Samsung Expands Anti-Apple ‘Wall Huggers’ Advertisement to Airports

Back in early July, Samsung launched a new Galaxy S5 ad calling iPhone users “Wall Huggers” and mocking the iPhone for having a short battery life while touting the battery-saving capabilities of its own newest flagship phone.

Samsung has now expanded its “Wall Huggers” advertising campaign to select airports, according to CNET, displaying Galaxy S5 ads alongside power outlets.

In addition to highlighting the Galaxy S5′s Ultra Power Saving Mode, the ads include the words “So you have the power to be anywhere but here,” possibly poking fun at Apple’s own recent line of app-focused advertising, which revolves around the tagline “You’re more powerful than you think.”

First introduced in February, Samsung’s 5.1-inch Galaxy S5 includes a fingerprint sensor, a water resistant casing, and a heart rate sensor, along with one of its most highly touted features, the Ultra Power Saving Mode. This mode activates a black and white display with limited app access when the phone’s battery is low, cutting off LTE and disabling WiFi/Bluetooth to provide up to an additional 24 hours of standby time with less than 10 percent of battery left.

While Apple does not have a similar power saving feature on the iPhone, it does provide users with quick access to settings like WiFi and Bluetooth, plus options to disable battery draining features like background app usage and location services. Apple’s newest operating system, iOS 8, also includes battery saving functions like Battery Usage, which lets users keep an eye on apps that are draining too much power.

Many people are hoping Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6 will introduce better battery life, but signs have pointed towards only modest battery gains thus far. Various rumors suggest the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 could get a battery between 1,800 and 2,100 mAh, a moderate improvement over 1,560 mAh battery in the iPhone 5s.

Samsung’s Galaxy S5 ads can be found at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and at the O’Hare and Midway airports in Chicago. The advertisements may also expand to other airports in the future.

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Mailbox for iOS Gains New Email Management Features, Languages [iOS Blog]

Popular email app Mailbox was today updated to version 2.1, adding several new email management features. It’s now possible to print emails, mark them as spam, or mark them as unread by tapping on a new options menu denoted by three dots on the app’s thread view or within individual messages.

Along with these new management tools, Mailbox has gained Passbook integration. Users can select a ticket or other attachment in the inbox, which will then be added directly to Passbook.

The app will also permanently delete messages that have been swiped to the trash and it has been updated to support 19 different languages and 24-hour time.

Now translated into 19 languages, including Chinese (both Simplified and Traditional), Danish, Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Spanish (both European and Latin American), Swedish, Thai and English

– View spam and mark messages as spam
– Passbook support
– Permanent delete from trash and spam
– Bug fixes and performance improvements

First introduced in early 2013, Mailbox proved to be ultra popular, requiring a reservation system that restricted access to a limited number of users for several weeks. Shortly after its release, however, the app was acquired by file-sharing and storage service Dropbox, and has seen several major updates since then.

Though initially limited to supporting Gmail, Mailbox now supports email services like Yahoo and iCloud.

Mailbox is a universal app that can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

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Apple Seeds New Builds of Safari 7.0.6 and Safari 6.1.6 to Developers [Mac Blog]

Following the release of a new 10.9.5 beta for developers, Apple today seeded new beta versions of Safari 7.0.6 for OS X Mavericks and Safari 6.1.6 for OS X Mountain Lion. The new betas focus on security fixes.

The new Safari builds can be downloaded through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store or through the Mac Developer Center.

Apple has also previously seeded Safari 6.2 and Safari 7.1 for Mountain Lion/Mavericks to developers, but the 7.0.6 and 6.1.6 updates will be released to the public ahead of the later versions that may come alongside OS X Yosemite.

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Apple Seeds OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 Build 13F14 to Developers [Mac Blog]

Apple today seeded Mavericks 10.9.5 build 13F14 to developers, just over a week after seeding the second OS X 10.9.5 beta, build 13F12, and more than a month after releasing OS X 10.9.4 to the public.

The beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store and through the Mac Developer Center.

It is unclear what improvements the 10.9.5 update will bring to Mavericks, but it is likely to include bug fixes and stability enhancements. Apple is asking developers to focus on USB, USB Smart Cards, Graphics, Safari, and Thunderbolt.

Along with working on improvements to Mavericks, Apple is also beta testing OS X Yosemite, which is due to be released in the fall. The last Mavericks update, 10.9.4, added several Wi-Fi fixes and improved wake from sleep reliability.

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Apple and HP Discussed ‘Enterprise Siri’ Search Product Ahead of Apple’s IBM Deal

Before announcing an enterprise partnership with IBM, Apple reportedly had discussions with Hewlett-Packard over a mobile search product nicknamed “Enterprise Siri.” Detailed in a report from The Information (via BusinessInsider), “Enterprise Siri” is an HP product designed to allow employees to ask their devices for company-specific information like financial data or product inventory numbers.

According to The Information‘s report, though Apple held discussions with HP, the latter company has also been in talks with Google’s Android unit for the past year over a potential partnership for the “Enterprise Siri” technology, which could lead to something like an enterprise version of Google Now for corporate data.

The idea is for employees to be able to ask their Android device for company information such as financial data or product inventory information in the same way they do routine personal searches for weather, traffic or restaurant locations. Google search doesn’t currently offer any such integration with corporate databases and software applications, but it’s an area Google has looked at as it tries to chip away at the iPhone’s lead among business customers.

