iClarified – Apple News – iPhone App Developer Surprises Parents By Paying Off Their Mortgage for Christmas Video

http://m.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=46252

iPhone app developer Joey Trombone surprised his parents by paying off their mortgage for Christmas. Trombone is the developer behind Videoshop, an easy video editor app with fast tools and filters for personalizing your videos.

In a video posted to YouTube we can see him relaxing with his parents before handing his mother one last gift. The gift is an envelope. When his mother opens the envelope she finds a Bank of America statement and note attached that reads, “Your house is paid off. Merry Xmas. -Joe”. Of course, his parents are moved to tears making for a touching video.

Take a look below…

Videoshop Features:
1. Trim: Cut out any unwanted moments.
2. Music: Add from your iPod library or Videoshop’s stock library.
3. Sound effects: Choose from animals noises, farts, Vine quotes, explosions, laughter, etc.
4. Slow motion (or fast motion): Adjust video speed to slow or fast.
5. Adjust Display: Change Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, etc.
6. Merger: Combine multiple clips into one.
7. Text: Type your own text with color and various fonts.
8. Voice overs: Record your own voice over the video.
9. Animated titles: Introduce your videos with animated titles.
10. Filters: Select from several Instagram-inspired filters to enhance your videos.
11. Transitions: Choose from 10 transitions to animate between video clips.
12. Photos: Create slideshows easily.
13. Stop Motion: Create Vine videos with stop motion recording.
14. Resize: Rescale your video within the video frame.
15. Reverse: Playback videos in reverse.
16. Copy: Create duplicate video clips.
17. High resolution videos: Supports up to 720p.
18. Share on Vine, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, or by E-mail.

You can purchase Videoshop from the App Store for $0.99.

Read More [via Lee]

Apple TV patent turns iPads and iPhones into remote displays, supports reverse AirPlay mirroring

http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/14/12/23/apple-tv-patent-turns-ipads-and-iphones-into-remote-displays-supports-reverse-airplay-mirroring

By: Mikey Campbell

Tuesday, December 23, 2014 5:48 AM

Apple on Tuesday was awarded a patent for displaying media streams on portable devices in synchronization with content being played back on a fixed system, suggesting the company is thinking of remote viewing capabilities for its Apple TV line of products.

<img src=”http://cdn1.appleinsider.com/gallery/11424-4227-141223-AirPlay-l.jpg“>

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Apple U.S. Patent No. 8,918,822 for “Displaying a synchronized instance of content on a portable electronic device,” which lets iOS device owners view an Internet video stream synchronized to an identical stream playing on a fixed position device, like an Apple TV. Additionally, the invention supports mirroring from an Apple TV to an iOS device without entering service provider passwords.

<img src=”http://cdn1.appleinsider.com/gallery/11424-4228-141223-Stream-3-l.jpg“>

Apple’s patent describes remote streaming from an outside source (top), as well as Apple TV-to-iOS device mirroring. | Source: USPTO

Apple imagines a familiar scenario in which a group of people gather to watch a movie or TV show provided through a streaming service such as Netflix or Apple’s own iTunes store. When someone leaves the viewing area, the group may pause the stream until they return, or keep the presentation going and let the person miss out on programming.

To solve this less than ideal user experience problem, Apple proposes a system that uses a portable device to locate the source, name and timestamp of media being streamed to a streaming device, then plays back said content in lockstep. In some embodiments, viewers must manually search for and input media streams, while other implementations conduct the process automatically in the background, allowing for immediate and seamless playback whenever it’s needed.

<img src=”http://cdn1.appleinsider.com/gallery/11424-4225-141223-Stream-1-l.jpg“>

In a primary embodiment, the system does not rely on Apple TV to serve up content, but instead routes data requests regarding current playback position and source information to retrieve the stream independently. If after gathering the necessary data an iPad or iPhone determines it can access the stream directly, it will begin synchronized playback.

A second embodiment covers situations in which a viable source cannot be accessed. For example, the party leaving the viewing area may not have proper service provider credentials or has not downloaded a third-party app that supports synchronized playback. In these cases, a user device can request a synchronized mirrored feed directly from an Apple TV unit.

