Apple to Switch Faulty Flash Storage type for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus

Apple’s apparently got a problem on its hands regarding its two latest smartphones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. And no, it’s not #bendgate. According to rumors out of South Korea, a type of flash storage is causing the company some headaches in two models of the new iPhones.

Only the 64GB iPhone 6 and the 128GB iPhone 6 Plus seem to be affected. These iterations use a type of flash storage called TLC (triple-level cell) NAND.

Apple has allegedly discovered a problem in the controller IC of this TLC NAND flash, which is causing crashing, bootloops, as well as slow reading and writing speeds on some batches of the aforementioned devices. Such issues have first been reported on a few days ago, and now Apple is said to have confirmed them, along with the culprit.

The faulty controller IC is made by Anobit, a company now owned by Apple. For the iPhones in question, there will now be a switch to MLC (multi-level cell) NAND, which is more expensive than TLC but doesn’t come with such problems. TLC NAND flash is a type of solid-state memory that stores three bits of data per cell. MLC stores just two, and there’s another option, which is SLC (single-level cell) NAND flash, which stores one bit per cell. MLC flash is widely used in smartphone storage as well as consumer SSD drives. If you’re wondering why Apple chose TLC flash in the first place, the reason seems to be solely tied to cost cutting.

Apple won’t issue a recall of the already affected phones, rather it plans on fixing the problem through the upcoming iOS 8.1.1 update. On the other hand, new 64GB iPhone 6 units and 128GB iPhone 6 Plus handsets will come with MLC NAND flash, the rumor says. That’s a bit odd – if the issue is fixable via software, then why switch to a more expensive flash type anyway?

Source | Via

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Bentley Ad Shot Using iPhone 5s, Edited on iPad Air

We have seen cases before now where the iPhone camera was utilized to do professional recording with stunning results. The latest example comes from Bentley Motors, which recorded a short documentary on its Bentley Mulsanne totally on an iPhone 5s. And afterward edited it on the iPad Air.

The video runs for 4minutes 25seconds and features Luc Donckerwolke, Director of Design, and SangYup Lee, Head of Exterior Design. The documentary shows various design aspects of the car and the level of quality you can expect to see from Bentley cars before revealing a behind-the-scenes of the entire process of capturing the footage. Specialized iPhone lenses were used and mount to capture raw material, which was then edited on Apple’s iPad in iMovie.

The last minute and a half shows how the phone was being utilized to record the video. Clearly, lots of effort and equipment went into shooting such a video and you are not likely to get such results even if you have an iPhone 5s, unless you have the complete equipment. In the end, the video clip shows the editing being done on the iPad Air in the back of the car (the Mulsanne comes with a pair of iPad Air embedded in the back of the front seats) using iMovie.

Check out the video below and see the results for yourself.

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Google Ranked above Apple as World's Most Valuable Brand of 2014

Research Company Millward Brown has released their yearly report detailing the most valuable brands globally, and as indicated by their discoveries for 2014, Google has bounced up into first place. Compared to their ranking in 2013, Google has increased their brand value by 40%, with the estimated total rising to a mammoth $158.8 billion.

This rise is enough to see Google surpass Apple, whose brand value slid by 20% down to $147.9 billion. It's the first time in four years Apple hasn't managed to occupy first spot on the BrandZ Top 100 report, making Google's achievement no mean feat.

Head of Millward Brown France, Benoit Tranzer, attributed Google's rise in brand value to their increasing push into wearables like Google Glass, as well as advances in artificial intelligence technology. These sorts of activities "send a very strong signal to consumers about the essence of Google", according to Tranzer.

Other major tech companies have made the top ten most valuable brands, including IBM (ranked 3), Microsoft (4), AT&T (8) and Amazon (10). Samsung managed to clock in at rank 29, below Facebook (21) but above HP (49), eBay (61), and Intel (86). Of course it's not just tech companies on the list: McDonald's and Coca Cola are right near the top.

In case you're curious, the value of each brand is calculated through a proprietary tool called Optimor which takes in data from many sources, including 150,000 interviews with consumers. The precise algorithms to come up with the final numbers are a secret, as you might expect.

My findings: Apple's market cap is at 519.6 billion as of now, while Google's is at 360.4 billion. And the Apple stocks will probably shoot up after the announcement of the iPod 6, iPad Pro, and iPhone 6 this year. It's inevitable.

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Apple Launches Cheaper 8 GB iPhone 5c, Finally Discontinues iPad 2

As expected, Apple has launched an 8 GB version of the iPhone 5c today, giving buyers a cheaper option in the company's mid smartphone tier. The new handset is priced at £429 in the UK, which is £40 cheaper than the 16 GB model; when the device hits the United States, it'll likely be priced at $499 going by Apple's pricing structure.

Aside from the smaller amount of internal storage, the 8 GB iPhone 5c is identical to the other iPhone 5cs that were launched in September 2013. Most of the hardware is borrowed from the older iPhone 5, including the 4.0-inch 1136 x 640 IPS LCD display, Apple A6 SoC, 8-megapixel rear camera and 5.73 Wh battery.

The choice by Apple to release a cheaper iPhone 5c with less storage is likely in response to mediocre sales of the device, which were lower than the company was anticipating. Most iPhone buyers opted for the high-end iPhone 5s when the two devices launched, overlooking the iPhone 5c's year-old hardware. The introduction of an 8 GB model may not improve sales either, as it's priced as high as many current-generation, newer Android devices such as the LG G2.

