A new test video, along with explanation and question period, shows Corning firing back at rumors that Apple and other clients may switch to using a sapphire glass cover in future products. In addition to showing that Corning's Gorilla Glass 3 is stronger and more resistant to damage, the US-based glass company says that their product is more eco-friendly, cheaper to make, and more flexible for designing products.
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Shazam has updated its iPad app [App Store] to automatically recognize and tag songs, TV shows and music in adverts, without the user needing to prompt the app to do so. The background process, though not turned on by default, will add anything it can hear and identify to its home screen carousel, ready to be viewed at a later time by the user.
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11 hours ago | Posted in: industry
Crowdsourced review service Yelp has come under attack again over reports of business owners complaints that reviews are "too self-centered and not trustworthy" and that the company hides reviews to its own benefit. A blog post by Yelp's Vice President of Communications Vince Sollitto refutes the claims which have been reported to the media, and hopes to clear up the service's reputation.
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12 hours ago | Posted in: iPad
Microsoft is airing a new TV ad for Windows 8 tablets targeting their main competition, the Apple iPad. The spot points out that the iPad is missing equivalents to Windows 8 features like Live Tiles and true multitasking, and that at $449, a 64GB ASUS VivoTab Smart tablet is far cheaper than a comparable 64GB iPad, which is $699. Narrating everything is a Siri-like voice trying to defend Apple.
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13 hours ago | Posted in: developer
Google has announced plans to start deprecating most download options for projects hosted on Google Code. Beginning today, both existing and new projects without any downloads will lose the ability to create them. Existing projects that do have downloads will no longer be able to create additional ones as of January 15th. "All existing downloads in these projects will continue to be accessible for the foreseeable future," Google adds.
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Twitter has released a new version of its free Mac client, v2.2.1. While mostly a maintenance update, it also adds OS X Notification Center integration, pushing alerts whenever a mention or direct message is received. Some of the update's fixes solve broken Growl notifications, the account switcher going missing in the composer window, and a bug that prevented un-favoriting tweets.
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14 hours ago | Posted in: Apple
An an unusual show of solidarity, leaders of the US Congress intellectual property and antitrust subcommittees submitted a letter to the US International Trade Commission (ITC) reiterating the prior request that "the Commission carefully assess the substantial public interest considerations that exist with regards to this and other cases at the ITC in which SEPs are at issue."
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At an event today at this week's CTIA conference, major casemaker OtterBox announced the acquisition of one of its chief rivals, LifeProof. The former says it will keep LifeProof's San Diego location, and that workers will remain in their current place. "Over the next 30 days, OtterBox will begin incorporating the LifeProof brand into the OtterBox family," an OtterBox statement reads. "More information about product availability and alignment will be determined at the completion of the integration."
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16 hours ago | Posted in: industry, Apple
Former Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg has been hired onto Apple's marketing staff, Forbes sources say. Exactly which position he's filling is unknown, but he's expected to work under Apple's head of worldwide product marketing, Phil Schiller. Gartenberg is well-known amongst analysts; aside from employment at Gartner, he was once an analyst and partner at the Altimeter Group, and a research director at Jupiter Research.
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Following Apple's testimony before the US Senate, Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan declared that neither he nor his country would be the "whipping boy" for US tax loopholes. The US-led investigation demonstrated that Apple had paid two percent of $74 billion in international income, assisted by Irish tax law -- in particular, one holding company including Apple's retail effort throughout Europe had paid zero tax in five years.
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A voice search option is being added to the iOS version of Chrome in "the coming days," according to Google. Users will just have to tap a microphone icon and ask the same sort of queries Google supports in Android and the iOS Google Search app. The change should in fact reduce the need to use Search, although that app is still iOS' gateway to Now and various other Google services.
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Autodesk has announced that its first major update for Smoke 2013, Extension 1, will go live on May 29th. The update adds two main features, beginning with support for Blackmagic video IO devices including the DeckLink, UltraStudio, and Intensity lines. The other is a new Trim View, accompanied by a set of dynamic trimming tools which should allow for faster editing.
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18 hours ago | Posted in: industry, Apple
Publisher Penguin and parent company Pearson have proposed a settlement with 33 US State Attorneys General and other plaintiffs for $75 million to resolve its lawsuit accusing it of price fixing in conjunction with Apple and the iBookstore. If accepted by the judge, the settlement resolves all antitrust complaints against Penguin related to the suit on the state level.
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19 hours ago | Posted in: Apple
A German Mac enthusiast site has noticed that the Apple online store in Germany is now accepting PayPal as a payment option, a new wrinkle that could appear in the US and other countries over time. While PayPal has been an option for payment in the iTunes App Store and the Mac App Store, it was never previously available for any kind of hardware or online retail purchase from Apple.
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WaterField Designs has announced the launch of a new leather wallet that doubles as an iPhone 5 case. Available in two sizes, a compact version for cash and cards and a slightly longer version to fit an iPhone 5, the Finn Leather Wallet is made from a naturally deer-tanned leather. The wallet features self-locking zippers to secure all contents and is offered in six different colors, including black, camel, grey, red, green and brown. Both sizes of the Finn are sold through WaterField's website for $29.
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Apple has filed its amendment to its ongoing courtroom battle with Samsung, adding the Galaxy S4 to its list of infringing devices, just as it told the US District Court in California last week. The filing specifically names five patents said to be infringed by the Galaxy S4 itself, two of which are apparently infringed by Google Now.
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