As applied to Apple’s patent, mirroring is essentially a reverse implementation of current iOS-to-Apple TV AirPlay technology. Currently, AirPlay allows connected devices to stream video, photos, games and more to a television via Apple TV. In addition, peer-to-peer AirPlay functionality allows guest devices to connect with Apple TV without passwords.

<img src=”http://cdn1.appleinsider.com/gallery/11424-4226-141223-Stream-2-l.jpg“>

It is unclear whether Apple plans to integrate remote viewing technology into Apple TV’s feature set, but a working solution could potentially be rolled out on the back of AirPlay. Mirroring from Apple TV onto unregistered devices may be more of an issue, however, as content rights owners are generally reluctant to expand secondary user viewing beyond existing standards.

Apple’s synchronized remote content streaming patent was first filed for in 2012 and credits Devrim Varoglu and Swapnil R. Dave as its inventors.

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iClarified – Apple News – New Apple Pay Team in London Will Expand Service Into Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa

http://m.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=46099

Apple is forming a new Apple Pay team in London to help expand the service across Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa.

The company’s plans were revealed in a job posting spotted by iClarified.

Apple Pay is a new and exciting area in Apple that is set to expand across Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. Apple Pay will change the way consumers pay with breakthrough contactless payment technology and unique security features built right into their iPhone 6 or Apple Watch to pay in an easy, secure, and private way. The new London-based Apple Pay team will work to drive the roll-out of this technology across EMEIA by working with a variety of internal and external partners, including teams in the US where the product will first launch and the EMEIA organisation, as well as Issuers, payment networks and merchants across Europe.

Notably, the company is also hiring an Apple Pay Site Reliability Engineer in China.

The Apple Pay Site Reliability Engineering Team is hiring for multiple roles focused on the front line customer experience and the back end integration of Apple systems with our Network and Banking partners. As part of this follow-the-sun team, you’ll have peers based in Europe and the US, ensuring timely support for our US customers around the clock, and a positive work-life balance for you. You’ll be joining a team of world class engineers and interacting on a daily basis with teams that span across Apple including iOS software and hardware engineering, Apple Online Store, Apple Retail and our network and banking partners.

Apple has signed up dozens more banks, retail stores, and start-ups to Apple Pay in recent weeks. The company now says it supports credit cards used for 90% of purchases in the U.S.

If you haven’t seen Apple Pay in action yet, check out this video of Apple SVP Eddy Cue demonstrating how it works.

For updates on when Apple Pay is available in your country, please follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or RSS.

IBM to sell iPhones to business in India – The Times of India on Mobile

http://m.timesofindia.com/tech/tech-news/IBM-to-sell-iPhones-to-business-in-India/articleshow/45544847.cms

BENGALURU/MUMBAI: Apple iPads and iPhones will soon be available on monthly installments as IBM begins selling them to enterprises in India along with its own software bundle.

“Under the arrangement with Apple, we can resell all existing Apple mobile devices, activate them and deploy and support them for two to three years. Customers can pay per year or per month — so there will be no capital cost for the customer,” Will Duckworth, IBM’s vice president and partner for Asia Pacific, told ET. Analysts believe this strategy could help Apple regain market share in India.

“The partnership will enable Apple to make a strong bid to enterprise users,” said Kiran Kumar, research manager, client devices, at IDC India.”With software and hardware cost bundled with easy payment options, Apple products can become attractive to small and mid-size businesses too; this could potentially help Apple build market share on the rising commercial tablet business in India.”

Apple and IBM last week unveiled the first 10 of some 150-odd apps that IBM is developing on the Apple platform. According to Duckworth, these apps, jointly developed by IBM India labs and centres in the US, Canada and Australia, are also being tested with a few customers in India.

In order to attract price-sensitive Indian customers, IBM will resell all iOS devices Apple still sells in India, including iPhone 4S, which are available for less than Rs 20,000. Such older devices have been discontinued in markets such as the US and Europe.