Alongside the launch of the 8 GB iPhone 5c, Apple finally discontinued the iPad 2, replacing it with the fourth-generation iPad as the cheaper option in the company's tablet line-up. Many consumers felt that the $399 asking price for a two-and-a-half year old, non-Retina tablet was ridiculous at the time of the iPad Air's announcement, but this update to the line-up should be more appeasing.

The fourth-gen iPad, now called the "iPad with Retina display", is a significant update to the iPad 2, as it features a Retina display, a faster Apple A6X SoC, better cameras, the Lightning connector, and a larger battery. It will be available for $399 as a Wi-Fi only 16 GB tablet, or $529 for the cellular model: the same price as the iPad mini with Retina display, and $100 less than the iPad Air.

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Samsung to pay Apple $930M, Sales Ban Denied

Apple versus Samsung largest-scale patent lawsuit, taking place in the US, is now over. Apple was awarded just under $930 million in damages, but its request for judge Koh to ban the infringing products was denied. This means that Samsung is free to continue selling the infringing devices in the US.

The first huge patent trial between Apple and Samsung started in 2012 and its first verdict was for Apple to receive $1.05 billion for the damages caused by its infringed patents. Samsung argued there were some discrepancies between the numbers the jury awarded Apple and after a new trial Samsung's fine was reduced to $929.8 million.

Now this case is officially closed and while Apple has won $930 million its request for permanent sales ban against Samsung was denied.

Apple has already started a new lawsuit against Samsung adding more relevant devices such as the Galaxy S III. Both sides failed to reach an agreement outside the courtroom, so the new trial will be starting in the end of this month.

We are yet to see if Samsung has taken the necessary measures to side-step the infringing technologies or if it will be facing another huge fine.

Source | Via

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Apple iPhone 6 will Allegedly Feature a 10 MP F/1.8 Aperture

It is still kinda early to be talking about the next generation of Apple iPhone, but the latest report from a Chinese website suggests that the iPhone 5s successor will support an enhanced camera and improved lens over the current model. Citing the supply chain sources, the report claims that the upcoming iPhone will feature a 10 megapixel rear camera with an aperture of f/1.8. Furthermore, the new camera is said to be accompanied with new and improved filters, which is lighter and thinner than previously used IR filters. The lighter filters will help capture quality images as it minimizes the color shift of CMOS sensors. The rumored brighter f/1.8 aperture will boost low-light performance and it allow you to do images with shallow depth of field and blur the background while keeping sharp focus on the closer subjects. Apple is also working on a new image stabilization mechanism, according to a recent patent filling. It looks like the company is working very hard to regain some of ground it lost in the camera department with the next iPhone.

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How To Disable Auto Correct on Iphone

If you consider the auto-correct feature in Apple iOS as an absolute annoyance, you are not alone.. Follow the simple steps below to disable the auto correction. 

We all know the misspellings can be seriously annoying as there are no people who can avoid such a mistake when inputting something on a small screen, so we need the auto-correct feature, which checks the words iPhone users have typed and helps to correct. However, auto-correction becomes useless if you have some words that you would rather you iPhone ignore: whenever they have been typed, your device will not think it wrong and propose a correct option.

Fortunately, to turn off the auto-correct feature is not complicated. Tap on the “Settings” app, find “General” from the screen and choose it, then tap “Keyboard”. In the “Keyboard” menu, stop the phone from auto-correcting by changing the slider of “Auto-Correction” to OFF from ON.

So, what is your choice between misspellings and auto corrections? Consider how much auto corrections you really need, and then choose a better option.

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iPhones said To Hold Top 3 Spots in Network Usage Ranking

Samsung claims fourth through sixth places in Actix's measurements of American

and European users. Also: bigger screens and newer phones mean more data use.

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Apple's App Store Sales Topped $10 Billion in 2013, Over $1 Billion in December Alone

Apple announced today that App Store sales topped a whopping $10 billion in 2013.

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Apple’s App Store makes $10 billion in 2013

We all know that Apple’s App Store makes lots and lots of money, but every now and then it still manages to surprise us. The app repository has shattered previous records, generating the whopping $10 billion in earnings in 2013.

What’s so impressive about this number is that it pretty much doubled 2012′s revenue

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iPhone Owners Found To Be More Intelligent Than Android Users

The comments section on this story is sure to turn into a flame war, but according to an online mental agility test, iPhone owners are more intelligent than Android users. Both smartphone consumer bases beat out Blackberry loyalists though, who came third in the survey.

The “Test of Wits was conducted by the British betting company, Ladbrokes. A thousand smartphone users took the multiple choice survey and iPhone users were able to complete the 7 trick questions in the quickest time possible: 94 seconds.

How do you think you will fare? Well here are some examples of the questions asked: “Some months have 30 days, some months have 31 days. How many months have 28 days?”. Some other questions are: “How many 9s are there between 1 and 100?”, and 

“How many legs do 2 dogs and 2 ducks have in total?”.

This isn’t the first time that smartphone users were pitted against one another. TalkTalk carried out a survey that was designed to take a look into the personalities of iPhone, Android, and Blackberry users. The results just confirmed pre-existing stereotypes.

Apple iPhone users were found to be the most arrogant and vain, ranking their personal appearance higher than others with different smartphones. Blackberry owners were found to earn the most money on average. What trophies did Android users walk away with? The most creative and most likely to get drunk.

Now argue away, but please try to do so in a civil manner.

Source | Via

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