Google Maps app now includes Waze incident reports

Putting its June acquisition of the popular social mapping and location startup Waze to good use, the Internet giant Google today announced that crowd-sourced incident reports from Wazers will be soon available through the Google Maps mobile apps for iOS and Android.

This means when Wazers report accidents, construction, road closures and more on Waze, their updates will also appear in real-time on the Google Maps mobile apps in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Switzerland, UK and the US…

“Not only will we continue to outsmart traffic and keep citizens updated via the Waze app and broadcast partners, but Waze real time incident reports will appear on the Google Maps for Android, iPad and iPhone,” the Waze team wrote in a blog post.

Incident reports within Google Maps will not include Wazer profile information, but contributors will still earn points on the Waze side.

And writing on its Lat Long blog, the Google Maps team wrote that the updated Waze Map Editor (below) is now available with support for Google Street View and satellite imagery, making it easy for Wazers to report map errors.

The company has also updated the free Waze app for iOS and Android with built-in Google Search, which joins a host of other search providers featured on Waze, such as Foursquare and Yelp.

Previously, Google started monetizing users by injecting relevant advertising into Google Maps search results across mobile platforms.

Moreover, the search monster has killed the Google+ Local iOS app and posted a new Google Maps SDK which lets third-party iOS developers implement Street View and Indoor Maps in their warez.

Though Apple was speculated to have been interested in Waze, the deal never went through as Google snatched the startup out from under Apple in a surprising move.

Since that hiccup, Apple has moved to snap up public transit and navigation data providerHopStop and location-based data startup Locationary.

In addition, the iPhone maker recently advertised a number of Maps-related positions on its website. Eagled-eyed readers could also note Apple is set to release a standalone Maps Mac app as part of its upcoming Fall release of OS X Mavericks.

You can download Google Maps free from Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play store.

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BlackBerry considers selling itself to stay alive

It seems we may be nearing the end of a long and tortuous death march by Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry. After attempting to beat Apple and its own game, then talking about doing a Dell and going private, BlackBerry is now putting out the “For Sale” sign.

Underlining its latest move, BlackBerry’s biggest investor resigned from the company’s board. However, with a market share hovering near 0 percent, will the smartphone maker attract a buyer?…

In a Monday statement, the Waterloo, Canada-based company announced it has formed a special committee to investigate its options. Those options include an outright sale, a joint venture, partnership, or something completely different.

“Given the importance and strength of our technology, and the evolving industry and competitive landscape, we believe that now is the right time to explore strategic alternatives,” BlackBerry board member Timothy Dattels said in a statement reported byReuters.

Translated, the statement indicates BlackBerry knows it can’t compete with either Apple or Android and wants to put itself on the auction block while its BBM technology is still worth something.

It is interesting that Dattels is heading the exploratory committee. A senior partner in the private equity firm (read: private buyout experts) TPG Capital and a former top executive at RBC Capital Markets, Dattels caused a bit of a flurry among investors when he joined the board in 2012.

The worry – that Dattels might sell BlackBerry – seemed just a bit too early.

Too late was BlackBerry’s Z10, which attempts to compete with the iPad but without much success. The other problem was BlackBerry was caught flat-footed by Apple and Android, turning a lead in smartphone mindshare into a continual drain of customers. In response to shrinking revenue, BlackBerry has slashed its costs, performing a rather public lobotomy on its organization.

Will a buy-out of some sort help BlackBerry?

Short-term, yes.

The company’s shares rose 9.4 percent in early trading, Reuters reported Monday. However, analysts don’t expect talk of a new owner to help BlackBerry’s long-term prospects.

Take BMO analyst Tim Long told

While a change in structure could result in a higher stock price in the near term, we do not envision any changes that would help BlackBerry reverse the significant smartphone share loss or rapid decline in service revenues.

What might help is if BlackBerry found a winner.

A potential advantage might be its BlackBerry 10 software. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has mentioned BlackBerry 10 as the bright spot in the company’s portfolio.

We are seeing BlackBerry shift more towards a software and services provider. The company has recently announced plans to offer its BlackBerry Messaging service as an app for iOS and Android. Secure Work Space for iOS and Android was also unveiled.

Let’s face it: BlackBerry just doesn’t get touch screens – the present and future of smartphones. But as Google has found, hardware is only half of a successful handset. This isn’t the first time a manufacturer has cut its hardware ties to focus on software and services.

We’ve seen it with IBM and other PC makers battered by the plummeting market for hardware. BlackBerry still can produce innovative smartphone software, and that – not its out-of-step hardware – will be what the company offers a new buyer.