Now that Apple has inked a deal with IBM to further its hold on the enterprise market, a deal with HP for a powerful enterprise search product could allow Google to gain ground as well.

While more than 98 percent of Fortune 500 companies already use Apple devices in their businesses, Apple’s recent partnership with IBM has the potential to skyrocket Apple’s enterprise sales. As part of the deal, IBM will develop more than 100 industry-specific native apps that are built from the ground up for the iPhone and the iPad to draw new customers in industries like retail, healthcare, banking, travel, transportation, and more.

IBM will also offer Apple’s iOS devices to its corporate customers and has plans to provide cloud storage, analytics services, and 24/7 assistance to enterprise customers under a new AppleCare plan. IBM’s first apps will roll out this fall, with additional apps coming in 2015.

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iPhone 6 Front Panel, Power Button, and Mute Switch Shown in High-Quality Photos

Following previous photo sets showing an unfinished 4.7-inch iPhone 6 rear shell and assorted other parts in recent weeks, luxury modified iPhone vendor Feld & Volk [Instagram page] has shared another set of high-quality photos showing parts from the device. While many of the parts have already been seen, this new set provides our best look yet at some of those, as well as a few new ones.

One photo shows the inside of the front panel and display assembly, with some of the components near the top pulled apart to give a good look at how the digitizer/LCD flex cables and earpiece come together with room for the front camera and proximity/ambient light sensors all packed into one small area of the device.

Several other photos also highlight how the edges of the front panel taper. Those tapered edges should sit essentially flush with the edges of the rounded rear shell, providing for a sleek, nearly seamless look and feel for the iPhone 6.

Read more

‘iPhone 6’ Case Giveaway and Other Prizes from MacRumors

The iPhone 6 is expected to be announced on September 9th, 2014 with an Apple Media event. The actual launch will likely take place a couple of weeks later.

Some of the first rumors of any new Apple iPhone seems to come from the case manufacturers. There’s a huge financial incentive for case manufacturers to be early to market with case designs for a new iPhone. The first leaked schematics for the iPhone 6 were published in March, 2014 and the first cases based on the designs started appearing shortly thereafter.

These case-design leaks aren’t always correct, but this time there have been part leaks as well. Our iPhone 6 roundup goes into great detail about what we know so far.

During our early iPhone 6 research, we obtained a batch of 200 rumored 4.7″ iPhone 6 cases with our logo on it. We thought they might be useful on day one of iPhone 6 launch, or could simply serve as a MacRumors souvenir if the specs turn out to be not-quite-right. So, we’re giving away 200 4.7″ iPhone 6 cases to 200 of our mailing list members selected at random. To be clear, these cases might not even fit the real iPhone 6– but that’s part of the appeal. The case colors will be distributed at random, but possibilities include red, blue, grey, and frosted clear.

We’ll be giving out other prizes over time to our mailing list subscribers. Official rules are available here. For this initial prize, we have to limit it to U.S. mailing addresses only, due to the cost of shipping 200 items internationally. iPhone 6 case giveaway contest deadline is midnight (Eastern) on the evening of Thursday, August 21st. Winners will then be picked and mailed their cases, hopefully in time for September 9th.

Our mailing list provides readers with regular updates to the biggest stories on MacRumors.

If you are already a member of our mailing list, you still have to fill out this entry form (and check the agree checkbox) to get entered. You won’t be added to our mailing list twice.

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Apple Receives Approval to Sell Two iPhone 6 Models in Thailand

Takorn Tantasith, Secretary General of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) in Thailand, announced earlier this week that the agency has approved Apple’s application to distribute two iPhone 6 models in the country, reports Manager Online [Google Translate]. The Secretary also tweeted word of the approval from his @TakornNBTC Twitter account.

Google Translate version of Tantasith’s Tweet
Apple reportedly filed the import application on August 5 and received certification of equipment and a written approval notice on August 8 for two iPhones with model numbers A1586 and A1524. According to government regulations, these approvals must be announced publicly, but details on the iPhone 6 handsets referenced in the documents remain sealed.

Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 6 in early September with retail sales to follow in the weeks following the announcement. Apple reportedly is prepping two iPhone models, with a 4.7-inch version slated to launch first this fall and a 5.5-inch version that could launch either alongside or up to several months later than the smaller version.

An application for approval in Thailand over a month prior to the device’s expected introduction is unusual and suggests Apple may be planning for a very large number of countries in the initial wave of launches. For the iPhone 5s, Thailand was part of the second wave of launches that took place on October 25, 2013, and the company reportedly did not apply for approval in the country until September 16, 2013.

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Amazon Launches iOS Compatible ‘Amazon Local Register’ Card Reader [iOS Blog]

Amazon today launched the Amazon Local Register, a new iOS compatible card reader made to compete with Square’s Square Reader and Paypal’s Here card reader. Feautring an anti-swivel design and integration with Amazon payments, the Local Register accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover as Amazon is offering a special flat rate of just 1.75% per swipe until January 2016.

Amazon Local Register’s companion app for iOS offers a number of features to manage payments, allowing users to add items and discounts as well as the ability to track cash transactions, add staff accounts, change tax rates, and more. The app and the card reader can also connect with a number of cases, stands, receipt printers, cash drawers, and more.

The Amazon Local Register Secure Card Reader is avaliable now for $10 through Amazon’s website. The card reader’s companion app can be downloaded through the App Store today. [Direct Link]

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