Apple iPads market share has been declining rapidly. Global shipments fell 26.04 million units in the first quarter of its fiscal 2014 to 12.32 million units in the fourth. In India, iPad’s market share more than halved from 14% in January-March quarter to 6.7% in July-September.

“I’m sure that IBM’s partnership with Apple will improve the quality of enterprise apps on the mobile platform,” said Vinod Sivarama Krishnan, CIO at Wal-Mart India. “Though this initiative may not result in a quantum leap over currently available enterprise apps in pure functionality terms, it will certainly increase usage and universal applicability of those applications by extending them to IOS-based devices.” Wal-Mart India has already deployed iPads and iPhones within the company.

“I think with Apple and IBM partnership, the enterprise mobility space is up for the next level of evolution in terms of UI (user interface) experience,” said Girish Rao, head IT and business analytics at Marico.”The usage of IBM Apple apps would be similar to the ones in the Android platform to start with, but I expect the whole space is up for a revolution.”

Analysts believe that unlike Android, Apple devices are suitably secure for enterprise users and require lesser maintenance since all Apple devices run on the same version of the operating system, while Android devices are highly fragmented.

“Over the past year, we’ve noticed an uptake in enterprise mobility pilot projects where tablets are considered for functions such as sales-force automation, point-of-sale interactions or collecting KYC documents.

However many of these pilots were not successful, primarily because of a lack of balance between affordability and manageability of these gadgets,” said IDC’s Kumar. “This is where Apple IBM partnership can succeed.”

Apple Pay support expands once again to include dozens more businesses | BGR

http://bgr.com/2014/12/16/apple-pay-support-expands/

Apple Pay is already much bigger than you thought

Tuesday December 16, 2014, 5:30 PM

This week, Apple announced that its Apple Pay service has grown once again to support dozens of new businesses, including banks, grocery stores, big-box retailers and even Orlando’s Amway Center. With 10 more banks signing on, Apple says that it now supports the cards which constitute about 90% of all credit card purchases in the United States.

FROM EARLIER: This great free app tells you when you’re in a store that accepts Apple Pay

Based on data gathered by The New York Times, Apple Pay is performing well at some of the country’s largest retailers. Whole Foods has processed more than 150,000 Apple Pay purchases and McDonald’s says 50% of all tap-to-pay transactions at its restaurants were from Apple’s new service.

“Retailers and payment companies see Apple Pay as the implementation that has the best chance at mass consumer adoption, which has eluded prior attempts,” Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights & Strategy, told NYT. “They believe it will solve many of the problems they had before with electronic payments.”

Alex Martins, CEO of the Orlando Magic, believes that Apple Pay could help speed up the long lines at basketball games. If you’ve ever waited for a drink at a stadium or coliseum before, you’ve probably got a pretty good idea where Martins is coming from.

If mobile payments take off in the way Apple and its partners believe it can, expect to see the list of businesses continue to expand at a rapid pace in the coming months and years.

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Apple iTunes antitrust suit verdict: not guilty | BGR

http://bgr.com/2014/12/16/apple-itunes-antitrust-suit-verdict/

Apple wins big in $1 billion iTunes antitrust suit

Tuesday December 16, 2014, 1:26 PM

It looks like draconian digital rights management practices that included deleting songs from some users’ iPods if they came from rival stores wasn’t enough to convince a jury that Apple violated antitrust regulations. The New York Times’ Bruce X. Chen reports via Twitter that a jury has tossed out a years-old lawsuit against Apple that alleged the company engaged in anticompetitive behavior to make sure its iTunes Store remained the dominant marketplace for digital music.

RELATED: Steve Jobs will be a crucial witness against Apple in an iPod antitrust suit

Apple had been accused of implementing anticompetitive practices against competing digital music stores as it tried to restrict the songs that users could load onto their iPods to either songs ripped from CDs or songs bought from iTunes. Earlier this month we learned that the company had even deleted songs from users’ iPods that were purchased from other stores. What’s more, Apple admitted that it did this without informing users about it, which meant that some iPod users may have believed the songs were just accidentally erased.