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New report reiterates ’5C’ name for budget iPhone, calls for a gold 5S colorway

In the past few months we've seen a tons of leaked images showing iPhone 5C parts from behind and front, that's not only many rumors we've heard saying that Apple is already working on a low cost budget iPhone entitled "iPhone 5C".. But now I should ask a question: "What does 5C refers to ?" Check out the following report as you will get surprised...

A new report out of Japan today corroborates previous chatter, claiming that we’ll be seeing two iPhones on stage that Tuesday: a low-budget model that is indeed called the ‘iPhone 5C,’ and an iPhone 5S with a gold colorway…

The folks at 9to5mac pointing to a report from the fairly reliable Macotakara, citing the fact that it correctly predicted the ‘iPad mini’ name for Apple’s smaller tablet last fall. The site offers details for both the iPhone 5S and 5C.

As for the 5S (rough translation via Google Translate):

“The name of coming iPhone to be iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C according to my Asian source, Rumored coming iPhone powered by A7 processor Will be Released as “iPhone 5S”. 

This source told That KGI Securities Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s guessesMay be true. Ming-Chi guessed several points, the resolution of iSight camera will be stayed on 8M pixels but F-stop will be brighter up to 2.0. The gold color which is rumored as 3rd color of iPhone 5S will be optional, and rectangle mark of home button Will be removed.”

Considering that we’ve seen evidence of the A7 chip in iOS 7, it’s safe to assume that we’ll see it in the iPhone 5S. The 8MP sensor doesn’t necessarily line up with previous chatter, but we have heard the phone will take better low-light shots.

But hold on a second ! Do you think Apple will unveil a new iPhone with a gold colorway ? Then please don't call it a cheap low cost budget iPhone..

Speaking of the budget iPhone:

“Additionally, That source told about coming low-cost iPhone, Which is covered by Plastic case made ​​from polycarbonate and glass-Fibre, it Will be Released with expected name, “iPhone 5C.”

We’ve seen several reports regarding Apple’s low-cost handset over the past 6 months, as well as a number of part leaks. Everything thus far has pointed to the same polycarbonate device, available in various colors, priced at around $300.

The blog says that "C" refers to the color of the iPhone that we should see it very soon..

So given everything we’ve seen up until now, it seems pretty likely that Apple will show off these two handsets at its event. As for the new iPad mini and redesigned iPad 5, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them at a second event in October.

So what do you think ? Can we see a colored iPhone and with a gold ? Share your thoughts...

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WSJ corroborates iPad mini like design, touchscreen tech for iPad 5

Various sources have been mulling for months that Apple’s fifth-generation 9.7-inch iPad will adopt the overall appearance of the iPad mini, including its skinnier side bezels and thinner, lighter enclosure. And as if you ever needed more proof, now the credulous Wall Street Journal is finally out with its own report.

Corroborating the rumor-mill chatter, the story reaffirms the notion that the iPad 5 partially owns its slimmer and lighter form factor to a new touchscreen technology borrowed from its little brother. Read on for the full reveal…

Per The Journal:

The same touch-panel technology that made the iPad mini thin and light will likely feature in the next iPad, which is currently being produced by Apple Inc.’s Asian suppliers, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The publication is talking about the thin-film touchscreen technology called GF Ditto (also known as GF2), currently utilized on the iPad mini. As recently reported by DisplaySearch, all upcoming iPads will adopt GF2 tech.

GF2, a double-sided ITO film, has allowed for the iPad mini’s much thinner and significantly lighter enclosure versus the bulkier iPad 4 that uses a glass-based touch panel called G/G touchscreen.

“Following the iPad mini’s success, Apple plans to use the film-based touch panel in its next regular-size iPad”, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper.

Here’s a video from Youku which purportedly depicts a partially assembled iPad 5.

The Journal educates us on the benefits of GF2 vs G/G screen assembly:

For device makers, the option of using a film-based touch panel is becoming more attractive than before, as the film material has largely overcome previous technical disadvantages against glass, and it has advantages in terms of thickness and weight, said DisplaySearch analyst Shoko Oi.

Because Apple is the world’s largest vendor of tablet computers, what technologies it uses to produce iPads could have a significant impact on component suppliers. More demand for film-based touch panels is good news for manufacturers of PET films that are used to produce such panels.

For what it’s worth, it was iLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz who back in January first called for the iPad 5′s iPad mini-like design. Based on a physical model he had apparently seen, Horwitz wrote that the next full-size iPad could be “a lot smaller than one would guess was possible”with “virtually no left or right bezels”.

