After Numerous Delays, BlackBerry Messenger for iOS to Launch Today

Five months after it was initially announced, and after an unplanned delay due to unexpected demand, BlackBerry Messenger is finally launching on iOS. The app, which is similar to Apple’s own iMessage, was first announced back in May. It should launch on the App Store later today. 

Back in September, the BBM for Android and iOS apps were delayed after an unreleased version of BBM was leaked that "caused issues" with the BBM servers...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

First Magazine Advertisement for iPhone 5s Appears, Highlights Touch ID Sensor

Apple has started a new print advertising campaign for the iPhone 5s. The first spot, running on the back of this week's issue of The New Yorker, showcases the Touch ID-equipped home button of the new gold iPhone 5s. 

The spot in our image includes T-Mobile branding, but Apple's iPhone TV ads have traditionally rotated branding between all the carriers that carry the iPhone, likely as part of a co-marketing agreement. 

Apple has been heavily advertising the iPhone 5c on television in recent weeks, but we have seen relatively little about the 5s, likely because of tight supplies. The print ads mention 'limited availability' of the iPhone 5s in fine print...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Apps on iPhone 5S more crash-prone than other models

The mixture of new software and hardware improvements is enough to make apps running on the iPhone 5S more crash-prone than those on other iPhone models.

Apps running on the iPhone 5S crash twice as often as those available on the iPhone 5 oriPhone 5C, data from mobile app analytics company Crittercism shows. The information, which was presented to All Things Digital and published on Friday, comes from analyzing "hundreds of millions of apps," according to the tech site...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Apple Reportedly Cutting iPhone 5c Production as Chinese Gray Market Prices Drop

Apple is reportedly cutting iPhone 5c production in half from 300,000 units to 150,000 units per day, according to claims by C Technology, which leaked a number of photos of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c ahead of their launches last month. As highlighted by Unwired View, gray market pricing for iPhone 5c units has also been falling as availability has remained solid...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

iPhone 5S' poor availability hurting Japan's biggest carrier

Can't get your hands of the iPhone 5S? Neither can Japan's largest carrier, which is suffering mightily as a result.

NTT DoCoMo lost a net total of 66,800 subscribers in September, the worst loss ever, according to a report in Japan's Nikkei on Monday.

And DoCoMo lost 133,100 subscribers based on the mobile number portability (MNP) system, the report said...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Design duel: iPhone 5S takes the Moto X

It's not easy to design a good-looking phone. A quick comparison between the iPhone 5S and Moto X shows why.

While beauty is subjective, some designs are clearly better than others. The HTC One is gorgeous by most accounts, including CNET Reviews' take.

And the Samsung Galaxy S4 is obviously a looker for many.

The Moto X -- which I recently picked up from Verizon -- is another decent design; CNET Reviews calls it "well-crafted."

I wouldn't disagree with that assessment. But an iPhone it is not...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Apple Adds 'Tips and Tricks' Guide for iPhone 4s, 5c and 5s to iPhone Website

Apple has added new 'Tips and Tricks' sections to its iPhone marketing websites, giving new and old iPhone users a handy guide to the new features of iOS 7 and the new iPhone models.

The three pages, one each for the iPhone 4s, 5c and 5s, include sections about photography, swipe gestures, FaceTime, Maps, Siri, Calendar, Music, Mail, Safari, AirPlay and Wireless, Settings, Compass, and Find My iPhone...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Earliest demos of iPhone tech were clunky and 'huge'


The small device known as the iPhone that fits in your pocket wasn't always so tiny.

In fact, one of the early demos was so clunky that its description conjures up images of the first, massive mainframe computers, instead of the slick handset-computers Apple eventually introduced in July 2007.

In a long magazine piece published online Friday in The New York Times, then-Apple executive Tony Fadell recalled Steve Jobs showing him an early example of the phone's eventual touch-screen technology in mid-2005...

Read the full story here... Source: CNET

Calibration on iPhone 5s Compass and Level Appears Incorrect

iPhone 5s devices appear to be reporting inaccurate information through the compass and inclinometer apps, reports Gizmodo and Cult of Mac.

The compass appears to be off by 8-10 degrees, while the inclinometer is consistently incorrect by 2 degrees on level services.

There is a twenty-page thread on the MacRumors forums with readers reporting similar experiences with the compass and level on the iPhone 5s, as well as a number of threads on the Apple Support website...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

New Report Summarizes Display Rumors for Future Apple Devices

Apple is shaking up the display market with a multitude of upcoming product debuts and enhancements, according to Korean site ET News. The site summarizes several known product rumors that will impact display manufacturers, including larger iPhone and iPads, an OLED iWatch, and IGZO displays for its MacBook lineup...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours

Is Apples Touch ID Secure

Earlier today I posted a video on the Geekanoids Channel, which essentially was meant to be a bit of fun. However, on looking over the claims Apple made during their Keynote announcement of this technology, their video highlighting it and their website, it has made me question just how secure Touch ID is.

Essentially, this new technology is meant to provide iPhone 5s users a way of securing their device, which can then only be unlocked by their fingerprint(s). Supposedly much more secure than a password.
During the keynote presentation, Phil Schiller said that the sensor scans through the the LIVE layers of your skin. This was also highlighted during their video presentation on the feature, which adds that the sensor essentially takes a "high resolution image of your fingerprint from the sub-epidermal layers of your skin".

From the various claims, I would imagine many people, like myself, were convinced this offers a very high level of security. The words "Live Layers" surely mean that the finger unlocking the iPhone 5s has to be on a living person and not an inanimate object. Surely Apple had thought of this. According to Apple, Touch ID only works by taking a high resolution images of the "sub-epidermal layers of your skin". If this is the case, why does the technology get fooled by a hotdog (aka wiener, sausage, frankfurter)? Surely, the hotdogs that I purchased from the supermarket to make my video were not alive! They certainly were not barking, mooing, or clucking. If such manufactured objects can be used to fool the system, then surely identical objects could be used to unlock multiple devices. I can see it not being long before Touch ID is truly hacked and cracked.

I have brought this to Apples attention, giving them the right to reply, in the hope they will further explain the technology. If we get a reponse, the update will be published here.

A Closer Look at Apple's A7 Chip from the iPhone 5s

The analysis identifies the CPU portion of the chip as being at the lower left of the image, with the quad-core graphics located at lower right. Previous work by AnandTech has identified the graphics as Imagination Technologies' PowerVR G6430 configuration, a member of the new "Rogue" series of GPUs from the company...

Read the full story here... Source: Mac Rumours