iOS

Apple's iPod lineup (2011)

Apple has announced its 2011 line of updated iPods, including updated versions of the iPod Touch and iPod Nano. The updated iPod Nano goes on sale today; the new iPod Touch goes on sale October 12. The iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle will remain unchanged.

iPod Touch

The 2011 iPod Touch design is seemingly unchanged from last year, but will now be available in white in addition to black. Pricing for the base model has dropped from $229 to $199 (8GB), but higher capacity models are still priced at $299 (32GB), and $399 (64GB).

The iPod Touch retains all of … Read more

Early reactions to Apple's iPhone news

Lots of eyes are trained on Cupertino, Calif., today, as Apple holds its much-anticipated Let's Talk iPhone event.

It's been confirmed that there will be one new version of the iPhone, named the iPhone 4S, which features a dual-core A5 processor, up to 64GB in capacity, iOS 5, HSPA+, a very full-featured 8MP camera, and 1080p video recording. There was no mention of the iPhone 5 from Cupertino today.

Sprint is now an official carrier for the iPhone, and the device is Apple's first "world phone." The iPhone 4S also has a newly designed antenna … Read more

Apple: 18 billions apps have been downloaded

Apple said today that 18 billion applications have been downloaded from its App Store.

The company said it sees more than 1 billion app downloads a month. It has paid out more than $3 billion to developers.

Apple has built a growing business with its app store, in which it takes a 30 percent cut of the revenue generated by developers.

(CNET's live blog of the Apple event)

How badly does the iPhone 4S need a redesign?

Surprise: the iPhone 4S looks just like the iPhone 4. Disappointing? Sure. However, consider this: it's been more than four years since the original iPhone debuted. In those four years, much has happened under the hood of the iPhone, but surprisingly little has changed about the iPhone's outward appearance.

Even amid yesterday's outcries over a possibly similar-looking iPhone 4S, I was reminded of how little the iPhone has changed previous to last year's 4. The iPhone 3GS and 3G both shared an identical design, and that design only changed slightly (mostly in the curved plastic back as opposed to the original's flatter aluminum) from the first iPhone. The same is true with the iPhone 4S. History repeats.

The iPhone was revolutionary back in 2007; no other phone looked like it. Today it's still an exceptionally attractive phone, but it blends into a sea of me-too touch-screen competitors. What was once utterly futuristic has now become commonplace. That's what happens when you have a phone estimated to ship more than 80 million units this year.

The original iPod debuted in the fall of 2001. Its design, unlike the iPhone's, wasn't utterly revolutionary. Still, its iconic scroll wheel remained until 2007's iPod Touch. Over that span of six years, the iPod had its share of spin-off designs, including the Shuffle, Mini, and Nano.

The iPhone may be 4 years old, but will a functional design shift happen, even next year? It's unlikely, because right now it isn't necessary or even practical.

Full-screen touch screen: The iPhone is a tabula rasa, a slab of screen that can be transformed into whatever software or graphics are displayed on it. Buttons, movies, maps: the iPhone becomes what it displays. That means the iPhone can reinvent itself based on the software and OS it runs. The iPhone can't change its dimensions easily because its screen dimensions are used by so many apps, and because the screen needs to be used for vertical and horizontal functions constantly. With all the effort made to make a Retina Display, it's not surprising that Apple let the iPhone 4S screen stay the same. … Read more

Adobe: We've got the Touch for tablets

After dipping its toes in the water with some limited-scope mobile apps, Adobe Systems is taking the plunge today with six programs for Android Honeycomb tablets, including the company's flagship brand, Photoshop.

The programs, each to debut in November with a $10 introductory price, fall under the new Adobe Touch Apps brand. And they tie in with the new Adobe Creative Cloud, a service for sharing files, finding services, and transferring works from the tablet apps to Adobe's Creative Suite apps running on traditional computers.

Along with Photoshop Touch, the other apps are Collage, Debut, Ideas, Kuler, and … Read more

Klip is fastest iPhone video app to hit 100,000 downloads

Judging by the download stats of a new mobile video app for the iPhone, people seem hungry for a fresh way to shoot and share short snippets of their lives.

Called Klip, the new app from serial entrepreneur Alain Rossmann was downloaded more than 100,000 times in just six days, making it the video app that was fastest to reach that milestone, the company said.

And why, especially given that there are so many other choices for taking and sharing videos on the iPhone? Because Klip tackles some of the traditional problems iOS video players have had and appears … Read more

Apple's iOS grabs record market share

Despite the surge in demand for Android, Apple's iOS still holds the lead among mobile platforms, at least according to the latest data from Net Applications.

In a survey of the mobile landscape for September, iOS hit a new record with a 54.6 percent share of the market. That's up from 53 percent the prior month and 42 percent a year ago.

Trailing behind Java ME, which is typically used in feature phones, was Android with a 16.26 percent share. Though in third place, Google's mobile OS has seen a rise from a year ago … Read more

iCloud more strategic than iPhone 5 for Apple

Apple's plans to launch its latest iPhone will be closely watched for its specs, new features, and ability to get consumers to line up for the device, but iCloud's rollout will be far more strategic.

If you were to rank Apple's launches in order of importance, they'd be iCloud, iOS 5, and then the iPhone 5.

In other words, don't get confused by the shiny objects. Apple's iCloud, which seems like old news since it had a coming out party at WWDC over the summer, is also likely to kick off. As iCloud's … Read more

What to expect from Apple's iPhone event

After a lengthier than usual wait, tomorrow we get the next iPhone.

The burning question, of course, is how much of an update it will be. The iPhone 4 was a big step up from its predecessor, the 3GS, which itself was basically the iPhone 3G with a better camera and speedier insides. The iPhone 4 did the camera and speed tricks again, while changing up the outside and adding a considerably sharper screen.

Will the iPhone 5 represent a tuning of an already tried-and-true device? Or will the longer wait result in something that's noticeably new? Those questions … Read more

Best Twitter apps for iOS

Unless you've been living under a rock (or maybe just don't read tech news) you probably already know that next Tuesday, October 4, is when Apple makes its next major announcement. While the company is tight-lipped as usual, we know that it will probably announce at least one new iPhone and when it plans to launch iOS 5, the operating system that powers the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

One of the big known features of the new iOS is Twitter integration. Apple generally does a great job of creating intuitive interfaces for just about everything and what we've learned of Twitter on the iPhone sounds great, as you'll be able to tweet directly from Safari, Photos, YouTube, and Camera. But if you're a serious Twitter user, you're still going to need a third-party app to get all that Twitter has to offer.… Read more