At any rate, the bulkiness, the added weight and the overheating non-issue plaguing the current Retina iPads are all about to become a thing of the past, should Apple engineers have their way.

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Huge collection of forgotten 80s Apple ads surface on YouTube

If you’re looking for a way to kill your Sunday afternoon, you might try checking out the YouTube channel EveryAppleAds. The channel, as the name implies, hosts a massive collection of TV commercials for Apple products from the past few decades.

These guys have been steadily posting ads over the last several months. But just within the past week or so, they’ve started adding vintage Apple television spots from the 1980s that you’ve either forgotten about, or more likely, never knew existed…

The commercials, first spotted by MacRumors, feature both the Macintosh and Apple II computers. And most of them appear to be geared toward convincing users that PCs can be very useful, and Apple’s can be used by anyone from kids to executives.

Here’s one of my favorites (watch for the twist at the end):

And here’s one starring a young Andrea Barber, also known as Kimmy Gibbler from Full House:

Apple’s creative advertising, and its ability to market technology to the average consumer is the stuff of legends. And while admittedly, some of these 80s spots didn’t age well, there’s a lot of classics here. I recommend checking them out if you get the chance.

It’s also cool to see how these older commercials compare to Apple’s newer ones. Here’s one of its latest: Designed by Apple in California.

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Apple Reiterates Commitment To Good Products, Says More Are Coming This Fall

Apple’s third quarter earnings call didn’t produce many interesting comments from the company’s executives, but CFO Peter Oppenheimer and CEO Tim Cook did mention new products coming in the fall. But then again, Apple has been beating the same “stuff is coming” drum all year.

When asked a philosophical question about how Apple operates, Cook reiterated the company’s mantra on manufacturing quality gear.

“We’re here to make good products,” said Cook. “We think that if we focus on that and do that really well, the financial metrics will come. We start at the product because we believe that the most important thing is that our customers love the products and want them.”

“Apple needs more unpredictability these days, not less.”

Since Apple hasn’t had a major new product all year, everyone is anxious about how the company will perform during the upcoming holiday season.

“Our key catalysts will always be new products and new services in existing and new categories,” said Cook. Apple has said that new products are coming this fall multiple times, and “new categories” means something beyond the iPhone, iPad and Mac. (iWatch, anyone?)

Earnings calls used to be exciting times to cover Apple, but the company is starting to get pretty boring. Cook and Co. are sticking to a set of bland, boilerplate responses that give hardly any insight into the future of the company.

Steve Jobs had a way of remaining secretive but also being unpredictable and interesting. Apple needs more unpredictability these days, not less. Actions speak louder than words, so we’ll see how its upcoming offerings are received this fall.

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Apple Store app to be redesigned with free iTunes content in iPhone sales push

Apple will release a new version of its Apple Store application for the iPhone and iPod touch next week, according to a new report. The update will include a redesigned interface and a handful of new features, including free downloadable iTunes content.

The move is said to be part of Tim Cook’s goal to sell more iPhones direct from Apple’s direct sales channels. Apparently, the plan is to get the app installed on as many device’s as possible so that more people are exposed to the company’s choice products…

9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman has the scoop:

“Sources say that the new app update is also designed to go hand-in-hand with a new initiative in Apple Stores. When a new iOS Device is sold, Apple employees will be encouraged to install the new Apple Store app on the newly purchased device. According to comments from Tim Cook at last month’s secretive summit for Retail Leadership, only 20% of Apple customers are aware of the Apple Store app’s existence. This new plan will certainly increase that percentage.”

Gurman goes on to say that it was no coincidence that the Apple Store application was updated earlier this year with a push notification feature that will alert users when they become eligible for an iPhone upgrade. Apple is working to engage more customers.

The app update is scheduled to land on Tuesday, July 23rd—the same day that Apple isposting its financials for the June quarter. It’s only expected to announce 26-29 million iPhone sales, but Verizon’s strong quarter suggests it could have sold more than 30.

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Apple comments on two day-long developer center outage

If you’ve tried logging in to Apple’s dev center over the past few days, but were unsuccessful, you weren’t alone. The portal, which is where the company stores downloads, documentation and other resources for developers, has been down for 48 hours.

