Verizon Activates 8.8 Million Smartphones in 4Q 2013, Stops Announcing iPhone Numbers [iOS Blog]

Verizon Wireless announced its earnings today for 4Q 2013, making it the first major U.S. carrier to release its financial statement for the quarter. But while many were hoping to get the first insight into holiday sales of the iPhone, the carrier failed to break out these numbers. This is the first time Verizon has not announced iPhone activations and is following AT&T, which also stopped reporting quarterly iPhone activations last year.

The carrier revealed during its earning conference call that it activated 8.8 million smartphones in the quarter, down approximately 10 percent from the 9.8 million smartphones the carrier activated in 4Q 2012 but up approximately 16 percent from the previous quarter. The carrier activated 625,000 tablets in the quarter and now has 3.6 million tablets on its network.

Verizon also confirmed it activated 9 million LTE devices in 4Q 2013 while completing its LTE deployment on its cellular network and leading the industry in 4G LTE smartphone connections. As of the end of the quarter, the carrier’s 4G LTE network covers 305 million people in more than 500 markets in the U.S. Approximately 69% of the carrier’s total data traffic now is transferred over LTE.

Apple will be reporting its own earnings next week on January 27, 2014 after the close of trading, at approximately 4:30 PM Eastern / 1:30 PM Pacific. MacRumors will have full coverage of Apple’s earnings release and associated conference call taking place at 5:00 PM Eastern / 2:00 PM Pacific.

Beats Launches ‘Beats Music’ Streaming Service and App [iOS Blog]

Beats has launched its much-rumored Beats Music streaming service and app, directly competing with other services like Pandora, Spotify, Rdio and Apple’s iTunes Radio.

We wanted to build a music service that combined the freedom of an on-demand subscription service – unlimited, uninterrupted streaming and downloads of tens of millions of songs – but layer on top features that would give you that feeling only music that moves you can give. The right song at the right time will give you a chill. Make you pull someone close. Nod your head. Sing in the mirror. Roll down the car window and crank the volume to the right.

The service is heavily built on curation, with Beats hiring music experts from publications like Pitchfork and DJs from some of the most listened to radio stations around the country to curate stations, playlists and to make sure the music catalog of 20 million songs allows for “great listening choices”.

Users can simply open the app and “hit play” to start streaming music, or they can use one of the curation-based features. “Right Now” allows users to input where they are, what they’re doing, who they’re with and what they want to listen to and the service creates and endless playlist to match that mood. “Highlights” allows users to stay up-to-date with the music world by following Beats Music’s programmer picks.

Similarly to Spotify, users can also create and share playlists with all their friends. They can also download “hundreds of albums” for offline listening.

Back in March of 2013, Beats CEO Jimmy Iovine revealed that he had met with Apple executives, including CEO Tim Cook and SVP of Internet Services Eddy Cue about the music service. Specifically, the Apple executives expressed interest in the service’s “business model and plans”.

Beats Music is $9.99 a month for unlimited streaming, unlimited album downloads for offline streaming and no ads, although AT&T customers can get the service for their entire family for $14.99 a month.

Beats Music is a free download available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

iOS 7.1 Beta 4 Tidbits: New Slide to Unlock/Power Off Animation, Dialer Updates

Earlier today, Apple released the fourth beta of iOS 7.1 to developers, which included both bug fixes and a few new changes to the operating system. While iOS 7.1 beta 3 introduced several visual changes, iOS 7.1 beta 4 focused more heavily on behind-the-scenes improvements. There were, however, a few tweaks to further streamline the look of iOS 7, which are detailed below.

Slide to Unlock/Power Off: Most notably, the Slide to Unlock bar at the bottom of the phone is now more prominent, with a brighter, slower animation. The same brighter animation can be seen in the Slide to Power off bar when turning off the phone.

Revamped Slide to Unlock animation (Video courtesy of MacRumors forum user toxicfusion)
Contacts in Dialer: The option to add a contact when entering a phone number has been altered slightly and is now executed by tapping the + sign next to the phone number. Previously, there was a line that said “Add to Contacts.”

Old version on left, iOS 7.1 beta 4 on right. (Image courtesy of iDownloadBlog)
Messages Scrolling: When scrolling through the Messages app in beta 4, it seems there is slightly more “bounce.” This is in line with previous changes to Control Center, which introduced a bounce animation.

Siri: In the U.K., there is a new Siri voice on the iPad.

To check out previous changes introduced in iOS 7.1, make sure to take a look at our previous tidbits post on iOS 7.1 beta 3, which detailed a number of visual changes to the operating system.

It is unclear when Apple plans to release iOS 7.1 to the general public, but a report from December suggested it could see a lengthy beta testing period with a March launch. It is likely that Apple will continue making subtle changes to look and feel of iOS 7 in coming betas, which could result in a refined and polished version of the operating system when it is finally made available to the public.

‘Horizon’ Allows iPhone Users to Always Shoot Horizontal Video [iOS Blog]

A new videography app called Horizon uses the iPhone’s gyroscope to automatically “level out” iPhone videos so they are always shot in landscape mode, avoiding the so-called vertical video problem.

By automatically rotating video so that it is always horizontal, the app ensures that video is always kept in the default format for televisions and Apple’s newer computer screens, but that it is always kept straight — something that Instagram and other apps can do for photos — but a feature that is unique for video.

The biggest downside is that the app effectively crops video, reducing total resolution, in order to keep the video horizontal and steady. But, as many videos get reduced in quality when posted online anyway, it may not matter to the average user.

Horizon lets you record horizontal videos no matter how you hold your device. Hold it upright, sideways or even keep rotating it while capturing, the video will always stay horizontal! You can add filters, shoot with the back or front camera and share your creations!