However, it seemed the jury bought Apple’s explanation that it needed to implement these restrictive measures for security purposes to protect users from harmful or malicious content. Chen informs us that the jury ruled that these practices represented “genuine product improvements” to the iPod that weren’t at all anticompetitive.

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Apple security measures cut smartphone theft – The Economic Times on Mobile

http://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/apple-security-measures-cut-smartphone-theft/articleshow/45394596.cms

Apple security measures cut smartphone theft

6 Dec, 2014, 1508 hrs IST, IANS

Apple’s new mobile security measures, including Find My i-Phone and Activation Lock, had a major impact on i-Phone theft, the data showed.
NEW YORK: New security measures by Apple have reduced phone theft by as much as 40 percent, a study from the American Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has shown.

Apple’s new mobile security measures, including Find My i-Phone and Activation Lock, had a major impact on i-Phone theft, the data showed.

Smartphone devices are major targets for thieves worldwide.

In San Francisco, 59 percent of robberies involved a smartphone while in New York, the figure was 46 percent.

In London, the corresponding figure was almost 50 percent.

With the Apple Activation Lock, the thefts declined by 38 percent in San Francisco, 24 percent in London and 19 percent in New York.

To curb the robberies even more, the FCC advised customers to take measures, like being aware of their surroundings, noting down the device International Mobile Station Equipment Identity number and treating mobile device theft like credit card theft as devices contain sensitive financial (and personal) information.

They also recommended that users report all mobile device thefts immediately and secure devices using a password/PIN and lock screen function.

Mobile security apps could help the most in locking and then locating lost and stolen devices, cutting phone crime, the report added.

Strategy Analytics: Apple ruled the LTE device market in Q3 2014 – GSMArena.com news

http://m.gsmarena.com/apple_dominates_lte_handset_market_for_q3_2014-news-10404.php

Strategy Analytics: Apple ruled the LTE device market in Q3 2014

With the end of September Apple marked another quarter with top results in terms of LTE device revenue. The report issued today by Strategic Analytics also puts Samsung and LG very close by the California tech giant, but more surprisingly two Chinese manufacturers – OPPO and Vivo are also on the list. And it is not that the list is overly long – it shows metrics for 20 major vendors, the two companies have both actually shown such amazing LTE sales numbers that are now, for the first time ever, in the top five.

The LTE market also seems to be one of the fastest growing segments with a whopping quarter to quarter growth of 57% from Q2 to Q3 of 2014. Apple’s current device lineup is consistently dominating the area and it will come as no surprise if the numbers at the end of the calendar year are even more assertive of the fact.

In any case, with the holidays around the corner, we will be checking back pretty soon to evaluate the bigger yearly picture.

Source | Via

iPhone 6 Plus vs. Android phablets: Apple’s phablet sales impresses | BGR

“That’s even more impressive when you consider that the iPhone 6 Plus was launched on September 19th, which means in one month, Apple managed to sell two phablets for every three such devices sold by competitors in the entire three-month period”

http://bgr.com/2014/12/04/iphone-6-plus-vs-android-phablets/

It took just one month for the iPhone 6 Plus to become the king of phablets

Thursday December 4, 2014, 12:45 PM

Further proving that the iPhone 6 Plus is a massive hit for Apple, selling far better than the company had anticipated, a new report from Kantar Worldpanel reveals that the 5.5-inch iPhone accounted for 41% of all phablet sales in the U.S. during the three-month period ending on October 14th.

FROM EARLIER: You can finally get your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus from Apple within a week

That’s even more impressive when you consider that the iPhone 6 Plus was launched on September 19th, which means in one month, Apple managed to sell two phablets for every three such devices sold by competitors in the entire three-month period.

Beyond that, the iPhone 6 Plus was significantly constrained iPhone 6 following its launch, with Apple having started to catch up with demand only in mid-November.

Kantar noted that phablet sales accounted for 10% of smartphone sales during the period, a significant increase from last year, when phablets only had a 2% share of overall smartphone sales.

