow only priority interruptions during the times and days that you specify. e.g. allow only priority interruptions on the weekend.
- Recent Apps (Multi-tasking): The redesigned Overview space (formerly called Recents) will include both applications and separate activities within those applications. For instance, each open tab in Chrome will also appear here along with recent applications; both your Gmail Inbox and a draft email message will appear as separate cards. This provides a consistent way to switch amongst tasks.
- Flashlight: Lollipop includes a new flashlight option as part of Quick settings (swipe down with two fingers from the status bar to see it).
- Pin a view/app: Screen pinning allows you to keep a specific app or screen in view. For example, you can ‘pin’ a game and your child will not be able to navigate anywhere else on your phone.
- Battery: The Battery settings panel now shows an estimated projection for how much time you have left while discharging or charging. You can also enable a new battery saver mode that will save power by reducing performance and most background data operations to extend your battery life.
- Smarter Internet Connections: With Android Lollipop, your phone will not connect to a Wi-Fi access point unless there is a verified Internet connection. This feature improves hand-offs between Wi-Fi and cellular connections, helping to maintain your video chat or voice-over-IP (VoIP) call as you switch.
- Performance: Your phone now uses the new Android Runtime to help optimize application performance. After upgrading to Lollipop, your applications will undergo a one-time optimization process. Note that the optimization for ART requires more space.
- Security: Encryption can now use a stronger 256-bit key to help protect your data. Note that the stronger key willonly be used after you perform a factory reset on Android Lollipop. Otherwise encryption will continue to use 128-bit key. You can turn on encryption in the Security settings menu.
As is customary with all manufacturer updates, the upgrade is being rolled out in stages, but if you don’t feel like waiting for a notification confirming that it’s ready for your LG G Pad 8.3, you could always search for the update manually.
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Samsung’s new Silicon Valley headquarters is almost complete
Samsung has developed two new headquarters on both coasts of the United States within the last twelve months. Last summer, the company opened an office in New York City to house its brand marketing team. Now, as this summer approaches, Samsung will open an office in Silicon Valley. Here, Samsung will plant semiconductor research and development as well as sales and marketing teams.
The building designed by NBBJ costs $300 million and offers a 10-story complex across 1.1 million square feet. Samsung has yet to say how many employees will be heading to the Silicon Valley headquarters.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
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Holiday weekend deals on T-Mobile, MetroPCS
A major holiday in the U.S. means retailers will be hitting consumers up with a variety of deals. The long Memorial Day weekend is no exception as T-Mobile, and their prepaid subsidiary MetroPCS, have some special offers coming up for anyone looking to purchase a new smartphone or switch service.
Buyers who are hoping to pick up a new Samsung Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 edge may want to hold off until this weekend. Starting Saturday, May 23rd and running through Monday, May 25th, T-Mobile will double the amount of onboard memory in the devices. You can get the 64GB versions of either smartphone for the current price of the 32GB versions, which is equal to an instant savings of $80. If you only need a 32GB version, T-Mobile will send you a $50 VISA pre-paid gift card, making the net price equal to a 16GB version.
Consumers looking at value priced LG smartphones will have an opportunity to take advantage of special pricing as well. If you were hoping to pick up the new LG G Stylo smartphone, T-Mobile will let you buy it for $0 down at then $12.08 per month for 24 months or pay $290 full retail. The carrier is also offering the LG Leon LTE for zero down with payments only $6.24 per month for 24 months or a retail price of $150. If you happen to be a prepaid subscriber, T-Mobile is offering an online rebate for the LG Leon LTE that results in the phone being free.
MetroPCS is also offering deals on the LG Stylo and LG Leon LTE. The Leon LTE will be available for only $49 after instant rebate starting on Friday. If you want to wait a little bit, starting on June 1st MetroPCS will be offering the LG Stylo for only $199 after instant rebate.
Finally, if you already have a prepaid phone from one of MetroPCS’s competitors like Virgin or Boost, you can switch to MetroPCS and receive a free smartphone like the Leon LTE or getting a $50 discount on some of the higher end devices. MetroPCS is also re-launching their 4×100 offer. The 4×100 deal is for consumers that are looking for a multi-line package as it provides four lines for $100 per month. The package includes unlimited talk and text and 2GB of 4G LTE service per data line per month.
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Facebook Messenger video calls nearly a global feature
Remember when Facebook introduced video calling to its Messenger app back in late April? Well, the social networking company is saying that the feature is almost rolled out throughout the globe.
While most countries have access to it, Facebook hasn’t released it in some nations, as they’re trying to improve the video quality for those areas. This is likely because of the speed of mobile networks in those countries.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Facebook’s goal is to make video calling a seamless experience, even when users aren’t over Wi-Fi. That said, in some countries, video calling is going to take quite a bit of optimizing before its available entirely.
Either way, this is a big step for Facebook, considering that its Messenger app started out in only 18 countries. If you haven’t downloaded Messenger yet, it’s available for free on Android and iOS.
source: Facebook
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There will be a dramatic increase in mobile data usage over the course of the next four years
Juniper Research published a report earlier today in which it claims that the mobile traffic generated between 2015 and 2019 will be almost 197,000 petabytes. However, 41% of this traffic won’t actually pass through a cellular network. It will, instead, be processed via Wi-Fi.
“Wi-Fi is not just being used for data offload, but also to maintain call connection quality in challenging network topologies. For example, EE UK launched its Wi-Fi calling feature on a selected number of handsets in April 2015,” writes research author, Nitin Bhas.
Taking this information into account, Juniper estimates that the average monthly data usage on mobile devices will double over the course of the next four years with daily media consumption continuing to rise.
“Video is forming an ever-greater proportion of network traffic. For example, Juniper Research anticipates that video traffic over smartphones will increase by nearly 8 times between 2014 and 2019”, says Bhas.
For those who are interested there is a full report available to download on Juniper’s website.
Source: Juniper Research
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AIVAnet 