Category Archives: News
Best Buy to begin month-long iPhone sale on Sunday
AllThingsD is reporting that Best Buy plans to begin a monthlong iPhone sale on Sunday. iPhone prices will drop by US$50 when bought in conjunction with a two-year contract from AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. All current models of the iPhone — iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 — are included.
This coming Monday in the United States is Memorial Day, and the weekend prior is a big shoppers’ weekend. Best Buy is also offering discounts on several popular Android handsets, but those discounts are expected to expire on June 1. There’s no word on why Best Buy’s iPhone sale will carry on for an entire month, but it could be that the company is trying to move inventory before any potential iPhone announcements this summer.
Apple expands iOS Maps’ 3D Flyover coverage in California, including Disneyland
Apple is continuing to roll out increased Maps 3D Flyover coverage. The latest update was first spotted by AppleInsider and appears to include large parts of California. Specifically, the latest update includes the cities of San Bernardino, Riverside, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Moreno Valley and more.
This update covers Anaheim as well, so users can now view a 3D Flyover of Disneyland in Apple Maps. It seems like Apple is continuing to roll out aggressive server-side updates to Apple Maps. Only a little more than two weeks ago Apple added 3D Flyover coverage in Paris.
Smule users record 1 billion songs
Smule may be only 5 years old, but the California development firm started in part by Jeff Smith and Stanford Assistant Professor Dr. Ge Wang has had an amazing impact on the world. The company shared some stats with Evolver.fm that are incredible — Smule’s apps have been downloaded over 100 million times, are used by 15 million people a month and that audience has recorded over 1 billion songs.
Sure, those songs may be amateur auto-tuned, auto-rapped or karaoke trash, but the statistics — and Smule’s bottom line — prove that the company is on to something. While such venerable music gaming titles as Rock Band and Guitar Hero have seen better days, Smule’s apps are all about actually making music, and that seems to make a difference to app consumers.
Verizon Cloud comes to iOS devices
Following up on an announcement made at the end of April, Verizon has begun rolling out its Verizon Cloud storage solution to iOS devices today. Verizon Cloud offers Verizon users a free 500 MB of cloud storage to backup their photos, videos, contacts, music, call logs and text messages. Users who want more storage can buy it at a monthly fee of US$2.99/month for 25 GB, $5.99/month for 75 GB, and $9.99/month for 125 GB.
The Verizon Cloud service lets users stream music and sync data between devices, including photos, videos and documents. Users can also access their files via the web and desktop applications. On the iPhone users can manage their Verizon Cloud account through the free Verizon Cloud app.
iPhone repair costs are soaring
Marketwatch recently took a look at the rising price of iPhone 5 screen repairs, pointing out that the $229 Apple sometimes charges to repair a broken iPhone 5 screen is often more than the cost of the device itself, with a two-year contract of course.
At the root of rising iPhone repair costs are more expensive components coupled with a lower supply of said components.