This isn’t your typical ‘maintenance’ downtime, as those only usually last a couple of minutes—or at worst, a few hours. And as you can imagine, developers are starting to get frustrated with the service, which Apple charges a $99 subscription fee for…

Apple had remained mum on the outage until this evening, when it posted this note:

“We’ll be back soon. We apologize that maintenance is taking longer than expected. If your program membership was set to expire during this period, it has been extended and your app will remain on the App Store. If you have any other concerns about your account, please contact us. Thank you for your patience.”

For developers, this couldn’t have happened at a more inconvenient time. Apple released beta versions of its next-generation desktop and mobile operating systems last month, ahead of their fall launches, and developers have been working non-stop to bring their apps up to speed.

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12 words your iPhone won’t auto-correct

Apple’s implementation of auto-correct in iOS has long been the subject of criticism. When it works, it works, but it has the reputation of being inconsistent. Sometimes it won’t notice slight misspellings of a word, and others it’ll offer wrong suggestions.

And apparently there’s a handful of words that auto-correct won’t touch at all. The Daily Beast recently ran a few low-grade, in-house tests on the feature, and it found that there are at least 12 often-used, ‘hot button’ terms it seems to purposely ignore…

First off, lets take a look at the testing method:

“To find the list of excluded words, we came up with two different misspellings for roughly 250,000 words—including all of the ones in the internal dictionary that ships with its desktop operating system—and wrote an iOS program that would input each misspelled variant into an iOS simulator (a computer program that mimics the behavior of a factory-condition iPhone). We then made a separate program that simulated a user selecting from the menu of suggested corrections and recorded the results. After narrowing down the list to roughly 20,000 words that looked problematic, we tested 12 more different misspelling combinations. Words that did not offer an accurate correction any of the 14 times were added to our list of banned words.”

Now let’s take a look at the words. “Abortion,” “abort,” “rape,” “bullet,” “ammo,” “drunken,” “drunkard,” “abduct,” “arouse,” “suicide,” “murder,” and “virginity” were all ignored by auto-correct, placing them on what The Daily Beast calls the Apple kill list.

You can try these words on your own iPhone, but keep in mind that auto-correct learns from user behavior, and it’s unclear of these words are exempt from that too. It’s also worth mentioning that many of these words accurately auto-completed in iOS 3.1.3.

So what does all of this mean? Probably nothing. But some folks feel that this is just another way that Apple is dictating what users can and cannot do with blanket censorship. And honestly, even if that was the case, that should come as a surprise to no one.

The good news is, for those who aren’t worried about the above words, it looks like auto-complete as a whole has been greatly improved in iOS 7.

What do you make of all of this?

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Apple joins alliance of tech companies in push for better NSA transparency

Apple is reportedly teaming up with Google, Facebook, Microsoft and a number of other tech companies that will demand dramatically increased transparency from the US government regarding surveillance by the NSA and other agencies.

In a letter to be published tomorrow, the alliance—which includes 63 companies, investors, and non-profit orgs—will call upon President Obama and congressional leaders to allow them to report more specifically on security requests…

AllThingsD has obtained a copy of the letter and posted the following excerpt:

“Basic information about how the government uses its various law enforcement–related investigative authorities has been published for years without any apparent disruption to criminal investigations,” a copy of the letter obtained by AllThingsD reads. “We seek permission for the same information to be made available regarding the government’s national security–related authorities. … Just as the United States has long been an innovator when it comes to the Internet and products and services that rely upon the Internet, so too should it be an innovator when it comes to creating mechanisms to ensure that government is transparent, accountable, and respectful of civil liberties and human rights.”

Specifically, the companies are asking that they be allowed to report the number of government requests for info on their users and of individuals, accounts, or devices. They are also asking that the government issue its own request report.

As the site notes, this is easily the largest push we’ve seen for greater government disclosure of digital communications monitoring since a slew of slide leaks regarding a secret PRISM program exposed the National Security Agency’s capabilities.

Apple was one of the 12 companies listed on the slide as a ‘willing participant’ in the PRISM program, but has said that it doesn’t provide any government agency with direct access to its servers, and any requests for its info must be court-ordered.

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The problem with smartphones: they’re losing their cool and wow factor

It has been six years since Apple introduced the original iPhone. The event was likened to a seismic shift that ignited the push to adopt smartphones in the United States. Now with up to 70 percent of subscribers owning smartphones, the big three carriers are searching for ways to encourage upgrades.

However, the push comes as consumers complain the ‘wow’ factor is missing from the industry. The slowdown in smartphone upgrades – evident in Samsung and Apple’s sales – fell nine percent in 2012 with 68 million U.S. subscribers upgrading their devices, according to a Wednesday Wall Street Journal report…

The root of the problem is two-fold: 70 percent of post-paid carriers subscribers in the U.S. already own a smartphone and the impression that there is less reason to update current smartphones.