It’s also worth noting that Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 wasn’t exactly widely available during the period, with the top Android phablet having had a limited late September launch.

Apple’s choice to finally increase screen size in its iPhone has paid off for the company, as iPhone 6 buyers were primarily interested in the increased display of the new iPhones.

“At the point of sale, when asked what drove their choice of smartphones, 58% of those surveyed who bought an iPhone 6 Plus said screen size was the primary reason for choosing their device,” Kantar said. “Despite the more compact design of the iPhone 6, 60% of consumers who chose it also cited screen size as the primary purchase driver. The ability to connect to a 4G/LTE network was the second most important reason cited by both buyer groups.”

“Of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus buyers, 85% were repeat iOS buyers and 9% churned from Android,” Kantar added.

Kantar also revealed sales details for other iPhones Apple currently has in stock, saying the iPhone 6 had 33% market share of all iOS handset sales, while the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c got 26% and 16% share, respectively, during the period.

The full report is available at the source link.

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Judge rules Apple entitled to potential ongoing royalties from patent-infringing Samsung products

http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/14/11/26/judge-rules-apple-entitled-to-potential-ongoing-royalties-from-patent-infringing-samsung-products

By: Mikey Campbell

Wednesday, November 26, 2014 1:31 AM

In an order filed late Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh granted in part Apple’s motion requesting ongoing royalties from Samsung, though there is only a slight chance that Apple will find reason to collect.

<img src=”http://cdn1.appleinsider.com/AvS.EU.copydoc.2.040514.jpg“>

Judge Koh’s ruling awards Apple ongoing post-judgment royalties on possible continuing sales of Samsung models found in infringement of three Apple patents, as well as future products similar to those already found to infringe.

The order applies to the second Apple v. Samsung jury trial heard in California, where Samsung was found guilty of infringing on three Apple patents, two of which — the ‘647 patent for data detectors and the ‘721 patent for “slide-to-unlock” — were decided by a jury. A summary judgment handed down by Judge Koh in the days leading up to trial found Samsung in infringement of Apple’s ‘172 patent for predictive text input.

As noted by FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller, a distinction must be made in that Apple is not guaranteed royalties from future Samsung sales, but may potentially seek payments on ruled infringed products and only under very narrow circumstances. Specifically, as it pertains to products adjudicated during trial proceedings, Apple would have to prove Samsung continued to sell offending devices post judgment and that these devices infringed its patents in the same way a trial jury decided in May.

The public version of the ruling redacts exact royalty amounts, though it does specify separate rates for ten Samsung products and those “no more than colorably different” from adjudicated models. Mueller believes the final royalty rates will likely be made public in upcoming appeals proceedings.

Today’s ruling points out that Samsung previously claimed continuing remedies are not necessary as products no infringement allegations were leveled on products sold after 2012. Samsung also said it designed workarounds for Apple’s patents, adding that post-verdict sales of products accused to be in infringement have already ended. A lone Galaxy S III version is still on sale but does not use code that infringes Apple’s ‘647 data detectors patent.

From Judge Koh’s judgment, filed alongside today’s order:

For the reasons stated in the November 25, 2014 Order Granting Apple’s Motion for Ongoing Royalties, Samsung is ordered to pay ongoing royalties for any continuing infringement at the per-unit rates set forth in that Order. Those royalties shall apply to products adjudicated to infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 5,946,647; 8,046,721; and 8,074,172, and to products “not more than colorably different therefrom.” The starting date for any ongoing royalties shall be after the date of this Judgment.

Samsung quickly appealed the ruling in its own filing later Tuesday.

Apple and Samsung agreed to settle all non-U.S. patent disputes in August, leaving the California cases open. The companies will next meet on Dec. 5 when a hearing is scheduled to hear Samsung’s appeal of the final judgment in the first Apple v. Samsung jury trial, which ended in an initial $1.05 billion win for Apple. That number was later whittled down to $929 million due to juror error and appeal. Apple dropped its appeal of the same ruling in July.

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