Ever felt you had to rotate your device while recording a video? Do you often end up with vertical videos or videos in wrong orientation? Enter Horizon!

Horizon works like magic! It auto-levels your videos while recording, using your device’s gyroscope. The orientation of the resulting video is corrected so that it always stays parallel to the ground.

Horizon is temporarily available for $0.99 from the App Store, with the price rising to $1.99 sometime after launch. [Direct Link]

Apple Now Replacing Damaged iPhone 5c Screens in Retail Stores [iOS Blog]

As reported last week, Apple is now offering in-store repairs for iPhone 5c displays.

Users with a cracked or damaged iPhone 5c display that do not have AppleCare+ can pay a $149 fee to get the screen repaired. Prior to the in-store repairs, that fee was $229 as Apple was forced to send damaged phones to an off-site repair center.

Apple first began offering in-store repairs back in June, when it began replacing iPhone 5 screens. The company is not yet equipped to replace iPhone 5s or iPhone 4s screens, so those devices are still sent off-site.

Apple’s in-store repairs are designed to cut down on costs and in a June 2013 employee meeting, Apple noted that in-house repairs could save the company as much as $1 billion per year.

PlayStation 3 Controller Support Comes to iOS with New Jailbreak Tweak [iOS Blog]

A new jailbreak tweak called Controllers for All allows users to play iPhone and iPad games with the PlayStation 3′s Dual Shock 3 controller, via Bluetooth. The tweak supports all games that have native iOS 7 controller support and when used with a Lightning Digital AV Adapter, users can play iOS games, with a wireless controller, on a television.

From our sister-site TouchArcade:

If you’re into the whole jailbreaking scene, this seems like a must-have tweak. The games I’ve played with my actual legit iOS 7 controllers have been really awesome, and I can only imagine how much better the whole experience would be with an actual amazingly high quality controller like the PS3 controller.

Also, amusingly enough, you could pick up the PS3 controller from Amazon, jailbreak your device, and drop two bucks on Controllers for All, and spend less than half of what a “real” iOS 7 controller would cost you for what I imagine to be a substantially better overall experience.

Controllers for All is a $1.99 download from Cydia’s ModMyi repo.

iPad 2 Sales Drop Significantly as Holiday Shoppers Choose Pricier iPads

iPad 2 sales have dropped significantly following the introduction of new iPad and iPad mini models back in October, according to the latest research from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. Both the mini and full-size iPad Air making significant percentage gains in Apple’s iPad mix.

For the September quarter, the last quarter before the new iPads were released, CIRP said the iPad 2 accounted for some 22 percent of iPad sales. For the December quarter, the iPad 2 fell to only 5 percent of total iPad sales.

In the quarter, the iPad mini with Retina display remained supply constrained until at least mid-December — the full size iPad accounted for 54 percent of sales, while the iPad mini accounted for 41 percent.

“Apple managed to shift significant sales to its higher-priced models,” said Mike Levin, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. “For the past year, the legacy iPad 2 grabbed from one-quarter to one-third of iPad sales. Along with the trend toward sale of models with larger storage capacities, Apple should see higher iPad average selling prices, with iPad 2 at only 5% of total sales and iPad mini sales split between the original model and the new iPad mini with Retina display.”

The new iPad Air — which was in strong supply for the quarter — accounted for 41 percent of total iPad sales, significantly outselling the fourth-generation full-size iPad. Sales of the non-retina iPad mini outstripped its retina-equipped brethren, likely because of supply issues. On the U.S. Apple Online Store, the iPad mini with Retina display only began shipping within 24 hours at the end of December.

The shift of sales from the cheaper iPad 2 to the more expensive iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina is a good sign for Apple. The company has seen its iPad Average Selling Price consistently drop over the past three years.

Apple Releases iOS 7.1 Beta 4 to Developers

Apple today released the fourth beta of iOS 7.1 to registered developers for testing purposes, following the release of the third iOS 7.1 beta at the beginning of this month. The update has a build number of 11D5134c and is available via an over-the-air update or through Apple’s developer center website.

The last version of iOS 7 available to the public, iOS 7.0.4, was released back in November. There are still several known issues for Apple’s engineers to address, so iOS 7.1 will likely not be released to the public without at least one more round of beta testing.

Today’s update also includes Xcode 5.1 Developer Preview 4 and a new version of the Apple TV beta software. Earlier today, it was rumored that Apple would soon be releasing the next beta of iOS 7.1.

iOS 7.1 Beta 4 May Be Released to Developers Tomorrow

Apple may be close to releasing iOS 7.1 beta 4 to developers, according to a report by BGR. The new beta is reportedly in the hands of testing partners and is slated to be released to developers as soon as tomorrow. The beta will be the fourth of a reported six planned developer builds for iOS 7.1.

We are told there are various fixes in this latest version, including fixing keyboard issues, problems with the contacts app, more changes to the phone UI, and other changes. We have heard from sources that with iOS 7.1, Apple is working very hard to address some large memory bugs and other issues in iOS 7 that have caused crashes and restarts for a lot of people. Additionally, iOS 7.1 should help unify iOS 7 better graphically, with various user interface updates across the entire system and in apps for a more cohesive feel.

BGR has a bit of a hit-or-miss track record when it comes to predicting iOS releases, but the timing for a new iOS 7 beta release makes sense. Apple tends to release new beta versions every few weeks, and tomorrow would be two weeks since the release of iOS 7.1 beta 3. It should be noted that the build number mentioned by BGR for the fourth beta, 11D5127c, is actually for the current iOS 7.1 beta 3. A possible typo, however, doesn’t invalidate the entire rumor, and therefore it remains plausible that the beta 4 is still in the pipleline for a developer release tomorrow.