According to The Wall Street Journal:

With smartphone penetration approaching 70 percent of contract subscribers last year in the U.S., there are fewer customers left to upgrade to the Internet-ready devices and data plans.

And among existing smartphone owner, fewer are seeing the need to buy the latest Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy as the pace of innovation slows.

In an interview, a 26-year-old Alabama man who still uses a Samsung Galaxy S2, said “it will be a few years before a breakthrough and people buy phones like when Apple first introduced the iPhone.”

Shares of both Apple and Samsung have taken a battering as Wall Street investors voice concern about lower growth for the iPhone and the just-released Galaxy S4.

Investors, used to years of steady growth in the smartphone sector, now worry the best days are behind the two cell phone giants.

For carriers, the wide adoption of smartphones in the U.S. means the days of featurephone owners upgrading to more powerful handsets with data plans has almost reached an end.

While the carriers welcomed paying subsidies of around $400 to attract an iPhone user who will buy a data plan, upgrading a smartphone owner carries little benefit.

In response, carriers have enacted longer periods between upgrades and added new fees to slow the updates, according to the report.

While some carriers – such as Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have begun offering quicker upgrades if customers opt out of subsidized handset prices – they are also investigating other revenue streams.

T-Mobile, the nation’s fourth-largest telco, is looking toward wearable devices such as Apple’s rumored iWatch to save the day.

“There is a whole new generation of wearable devices coming that could have some impact on the industry,” T-Mobile CEO U.S. CEO John Legere told the newspaper.

However, as we wrote earlier today, the market for smartwatches is set to grow tenfold next year amid rumors of technology giants entering the market.

In addition to Apple’s iWatch, Samsung and Google are reportedly working on own wristwatch products while Microsoft is developing a smartwatch with a transparent aluminum chassis and LTE capability.

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Popular private taxi service Uber updates iPhone app with fare splitting

Users of Uber, the popular private taxi service that operates in 35 cities and fourteen countries, can now use the updated version of their iPhone application to easily split fares in-app with their friends. I use taxi pretty regularly and while Uber doesn’t operate in my area, our own Jeff Benjamin is ecstatic about the service, having confirmed it works as advertised (at least in the Chicago area). What’s best, billing associated with fare splitting in the new Uber version 2.8.6 is now social, too…

The new Fare Split arrow icon works by letting you invite friends directly from Contacts or by entering their mobile numbers manually. If they don’t have the app installed, Uber will send them SMS with an App Store link.

Folks can request fare splitting at any point during your trip. Once everyone confirms the invitation, Uber takes over and splits the fare evenly among everyone in the car.

Simple, no?

It certainly beats having to manually split payments before making an Uber payment.

The app is free on the App Store.

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Samsung apparently lands contract to produce A9 chips for iPhone 7 in 2015

Apple and Samsung have one of the most checkered relationships in technology, but it appears that at least a part of Samsung and Apple have made nice and reached an agreement. According to The Korea Economic Daily, Samsung has agreed to provide Apple with 14 nm SoCs in 2015.

This comes after Apple signed a deal with another fabrication corporation, TSMC, to provide chips for the future. However, many questioned if TSMC could actually produce chips in the quantity that Apple requires for its high-profile iOS devices.

The future of Apple’s chip production seems to be up in the air. Many seem to think that Apple is interested in purchasing the necessary facilities to fabricate their own designs, though that would require a massive amount of capital. Others think that Apple will continue to design the chips, but have separate entities like Samsung and TSMC actually build them.

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Apple may have bought into chip plant to perhaps build processors in-house

The SemiAccurate blog is known for a mixed track report in terms of hardware news (hence the name).

For instance, it correctly predicted Apple would switch back to Nvidia’s graphics processors for 2012 MacBooks, but got it all wrong calling for an Intel-to-ARM transition for the Mac lineup by early 2013.

Today’s exclusive story, hidden behind a $1,000 paywall, claims Apple has made the unthinkable by buying into a third-party chip plant.

The semiconductor facility is believed to be operated by United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), a Taiwan-based chipmaker established more than thirty years ago…

According to the first paragraph of the report:

Apple has just done something that SemiAccurate has been expecting for months and entered the fab industry. No we are not joking, Apple just bought into a fab, and not in a trivial way either.

The rest is hidden behind the paywall.

As one of the story tags mentions ‘UMC,’ silicon watchers promptly presumed a mysterious partner has got to be Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corporation.

For what it’s worth, SemiAccurate reported back in January that Apple had hired a full GPU design team away from AMD, which proved true.

The A6X chip floorplan by Chipworks.

If there’s any substance to today’s story, this could be a prelude to bigger moves leading up to Apple not only designing, but also producing its mobile processors in-house under the guidance of its hardware wizard, SVP Bob Mansfield.

As part of the August 2012 management shakeup, the then hardware chief Bob Mansfield assumed new responsibilities after Tim Cook had appointed him to lead Technologies, a newly formed group which encompasses semiconductor and wireless teams across the company.

Cook wrote in a memo to employees that Technologies will “foster innovation” in terms of semiconductor and wireless technology “at an even higher level”. Apple’s semiconductor teams, the CEO noted at the time, “have ambitious plans for the future”.

Just what those ambitions might had been had remained unanswered until Bloomberg two months later posted a story which painted Apple as secretly plotting a transition away from Intel processors across the Mac lineup.

Specifically, sources told Bloomberg that Mansfield & Co. have been seeking ways to take in-house designed iOS processors and put them inside Macs by 2017.

Apple engineers have grown confident that the chip designs used for its mobile devices will one day be powerful enough to run its desktops and laptops, said three people with knowledge of the work, who asked to remain anonymous because the plans are confidential.

I’m just speculating here, but a power-savvy iOS processor of the future coupled with battery technology advances and performance improvements in software (like we’re seeing now with OS X Mavericks) might result in a breakthrough Mac notebook that could run for 24 or more hours on a single charge.

The main selling point of mid-2013 MacBook Airs: better battery life.

But why would Apple drop Intel and embark on such a risky business venture as silicon plant ownership? When I come to think of it, this presumed strategy makes a heck of sense.

Apple has recently signed a contract with TSMC to start producing some iDevice chips starting next year, part of Apple’s expected distancing from smartphone rival Samsung. Prior to that, Apple had reduced Samsung component orders for screens and NAND memory chips by increasing reliance alternative suppliers.

Samsung until recently has been an exclusive manufacturer of iOS processors. Building these chips according to Apple’s designs gave the South Korean conglomerate distinct advantage in unfairly obtaining a unique insight into Apple’s technology roadmap.

Therefore, it stands to reason that Apple can’t totally control its chip destiny unless it figures out a way to control the fabbing process by either pouring billions of dollars into its own semiconductor plant or buying a stake in one of the existing foundries.

As TSMC, the world’s largest independent semiconductor foundry turned down Apple’s $1 billion offer for exclusive access to its production output, it’s not surprising Apple may have just bought its way into the chip making biz by partnering with UMC.

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Eric Schmidt: Apple and Google Have Rekindled Friendship

The biggest names in the tech space, including the likes of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google chairman Eric Schmidt, are at the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Idaho this week. And when you have that many important figures in one place, you’re almost guaranteed to have some interesting news coming out of the event.

It appears that Schmidt has made the biggest splash in the headlines at this point, after photographs of him using the unreleased Moto X smartphone went viral. Now, according to Business Insider, the chairman has made some interesting remarks about the improving relationship between Apple and Google. 

On Thursday, Google chairman Eric Schmidt revealed a surprising thing: Google’s relationship with Apple has improved after many meetings, he said.

He praised Apple alongside Google saying, “These are two proud, well-run, different companies.”

Schmidt served on Apple’s Board of Directors for several years, but stepped down in 2009 when Google stepped up the competition with its Android and Chrome OS platforms. Most recently, Apple removed both the native Maps and YouTube apps — both of which were powered by Google — from iOS 6.

Steve Jobs had long anguished Android before his passing, waging “thermonuclear war” against the platform because he believed it was a “stolen product.” But perhaps Schmidt’s comments are a signal that times are changing, and that Apple and Google can get along despite their differences.

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This is How the iOS 7 Grid System Looks on Apple Hardware

Well-known Apple pundit John Gruber recently speculated on The Talk Show podcast that the grid system used to redesign the iOS 7 icons might line up with the rounded-square hardware sold by the company. It turns out he was right, as a number of individuals have gone ahead and superimposed the grid system on to Apple products like the Apple TV, Mac mini and iPod shuffle.

Asides from a few different corner radiuses, the grid system matches almost perfectly with the hardware. Apple design chief Jonathan Ive used to be solely responsible for hardware design before gaining his additional software responsibilities, so it’s plausible that the world-famous designer has carried over some of his practices to iOS.

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